Rarity did her best to mask her disappointment as Celestia read out her rival’s name, putting on a tight-lipped smile and clapping politely as Sunset Shimmer began moving towards the podium. Deep down, of course, she’d always known that Pinkie Pie had been a long shot, if only because her strategy had been so unconventional that it was all but impossible to discern the extent of its weaknesses, leaving it with little chance of a flawless execution—and that, it seems, was precisely what had been needed.
She supposed she could take some comfort in the fact a complete outsider had given Sunset a run for her money. Indeed, earlier that afternoon, Vice Principal Luna had seemed cautiously optimistic that an upset might be possible. Given Luna’s barely concealed antipathy towards Sunset, this doubtless explained the recount—it was probably a last-minute attempt to find any votes for Pinkie that may have been missed.
That said, Rarity felt rather certain that Sunset would refuse to learn anything about humility, despite the close call; perhaps it was the triumphant look on her face as she strode towards Principal Celestia, which somehow managed to look even more smug than usual. Then again, she had won, so one would expect her to lord it over Rarity all year, despite the fact that Rarity wasn’t even eligible to compete. It was also quite possible that there was some relief mixed in with the smugness; as a senior, Sunset would be graduating this year, which meant that she’d never have to worry about facing off with Rarity in a head-to-head competition. Ah, well, it hardly matters now, Rarity thought to herself. At the end of the day, this is little more than a popularity contest. Now was not the time to mope about her loss; now was the time to begin considering her next move in their social chess match.
Thus, Rarity’s mind left the Fall Formal to ponder ways to counter the inane platform Sunset had used to secure her place on the student council. As such, even though her eyes were still open and moving their gaze about the room, she had ceased to “look” at her surroundings, and was instead merely “seeing” them. She saw Sunset ascend the stage next to Celestia. She saw Celestia accept the tiara from the possession of her sister, whose smile barely masked her obvious disappointment. She saw Celestia hold the tiara over Sunset’s head, and for a split-second, it seemed that she saw the crown begin to descend, when suddenly Rarity’s field of vision was obscured by a blast of artificial fog and the sudden descent of mounds of shining purple confetti—far more, in fact, than she remembered installing in the rafters of the gymnasium.
Before she could “see” anything else, though, Rarity felt a tug on her arm as she was abruptly pulled through the glittery chaos, whirling about and bumping into the occasional classmate. Before she could fully process what had happened, she heard a door slam shut behind her, and she was standing outside the gymnasium’s emergency exit blinking up at the stars. A half-second later, she realized that she wasn’t alone.
“What the heck just happened?” Rainbow Dash called out to nobody in particular.
Rarity looked around and saw not only Rainbow, but also Applejack and Fluttershy standing outside, looking every bit as bewildered as she did. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
“What happened was that Plan A failed,” a nasal tenor said. Rarity whirled around and saw the thin, well-dressed man who’d spent the evening chatting up Celestia and Luna jamming doorstops into the gaps around the exit. It took her a moment or two to recognize him as Pinkie and Penumbra’s father.
She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak, he stood up and gave his own clarification as he wiped the dust off of his palms. “Pinkie wanted me to make sure you were safe if we needed to resort to Plan B.”
“Plan B?” Applejack asked. “What sorta cockamamie nonsense are you talkin’ about?”
“Let’s just say that this year’s popularity contest had more at stake than mere bragging rights.”
———————
Predictably, Sunset Shimmer didn’t immediately make her move once the tiara was resting on her brow—instead, she took a few moments to indulge in some disturbingly villainous laughter. Pinkie could have chosen that moment to make the first move, but she decided to let her opponent continue, as the extra time would not only allow Discord to make sure their friends were safe, but it also gave Penumbra more time to focus her thoughts so she could create Shadowbolts from the fog machine’s output.
Principal Celestia, on the other hand, had not expected her favorite student to break out in a fit of triumphant laughter upon winning—indeed, the standard reaction was to make a show of conspicuous humility. “Sunset?” she said quietly. “Are you feeling...”
Before Celestia could finish, the gem on the tiara glowed, and a soft orange beam hit the principal, who now stood passively next to Sunset Shimmer with a blank expression on her face. Sunset smiled. “That was even more efficient than I expected,” she remarked to no one in particular.
As the crowd in the gym began to stir, Sunset fired off a few more spells, hitting individuals at first before engulfing the entire room in an orange aura. When the glow finally subsided, Sunset was pleased to see that the overwhelming majority had succumbed to her neuromancy and were awaiting their instructions with submissive complacency. Of course, there were a few exceptions. Pinkie Pie had made her way towards the stage and was now glaring up at her as she cracked her knuckles, while Penumbra stood behind her, her eyes closed with a hand to her temple, likely preparing for her opening move. This, however, Sunset had expected. After all, Princess Celestia would never be so foolish as to send anypony who was susceptible to mind control to face her. On the other hand, Sunset hadn’t expected any of the local residents to resist her, which is why the voice from behind her startled her.
“What on earth is going on here?!” Vice Principal Luna exclaimed. “Celestia? Why are you just standing there? Snap out of it!”
Sunset shot a bemused glance behind her. “Huh... and here I thought my magic simply wasn’t powerful enough to sway you. Turns out you’re actually resistant to neuromancy. Fancy that.”
“What?!” Luna exclaimed, but before she could get anything out, Sunset snapped her fingers, and two members of the jazz ensemble grabbed her by the arms and pulled them behind her back while a third member began tying her up. Meanwhile, a fourth student ripped some purple fabric draped on the stage and stuffed it into her mouth.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Sunset said coldly. “Right now, I have more pressing matters to attend to.” She turned forward and looked at Pinkie. “You’re awfully calm, considering that you’ve lost. I take it you already accepted defeat?”
“No, we’re going to kick your butt one way or the other,” Pinkie replied matter-of-factly. “We’re just trying to keep the mess from getting out of hoof. That’s why I’ve decided to give you another chance to give up.” Pinkie knew perfectly well that Sunset wouldn’t take it, but Discord hadn’t returned yet, so she was happy to stall for more time—though for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what was taking him so long. All he had to do was get their friends far away and come back, which couldn’t be that hard. He’s probably slacking off again. Figures.
———————
Unbeknownst to any of the major players, one of the doors at the back of the gym had cracked open, and four sets of eyes were expectantly peering through it—and they did not like what they saw.
“What in tarnation is goin’ on?” Applejack asked. “Why are they all just standin’ there? And why ain’t Principal Celestia helping her sister?”
Discord was standing some distance away, trying his best to coax the girls to someplace less dangerous. “I assure you, ladies, that there is a perfectly logical explanation, but unfortunately, I have no time to give it to you.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to hear him. “Well, why are we standing around here? Let’s get back in there and help.”
“No!” Discord shouted as he rushed over and managed to wedge himself between the girls and the door. “No, no, absolutely not, no! The situation is far too dangerous, which is why I need to get you four to safety. And when I say ‘safety,’ I mean ‘any place that isn’t here.’”
“Oh...” Fluttershy said. “Well, if you’re sure it’s that bad...”
“I am not entirely certain that it is,” Rarity said. “I’ll grant you that the people in there are acting strange, but is it not also strange for a father to be trying to aid his daughters in fighting over a tiara?”
Discord sighed. His initial plan to shuttle Pinkie’s friends away before they became too curious had fizzled out. Clearly, they’d need to know some of the truth. “It would be strange, except I’m not their father, and the fight is over something far more powerful than mere costume jewelry.”
“What?!” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Pinkie, Penumbra, and I aren’t from around here. In fact, we’re not even from this universe. We come from a world where magic is commonplace. Sunset Shimmer is from our world as well, and she’s been living in exile here for years. Because of some very boring technical reasons, she hasn’t been able to use magic in this world very efficiently, but she believes the tiara will make her more powerful. And, given how many people are now under the influence of her mind control, it looks like she was correct.”
“Mind control?!” Rarity asked, shocked.
“Yes, mind control. Kind of like hypnosis, except with mind control you don’t actually need your subject’s consent to mess around in their head. Now, can we please get you somewhere safe?”
“Oh, come on,” Rainbow Dash said. “You don’t expect us to actually believe that, do you? Everyone knows there’s no such thing as magic.”
Discord let out a groan, rolled his eyes, and snapped his fingers. The five of them vanished in a puff of smoke, only to reappear moments later in the parking lot of Donut Joe’s.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack asked.
“Magic,” Discord replied, “and fairly simple magic at that. Or do you perhaps think that this is some sort of elaborate practical joke? Because if you have another explanation for how we all transported here so quickly, I’d love to hear it.”
Applejack puzzled this out a bit before giving in. “Okay, fine, ya got me. How ’bout the rest of y’all?” she asked the others, who were too dumbfounded to come up with anything.
“Excellent,” Discord said. “So, now that you all know that there’s going to be magic flying all over the place, you can retreat to your homes, where nobody will need to worry about any of you being held as hostages, and I can return to assist Pinkie. Sounds good?”
“Uh, no.” Rainbow Dash said. “Our friends are in trouble, and you expect us to just sit it out? No way.”
“I must agree,” Rarity said. “If Sunset Shimmer is truly as dangerous as you imply, Pinkie will need assistance from someone who has been dealing with her for years.”
“My parents didn’t raise me ta just sit back an’ watch someone get hurt if there was somethin’ I could do to help,” Applejack said.
Discord turned to Fluttershy. Surely she, of all people, wouldn’t be willing to rush into a dangerous sitation. “How about you?”
“Um... well, it does sound really scary... but... if Pinkie’s in trouble, I don’t think I could bear to just sit at home and wait until it was over.”
Discord groaned. He wanted to obey Pinkie’s orders—he really did. This was how he was supposed to show that he was serious about changing his ways, after all. But these girls seemed hell-bent on getting involved despite the risks. “This is a friendship thing, isn’t it?” he finally asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“You’re all going to head back there no matter what I do, because Pinkie and Penumbra are your friends, right?”
“Well, obviously,” Rarity said. “Not to mention the fact that Sunset likely has many of our other friends under her sway, if indeed she is controlling their minds.”
Discord sighed. “I figured as much. The trouble is, I’m not sure if you can help without becoming a liability.”
“A what now?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“He’s worried that if Pinkie’s gotta worry about us, she ain’t gonna be able ta focus on Sunset,” Applejack said.
“More or less...” Discord admitted. “Still... I suppose there is one thing you can do that might help out...”
“Great!” Rainbow Dash said. “What is it?”
“Well, first of all, we need to find Twilight Sparkle.”
———————
Sunset was starting to feel a bit confused, and confusion was not in her game plan for the evening. By all rights, Pinkie Pie should have been at least a little bit intimidated, but she had sounded so confident when predicting her victory that it was unnerving. Meanwhile, Penumbra was just standing beside her with her eyes closed and an almost serene look on her face. “Are you truly this foolish?” Sunset said, hoping that her voice matched her opponent’s in tone. “I hold all the cards! The Element of Magic is mine, the student body is mine to command, and most importantly of all, your friends are...”
It was then that Sunset scanned the crowd and realized two things. First, Pinkie’s human friends were nowhere to be seen. Second, neither was Discord. “They’re gone...” she said, momentarily stunned. She turned her attention back to Pinkie Pie. “You’ve just been stalling for time!”
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well, duh.”
“Find them!” Sunset ordered the mass of students. “Now!”
A few teenagers voicelessly began to move towards the exits, but within seconds, all the fog that had been hanging around the gym suddenly floated ahead of them, where it coalesced into large, menacing figures wearing dark suits and wrap-around sunglasses. They stood with their arms crossed over their chests, each looking like a cross between a bouncer and a bodyguard. A few teenagers tried to muscle their way past, but when pushing and shoving failed to move these newcomers, most of the students seemed befuddled as to what to do next.
Sunset looked back at the center of the gym and now saw the remaining fog consolidating behind Penumbra, who, she now saw, had raised an arm towards the ceiling and opened her eyes, which had take on an eerie glow. There was apparently only enough fog left for three more goons, who were noticeably slighter than those who had been designated as roadblocks, but all of whom looked reasonably athletic.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. The students may have outnumbered these new forces, but they still looked quite formidable. As her strategy relied on keeping the playing field as uneven as possible, her first instinct was to attempt to turn this new development against her opponents. With a few seconds of concentration, she sent out another wave of neuromancy... which did nothing. “What the hell?”
“I take it you’ve never had to deal with golems before,” Penumbra said with a smirk.
“But... but how?”
“I already told you,” Penumbra said. “I am The Nightmare. These are my Shadowbolts, and they are precisely the reason I was considered dangerous in the first place.”
“You think mere puppets will be enough to stop me?!”
“No,” Penumbra said, shaking her head slowly, “but fortunately, Pinkie Pie can.”
Sunset Shimmer wondered how Pinkie could possibly top Penumbra’s feat, but she didn’t have to wonder for long, as Pinkie was suddenly engulfed in a bright pink light. When it subsided, Pinkie’s dress lay in tatters on the floor, and a svelte, winged unicorn stood in her place, her very presence radiating confidence.
“You... you’re an alicorn?!” Sunset said as her eyes widened.
Pinkie grinned mischievously. “Surprise!”
———————
Twilight Sparkle pushed her chair away from the desktop in the computer lab and rubbed the bridge of her nose. The program she’d been coding for her project still wasn’t working correctly, and she was fairly certain that the problem was more than a mere mistyped character, but she still had to make sure that none of her lines contained a typo before settling on that conclusion. It was a slow, tough slog, and it wasn’t helped in the slightest by the fact that her mind was on an event she’d never wanted to attend in her life. She glanced at the clock. The Fall Formal should be ending soon... and they did say they wanted to hang out afterwards....
“Right,” Surprise said, “so you should leave to meet up with them now.”
“But there’s still work I need to do,” Twilight replied. “And it’s not like they need me around—not tonight, anyway.”
“Twilight!”
Twilight looked up in time to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack burst into the room, nearly knocking over an unused workstation and earning themselves irritated looks from the other students present. For her part, Twilight was so startled that it took her a few moments to notice that both of them were still wearing formal dresses, which, she supposed, made sense, though if this was for an informal hangout, she’d have thought that they would have changed first. Then again, if they were in enough of a hurry to risk damaging others’ property, perhaps they wouldn’t have had time to get changed... but what on earth could justify running all the way across town just to talk to her? “Rainbow Dash... Applejack... Is something wrong?”
“There’s a lotta somethings wrong right now, but this ain’t the place to talk about ’em,” Applejack said. “Mind savin’ your work and headin’ outside for a bit?”
Still somewhat confused, Twilight agreed, and was soon even more confused when Rainbow Dash gathered up all her things after she rose from her workstation.
“Trust me,” the blue girl said, “you don’t wanna leave your stuff unattended. This, uh, might take a while.”
Twilight slung her backpack over her shoulder and left the building with the pair, following them to a rarely-used bench on a windowless side of the computer science building, where she saw Rarity and Fluttershy waiting for her, along with... “Mr. Discord?!” Twilight exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“The full answer,” he replied, “is long and complicated, and right now we don’t have the luxury of time. The short answer is that the situation at the Fall Formal went badly. Very badly.”
“What do you mean? Are you saying that Pinkie lost?”
Discord shrugged. “Well, yes, she did, but that’s largely inconsequential compared to what happened next.”
Twilight was still trying to figure out what he was talking about. “So? What happened? Did Penumbra get violent again?”
“Good heavens, no!” Rarity said. “Or at least, as far as we know, she hasn’t yet.”
Fluttershy nodded. “She did seem to be rather calm when we last peeked into the gym.”
“Well,” Twilight said, “then what else could have gotten you to come all the way here to find me?”
“Uh, well, when Sunset won, she sorta... took over,” Applejack said awkwardly.
Twilight scratched her head, “What’s that supposed to mean? She’s become the center of attention?”
“I suppose one could put it that way,” Rarity said, “if one was prone to understatement.”
Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. “Okay, look, I get that something odd’s going on, but I don’t see what that has to do with me.”
The four girls looked at each other, as if hoping that one of them would come up with a decent explanation... but they ended up passing the buck to Discord. “He said you’d be able to help,” Rainbow Dash said, jerking a thumb towards the well-dressed man.
“Well?” Twilight said. “How about it?”
Discord sighed. “Twilight Sparkle, do you believe in magic?”
“What? Of course not. There’s no evidence that it exists.”
“Really? Well, then, would you consider a gymnasium full of mind-controlled students evidence, then?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I know it’s important for parents to support their kids, but your daughter loses a popularity contest, and you’re jumping to far-fetched ideas about brainwashing?”
“It’s not brainwashing. I know brainwashing when I see it—indeed, I’ve done it myself in the past. Trust me, brainwashing takes far longer than three seconds. What Sunset Shimmer has done is neuromancy—the use of magic to alter the thought processes of others.”
“Okay, you know what? I don’t have to listen to this. I thought you were all interesting, but now it’s clear that you’re just plain nuts.” Twilight started to turn away from the assembled group, but Discord stopped her.
“Wait... perhaps a demonstration will convince you to reconsider.”
“If you seriously think I’ll be fooled by some sleight-of-hand—”
“Of course you won’t be,” Discord interrupted her. “But fortunately, this isn’t sleight-of-hand.”
Before Twilight Sparkle could protest further, Discord snapped his fingers twice, and the six of them vanished.
———————
“You’re an alicorn.” Sunset Shimmer’s voice was flat as she repeated her statement, as if stating the obvious in a blasé tone would make it easier to dismiss.
“It’s more or less a prerequisite for becoming a Princess of Equestria,” Penumbra said drolly.
“Princess?! But... I thought Twilight Sparkle was the one who was being groomed to be the new princess.”
“She was,” Pinkie said. “But it turns out Celestia didn’t need to use her original plan to finish the job. Twilight and I fulfilled the requirements together, and we were crowned in the same ceremony. So, now that you have a better idea of who you’re really up against, I’ll give you one more chance to surrender and come back to Equestria quietly.”
For a moment or two, it seemed as if Sunset was seriously considering this offer, but she soon started shaking her head slowly, revealing a little smile in the process. “Okay, as impressive as that was, it’ll take more than some shapeshifting to convince me that you’re really an alicorn. If you’re really as powerful as an Equestrian princess, why on earth would you have bothered with this silly election?”
“Well, I was sort of hoping to avoid making the locals upset,” Pinkie said. “Oh! That reminds me...” She turned her attention to the bound and gagged Vice Principal Luna, who was staring at the scene with utter incomprehension painted on her face. “Don’t worry, Luna, you aren’t going crazy. I really am a magical talking horse. So is Sunset, actually,” Pinkie added, gesturing a hoof towards her adversary. “And she’s just using mind control to make everyone else do bad things for her. I’m sure they didn’t really mean to tie you up. I’ll be able to explain everything after I win.”
Luna began to respond with a panicked moan through her gag, but Sunset interrupted her. “You think you can just take me for granted?! The Element of Magic makes me the most powerful unicorn who ever existed!”
“Yeah, that’s definitely not true,” Penumbra said.
“And why the heck are you still human?!” Sunset asked her with growing agitation.
“Why are you?” Penumbra replied.
Sunset didn’t respond right away; instead, the Element of Magic began to glow, emitting an orange aura that completely engulfed her, lifting her up into the air; when it had subsided, she’d undergone a transformation of her own, her appearance changing from that of a normal human to a winged demon-like creature who hovered over the gymnasium, staring at Pinkie with malicious hatred.
Penumbra leaned over to Pinkie Pie. “I take it we’re going to stop waiting for Discord now?”
“Yeah,” Pinkie replied with a nod. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Wait, where’s the promise part?”
“Don’t need one,” Pinkie said as she flapped her wings and rose into the air. “I just said I hoped to fly, didn’t I?” She rose to Sunset’s eye level and stared down her opponent. She briefly considered granting herself more abilities to make the fight shorter, but she decided against it. After all, there was no telling what Sunset’s own magic was doing to this world’s magical stability, and there was still no reason to risk making things worse unless she had to. Indeed, even if this world was resilient enough to take the full force of her own abilities, there was always the chance that Sunset would decide to wreak as much destruction as she could muster before going down. No, Pinkie still needed to hold back, even now—it was for the best.
“Now you will see my true power!” Sunset exclaimed. “Attack!”
Sunset formed a ball of what Pinkie could only assume was white, glowy ouchiness between her palms and flung it in her direction. Of course, all her years as an imaginary pegasus had given Pinkie plenty of experience with a pair of wings, so she dodged it easily. Instead, the ball hit one of the purple tapestries on the gym wall, leaving behind a shower of sparks and a singed, blackened ring. For her part, Pinkie elected to take advantage of the considerable earth pony magic she had in addition to her imaginary friend magic by relying on physical strength, at least for the moment. Dodging and weaving around the projectiles that Sunset was now throwing at her, she slammed directly into Sunset Shimmer, causing the she-demon to tumble end-over-end in the air. This only incapacitated her for a few seconds, but that was all Pinkie needed, as she flew behind Sunset, positioned herself carefully, and proceeded to buck her opponent in the shoulders.
The plan worked exactly as intended, and the Element of Magic flew off of Sunset’s head into the crowd below—but when Pinkie looked down, she saw the students were still attacking the small cadre of Shadowbolts that had now formed a circle around Penumbra. Given that the Shadowbolts were actual soldiers fighting off an untrained rabble, this situation wasn’t particularly dire, but Pinkie couldn’t figure out why Sunset’s spell hadn’t worn off once she was without a tiara. Any further speculation was cut short by another glowing ball that clipped the tip of her tail. She looked over to see Sunset rocketing towards her, another projectile at the ready. Pinkie was quite sure that there was a logical reason why Sunset didn’t seem to be hampered without the Element of Magic, but she was equally sure that theories could wait until after this mess had been cleaned up.
Of course, cleaning up would have been much easier if Discord had returned. Where the heck is he?
———————
Discord and his five companions rematerialized on the lawn outside of Canterlot High’s gym. Four of those companions looked somewhat unsteady, but quickly regained their composure. The fifth companion fell to her knees and looked like she was on the verge of hyperventilating.
“What... what was that?!” Twilight exclaimed in a tone that was close to panic.
“Teleportation,” Discord said. “As your friends discovered a few minutes ago, it’s one of the most efficient ways to demonstrate that magic actually exists. Real magic, that is, not sleight-of-hand and misdirection.”
Twilight, however, seemed less willing to accept this explanation than the others. “That’s ridiculous; there must be some sort of explanation. You... you could have access to some sort of classified technology, or—”
Twilight was cut off when one of the doors of the gymnasium suddenly flew off of its hinges, followed shortly by a bright yellow-white ball of something that didn’t behave in quite the way that plasma was supposed to behave. As the ball of energy embedded itself in a nearby embankment before fading to nothingness, Discord turned back towards her. “Well, I suppose it’s theoretically possible that Principal Celestia has invented photon torpedoes in her spare time and chosen to hide them inside a gymnasium that’s still in active use, but I, for one, think that magic is a far more sensible explanation.”
“Is that a... pink horse flying around in there?” Rainbow Dash asked as she peered through the now-open door.
Discord let out a sigh. “That would be Pinkie Pie in her true form,” he said, “and the proper term in her case is ‘pony,’ not ‘horse.’”
“What?” the girls all exclaimed.
“Well, you see... hey! Get back here!” Rather than waiting for any further explanation, the five of them had made their way to the door to get a better look. Fortunately, Discord managed to pull them away before anyone inside noticed them.
“Alright, I’m guessing you’ll want a more detailed explanation, then?”
“Yer darn tootin’, we will,” Applejack said.
“Great,” Discord said as he rolled his eyes. “Okay, here’s the fast version. Pinkie is actually a magical talking pony from another dimension. So is Penumbra, and so is Sunset, who has been exiled in your world for years. Sunset recently stole an important magical artifact, but for whatever reason, when she got here, it ended up being the prize for this little popularity contest of yours.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Did her plan involve switching the original for a fake?”
“Quick on the uptake, I see,” Discord said approvingly.
“How’d you guess that?” Fluttershy asked.
“It’s quite simple, darling,” Rarity said, “Sunset obviously pushed for a new tiara for the competition specifically so she could commission a high-quality reproduction of this object.”
“Okay, so now that we’re all here, how do we help Pinkie and Penumbra kick some butt?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, since I assume that the sight of Pinkie flying around in pony-form is enough to convince you that I’m not completely pulling this from nowhere, I can go on to explain that there are five ponies back home who bear a striking resemblance to the five of you, right down to their names, and they are five of Pinkie’s closest friends. That’s why she had such a good grasp on all of your personalities, and yes, Twilight, that’s why she reminds you of Surprise.”
Twilight looked absolutely gobsmacked. “How could you possibly know about—”
“That’s exactly the sort of detail that can be resolved later, after we’ve thwarted Sunset Shimmer’s plans. Now, together, Pinkie and her friends wield the Elements of Harmony to defend Equestria using the magic of friendship.”
“The ‘magic of friendship’?” Rarity asked skeptically.
“Yes, I know it sounds silly, but trust me, it’s really potent stuff, to the point where I’m fairly confident that you’ll be able to do some good with it. Now, the Element of Magic has been entrusted to my world’s Twilight Sparkle, which is why I think that you,” — he paused briefly to point at the human Twilight — “will be able to undo this damage if you manage to get that tiara and put it on. The rest of you will probably have to do some sort of mystical friendship thing to help out, but if you follow Pinkie’s lead there, you should be fine.” Discord finally stopped talking, and for a moment, all five girls were silent.
“Um, Mr. Discord?” Fluttershy asked.
Discord let out a sigh. “There’s no need for the ‘Mr.’ I’m not really an authority figure of any kind.”
“Oh. Well, um, if Pinkie’s a pony, and Penumbra’s a pony, and Sunset’s a pony, and the versions of us from your world are ponies, does that mean...” Fluttershy trailed off, but it was obvious how she’d intended to finish her question.
“No, I’m not a pony myself,” Discord answered.
“So what are ya, then?” Applejack asked.
“Okay, we definitely don’t have time to go into that,” Discord said. “I need an answer from you. Either you guys get the Element of Magic and undo all the insanity, or you all need to get somewhere where you won’t be hurt, because if we have to do this the hard way, it could get ugly.”
“I’m in,” Rainbow Dash said without hesitation.
“Pretty sure most of us already agreed to be ‘in,’” Applejack said.
“Well, of course,” Rarity said, “but now we know the details.”
“I, um, don’t think I’m going to change my mind, though,” Fluttershy said, “unless Twilight doesn’t want to, because it doesn’t sound like we can do much without her.”
Twilight, though, still looked distressed. “This... this is absolutely insane! Even assuming that everything you said is true, there’s no way I can possibly pull if off. Half an hour ago, I wouldn’t have even thought that magic could exist, and now you’re asking me to go up against someone who’s been using it her whole life?”
“You wouldn’t be by yourself,” Discord said. “This is friendship magic we’re talking about, and you’d have all your friends supporting you.”
“That’s the other thing—these girls are nice people and all, but I’ve only known them for a few days. How could that possibly be enough to make this ‘magic of friendship’ thing work?”
“A few days?” Discord exclaimed. “Twilight, your counterparts had only known each other for a few hours when they used friendship magic for the first time. I’m sure that’s enough to make up for your inexperience.”
“But...”
“Look,” Discord said with exasperation. “I get that you’re confused and possibly a little bit scared, and I wish I could reassure you by explaining every single detail of exactly who we are and what’s going on, and why I don’t think this will be a complete disaster, but the fact is that we just don’t have time. Twilight, we need you right now. If Sunset Shimmer succeeds here, your whole world might be in trouble—and ours, for that matter. I know it’s asking a lot, but if you put your trust in your friends—and believe me, they are your friends—you can do this.”
Twilight was silent for a few seconds, and then turned to the other girls. “Do you guys really think of me as a friend?”
She was met with a round of reassuring nods.
Twilight let out a sigh. “Okay... let’s do it.”