Ruining Harmony

by Artaelian

Pinkie's Phantasm part one

It had been a week since Rainbow Dash had strangely fallen from the sky, running a fever. What confused Twilight the most was when Rainbow woke up a few minutes later. She had begged to stay away from the hospital, and while not pleased with the idea, Twilight had given in and taken Dash to the library.

There, she was told by Rainbow what she had seen while out cold. According to Rainbow, she had woken up to Ponyville on fire, and the world in ruins around her. Her friends had tried to reassure Rainbow that it was simply a case of her mind being too active while out cold, but Rainbow insisted it was real, and that she had been in a now alternate future of Equestria.

This had eventually led one hour ago, to Twilight sending a letter to Princess Celestia, questioning if such a thing was even possible. Minutes later, the reply arrived, which made Twilight and her friends very nervous. It was indeed possible with very dark forbidden magic, to throw a soul into the future while their physical selves remained in the present.

Outside, the low rumble of storm clouds could be heard, and Rainbow Dash was becoming impatient at being kept in the library while Twilight figured out what to do. What Rainbow had seen one week earlier was obviously bad news, the elements of harmony were corrupting, the outcome of which had to be determined.

“Thought of anything yet?” Rainbow asked, flying in place just behind Twilight.

“No, I don’t know how to possibly sort this out.” Twilight groaned, staring at the floor.

“Well, I don’t see the need to stay any longer, and I have an unscheduled storm to clear away now that I’m well enough. Sorry to rush away.”

Twilight said nothing as her friends left the library.

Pinkie Pie hopped on her way back to Sugarcube Corner, humming one of her songs, one which would make use of the word ‘smile’, to herself. Around her other ponies walked around, expecting the storm to soon be cleared as Rainbow Dash darted about overhead. Pinkie stopped at one point and looked up. Above, Rainbow Dash moved a storm cloud, backing away a second later as it let out a bolt of lightning. She waited for a while, before being sure that it was safe to move it again. Pinkie Pie smiled to herself and kept hopping along. As she turned the next corner, she stopped.

For some reason, she noted, she turned the corner and was now about to head down the same street she had just hopped down. Even the same ponies she had passed were walking around it like they had seconds ago.

“That’s odd.” She said to herself. She hopped forward a small distance and looked up. Above Rainbow Dash was still clearing the storm clouds. Pinkie watched as she approached the same cloud she had moved before. This time however, Rainbow dashed underneath it.

Pinkie screamed as the bolt of lightning struck Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus fell fast to the ground, her wings a smoking black and blue mess, feathers trailing behind her.

Rainbow Dash hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Pinkie Pie ran as fast as she could. While other ponies were trying to work out what had just happened, Pinkie Pie arrived to Rainbow Dash’s side, her eyes were open wide, unable to believe the sight she had just witnessed. Rainbow’s wings were sprawled out, feathers charred. Her eyes were slightly open, but they didn’t seem to move.

Behind her, more ponies rushed in, Applejack and Rarity pushing through the gathering crowd. Pinkie Pie lay in front of Rainbow Dash.

“Dashie,” she begun to cry, “wake up Dashie… you can’t get hurt, not you…” she gently placed a hoof on Rainbow, nudging her softly.

Pinkie Pie resisted as Applejack forced her away and Rarity lifted Rainbow Dash up. It took all of Applejack’s strength to hold Pinkie back as Rarity ran, levitating Rainbow Dash above her.

“This isn’t happening. It... it can’t be happening. Somepony tell me this isn’t happening, that I’m having a bad dream,” she paused, “it’s real, this is all real, Dashie is hurt badly. It’s not fair Applejack, why couldn’t the lightning hit something else? Why her? Tell me this is a dream Applejack, please…” Pinkie pleaded.

“Sorry sugarcube… this ain’t a dream…”

Pinkie laid on the floor again crying.

Outside the emergency tent the nurses had set up, Pinkie Pie continued to lay on the floor. Twilight had arrived some time after the tent had been set up to check on Rainbow Dash, and was currently inside, out of Pinkie’s sight. Nearby, Fluttershy had sat down with Angel nearby. She looked sad while waiting to hear how Rainbow Dash was. Near the tent, Applejack and Rarity were looking after Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, as they attempted to calm Scootaloo, who had been shaken quite badly by the news of what had occurred to her hero.

Pinkie Pie tried to replay the events in her head. She was sure she had turned the corner at the end of one street, only to find herself walking into the same street she had just left. But even she couldn’t do something like that, right?

And was it even possible for a Pegasus pony to even get hurt by lightning? Didn’t it need something in contact with the ground to strike in the first place? Nothing made sense, but it had taken place all the same.

Hours passed, and the sun was setting as finally the towns other Pegasus ponies had finished up what Rainbow Dash had begun before the accident. Rarity had left for a while and brought back something to put Scootaloo on, who had cried herself to sleep. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sat either side of her.

Pinkie Pie looked up at the tent. As she did, Twilight came out, looking like she had seen a ghost. Behind her, one of the nurses followed. Pinkie stood up and walked over.

“I’m sorry, we couldn’t save her. She’s gone.”

Pinkie felt numb. The news came as such a blow, she didn’t know how to react, and froze in place. Beside her, Fluttershy burst into tears and ran away, Angel hopping after her. Applejack whispered something to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and they left with Rarity who levitated the sleeping Scootaloo with them as she fought back tears. Applejack now walked over to Twilight. Pinkie couldn’t properly hear what she was saying, but Twilight seemed to get angry, as she stood up and yelled at Applejack, then left.

The next thing Pinkie Pie recalled was a hoof pushing her gently.

“Huh?” she said, still numb to the world.

“You alright sugarcube? The news hit ya harder than a falling bale o’ hay.”

“I’m… I’m fine, Applejack.” She said. Applejack narrowed her eyes, but nodded anyway.

“Nopony’s gone to see her, recon you up for it?”

Pinkie Pie had no response for this. Should she go and see her friend’s lifeless body? Or would it be too much for her to bear?

“Ya don’t have to if it’s too much fer ya.” Applejack added, standing in front of the opening to the tent.

Applejack’s words made it clear though. Since hearing the news, none of them had gone to see her. Last one to see Rainbow Dash before the news was Twilight, before she came out of the tent. With this on her mind, Pinkie Pie stood up and walked to the tent’s flap doors. Maybe she’d walk through and find it was all a prank set up by Rainbow Dash. It’d have been very cruel, but she still hoped that somehow it was a prank.

Inside was a single quickly set up bed, on this lay Rainbow Dash, her eyes now properly closed. The Nurses had tidied up her wings, and no more charred edges to the feather were left. Walking around, the burnt wound on her back had been bandaged over. Applejack watched as Pinkie Pie sat down and stared at Rainbow Dash’s body.

“Wake up Dashie… if this is a prank, it’s making me feel bad. I don’t like that Dashie.”

No reply came. Pinkie Pie carefully placed a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s body and shook.
“Please Dashie, this prank is scaring me. Stop it…”

As she let go, the body simply moved back into place. Rainbow Dash was not waking up. Pinkie burst out crying, tears running down her face like waterfalls.

Behind Applejack, Rarity had returned, and following Applejack’s pointing hoof, saw the pink pony crying near Rainbow Dash’s body. Rarity looked at Applejack, who seemed at a loss on what to do.

“Maybe one of us should take her to Sugarcube Corner. It’s too much for her to be sitting there staring at the body.” Rarity stated.

Applejack didn’t say anything. She walked over to Pinkie Pie and put a hoof on her back.

“Come on, ya ain’t strong enough ta see her like this.”

Pinkie Pie nodded and stood up. She walked ahead of Applejack as they both left the tent. Some distance away, Pinkie stopped.

“Thank you Applejack. I can take care of myself from here.”

Applejack looked confused, and walked back to Pinkie’s side.

“You sure?”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash would appreciate you staying with her. Even if she is...” Pinkie trailed off, too sad to finish her sentence.

Applejack stayed beside Pinkie for a minute, giving the pink pony a chance to change her mind. At the second minute, Pinkie hadn’t changed her mind, and Applejack turned to leave. Pinkie Pie stayed where she was as Applejack walked back to the tent, and sat down when Applejack was out of sight, and stared at Sugarcube Corner. It was usually a fun place for her, but now, she had the urge to just walk in any direction away from the tent and keep going, and never come back to Ponyville.

A cough startled her into looking to her left. She got up and backed away slightly at the pony she saw. He was a unicorn, dark blue in colour and eyes the colour of emeralds, his cutie mark was hidden by the cape he wore, and he smiled at her. He walked over to her and stared in her eyes.

“Who are you?” Pinkie Pie asked nervously.

“I am sorry miss, but I saw you from over there, and you looked sad, I just came to try and see if there was anything I could do to help you.” he grinned, narrowing his eyes and lowering his head to bring his eyes level to Pinkie’s own. Despite how intimidating this should have been, she felt a little easier, but something wasn’t right.

Pinkie kept staring at the unicorn, who observed her with a bemused look on his face. It soon dawned on him that he had failed to answer her question, and he gasped slightly.

“Oh! I do apologise,” he back up a little, letting Pinkie see more than just his eyes, “my name is Ulysses. And may I ask yours?”

Pinkie glanced to the side.

“I’m Pinkie Pie.”

“Well Pinkie Pie, it seems what troubles you is that you saw your friend fly through the sky perfectly fine, only to witness her fly through the same way and die. And you know deep down that never happened, yet it did.”

Ulysses had got it spot on, and Pinkie immediately felt a little fear overcoming her. She had not even attempted to say why she was sad. Rising a few feet in the air, with a fearful look on her face, she turned and ran away from him fast. She ran down several streets before stopping, feeling safe from him.

A cough proved otherwise. Scared, she turned slowly to see Ulysses floating on his back behind her.

“Now, now, I am sorry if I scared you, but it’s hardly a secret. Most of this town has been talking about the sudden death of Rainbow Dash.”

Pinkie Pie slowly backed away from him, as Ulysses stared at her through one eye.

“W-what do you want?” she questioned.

Ulysses turned around and landed on the ground. His smile seemed warm and comforting, yet it made Pinkie feel nervous.

“What I want is to help you. None of this should have taken place. I am here to tell you why and set it right.”

Pinkie gave a quick glance around, but saw no one who could help her get away from him.

“Ok, what do you want to say?”

Ulysses cleared his throat. It was pretty clear he had a lot to say.

“I am aware from Princess Celestia that the Elements of Harmony are becoming corrupted thanks to the encounter with Nightmare Moon. What happened to you today is the result of the Element of Laughter trying to protect itself from being corrupted. It figured the Element of Loyalty could not pass on its corruption if its holder was dead. So when you came along, witnessing its holder moving clouds, it figured it could use your fast speed to kill her. So you hopped away, witnessing your friend safe, only to find yourself somehow just moments in the past, and then watched your friend get hit by the bolt that killed her.”

It took several minutes for all the details to sink in. When they had, Pinkie felt horrible. The Element of Harmony she carried had killed her friend, and she was to blame. She fell to the ground, sobbing and heartbroken. Ulysses slowly walked over and sat in front of her, placing a hoof on her right front leg.

“Now, it was not your fault. You are not to blame, you didn’t know what the Element of Laughter would do,” he stopped talking to help her up, “listen careful to me Pinkie Pie. I will take you to the door of your home, then leave. I will return as soon as I figure out a way to reverse the course of action that took place today. I promise I will.”

Pinkie Pie only nodded as he walked beside her to Sugarcube Corner, hoping that the day had been a cruel joke.

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Author's notes; changes to Pinkie's Phantasm from the original are slight. better explanations are given, and the character previously named 'Jester' is now named 'Ulysses'. This is due to the fact 'Jester' was a holding name, and wasnt supposed to originally be used.

Also, I'm still looking for a new editor to help me. Really, I'd appreciate the help.