The world was enveloped in nothingness. In a single moment, it was as if an icepick had been shoved through the back of Twilight Sparkle’s skull, flooding her mind with cold and doubt. As the darkness spread through her mind, she knew the void in it’s most complete and utter form. From this realm of shattered hopes and dreams a single being rose, towering above the emptiness of a myriad broken worlds.
“Oh dear, and you were doing so well. Tell me Twilight, is that really all it takes to destroy your fragile hold on reality?” Discord smiled down upon the form that had been Twilight Sparkle, once long ago, a monolith of chaos among the fine dust of time and space. “Spare me the dramatics, please. I knew you ponies had a pathetically weak grasp on multi-linear time streams but I simply cannot believe this is enough to make you fall, ahem, to peices.” He chuckled lightly at his own joke, the laughter booming through a void that quickly swallowed every scrap of sound.
There was a blip of light and magic, and where there had been nothing before, a shell resembling Twilight took her form. She was grey from the tip of her horn to the ends of her hooves. “So you were behind all this?” The unicorn, composed of the ashes of her world blinked stardust from her eyes. She stared into the abyss...and it made a funny face back at her.
“Of course not! You haven’t been paying attention at all Twilight.” Saying that, Discord moved toward the fake unicorn and slowly became smaller and smaller. Perspective was all wrong here, by the time he was close enough to touch the distraught Twilight, he was no bigger than her hoof. He flew up to her shoulder and reclined on a puff of nothingness. “As I said, you were doing well up until this breakdown. Is Celestia aware of how often you go through these little episodes? I can’t imagine it makes you any easier to teach if a little bit of information that doesn’t conform to your view of the world is enough to bring that self same world crashing down around your ears.”
“I...don’t remember. It had been happening to me a lot lately. I’d do something and I wouldn’t remember doing it. That’s why I had the checklists...to make sure I didn’t forget anything, to make sure that I couldn't forget anything. Why am I forgetting so much now? Did I really give her that book?” She cradled Discord’s tiny form between her hooves and seemed to be begging him for answers with those cavernous, empty eyes.
“Hah! Spoilers! Now that would be ruining your story my dear! If it helps you get through this boring rough patch of yours though, I will say that you must consider the source. She is your friend after all. It’s entirely possible you could have loaned her something and not known its true power or form. Appearances can be deceiving, my little pony. Much like your paradise that we find ourselves in.”
“What is this place?” The being that had been Celestia’s favorite student mumbled.
“What, you don’t know? Why, this is your world Twilight! Your dream! Everything perfectly in order, a place for everything and everything in its place. Though everything is nothing and everyplace is no where. It is, however, perfect. Perfectly organized, perfectly still, and perfectly boring.” Discord dropped a pair of shades over his eyes and sipped on a milk of glass. “Personally I would’ve come up with something somewhere sunny with maybe a few chaotic waveforms and singing cats, but that’s just me. Of course, if you don’t like this reality, you’re always free to remake it. It is, after all, yours.”
“What does that mean? What does any of this mean?” Twilight wailed.
“Oh would you give it a rest with the endless questions!? You’re starting to give me a headache.” Discord tossed his shades and flew away, growing gigantic as he swelled into the distance. He turned and looked over his shoulder. “Then again, maybe that’s what makes you a good student, Twilight. Always questioning every thread of the fabric of your reality. I suppose it would be too predictable of me to leave you in this little situation. How about I help you... snap out of it?” With that, Discord snapped his talons.
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“Snap out of it Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shook the unicorn hard enough to rattle her teeth. As she did, Celestia’s favorite student could feel the spell over her breaking up like pins and needles on her skin. The potent paralyzation spell had finally worn off thanks to the timely intervention of her winged friend. She shook the numbness from her limbs and the cobwebs from her mind as she blinked her eyes. She was still in the school, it seemed some time had passed, though she couldn’t be sure how much. “What the heck was that all about Twi!? I come in here, expecting to find you and Pinkie and all I find is you standing in the middle of the room stiff as a board with some crazy drawings all over your face! You scared the horse apples out of me!”
Dash looked over Twilight with genuine concern. Giving a little shiver, she assured her friend that she was fine. “I think... Pinkie somehow managed to bounce one of my spells back at me. I resisted it as long as I could, but it was a powerful spell designed for arresting the movements of dragons. I wasn’t even sure if I could pull it off, to be honest, but it seems it worked pretty well. Perhaps too well. What’s been going on while I was out?” Dash brought Twilight up to speed. After the chromatic flier had managed to free, or otherwise assist, the many students that Pinkie Pie had pranked with the aid of Miss Cheerilee, the teacher and her students had left to get help. Dash had come inside expecting a fight and instead found Pinkie Pie long gone and Twilight as she had previously described. “So we’ve lost her for the time being. Shoot.”
“Well, I know the places she’s most likely to hit next. Maybe we could try and lay a trap for her, catch her off guard? Beat her at her own game, ya know? I’m a pretty good prankster myself.” Said Rainbow Dash, chest swelling with bravado. Twilight Sparkle just shook her head.
“It would never work. I don’t really know how, but Pinkie Pie has gotten her hooves on a tome of incredible magical power. She claims to have gotten it from me, but there are very few books of such power even in legend. If such were in my possession, I would surely know about it.” Twilight put her hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Although... It may be possible that I could have had a book and not known it’s true power if it were cleverly enchanted.”
“You’re trying to tell me Pinkie’s acting all crazy because of a book!?” Exclaimed Dash as the pair of ponies left the school house, walking back in the direction of Twilight’s library.
“Something like that. I’m afraid I only know what I remember her telling me after my spell backfired. From the sound of it, the book has somehow granted Pinkie Pie a degree of omniscience. She knows what we’re thinking, so she’d know any plan we could come up with while we were coming up with it. There’s also the unfortunate fact that my magic would seem to be useless against her so long as she has the book near her, so even a mindless full frontal assault would likely fail.” Pondered Twilight aloud as she opened the door to her library home.
“I’d be willing to at least try!” Shouted Rainbow Dash, rising into the afternoon air with two powerful bursts of strength from her wings. “She might know what’s coming, but that doesn’t mean she’s all powerful! There has to be a way for us to stop her before things get even more out of hand!” She cried, voice echoing in the empty library. Twilight herself had moved deeper into her abode, searching for something that she felt would be indefensible at this moment and time.
Twilight found her wash cloth and dampened it in a nearby water basin in her kitchen. With the aid of her reflection in the side of her toaster, she began to try and dab away the ‘hilarious’ doodles Pinkie Pie had left on her face, particularly trying to rub away the mustache. It didn’t help much, aside form spreading a black mess all over her face. She’d probably have to wait for it to fade on its own. “Well by all means Dash, if you know where she is, try your best. Since you two are such close friends I’m sure she’d never even suspect you’d be coming for her.” Twilight rolled her eyes, her sarcasm blatant in her voice.
“Well there has to be something we can do!” Snorted the impatient pegasus, she was quickly losing her composure.
“I’m afraid I’m fresh out of ideas. The only thing I can think to do is try to find the origins of this book of Pinkie’s. The title, ”Broken”, does seem like one I have seen before, but I can’t think of where. Spike and I can search the library records and see if it truly ever was on our shelves, but I highly doubt it. I’ll get Owlowiscious scouring the older tomes to see if there’s any mention of it in the legends of Equestria’s distant past as well. In the meantime...” Twilight tossed away the soiled washcloth in frustration. She’d managed to make her entire face black as coal. When Rainbow Dash saw she tried to hold it in, but she couldn’t help bursting out with laughter. Twilight gave her a dirty look, but continued. “In the meantime, Dash, you can help by straining your brain and seeing if you can recall anything that might be useful to stopping our friend!”
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Hours pass as day turned into night. The soft and usually soothing sounds of the evening punctuated by the distant screams of the victims of Pinkie’s new brand of 'comedy'. Twilight and her assistants were still pouring over their various tasks exhaustively when Rainbow Dash, who had been napping in the rafters, suddenly rolled off of her perch and fell to the floor so suddenly, Twilight thought the poor pony had fallen in her sleep. She landed on her hooves, however, and grabbed Twilight Sparkle, covering her friends mouth with her hoof. “Don’t say or think a single thought. I have an idea!”
With that, Rainbow Dash launched herself out of the nearest library window and flew through the star strewn sky, carrying her friend just beneath her. The pair moved so quickly that there was a small explosion followed by a rainbow in the dark. The world rocketed passed below Twilight’s hooves so quickly she thought she was going to be sick. As quickly as they had begun, they arrived at their destination, a small home just outside of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash sat Twilight down just outside Fluttershy’s and knocked frantically on the door. After a few moments the pegasus opened the door to her home, just a crack, and greeted them with a timid, “Who’s there?”
“No time to explain Fluttershy! You’ve got to let us in right now! The fate of Equestria is at stake!” Yelled Dash, forcing her way inside. It was clear that the yellow pegasus had been getting ready for bed. She was wearing a pair of green pajama’s with little bunnies embroidered all over them.
“Oh, my.” Mumbled Fluttershy.
Twilight Sparkle followed her friends inside, thankful to have her hooves back on solid ground, but still reeling from the speed of their impromptu flight. “You know, I think we were almost done with our research. For all we know there may have been some clue about where Pinkie got her book in that last stack of files...” She tried to say to Dash, but stopped as the blue flier whirled on Twilight and slammed Fluttershy’s front door behind her.
“Look, you told me to try and think of something useful that we could do to stop Pinkie Pie!” Yelled Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy cringed. “Well there’s nothing, okay!? If we can’t out maneuver her and we can’t out think her, there’s no chance we’re ever going to be able to find her, let alone stop her!” Dash paused and saw the friend that she had barged in on shivering slightly and lowered her voice. “But there is one thing I remember very clearly and it’s this. Fluttershy, how has your day been?”
With both her friends attention suddenly on her, the shy pegasus seemed to be trying to hide behind her hair. “Um...fine...my day I mean. It has been...fine.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary?” Asked Rainbow Dash.
“Um, no...”
“No pranks? Or unexplained phenomena?” Asked Twilight.
“Um...Angel played a trick on me earlier when I fed him his carrot. He, uh...threw it back in my face because I hadn’t sliced it for him." The look on her friends faces made Fluttershy feel as though she should clarify. "It was kind of mean, but I know he was just being a playful little scamp.” She said this smiling to show she held no hard feelings for her favorite pet.
“Just as I thought.” said Dash, “I remember awhile back I had this great prank planned involving a fake turtle squirt gun and a pond. We were just about to spring it on Fluttershy, too, when Pinkie Pie found out who we were about to trick. I remember her saying that no matter what, we could never prank Fluttershy. She said she was too sensitive, that even our most harmless pranks would hurt her feelings. Pinkie refuses to play any tricks on her. I figure if there’s any place in Equestria where we can come up with a plan, it’s here.”
Twilight Sparkles eyes brightened and she smiled hugely, “That’s brilliant Rainbow Dash! If she’s not actively reading any pages from her book that have to do with Fluttershy, we should be able to come up with a plan without fear of her discovering it.” Another thought occurred to her, however. “We can’t waste this opportunity though. If she decides she wants to prank one or both of us, she’ll notice we’re missing if she can’t find us where we ought to be in her book. We’ve only have, at best, a limited amount of time before she discovers where we've gone!”
The pair immediately screwed up their faces in poses of deep concentration. However, as the second hand scythed their time into oblivion, neither seemed readily able to come up with an idea to thwart their friends new abilities. “Um...excuse me?” Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash whirled on Fluttershy as one, displeased for having their concentration broken, but more frustrated that they didn’t seem to be coming up with any good ideas.
“WHAT!?” they said in unison.
Fluttershy cringed from the pair, but then a look of determination entered her soft green eyes. “I’'d like to help in any way I can.” Began the gentle pegasus, “But could one of you please explain to me what, exactly, is going on!?” She looked at her friends dumbfounded faces and added, “If that isn’t too much trouble I mean...”
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A new, miserable day dawned, gray and overcast. The air was sticky and damp, not a breath of wind stirred as the sky lightened from charcoal to lead. Ponyville had finally, gracefully been allowed a bit of peace. Sadly it could not hope to last. Beneath a copse of trees, a pony stirred.
She was exhausted and her eyes stung badly. It was getting harder and harder to get up now. It had been such a simple, innocent request. “Hey Twilight Sparkle!” she had said, “Got any neat-o books that might help me think up some awesome pranks for the feast of foals!?” Her friend had been uncharacteristically silent, but she smiled in a way that Pinkie knew meant she had a good book in mind. When she had taken the black leather bound tome from her friend and thanked her, she had gotten halfway down the road before she cracked it open and found every page a blank. It was a hilarious if somewhat mean trick, but if anypony could take a joke, it was Ponyville’s resident party pony.
Only, the pages didn’t remain blank for long. As a pony would drift near her, words would flood the page as if an invisible hand were writing them before her baby blue eyes. Pinkie wasn’t stupid and it didn’t take her long to work out that the book was magic, giving her a window into the thoughts of everypony around her. At first she’d experienced a naughty little thrill at learning all her friends most private thoughts, but as any filly would, she grew curious about what her friends really thought of her. The kindest thought she was a little crazy but harmless, the worst thought she was out right mad and in need of a leash. She’d gone to so much effort to be kind, to make others happy, that was her entire drive in life. Yet even pony’s she had known for years regarded her with a measure of apprehension.
As Pinkie Pie rose slowly, from the patch of earth she had bedded down in for the night, she realized that might have been the start of her current problems. It wasn’t so much that she knew the punchline to everypony’s jokes or that there were no more surprises for her. That was bad enough, but it had been her realization that even though she had gone to such an effort to make everypony happy, nopony truly understood her that really stung. Nopony really appreciated her. The pranks had started out as a way to make herself understood. They would be brilliantly intelligent prat falls that would make even the victims laugh themselves silly. But it hadn’t worked out that way. She could know what a pony was thinking thanks to her book, but she could not change what, or how, that pony was thinking. Surprise so quickly gave way to terror or anger, even with the most harmless prank.
Pinkie smiled grimly as she looked at her reflection in the still pool of water that she had been drinking from the night before. Her hair was a reflection of her life. The gathering storm had caused her hair to frizz out more than usual. Within her grasping curls she could see leaves, twigs, and other detritus she didn’t care to speculate upon. The choice to sleep out in the open away from everypony had been an obvious one. The choice to go from trying to delight, to trying to torment other ponies for her own amusement hadn’t been. Did she want to teach them all a lesson for not appreciating her? Did she really want them to suffer? Was it even funny to her anymore? She hadn’t laughed and meant it since Twilight had asked her that silly question about where she’d gotten her horrible book.
Thinking of the book, she turned to the black rectangle at her hooves. It seemed to call to her now, like an ache at the back of her eyes, at the back of her mind. There was a hunger inside her to know, not just others thoughts, but to know everything that there was to know. Where had this hunger, this obsession, come from? The bags under her eyes spoke of how little sleep she had managed to get thinking about what she had missed. As she opened the book and her blood shot eyes flickered from page to page, she suddenly gasped. A flash of light was followed by a crack of thunder so loud it left Pinkie Pie deafened. The smoking spot of earth marked where she had just been standing moments before. This was no arrant bolt, however, Pinkie had only managed to dodge it thanks to what she had read in her all knowing tome.
“That was a warning Pinkie Pie! Drop the book and come quietly or you’ll regret it!” The rainbow maned pegasus straddled a particularly angry looking storm cloud, the flashes of lightning rendering her features that of an angry goddess. Pinkie narrowed her eyes to angry slits as she smiled up at her old friend. Gently, it started to rain.
“This was the part I was looking forward to the least. I want you to know that Dashie.”
The chromatic flier spread her wings wide, preparing to give her cloud another kick. This time she wouldn’t miss. “Because this is where I kick your butt?”
With a laugh she barely felt, the earth pony replied, “No. Because this is where I make my treacherous friend look like a foal in ten seconds flat.”
Jagged forks of light pierced the heavens as the stench of ozone filled the air. The thick bolt of lightning blazed down from the clouds, only briefly illuminating Rainbow Dash’s determined features before flooding the world with too much brilliance to see. The bolt slammed into Pinkie’s upturned book and sent the cascade of energy streaming back to its source. The proud pegasus had only seconds to dodge, but she somehow managed to tumble off her cloud and launch herself like a living missile at her one time friend. The resultant explosion as she slammed into the earth below sent twigs and leaves flying in every direction, but Pinkie Pie herself remained untouched.
“Come on Dash, I think you can do better than that.” Mocked Pinkie Pie. Snorting in anger, Dash launched herself at her friend again. She was a blur of hooves and teeth, but every blow seemed to be dodged, parried, or otherwise blocked. To her horror, she realized that Pinkie was defending herself with only one hoof. With her other she held the book entitled ‘Broken’ that Twilight had told her about. The earth pony wasn’t even looking at Dash, she was smiling slightly as she read. This caused the blue flier to hesitate. She really shouldn’t have. “Oh, are you done already? This is going to be shorter than I thought!”
Rainbow Dash made a sudden lunge to try and take the book away from her friend, but as she went for it, Pinkie tossed the tome into the air. Moving so fast even Dash couldn’t follow, the earth pony pulled a zip tie out of her hair and preceded to secure one of Dash’s wings to her back leg. Her balance destroyed along with her ability to fly, the fastest flier in all of Equestria found herself splashing down into a puddle, unable to find purchase for her remaining hooves. “That’s...that’s not fair!”
As her book came back down it landed on Pinkie Pie’s head, where it balanced perfectly. “Fair, Rainbow Dash? I thought fair didn’t matter to you...only winning.” She said the words with more venom than she really felt. Her best friend was rolling helplessly in the mud after all. “Looks like you lost. Better luck next time Rainbow Dash.” With that, Pinkie turned to trot away. Without warning, Twilight Sparkle teleported in front of Pinkie. Eyes and horn both blazing with magic, there was another flash of light, but this time no thunder. The pink pony merely smiled, her eyes protected by a pair of sunglasses that she had lifted from Rainbow Dash as they had struggled with one another. “You really do think I’m stupid, don’t you Twilight? If I can’t see, I can’t read, was that your plan? I don’t need the book to see through such transparent thoughts.”
Rain fell steadily now, the sound of the fat droplets a gentle staccato in the dust churning to mud beneath their hooves. Both of the pony’s manes hung limp and straight. If it weren’t for their coloration and their differing species, they might have been twins, so similar was the intense look that passed between them. Twilight was the first to blink. With a heavy sigh, she said, “You’re right Pinkie. I’ve misjudged your intelligence. You’re much smarter and more capable than we have given you credit for. But before you run off, and do Celestia knows what, would you find it in your heart to do me one last favor? For the sake of our friendship?”
Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Pinkie Pie let her book slide down the front of her face and into her hooves. “Okie dokie...” she said somewhat hesitantly. “What exactly do you want?” Thunder, and the still floundering Rainbow Dash, grumbled not too far away.
Twilight Sparkle turned sad eyes on her friend. “I know you might not believe me, but I really have no memory of ever giving you that book. I’ve searched the library high and low and there’s no trace of that book having ever existed before it turned up in your hooves. If you’d indulge me...could you turn to that part in your book and tell me what exactly happened?”
There was a softening in Pinkie’s eyes. The blue chips of ice were melting slightly. “Gee, Twilight, I thought you were just kidding earlier. You really don’t remember?” When the purple unicorn nodded in affirmation, Pinkie flipped open her book to the first page. “This better not be a trick...” As Pinkie read, a worried look creased her brow. “No... No, no, no! That’s not how it happened. Where’s the... Why is this page blank? What’s going on?” As Pinkie tried to make heads or tails of a narrative that she herself did not recall, the rain slowly ate away at the words. As fast as the ink wrote itself onto the page, the steady rush of water washed it away. This was exactly what Twilight was waiting for. With a sudden bound, the unicorn seized the book with her mouth and ran full tilt for the town square. Behind her Pinkie Pie roared with rage, “YOU TRICKED ME! GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!”
As the purple and pink blurs faded into the distance, a muddy Rainbow Dash muttered as she drug herself along the earth to higher ground, “Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Just leave me in the mud with the water rising. Some friends! Bleh!” She spat a glob of mud out of her mouth, settling for silent curses that she'd miss the last phase of their plan.
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Even using her magic to teleport ahead, Twilight Sparkle barely arrived in the middle of Ponyville before Pinkie did. When she was riled up, the party pony had a boundless supply of energy that could put even Rainbow Dash to shame. As it was, Twilight was exhausted. She silently vowed to herself that she’d spend more time exercising and less studying when this was all over. Well, a little more time exercising at least.
It was as these thoughts distracted her that Pinkie Pie pounced, landing hard on Twilight’s back. “GIVE IT BACK!” The earth pony roared, but even as she yelled this command, the force of her landing sent the tome flying from between Twilight’s teeth and sailing into a gathered throng of Ponyville’s populace. The entire center of town was flooded with ponies! It seemed the entire populace of Ponyville had turned out. Heedless of the throng, with hot tears of frustration and raindrops cascading down her face, the distraught party pony searched in vain in the mud for her prize. The crowd moved and shifted around her, rendered faceless by the water in her eyes. She was sure one of them must have it, one of them must be keeping it from her! “Where is it?” She sobbed, turning from pony to pony, each a stranger to her eyes. She couldn’t expect anypony to help her. “Where’s my book!?” She cried, but knew no pony would answer.
“Um...is this what you’re looking for?” The crowd parted. To Pinkie’s shock, Fluttershy hovered just above the ground. Pinkie's book, unharmed, was held between her hooves.
“YES!” She said joyfully, bouncing happily towards the pegasus. “Oh thank you so much! I don’t know what I’d do if I lost this now!” Fluttershy smiled cheerfully and gave the book to Pinkie’s outstretched hooves. As the soaked earth pony flipped the book open, a mass of snakes suddenly sprung from inside. She was so shocked she dropped the book in the mud. It was hallowed out on the inside. “You... You tricked me Fluttershy?” All around her the mood of the crowd began to change. They were laughing, despite the miserable weather. Even Fluttershy was laughing, gently, trying to hold it in with her hooves but a giggle or two squeaked passed. Then, for no reason that Pinkie Pie could explain at all, she started to laugh as well. She was laughing and crying at the same time. Fluttershy was the last pony she would have ever suspected of pranking her. It was too funny. It was too sad.
Fluttershy drifted towards Pinkie Pie and wiped away the tears from her face with a cloth that was already somewhat damp. “There, there now. Don’t cry. Everything’s going to be alright.” Hair limp and eyes watery, the confused little earth pony looked up at her friend. “You know Pinkie...I enjoy a good prank as much as any other pony. I felt a little left out when I heard about all the fun you and the other ponies of Ponyville have been having this week. If you want to play a prank on me sometime, you don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings, silly! I’m a year older than you after all!” Fluttershy smiled sweetly and hugged the bedraggled pink pony.”
“But... But I did soooo many horrible things!”
“Oh, I don’t believe that for a moment Pinkie. I know at heart you just want everypony to be happy. Everypony in Ponyville knows that!” The crowd nodded and smiled enthusiastically. “Even if you do express yourself a little...differently, sometimes.” Fluttershy’s words were enough to melt Pinkie Pie’s heart. She was already crying again, sobbing into her friends shoulder. As she did the sun, after struggling all day, finally managed to part the clouds. As the warmth of the beams of light washed over the crowd, they began to cheer and put up the party decorations they had been given earlier by Fluttershy. The banner read “Thanks for All the Laughs Pinkie!”
It was a wonderful, if somewhat soggy, party.
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Later on, Pinkie Pie went around apologizing to everypony for the way she had behaved. The entire town seemed inclined to accept Pinkie’s apology gracefully and there were even one or two that asked her how she’d pulled off a particular prank or three that had interested them. When it was all said and done, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle gathered at the library. Despite how well the party had gone, the four friends were uncomfortably quiet on their own. It was Twilight that broke the silence.
“We searched all evening, but no pony could find your book Pinkie. I think it’s for the best that it’s gone. But I have to ask, when you read it for the last time, what did the book show you?” Dash and Fluttershy shared an uncomfortable glance over Pinkie’s head, both clearly thinking this was a bad question to be asking so soon after Pinkie’s latest problems. The curly haired pony caught the look and merely smiled, if perhaps somewhat more pained than usual, at her friends.
“It’s okay,” the party pony said to reassure her friends, “It’s probably best I tell you now. I can already feel my mind numbing a bit. It was really intense having all of that knowledge crammed into my head.” She paused as if gathering her thoughts. “The page was blank, then the words that spread across the pages made a picture. It was a picture of me and of you, only it wasn’t you I was talking to. Somepony that was you, and that wasn’t you, gave me the book. At least that’s what the book said.” She looked pleadingly at Twilight. She seemed to almost be willing her friend to understand something she herself could not.
“I see,” said Celestia’s favorite student. “I thought it might be something like that. Sadly without the tome itself we’ll probably never know who really gave you that book Pinkie Pie. I’m afraid this might not be over yet.”
A dark look passed over Rainbow Dash’s face, “What do you mean? I know it’s early, but Pinkie seems to be back to her old self now that we’ve gotten that stupid paper pile away from her.” She was still a little sore from being zip tied earlier. It showed in that she stood firmly on the ground, rather than hovering as she usually would.
“That’s just it. If the problem wasn’t with Pinkie, then it was with this book and whomever gave it to her. We’re going to have to keep a sharp eye out for both, or we may end up having to go through this all over again.”
“Well...” began Fluttershy, “I can ask the birds and some of the other forest animals to help look. They can be very observant. I’m sure if there’s another Twilight Sparkle wondering around, they’ll be quick to spot her.” She smiled uncertainly.
“I guess that could work," said Twilight. "In the meantime, Dash, you should keep looking for that "stupid paper pile". If you find it, don’t be tempted to read it. I think it may cast a spell on whoever glances at its words for too long.” Dash saluted as she said this.
Pinkie looked down at her hooves. “I’m so sorry guys, for all the trouble I caused. I think...I need to go home and get some sleep in my real bed. I haven’t been home in so long I’ve almost forgotten what a pillow feels like!” Fluttershy and Dash both laughed at this. Pinkie remained oddly solemn.
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After they had left Twilight's, Rainbow Dash had gone off on her own, likely to help clear away the last whisps of storm that still lingered on the horizon. Fluttershy, however, walked Pinkie to Sugarcube corner, even though her house lay in the other direction. It seemed there was something weighing heavily on the timid pony's mind.
“Um...are you sure you’re okay? After the party started I sort of...noticed something. I didn’t want to mention it to the others but...” Pinkie Pie looked at her friend in the light of one of the towns many street lamps, one curl falling between her eyes. The light washed out their colors and made them both appear gaunt in it’s sulfuric glow. “Well, you were smiling a lot, but you never really laughed. Everypony seemed to be having a good time, it’s just not like you to not laugh even once.”
Pinkie seemed to think about what her friend had said. Then she let out a long sigh before she whispered, “I guess...I just kind of hate laughter right now. I worked so hard for it for so long...in the end it wouldn't come until somepony else intervened. Now that I have it, I'm not sure I even want it anymore. I think I’ve had enough laughter, at least for a little while.”
“But I thought laughter made you happy?” Fluttershy almost looked like she might cry, her friends words were so heartbreaking.
“Happy?" The earth pony seemed to consider the concept. Her curls fell in such a way so as to hide her eyes completely as she said "I don’t think so.” Pinkie just smiled sadly, and bid her friend good night.
Fluttershy was left vulnerable and unsure in a shrinking pool of light as her friend moved on alone, into the growing darkness.
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After Spike had gone to bed and Owlowicious had gone out for his nightly hunt, Twilight Sparkle sat up for a little while, one of her enchanted candles glowing gently in the dark. The light was so subtle, it barely illuminated the book that sat before the purple unicorn. It was muddy, but beneath the drying dirt cracked black leather shown through. The title could easily be picked out in raised letters of burnished gold. ‘Broken’.
Twilight took a deep breath, and opened the book. She paused, then began to flip through it. The pages turned slowly at first, then more frantically before she simply picked up the tome and threw it violently away from her, into the darkness of the lonely library.
Only one phrase appeared on every single page.
"Friendship is Magic"