Her Royal Alicornous Highness, Princess Twilight Elizabeth Sparkle of Friendship and the Fourth Equestrian Throne, Element Bearer of Magic, Protector of Harmony and Pentuple Savior of Equestria, or just Twilight to anypony who knew how she felt about her extended titles, was royally peeved.
Somepony had stolen her alarm clock and instructed her guards to let her sleep, and that somepony was about to get an earful about interfering with his sister’s carefully planned schedule and making her miss the morning meeting Cadence had asked for.
Normally, at least Spike would have made sure she woke up on time, or failing that, helped her reschedule everything. But Spike, unaware that Shining Armor and Cadence would bring Thorax, had decided to stay behind in Ponyville and help Starlight with her research.
Brothers, Twilight grumbled.
In her irritation, she didn't pay enough attention to where she was going. She reached a corner just as Pinkie Pie came around it, and Twilight crashed right into her side. The two of them both ended up sprawled on the floor of the intersection.
"Aaah!" Pinkie screamed, getting up as though ready to bolt down the hallway. Her long trenchcoat, a few shades darker purple than Twilight's fur, could barely keep up with the motion. Miraculously, the matching hat had stayed firmly on Pinkie's head through the collision.
"Pinkie! Relax, it's just me!" Twilight reassured as she herself stood up. "Sorry for running into you like that."
"R-right. Twilight. It's just you," Pinkie said with a grin that bared a lot of teeth. She still seemed to be hyperventilating. Since when did colliding with somepony spook Pinkie Pie so badly? She could understand this reaction from Fluttershy, but Pinkie?
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked, sibling annoyance fading from her mind. "You seem really nervous today."
"Nervous? Me? Why would I be nervous?" The words spilled out of Pinkie's mouth like a waterfall. "Th-the only kind of nervous I am is nervouscited! You know, for the Festival and all that! Yeah!"
"Ohh," Twilight said. "That makes sense. I'm pretty nervouscited about it myself. It's going to be great! If this works out, maybe one day we can have a festival like this for friendship too? I'd love to organize that."
Pinkie Pie didn't say anything. She was still hyperventilating through the same wide grin.
"Here, let me show you something." Twilight put a hoof to her chest and drew a deep breath, just the way Cadence had taught her, then let her hoof guide her breath out into the world. "Try it."
Pinkie Pie mimicked the hoof placement and drew a breath. A very deep breath. She continued drawing the same breath until her eyes grew wide.
"Now out!" Twilight reminded her.
Pinkie let the breath out all at once and started coughing.
"We'll… work on your technique," Twilight said. "Did it help?"
Pinkie was coughing too much to answer, but at least she'd stopped hyperventilating. When the coughing finally died down, Twilight could swear she heard her friend mumble something, but she could only make out a few words. "...dust can't save…"
"What did you say?"
Pinkie stiffened again. "Nothing! Gotta go! See you later!" Then she galloped off down the hallway, not looking back.
"Pinkie, wait!" Twilight said. "Do you…"
Too late. The pink blur turned another corner and was gone.
"...know where Shining is…"
Twilight often thought she knew how strange Pinkie could be, but Pinkie always kept her on the tip of her hooves.
Oh well. She'd still find her brother, and when she did, he'd get a piece of her mind.
A few minutes later and about one metric Canterlot Castle away, Party Popper sat in a garden full of statues, reeling from her near death experience.
Twilight Sparkle.
Her Royal Murderous Highness, Princess Twilight Elizabeth Sparkle of Death and Destruction and Hatred of Clones, Element Bearer of Deadly Magic, Protector of Singularity and Executioner of the Ponyville Clone Massacre.
Twilight buzzing Sparkle.
Heavy breaths in and out. Sweat trickled down Party Popper's brow, onto her muzzle, dripping into the grass.
Around her, statues of a variety of strange creatures stood, watching her, but Popper paid them no mind. Shivering, she clung tightly to the pouch of throne dust in her hooves.
She knew she should throw it to the side, get a few seconds without its power suppressing her vitality, her energy, her earth pony magic. But she couldn't. The pouch was her only lifeline. If Twilight Sparkle snuck up on her to kill her – to disintegrate her, or maybe petrify her so she could stand for centuries in the garden as a warning to others who would dare exist against the will of a princess – the pouch might save her. Might.
She wished it wasn't a pouch of magical dust she was holding. She wished it could be somepony else. Clypeus, she realized. I wish it could be Clypeus. But Clypeus was half a country away, probably still cocooned by the Queen's orders. Why did she have to do that? He was just protecting me. He meant well.
She thought I was Pinkie Pie. Chrysalis had seen her as a threat. Surely now that the confusion had been cleared up, she must have released Clypeus too.
Popper told herself that, Cadence's words churning in her head. They'd take whatever love they could. They wouldn't leave any behind for the ponies they attacked.
And she saw Clypeus, frowning as a family of innocent ponies lost their train tickets.
Popper sat up straighter, gritting her teeth. Cadence didn't know anything. Of changelings, or of Twilight Sparkle. She probably didn't know how many lives her fellow "princess" had taken, how pragmatically her friends had gathered clones for the slaughter.
Or maybe she knew, and didn't care. Did the other princesses have body counts too? Had Cadence herself ever gathered loveless ponies for culling? Changelings?
Ponies don't kill the few changelings they catch, Labrum's voice said in her head. Was he sure about that?
And Celestia? Luna?
Popper looked up at one of the statues. It depicted a creature Popper didn't recognize. It looked like a cross between an oversized anteater and a giraffe.
One of the pieces of knowledge she had inherited from Pinkie Pie told her that one of the villains Pinkie had faced had once been a statue in this garden, petrified by the royal sisters for a millennium.
Was he alone in that fate?
Popper stood, still clutching the pouch to her chest with her hoof. She took a deep breath, then let it out alongside a hoof motion that left her holding the pouch out in front of her.
The princesses had to pay for what they had done, and the first step of that was helping the Queen. Even if it meant talking to Twilight Sparkle.
She put the pouch back in its coat pocket and looked up at the giraffe-anteater. "They'll pay."
Elsewhere:
"Well, I don't know a lot about cloning, but I've been studying the science of time. Theoretically, a time traveler could—"
I thought an Ante Ater was someone who disliked Poker?
Both of them, in this case.
It's worth noting that Cadance is consistently shown to be the only alicorn who could fight her way out of a wet paper bag. Being born a pegasus might have something to do with that.
Celestia and Luna almost certainly have a death toll and equally certainly haven't added to it in centuries.
A jailbreak of the worst criminals in Equestria's millennium-long history?
Seriously though, the changelings sucking them all dry could only help all parties involved.
Cadence be like: "all according to my plans."
Twilight:
No... not that we know of but we did get to see her "work"
With filly Twilight in toe she enchanted two ponies to love each other. Were they siblings? Cousins? Good friends? Don't know; no context was given...
She just mind raped them into loving each other...
Sure hope it wasn't an abusive relationship as the victim of both the partner and the spell has to live in hell and they will like it as a princess said so.
Elizabeth that's her middle name very interesting I guess
You got to give them credit take care for you so you don't go overboard Twilight lol
If Only They knew the truth about popper and not only that where the real Pinkie Pie is but of course how abnormal pinky is the all in Danger
Okay popper that's just taking it way too much she is not that kind of pony and do you think Chrysalis won't do the same thing to you once you made your job done
I wouldn't say they care this is just hatred you're just feeling right now they probably just didn't know
Well sort of but now he's free but in the good way this time now friends with Fluttershy
I'm so sorry popper I know you have been through a lot but what you doing is wrong as well and you won't get away with it
Ok this is really getting heavy right now so it looks like Twilight bump into Pinkie Pie noticing that she's been nervous but never really no that's not the real Pinkie Pie so party popper tried to figure out to get out of this mess and of course she just basically just bolted which left Twilight confused but then again she knew that Pinkie Pie acted weird sometimes meanwhile in the park party popper is really thinking over about the situation and panicking after meeting with Twilight and basically her hatred towards her really it's hard and now she really wants the other princesses to pay as well cuz they don't know anything about the changelings the first she's going to after Twilight I really hope Twilight knows what's going on because she's in danger I guess we'll find out next time
By the way I really wanted to make it clear that I really don't hate party popper i like her she an interesting character but what she's doing is wrong as well and it's out of Revenge and they say hatred is a very poisonous feeling I just hold down the line they can work it out
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We know... she isn't a mane character nor a princess. She is far more insignificant and to Twilight and co, at least, unworthy of life. She will be brought to heel and broken under their iron hooves for her audacity...
...I sound so jaded.
Fortunately this isn't (I hope) being written by the normal G4 writing team members. We still have the option of a sane happy ending with an asop that won't be broken in a minute of applying critical thinking.
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Apologies if I came off aggressive it was not my intent. I honestly thought it was Yoshi doing the down voting as the way they were phraseing their comments to me really made it sound like they disliked Popper, add to the fact someone is downvoting my comments about feeling sorry for popper, and understnading her anger towrds the mane
Interesting, Popper fround Discords statue. I do wonder if her hate of Twilight and friends will somehow accidentally rellease him?
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Was it Discord's statue? Because assuming this is still adhering to show canon (and I was under the impression it mostly was), then this should be sometime around season 6, well after Discord was released from the statue for the second time and should free as a bird (well...within reason) and sipping tea with Fluttershy on Thursdays.
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huh, good point
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Yeah I guess I hope
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Look I'm sorry if it came off that I hated party popper but in reality I don't hate her like I said she is an interesting character I just hope she doesn't go down the path of the dark side ( I know it sounds cheesy but that's how I think ) because Revenge is a very poisonous mind it just lead to a never ending hatred that will lead to nothing but heartache
11864881
11864905
Can confirm that Reflections is mostly canon-compliant and set in mid-late season 6, and that it wasn't Discord's statue. She is however in the garden that once held his statue, and because she vaguely knows about (but does not remember) Discord and his time as a statue, it gets her thinking about whether other statues in the garden might be in the same position. Her particular perspective on the moral qualities of one Princess makes her less inclined than most to give the other Princesses the benefit of the doubt on that kind of thing.