• Published 28th Apr 2014
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Ponyshock Infinite - Mint Copy



Twilight Sparkle: Princess, Alicorn, Friend. But Ms. Sparkle has made a terrible choice, one she's had to live with, but now she has to save the multiverse. Even if it kills her. (Based on Bioshock Infinite)

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Lucky Breaks

“To the Prophet will be born a Winged Daughter, and she will lay waste to the mountains of Ponykind.”
Prophecies of the Setting Sun
-The Prophet Dusk, Y1895 CR

Twilight couldn’t help but start hyperventilating as the rocket began shooting upwards at incredible speeds. She’d read about these things, of course, but she’d never intended to ever ride in one.

“It’s okay, Twilight.” She kept telling herself, still struggling against the manacles that held her hooves. “It’s just Isaac Hoofton’s Third Law of Motion. Two extremely volatile substances are being mixed together to produce enough thrust to overcome Equestria’s gravity and force me up into the air, all the while stressing against it’s housing in every effort to Explode- OH CELESTIA THIS ISN’T HELPING!” She cried out as she saw her own terrified face reflected back in the tiny window that was right in front of her. She almost started screaming again when another voice began speaking from somewhere inside the rocket. A mare’s voice, calm, collected, and with a distinct fuzziness that marked it out as a pre-recorded message.

“5,000 feet.” it said calmly. Then, after a short while: “10,000 feet… 15,000 feet” It wasn’t long after that when the rocket breached the cloud layer, revealing a massive city above the clouds. Normally that wouldn’t be surprising, Twilight had been to Cloudsdale before, but this city seemed built to rival the largest unicorn cities, made from stone and wood and resting on massive balloons and propellers. “Cloud Layer Breached, Halleluja. Welcome to McCarthia.”

Twilight couldn’t help but whistle as the rocket seemed to hover over the city. “Didn’t expect this, that’s for sure.” She murmured to herself. Looking around, she spotted the statue from the picture she’d received. Of course, it wasn’t like it was hard to miss. The giant statue was large enough to be seen from just about anywhere in the city. “Who would want a giant Pegasus staring down at them anyway?” she asked herself, curious at the culture these sky-ponies must have. She didn’t recognize the pegasus from any ancient mythologies or religions she’d read about, but then again, nor had she ever heard of a place like this existing.

These thoughts were, of course, forgotten when Gravity remembered the small projectile that had been fighting ever so hard against it until very recently. Twilight barely had time to take in another breath for screaming before the plummet really got going.

Thankfully, instead of plummeting over 15,000 feet to a cold death in the horseshoe bay, the rocket was caught by… something, Twilight couldn’t tell what, and was slowly lowered into a strange building where it unceremoniously dumped the Princess into a room filled with fetlock-deep water and one strange looking unicorn in a long robe. “Greetings sister. And welcome to McCarthia.” he said placidly. “All Pegasi and Unicorns are welcome here, and it looks like you meet both criteria.” He added with a strange inflection, as if he were unused to making jokes.

“Uh huh. Brilliant.” Twilight grumbled, shaking out her wings and tossing her head as she stood. “Wait, I’m sorry, did I hear you right? McCarthia?”

The pony seemed to take her confusion as a given. “Don’t worry my sister, most pilgrims are confused when they first take the rocket into the heavens. This is indeed McCarthia, the promised land of the Prophet Dusk, as foretold by the Angel McCarthy. You are among your brothers and sisters now.”

“Oookay then...” Twilight said, moving past the pony. “I’m ever so… glad… that I got to make this… Pilgrimage.”

Better keep my head down. Twilight thought, Don’t want to draw too much attention to myself.

As her hooves splashed through the water, the Princess kept her head on a swivel, looking around the extremely labyrinthian building. It seemed to be a place of worship of some kind, with strange statues dotting prayer halls, statues of Alicorns that looked familiar, but Twilight couldn’t identify them in the low light. Before long, she came across a massive oil painting of a Pegasus stallion, dressed in an elegant blue outfit. The Plaque on the frame read ‘Lord Sunset, late husband of the Prophet, shortly before his murder by the vile Vox Tera’. Beneath it was a strange device, it reminded Twilight of a Record Player, only much smaller. Curious, she began fiddling with it, and it wasn’t long before she found the activation switch.

“Love the Prophet, because she loves the sinner. Love the sinner, because he is you. Without the sinner, what need is there for a redeemer? Without sin, what grace has forgiveness?
-Lord Sunset, Y1893 CR”

As Twilight listened to the recording, she began to think for the first time just how far in over her head she might have gotten. This sort of recursive logic wouldn’t get anypony anywhere, and if it was the dominant train of thought here... “And I thought Ponyville was crazy.” She finished the thought aloud, replacing the machine.

After wandering around for a while and exploring, Twilight was fairly certain that she wanted to get out of this city as soon as she was able. She was going to see if Applejack was up here too, grab her, grab the mare Berry wanted, then find the fastest way down. The Mare was a pegasus after all, and Twilight was a decently strong flyer. If worst came to worst, then perhaps they could fly their way down. She’d never actually flown this high, in fact, she doubted even Rainbow Dash had breached the clouds this high up, and the air was definitely thinner. The thoughts continued running through Twilight’s mind as she pondered the scenario.

Okay. Fifteen thousand feet, that’s an issue in of itself, but since our flight would be almost entirely downwards, perhaps gliding would save energy and not exhaust either of us due to the low air pressure. That is, of course, assuming that the Mare is a strong enough flyer, but that doesn’t account for Applejack’s weight. Rainbow Dash could barely lift me before I had wings, and AJ is larger than I was. Perhaps if I were to distribute the weight using-

Her thoughts were interrupted when she almost bumped into a large group of robed ponies gathered around what seemed to be the exit. “Ah, excuse me, pardon me. Coming through!” Twilight said politely enough as she shouldered her way through the crowd, only to be stopped by an exceptionally old Unicorn in a black robe.

“Ah, is it someone new? Someone from the mud below? Here to be cleansed in the waters of McCarthia? To be redeemed in the eyes of The Prophet, The Angel, and The Creator?” he asked.

“Look, I’m Twilight Sparkle. I just need to get into the city.” She replied, hoping that they’d at least heard of her up here.

“Passage into the city? Ha-ha!” The priest mocked her. Well. So much for royal treatment. Twilight thought sourly.

“Sister, the only way into the city is through baptism in the holy waters. Will you accept our blessings into your heart?” He asked, extending a hoof.

Well. It’s this or I just turn around and go home.She thought bitterly. “Alright father. Let’s go.” Twilight said as she stepped forward and stood beside the priest, waiting for his spiel and the little splash of water over her horn.

“Brothers and Sisters, many years ago, our Prophet heard the words of the Angel McCarthy, who gave him a grim vision of our future. We had deviated from The Creators plans, and we were to be punished for it. The beloved Princesses had turned their backs on what they stood for, betrayed the people. But we do not blame them, we still admire their original acts in the founding of Equestria. But still, they are a cautionary tale. No matter the purity of your heart, you may still fall under the influence of evil. And that is why we are here, above the influence, and it is why we must shed our corruption in the waters of Baptism. The pony that enters the waters is not the one that leaves, and that my brothers and sisters, is true rebirth. A new life under the eyes of Faust, and the Prophet’s protection!”

Twilight half wanted to engage the holypony in a debate of his wackjob beliefs, but she didn’t want to spend all day fighting an uphill battle. In concession, she added a sarcastic “Amen” to the end of the pony’s rant, then awaited the splash.

Only for a magical field to envelop Twilight’s head and force her under the water! The priest held her there as she struggled, unable to even think up a counterspell as she panicked.

Oh Celestia, this madpony’s trying to kill me!
“See how she struggles, my brethren!” she heard the priest yell. “This one’s sins are far deeper than any we have seen yet! Does she seem clean to anypony?” The ponies kept ranting for a good few minutes as Twilight struggled for air, before black spots started to cloud her vision, and she lost consciousness.


“And ‘lo, the Angel McCarthy did appear to the Prophet, and she revealed to her the future of Equestria. The Prophet was to build an ark, a floating city to house the chosen, and to defend the ideals of Equestria until her dying breath.”
The Founding of McCarthia
-Pastor Angel Feather, Y1905CR

“Twilight, what’s going on?! Where are we?!” The voice called out in a panic, struggling against Twilight’s magic. “Please, stop! No! I don’t want to go!”

“Look, this needs to happen! Go through the portal, right now!” Twilight yelled, anger in her voice as she shoved the pegasus.

“Quick Twilight-!” Another voice started calling for her to do something, but a scream of pain drowned it out. It was there that the dream ended, and Twilight Sparkle awoke with a gasp.

Twilight found herself lying on her back, still in fetlock deep water, but at least now she was outside.

...and surrounded by creepy statues staring down at her. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence. As if the fact that three of her greatest teachers and friends were staring down at her wasn’t creepy enough, each one of them bore an expression that seemed totally foreign to them, one of judgement, one of hate. Not even when Twilight had made her mistake had they bore such an evil look. Whoever lived in this city certainly didn’t see the same facets of the Princesses that the rest of Equestria did.

Shuddering, the Alicorn moved on, trying to shake the water out of her fur as she moved. After the rainstorm and a drowning attempt by a madpony, Twilight was surprised she hadn’t caught pneumonia. “That’s the absolute last time I listen to a pony in a robe.” She muttered angrily to herself. “If I never see another robe, it’ll be too soon.” she continued muttering as she climbed the steps towards the exit. Only for a garden filled with more ponies in white robes to grace her eyes as she crested the steps.

Pinkie, I hate you so much. She thought bitterly. Teeth grinding, eye twitching, Twilight felt her old tics return as she moved towards the exit, trying to avoid and ignore the robed ponies. It reminded her of the time she almost missed sending Celestia a report, actually. Her friends had been so dismissive of her problems back then, more focused on their picnic. But then again, she had been overreacting. A small smile came to her snout as she remembered those days, when life was simple. Just her, her friends, letters to Celestia, and friendship. Where did everything go wrong? She wondered. She hadn’t spoken to Rarity in the longest time, not since the her and Applejack’s massive fight, and Rainbow Dash left for parts unknown not long after that. Even Spike had left her, going with Rarity to… wherever she’d gone to. That had left Twilight with only Applejack, but even she had little time for the Alicorn, due to the rapid growth of her apple business.

At first, Spike had occasionally sent her letters, and he frequently mentioned something about Rarity starting up a massive manufacturing company somewhere far away, but those letters became less and less frequent as time went on, until the eventually stopped coming. There had also been rumours of a Rainbow Pegasus gathering up young fliers for some sort of organization or school, but Twilight had never managed to find proof of that one. It made sense though; Rarity was always an entrepreneur at heart, and even though Rainbow Dash was hotheaded, she could make for a good teacher when she wanted to be.

Then there had been her argument with Celestia. Creator above, I don’t even remember what we were arguing about. Twilight thought bitterly. At some point, Twilight had made a terrible mistake that had brought down Celestia’s wrath upon her. However, as a Princess, Twilight couldn’t really be punished without causing unrest in the populace, so the Sun Princess cut her off completely. She was no longer permitted in Canterlot Castle, nor allowed to access royal funds. Eventually, even Luna and Cadence turned against her, until she was alone. Yet Twilight still didn’t know what she did!

Was it a financial error? Diplomatic? Did she file something incorrectly?

Did I hurt somepony? The final thought stung her, even now, and she winced. It was the not knowing that hurt the most. Twilight had been so great with details; a veritable genius, at least all of her teachers had told her so, but as of late, details had started falling through the cracks. She had little doubt that her cider habit was adding to it, but as pathetic as it was, Twilight needed something to fill the void. Applejack had at one point tried to wean her off it, but Twilight had twisted her hooves, and now the Earth Pony was her main supplier of the stuff. And she felt rotten for it. Which led her to drink even more.

I suppose that’s what you call a vicious cycle. her mind snarked at her, to which she added: Great, now even I’m judging me for my life decisions.

She shook her head as she finally left that stupid garden of robed ponies behind her and came across some normally dressed ponies. almost all of them unicorns, strangely enough, though a few Pegasi made up their number. There wasn’t an Earth Pony to be seen, which Twilight supposed was understandable, given the altitude, but still the scene in the lighthouse sprang to mind.

The Alicorn kept walking, keeping the massive statue in the distance always in sight. That was her landmark, and she would bet however many bits she had left that the Statue had something to do with the Mare’s location, if that wasn’t where she was to start with. Twilight had lived in stranger places, after all. Twilight turned a corner and suddenly, a new statue assaulted her eyes. While not as big as the pegasus statue, this one still dominated the square. It depicted an alicorn holding a book and gesticulating to the heavens. She looked quite old, with a long and flowing mane, not unlike Celestia’s.

Well. Seems humility isn’t one of the tenets these ponies follow. She thought as she approached the statue, giving the plaque on it’s base a quick once over, if only to find out who this pony was.

The Prophet Dusk Glimmer, communing with the Angel McCarthy.

Twilight was less than impressed. Is this seriously the pony they love so much? Not exactly the most impressive figure. She suppressed a chuckle as she moved on. Looks like my Grandmother after a few too many salt licks.

Twilight kept walking, keeping the Pegasus statue clear in her vision as she made her way towards it. It was hard to lose sight of, in reality, since it’s wings seemed to fill the sky, much wider than a normal Pegasus’ proportions would allow. She assumed it was symbolic, and started pondering these ponies and their belief system again. Her mind didn’t deal with idleness well, and the murmurs of the citizens and the clopping of hooves on cobblestone wasn’t exactly the most riveting soundtrack to her journey. Twilight had heard the creation myth, of course, just about everyone had, but this was the first time she’d heard of an ‘Archangel McCarthy’, or of this ‘Prophet Dusk’. How much did I miss while I was running damage control on my life? She wondered. All these ponies didn’t just magically appear here, how could I have missed a religious movement large enough to found what is essentially Cloudsdale 2.0?

The thought was so invasive that it started to give her another headache, one so painful that she was glad when the next gate she pushed open revealed a young colt holding a telegram in his mouth. The colt seemed happy too, so much that he spit out the letter before Twilight could even grab it properly as he hooved it to her. “Telegram for Twilight Sparkle!” He beamed, looking up to her for approval.

“Thanks.” Twilight said, levitating the paper with her magic. “How much do I owe you for postage?”

“Nothing! It was pre-paid by a Ms. Pie!” He said excitably. The alicorn felt an eyebrow raise. With how jittery the kid was, she wouldn’t be surprised if Pinkie had paid him entirely in sweets. At least that was consistent with Pinkie. Her mind added for some reason, Twilight hadn’t a clue why.

“Well, alright. At least take ten bits as a tip then.” She said with a small smile. After all she’d been through today, she really did envy his innocence, and he deserved to enjoy it.

“Wow! Thanks miss!” The colt said as the coins floated from Twilight’s pocket into his saddlebags. Once they were safely deposited, he took off like a timberwolf from a brushfire, either to deliver more packages, or buy more sweets.

The smile still on her face, Twilight flipped the telegram over and began reading.

Twilight STOP

Hi! Hope you’re not having too much trouble in McCarthia STOP

These Telegram thingies are super fun, don’t you think? I mean, STOP! STOP

Anyways, make sure you don’t let that meanie Dusk Glimmer know you’re in McCarthia. STOP

OH! And remember! Whatever you do, don’t pick #77, it’s super bad juju! STOP

Hugs and Kisses STOP

Pinkie Pie and Berry Bubble

PS. Oh this is so much fun! You don’t know where my sentences end unless I say STOP! STOP STOP STOP STOP Gotcha! STOP.

Twilight couldn’t help but shake her head as she tucked the telegram into her shirt pocket. Pinkie Pie was the only mare she knew that could have fun with a Telegram. Avoiding getting this ‘Prophet’ on her tail was a given, if her priests were any indication, but the other warning about ‘#77’... It didn’t make a lot of sense. Twilight decided to ignore it for the time being, and worry about it later. The sooner she got the Mare and got out, the better.

Not too far ahead was an extremely strange poster. It depicted a pony clad in a long black cloak that completely hid their identity reaching out with a withered looking hoof towards a sheep of all things. The background wasn’t too much to look at either, it looked like the Badlands during a drought, all dry and cracked earth. The text at the top read:

The False Shepherd seeks to lead the Lamb astray.

“How odd…” Twilight murmered, walking past the poster. She passed several more with more or less the same message, until another caught her eye. It was a close up of the withered hoof, and on the back of it the letters FS were carved. Twilight shuddered before looking to the text:

You will know the False Shepherd by her mark!

at that moment, Twilight looked down to her own right hoof. Sure enough, the letters FS were right there, as clear as the day she’d taken a burning hot shoe-nail to it and carved them there. The thing was, Twilight couldn’t even remember why she’d done such a thing, probably a stupid dare during a bad Cider binge, after all, what could FS even stand for?

Whatever it was, here it could mean trouble. She thought. I’ve gotta make sure nopony sees my hoof. So long as I keep it near the ground, I should be fine.

She continued walking until she reached what appeared to be a small fair of some kind, filled with all sorts of stalls and games. Twilight was ever so tempted to play a few, but she had a mission. A few stalls were demonstrating things called ‘Vigors’. Best she could tell, they were magical potions that amplified, or straight up granted, certain magical abilities. The strangest part was that it didn’t seem limited to Unicorns either, since there was a Pegasus in a strange demon costume firing lightning from her hooves. The placard at his feet read:

Gemstone Industries Shock Jockey Vigor, pick up your bottle today!

A part of Twilight really wanted to snag a bottle and take it home for study, but she resisted. The more time she spent in lines was another moment she could say or do something to bring the hammer down on her head. She had the feeling that these ponies could be offended by one word in the wrong place. Or more precisely, one hoof.

There was only one way out of the plaza, so she made her way for the gate at the end, only to be stopped by a strange animatronic pony torso built into a pedestal. It reminded her of the Flim Flam brothers, just a little. “Sorry Madame,” it said, clunkily gesturing with it’s hooves. “No more allowed into the Monument Isle Raffle. You’ll have to try again later.”

The condescending tone that it spoke in frustrated Twilight more than the fact that she was being stopped by a cheap animatronic. She stomped a hoof in frustration and started yelling at the machine. “I don’t care about your stupid raffle! You can’t close off an entire section of the city for one event!” of course, the machine didn’t answer, but putting voice against the sheer stupidity of the event planning made her feel a little better.

“Hey, miss. Want to get into the raffle?” Called a voice to Twilight’s left. The alicorn blushed a little before turning to the source of the voice. “I’ve got just the thing to get you in.” The pony continued with a smile from her tiny stall.

“Really?” Asked Twilight. “And what could that be? I was just going to magic my way through.”

The pony tutted, not in a malicious way either, strangely enough. “That won’t work. The Police monitor all magic use in McCarthia, they’d find you in an instant and lock you up for trespassing. Especially today, since the Prophet predicted that something majorly important would happen.”

“Well isn’t that spectacular.” Twilight replied sarcastically, pinching her snout with a hoof. “So if I can’t use magic, what am I going to do?”

“Why, use a vigor of course!” The salespony said with a smile before levitating a green bottle over to them.

“Uh huh.” Twilight said skeptically. “And how is that any different?”

She seemed to be enjoying herself. “Vigor magic can’t be tracked! They’re brand new, you see. They pull from a secondary pool of magic in your body called ‘Salts’, so you can use your Vigors without exhausting your magic!” she finished the sales pitch.

“Okay, consider me interested.” The Princess simply said. Outwardly, she was cool, but inwardly she was almost exploding with curiosity. Scientific method be damned, she wanted to test this stuff out! “So, do I just drink this then start shooting lightning and stuff out of my hooves?”

The pony tittered. “No, don’t be silly. You’d need Shock Jockey for that. This is Possession. It allows you to control machinery, but it’s pretty inefficient without the supplementary tonics.” She blushed “It’s sort of why nopony’s at my stand. In fact, you’re the first pony to show any interest, so I’ll give you this one on the house!”

“That’s so nice of you!” Twilight gushed, unable to control herself anymore. She took the bottle in her own magic, popped the top, and eagerly gulped down the sweet-tasting liquid.

“Well, anything?” the mare asked, seeming almost as excited as Twilight.

“Hmm.” Started Twilight, “I don’t feel any differ-” She stopped immediately as a bright green ghost rose from the floor. “Oh Celestia. What is that!? Get away! nononononononono!” she yelled at the spirit, waving her hooves at it until it disappeared.

“Wait, what happened!?” The mare asked, using a hoof to steady the Princess.

“It was… a ghost! An honest to Celestia ghost!” she panted.

“Hmm. The bottle did warm about mild hallucinations on the back.” She shrugged. “Don’t worry though, they only happen once, and shouldn’t be too dangerous.” Twilight glared at her. “heh. Anyway! Try casting it at that animatronic! I want to see what it does! It says here to ‘picture the beckoning spirit in your mind, aim, then fire’!”

Still a little miffed, Twilight nevertheless cast the Vigor at the machine. It wasn’t too different from casting a normal spell actually, she thought of the ghost pony, aimed her horn, and off it went with a ghastly green glow, merging with the machine.

“Well that was… Tingly.” Twilight remarked, rubbing her horn.

“Amazing!” the salespony was giddy. “I’ve never actually seen anypony use this Vigor before! That was so… awesome!”

“Alright, well, does it say anything else on that bottle?” the Alicorn inquired.

“Hmm.” her new friend replied, turning the bottle over. “Oh! Here’s something! You can use your forehooves for the Vigor as well: just imagine the spirit coming out of them instead of your horn. Says here that it’s for multi-tasking.”

“Alright then, that’s pretty convenient!” Twilight replied, still excited over this new power. “I suppose I’ll see you around then!” she added as she walked over to the animatronic.

When it whirred to life for the second time, the machine sounded a lot more chipper. “Ah, dreadfully sorry miss. I mistook you for somepony lesser than your station. Allow me to open this gate up for you. Once again, with my apologies.”

“Much better.” Twilight remarked as she stepped through the gates.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiii Twilight!” called a voice from the other side of the gate. Pinkie and Berry stood on the other side of the gate, as if they were waiting for her. Berry was wearing a chalkboard with a chart marked ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ and a large number of tally marks under heads. Pinkie had a plate in her hoof with a bit on it.

“Gah! Pinkie!” Twilight yelled, caught completely by surprise. “How did you get here?!”

“Same way you did silly!” Berry replied with a smile and a giggle. “Mind picking a side? Heads? or Tails?”

“Look you two, I don’t have time for this. I need to find this Mare you want, and Apple-” Twilight began, only to be caught off guard as a bit began flying towards her face.

“Come on Twilight! Heads or Tails!?” Pinkie insisted with a grin.

Twilight sighed as she caught the bit with her magic. “Tails.” She said, flipping the coin with her magic and sending it spinning onto Pinkie’s plate.

“Heads!” Berry said excitedly. “See Pinkie! I told you~!”

Pinkie pulled a piece of chalk from her mane and marked yet another tally in the heads column. “Not fair! Best 432 out of 456!”

“We both know how this ended.” Berry said smugly, sticking his tongue out as the two walked away.

“Hey!” Twilight called out. “Where are you going?” She watched in confusion as they walked around the corner of the building, but when Twilight followed, all she could see was a dead end alley, and no evidence of the party ponies. “What in Tartarus is up with those two?” She wondered.

Then again, this was Pinkie Pie, and her twin. Twilight supposed that trying to follow their logic would just be twice as confusing than when it was just Pinkie. She just kept following the shadow of the statue, and soon wound up in front of a stage, packed with people. There was no way she was getting through the veritable wall of people at the other side, so she decided to just sit and watch until the crowd dispersed.

“Miss! Excuse me, Miss? Purple Alicorn?” A voice called out from near the stage. Twilights ears pricked up, and not wanting to stand out, she made her way over to the pony. “Miss, you forgot to pick your raffle ball!” She said, offering a basket to Twilight.

“Oh, er.” Twilight started, “I don’t have money to pay into a raffle…”

The mare giggled. “Don’t be silly, the raffle’s always free. Here, take a ball.”

“Alright then.” The Princess’ horn ignited, and she pulled a random ball from the basket. It bore a number in red paint. “Huh. 77.” she noted.

“Oooh! That’s a lucky number!” The raffle girl giggled. “I’ll be rooting for you!” she added as she walked off.

It was then that a white unicorn mare walked onstage. Twilight couldn’t believe it.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts!” She began with a distinguished tone. “Welcome to the 10th Annual McCarthia raffle, brought to you by Gemstone Industries!”

This was impossible.

“From this giant hat I shall pull the number of our lucky winner, then we shall get to the main event!” Her horn ignited, and from the hat flew a sheet of paper.

How could she have-

“Number 77!” She called out with a dramatic flip of her purple mane. “Number 77!?”

“She’s right here!” The raffle-mare from before yelled, holding up Twilight’s right hoof, the hoof she was using to hold her ball.

There was no way…

“Aha! Well, lucky miss, you get the most coveted prize in all of McCarthia: The first throw!” Rarity waved her hoof at a pony offstage. “Bring out the mudpony!”

With those words, the curtain began to rise, and behind it, bound to a pole by a length of rope, and looking as if she’d seen the business end of her own apple bucking, was Applejack.

“Well, dahling? Are you going to throw? Or have you been playing in the fields lately?” Rarity said with a faux-mocking tone.

Author's Note:

So, when I was thinking of name to replace the Archangel Columbia, I had a thought. 'Which MLP Writer specializes in writing Crazy Ponies?' As such, the Archangel McCarthy was born! I love your work Meghan, keep on doing your thing!

Also, Twilight's quite bitter towards the religious ponies in this chapter, which is a problem. My Twily DeWitt is a mite more sarcastic and cynical than the Twilight from the normal universe, and she doesn't deal with blind faith well... All I'm saying is, if you take issue with her insulting the Priest that nearly drowns her, it's not much different than what Booker in the game thinks.

-Mint Copy