When a transgender Brony in denial is turned into a mare and dragged to Equestria she is forced to deal with issues long buried. To make matters worse, whatever force caused her change has darker plans for the world. Can Equestria be saved in time?
Nothing is right.
Jake has no idea why he woke up as a pony mare in Equestria. He has no idea why he can't remember what he was doing before it happened, and he has no proof that his human life is even real to begin with. Just his memories. Memories he can't even trust any more, because even the Equestria that he's found himself in doesn't match what he remembers and everypony he meets think he's a unicorn by the name of Skitch-Sketch, who's been right at the side of the Element Bearers.
And then there's that creeping sense of dread. Feelings that he's run from for a long time. And the sensation that some other, deeper doom is bearing down on the planet Equis.
But surely the Mane Six can fix everything....right?
Jake dreamt he was awake, but he couldn't see. All was blotches of shadow and light and the only sensation he could make out was the feeling of hard wood under his back. He tried to sit up, but found that his muscles would not respond.
Someone was speaking nearby. The voice was echoing, words fading in and out. One of the dark blobs moved closer, and Jake felt a hand hold one of his eyes open as a bright light was shone into it. A moment later, the light and the blob moved away and the sound of items and papers being shuffled about reached his ears, joined by an instance of shouting.
The blob returned and this time he could feel something being dragged across his skin in even patterns. Head to toe, and...under his pants and shirt? Had this freak taken his clothes off?
The sound of something being tossed to the floor was followed by a bright blue glow, that at least added some color to the muddled, shifting, pattern. He felt hands on his shoulders and heard more mumbling.
More movement, the blob shuffling out of and then back into view. And then came the glowing pink light that began to mix into the muddled blobs. Pain lanced through his body, sickening, almost wet cracks echoing in his ears as limbs were re-arranged and hands and feet stiffened. As he sunk back into full unconsciousness, his skin crawling and flowing like water, all he wanted was for the pain to end.
The first sensation Jake registered as he came to was warmth. The warmth of soft blankets, fresh linens, and a fluffy pillow under his head. He couldn't help but smile. The warm embrace of his bed was a cuddly sanctuary against the slings and arrows of the day. Especially after a nightmare like that with someone poking and prodding at him. If he could, he'd stay in the bed all day.
Gotta get up though, gotta find a job.
Stifling a yawn, Jake opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The room laid out before him was not his. It was far too bright for starters, the colors of the world somehow seeming all the more vibrant and real. There was also the fact that the room was of all wood construction, a rustic, hand made quality to it.
“Wha?”
His eyes went wide at the sound of his own voice. Soft and higher pitched compared to the voice he had been used to hearing. Instinctively, he clapped his hands to his mouth only to be shocked by another unpleasant revelation. Hooves. A pair of leaf green hooves were where his hands should have been.
A startled, very girly, shriek escaped his lips as he thrashed about in panic. The efforts resulted in not much more than the blankets becoming tangled and wrapped around a body that was now completely unfamiliar to Jake. He toppled out of bed, the blankets following behind, as he smacked a snout that he didn't have before off the floor.
“Stupid, fucking...” He swore, pulling herself to his new hooves, wincing at the clip clop sounds they made on the wooden floor. A further glance around the room revealed that there was a standing mirror next to the dresser and Jake quickly ran over to it.
The reflection in the mirror was...cute. It showed a unicorn with a leaf green coat, a matching stripe of the color carried over into the sky blue mane and tail. A crossed paintbrush and pencil stood out on each flank; cutie-marks signifying a special talent that was completely alien to Jake's mind. And the eyes. They were a striking amber color and framed by lashes that were unmistakably feminine.
Jake winced, his pony ears slicking back instinctively, the figure in the mirror steadfastly refusing to change back to the human form he was so familiar with. Closing his eyes he took a shuddering breath, trying to fight down the desire to panic.
Okay Jake. You're gonna open your eyes, and be back at home and not a pony. This is just the end result of too much Friendship is Magic and...food poisoning or something. There is absolutely, positively no way you're a small leaf green equine. You will. Not. Panic.
He opened his eyes. The small leaf green equine stared back. He panicked.
A second very girly scream escaped his lips, as Jake back-pedalled from the mirror. “What...I...this...WHAT?!”
He began to pace, forcing himself to look away from the mirror, his tail swishing back and forth in agitation.
“Pony. Pony? Pony!? I'm a freaking My Little Pony. No...this can't actually be happening. It has to be some kind of crazy dream. There's no way I can actually be walking around as a pony. Wait..., ” He blinked, looking down at his hooves, “...I'm walking?”
Jake knew full well that the hoof of a horse was basically one giant nail and that this should have been like standing on permanent tip-toe, not to mention the mechanics of controlling four legs.
His frown and confusion growing deeper, Jake shuffled to the right, then back to the left his hooves nimbly finding their way and not tangling or tripping over each other. Turning, he ran in a circle, breaking into a full gallop. He did two circuits around the bedroom, before stopping at the mirror again.
Staring back at the reflection, the unreality of the situation crashed down upon him. His heart began to race, a trembling sensation beginning to shiver through his form as the room almost began to spin. His legs gave out and he fell to the floor, trembling on the small circular carpet that rested in the middle of the room. Pulling his forelegs over his head and squeezing his eyes shut.
He wasn't sure how long he lay on the floor, trying to ignore the immoveable nature of the things at the end of what was once his arms and legs, the thing that was growing out of his spine, and the way his ears now seemed to be able to move on their own, but eventually the nervous tremors faded.
He sighed, rubbing the back of his head from his position on the floor. “This is completely nuts...wait...”
There was a lump on the back of his head. Decent sized too, like it came from a severe strike or impact. So it wasn't enough to wind up as a pony, he wound up as one with head trauma too?
“Okay,” He winced, continuing to rub at the bump, “I don't remember how I got like this, and I can't do anything to fix it until I work out what has happened. And that starts with taking a full accounting of my surroundings.”
The room itself was shaped like a quarter of a circle, the bed pressed up against the external wall, right under a rectangular shaped window. A small night stand was next to the bed, a small brown covered journal and what looked like a money pouch resting upon its top.
The wall facing the foot of the bed was adorned by a simple set of narrow bookshelves, which were themselves only half full, while the wall opposite the bed had a sliding closet built into it. A quick peek inside the latter revealed a small collection of dresses. The walls themselves were horizontal wood panelling.
A quick flip through the journal revealed that it was less than useful. Instead of being a collection of life events, each entry was a series of notes on a painting or some kind of art project; always a name in the upper left hand corner and a sum of bits scrawled in the lower right hand.
“...Work orders?” Jake blinked, “That's a strange thing to keep in a journal.”
Turning his attention to the door, he stepped outside and into a hallway slash balcony that overlooked a large circular room. Even from here, Jake could clearly see canvases set up on easels, but there was a door to his right, just down the hallway slightly.
Over years of playing role-playing games like D&D, Jake had developed a certain pattern for searching dungeons. Move from right to left when possible, and never move onto the next level before the current one was done. In the absence of explanations or even common sense, Jake defaulted back to that pattern as he trotted into the bathroom.
Like the bedroom, it was about a fourth of a circle and with the bedroom completed the bottom half of the circular structure. Stepping inside, Jake took quick stock of the contents. Toilet (thank god), tub and medicine cabinet above a sink. What most caught Jake's attention, however, was the glass bottle and cork that rested on the sink's edge.
Slowly walking over to it, Jake frowned looking down at one of his hooves as he contemplated how to properly pick the bottle up to examine it closer. A soft twinkling sound echoed through the room, pulling Jake out of his deep thoughts. Looking up, Jake's eyes almost doubled in size at the sight of the glass bottle now floating before him, wrapped in a shimmering aura the same color as his new eyes.
“Oh...oh come on,” He muttered weakly, “This just isn't right. How can I know how to do this?”
Unable to pull a satisfactory answer for that from the ether, Jake instead read the bottle's label.
“Painkillers?”
And open too. Some had been taken recently. He rubbed the lump on the back of his head not liking the implications of that at all.
With not much else to find upstairs at the moment, Jake turned his investigations to the downstairs. Taking them two at a time, he skidded into the main room of the building, blinking at the sight that greeted him.
The room was a great circle, the walls on the back half adorned with shelves that were built right into the wood, two wide and curtained windows flanking a door on the half that faced the street. Off to his right, a small door lead to a little kitchen slash dining area.
Smells filled the room, the vaguely metallic smell of paint, a slightly sweet smell from inks most likely derived from dried berry pigments, the kind of dusty smell from charcoal and the crisp smell of fresh paper. It all mixed together to form that inescapable “artists loft” potpourri.
As he had seen before, a few easels were set up. But what he had been unable to see before was the closed can of paint that was laying on the floor. A little bit away from there, more art objects lay where they had fallen in the line of duty. A collection of pencils, paint brushes, chalk and charcoal all laying where they had been knocked from the shelf.
To Jake, it looked like someone had tripped over the paint can, causing the resulting crash and the scattering of the materials. He rubbed at the lump again, the twisting sensation of dread that existed in the pit of his stomach since waking up growing all the more agitated.
“Well,” He muttered under his breath turning his eyes towards the curtains, “That leaves us only one more thing to check.”
Trotting over to the windows he grabbed the edge of one of the curtains- pressing down the desire to freak out over the fact that it was still coming instinctively- and pulled it back slightly to peek at the outside.
Ponies.
Ponies everywhere.
Ponyville's circular town hall rose before his eyes, clearly indicating that the building that he was in was just off the town square. Said town square was full of ponies going about their daily routines, earth ponies and unicorns walking to and fro, pegasai flying by overhead.
He recognized many of them. Lyra and Bon Bon broke around a corner, side by side. Mayor Mare was standing near the town hall doors, chatting with Filthy Riche about something. Ditzy Doo winged her way past, dressed in her mail mare's uniform, while Cheerilee lead a group of foals- including the Cutie-Mark Crusaders- along to what he presumed was school.
There were plenty more that he didn't recognize though. A caramel colored pegasus was hocking news papers near the steps of town hall, the vibrant red color of her mane and tail repeated in the tips of her wing feathers. Across the way, a gray earth pony stallion easily as large as Big Mac was dressed in studded leather barding, a wickedly sharp looking halberd resting on a bale of hay next to him.
A bright swatch of pink entered Jake's field of view as Pinkie Pie came along, wide smile plastered across her muzzle and with a spring in her step that was less metaphorical and more of an actual description of her means of locomotion. Pinkie turned her head slightly, her eyes meeting Jake's as she stopped bouncing along, her smile turning into a full blown grin as she rapidly waved at him.
Jake let the curtain fall back into place, blinking at everything he had just seen, before rubbing his eyes. Ponies, Ponyville, and the element of laughter. His brain was already having a hard enough time accepting his own appearance, so this seemed even more impossible. He pulled the curtain back to double check.
He jerked back from the window in shock. Pinkie now had her face pressed right up against the glass and was still waving like she was overjoyed to see him. He let the curtain fall again. Before he had a chance to work out what to do about that fact, a rapid sequence of knocks were thrown against the building's door.
“Hey Skitchy! Didn't you see me waving? Don't you want to say good morning?”
Jake stared at the door like it was a land shark on the other side and not the bright pink master of parties.
“Skitchy! Skkkkiiiittttcchhhyyyy!” Came the sing song call, “Come on, open up! Oh!” A worried tone crept into her voice. “Are you sick? Do you need some extra yummy make everything better slurpy soup?”
The handle rattled, Pinkie testing the door.
“Yes! Yes Pinkie, I'm not feeling that well right now, ” Jake laughed nervously, “I got a...a...really bad headache! I tripped over one of my paint cans and hit my head, so I'm just going to rest for now. Okay?”
“Oh! Oki-doki-loki!” She responded, the cheerfulness returning to her voice in an instant, “Rest well Skitchy! I'll see you later.”
After waiting a few minutes in silence, Jake walked slowly over to the door and opened it just a crack. No Pinkie Pie. He sighed, closing the door again. Trotting back over to the center of the room, he sat down and began to mull over what he knew for sure.
“Okay. What do I know. I was at home, and then...and then....” He frowned, searching the depths of his memory for what had happened next. But all that he could conjure up was muddled mixtures of light and shadow and then waking up in this house.
“Why can't I remember?” He muttered, getting back to his hooves and beginning to pace. “Someone has to be screwing with me. There's no other possible explanation for why I'm a unicorn mare in Ponyville.”
Even as he said that though, his eyes fell on the paint can again. The spilled art supplies, the painkillers, the fact that Pinkie Pie had recognized this body and had a name to go with it. All of those spoke to other possibilities.
“Not enough information yet.” He concluded, stomping a hoof on the floor.
Glancing back at the door, he figured that the best way to start would be to look around town. The body seemed to be known by Pinkie Pie at least, and as Pinkie threw the welcome party for every pony that came to town, that was a data point he could use.
He trotted back upstairs, grabbing the saddlebags from the closet and securing them on his back before tossing the money pouch into one of the pockets. Then, snatching up the book and a pencil, he flipped to a blank page.
- Pinkie Pie has thrown this body a party.
Tucking both away with the money pouch he made for the front door and stepped out into the street. None of the ponies in the street reacted strangely to his presence, which seemed to back up Pinkie's reaction. Rolling his eyes up, he could see a sign above the door. Skitch-Sketch's Art Emporium.
Well, that would explain Pinkie calling me Skitchy.
Looking away from the sign, his eyes locked onto town hall. It was probably the best place to start. It would probably have records on immigration into Ponyville, which would help establish if this body was an actual resident.
He strode across the town square, walking up the steps, pausing and then walking back down the stairs to grab a paper from the caramel colored pegasus.
“Good morning!” She beamed.
“Morning.” Jake nodded back, “One copy please.”
A bit was exchanged for the morning edition and Jake tucked it into the saddlebags for now. There would be time to read it after he poked around inside.
Mayor Mare and Filthy Riche had moved on, so Jake was unaddressed as he stepped inside. The interior of the town hall was all the more impressive in person. High half oval vaulted glass windows circled the whole second level, letting natural light flow into the building, illuminating the banners that hung from the ceiling and the rows of file cabinets below.
The balcony where Nightmare Moon had made her grandiose entrance was at the far end of the room and featured an addition to it's appearance from that episode. A wide hand- or would that be hoof- painted banner now hung from the railing depicting the Mane Six's banishment of Nightmare Moon.
“Come by to see your work again?”
Jake jumped slightly at the address. Facing the speaker, he was greeted by the smiling face of Mayor Mare.
“It really helps pull the room together, I think, seeing this town's biggest heros in their moment of triumph.”
“...Yes! Yes it is!” Jake grinned nervously, “But I was just here to look at some documents.”
“Oh? Do you know what you're looking for?” She chuckled, “Not trying to invade any other pony's privacy I hope!”
Jake laughed nervously again. “No! No! No...no. I just wanted to take another look at that...paperwork stuff.”
Mayor Mare blinked, staring in confusion.
“You know, that stuff I filled out when I first moved to town?”
Jake really hoped that such a collection of paperwork actually existed, and that he hadn't just made the mayor think that he was insane, or something.
“Oh! You mean the census forms?” She blinked. “Why do you want to see those?”
“Oh...well, I might have filled part of it out wrong.”
Please buy it. Please buy it. Please buy it.
“Oh, okay.” She nodded, pointing to a row of files, “Should be over there.”
Jake nodded to her and trotted over to the drawers. They were all marked clearly with letters in alphabetical order.
Let's see, this body's name starts with an S... He thought while he rummaged through the drawer in question. Sassaflash, Sea Swirl, ah ha! Here we are, Skitch-Sketch.
The census form was pretty simple, all things considered.
Name: Skitch-Sketch Tribe: Unicorn Age: 22 Gender: Female Previous Residence: Canterlot Cutie-Mark: Crossed Pencil and Paintbrush Career: Freelance Artist Parents: Apple Polish (Mother), Black Marble (Father)
“That's it?” Jake blinked, flipping the page over to see if there was anything else and finding only blank paper, “That's a pretty light census form. Still...it's something.”
Out the book came, and another data point was added to the list.
- Body has at least some established past. Born in Canterlot. Has parents.
With the newspaper being the only other solid...anything, he had at his disposal right now, Jake trotted back out of the town hall. He had made it about halfway back to “his” house when another familiar sounding voice cut through the air.
“Oh there you are darling!”
“Whosa wha?” Jake blinked.
Rarity was making a beeline for him, a wide smile on her muzzle, perfectly styled mane and tail bouncing slightly as she rushed along.
“Oh, what fresh hell is this.” Jake muttered under his breath, before breaking into a wide smile as Rarity drew close, “Rarity! What can I do for you?”
“It's more what I can do for you. Your dress for the Grand Galloping Gala is ready. All that's left is to give it a proper fitting. I was just on my way over to get you.”
What? Grand Galloping....WHAT?!
“Actually, I kind of got some...things...,” He motioned to the house with his head, “That I need to take care of. So...later maybe?”
“Nonsense! It won't take but a minute and I would like to do it now in case I need to do more alterations.”
Jake bit his lip. “I dunno….Isn’t the Gala still a bit away?” He guessed, hoping he was correct.
“Pretty please?” Rarity smiled, batting her eyelashes, “I want to have everything ready far ahead of time.”
“...Okay. But let's make it quick.”
With a grin of delight, Rarity began to lead the way back to Carousel Boutique. Jake followed, ears slicked back, wondering what just exactly he had gotten himself into.
- - - -
The answer to that question, it turned out, was standing stock still so that none of Rarity's pins scored accidental pricks. Jake had passed the time while Rarity worked by taking in every inch of the boutique's interior. It was very pink. Somehow even more pink in person than on TV.
It's like...how much more pink could this be? And the answer to that question is...Pinkie Pie. That's how much more pink it could be.
His eyes fell on a photo that was hanging above the three mirrors that Rarity used to show off the finished dresses on her clients. It showed a Rarity in a much more thread-bare looking boutique, proudly holding up a dress and a bag of bits.
“Hey Rarity...what's with that photo? I'm not sure I've noticed it before.”
Rarity rolled her eyes towards the photo, smiling. “Ah, yes. That was the first dress I made after I bought Carousel Boutique. It's a little memento of the moment.”
She made a last minor adjustment before nodding to herself. “There we go dear.” Rarity beamed as she placed some kind of hat on Jake's head, “Take a look and tell me what you think.”
A glance in the mirrors revealed Rarity's creation. It was a two piece affair made out of soft black fabric. The top wrapped comfortably around the chest and across the withers, forming almost a vest. The skirt piece of the dress was devoid of flashy bits, simply draping over the croup and dock, it's hem falling to the midpoint of the cannon. A little beret rested neatly on his head.
“I feel like I should be at a coffee shop poetry slam.”
“Well that is intentional dear. You wanted something that would be stylish outside of the Gala as well. I call it Canterlot Coffeehouse Couture!”
Jake couldn't help himself, that elicited a smile.
“But do you like it, dear?”
“It's thrills-ville daddyo.” Jake smiled, “Can you wrap it up for me?”
“Of course darling.” Rarity nodded, beginning to pull the dress off Jake's body and folding it up.
“So, how much do I owe you?”
Rarity blinked, pausing her work. “I thought we had discussed that already darling. You did some work for me and I was giving you the dress in exchange.”
Jake blinked, laughing nervously. “Oh! Yes! Sorry, I just forgot what it was. I've just had a lot on my mind as of late.”
“Hmm. Now that you mention it, exactly what you did has slipped my mind as well. But, more importantly anything you need to talk about?”
Jake thought that question over while Rarity folded up the rest of the dress. Telling the Mane Six what he thought had happened to him was a viable option. Magical knowledge and a fast line to Princess Celestia that was hard to turn down.
On the other hand, his grand total of his own investigations since waking up had consisted of checking one file at town hall, and then being ambushed by a fashionista. He would like to have more to present than his own spotty memories.
Besides, when am I going to get the chance to explore Ponyville again? He thought, unable to completely suppress the fan-boyish desires to look around some.
Rarity passed over the package, Jake tucking it away into one of the saddlebags. He nodded to her.
“Thanks Rarity.”
“Not a problem at all darling. I'll be glad to have another artiste from Ponyville at the Gala.”
Jake chuckled at that, nodding to Rarity again and trotting out the door. Rarity watched the green unicorn go, a slight frown crossing her face as she turned her attention back to her other projects.
The frown grew deeper as she began to sew, a nagging voice in the back of her head refusing to be quiet. A question that repeated itself with each impact of the needle into thread.
Why couldn't she remember what had been done in exchange for the dress?
- - - -
With a sigh of frustration, Jake plopped himself down one of the hay bale seats at the Ponyville Cafe. Digging out the newspaper that he had bought earlier and the brown book from the nightstand, the latter was rested on the table, while the former was unfolded.
“Let's see what events are in the world today.”
The headline of the Ponyville Gazette was not what he expected.
Elkienhiem and North Griffin Confederation Sign Military Alliance
Gustav the Second, emperor of Elkienhiem and Eckhard Ironclaw, high chancellor of the High Confederation of Wings signed a treaty of military alliance in the griffin capital of Dreshden last night. According to a statement released by the two governments, the treaty is to “promote the defense and prosperity of the elk and griffin peoples in light of the growing Equestrian lead super block of allied nations.”...
“Your usual miss?”
He almost hadn't heard the question, his mind swimming from the political headline and connected implications. Looking up, he was greeted by the waiters questioning expression.
“Uhh...yeah...sure, give me my usual.”
The waiter nodded once disappearing back into the building, Jake throwing himself back into the article.
Princess Celestia released her own statement this morning, calling the fears of the griffin and elk leaders unfounded. “Equestria only desires friendship and cooperation with it's neighbors. We have no dark designs on either nation and I hope that this decision will at least provide Gustav and Eckhard with some manner of peace.”
Celestia’s statement was echoed by tapir emperor Placido the Magnanimous who...
Jake sighed, folding up the paper and dropping it on the table. He wasn’t in the mood to read more of the New York Times, Equestrian Edition. Sliding the book with his notes over to him, he flipped it to his page of notes and added the other information he had found so far.
“Right. Work out the possibilities. Run it just like your troubleshooting a computer problem.”
A plate containing a sandwich and a collection of hay fries was placed on the table in front of him as the waiter returned. “Anything else?”
“What?” Jake blinked. “Ummm. No. Nothing at all.” He absent mindedly reached into the saddlebags with his magic, digging out coins and dumping a pile on the table. Turning his attention back to his notes, Jake missed the way the waiter's eyes doubled in size as he scooped them up and rushed back into the building.
“So, first possibility.” Jake muttered, continuing to scribble down notes. “Human in Equestria option. I, via some means, have wound up in Equestira. Evidence in support...,” He glanced around, taking in Ponyville's distinctive thatched roofs, “Surrounded by it. Evidence against. The fact that none of this should be real.”
He paused from writing to examine the sandwich. Thin slices of carrot and tomato with a rose petal topper. Frowning, he took an experimental bite, suspicion turning to a pleasant smile as he found that it tasted alright. And so, another data point was added to the list.
- Taste buds seem to have changed.
“Possibility the second, considering what I found in the house. I have always been a pony and I whacked my head so damn hard off of the wall that I swallowed a bunch of painkillers, passed out in bed, and imagined a whole 'nother life.”
It seemed unlikely. The memories of his own life were still very clear in his head and while the mare who's body he seemed to have did seem to have a past, he couldn't remember any of it.
“Can't rule it out yet though.” He sighed, idly tapping a hoof against the table. “It would explain how I have this muscle memory of walking and using magic.”
Rubbing at the lump on his head again, an idea on how to rule out that possibility clicked in his mind. Throwing the newspaper and book back into the saddlebags he took a few steps away from the table, paused, then returned to it; grabbing the sandwich he wolfed it down as he headed across town towards Ponyville General.
- - - -
“And follow the light.”
Doctor Stable slowly moved the crystal tipped flashlight across Jake's field of vision. Jake dutifully followed the doctor's commands, tracking the bright light to the best of his abilities. A few moments of monotony passed before the doctor switched it off.
“Now recite the months of the year backwards, starting with December.”
“December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January.”
Doctor Stable nodded. “Well, I have to say Skitch-Sketch, I think that you're just fine.”
“Really? And the dreams of the bipedal fur-less creatures?”
“Dreams are dreams and they are not required to make sense.” He chuckled, “Once I had a dream about being attacked by tongue depressors. But you have no blood in the fovea of the eye, no evidence of cognitive impairment, no evidence of motor skill impairment. Without any evidence of other symptoms I have to call it like I see it. Just a dream.”
Jake sighed, moving onto another tract.
“Hypothetical for you then, doctor.”
Doctor Stable nodded, motioning for him to continue.
“Let's say that you had a pony come in, saying that they can't remember anything about their life, but are instead remembering a different life. What would you do?”
“Assuming that we've already ruled out some kind of physical injury, like we just did?”
Jake nodded. Doctor Stable regarded him carefully for a moment before trotting to the door and calling down the hallway.
“Doctor Clear Health? Could I borrow you for a minute?”
The unicorn that trotted into the room was another shock to what Jake was expecting from Ponyville. Her golden wheat colored coat and straight reddish-brown mane and tail were normal enough, as was the red cross cutie-mark surrounded by sparkles.
What was more odd was the clothing she was wearing. A cream colored silk garment with golden square patterns along it's edge, wrapped diagonally across her breast and withers, the longer right edge hanging half way down her right foreleg. The effect made the unicorn look like she stepped right out of India, one enhanced by the fact that the tip of her horn was painted red. Her dark brown eyes were warm, a wide smile crossing her muzzle as she bowed slightly to Jake.
“Greetings. How can I be of assistance?”
“Miss Skitch-Sketch here has had a disturbing dream and has some questions about false memories. I was hoping that you could help calm her nerves by checking her for any magical interference?”
Still smiling widely, Doctor Clear Health nodded, her horn lighting up. “This won't hurt at all. Just a routine observation.”
Nervousness, fear and curiosity were slugging it out in the pit of Jake's stomach, but he nodded to the doctor all the same. “Go ahead.”
A yellow tint overtook Jake's vision, Clear Health gently wrapping her magical aura around his head as her own eyes began to glow with the same yellow light. Her expression was hard to read, at once both curious and warm. But after a few minutes of this spell observation the good doctor let the spell go.
“Well,” She reported with a smile, “I can confidently say that your mind is not being affected by any kind of spell that I can find with basic magical examinations.”
“But...what if it's something rare and super powerful?”
She chuckled, putting a friendly foreleg around his withers. “You ever hear the expression 'When you hear hoof beats in Ponyville, don't go looking for zebras?'”
“Uhh...no. Can't say that I have heard that.”
“Good! I made it up myself.” She quickly beamed, before pausing and idly rubbing her chin, “Of course, that was before we had an actual zebra move into the area, but I think that it still works.”
“Uhh...”
“The point is, we are trained to rule out the common and the likely before we go searching for rare maladies and maledictions. I see nothing wrong with you. So take the rest of the day off, relax, and then if symptoms continue, come back and we'll start searching for Magdorian Mind Pox.”
“Well...”
“Trust us.” Doctor Stable grinned, “We're highly trained medical professionals.”
- - - -
Jake drew a light x mark through the second option on his list as he left Ponyville General. Trotting down the empty road, back towards town, he considered what had happened. At least he had been able to scratch off one possibility as to how this madness happened. He kept his more equine snout buried in the book as he scribbled down other possibilities.
“Option the third. I am dead and this is heaven.”
That option was removed from the book with a series of frantic scribbles almost as soon as it had left his lips. If heaven did exist, and it was Equestria, and Celestia was god, he was pretty sure that there would have been more equine references in Christianity. Besides, clashing super blocks of nations did not scream “eternal paradise” to him.
“Option the fourth. I cracked my head off something at home, and this is a mental construct that my brain is forming, based on the last bit of media I watched, as I bleed out on the floor of my bedroom.”
Mulling over that option, it made a disturbing amount of sense, the way it tied all the loose ends together. The shadowy figures looming over him in his memories...well, those could easily be doctors in the hospital. And if this was his own mental creation, it would explain how he could walk and use magic.
But, he really, really didn't want that to be the case. He didn't want to think that he might be dying.
A deep frown crossed his muzzle. “Or maybe I've just gone stark, raving, fucking mad!” He snarled, whipping the book to the ground, “There is no damn way that this should be happening! No damn way I should be a girl unicorn in the middle of Ponyville!”
Pacing from one side of the road to the other, the rant flowed freely, frustration bubbling to the surface again.
“Even approaching this situation logically isn't getting me anywhere. Everything about this situation completely defies logic! The complete lack of logic is so damn intense here that I'd swear that Discord was involved...except he's not supposed to be real either!”
He stopped his pacing, snatching up the book with an angry flourish of magic that only served to annoy him further as he stalked back towards Ponyville proper. As he continued to stomp towards Ponyville, the anger began to drain away, leaving behind an empty, almost strained feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He would go to Twilight Sparkle. Regardless of the outcome, be it a way back to earth or a padded room in an Equestrian mental institution, it would be some kind of answer. Approaching the thatch buildings of the town again, he was forced to admit that while talking to Twilight was the wisest move, that he didn't want to do it tonight.
While part of him was afraid of what might happen when he talked to Twilight there was another, and much louder, part of him that was shouting one thing that his inner fanboy could not ignore.
If this was real and not some kind of mental construct, when would he ever have a chance to see Ponyville again?
“Fuck it.” He smiled wryly, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow I may die.”
- - - -
The sun was going down by the time Jake worked his way over to Berry Punches' Beer Garden. He had gotten some cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner (Pinkie was overjoyed to see him again), caught a movie at the theater (Escape from Manehatten), and then toured the rest of the town (the weather patrol's tower looked oddly precarious in his opinion). But now...now it was time to drink.
Warm light and happy laughter danced through the open windows.
“It's time I'll take before I begin.” He grinned, quoting one of his favorite songs on the subject, “Three sheets to the wind, three sheets to the wind.”
Stepping into the bar, his eyes roamed over the crowd. Much like what he had seen in the town square earlier today, it was a mix of ponies that he knew and completely new ponies. Lyra and Bon Bon were sharing some wine and a large salad in corner booth, while Big Mac sat at the bar, enjoying a large mug of beer. Berry Punch was behind the bar, mixing and slinging drinks with a dexterity that one would not think hooves could provide.
The seats at the end of the bar were occupied by a pair of stallions that looked a little shifty to Jake. One white coated, one light green coated, both tough looking. Traveling mercenaries or something, Jake guessed. He took a seat on the other side of Big Mac from them.
Berry trotted right up to where he was sitting, wide grin on her muzzle. “Evenin' hun! Your usual?”
“Actually...I'm in the mood for something a little harder tonight. Whatcha got?”
Berry winked, dropping a shot glass on the bar top and filling it up with a golden liquor.
“Try some applejack, not to be confused with thee Applejack, of course.”
Picking up the glass, Jake observed it for a moment before tossing the whole thing back. Slightly sweet with a hint of apples at first, before the more bitter alcohol taste kicked in and burned down his throat.
“Ahhh....now that's the stuff.”
Dropping a few more bits on the bar top, he nodded to her. “Leave the bottle.”
“You sure?”
“Trust me. I know my limits.”
- - - -
Jake giggled as he flopped sideways, his body falling against Big Mac's. “Biiig Mac...yer fur is shoooo shooooft! I...I could jusht get losht in it.”
Jake suspected that he was drunk. He...she?...he had a nice buzz going and everything...well everything was just great right now. Feeling across the bar with a hoof, he picked up the bottle of applejack. Another giggle escaped his lips as he stared at the way he was somehow holding the booze.
“Jusht look at it! Look at it! I dun even know how I'm holdin the thing without those...things...the little grabby things...”
“You mean fingers?” Berry asked, looking up from the glass she was cleaning.
Jake's eyes went wide as he leaned forward across the bar. “How...how do you know what fingersh are? None of ush have fingersh.”
“I've seen a minotaur, Skitch. They have hands and fingers.”
A very wide grin crossed Jake's face.
“Of course! Why didn't I think of that...thatsh somethin ta tell the guys on Equeshtria Daily when I get home...”
“Ooookay.” Berry Punch blinked. She carefully reached over and removed the bottle of alcohol from the unicorn's grip, “I think you've had enough Skitch. You're doing that thing where nothing you're saying makes sense anymore.”
“Awww. No, no, no....nooooo. I've...I've drunk WAY more than thish before. Ah'll be fine. Ah'll be....fine. I...am a very pretty, pretty mare and I'll be fine!”
His head hit the table with a thud, the sounds of drunken snoring filling the air a moment later. Berry rolled her eyes slightly. “Big Mac, any chance you could take her home?”
“Eeyup.”
- - - -
Across town, Rarity was burning the midnight oil as it were. The blank spots in her memory that Skitch's earlier visit had revealed had nagged at her all day. Attention to detail was something that had served her well in dressmaking and now she was turning that attention towards her interactions with the green unicorn known as Skitch-Sketch.
She had found the drawings for Skitch's gala dress, both the good one and the disastrous one . The latter had been based off of an artists' smock and, much like Applejack's, had horrid “functionality” bolted onto it. Unlike with Applejack, however, she couldn't actually remember drawing these designs. She couldn't remember what requests the artist pony had made to get to this point either.
Frowning, she turned her attention to her ledgers. There was a line item in her yearly expenditures for a bolt of black fabric, presumably what was used to make said dress. But there was a large problem with that.
The standard bolt of fabric that she ordered for her projects was forty yards long, which came out to about one hundred and twenty feet. She wouldn't have used even a fourth of that to make Skitch's garment. Yet, there was no other black fabric in her shop.
“If I didn't know any better, I'd say that somepony had altered my records.” She muttered, her expression becoming downright incensed, “But I still have these incomplete memories of doing this!”
Slamming the book closed, she sighed in frustration. “Something very weird is going on here. I'll speak to Skitch about it more in the morning and figure out what's happening!”
- - - -
“She could become a crazy cat lady!” Pinkie Pie gasped.
“She only has one cat.” Twilight pointed out.
“Give her time!”
“Come on girls!” Skitch pointed out. “We need to think of something to cheer Rarity up! We can do this.”
“Hmm...” Twilight hummed, peering through a keyhole, “I have an idea.”
A little bit later they were in the main room, pulling Rarity's original designs together under Fluttershy's instructions. Everything was progressing just fine, and soon their friend would be back to her normal self.
“It's all a lie, you know.”
Skitch blinked, scanning the room for the unknown mare. “Did anypony else hear that?”
“Hear what? Twilight asked as she looked up from where she was working.
“This memory isn't real. You are being lied to.”
Continuing to scan the room, Skitch jumped backwards as one of the ponyquins gazed at her with intense hazel eyes. Stammering, she scrambled next to her friends, pointing a shaking arm at it.
“T-there! That ponyquin is staring at me!”
“Oooo! Is this a new game?” Pinkie grinned, bouncing in place, “Let me think of something to have watch us!”
“Pinkie! I'm not kidding, that thing is looking at me!”
“SNAP OUT OF IT!”
A second, strange mare's voice now echoed through the room.
“NO! It's MINE!”
All of her friends vanished, the room furnishings melting away like wax as the walls became silvery and pliable. The whole affair then folded inwards, trapping Skitch in what she could only describe as a bag. Screaming in panic she began to thrash, kick, and jab her horn against the sides of her prison; the silvery walls refused to yield, her horn unable to puncture the silver walls.
“No! Leave me alone! Just let me go back to my friends!”
They...they were her friends right? She had moved to Ponyville two years ago...and...and...
Twin planes of metal passed through the top of the bag prison, light washing over her form as the whole affair was tipped forward. Skitch furiously kicked, trying to press herself against the bottom of the bag, but gravity played it's part and she toppled forward.
Spilling out of the bag, the wind was knocked from her lungs as she hit the varnished wood of a giant sized desk. Pushing herself to her hooves, she was bowled over again as an oversized card crashed down upon her, having also spilled from the container.
It was pulled off of her a moment later, Skitch flicking her gaze up at what removed it. Male human, late twenties, short cropped blonde hair and slightly overweight. It was her! The real her, but wrought in giant size as he looked over the card. Glancing behind her, Skitch got a good look at what she had just been dumped out of.
The shiny covering, the distinctive logo and the pictures of ponies on the front told her everything that she needed to know.
“A blind bag?!”
A shadow loomed over her, pulling her attention away from the bit of pony merchandise. She looked up to see the hand of her doppelganger closing in like some giant executioners axe.
She ran, charging across the desk in a desperate attempt to get away from herself, weaving past oversized pencils, and pocket change. The shadow still grew closer, and in a moment of weakness, Skitch glanced behind her. Her hooves chose that moment to find a thumb drive and she was once again sent to the ground.
“No...” She moaned as she pushed herself away from the incoming hand, “You're not me! I'm me! I'm supposed to be the human collecting pony figures! This isn't happening! STAY AWAY!”
As the fingers touched her, she felt her body size up, freezing into a set pose- right front foreleg raised, head tilted back- as she went from flesh and blood, to cheap plastic and paint. She was placed carefully, almost lovingly, among an army of similar pony figures.
Everypony that she knew from the show was there, as well as many of the ones she had seen around town. She tried to struggle and move, but found that to be quite impossible. She was trapped and frozen, stuck mimicking the same pose as Rarity in the row in front of her. Whispers and muffled voices shot through the ranks.
It sounded like they were screaming.
- - - -
Jake screamed as he snapped back to reality, the world spinning under his hooves as his vision righted itself.
His heart was hammering in his chest like a jackhammer, barrel heaving from the panicked breaths that he was taking. Glancing around, he could see that he had left Berry Punch's. In fact, he seemed to be standing outside the door to his body's house. The moon was still high in the sky, so it couldn't have been that long since he face planted in Berry's.
“How...how did I get here?” He muttered, scanning the empty streets of Ponyville, “Why aren't I drunk?”
As he stood there, he could feel something on his head, like he was wearing a hat. Blinking, he pulled the offending garment into view, only for another shocked yelp to escape his lips as he took in exactly what he had.
Applejack's stetson floated before him, daring for an explanation.
Applejack rolled over in bed, her eyes fluttering open as the morning sun began to creep over the horizon. A slight smile crossed her muzzle as she slid out of bed, instinctively reaching for the hook next to the headboard that she kept her hat on.
Her hoof clacked against the wall, no hat to be found. Blinking, Applejack looked at where her stetson should have been and where she remembered hanging it the night before.
“What in tarnation?”
A search of the rest of the room also revealed no stetson. Frowning, she walked out into the hallway, almost bumping into Apple Bloom as she came trotting out of her own bedroom, a grin spread across her own muzzle.
“Mornin' sis!” She happily chirped.
“Mornin'.” Applejack nodded back, “Did ya happen ta borrow my hat? Ah can't seem to find it.”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah. Ah didn't borrow yer hat. Did ya try retracin' your steps?”
Applejack chuckled, ruffling her little sister's mane. “Na. Not yet. But I hung it on the hook last night. Not sure how many steps there are to retrace.”
“Well, you were at Rarity's yesterday. Can't hurt ta at least look there.”
“I reckon' it can't.” Applejack agreed with a smile, “I'll head on over after breakfast.”
- - - -
A few hours later, after food and the very early morning chores that she couldn't ignore, Applejack was quickly trotting across Ponyville towards Carousel Boutique. It was an odd friendship that had developed between the farm girl and the fashionista, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
She was surprised to see Rarity closing the door to her shop behind her as she arrived. Applejack had come to know the daily routines of her friends, and it was a little on the odd side to see Rarity out of the boutique this early on a weekday. Usually she was doodling designs and doing other dress work.
“Mornin' Rare!” She called out as she approached the unicorn, “Where are you off to?”
Rarity tilted her head Applejack's direction, smiling warmly as she finished closing the door.
“Good morning darling. I was just off to Skitch-Sketch's. I need to speak with her about her Gala dress.”
“Ah hope she ain't pullin' a repeat performance of what we pulled on you the first time.”
Rarity waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh no, of course not. Just a minor issue about the payment. Nothing that the two of us can't work out.”
“She ain't refusin' to pay or something? That doesn't sound like the pony I know.”
Rarity bit her lip as she shook her head. “No. It's just...something strange that's bothering me is all.”
Applejack poked her friend in the side. “Come on Rare. We're friends. If it's somethin' that I can help with, don't hold back on me.”
Rarity sighed, pushing her door back open and motioning for Applejack to follow. She obliged, trotting into the boutique and following Rarity across the display floor. She glanced around for her hat as she walked, seeing completed dresses and bolts of multicolored fabric, but no hat.
“When neither Skitch or I could remember what was done in terms of payment for the dress, I checked my records.”
“What did ya find?”
“A line about “services rendered” and an invoice for a bolt of black fabric.”
Blinking, Applejack looked back at the bolts of fabric resting in their storage rack.
“Ah don't see anything black in this place.”
“Yes, darling. Which is problematic, since there is no way I used enough of the fabric for there not to be anything left over.”
Rarity sighed, as she sunk into one of her couches.
“I'm worried, Applejack. I mean...this may be something innocent, but I can not shake this feeling deep in my gut that it's something worse. That a friend of mine is in trouble.” Huffing, she shook her head, “Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but I need to find out. I was just about to go over and see what else she knew.”
Applejack frowned, but nodded. She couldn't find fault in Rarity's logic.
“How about ah come on over with ya, just for a bit of support.”
“Oh, thank you darling!” Rarity beamed, jumping off her couch and pulling her friend into a hug, “I don't want it to seem like I'm attacking her. Hopefully you'll keep me honest.”
“Sure thing sugarcube. Let's get on over there!”
Moving for the front door, Applejack was interrupted by a light cough from Rarity. “Actually, before we go...what happened to your hat? I never see you go anywhere without it!”
“Well...ah don't rightly know. It was gone when I woke up this mornin'. I actually came over to see if I somehow left it here.” She laughed nervously, “Ah feel kind of incomplete without it.”
The wide grin that split Rarity's muzzle immediately made Applejack regret admitting that particular fact. She regretted it all the more as Rarity stalked for a hat rack, complete with her battlecry of fashion.
“Ideeeeaaaaaa!!”
- - - -
A full glower marked Applejack's muzzle as she and Rarity trotted towards Skitch's place. The hat situation had been temporarily resolved, but not quite in the way that she would have preferred.
“Ah feel silly in this thing.” She muttered to her friend.
Rarity, in contrast, was trotting along with her head held high.
“Nonsense! It's from my personal collection! You look absolutely smashing my dear!”
Applejack glanced at the expressions that were writ on the faces of the ponies they passed on the street. As they were a mix of shock and trying not to laugh for the most part, she had her doubts on just how “smashing” the overall look was, at least by her own standards.
She just hoped that Skitch wouldn't lose it when they turned up at her place.
- - - -
Applejack's hat rested on the kitchen table as Jake continued to stare at the offending headgear. Last night, he had almost run away from the hat, just tossing it onto the table and throwing himself into bed, wanting to put some distance between the dream and himself.
But in the warm morning sun, Applejack's property was still there, and now Jake was stuck trying to work out exactly what had happened.
“I was drinking...” He ranted, pacing back and forth as he stared at the hat, “Then I got way drunker than I was expecting. Stupid lower alcohol tolerance of this body! I bet if I was an earth pony I wouldn't have gotten that drunk!”
Pausing in his pacing, he squeezed his eyes closed and took a calming breath. Panicking wouldn't help. He needed to approach it like a programmer. To be calm and logical and sort the problem out instead of running off half cocked.
“Right...then I dreamed. That bit from Suited for Success, but I was actually part of the story and then...”
Wincing, he didn't finish that sentence, the following events still seared into his mind like an angry wound. Two voices, one claiming that the memory was a lie, the other shutting that one down. The question was...
“Which was one telling the truth, if either. And where did they come from?”
Confusing the issue was the fact that the in the cold light of day, the memories of working with the other members of the mane six felt as vivid and as real as any memory from his own life. And that dragged concerns from yesterday to the forefront. Was he the human being replaced by a pony, or a pony remembering her actual life?
Further mental investigation was interrupted by the sound of the little bell above the front door chiming.
“Crap...must have forgotten to lock the door.”
Stepping out into the main room, Jake froze as he took in the forms of Rarity and Applejack. Having met the former yesterday, Rarity still cut the figure that he was used to seeing. Applejack, however...
Still the same orange coat, blonde mane and striking green eyes. But she looked rougher and tougher. Two scar lines ran from the right side of her snout, across its bridge, and then down to her left cheek. Another set of three scars ran diagonally from her croup to the mid point of her left flank.
To Jake, the positioning of the scars hinted at Applejack being hit from the side by some creature that tried to drag her to the ground. Almost like a lion would hunt, really. He wondered if her mane was hiding other battle wounds.
But the tough girl look was almost completely ruined by what was perched atop her head. For Applejack was currently wearing one of the biggest, floppiest, pinkest sunhats that Jake had ever seen in his life. The brim of the hat was so wide that it was completely covering her ears as it drooped towards the floor, the crown so pink that it looked like it had been made from Pinkie Pie, all topped with a deep purple bow that was in turn topped by a yellow flower.
The contrast between rough and tumble Applejack and the girly hat to end all girly hats was so great that Jake couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from twitching into a smile. Applejack notched this, the frown that was already on her muzzle growing deeper.
“Come on Skitch. It ain't that funny.”
Jake's smile grew wider in spite of himself. “Oh yes. You're right. Not funny at all.”
“I, for one, think she wears it very well.” Rarity chipped in, “It projects an aura of class and Sunday best sophistication!”
Blinking, Jake looked from the hat, to Rarity, back to the hat and then to the glower on Applejack's face. His smile twitched again before an explosion of raucous laughter escaped his lips, despite his best efforts to bite it back.
“BWA HA HA HA!” He cackled, falling back onto his haunches as Applejack glared right back at him.
“Ah said it ain't that funny!”
“Hehehe...I...I'm sorry Applejack! It's just that you looked so grumpy and the hat was just so super girly and...”
The explanation trailed off as Jake fell back into another bout of giggling, Applejack yanking the hat off her head and slapping it onto Rarity's with an annoyed huff. The cognitive dissonance resolved, Jake was able to calm down and get back to his hooves.
“So girls, what brings you over this morning?”
“Well darling, I wanted to talk to you some more about the gala dress payment.” She tilted her head slightly as she moved onto a question, “Are you sure you don't remember what we agreed to? I just can't work it out.”
“...Well...”
“Hey!” Applejack interrupted, pointing a hoof towards the open kitchen door, “Is that my hat?”
Jake winced. He had failed to realize that the little dining table in the kitchen was visible from the main room when the door was open.
“Umm...yes. Yes it is.”
“You wanna tell me why my hat is in your kitchen?”
Jake winced again, quickly searching his head for some kind of plausible explanation. Which was difficult, as he didn't even have one of those for herself yet.
“I drank way, way to much last night.” He offered, lamely, “Applejack's a hell of a kind of booze.”
Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances, AJ nodding slightly. “Big Mac did mention that he helped ya home from Berry's last night. Ya decided to steal my hat?”
“....It seemed like a good prank at the time?” Jake muttered, rubbing the back of his head, “I'm still dealing with the hangover.”
Trotting into the kitchen, Applejack neatly flipped her hat back into place.
“Much better.” She grinned, as she returned to the main room, “Do me a favor Skitch. Next time don't drink so much booze that stealin' from ponies seems like a decent prank.”
A nervous laugh escaped Jake's lips as he nodded. “I really am sorry AJ. I...wasn't trying to hurt you or anything...”
“Ah know Skitch.” She smiled, patting his withers, “Just don't do it again, all right.”
“Back to my questions.” Rarity cut in, “I didn't happen to give you a bolt of black fabric for any kind of art projects or the like did I?”
“Uhh...” Jake blinked, “No. I don't think you did.”
“Hmmm. Oh well, I must have misplaced it somewhere else then.”
She motioned to the door with her head. “Shall we go Applejack? We both have plenty to do today, after all.”
“Ah reckon you're right Rare. Apples won't buck themselves.”
Excusing themselves, the pair trotted out the front door, leaving Jake alone with his thoughts.
- - - -
“So, I am guessing that you noticed the same things I did?”
Applejack nodded, her jaw set in a concerned scowl. “Ah sure did. For a pony who was out drinkin' all night, she sure as punch wasn't hung over.”
“Speaking from experience?” Rarity teased.
“Ah, like you've never been drunk yourself.” Applejack poked back, “But somethin' weird is going on here. She was all nervous and confused and was lyin' about how she got my hat.”
“It doesn't make any sense though!” Rarity frowned, “We've known her for two years, ever since she moved into town.”
“Ah remember. You were so excited at the idea of havin' another artist in town ta maybe make friends with.”
Rarity frowned as she glanced back at the shop. “What should we do?”
“Let's round up the girls. Somethin’ strange is going on here.”
- - - -
Jake watched Rarity and Applejack cross the town square and disappear down another street.
“Well...that went well I suppose.”
A rumble from his stomach reminded him that between the hat and the visit from those two, that he hadn't eaten since he woke up. Walking back into the kitchen, he cracked open the fridge of the house for the first time.
“Vegetables, vegetables, flowers, fruit....well, when in Rome.”
Wolfing down a carrot, Jake was about to follow up on his decision from yesterday to go visit Twilight Sparkle, when the front door bell chimed again.
“Damn it,” He hissed under his breath as he went to see who had come to visit him this time.
Lyra Heartstrings and her significant other, Bon Bon, were standing side by side. The former looked almost ready to bounce right out of her fur, while the latter was doing her best to rein her friend in.
Jake blinked. “Hi there....Did you need something?”
“We want you to do a painting!” Lyra beamed.
“It's Lyra's birthday this weekend.” Bon Bon explained, “And I wanted to get her a nice piece of art for it. Can you help us?”
Frowning, Jake opened his mouth to say no.
- - - -
Golden Oaks Library had been turned into an impromptu meeting room, once Applejack and Rarity had called the rest of their friends together. Scattered about the ground floor, they listened closely as Applejack explained everything they saw.
“...And that's what it comes down to. Skitch wasn't tellin' the truth about why she took my hat and she's just actin’ weird.”
The rest of the group exchanged unsure glances before Twilight Sparkle spoke up.
“I don't mean to sound insensitive. But maybe you're over-reacting? It could have just been a prank, that she didn't think though. It isn't automatically sinister...and you could have just forgotten what you did with the fabric.”
“Please, Twilight! I wouldn't have lasted in the fashion industry if I was constantly losing track of my supplies! It would be like you completely forgetting where all of the important books in your library are!”
Twilight bit her lip for a moment. “Well, assuming you are right, what do you think it means?”
Now it was Rarity's turn to be unsure. Nervously rubbing a hoof over her right cannon her eyes flicked around the room before shrugging. “The only thing that comes to mind...maybe she's been replaced?”
Rainbow Dash perked up at that. “Replaced? Like a spy?”
Before anypony could stop her, Dash was animatedly flitting about the room, a torrent of possible suspects escaping her mouth.
“Think it's the griffin? Wait! Can't forget about the elk, they signed that treaty too! Ooo! What about the changelings? We've been at war with them since forever and they could totally look just like her! Come on! We gotta go get her!”
Her rush for the door was interrupted by Applejack. Grabbing the pegasus' tail, she pulled Rainbow Dash back to the ground.
“Hold on sugarcube. All we know is that she's actin' a little strange, and that she might not be who she says she is. There's still some distance between that and her being a spy or a changelin'. Ya just go at her like that, no tellin' what might happen.”
“Well, what do you think we should do?” Rainbow snapped back, “Our friend might be in trouble! She could be locked in a griffin prison, or wrapped in a changeling cocoon! She's been by our side since Nightmare Moon. We. Owe. Her.”
“You think we don't know that?” Rarity huffed, puffing her chest out in indignation, “She was my friend first Rainbow Dash! I believe that you were the one who said she had her head stuck up her own paint pots before our little jaunt in the Everfree!”
“Everypony calm down!” Twilight snapped, stomping a hoof to grab their attention, “We aren't going to abandon her. But we are going to approach this logically.”
“What's the plan sugarcube?”
Twilight thought for a moment, tapping her chin with a hoof. “We rule out the simplest explanations first. She lives in this town just like the rest of us, and has her own daily routine and rhythm. So, let's see if there's any holes or discrepancies in what she usually does.”
“How?” Fluttershy asked, her expression nervous.
“Check with our other friends, see if they noticed anything strange as of late. And Rarity,” She nodded to her fashionista friend, “You know her the best, so you should probably check out her usual hang outs. I'll stay here and research possible magical explanations.”
A round of nods swept through the room, Twilight nodding in determination.
“Alright everypony, let's do this!”
- - - -
Pinkie hummed a cheerful tune as she hopped down the dirt road towards one of the many farms that spread across the south and west of Ponyville, of which Sweet Apple Acres was but one of many.
But Pinkie was heading to a different farm. One with fields of cherry trees, their springtime blossoms full of pink and white explosions that reminded her of a tray of fluffy fresh cupcakes. Jumping over the fence, Pinkie began to trot down the rows, glancing up at each tree as she passed.
“Hello! Cher Ber?” She called out, using one of her many affectionate nicknames for her friends, “It's Pinkie! I need to talk to you about something super-dupery important!”
One the the trees rustled, a rose colored blur dropping from the branches, landing before Pinkie with a neat thud. A few twigs were scattered through her blonde mane and tail, the fruit that she tended marked on her flanks.
“Heya Pinkie!” Cherry Berry grinned, “What brings you over? Need some cherries for a baking project?”
“Nopers! I wanted to know if you or Rosey picked up on anything strange or funny in Ponyville lately. Or if you noticed any other...” Pinkie trailed off, quickly glancing around and making a few buzzing noises.
Cherry's pale indigo eyes flashed green for a moment, a frown crossing her muzzle. “No, Pinkie, I haven't noticed anything strange. Or felt anything new either. Why?”
“Just a little bit of strange stuff happening with Skitchy. Twilight suggested we rule some things out.”
Tilting her head slightly, Cherry Berry shrugged. “Sorry that I can’t help you there Pinkie.”
She paused, biting her lip.
“And you won't tell-”
Smiling, Pinkie pulled her friend into a hug.
“Silly filly. I Pinkie Promised to keep your secret. And no one breaks a Pinkie Promise. Especially Pinkie!”
Cherry smiled as she hugged back.
“And that's why you're awesome, Pinkie.”
- - - -
“And yer sure about that?”
Nodding past AJ, Bulwark kept his eyes firmly locked on the town square, maintaining his vigil. “Quite. I've gotten no strange reports, seen nothing strange, or heard about anything else that would hint at some kind of conspiracy in Ponyville.”
“What about the night watch?”
“Night Crescent hasn't given me any strange reports either.”
Applejack frowned. “Well, have ya noticed anything? Her shop's right off the square here.”
Bulwark nodded.
“Yesterday morning she crossed the street to town hall, bought a paper from Rose Wing, then entered town hall. A little while later she left and headed towards the cafe. Didn't see her again that day.”
“Thanks Bulwark.” Applejack nodded, before trotting for town hall.
- - - -
“Yeah, it was weird.” Meadowlark commented, scooping up a few empty plates off their table, “She took her usual- tomato, carrot and rose petal sandwich with a side of hay fries- and when it came to pay, she dumped twenty bits on the table like she had never bought the thing before.”
“Well...she was really lost in the newspaper, staring at the headline like she couldn't believe she was reading it or something. Didn't even see me walk up to the table.”
“Umm...did you see where she went after that?” Fluttershy asked.
“Down the road towards the hospital, I think.”
- - - -
“She was worried about some kind of mental trauma.” Doctor Clear Health explained, checking her charts as she talked, “But aside from the goose egg on the back of her head, Doctor Stable and I couldn't find anything wrong. I told her that if the symptoms continued to come back.”
“What symptoms were those?” Fluttershy inquired, her shyness forgotten.
“She spoke about some bad dreams about tall fur less bipeds.”
“Didn't that sound weird to you?”
“A little weird yeah, but I've heard of stranger in my career. Back when I was working in Inj, I once had to deal with a tiger who had been exposed to poison joke at the end of a week long fast.” She winced at the memory, “It...wasn't pretty. But, if there's nothing else, I should get back to my patients.”
“Of course doctor.”
Letting the Doctor go, Fluttershy trotted back over to Rarity.
“Well, that was something at least.” Rarity sighed, “Shall we speak with your friend Thunderlane next?”
“Oh, I'm not sure he could actually add anything.” Fluttershy mumbled, a hint of a blush in her cheeks, “Maybe we should go back to Twilight. See what she and the others have found out...umm...if you think it's a good idea at least.”
Rarity nodded. “Yes dear, you are probably correct. Let's go.”
- - - -
Reality snapped back into place for Jake, the smiling faces of Lyra and Bon Bon greeting her return to the waking world.
“It's perfect Skitch!” Lyra grinned, “You captured Bonnie and I perfectly.”
Blinking, he became more aware of what was going on. A brush and palette were gripped in her magic aura, a completed painting resting upon an easel before her. The subject matter was clear. Lyra and Bon Bon, cuddling together on a hill as the sun set on the horizon.
The painting was wrapped in Lyra's aura as she picked it up, Bon Bon handing over a bag of bits that Jake numbly took.
“Thanks again!” Bon Bon smiled, the pair trotting out of the building, leaving Jake alone with his thoughts.
“Did I...paint that?” She muttered.
Quickly glancing around, she grabbed a sketchbook and pencil from the shelves before plopping down on the floor and testing her new found abilities. Held aloft in her magic aura, the pencil moved and danced across the page like some kind of Olympic skater, following instincts that weren't there before.
Maybe twenty minutes later, an intricate pencil drawing of Princess Celestia was spread out upon the page, good enough for Canterlot’s Medowlark Gallery.
“How do I even know what that is!” Jake shouted stared at the sketch, a churning sensation tearing away in his stomach.
“No...I...I'm a programmer. I have a computer science degree! I'm not an artist.” She moaned, throwing her forearms over his head, sinking completely to the floor, “I'm not a unicorn. I'm not a mare. I can think this out. I can solve it.”
“Lost time and I did a painting” He muttered, “Maybe I was controlled? Just like a...a...remote access….thing.”
She frowned deeply. Why couldn’t she remember the term? He had done it plenty of times when it came to computer repair. She knew about a gallery in Canterlot now, but was forgetting his old profession. And she kept switching pronouns in her head.
The minutes ticked by in agonizing slowness, Jake keeping her muzzle pressed against the floor and hooves on her head as she mentally grappled with these questions and their accompanying uprise of panic.
“No,” He eventually growled, pushing herself back to his hooves, “I will not go quietly. I will find out what's going on!”
Charging out the door, he could see that the sun was high in the sky. Gaining the bits had cost her hours. Ignoring and weaving through the ponies on the street, she made a beeline right for Golden Oaks Library.
A confident smile crossed his face as she drew close to the library. Everything was going to be okay!
Bursting through the doors, she skidded to a halt at the sight of the assembled mane six, and Spike. Twilight stood before them, mid lecture, eyes wide. They all looked at her, Fluttershy quickly looking away while Rainbow glared and Applejack frowned. Rarity affixed him with a cool look, unreadable and aloof. Pinkie waved, and Spike glanced up from the roll of parchment in his claws.
“Hey girls.” She smiled nervously, “Whatcha doing?”
A round of sideways glances shot around the room, before Pinkie spoke up.
“We were talking about you!”
Dash and Applejack facehoofed. Fluttershy winced. Rarity and Twilight rolled their eyes. And Pinkie just plowed straight ahead.
“You were acting all strange, so we tried to figure out what was going on, which was hard because no one saw anything strange, which was soo~oo strange! But if you're in trouble, you need to tell us! So we can help, because we're friends!”
Jake didn't respond right away, having been exposed to a full Pinkie Pie barrage. But them the reality of the situation slammed home again.
“Right!” She nodded, “Now, this is going to sound completely crazy...”
“Skitch,” Rainbow interrupted, raising an eyebrow, “Pinkie is our friend.”
“...Point.” He sighed, “Okay. I am not a pony.”
“Ah ha!” Rainbow grinned, flitting towards the ceiling, “I knew it! You're a changeling, aren't you?”
“Noperoony!” Pinkie chimed in, “She's not.”
“How...?” Twilight blinked.
“Pinkie Sense.”
Jake couldn’t help but smirk slightly at the half scowl, half nervous smile that crossed Twilight’s face. It seemed like she hadn’t completely gotten used to Pinkie’s weirdness yet. She motioned to Jake with a hoof, urging him to continue.
“Okay.” He nodded, “See, I’m actually what’s called a human. We look like...well…” He scratched his chin with the back of a hoof, brow furrowed as he tried to work out how to explain his old apperance, “A furless, hornless minotaur I suppose.”
“And then you got turned into a pony before you moved to Ponyville?” Twilight asked, waving a hoof at Spike take notes on what was being said.
“Well...no. I just woke up in this body yesterday. I’ve never been to Ponyville before.”
“I see.” Twilight commented, one of her eyebrows raising ever so slightly, Spike continuing to scribble away, “So, you’ve never been to Ponyville before, but you know who we are. Paid attention to the papers I’m guessing?”
“Errr….Well,” Jake muttered, shuffling her forehooves, “I watched you girls on TV in my universe. It’s like little a little movie theatre in your own house.” He quickly added at the looks of confusion to the term, “You’re all...fictional, in my world.” He finished lamely, hanging her head.
The expressions that greeted that revelation made her flinch. The disbelief was quite evident on their features, though each pony wore it a different way. Twilight’s expression was the detached disbelief of an analytical mind, her one raised eyebrow now raised even higher. Rarity was biting her lip, brow furrowed. Rainbow had her forearms crossed, eyes narrowed, a facial expression mimicked by by Applejack. Fluttershy was looking at the floor again, face obscured by her pink mane.
Only Pinkie didn’t seem to be upset by the claims, but judging by the wide smile on her muzzle she thought that Jake was joking or something.
“So...how did you come to this conclusion?” Twilight asked, after a few stomach flipping moments of silence.
“Well, trial and error, really. The world is operating under too much underlying logic…fantastical though it may be, for me to be in some kind of dream. I could be in some kind of coma or fugue state, except that things feel too...real I guess?” She frowned, nervously tapping a hoof on the floor, “I don’t think I’m in a coma. Not anymore at least. And that leaves me either being insane, or correct.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths before speaking again. “You’re the group that defeated Nightmare Moon. If anyone can find out which one of those two remaining options is the right one...it’s you.”
Opening her eyes again, he could see that they looked a little less sure than they were before.
“Huddle, everypony.” Twilight frowned.
- - - -
“She’s completely lost her mind.” Rainbow glared over at Skitch, before ducking her head back down, her wings twitching in annoyance, “We need to get her to a hospital.”
“She’s already been to a hospital, darling.” Rarity pointed out, “They didn’t find anything. Besides, she trusts us right now.”
“I am inclined to agree with Rainbow. ” Twilight frowned, nervously rubbing her chin, “I mean...a bipedal hairless minotaur that watched us on a private theatre system from another universe? How can that possibly be true?”
“Does it matter?” Fluttershy softly asked, tilting her head to peer at her friend, “If she’s wrong, she needs to be helped, because she’s our friend. If she’s right, she came to us begging for help and it’s the right thing to do. We can’t just ignore her.”
Twilight perked back up, decisively clapping her hooves together, a grin crossing her muzzle. “You’re right Fluttershy! We can handle this. Let’s tell her.”
- - - -
Jake sat helplessly, watching the impromptu meeting. Occasionally, one of them would peek out of huddle to look at her, before ducking back down and continuing to exchange whispers. After a few minutes, the group broke up, Twilight stepping forward.
“Your story sounds...strange. But don't worry Skitch!” She quickly amended at her friend's crushed look, “You're our friend, and we won't rest till we get to the bottom of this, whatever the cause is.”
It was obvious to him that Twilight still didn’t believe what she had said. But, he didn’t care. Twilight had promised to help. The librarian eeped in shock as she jumped forward, throwing her arms around her in a hug.
Skitch-Sketch was about ready to pass out from nerves. Her knees were knocking, ears and tail twitching and her mouth felt like she had swallowed a bag of cotton balls. The door to the testing chamber of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns loomed over her like a wall.
She didn't feel the hoof on her withers at first. Not until her mother's soft voice reached her ears.
“Skitch-Sketch? Are you okay?” Apple Polish asked.
She looked up at her mother. Aside from both being unicorns, there wasn't much family resemblance between the two, her beige coat and straight dark brown mane were a complete contrast to Skitch's own. Their eyes were the same though, and those eyes were full of warmth.
“I'm just nervous mom. What if I blow the test? What if I don't make it into the school?”
“Then you'll go to a different school, and still excel.” She assured, giving a motherly nuzzle to her daughter's cheek, “You're my brilliant little artist.”
“Moooooom!” Skitch squirmed, embarrassed, “Just cause I got my cutie-mark doesn't make me brilliant.”
“Hush.” She smiled, fussing with Skitch's mane. “You're my little girl. It's my right as a mother to fuss.”
“Leave her alone dear.” Black Marble chided, though he smiled all the same, “The other foals are watching.”
Skitch shuffled her hooves, tucking her tail between her legs as she glanced back at the row of other test applicants. The purple coated filly that was next in line stifled her giggle, quickly looking elsewhere in the hallway.
“Mom,” Skitch questioned, turning her head back to her parents, “Why can't you oversee this test again? Aren't you part of the group that does that?”
“And just let you in? Does that sound fair to you?”
“No.” Skitch hung her head.
“They'll judge you fairly Skitch. Just go in there and be yourself.”
The door creaked open, another pony with a clipboard motioning for her to enter. “It's your turn.”
Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the door.
- - - -
The morning pulled Skitch-Sketch out of her deep sleep, the remains of her dream still bouncing around her skull. Her horn glowed, the covers tossed aside as she rolled out of bed. The sound of her hooves clacking against the wooden boards, muffled by the thin carpet though they were, no longer made her flinch. The presence of her tail no longer an oddity as she marked another tally mark in her notebook.
Two weeks. Twilight and her friends hadn’t been able to provide a single answer in two weeks.
She supposed it really wasn’t their fault. Twilight had been trying, casting spell after spell on her, with no clear results so far. And the others…well.
Not being able to match Twilight’s raw magical knowledge, they did their best to provide moral support. But they had their own lives that demanded attention. Applejack and Rarity had to run their own businesses, a demanding prospect. Rainbow Dash had been training for some kind of upcoming event, rushing off at the first opportunity each day.
Fluttershy’s distractions had been the most surprising to Skitch-Sketch. She was apparently more than just a lover of animals, but was Ponyville’s full blown vet, having taken over from the previous one a few years ago when she moved to Manehatten.
And Pinkie Pie…well, she had kept her laughing at any rate.
Grunting, she made for the bathroom for her new morning routine. Hot shower first. Climbing into the tub, she flicked the water on with her magic. It was easy, really. She squeezed her eyes closed as the hot water washed over her, flowing and channeling through her fur, mane and tail; she savored the still somewhat familiar sensations, letting them carry her back to the memories of when she was still a biped.
Wallowing in the feelings for a little while, Skitch eventually turned her efforts towards washing off; a challenging proposition when your whole body was covered with hair. She applied what felt like a whole gallon of shampoo to her body, before using a mixture of hooves and magic to thoroughly scrub off.
After rinsing, she quickly spun the handles off and gave her whole body a massive shake to get rid of the excess water.
Like an animal. She bitterly thought, grabbing a towel in her magic aura. No. Can’t think like that. I can talk and think still.
Moving to brushing her teeth she tried, and failed, to ignore the reflection in the mirror. Every morning it stayed the same. The amber eyed, green coated, blue maned unicorn with the one green striped lock hanging to the right of her horn. Spitting and rinsing, she glared right into the mirror.
“You aren't me.” She growled, pointing at the reflection, “You will never be me and you will never replace me! I. Will. Beat. You.”
The reflection was not intimidated, a few locks of mane flopping into her field of view.
Sighing, she flipped her mane back and pulled away from the sink, heading for the front door. Dash had dropped off a message the night before. Twilight had another possible spell that she wanted to try out that would supposedly fix all of this.
It was another warm and sunny spring day in Ponyville, the the only cloud in the sky an oddly shaped blob near the horizon. It seemed that the weather team had once again done their job and cleared the sky. Skitch grit her teeth, finding herself oddly aggravated at something that, according the to the confusing mix of memories in her head, was at once both normal and abnormal.
That was the reason she was so on edge. She was being chipped away at, bit by bit, the personality she was sure was the real one slowly being eaten by one that matched the body she now had. She wasn't even sure when she had lost her old name or when it had become easier to use female pronouns for herself. She just noticed the differences one morning.
Twilight will fix this. She thought to herself again. She's the best pony. She'll fix- A shadow stretched across Ponyville. Literally. Skitch watched it race over buildings before looking up to see what was above.- this?
Her jaw dropped at the sight of twenty pegasai soaring overhead, pulling a long, flat section of cloud along with them like a barge. Banking past town hall, the group of made for the Ponyville market.
Her own problems temporarily blitzed from her mind by the display, Skitch tore across town to see what was going on.
Upon arrival, she could see that the pegasai had parked their cloud barge right in the middle of the market. They swarmed the stalls, the rapid patter of haggling and counter-haggling echoing over each other in a confused jumble. As deals were struck, whole crates of produce were dragged to the cloud barge with frenzied speed.
Spotting Big Mac at the Sweet Apple Acres stall, Skitch began to weave through the crowd, fully intending to find out what the hell was happening. This proved to be not exactly easy. The visiting ponies were completely focused on their task and several times she had to back peddle to avoid getting bowled over.
She passed a stern looking beige pegasus perched on the edge of the cloud slab. A clipboard was in hoof, and he was taking meticulous notes as each crate and bushel was slid into place.
Ungainly ducking around a final pair of crate carrying ponies, she kicked up a cloud of dust as she skidded to a stop in front of the great red earth pony.
“So...Big Mac,” She sighed, motioning to the chaos around them with a hoof, “What the hay is going on.”
“Cloudsdale.” Big Mac said simply, “It's drifin' back our way. Here for supplies. Equestrian Fliers Competition tomorrow.” He glanced down at Skitch, raising an eyebrow, “Where's Applejack?”
“At the library, I think. She's been helping Twilight with a...thing.” She finished lamely.
“Headin' that way?”
Skitch nodded.
“Send sis my way once yer all done. They'll be back for another load this afternoon, and ah'll need her help bringin' up the preserved food from the farm.”
“Right.”
- - - -
“This is the spell you want to use?” Rarity asked, an eyebrow raised as she looked over Twilight's shoulder.
“Yes!” Twilight nodded, turning to grin at Rarity, “This will solve the problem.”
The assembled group of element bearers were once again meeting in the lower floor of the Golden Oak's library. Such had become the ritual. Every day that Twilight was going to try another spell to fix Skitch, they would all be there for support. And in the case of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, security.
Rarity frowned, tilting her head slightly. “Twilight, darling, I may not be a magic prodigy like you are, but isn't that a memory spell?”
“Yes.” She nodded, happily clapping her hooves together, “This spell will banish the delusional psyche and get us our friend back! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!”
“NO!” Fluttershy interrupted, with enough force that Twilight jumped in shock, twisting to gape at her usually soft spoken friend. Fluttershy grinned nervously, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, “I’m sorry Twilight. But, I can’t agree with this.”
“What?” Twilight blinked, “Why?”
“Because...we don’t know which mind is the real one.” Fluttershy pointed out, nervously fluttering her wings, “If what she says is true, we’ll just kill her...err...him I guess and replace him with who we want.”
Rarity nodded curtly. “I agree! You’re just going to bury her with this spell.”
“That's not what it is!” Twilight shot back, glaring deeply at her friends, “I mean...you heard what she said! That she's some kind of bipedal hairless creature from another reality where she watched us on small in home theater sets? How can that be anything but a delusion?”
“I don't know, Twilight. But the fact remains that doctor ponies, through both mundane and magical means, found nothing that would suggest that she's gone mad!”
“I don't see what the problem is.” Rainbow interjected, lazily hovering above the central reading desk, “This would fix everything.”
“And if some pony decided that your athletic personality was wrong,” Rarity snapped, her tail twitching angrily, “And that you would be oh so much better as a fashionista would that give them the right to do that to you?”
“No, but if some pony made me one against my will, I'd want my friends to use the right spells to fix me!”
“And she insists that her pony memories are false!”
Growling, Rainbow hovered, looking to Applejack for support. The farmer shrugged from her seat.
“Ah think that she believes the pony memories are false, at least. She hasn't been lyin'.”
“But I've tried every magical detection spell I have and then some!” Twilight shouted, throwing her hooves in the air in exasperation, “Everything from a simple Detect Magic to Starswirl's Fundamental Arcane Breakdown and I've found nothing! So it has to be some kind of mental defect.”
“Or it could be something unexplained.” Rarity said, firmly stomping a hoof, “Twilight. You know that this is wrong. It's not proper to just force her into the pony we want her to be! And while we could be fixing her, I am not willing to take that chance without being damn sure!” She ignored the shocked gasp from her friends, glaring right into Twilight’s eyes, “Princess Celestia taught you better. Your parents taught you better.”
At that an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Twilight hung her head, clutching the spell book to her chest like it was a life raft. “Y...you're right Rarity. I'm just...afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” Applejack asked, blinking in confusion, “Her?”
“More what she could represent.” Twilight shuddered, squeezing her eyes closed, “If she's right...if she's right and she has been changed...and she is having her mind altered, then everything in our lives is suspect.”
She began to rock back and forth on her haunches. “Our memories, our friendships, our own lives? They could all be fake. Rainbow Dash could really be a fashionista and Rarity could be the athlete and we wouldn't know!”
She opened her eyes, which were now wet with tears, “I mean, think about it. Celestia sent me here two years ago to get out into the world. And for a whole year I was just the shut in librarian.”
“You were kind of a grumpy flank at my welcome party.” Pinkie nodded in agreement.
“But then one journey together and we were all best friends? I just...”
Whatever she was about to say was cut off as Spike threw his arms around Twilight in a hug. A moment later he was joined by Fluttershy and Rarity, the yellow pegasus gently stroking her mane. Applejack joined in next, and Rainbow Dash last. They held the group hug for a few moments, letting Twilight take a few deep breaths to help herself calm down.
“Shhh. It's okay.” Fluttershy soothed as the hug broke up, “We'll figure this out. And I...well...I believe that we are all actually friends.”
“Fluttershy's right sugarcube. Have a little faith in yerself and the rest of us.”
Twilight nodded, taking a few calming breaths before wiping away her tears with the back of a hoof. “You're right Applejack. We can handle this. I just need to come up with some kind of spell to work out what set of memories Skitch has is the correct one.”
“Why not use what we have?” Spike asked, tapping his chin with a claw.
“But we just talked about how that'd be bad and might hurt Skitchy!” Pinkie pointed out.
“Well, I'm not talking about casting the memory spell. I'm talking about using them as a starting point instead of working from scratch. That would take forever.”
Twilight perked up, a grin crossing her muzzle, the gears in her head turning at Spike's suggestion. “Spike!” She beamed, jumping to her rear hooves, “That's perfect! If I combine the one of the detection spells with the memory spell, I can use it to detect what's changed in Skitch's memory!”
Almost in a form of response, the door to the library swung open, and Skitch came trotting in.
- - - -
Skitch paused as she let the door snap closed behind her. Everyone was clustered around Twilight and staring right at her. They had obviously just finished talking about her. Skitch’s heart jumped in her chest.
“Did you find something? Am I going to be back to normal?” She asked, practically bouncing in place.
Her excitement was dashed as quickly as it rose when everyone was unwilling to look her in the eye.
“Oh.” She frowned, slumping, “So I got my hopes up...again.”
“It's not a total loss.” Twilight quickly pointed out, “I have a pathway to follow now. I'll have a solution soon. One, two days, tops.”
Skitch sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “Guess I wasted a trip across town.” Glancing over at Applejack, she snorted slightly, “By the way Applejack, your brother requests your assistance down at the market. The Cloudsdale supply brigade is in town and buying everything.”
“Landsakes!” Applejack exclaimed, “With everything going on ah forgot that was today!”
“So,” Skitch asked, “What's the deal with that anyway?”
“Don't you know?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her forelegs, “You're the one saying you watched us on those little boxes.”
Skitch raised an eyebrow, as she glanced at Dash. The rainbow maned pegasus' appearance hadn't caused the cognitive whiplash for her that Applejack's had, but the mare still had an unexpected scar that cut diagonally across her right cannon.
“The migratory patterns of Cloudsdale were never the subject matter of an episode.” Skitch snarked, “Nightmare Moon, Gilda the griffin, the dragon in the mountain, Trixie...”
“Who?” Pinkie blinked, “That sounds like a pony. Ooo! Are we getting another pony in town? When's she showing up? Does she like balloons?”
“No,” Skitch blinked, “she should have been here already. Would have rolled into town with her own cart.” She continued when all they responded with was blank expressions, “...Claimed that she banished an ursa major?”
“Skitch?” Rarity softly intoned, tilting her head slightly, “No pony like that has ever come into town.”
The green unicorn frowned deeper.
“Don't look at me like that.”
“Like what, darling?”
“Like I'm crazy! I'm not crazy!” She snarled, pointing an accusatory hoof Rarity's way, “I'm not.”
“No one's saying you are.” Fluttershy comforted, trotting over and putting a hoof on her withers.
“But you're thinking it. I know you are. You’re all expecting me to be somepony that I don’t know anything about!”
“Well, that’s because you haven’t asked anything about her.” Twilight shrugged.
Skitch opened her mouth to retort, but then paused. Twilight was right. Closing her mouth, she sighed and sat down. “Fine, tell me about this pony I’m supposed to be.”
“Well, she’s stubborn,” Applejack chuckled. “Ya basically chased after us when we went off to fight Nightmare Moon. Wouldn’t take no for an answer and wouldn’t run off even when ya didn’t get an Element of Harmony.”
“Ponies have been calling you our bard.” Rarity added with a nod, “Since you follow us on our adventures and paint our exploits afterwards.”
“How...fan-ficy.” Skitch sighed, her muzzle scrunched up in annoyance.
“Hey,” Dash interjected, cutting off Rarity’s retort, “How about we not worry about this right now? Tomorrow's the Equestrian Flying Championships and I'm due to compete in the amateur league! I say you all come tomorrow and watch me totally dominate! Twilight's been working hard and could probably use a break. I think that she found a cloud walking spell when she was researching?”
“Yes!” Twilight perked up, “That sounds like a great idea!”
Skitch's frown abated slightly, a realization clicking over in her head.
“Princess Celestia will be there, won't she?”
“Well...yeah.” Rainbow nodded, “She presents the awards and medals.”
An actual smile crossed Skitch's muzzle. “Yes. This sounds like a good idea. A really good idea. Twilight could use a break.”
Everyone exchanged glances at her sudden change of tone. Applejack frowned, taking a slight step forward.
“Skitch, ya ain’t thinkin’ about botherin’ the princess are ya? I know yer worried but ya just can’t go running up to her. Sides’ you really think Twi’ hasn’t told her what’s going on already?”
“Then where is she?” Skitch frowned.
“She has a whole country to worry about, darling,” Rarity pointed out. “She trusts Twilight, and so do I.”
Sighing again, Skitch squirmed in her seat. “I guess you’re right. And I guess Twilight could probably use a day off before she throws herself back into magical research. Besides, when am I going to get a chance to see Cloudsdale up close again?” She finished with a slight grin.
“Great!” Dash grinned, “We'll meet back here tomorrow and head on over. I can't wait to show you girls the city!”
- - - -
The next morning, everyone returned to Golden Oaks Library, Applejack the last to roll in, shuffling through the door with a yawn. She shot a glance at Rainbow Dash, a smirk playing across her muzzle as she shook her head slightly.
“Yer kin bought out almost every bit of preserved apples I have. They feed ya ponies up there?”
“Well, no farms AJ. Whatta you expect?”
“Ah know sugarcube.” Applejack grinned, “Just pullin' your leg.”
“Everypony who's getting a cloud walker spell, gather round!” Twilight cheerfully intoned from her seat before a thick leather tome. A warm looking purple scarf was tied around her neck; an accessory that the other non pegasai in the group were wearing as well.
“Wait,” Skitch cut across her, “Is that the only spell you found? What about the spell that gives a pony wings?”
“Oh! Well, I did find that one too.” Twilight blinked in confusion, “But why use that? This is an easier spell to use on multiple ponies and the wings are susceptible to heat damage.”
Skitch smiled, an idea forming in the back of her mind. If she pulled this off, not only would she help Dash pull off the sonic rainboom again, but it would prove- to her own mind at least- that her experiences back home were real.
“I just think that Rarity should have the wing spell. They’ll match her hair and coat, and help make her look really smashing!”
Twilight opened her mouth to object, but stopped when Rarity put a hoof on her side. The fashionista shook her head slightly, her eyes flicking to Skitch for a moment before looking back to Twilight. The librarian sighed, but didn’t object any further her horn lighting up as she began to weave the threads of the spell together.
Tendrils of soft blue light snaked around Rarity’s form, slithering across her barrel and slowly coiling together into a little knot on her back. The knot of light then lashed outwards, splitting apart into a lattice that began to rapidly weave the form of the butterfly shaped wings. As the form was completed, the wings fully snapped into being.
Skitch couldn’t entirely suppress the gasp that escaped her lips as Rarity stretched her new appendages. They caught the morning sunlight, casting a technicolor spread of light across the whole room. Thankfully, Skitch wasn’t the only one impressed with the light display.
“Oooo!” Pinkie beamed, hopping around her friend and taking in every inch of her new wings, “Super duper sparkly!”
“Oh yes.” Fluttershy nodded, “They're very pretty.”
“Well, thank you girls.” Rarity nodded, “But we should be under way if we’re going to get good seats.”
As a group, they headed out of the library and towards the north end of Ponyville, following the road that would eventually take one to Canterlot if they followed it far enough. But for now, the destination was a small hill to the northwest of Ponyville.
Skitch glanced skyward again. The cloud that had been a distant blob on the horizon yesterday was now much larger and clearer. To her, Cloudsdale resembled a giant flying wedding cake; elegant spires and stacks of buildings arranged vertically atop a circular slab of cloud.
Swinging her gaze back towards the hill, she blinked at what was waiting. She had been expecting the balloon that Twilight and her friends had used in the Sonic Rainboom episode, but that was not the case.
What was actually there was another one of those flat cloud barges that she had seen the day before. It was situated behind a banner raised on two poles that read “Cloudsdale Departures” in clear, blocky letters. Two pegasus mares and a unicorn stallion stood in front of the poles, addressing each pony in the long line before them as they approached.
“Jeese.” Skitch blinked, looking over all the ponies before them, “It looks like most of Ponyville is here.”
“Well, we got a pretty strong team this year.” Rainbow Dash grinned, “There’s me, naturally. I’ll be handling the speed and acrobatics event solo. But then we have Cloud Kicker and Cloudchaser on the synchronized flying event, Raindrops and Snowflake on the endurance and strength events, and Dewdrop and Thunderlane on cloud sculpting.”
“That event should be nice.” Fluttershy softly intoned, “Thunderlane’s been putting in extra practice this week.”
“Just...how involved is this?” Skitch asked as they drew close to the end of the line.
“This is one of the big sporting events of Equestria!” Twilight said cheerfully as she slid into teacher mode, “It’s gotten big enough at this point that we always get a decent slice of visitors from our neighbors. This year its going to be a really big! First one that Princess Luna has been to since she was banished.”
“It actually takes a few days to work through the whole thing.” Dash added, puffing her chest out in pride, “But we’ll just stick around for today, which is my event and the cloud sculpting.”
The line moved fairly quickly, and in a few minutes they were before the three pony gatekeepers. The pegasus holding a clipboard quickly looked the group over .
“Three unicorns in your party.” She said, quickly marking that down and nodding towards Rarity’s wings, “Guessing you have your own cloud walking handled?”
“Yup!” Rainbow grinned, “Everything taken care of here.”
Satisfied with that, she motioned them ahead turning her attention to the next ponies in line; the unicorn stallion stepped back, frowning that his tip jar wouldn’t see any bits from their group. With Rainbow leading the way, Skitch and the others squeezed into the last remaining spaces on the barge. With it full, the pegasai hooked to the front took the air, shooting straight for Cloudsdale.
The world rushed along below them, the floating city growing closer with each passing moment. Even from this distance, she could see other cloud barges flying to and from the city, bearing out Twilight’s claims that things would be packed. The temperature dropped as they flew higher, making Skitch suddenly glad for the scarves Fluttershy had insisted they wear.
After travelling along for a few minutes more, the ponies towing the barge adjusted their course slightly, aiming for splab of cloud that jutted from the edge of base. Pulling the barge alongside what Skitch could only call a sky pier they allowed their pony cargo to disembark.
Skitch was the last to leave the barge, taking a slow, shaky step. The cloud felt mostly solid under her hoof. Mostly. It was still a little yielding, almost like walking on sand. Taking a few more shaky steps, she began to follow the mane six down the pier.
“So, Dash.” She asked, “Do clouds always feel this…squishy to pegasai too?”
“Oh yeah!” Dash grinned, “That’s why they’re so comfy to take naps on! No better bed than a patch of fluffy cloud.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Fluttershy commented, ruffling her wings, “They’re okay if you’re not afraid of heights.”
The mention of heights was a good reminder to Skitch of just where they were, and that the only thing that was between her and a very short trip to the ground was Twilight’s spell work...which had so far failed to help her. Taking a deep breath, she pushed on, this time with a trembling knock in her knees.
This sudden change in mood did not go unnoticed by Applejack, who noticed how she was lagging behind. “You all right Skitch? Yer as nervous lookin’ as a long tailed cat in a room of rocking chairs.”
“Just my logical brain fighting with my emotional brain, that’s all.”
“Brains don’t fight silly!” Pinkie beamed as she bounced along, completely unconcerned in the difference between cloud and stable ground.
“Look, it’s just that part of me is saying that the spell is working and that everything is going to be fine. And another part of me is saying that clouds are just water vapor and there’s no possible way I can be standing here, and I’m going to drop through and oh godohgodI’mgoingtodie!” She spat out, tripping over her own words as a panic attack began to set in.
Fluttershy trotted back over to her, putting a hoof on her back. “It’s alright. I’ll be right here with you. You won’t fall.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Skitch took a few deep and calming breaths, blocking out everything but the sensation of Fluttershy’s hoof on her. After a few moments she nodded, allowing herself to be lead along as the group moved through the streets of Cloudsdale.
“You know Rarity.” Skitch piped up a little closer to the stadium, “With those wings of yours, you could really help out the Ponyville team.”
“Oh no.” She shook her head dismissively, “I’m no flyer darling.”
“Yeah, but remember that light show back in the library? You can’t tell me that with that and your design sensibilities that you wouldn’t be able to help Thunderlane and Dewdrop!”
Humming to herself, Rarity tapped her chin with a hoof.
“Perhaps you’re right.”
The human turned unicorn smiled.
- - - -
The stadium was massive. Really, she should have expected it. Cloudsdale was much larger than in the show, after all. But there was a difference from abstractly knowing that, and seeing it in person.
Rows of bleachers sculpted from cloud rose up all around them in three mighty tiers and almost every available space was full. The element bearers and her were squeezed side by side on one of the lower tiers, providing a commanding view of the field.
Pegasai filled most of the seats, but as she scanned the bleachers Skitch made out all kinds of creatures. There were earth ponies and unicorns, of course, but she could also make out ponies with bat wings, and griffin; she even picked out a few cow, elk and goats among the sea of equines. The packed bleachers and low roar of the crowd reminded her of Wrigley Field back home. The synchronicity was actually somewhat comforting.
I hope that Ponyville has a better showing than The Cubs. She smirked to herself.
Two skyboxes were built into opposite ends of the stadium. One, constructed with an open roof, was obviously the royal box, based on the three ornate color coded thrones had been set up within it. The other one had an obvious radio tower that was somehow built into the cloud that made up the structure. She suspected that magic was involved.
The teams sat in sculpted dugouts that lined the open sky “field”. Rarity had joined the Ponyville team, and was chatting animatedly with Thunderlane and Dewdrop. Sweeping her gaze over the other teams, Skitch did a double take as she spotted a team of black shelled, insect winged creatures.
“Are those...changelings?” She gaped.
“Yupperoony!” Pinkie grinned, “They’re from a free hive. Allies of Equestria.”
Skitch groaned, kneading her forehead with a hoof. “If this universe keeps throwing me curve-balls and I’m gonna get whiplash.”
“So, the princesses should be showing up soon.” Twilight smiled, changing the subject, looking over a program she had bought on the way in, “Then it’s the rest of the opening ceremonies with the Wonderbolts, then we roll right into cloud sculpting!”
“Ah bet Dash is beside herself.” Applejack chuckled, “She’d be right up there with those Wonderbolts if she could.”
Skitch was about to comment on that when a booming voice echoed from the box with the radio tower.
“Ladymares and gentlestallions, visiting fans of aerial acrobatics and feats of daring do, welcome to the annual Equestria Flight Championships!”
A deafening cheer erupted from the crowd, joined by thousands of hooves clapping in a disjointed rhythm.
“All please rise for the arrival of the princesses!”
Skitch stood with the others, turning her head towards the royal box.
“Presenting her royal highness, Defender of Equestria’s Heart, Chainbreaker, Forger of Freedom, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!”
At first, it seemed that nothing had happened. But then a small mote of rose colored light gently drifted down from higher in the sky, floating for the royal box. Landing softly in the box, it rested quietly for a moment, the crowd catching it’s breath as they waited.
Then it exploded.
It was less of a detonation and more of a sudden surge of movement, two lattices of the same rose light growing up and outward, twisting into the shape of a heart as both ends touched together. Cadance appeared in the middle of the construct, bowing deeply to a raucous round of cheering and applause. Skitch joined in. It was only polite, after all.
As Cadance took her seat and the heart faded away, Skitch leaned over to Twilight.
“Are their entrances always this bombastic?”
“Not usually, no.” Twilight admitted with a shrug, “Celestia usually breaks out the big displays like this when she wants to make a point.”
Before she could elaborate further, the announcer’s voice rang out again.
“Presenting her royal highness, Steward of the Night’s Depths, Slayer of Beryllinthranox, Princess Luna!”
On the mention of her name, the moon rapidly shot across the sky, until it settled into place in front of the sun casting Cloudsdale in a total solar eclipse. Silver light leaked from around the moon, spinning and twisting towards the royal box as it formed into a set of spiral stairs.
Luna suddenly appeared, dashing down the moonlight staircase as fast as she could run. Still smaller and lacking her ethereal wavy mane and tail, she seemed intent on making up for that with an ostentatious display.
Taking the steps two at a time, Luna was trailing a whole river of tiny stars behind her. Jumping over the last few steps, she landed neatly in the royal box and threw the mini stars into the sky, a few of them exploding like fireworks. The cheering was a little more subdued as she bowed to the crowd, but the mane six, Skitch and the bat ponies in the crowd did their best to make up the difference.
“And now!” The announcer returned, “Presenting, Her Shining Radiance, the Halberd of Harmony, Equesria’s Gleaming Shield, Princess Celestia!”
The moon now rushed for the horizon, the sun once again casting it’s radiance across the sky. A moment later, a solar flare shot from the sun’s surface like a giant river of flame. A yelp of shock and fear caught in Skitch’s throat, her eyes going wide at the onrushing fire and the thoughts of what it might do to her.
But the flame did not burn the Cloudsdale arena. Instead, it swirled around, forming into a burning ring of crackling flame above their heads that drew in tighter and tighter until it was a blazing sphere hovering in the dead center of the pitch.
Then the sphere fell apart, revealing Princess Celestia in all her glory. Flashing a warm smile to her subjects, she swooped over the crowd before landing in the royal box and throwing her forelegs around her sister and the princess of love in an obvious display of unity.
“Kind of surreal seeing Cadance here.” Skitch commented as they settled back into their seats.
“What’s so weird about it?” Applejack asked, eyebrow raised, “She’s a princess after all and this is an official shindig.”
“And from my point of view she just appeared one broadcast without ever being mentioned before.” She snarked back, eyes still fixed on Cadance. Distracted by the pink princess, she missed the sideways glances the others gave each other.
Princess Celestia stepped forward to the very edge of the cloud platform, spreading her wings wide. Her voice rang out as she used the Royal Canterlot Voice to project to the whole of the stadium.
“Greetings every creature! We welcome you to this contest of athletic skill, and fantastic flying! I invite every creature to enjoy this competition and all of the bounty that Equestria offers!”
“Bounty, huh?” Skitch smirked, getting to her hooves. The Wonderbolts were beginning to take the field and the crowds attention was focused upon the stunt ponies, “I’m going to go get some popcorn...or whatever kind of snacks this place has.”
“I’ll join you!” Twilight said simply, hopping to her own hooves.
“It’s just a snack run.” Skitch retorted, raising an eyebrow as Twilight squeezed past Applejack, “I think I can handle it myself.”
“But I want a snack too.” She quickly explained, with a grin that was a little too wide, “And you don’t know what I like.”
Skitch raised an eyebrow, fixing the unicorn with a “What the hell?” look. For her part, Twilight’s grin grew a little wider, her eyes nervously glancing at everything save for Skitch herself.
“You’re just trying to make sure I don’t bother Celestia, aren’t you?”
“No! Of course not!”
Sighing, she turned away from Twilight.
“Fine. Whatever.”
- - - -
Skitch stared at the doughnut stand as the pony working the counter quickly pulled a tray of fresh treats from the oven and slid them onto a rack to cool. She shook her head as he turned to address another potential customer.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Well...it’s nothing wrong, per se. More trying to work out how he has a working oven in a city made of cloud. Where would he even plug it in?”
“Straight into the cloud itself.” Twilight explained, using the kind of slow, deliberate tone that one might use when explaining something to a child, “Cloudsdale uses a giant contained thunderstorm for all of it’s electricity needs.”
Skitch considered asking Twilight for the explanation as to how the kitchen equipment could actually stay aloft in the cloud city without constant applications of a cloud walking spell, but pushed that thought aside. The explanation would probably be some variation on the theme of “magic”.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom.” She huffed, stalking away from the snack stand.
“Oh, okay.” Twilight nodded, continuing to follow her as she set off through the cloud stadium.
“This is asinine.” Skitch thought as she walked. “If I could get to Princess Celestia, I’m sure that she could fix this in five minutes. But so long as Twilight’s on my tail, that isn’t gonna happen.”
Pausing at the bathroom door, she glanced at Twilight, raising an eyebrow.
“Going to follow me inside too?”
Twilight grinned sheepishly, but thankfully, waited outside.
The room was about what she had expected. A long row of sinks and a long row of stalls for privacy. Most of the latter were currently occupied, so she trotted over to one of the sinks. She really didn’t need to use the bathroom anyway.
I’m guessing that all of this runs on magic too. Magic. Magic. Everything is magic. She paused, a slow grin crossing her muzzle a realization kicking in, Everything is magic. I’m magic! I got a cutie-mark now!
Twisting her head around to look at her flank, the crossed pencil and paintbrush stood out clearly from her green coat. Magic based on one’s cutie-mark and I got an art based one. Let’s see what I can pull off here. Scrunching her brow, Skitch flexed that magical muscle, focusing on her right forehoof as she willed it to vanish.
It was surreal to her, how natural it felt to weave the threads of magic around her hoof, the appendage fading away as the spell settled into place. Her grin grew even wider.
“Oh. It is on!”
- - - -
Twilight nervously tapped one of her hooves off the floor.
“Maybe I should go in there, just make sure that she’s okay.” She thought, taking a few steps towards the door. “Then again...I should trust her.” She’s my friend. She argued with herself, taking a few steps away again. “But she’s in trouble right now! Possibly losing her mind.”
Before she could argue with herself again and make another run at the door, it swung open and the form of Skitch came trotting out. Smiling, Twilight fell into place next to her as both began to head back towards their seats.
“Thanks for trusting me, by the way.” She said, flashing a warm smile at Skitch, “I’ll find a solution. I promise.”
The smile vanished when Skitch did not respond.
“Please don’t give me the silent treatment. I really am trying to help you.” Twilight sighed, reaching out to put an forearm around her friend.
Her hoof passed right through the green unicorn’s form.
“Ponyfeathers.”
- - - -
Skitch grinned as she carefully crept past the golden armored guards, the natural fluffiness of the clouds dampening her hoof falls. She guessed that was the case at least, as neither of the guards looked her direction as she trotted up the stairs towards the royal box.
Okay...just lay things out as directly as you can. Celestia is kind and loving...at least she should be. But we have friendly changelings...sooooo…yeah.
She could hear voices as she reached the top of the stairs, emerging behind the three thrones. The backs mostly obscured them from view, but she could see their forelegs and heads every so often as they engaged each other in conversation, Cadance chatting with Luna and Celestia almost like she was part of the family.
“The thestrals seemed quite happy to see you again.” Cadance commented. The pink princess was peering over at Luna, a friendly smile on her muzzle, “It’ll be good to see you running the night court again. I’m not sure I ever handled it all that well.”
“We hope that the ponies of the night court are less…” Luna paused for a moment, searching for the right word, “Bothersome, than those we have dealt with so far.”
“I can only imagine how difficult re-acclimating must be.” Cadance nodded.
“Truly, we are unsure which is worse.” Luna continued, a mixture of exasperation and sadness in her voice, “The ponies that walk on eggshells around us, afraid that we are still Nightmare Moon, or the ponies that treat us as a curiosity.” She snorted derisively, “That pony...Blueblood, we believe his name is, asked us what it was like to be trapped on the moon. As if we could summarize what it was like to be diffused into a celestial body, with a word.”
“So,” Cadance smirked, giving a Luna a friendly poke with a hoof, “What word did you pick to make him go away?”
“Odd.”
“Lulu,” Celestia softly intoned, stretching a wing out to embrace her younger sister, “I will hear none of this talk.”
“Because thou believe in me?” Luna asked, her voice rising hopefully.
“Of course! But also because there’s an invisible pony in the box with us.”
Before Skitch could react, Celestia’s magic aura sprung up around her, dragging her forward. Her hooves tried to find purchase on the cloud floor as she was pulled along, but between Celestia’s strength and their inherently fluffy nature she might as well have been trying to fight against a hurricane.
Pulled in front the thrones, she was spun around to face the princesses and found herself not only looking at them, but at a pair of silvery short swords held aloft by Luna’s magic. She gulped; the blades looked razor sharp.
She felt the invisibility spell unravel around her, Celestia banishing it with a casual flick of her wing. The rulers of Equestria peered at her, their expressions mixed. Celestia’s expression was slightly bemused, the barest hint of a smile creeping across her muzzle as she let her telekinetic grip fall. Luna was coming out of defense mode, settling back into her seat with an eyebrow raised. Cadance had her head cocked slightly to the side, more curious than anything else.
The combined gaze of the alicorns was making Skitch feel very self conscious. She hadn’t been a unicorn for long, but even she could feel the power radiating from them. A warm summer breeze from Celestia, the snap of cool night air from Luna, and a sensation from Cadance that she could only define as a warm hug personified.
“Skitch-Sketch?” The solar monarch questioned, while maintaining her characteristic warmth, “Why are you trying to sneak into the royal box? Shouldn't you be sitting with your friends?”
“Well, uhh…” Skitch stammered, hastily bowing to avoid any breaches of etiquette, “Normally yes, but I have something kind of important to tell you.”
The princesses exchanged sideways glances.
“If you’re referring to the current issues you’re experiencing…”
“Please! Just let me prove this to you! The cloud sculpting event is about to start, right? Rarity will fall, and Rainbow Dash will pull off a Sonic Rainboom to save her!”
“Thou are not a seer.” Luna said simply, motioning to Skitch’s cutie-mark as she banished her weapons back to where ever she kept them, “Thou are an artist and certainly not a creature from another world.”
Skitch felt something snap inside her. “Yes I am!” She snarled, taking a challenging step closer to the beings that could probably crush her without a second thought. Their eyes widened at her brashness, even as she jabbed a hoof at the field, “Just watch the damn event and I’ll prove it!”
“Very well.” Celestia sighed, motioning to a spot of cloud to the left of her throne, “Take a seat, and we shall watch.”
Grinning, Skitch settled into the seat as pegasai began to pull large fluffy piles of cloud onto the field. As the teams began to take the field, however, the sound of commotion at the base of the steps reached their ears.
“Ahh.” Skitch winced, as the princesses all shot quizzical looks her direction, “That’s probably Twilight. I kind of ditched her.”
The purple unicorn appeared with a poof and accompanying flash of pinkish light. Her mane was slightly dishevelled, her expression panicked as she looked about for her friend. “Princess Celestia!” She yelped as the guards she bypassed rushed into the increasingly cramped skybox, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to stop her! She’s just notherselfandIswearthat…”
Celestia raised a wing, cutting Twilight’s panicked ramblings off. “Everything is fine, my faithful student.” She looked to the guards, “Return to your posts. We can handle things from here.”
Saluting, the guards turned and left. Celestia pointed to the other side of her throne. “Take a seat Twilight. We are about to test a claim of your friend. According to her, Rainbow Dash will be gracing us with a sonic rainboom today.”
“Princess…” Twilight asked, glancing from Skitch to her mentor and back again, “How is Dash supposed to do this?”
“Rarity will fall.” Skitch answered, “She’ll fly too close to the sun, and her wings will evaporate. Rainbow Dash will dive to rescue her and pull off the sonic rainboom.”
“What?” Twilight gaped, “Princess! You can’t let this happen! You can’t let her delusions put Rarity’s life in danger!”
“I’m not crazy!”
“Even if you’re not, this plan is!” Twilight snapped back, nervously stroking her tail, “Nothing about you being correct about this, proves your underlying assertions!”
“Except being able to correctly predict events that I saw in a TV show about your adventures in *my* reality!”
“That’s circumstantial and you know it!” Twilight pointed out, “It’s still not proof! Skitch, please…I know you’re scared. I know you don’t know where your head is right now, but think about this! You said yourself not ten minutes ago that this world kept throwing you curve-balls. You’re playing with Rarity’s life!”
“No, Twilight. I’m putting my trust in Rainbow Dash.”
“You can-”
“Twilight.” Celestia’s soft voice interrupted, pulling her student’s attention away from Skitch, “I promise you that nothing will happen to Rarity.”
Pouting, Twilight threw herself down on Celestia’s other side, chewing her lip.
The teams were swarming about the piles of cloud now, hooves (and talons in the case of the griffin team) pushing and shaping the fluffy collections of condensation like it was modelling clay. Skitch cocked her head slightly, observing the changeling team with interest.
Despite not being true ponies, they seemed to be able to sculpt the cloud as easily as the pegasai, weaving an intricate flower and vine based pattern; which struck her as odd. Then again, the griffin didn’t seem to be handicapped either, while they built their imposing looking blocky sculpture, so maybe all flying creatures on this planet could stand on clouds.
Thunderlane and Dewdrop were doing most of the work for the Ponyville team, sculpting the clouds into twisting contrails that flowed after Rarity as she flew higher and higher. Weaving the trails together, Thunderlane and Dewdrop began to put a twist into their construction, creating a tall and elegant corkscrew tower.
Twilight fidgeted as Rarity flew even higher, angling her body and her new wings to face the sun. As the sun rays passed through the wings, a prism of light sprang forward. Color sprang to life throughout the tower, the warm and cool colors mixing together in a rainbow gradient.
Rarity flew higher, casting the colors across the whole of the field as she drew closer to the sun. “Here it comes.” Skitch nodded, leaning forward slightly.
For a moment Rarity hung in the air, the rainbow prism of light twinkling against the blue sky above Cloudsdale. And in the next moment, it was gone, and the white blob that was Rarity plummeted towards the ground to a round of shocked screams.
Screaming and flailing her legs, she plunged right through the Ponyville cloud sculpture before Thunderlane and Dewdrop could register what had happened. She emerged from the bottom a moment later, continuing to tumble towards the ground.
Rainbow Dash threw herself from the team box, wings beating like a humming bird as she rushed to save her friend. Skitch ran to the edge of the royal box and was joined a moment later by Twilight and the princesses, all watching the rescue intently.
Skitch smiled when the pressure waves appeared before Rainbow’s outstretched hoof. The shockwave grew tighter; the last step before the actual rainboom. Everything was going to be al-
Rainbow Dash lost control, and was sent cartwheeling off to another round of panicked shouts.
“RARITY!” Twilight screamed, her face twisted in anguish.
Skitch felt her stomach twist into a knot. Her own screams joined Twilight’s, dread and panic settling in. Rarity was about to die.
No! No! No! It wasn’t supposed to happen this way!
A flash of light sprung up in the corner of her eye and reappeared in the middle of the air, Princess Celestia suddenly at Rarity’s side, the golden glow of her magic carefully wrapping around the unicorn. With another flash of light, Celestia was back at their side, with a noisy package in tow.
“AIIIIEEEEEEEEE!” Rarity screamed, thrashing her legs, her eyes still squeezed closed.
Chuckling slightly, Celestia lightly poked her in the side. “Rarity? Everything is okay. I have you now.”
She opened one eye, slowly examining her surroundings, an embarrassed smile crossing her muzzle. “Oh. Well…could I have a cloud walking spell please?”
Celestia’s horn glowed for a moment, and she set Rarity down, turning her gaze to Skitch.
Rarity winced at Rainbow Dash’s outburst, recoiling from the anger. “Dash...please.”
Rainbow Dash’s body was a coiled spring as she paced the width of the library, tail swishing with furious energy. It was after the events of the day- Rarity had refused to let the incident disrupt Dash’s race event- and after dropping Skitch off at her home, the group had returned to the library for a discussion. Though for Rainbow Dash it was more of a rant.
“No!” She snapped, spinning on Rarity. “She almost got you killed! How much longer are we going to humor her?”
“Rainbow Dash, you’re talking like you’re the one who fell," she sniffed. “Besides, Princess Celestia said that I was never in any real danger.”
“That’s not the point!” Dash shouted, throwing her hooves up. “Why are you defending her so much? What about the actual Skitch-Sketch? You know, the pony that’s supposed to be your friend, and not this mad mare?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” Rarity softly hissed, eyes narrowing, “You’ve never had somepony telling you how you should think.”
“Can we not fight, please?” Fluttershy spoke up. “We have a solution. Twilight will create the memory detection spell. And then we’ll know what to do.”
Snorting, Dash dropped onto her haunches. “I just want my friend back. I want the unicorn who said that she’d be willing to follow us into Tartarus even though she doesn’t have an element of her own.”
“And we’ll get her back," Twilight said, pointing to a pile of books. “I’ll do it tonight.”
“Fine.” Dash sighed.
- - - -
A few hours later, after the sun had gone down, Rarity closed the door to the Carousel Boutique behind her. Jaw set, she strode across town, heading straight for Skitch-Sketch’s. Brow furrowed and tail swishing, she would have crashed right through the Royal Guard if they had gotten in the way.
Upon reaching the home she was surprised to find that Fluttershy had beaten her there. The pegasus sat outside the front door, gently tapping a hoof against its surface.
“Not answering, is she?”
Fluttershy glanced up at her friend with a sad smile. “No, she’s not.”
“Allow me to try.”
She hammered a hoof against the door. “Skitch-Sketch! It’s Rarity. Open up please.” When there was no response. She knocked harder, a hard edge creeping into her voice, “Skitch-Sketch! Open this door right now! I need to speak with you!”
Again, no response came.
“Fine.” Rarity huffed, “If you want to do this the hard way, then we shall do this the hard way!”
Trotting around to the side of the building, Rarity tested one of the windows with a hoof. A smirk crossed her muzzle when it slid open. Pulling herself up and through, she landed neatly in the main gallery, flicking her mane back with a toss of her head.
Trotting over to the door, she opened it for Fluttershy. The pegasus raised an eyebrow at her friend as she stepped into the main room. “Breaking in isn’t really nice.”
Rarity shrugged. “Considering how ashen she looked when we dropped her off, I am willing to call this ‘exigent circumstances’.”
“...You’ve been talking with Bastion, haven’t you?”
“His patrols take him right past my shop.” She explained, trotting for the stairs, “It’s only polite.”
The pair headed upstairs, peeking into the bedroom. A sigh escaped Rarity’s lips at the lumpy form hidden under the covers.
“Skitch.” She frowned, walking over to the bed, Fluttershy right by her side, “Please look at us.” The covers shifted for a moment, but Skitch didn’t turn to face them. Rolling her eyes, she poked a little harder, “Skitch. Talk with us or I’ll pull your flank out of bed.”
The form moved again, this time rolling over. The covers were pulled back slightly, revealing amber eyes full of shame and sadness.
“Leave me alone Rarity.” She croaked, “I almost killed you.”
With a snort, Rarity yanked the covers away.
“Get up.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to have some tea.”
- - - -
Skitch stared at the cup before her as it was filled with warm and fragrant tea. The cups were pink, white and elegant looking, like most things in Rarity’s kitchen. Fluttershy was already sipping her own, radiating a warm and friendly smile. After pouring herself a cup, Rarity sank into the seat across from Skitch.
“So,” She asked, lifting the cup in her magic, “You do know that I don’t blame you for what happened, right?”
“Rarity...the only reason I pushed that wing spell thing was because I was trying to make the events of the day fit what I watched back home.” She sighed, resting her muzzle on the table, “And I did this, even though I kept seeing things that were telling me that this wasn’t the same.” She sighed again, her whole body slumping, “Twilight was right. I played with your life and I shouldn’t have.”
Fluttershy placed a comforting hoof on Skitch’s fetlock. The green unicorn looked away, her eyes focusing on a flower in the china pattern. “I think that I’ll let Twilight cast her alter memory spell on me.” She eventually said.
Rarity jerked back slightly. “How did you know about that?”
“I didn’t, really.” Skitch smiled sadly, looking back to Rarity, “I was just playing a hunch.”
Rarity took a long sip of her tea, watching Skitch carefully. “From one of those episodes you’ve talked about?”
“Maybe. And before you ask, no, I’m not telling you the context. Playing god worked so well for me today.”
“Skitch.” Fluttershy interrupted, her soft voice carrying a surprising amount of power behind it, “We aren’t letting you do that.”
“Yes, I agree.”
“Why not?” Skitch squirmed, “It’s becoming very hard to believe that I was a human. And the problem would be solved.”
“Hmm.” Rarity frowned, before taking another sip of her tea, “So sure that your memories of being human are false then?”
“Well...I’m not sure I can really say one way or another.” Skitch admitted with her own frown. Her frown grew deeper at the deadpan expression Rarity fixed her with, “Look. There is absolutely no evidence that what I’ve said is true. The only evidence is what’s in my head. And my head can’t be trusted, for obvious reasons.”
“Still, what you are proposing is nothing less than a magically fueled game of griffin roulette, and we shan't allow it.”
There was a finality to the fashionista’s words that Skitch found she couldn’t argue with. She glanced to Fluttershy, searching for some manner of support in the pegasus’ eyes, but Fluttershy’s return stare spoke to how stupid she thought Skitch was being. With a sigh, she lifted her head from the table and took a drink of the offered tea. It was a smooth, with a hint of vanilla flavor rounding off the overall taste.
“I guess it doesn’t matter.” She grumbled, intently staring into the tea as if some secret would be revealed to her, “I’m probably going to be all Skitch soon enough.”
“Now why do you say that?”
Skitch bit her lip, staring into Rarity’s piercing blue eyes. “Because, Rarity, I’m losing more of myself every day. I was male before this happened! But being female?” She shuddered, “It’s feeling so completely natural now. The pitch of my voice, the girly eye lashes, the uhh...really obvious part. Seems a clear indication at the other side is taking over...” She trailed off.
An embarrassed flush crept into her cheeks, that was matched by Fluttershy, but Rarity did not comment on that. Instead, she idly swirled her teacup, her expression distant as she was lost in thought. “There is…another possible explanation for that part, at least.”
“Oh yeah? What?”
“Tell me...when you were growing up, did you ever play pretend?”
A genuine smile lit up Skitch’s face. “Rarity, I’m thirty, and I still play pretend. Been playing roleplaying games, for over a decade. I got stacks of notes on characters back home.”
“Hmm. And of all these characters, how many of them are female?”
Skitch froze, every muscle in her body locking up from Rarity’s question. It seemed such a simple question, really. Something that should be simple to answer. It wasn’t like it meant anything.
But then why was her stomach squirming so much?
“A fair number.” Was the answer she eventually gave.
“More than half?”
“Maybe...I think so.”
“And have you ever looked at a well dressed lady and been well...envious?”
Skitch reared up, slamming her hooves down on the table. Her cup of tea toppled, splashing the liquid across the table, but the unicorn didn’t care. She was just suddenly, very, very angry. “What are you implying?” She growled.
“Wait here.” Rarity answered, getting up from the table. She trotted for the door, seemingly unconcerned with Skitch’s outburst, “And do be a dear and clean that up please.”
And then she was gone, leaving Skitch alone in the kitchen with the soft sounds of the spilt tea dripping off the edge of the table. With a snort, Skitch pushed herself away from the table, trotting over to the the drawers and digging out a cloth. She set about cleaning the tea with angry strokes, Rarity’s question still echoing in her head.
“You do know that she’s just concerned about you, right?” Fluttershy asked, “And another explanation is good.”
Gruning in response, Skitch turned and tossed the tea soaked towel into the sink. Rarity reappeared in the doorway, a book firmly held in her aura.
“Take a seat darling.” Rarity said softly, nodding towards the tome, “There’s something important I want to show you.” She glanced at Fluttershy, “Both of you.”
Skitch sunk back into her seat, examining the book as it was dropped before her. It was non descript; a simple black photo album that didn’t even have Rarity’s name on it. She glanced at Rarity, raising an eyebrow. The fashionista just waved a hoof in response.
“Open it.”
Heeding Rarity’s request, Skitch flipped the book open with a frustrated flick of magic. The first picture that greeted her depicted a young white coated colt, with a short cropped purple mane. The family resemblance was unmistakable.
“You have a younger brother?”
“Not exactly, no.” Rarity sighed, “Two more pages in.”
Skitch flipped the pages, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at Rarity’s vagueness. There was only one photo on this one. The colt from before was beaming, flanked by Rarity’s parents as he stood on a simple wooden stage. He was obviously overjoyed, his flank angled slightly towards the camera to show off...his three diamond cutie-mark.
She just stared at the photo, the world almost spinning around her. “This is…” She finally choked out.
“Me. Yes.” Rarity smiled sadly.
“You...” Skitch gaped, kneading the sides of her head, “You. Rarity. Ponyville’s eminent fashionista, the Sultana of Style, the Element of Generosity, was a stallion?!”
“Skitch!” Fluttershy chided, “This had to be difficult for Rarity to admit. How do you think you’re making her feel?”
Skitch snapped her eyes back to Rarity for an answer. If looks could kill, her icy glare would have probably blasted Skitch into shards right then and there.
“No, I was always a mare.” She answered eventually, “I was just unfortunate enough to be born with a body that didn’t match my spirit.” She laughed slightly, giving her mane a playful flick, “Thankfully, transmutation spells exist for a reason and I became the dashing mare you see before you now!”
“...Do the other girls know?” She asked looking at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy shook her head. “Well...I don’t think so. I didn’t at least. But I didn’t grow up in Ponyville. Maybe Applejack would have, growing up alongside Rarity.”
“I’m not from Ponyville, actually.” Rarity corrected, sliding the album back to herself, “My family moved here after my procedure. They wanted to give me a fresh start.”
“And you never told them because?” Skitch prodded, leaning forward slightly.
Rarity shrugged, her expression unconcerned. “Because it didn’t seem relevant? That colt I was...he wasn’t me. Not really. I’m a mare. I’m happy *being* a mare. And they’ve never known me as anything but.”
“You...ever been afraid of them finding out?”
The expression on Rarity’s face became contemplative, her eyes falling on Fluttershy. Fluttershy rubbed her friend’s back, urging her to continue with a warm smile and nod. “Maybe a little.” She answered eventually, “Honestly, I was afraid that Pinkie had made the connection when we met again, after my rebirth.”
“You knew Pinkie growing up?”
“Well...not *well*. The town I grew up in is to the north west of here.” Rarity elaborated, “Right in the heart of the Platinum Hills and Equestria’s mining and rock farming country. As such it served the surrounding farms. A pony like Pinkie...well...she’s very hard to forget.”
Skitch couldn’t help but chuckle at the truth behind that statement. “That she is.” But the moment of levity was brief, the smile fading away as quickly as it appeared. “But, if you didn’t tell any of them, why are you telling me this now?”
This time, Rarity placed both her forehooves on Skitch’s pastern, a mixture of sadness and hope settling on her features. Her sad smile almost felt like a punch in the stomach to Skitch.
“Because. I don’t know what is going to happen from here. I...might be seeing things that aren’t there. But whatever happens I want you to know, you’re not alone.”
“But…” Skitch began, but was cut off when Rarity pressed a hoof to her lips.
“Skitch, please let me finish.” She said firmly, “I know that it seems like the universe is against you, and you’re confused, lost...and most importantly, scared. But we’re all here for you.”
“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement, “We won’t give up on you. We’ll be by your side until this is fixed.”
The human turned unicorn felt something...uncork, deep in her chest. A wellspring of repressed emotions, frustrations and fears smashed their way to the surface. She tried to choke it back, taking deep breaths, and blinking back the tears that were trying to leak out of her eyes. But the tears kept coming, and before she could stop it, Skitch was sobbing.
Her whole body trembled as she wept. She wept for what she had lost and could remember. She wept for what she had lost and couldn’t remember. She wept for what she had inflicted upon some of her idols. She wept for what they might be right about. And when Rarity and Fluttershy pulled her into a deep hug, she buried her face into the fashionista’s neck and wept some more.
For her part, Rarity didn’t move, just holding the hug and gently rubbing the unicorn’s back. “Shhh. Shhh. Just let it all out.” She softly murmured, letting her friend’s sadness break upon her. She held the hug for what felt like quite a while, letting the tears soak her mane.
Eventually, Skitch’s crying slowed and then came to a shuddering stop.
Pulling away slightly, Skitch rubbed her eyes with the back of a hoof. “Girls...I’m just...I’m scared. I am so, so scared. I don’t know where one pony ends and another begins anymore. I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, tonight, you’ll stay here.” Rarity commanded with a hoof stomp, “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“I…”
“Tut tut! No arguing. I’ll hear none of it.”
Skitch smiled sadly. She knew that she was trapped.
- - - -
Across town Twilight was sitting amongst her stacks of spellbooks, a few choice items from her collection spread out before her, a fresh roll of parchment and pot of ink at her hooves. Spike came in from the kitchen, pot of coffee in one claw, plate of sandwiches in the other.
“Thanks Spike.” She nodded, “I’ll need the extra energy tonight. This is going to take me hours.”
“One memory detection spell?” Spike smirked.
“You know it.” Twilight grinned, dipping a fresh quill into the ink, “I’ve never created a spell before, but splicing these three existing ones together should work.”
“Okay Twilight, but if you need anything else, just let me know.”
“Will do.” Twilight nodded, cracking her neck before diving into work, quill quickly dancing across the parchment.
- - - -
Rarity’s soft breathing was the only sound that floated through the lower floor of Carousel Boutique. The white unicorn was curled up on one of her couches, a blanket and pillow having turned it into an impromptu bed. True to her element, she had insisted that Skitch take the bed in what was usually her room.
But as she slept a figure crept down the stairs. Stepping from the last stair to the floor, Skitch-Sketch carefully looked around, Rarity’s saddlebags draped across her back. Crossing the room, she only spared a quick glance Rarity’s way, before grabbing the photo of her first successful dress sale and dumping it in the saddlebags.
With the item properly secured, her horn glowed for a moment and she vanished with a soft pop.
- - - -
Twilight looked up from her arcane scribblings, her ears twitching towards the door. She could have sworn she heard the sound of a teleportation spell ending nearby. But she had a full view of the bottom floor and there was nopony in sight. Frowning, she tapped into her arcane wellspring and called forth a Detect Magic spell.
The room still looked empty. There wasn’t even the trademark coil of magic that tended to linger in an area after a spell ended. Sighing, she turned back to her work, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“I must be getting tired already.” She muttered to herself.
- - - -
The rhythm and pattern of life in Ponyville was well known to its inhabitants. Buying things at the market, chatting with each other over as they trotted down the streets; all the sorts of things that a pony would consider normal. But rarely was thought spared for the Everfree, aside from “Don’t go in there.”
But the forest had it’s own society in a way, that played out in many different ways.
Tonight, the hulking form of a manticore ran through the underbrush, its heavy paws snapping branches and twigs as it rushed along. It’s scorpion tail was raised, its wings twitching as it closed in on it’s target.
Soft flickering yellow light spilled from the windows built into the hollow tree. The manticore picked up the pace, leaping into the air and landing before the door with a heavy thud. He pulled back a clawed paw, taking aim at the wooden structure.
And then he knocked, gently placing a basket full of herbs and other plants he had been carrying in his mouth down. The door swung open, the zebra known to Ponyville as Zecora peered up at him.
“Is that my friend Manny I see?” She glanced down at the basket at her hooves, “With the basket of herbs for my special tea!”
Manny the manticore nodded, flashing the zebra a toothy grin. The manticore couldn’t talk, at least not to anypony besides Fluttershy, but he and the rhyming shaman had found a way to make each other understood all the same. With a smile, Zecora ducked back into her house and emerged a moment later with her own basket. A large silver scaled fish rested within, fitting snugly in the woven reeds. It was freshly caught, and to Manny, mouth watering.
“As you wished.” Zecora nodded, “A nice fresh fish.”
Manny showed his appreciation for the catch by scooping Zecora up into a mighty hug. An appreciative chuckle escaped her lips; a friendly nuzzle exchanged for the hug. Fluttershy had been quite correct about the Manticore.
The hug was broken up, Manny carefully placing the zebra down before scooping up the fish and bounding back into the night. His meal vanished with a mighty snap of the jaws, bones and all, before he launched into the air with a powerful flap of his mighty wings.
Sailing over the treetops, he banked towards the abandoned castle that so dominated this part of the Everfree forest. While he didn’t live in the structure (something about the place felt vaguely unsettling to him), it was a convenient landmark to use as he had built his den in the buildings of the nearby abandoned town.
As he approached the gorge and its rope bridge, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. It was small, and quadruped. Obviously a pony, in Manny’s opinion, and trotting straight for the bridge.
Manny changed course slightly, dropping closer to take in the pony better. The only one he knew that usually came into the Everfree was his friend Fluttershy, but she never did it late at night. Landing softly on the path behind the pony, he raised an eyebrow at what he saw.
The green colored unicorn was unfamiliar to him, a pony that he had never seen, nor heard Fluttershy speak of before. But she wore saddlebags marked with the diamond of Fluttershy’s white colored friend, Rarity.
With a frown and quick wing flick, he took to the air again, dropping back down in front of the unicorn. He raised both forepaws in a gesture that he hoped would be calming. It was hard for ponies to get around his appearance at times, after all.
But the unicorn didn’t even react to his presence, instead striding past him like he was a stump in the middle of the road. Manny blinked. That had not been expected. Turning, he watched the pony plow onwards, seemingly unheeding everything around her. She was going to get herself in some kind of trouble at this rate.
Growling, he chased after the mystery pony, his massive stride closing the gap between the two of them in moments. Snatching her up with his strong paws, he tucked her under one arm and prepared to take to the air.
With a soft pop sound, she was gone, and across the bridge. Manny blinked again, looking at his now empty arm, and then back to the pony, sighed in frustration. He didn’t have a way to deal with a pony that could teleport. Watching the pony disappear into the ruined castle made up his mind. With a pump of his wings, he took to the air again, flying for the edge of the Everfree.
- - - -
Discord would have probably felt right at home in the landscape Skitch found herself standing in. She was at the top of a mountain, or at least that’s what she thought it was supposed to be. Buildings jutted out from the slopes in a confused jumble of different angles and arrangements, some even sticking out perpendicularly from the mountain itself.
Odder still was the water that seemed to surround the peak. Perfectly clear and calm, allowing Skitch to see almost all the way down to the mountain’s base. It rose to about the three-fourths point, marking a clear line between the two styles of construction apparent.
Below the waterline, it was almost all Ponyville and Canterlot architecture, a submerged forest of thatched roofs and elegant marble construction. Above the waterline, it was the shimmering steel and glass of Chicago, culminating with a replica of the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History at the peak.
Frowning, she scanned the landscape, searching for anything else that stood out in this sea of nonsense. After a few minutes, her eyes locked onto a bipedal figure that seemed to be working at the edge of the water.
“Well,” She said to herself, galloping that direction, “It’s something at least.”
- - - -
“Umm...are you sure you saw what you saw Manny?”
The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters loomed in the darkness, its towers silhouetted against the silvery moon. The shadows it cast seemed all the more sinister; their grasping, claw like forms making Fluttershy tremble.
The heavy paw of her friend rested across her back, as he addressed her with the growls and snarls that she could still understand. <”I’m sure Fluttershy.”> He rumbled, <”Are you're sure that you know this pony?”>
“Of course I do!” Fluttershy gasped, looking up at her friend, “Don’t you remember her? She was with us when we first met.”
The confused stare from Manny made her ears droop. “But...she was there. I remember it…”
Manny didn’t respond to that, instead motioning to the castle. <”Let us see what she’s doing.”>
Nodding, Fluttershy trotted after him, letting the manticore lead the way with his natural darkvision. As they moved through the dark corridors of the ancient castle, she made small talk with Manny.
“So...umm...found any other manticores yet?”
<”Some, far to the south. All feral.”> He responded, a hint of disappointment in his voice, <”But it’s alright.”> He paused, glancing back at Fluttershy with a warm smile, <”I’ll keep looking.”>
Fluttershy smiled back.
A soft chiming sound floated into the corridor catching their attention. Fluttershy recognized the tone from her time with Twilight Sparkle. The sound of a unicorn channeling magic.
“Upstairs, I think.”
Following the tones the pair walked up the twisting staircase that lead to the second floor, and the pedestal where Fluttershy and her friends had discovered the Elements of Harmony last year.
Skitch-Sketch was sitting before said pedestal, lumps of straw suspended in her aura, while she arranged what looked like ornately carved sticks and one large cane into a vaguely pony shaped pattern.
Two small piles of other items rested to each side of her. To the right, it was a collection of other strange looking bits of ephemera; small crystals, loops of metal and other things that Fluttershy could only guess the purpose of. The other collection of items, however…
Applejack’s stetson, Rarity’s photo of her first dress sale, the medal that Rainbow Dash had won for being the fastest in flight school, a book that probably belonged to Twilight, a polished chunk of marble with the names of Pinkie’s family on it, and her own veterinary license. A collection of personal effects.
Oblivious to their presence, Skitch continued to work, rapidly weaving the straw around the framework. As a pony form was constructed from the raw materials, she began to slide the the crystals and other things into the construct.
<”Fluttershy...what is she doing?”>
“I...don’t know.” She squeaked, rushing across the floor, “Skitch? What are you doing? Please stop!”
Skitch paused, slowly turned her head to face her. Fluttershy smiled. “That’s better now just please-” Her sentence died in her throat. The expression on her friend’s face was cold, detached, staring right through her like she wasn’t really there.
“S-Skitch?”
- - - -
Slowing, Skitch trotted around the last corner between her and the figure she had spied before. The figure was a human woman, with graying blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. A sandbag rested on both of her shoulders as she trudged towards the large wall of sandbags that were piled between the dry streets of Chi-Town and the watery avenues of Canterlot.
Dropping them atop the stack with a tired grunt, she rubbed her back as she straightened up, twisting slightly to glance Skitch’s direction. She appeared in be in her early fifties, features weather beaten and tanned, but her blue eyes still sparkled with life.
“I’ve been waiting for this.” She grunted again, slowly climbing back down from her wall, “You had to have found this place sooner or later.”
Skitch blinked, cocking her head slightly. “Your voice...I heard you the first night I was here. You interrupted my dream about Suited for Success…”
“Yup. Sure did.”
“Why? Who are you?”
“Mmm...” She sighed, motioning for the unicorn to follow as she moved back up the mountainside, “Come on. I’ve been staying in the museum.
“Hey!” Skitch shouted, trotting after her, “I asked who you were!”
“I heard ya the first time, you little brat.” She grumbled, glaring down at her, “I’m you….kind of at least. More of a construct slash shadow personality cobbled together from your latent desires and willpower. An ideal self, as it were.”
“My idea self is a fifty year old woman?”
“Feh…” She scratched the back of her head, “well, you kind of have me there. The fifty thing is more from strain than anything else.”
“Strain?”
“Who do you think has been running interference for you? Fighting off these invading memories?”
“Umm. Me. It’s my head!”
“And I’m part of you. Try to keep up now if the changes haven’t completely addled your mind.”
“Boy, you’re a peach.” Skitch rolled her eyes, “You’re coming across kind of hostile here.”
“Maybe because I’m fighting a war to save the mind of the bastard who’s kept me buried since he was fifteen.” She growled, pulling a cigarette, and then a lighter from her pocket. Lighting up, she took a long drag, before looking at Skitch again, “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“Oh, so am I just supposed to take your word that you’re my ideal self? I certainly don’t remember being trans.” Skitch argued back, a defensive tone in her voice.
“Taken a good look at yourself recently, chuckles?” She laughed bitterly, “We’re in *your* head, where you should be how you truly view yourself in your mind’s eye, and you’re still a quadruped.”
“But…”
The woman’s arm shot out, grabbing Skitch by the base of her horn and angrily lifting her into the air. Swinging the unicorn about, she allowed Skitch to take in the mostly submerged cityscape again.
“Look at it. We’re mostly buried. It’s exactly like you told Rarity. You can’t trust your own thoughts anymore. You. Are. Compromised.” She swung her back around and glared right into her amber eyes, “So, don’t you dare try to tell me that I’m somehow wrong, Skitch-Sketch.”
With a snort, she dropped the Skitch back to the ground and continued along her way. “I just hope that I’ve managed to shore things up long enough for Twilight to fix things. And then I’ll go back in the closet!”
“If you’re angry about that,” Skitch yelled, running to catch up, “Then why are you helping me!”
“Closet is better than death.”
“How am I even talking to you?” Skitch shouted, stomping her hooves, “I’ve had plenty of dreams back on Earth and we’ve never-”
“Cause it was Earth, duh. Come on, you saw Sleepless in Ponyville. Part of Princess Luna’s job description in this meshuggeneh reality involves going to ponies dreams and calming their nightmares. Plus, your brain is getting addled with in the first place.”
“Wait...Luna! That’s it!” Skitch perked up, “She can help us!”
“Tried that already. I’ve been mentally screaming out since that first night. Luna doesn’t seem to be patrolling the dreamscapes, currently.”
“Great…” Skitch sighed, glancing back up at the woman, “So, what should I call you?”
“Jane.”
“...As in Jane Doe?”
“Well it’s not like I remember our old name either.” She shrugged, “Anyway, so long as Twilight finishes her spell tonight, things should be fine.”
The whole mountain suddenly shook, knocking Jane and Skitch to the ground. Pulling themselves back to their feet and hooves respectively, the pair gapped at the rapidly receding water.
“It’s falling back!” Skitch beamed, hopping forward, “Jane, what did you do?”
“I...I didn’t do anything.” She blinked.
Skitch frowned, a realization beginning to sink in.
“...Oh...its receding like water does before…”
“A tsunami.” Jane finished.
- - - -
Skitch’s horn blazed to life, a concentrated wave of magic wrapping around Fluttershy. A squeak of fear escaped the pegasus’s lips as she was shoved away, another flare of magic leaping from Skitch’s horn and flowing into the straw pony.
The false pony lurched to life, jerking and stumbling towards Fluttershy as Skitch began to channel again. Manny roared in response, springing forward and placing himself resolutely between his friend and golem.
Not intimidated by the manticore, the constructed pony reared up a glow appearing in the middle of its forehead. A second later, a jagged bolt of lightning blazed forth, aiming right for Manny. Twisting to avoid the strike, he roared in a mixture of pain and anger as the bolt grazed his side.
<”Get your friend!”> He bellowed, swiping at the golem, <”I shall deal with this….thing!”>
“O-okay!” Fluttershy squeaked, rushing towards Skitch. The unicorn’s face was strained, her horn glowing bright while she chanted something under her breath. Grabbing Skitch’s shoulders, Fluttershy shook her, “Please! Snap out it!”
She did not respond, instead continuing to mutter the same word over and over. “Canterlot, Canterlot, Canterlot, Canterlot.”
“Canterlot? Wha-”
Skitch vanished in brilliant flash of white light, eliciting a shocked yelp from Fluttershy, as a very powerful teleport spell finished weaving together.
Manny slammed his body into the golem, grappling and pinning it to the dusty floor with his forepaws. Bringing his tail around, he stabbed it again and again into the side of the construct. Bits and pieces of straw went flying, some of the rings and other bits of detritus falling loose.
The eyeless head of the golem twisted towards Fluttershy for a moment, before twisting back to the manticore. Another magical glow emanated from its forehead, a second spell completing itself.
Manny was knocked back, the construct surging in size while it jerkily stood. As it rose to its full height, they could see that its withers were now even with the top of Manny’s head. With another magic glow and crack-boom, he was forced to dive away, a lightning bolt leaving a black burn mark where he was standing a moment ago.
“Manny!” Fluttershy shrieked, running to her friend’s side as he righted himself.
<”Fluttershy! Get away! You’re in danger here!”>
“I’m not leaving you!”
Opening his mouth to object again, Manny paused. The straw pony wasn’t attacking anymore. Instead, it just watched the pair, seemingly unwilling to attack while Fluttershy stood next to the manticore.
Fluttershy noticed this as well, her eyes darting between her friend and her friend’s attacker. “Manny…I have an idea.” She softly intoned, “Stay close to me.”
With a nod from Manny, Fluttershy took a very deep breath, closed her eyes, and rushed right at the straw pony. She heard Manny roar again, and the sound of his paws slapping on the stone floor behind her. She felt her head brush against the underside of the construct’s stomach, and a resounding *crunch* a second later.
As Manny crashed into the golem again, he grabbed the thing’s head, pulling and tearing at it as his tail slammed into the other side of the construct. With a tearing sound, the head was torn away, the enchantments that wove it into being falling away as well.
As the pieces that were once the straw pony fell to the floor, Fluttershy quickly took to the air. “Oh! I need to go tell the others! Please take that stuff to Zecora. We’ll be back for them later, if that’s okay with you.”
Not waiting for a response, Fluttershy took off, flying for Twilight’s as fast as she could.
- - - -
Skitch and Jane watched the wave of water begin to rush back in, curling high into the “air” of the mindscape as it beared down on them with thunderous fury.
“I guess we’re out of time after all.” Jane bitterly sighed, “Damn.”
“So...this is it? I die in Equestria of all places, snuffed out by an alternate personality?”
Jane sighed, putting a hand on Skitch’s withers as she looked up at the wave. “As angry as I was...I’m sorry….You didn’t deserve this.”
The shadow of the wave fell upon them now, as the water crashed downwards.
“Dunno.” Jane responded, “But I hope they choke on us.”
“Heh…” Skitch sadly smiled, her horn glowing as she summoned magical power. A defensive bubble sprung up around the pair. Not much, but it was something, at least, “Yeah.”
The silence in Golden Oaks Library was oppressive as Twilight stared at her spellcrafting efforts. The memory detection spell, cobbled together from three others, lay upon the reading stand where she had written it. It’s usefulness was now in question, as the pony she was going to cast it on had pulled a runner.
And then there was the other news that Fluttershy had brought.
“And you’re sure that Manny doesn’t remember her at all?” She asked again, her analytical mind tearing away at the problem.
“Well...I can’t say that I’m *exactly* sure. But he certainly didn’t seem to remember her.” Fluttershy answered, shrinking back slightly, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to tell you as soon as I could…”
“No,” Twilight sighed rubbing her forehead. “You’re right Fluttershy. We need to deal with this. Can you...,” she sighed again, looking back to her spell. “Just get the others please.”
She felt Fluttershy lean against her side a moment later, the pegasus wrapping a wing around her body. “It’s not your fault.”
Twilight shook her head, her stomach churning. “I should have started working on this spell a week ago. We would have had our answer and I could have started to work on a solution!” She cursed, kicking the bookstand. “And now she’s somewhere in Canterlot, doing Celestia knows what!”
“Twilight.” Spike sighed from his seat on the stairs, “You’ve been working plenty hard on this. It’s not your fault all those other detection spells told you nothing. What else could you have done?”
Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Twilight sighed, “I could have said ‘Forget the Flight Championships’ and finished the spell.”
“But she thought taking a break was a good idea too.” Fluttershy pointed out.
“Yes, because she was on such an even mental keel!”
“Stop it,” Spike demanded, walking over to his friend. “We can sit here and beat up on ourselves, or we can do something about it.”
Twilight peered at her assistant for a moment, a slight smile crossing her muzzle, “That your comic books talking?”
“Maybe a little.”
Twisting in Fluttershy’s wing hug, Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall, “Nine thirty. If we hurry we can catch the last train to Canterlot and be there by midnight.” Slipping loose, she rushed upstairs for her saddlebags, grabbing her completed spell along the way, “I can test our own memories on the way there.”
- - - -
The private train cabin was crowded with six ponies and one baby dragon crammed inside; the ponies sat on the padded seats, while Spike sat on the floor, resting his back against the wall under the window. But the cramped conditions had been quickly forgotten as Twilight had brought everypony else up to speed. While all were concerned, some were more upset than others.
“I should have watched her better!” Rarity moaned, flopping sideways against Pinkie Pie in a melodramatic swoon, “She was so scared, afraid of losing what was left and I should have watched her better!”
Her moan was cut short as Pinkie wrapped a leg around her friend, pulling her into a hug, “It’s okay Rarity! We’ll find her and fix everything! I promise!”
“So, Twi,” Applejack nodded towards the unicorn’s saddlebags. “Gonna cast that spell? Ah reckon it’s time ta get some kind of real answers here.” She idly scratched her head, frowning at her lack of hat.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded, her jaw set into a furious glower. “I want to know what’s going on here.”
Twilight nodded, digging the scroll from her saddlebags, “Okay everypony. This is going to be kind of a rush. It won’t remove the false memories completely, but it will kind of...highlight the differences, really.”
“Enough with the explaining, make with the casting!” Dash urged with an impatient hoof wave.
With a roll of her eyes, Twilight began to cast. She wove the threads of the spell around her friends and herself carefully, taking great care to layer the strands of magic carefully on their heads. They formed a lattice of light upon their brows, and as she finished the spell off a brilliant glow sprung to life in their eyes.
And the world fell away:
Twilight watched as events from the last two years played out all around her, each memory contained within its own spotlight. Skitch was a central figure, or at least present in all of them, her familiar voice ringing out again and again as the multiple versions of her spoke over each other.
“Winter Wrap-Up, Winter Wrap-Up!”
“I hear that zebras can hex you with their hoooorriibblllee miiiinnndd pooowweeerrrsss!”
“I know! I’ll make an illusion of Princess Celestia and-”
It was a surreal, watching all of these events play out at the same time. But then the situation grew even more dreamlike. The copies of Skitch-Sketch began to fade away, becoming more insubstantial and see through, her voice echoy and tinny...most of them, at least.
“Hi! I’m Skitch-Sketch! What’s your name?”
Twilight twisted towards the memory that hadn’t gone quiet. Far older than the others, the scene was from her time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, over one of the many lunch periods that she had spent in the back corner of the cafeteria. A filly Skitch-Sketch had hopped right up to Twilight’s table, wide grin on her muzzle, tail rapidly swishing back and forth.
“So I did know her...” Twilight whispered.
The spell ended suddenly, leaving the group in a stunned silence for a few moments. Her stomach twisting, Twilight looked to each of her friends, reading their expressions.
Rarity’s was ashen, her lower lip trembling. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was more perplexed than anything else, her face scrunched up in confusion.
“I never threw her that party…”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were sharing matching angry glares, Dash’s wings twitching like she wanted to punch something. Fluttershy was hiding behind her hair, a deep frown crossing her muzzle. Spike was just rubbing the side of his head in confusion.
“Woah...that’s heavy,” he finally offered.
Everypony jumped at the loud 'thwack' sound that echoed through the cabin as dash punched the wall. “She put those memories in my head.” Rainbow Dash growled, “I feel violated.”
“W-we don’t know…” Fluttershy countered, her voice trembling, “Why w-would she tell us a-about being a human if she was behind it?”
“Ah don’t know Fluttershy.” Applejack grumbled, flicking her tail, “But ya gotta admit that it doesn’t look good. Even more now that she ran off.”
“She was asking for our help!” Rarity suddenly exclaimed, her expression livid, “I refuse to believe that she’s behind this!”
“Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in, “Forget all those spooky, shaky see through thoughts! ‘Sides, the princesses are all supery dupery powerful right? I don’t think that Skitch could give them bad memories.” Her eyes darted around the cabin, “Right?”
Twilight sighed, looking out the train window at the dark landscape rushing past. “I don’t know Pinkie…I don’t think she could. At least…” A soft rapping sound filled the cabin as Twilight began to nervously tap her own hoof against the wall. “They’re very powerful...maybe if they were ambushed…”
She shook her head. “But it doesn’t make any sense! Skitch-Sketch’s cutie-mark is art based! She can do illusion magic. Teleporting shouldn’t be possible for her, let alone enchanting the princesses!”
“So, what’s the plan Twi? Go straight to the princesses? Search the city for her?”
“Actually,” Twilight bit her lip, “I’d like to go to the library first.”
Everyone exchanged glances at that, Spike the first to speak up. “Umm. Twilight? I’m not sure this is the time for that.”
“But it is!” She fired back, suddenly perking up, “Not all of my memories of Skitch were fake! There were a few from my time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that were still real! Like during the entrance exams!”
“Go on darling.”
“She was taking the test ahead of me. I figured she was a shoe in, since she already had her cutie-mark. And she was so happy when she left the room!”
“What happened when she showed up fer lessons?”
“Well, she approached me in the cafeteria one day. She wanted to be friends.” Twilight frowned, “It was a Friday...she wasn’t in classes again on Monday. I never saw her again.” She shook her head, “Anyway, the Canterlot Library has old newspaper archives, so I was thinking that maybe we could find something. Some kind of clue or hint at what was behind all of this”
“Ah suppose that makes sense.” Applejack rubbed her chin, “But it’s the middle of the night. How are we gonna get in?”
A grin split Twilight’s muzzle, her chest puffing out with not a small amount of pride. “I have private access to Canterlot’s Royal Library. Courtesy of Princess Celestia.”
“We put in so many hours there, the night guard knows us by name.” Spike added, “Sends us Hearth Warming cards every year.”
“Only you Twilight,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Only you.”
- - - -
The ancient back door to the Royal Library creaked open at the touch of Twilight’s horn, revealing the short entrance hall that the staff and preferred members of the library used to access the building. A small hat and cloak rack stood just to the right of the door, currently occupied by one battered brown gatsby cap, while a warm and inviting looking red rug ran up to a thick wooden desk. An older stallion was resting there, snout buried in his forelegs as he softly snored away.
“Mister Binder?” Twilight called out, trotting to towards the desk, “It’s Twilight.”
The stallion slept on, oblivious to her greeting. Rainbow Dash flew forward, lightly poking the slumbering pony on the head. He grunted, shifting his position slightly, but did not wake. She glanced at Twilight with a shrug.
“He’s down for the count Twilight. He usually this sleepy?”
“No.” She shook her head, “He’s usually wide awake and alert. We should be careful, she might be here.”
“Which way, darling?” Rarity asked, jerking her head towards the spiral staircase.
“Down. The papers are in the basement.”
They trotted down the staircase, the sound of their hooves (and claws in Spike’s case) on the stone steps softly echoing in the confined space; Twilight lead the way, her horn aglow as the interior lights were not lit.
Hitting the bottom of the stairs, her light spilled into the room beyond, revealing the old shelves that groaned under the weight of so much paper. Moving into the room the rows and stacks of papers became almost claustrophobic as the group continued along, glancing at the shadows for any sign of Skitch-Sketch. Twilight continued to lead the way, straining her ears for movement.
“The section we’re looking for should be just ahea…..”
She trailed off as the sound of frantic muttering mixed with the occasional flop of something hitting the ground floated towards them.
“Where is it? Where is it? Come on…”
Lowering the glow of her horn, Twilight paused; looking to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, she pointed to row to the left of the one she heard the muttering come from, before pointing back to the first one.
Nodding, her two friends began to creep around to the other end of the row. Jerking her head towards the rest, they moved towards the near end, taking in the scene. Skitch-Sketch sat in the middle of the isle, newspapers scattered all around her in a frenzy. She snatched another from the shelf with her magic, the the pages flipping past in a blur as she searched for something.
So lost in her search she was, she didn’t notice that she was being surrounded. Settling on a page, her eyes lit up as she found what she was looking for. And a shocked yelp escaped her lips a moment later when Twilight yanked the newspaper away with her own magic.
“T-Twilight?” She stammered, her eyes darting from pony to pony to dragon. “Spike? Girls? What? NO!” She shouted as Twilight began to read the same page she had been a moment ago, “Don’t read that!”
“Skitch...this is the obituaries…” Her eyes narrowed, her voice growing very quiet, “And your name is here…. Killed by falling construction equipment.”
“Why?!” Skitch-Sketch moaned, nervously rubbing a foreleg, “Why couldn’t you have just left it alone? We could have just been friends! It would have been like nothing was ever wrong!”
“‘Cept that you came to us fer help.” Applejack countered as she and Rainbow Dash closed in from the other side, “Talkin’ about how you were somethin called a human. Not ta mention yer somehow here, despite bein’ dead.”
A manic laugh escaped Skitch’s mouth, her eyes bugging wide. She was cowering now, pressing herself against the stacks.
“It’s complicated! Just...please. Let’s just put the paper back and walk away! We can go back to Ponyville and everything will be nice and normal! We’ll go and have all kinds of adventures! D-doesn’t that sound good? Adventures!” Another manic laugh, “Besides, it’s not like that human will ever say anything again.”
“What did you do?” Fluttershy snapped, taking an uncharacteristically assertive step forward, “What happened to her!”
“I...Fluttershy…”
“Tell me.”
“I...replaced him. He’s gone...” She winced.
It was quiet for a moment, the impact of those words hanging heavily in the air, before Fluttershy spoke up again, her voice trembling with anger.
“How dare you.” She took another step closer to Skitch-Sketch, “How DARE you! You think you can just...murder somepony like that? Can you imagine how scared he must have been?”
“P-please! His species are m-monsters! If you’ve seen what I’ve seen, you wouldn’t be so quick to be crying for the poor human!”
“And did you see him doing horrible things?” Fluttershy shot back, advancing again till she was almost right on Skitch-Sketch. Skitch winced, flinching away from Fluttershy’s accusation as she continued, “How could you do it? Why would you do it!”
“Because! It just...it wasn’t fair.” She responded, hanging her head, “I mean, look at Applejack there.”
“How the hay do I figure in to yer decisions?” Applejack blinked.
Skitch’s smile was more of a bitter grimace as turned to address Applejack. “You’re kidding, right? Those scars? You get into a fight with some kind of monster and live? I was walking home from school! Some moron didn’t secure a load of wooden beams, they fell and they broke my neck!”
She rubbed her eyes with the back of a hoof, fighting down tears.
“I wasn’t any older than your sisters.” She nodded to Rarity and Applejack, “I had just gotten my cutie-mark a few days ago. I had a long life ahead of me. It just...wasn’t fair.”
“So you take somepony elses?” Rarity asked, her voice trembling.
“Never a pony! But his people...I mean…”
“It’s over Skitch.” Spike frowned, “Maybe if you come with us willingly the princesses will be lenient.”
Skitch looked around again, her eyes pleading as she looked to every creature around her before settling on Twilight Sparkle. She threw herself past Fluttershy, falling to her knees before the unicorn.
“Please Twilight, please, please, please. Don’t do this to me. I just wanted to live again! You...you remember me from the School of Gifted Unicorns! That has to mean something!”
“Skitch...you killed somepony. You magically interfered with the memories of all kinds of ponies, and I’m pretty sure that there’s more going on here, since I doubt you could have created all of this yourself.” She shook her head, “You’re coming with us.”
“NO!” Skitch shouted, her horn beginning to glow, “Everfree, Everfree, Everfre-”
A white blur lashed out before she could complete the spell. Rarity’s hoof slammed into the side of Skitch’s head, knocking the unicorn sideways from the force of the strike. Her eyes rolled up into her head with a groan and she collapsed to the ground. Hauling the unconscious form of Skitch up, Rarity draped her across Applejack’s back. Angrily flicking her mane back, she made for the stairs with a huff.
“Twilight, Princess Luna should be holding night court again, yes?”
“Yes, she should.”
“Then it’s time to pay her a visit.”
- - - -
Princess Luna fiddled with her black and silver torque as it slipped slightly, dropping an inch or two lower on her neck; the piece of jewelry was still too large for her but she still refused Celestia’s offer to have it refit. She would properly grow back into it, and show no weakness until then.
The main hall of Canterlot Castle was currently empty, save for a handful of her Lunar Guard, her court assistant and herself. Shifting in her throne slightly, Luna turned to her assistant.
“Lavender, what is next on the agenda for tonight?”
Lavender Lights turned her attention towards her check list. She was a younger thestral, full of energy and a desire to impress her princess. Her dark purple eyes roamed over the page for a moment, before she nodded.
“Next is the administration of the oath of office to a few new judge appointees to Canterlot’s night courts.”
“Ahh yes!” Luna beamed, puffing up in her throne, “The appointing of new bailiffs is a just and righteous cause! How many shall we be bringing into the fold? Three? Five?”
“Twenty, actually.” Lavender corrected, chuckling at Princess Luna’s shocked expression, “We had a round of retirees recently and Canterlot’s population keeps on growing.”
“Oh, yes,” Luna blinked. “We forgot about population increase. Very well, gather-”
“Princess Luna!”
The Lunar Guard near the entrance moved to block Twilight and her friends as they rushed towards the throne, the unconscious form of their friend Skitch-Sketch sprawled out on Applejack’s back. Luna raised an eyebrow at their expressions. The last time she had seen them looking this angry and determined, she had still been Nightmare Moon.
“Stand down,” Luna commanded, stepping off the throne and striding briskly across the hallway. “Twilight Sparkle? What is wrong? Why is thine friend unconscious?”
Her sister’s student was already channeling a spell as she drew near. “Don’t resist my spell princess! It’ll make the explanation easier.”
Luna blinked but nodded, putting her trust in the element bearers. She felt the twists of magic settle upon her as Twilight finished her incantation. She felt the spell probe and prod, search and seek and lay the truth bare.
“We see,” She said, looking to Lavender. “Lavender, please reschedule the oath for another night, we must go wake our sister.” She then looked to her Lunar Guard, “Escort the element bearers to the dungeons. Place the green one in one of the anti-magic cells until we arrive.”
“By your command!”
- - - -
“It is hard to believe,” Celestia sighed, sadly looking down at the unconscious unicorn in the cell.
“I know.” Twilight agreed bitterly, her ears slicked back, “But it’s true. I saw the old obituary and well...we saw the end result of the spell.” She stared at her hooves, shuffling them nervously. When she looked back up at Celestia, her eyes were were almost pleading.
“I wasn’t fast enough.”
“Twilight…”
“She kept saying that she wasn’t who we thought she was, and I didn’t listen!”
Celestia draped a wing across her student’s back. “Twilight...I was fooled by the false memories as well. You can’t tear yourself apart like this. It is...a disturbing revelation. Even more so the implication that a young filly could be behind it.”
“I don’t think she is,” Pinkie chirped up, ildy rocking back and forth.
“Why’s that?” Spike asked.
“She said that she saw what humans had done. If she was a ghostie, how could she have seen them? Sides, the other Skitchy...she came from somewhere.”
“Princess?” Twilight asked, looking up at her mentor, “Please tell me there’s something we can do? I...I promised the human I’d help her. She can’t really be completely gone, can she?”
Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, the younger of the sisters speaking up.
“All may not be lost,” Luna explained. “If her will was strong enough, she might have been able to hang on, buried deeply in within the subconscious realms of the mind.”
“And the original Skitch deserves to be questioned as well.” Celestia nodded, looking to Twilight and her friends. An impish smile crossed her muzzle. “And you still wish to help the human, if possible?”
Twilight rapidly nodded, “Yes! I...I promised I’d help her and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Yes.” Rarity agreed, “We can’t let this travesty happen.”
“I’m in!” Dash added, “I want to find out who’s behind all of this.”
“Ah agree.”
“Yeah! We’ll fix all of this and throw a ‘You’re not dead!’ party!”
“I’ll come too. I’m just so cross at Skitch right now.”
Celestia nodded motioning to Spike with a wing. “Come with me Spike. I’ll require your assistance in collecting some items.”
“Sure thing princess!”
- - - -
Celestia and Spike returned a little while later, the princess carrying the chest containing the Elements of Harmony, Spike a large black candle bearing Luna’s cutie-mark.
“What’s that thing supposed to be?” Rainbow Dash asked, jabbing a hoof at the candle.
“Tis one of our old creations!” Luna answered, ruffling her wings, “It contains a portion of our power.”
“Yeah, but what’s it do?”
“We created it before our banishment.” She explained, floating the candle out of Spike’s arms and over to her, “In case we’d ever have to bring members of the Night Guard along with us into the mindscape.” She coughed, an embarrassed flush creeping into her cheeks. “It shall also give us the power to dreamwalk again, as we have not yet recovered fully from the the use of the Elements upon our personage.”
Princess Celestia nodded, passing out the Elements to each bearer. “The magical nature of the Elements will allow you to use them in the mindscape. I am...hoping that the spirit of the original Skitch will consent to leave the body on her own. The poor dear deserves to properly rest in peace.” The solar monarch sighed, her ears drooping, “If she refuses, however, you must use the Elements of Harmony to sever the connection and send her soul to the Elysian Fields. Do you understand?”
“Yes princess.” They responded with a nod, save for Rainbow Dash.
“Can’t we just use the Elements on her now, while she’s asleep?”
“Here, you would be effecting both of them with the Elements,” Celestia responded. “And I am honestly not sure what they would do in this situation.”
Dash blinked, tilting her head in confusion.
“I don’t know what the elements might do with pieces of an alien mind when a pony’s occupies the same body. They might decide that the unfamiliar thing needs to be banished.” Celestia elaborated, motioning to Skitch with a wing, “But if you go into the mind, you can target Skitch directly, if it comes to that.”
“Oh, okay.”
Luna extended the candle back towards Spike. “Spike, if thou would be so kind to provide us a light?”
The young dragon happily obliged, spitting a small gout of fire onto the wick of the candle. As it sputtered to life, Luna pulled the cell door open and trotted inside, motioning for the bearers to follow. Carefully placing the magic candle before Skitch’s head she began to point with a wing.
“If ye could sit in a circle around Skitch, we shall begin.”
Twilight and her friends did as they were told, settling into a loose circle around the form of their “friend”.
“Now,” Luna began, as she started to summon her magic power. Focusing, she ran the spell to the candle, to Skitch-Sketch, back to herself, and then to Twilight and her friends, “We shall be journeying into the depths of the subconscious. If the consciousness of the human is buried and scattered, there is a fair chance we will encounter fragments of the mind.”
“Fragments?” Pinkie questioned, “Like when you crumble bits off a chocolate bar for cookies?”
“Well…,” Luna blinked, smiling slightly. “Thy analogy is appropriate. Though this will be less delicious than sweets. Now, prepare thyselves!”
The magical power reached a peak, crashing together as the candle flame violently flared brighter, shifting to a blue color in response. The eyes of the group grew heavy, the spell pulling them down into a full, deep, sleep. Spike bit his lip as he watched his mentor sink to the floor of the cell.
“Will they be okay?” He asked, looking up at Celestia.
“My sister may not be at her full power yet,” Celestia smiled warmly back. “But no pony I know is more adept at understanding the myriad permutations of the sapient mind than my sister. She will lead them through. Now,” She gently guided Spike away from the door, “It is late and you are still young. Get some rest and Luna and I shall make sure that everything turns out alright.”
“But…”
“Spike. Trust us. You can’t help here.”
“Okay princess, if you say so,” he grumbled, as he was lead away.
- - - -
The world was a chaotic blur to Twilight, a mismatched clash of colors and shapes dancing through the air. She violently shook her head, clearing the fuzz from her brain, before taking another look at her surroundings.
They were standing in the front yard of a home. Or at least that’s what she thought it was at one point. Now it was more of a floating slab of rock and grass, barely connected to the front wall of a house; what was beyond before had fallen away. All around them, other shards of buildings, items, and even half formed images orbited around the base of an impossibly large mountain that bore ordered rows of Ponyville buildings on its slopes.
The mountain was topped by Canterlot Castle, somehow as clearly visible as it would be at the golden entrance gates, despite being separated by leagues of apparent distance. The sky was an angry purple color, occasionally split by bolts of lightning. She looked around again, checking to make sure everypony was okay.
Princess Luna was nowhere in sight as her friends stumbled back to their hooves, shaking the cobwebs from their own minds. They took in the landscape as well, with varying reactions. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked suspicious, their eyes darting to each piece of the landscape like it was about to explode. Fluttershy and Rarity were more concerned, searching those same landscape bits for any signs of the human personality. Pinkie Pie...well…
“Wow!” She gasped, hopping around the yard, eyes as wide as dinner plates, “It this what all minds look like? This is sooooo weird!”
“Great,” Dash rolled her eyes. “If Pinkie thinks this place is weird, how worried should we be?”
“She really isn’t wrong. This mind is in great turmoil.” Came Princess Luna’s voice from above their heads. Swooping into view, she neatly landed before the group, tucking her wings against her body as she stopped. Twilight and her friends couldn’t help but notice the changes in her appearance. She was closer to Celestia’s size now, her coat darker blue and her mane and tail were now a shimmering, wavy starscape.
“Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide.
“It is alright Twilight Sparkle.” Luna comforted, raising a silver shod hoof, “You are simply seeing my true self. How I looked before I became Nightmare Moon.”
“Ahh!” Rarity perked up, picking up on the implications, “Because we’re in a mind, we resemble how we think of ourselves?”
“You are correct Rarity. It is also why I no longer speak....archaically. We are in direct mental communication.”
“So, now what?” Applejack asked, looking up at the mountain, “She could be anywhere around here.”
“Which is why I scouted ahead while your minds were recovering from the transition. I believe that she is hiding in Canterlot Castle. The mindscape became...quite violent when I climbed too high up the slopes.”
“Let’s go then!”
Dash sprung into the air, making a few inches of progress before Applejack grabbed her by the tail and yanked her back to the ground.
“Slow down Dash. How are the rest of us gonna get up there? We can’t fly.”
“This is the mind, fair Applejack,” Luna smiled. “Thought rules here. Simply think about the direction you wish to travel in.”
Applejack opened her mouth to question just how true that was, when Pinkie Pie floated past overhead. Doing the backstroke in mid air, the pink pony giggled with unrestrained joy at her wingless defiance of gravity.
“Come on Applejack!” She beamed, “This is aweeeesomeeee!”
Applejack didn’t look convinced, biting her lip as she watched each of her friends lift into the “air” in their own ways. “Ah just don’t know….It’s just weird is all.”
Fluttershy flew to her friend’s side, taking Applejack’s pastern in her hooves. “It’s okay Applejack. I’ll help you fly.”
“Ah’ll right.”
The pair rose into the air again, joining the group as Luna looked towards the summit.
“It will be difficult, but if we move quickly, we might be able to rush past the changing landscape and winds-”
“Nope!” Pinkie Pie interrupted.
“What?” Luna blinked, looking to the Element of Laughter, “Why not?”
Pinkie shrugged, pointing towards a spot on the lower slope of the mountain. “We need to go that way.”
“And why is that?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Weeeeeellllll…I got an itch on my back, a pinchy feeling on my sides, and a my tail is all twitchy-twitch. See!”
She presented the appendage, which was indeed rapidly twitching back and forth.
“Ahh yes. Your Pinkie Sense that Twilight wrote my sister about. What does this particular combination mean?”
“That there’s somepony that can help us that way of course!” Pinkie grinned, doggie paddling towards the mountain.
- - - -
“Ah think that’s the third copy of Quills and Sofas we’ve passed.” Applejack observed as they followed Pinkie’s bouncing progress through the cityscape.
“She was young when she died, yes?” Luna asked continuing when Twilight nodded an affirmative, “Young minds tend to have a smaller pool of references to pull from.”
“Princess?” Twilight asked, looking at the buildings around her, “If we’re in Skitch’s head, her human self is scattered, and the original personality is in the castle...who can Pinkie be leading us to?”
“Most likely a piece of the human personality. An aspect of the mind made manifest.”
“A little, yes. Hopefully, it’ll be a positive emotional aspect. The negative ones can be…difficult at times.”
“Well, then I’ll be ready to kick flank if need be!” Rainbow Dash boasted.
“Quiet!” Applejack hissed, pointing to a copy of Sugarcube Corner, “Ah think it’s in there.”
The sounds of rummaging and items being knocked too and fro floated from the half open windows, punctuated by occasional munching and gulping.
“Sounds like they’re pigging out in there,” she observed.
“Duh! Why wouldn’t they be! I don’t care if it is just in Skitchy’s head, Sugercube Corner’s cakes are the best!” Pinkie grinned bouncing towards the door, “Let’s go introduce ourselves!”
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted, running after her, “Wait for us!”
Pinkie burst through the front door with her usual explosion of energy and glee, skidding to a halt as she and the creature that was tearing into the rows of cakes and pastries caught each other’s eyes.
Pinkie, despite her upbeat attitude, froze. She had never seen a creature like this, even in her wildest dreams. It was a biped, like a minotaur, but covered in a red shell, almost like a changeling. Where a minotaur had hands and feet, this creature had claws. And four tendril like...things, hung in front of its mouth.
Even more bizarrely, it was dressed like a doctor. A white labcoat was pulled overtop a blue shirt, complete with matching blue pants.
It screamed.
Pinkie screamed.
Her friends screamed as they entered the room behind her.
The creature screamed even louder.
“ENOUGH!” Luna shouted, stamping a hoof. The whole building rattled from the impact, the creature wincing.
“Alright, alright already!” It shouted in very male voice, raising his claws to protect his head, “Enough with the yelling and the anger. I just wanted a snack, why not?”
Without waiting for a response, he casually reached over to the one of the racks of muffins, snatched one up with a claw and crammed the whole thing into his mouth with a series of noisy slurps. Twilight and company took in the wrecked interior while the creature ate. The “snack” seemed to have consisted of most of the store’s stock.
“Please tell me this isn’t what humans look like.” Rarity flinched.
“I think she would have mentioned the shell.” Twilight winced.
“Human? Me?” He gave a deep belly laugh at the idea, “No, no, no.”
“Zoidberg. Doctor John A. Zoidberg.” He smiled, holding his head high.
“Neato! Think you could show us a way to the top of the mountain?”
A horrific screech escaped Zoidberg's mouth, the very thought of the request seeming to terrify him to the core. Diving behind the counter, he snatched up a baking tray, brandishing as if it were some manner of shield.
“I can’t! She’ll hit me!”
“She?” Twilight asked.
“The person in the castle with her guards. I can’t!”
“Come on!” Dash shouted, “Where’s your back bone?”
“My species doesn’t have backbones.”
“I didn’t mean literally!”
Luna sighed, ushering the group over to a corner of the building.
“What the hay is going on here?” Applejack asked, confusion wrought on her features.
“It’s...a remnant. The mind is splintered enough that memories and bits of personality are blending and mixing together. The subconscious drawing things he’s observed and read, most likely. Fiction is one of the things that has a strong hold on the mind, after all.”
“And you’re sure that this...thing...can help us Pinkie?” Dash asked, motioning to Princess Luna, “I mean, we have a princess with us. Can’t we just smash our way up there or something?”
“That would be ill advised.” Luna countered, glancing back over at the doctor, “While it is well within my power, I would prefer to minimize stress inside the mind. Things will be dangerous enough if Skitch decides to fight, rather than leave. That was why my initial plan was just to fly as fast as possible towards the summit.”
Shaking her head slightly, Fluttershy trotted to Zoidberg’s side, who had returned to sneaking sweets.
“Excuse me, Doctor?”
He looked down at her, half a blueberry muffin sticking out of his mouth.
“I know that you’re scared. But you don’t have to lead us all the way. Just show us the path. We won’t say that you’re involved. Please?”
Zoidberg stared at her for a few minutes, the rest of the muffin disappearing down his gullet, Fluttershy staring right back with a soft and warm smile. His shoulders sagged with a sigh as he stood, “Alright. I’ll show you the way.” He motioned with a claw, “Follow me.”
- - - -
The entrance to the pathway was a squat, boxy theatre building. Constructed of tan stone and glass, it stood markedly apart from the rest of its fellows; even more so with the posters plastered across the facade displaying their own images.
Rarity observed the posters with a measured disdain. “I really don’t think these capture our good sides at all…wait,” She squinted at one of the others, “Is that supposed to be Princess Celestia? She’s pink!”
Their guide motioned to the doors. “So, here it is. It’s the only place that didn’t change when everything else did. Should lead you right to the top.”
“It’s a movie theatre.” Rainbow Dash observed, rolling her eyes, “How it is supposed to lead anywhere?”
“Oh, so now you know everything about this brain, miss big shot? It’s a corridor in there. You follow. What’s so hard to understand about that?”
“Fine. You just better be right about this. Or we’ll come back and find you.”
“Whatever. Now, if you’ll excuse me there were some cakes back there that I hadn’t gotten to yet.”
Without another word, he turned and ran off into the city again, whooping as he went in a rather bizarre display. A confused silence settled over the group for a moment before Rarity spoke up again.
“Well, that was...interesting. Shall we darlings?”
“Indeed.” Luna nodded, pushing her way into the movie theater.
Unlike the theater that Twilight and her friends were used to seeing in Ponyville, this one really was a single long corridor lined by doors. Faded placards bearing names such as “Call of the Cutie” and “Over a Barrel” jutted from the walls, marking each door with a name. And the final touch of weirdness to the scene, was the way the corridor itself sloped upwards, cutting diagonally through the mountain itself.
In keeping with the odd laws of reality that ruled inside another creature’s head, they found it quite easy to walk along the carpeted path. They climbed higher and higher, Twilight glancing at each door title as they passed.
“I wonder what’s behind these doors….”
“We shouldn’t tarry, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said, glancing at the ceiling. Low rumbling sounds echoed high above; presumably the mountain and cityscape above continuing to re-arrange themselves in an attempt to keep intruders away.
“They’re our shows, duh!”
“Why’s that Pinkie?”
As an explanation, she jabbed a hoof at one of the doors. The sign above it clearly displaying the words “Sonic Rainboom” in blocky letters.
“Just like she was trying to get Dashie to do!”
“Oh! That must be why it’s still here!” Twilight realized, suddenly perking up, “With Skitch being dead for years, she would have needed some kind of reference point for interacting with us! That must be why she needed a fan of our show!”
“Ah dunno sugarcube.” Applejack responded, “We got other friends in Ponyville. Why not just take one of their bodies? Why go to the trouble to take some kind of creature from another reality?”
“Oh,” Twilight let her head droop, “Well, it was a thought at least.”
“We’ll find out the truth soon enough, I think,” Luna observed, pointing towards an opening just ahead. “I believe that is the summit. We should remain on guard.”
Stepping out of the tunnel, the group emerged into a well maintained duplicate of the Canterlot castle grounds. From the statues, to the neatly trimmed hedges, it looked just like the actual thing...at first glance at least.
“Missing some statues I see,” Luna casually observed, trotting forward. “It seems that her knowledge of Canterlot is out of date.”
An angry thunderclap split the sky, a semi-transparent head forming into view above the castle towers.
“HALT!” Skitch-Sketch’s voice boomed out, her visage becoming more distinct, “Princess Luna, you and the Element Bearers need to vacate my headspace, now.”
“It’s not your head!” Rarity snapped back, angrily stomping a hoof, “And it’s time for you to pass on.”
“I’m warning you.” Skitch shouted back, “I control this mind now, and I’m an artist. Anything I can remember, anything I can think of, can happen here! If...if you don’t leave, I’ll be force to unleash them on you! Besides, there’s nothing you can do anymore. He’s gone.”
Twilight Sparkle stepped forward next, her head held high.
“And we aren’t prepared to just give up on some creature that needs our help! We have the Elements of Harmony, Skitch. You need to let go.”
Skitch’s head frowned.
“Just remember. You brought this on yourself.”
Her visage vanished, leaving Luna and the element bearers alone in the grounds again. They crouched down, eyes darting around them as they searched for places where the attack would come from.
“Where the heck are these things. She can’t just up and threaten-?” Dash began, trailing off as she looked down at her hooves.
Cool white mist was coiling up from the ground, billowing into full, fluffy white clouds that began to rise past their withers. Twilight reared, losing track of her friends in the sea of white.
“Rarity? Fluttershy? Luna?” She cried out, stumbling through the fog. They had been right by her side a moment ago, “Where is everypony!”
Shapes flitted past the edges of her vision, some pony shaped, others sporting more bizarre morphology. They never stayed still for long, dancing into view long enough to catch her attention, and then gone again in a moment.
Odd mocking voices began to echo through the landscape now. “I know what you’re trying to do!” She called out, pushing forward with slow, even steps. A chill was setting in around her pasterns, the shadows growing deeper, “You’re trying to scare me off! But it’s not going to work. If there’s one thing I learned from Pinkie Pie, it’s how to ‘giggle at the ghosties’!”
The mist suddenly parted and Twilight found herself nose to nose with Skitch-Sketch.
“So quick to treat me like another Nightmare Moon, are we?”
“Well, if you’re not, stop acting like it.” Twilight glared back.
“I’m not some kind of storybook villain! I just want to talk! I just…” She stomped a hoof, her face twisting into a mask of frustration as she took an unsure step back. It was an expression that Twilight was familiar with, having worn it plenty of times herself when she couldn’t figure something out, “Just listen to me! Please!”
“...Okay. What do you want to say?”
“Please let this go.” She begged, “I don’t want to fight you. I just want to be friends!”
“Skitch…” Twilight sighed, shaking her head.
“Why help the human over me? I was the one who approached you all those years ago, and he’s just some kind of mons-”
“You don’t know that.” Twilight cut in, anger washing across her own features, “You keep saying that, but you don’t know it!”
“It was shown to me!”
“By a reputable source? Was it the same pony who put you here? You do realize that he could be some kind of necromancer, using you as a pawn for some other plan, right?”
“Twilight…” She flinched away from her, “Please. I’m afraid. When my grandma died, my mom...” Her eyes flicked towards the mist covered ground, “She talked about how she was in the Elysian Fields now. But...I’m scared.”
Twilight blinked, tilting her head slightly. Suddenly, it all clicked in her mind, things that Celestia taught her coming to the forefront.
“Pinkie didn’t realize how right she was. You weren’t just dead...you were afraid to move on and if that mixed with enough anger…”
She trailed off, letting the implication hang between the two of them. Skitch-Sketch’s ears drooped, shame clearly etched upon her features.
“I won’t become a wraith again, Twilight. If you keep coming after me, I’ll have to push you out of here.”
The fog recoiled suddenly, Skitch flowing away with it as it pulled back into Canterlot castle. As the fog vanished, Twilight found her friends and Luna by her side again. The Princess was crouched down, wings spread wide, her horn glowing; her eyes darted every which way, searching for the next group of attackers.
“That was a tragic conversation, Twilight Sparkle.” She stated, muscles tensed .
“You saw that?” She blinked.
“Yes. I wanted to see what she had to say.” Her eyes flicked towards the castle again, “And I believe that is the second part of her answer.”
Dark gray fog rushed from the building, this time coiling together into tight shapes in two rows between them, and two separate figures behind said rows. Growing more distinct and solid with each passing moment, the gleam of golden armor became apparent as two ranks of Solar Guard finished snapping into being.
The remaining figures condensed next. The first one a powerful mare with a dazzling white coat and burnished armor the golden color of the high noon sun; the other a gray coated stallion with a truly impressive beard and belled wizard hat. Princess Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded.
“She sure doesn’t mess around when askin’ for help.” Applejack observed with a roll of her eyes.
“Oh Luna…” The Celestia doppelganger shook her head, “Turned to darkness again. And this time you drag the element bearers down with you? I take no pleasure in doing this.”
Luna tensed up with a sharp intake of breath, her eyes narrowing into an angry glare. “You tread on ground you shouldn’t Skitch. I’ll take that personally.”
The chaos of battle was still somewhat of a new experience for Twilight Sparkle and her friends, at least on this scale. Sure, they had clashed with Manny when he was under Nightmare Moon’s influence, and Twilight had charged Nightmare Moon in what Luna later confided to Celestia as “a moment of foolhardy bravery”. At least that was what Celestia had told her after the fact.
This was different though, Twilight realized as she twisted to avoid another strike from one of the identical guards. There was just so many of them, all swarming in and jabbing with their spears. She had found out rather directly that despite their razor sharp appearance, they acted more like clubs; Skitch was keeping to her stance to just try and drive them out of the dreamscape, rather than apply truly lethal force.
The crackling snaps of two spells clashing against each other hissed angrily above her head, Luna and “Celestia” locked in combat. Luna was pulling her punches, Twilight was pretty sure of that.
A blur of blue shot past overhead, Dash using her speed to stay fully ahead of the winged pegasus guards that were giving chase. She let loose a mocking whoop. “Come on ya lazy bums! I thought you’re supposed to be the best of the best! Catch me if you can!”.
“Knock it off Dash!” Applejack shouted.
The farmer twisted, dodging a pair of strikes and dropping into her usual apple bucking stance. Lashing out, her hooves connected solidly against the side of one of the guards, sending him bowling into his fellows. Smirking, she rushed towards another group that was bearing down on Fluttershy and Rarity; the former apologizing even as she swung back at them and the latter dishing out rapid hoof strikes at those who dared to come close.
A wad of sticky spider webbing impacted into Applejack’s side before she could make it halfway there, the copy of Starswirl smirking widely as she was stuck to the ground.
“Twilight! Help! Ah can’t work out this magic stuff!”
Rushing to help her friend, Twilight yelped as now both the group that was attacking her before and the one that had been on Applejack swooped down on her. She back-pedalled, scrambling towards one of the edge rows as a forest of spears bore down on her.
An explosion of cake batter scythed through the ranks, ponies disappearing in puffs of smoke. In a moment the grounds before Twilight were clear of the opposition. Pinkie grinned, bouncing into view with her party cannon.
“Come on!” She beamed, “We can do this!”
The sound of hooves on the ground signalled the arrival of reinforcements. Twilight felt her stomach stop as twice the number of guards that Pinkie just dropped came storming out of the castle doors.
“This is hopeless! She can just keep summoning more every time we get rid of them!”
“No! We can do this!” Pinkie nodded, “We just gotta find the way!”
Twilight scrunched up her face, racking her mind for some kind of idea. Luna’s holding back. Probably afraid of doing any extra damage to Skitch’s mind. She says that thought rules here. Maybe...maybe if there is some of the human I was talking to in here still, he could help?
“Pinkie! Run some interference for me! I’m going to try something!”
“Okie-dokie-loki!”
Pinkie bounced forward, producing a bunch of party poppers from nowhere. Pulling the strings at once, an explosion of sound, confetti and streamers bowled the new arrivals over. Satisfied that her party producing friend would be able to keep them busy for a bit, Twilight knelt down, pressing the tip of her horn against the grass.
Reaching out with her magic and her mind, she felt around for other signs of life.
Umm...Skitch? Human Skitch that is...I’m hoping that you’re still here. I’m guessing that you might be, because of that crab man...thing. Something you saw back home? Look, we’re trying to reach you to help. But the other Skitch keeps throwing up blocks. She took a deep breath.I don’t know if you can, but if you can help at all…
She felt the vaguest sensation of awareness brush back against her for a moment. And the next moment she felt something smash into her, sending her careening into the nearby hedge.
“Ya okay in there Twilight?”
“Yeah, sure.” She responded from her upside down position in the hedge, tail drooping into her face, “What exactly hit me?”
“That Starswirl fella. With a big fall of fire.”
“Oh goodie.” Twilight grunted, thrashing about to extract herself from the branches. They released with a crack, Twilight landing on her hooves. She shook a few twigs out of her mane and looked up just in time to see a ball of electricity dancing on the tip of Starswirl’s horn, aimed right at her.
The guards had shifted their positions, and now were between her and Starswirl, and her friends. They were trying to push their way through to her, but the sheer number of royal guard were slowing their efforts.
“Ponyfeathers.”
“Ahh,” A new, very male voice cut across the battlefield. “Brave new world...that has such putzes in it.”
The bang of a gun rang out, something impacting into the chest of Starswirl. The image of the mage blinked, rolling his eyes down to take in the flag that was sticking from his body; the word “Bang!” clearly emblazoned on its red surface. He keeled over, vanishing back into a puff of smoke.
Twilight blinked, glancing to her right, where the voice came from and immediately recoiled. He was another biped, dressed in a purple suit and green shirt that would probably send Rarity into conniption fits.
His furless skin was white , his hair a sickly green, and his insanely leering smile displayed teeth that were yellow. Adjusting a matching purple bow tie, he smiled down at Twilight with eyes that were as cold as the smile on his face was crazy. Really, it was like staring at some warped version of that Mane-iac villain from Spike’s comics.
“Don’t fret, the cavalry has arrived! Old uncle J will make sure you don’t get sent to the glue factory!”
“Glue...what?”
Uncle J, as he called himself, ignored Twilight’s confusion. Humming a jaunty tune, he reached into his coat, pulling out a large stuffed bear….that was ticking.
“Why is that ticking?”
“Because, sparkle butt, it’s a bomb! A few of these and those guards will get blown sky high!” He cackled, the same wide grin plastered on his face, “Hey fellas! Guess who wins the Kewpie Doll!”
Twilight glanced to her friends, then back to the ticking doll, an idea turning over in her mind.
“Girls! Hit the deck and cover your eyes!”
The biped threw the doll, Twilight’s friends following her command and looking away from it. She channeled, quickly weaving a spell around its form as it tumbled through the air. A rose colored aura popped up around the doll as the enchantment finished falling into place. And every guard’s head snapped towards it.
“MINE!” They shouted, all diving for it at once. They landed on it and each other in a giant dogpile, everypony scrambling and punching at each other to get at the stuffed bear.
An explosion rocked the courtyard, the guards blasted back into smoke as the doll detonated. Uncle J began to cackle- an insane, but thoroughly entertained laugh- doubling over and slapping one of his knees.
“That was glorious! And here I thought you cute little pukes wouldn’t be entertaining at all!”
The body of “Celestia” impacted into the ground, poofing apart into smoke like her guards, Luna landing a moment later. She observed the biped with a raised eyebrow for a few moments before looking to Twilight.
“Twilight. When we put the true owner of this mind back together, please have a conversation with him about this.”
“Oh Loony, I’m hurt.” He beamed, darting to her side and throwing an arm around her neck. Keeping that insane grin on his face, he waved a hand towards the castle, “I’m just here to help you reach the top of that tower! And maybe...have a little fun along the way.”
“Please remove your arm from my body, stranger.”
“I don’t have to be a stranger!” He drew a playing card from his jacket, “My card.”
Luna’s eyebrow raised a little higher. “This is a playing card. The Joker.”
“Right in one Loony!”
“Remove your arm from my body. Now.”
“Oh, alright.” He conceded, stepping away from Luna as the rest of the group gathered around. He clapped his hands together, “So, who wants to go and storm a castle?”
- - - -
The journey through the rest of the castle was proving to be uneventful, almost frighteningly so. Every shadow was observed like it might contain some hidden monster, every door that wasn’t directly in their path avoided, lest some attacker was contained within. Their mood wasn’t helped by the strange human who would only answer to The Joker, who followed behind the group with a jaunty spring in his step.
“He still gives me the creeps,” Dash muttered, glancing back at the clown again.
“Yeah, well, he kind of makes me nervous too. But I do think that Skitch...the human one...is tied to him somehow. He showed up after I made contact with something…”
“Could have been the pony Skitch…”
“If that was the case, why help us?”
“Yeah Dashie,” Pinkie grinned, bumping her flank into Dash’s. “If he’s scary, just chortle at the clownie!”
Twilight rolled her eyes as the group reached the stairs of the main castle tower. Craning her neck slightly, she could see most of the way up the tower, past the steps and doors that she had walked once before to visit Princess Celestia in her room.
“Ya sure we’re headin’ the right way Luna?”
“Indeed, Applejack. I can sense a more complete presence at the top of the tower. I suggest we make haste, before Skitch-Sketch decides to send more guards our way.”
“Well, while you all play storybook, I’ll just stay down here,” The Joker piped up, casually drawing his oversized gun. “Climbing the tallest tower in the land? Not really my style.”
Twilight shrugged, trotting for the stairs. She had no desire to argue with the creepy clown on this point. Her friends seemed to agree, following right behind her as they began their climb.
“It’s still so quiet…” Fluttershy observed with a soft whisper, “It’s almost like she’s given up….”
“Or its a trap.” Dash countered.
Falling into silence again, the group continued to climb, until they finally reached their destination.
The top of dream Canterlot’s highest tower was quite similar to the one in the real world, with the twisting marble steps that lead up to Princess Celestia’s bedroom. Save where the bedroom was in the real world, a handleless black door, seemingly cast from some kind of super dense metal, sat instead.
They stared at it for a few moments, before Fluttershy spoke up.
“So...should we knock?”
“Ya think it’ll help?”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt.” Twilight pointed out, stepping forward. She knocked three times, the strikes echoing slightly in their surroundings. At first, no response came, but after a few moments…
“I’m not opening the door. You’ll blast me.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.” Luna commented, eyes narrowing.
“Skitch, I know that you’re not entirely responsible for your situation right now....Can we just talk?”
There was a momentary lapse of silence.
“I’ll only talk to you Twilight. Alone.”
“No way!” Rainbow Dash shouted, almost charging the door, “Like I just got done saying, trap!”
“No, it’s okay.” Twilight countered, glancing at her friend, “If she really wanted to hurt us, she wouldn’t have held back.” She looked to the door again, “We’ll do it your way Skitch. Just me.”
The door slid up slightly; just enough for Twilight to shimmy under.
“Be careful Twilight Sparkle.” Luna cautioned as Twilight squeezed into the room beyond.
Brilliant light blinded her for a moment and she blinked a few times to properly clear her vision. The room that greeted her once she could see again was a strange one, both bedroom and...something else.
The far wall was dominated by the “something else” part of the equation. Four rows of square shaped panes of glass, almost like windows, but each one displaying a completely different image; though the subject matter was at least similar in many of them. Most of the screens displayed a blonde maned biped at various ages. The human. On a few of the others, however, a young Skitch-Sketch laughed and played.
Those must be those TV’s she told me about. Twilight realized, looking around at the rest of the room.
The bedroom portion took up the rest of the room and was constructed in the classic Canterlot style. A raise dias stood in the center of the room, upon which a large white silk sleeping pillow rested. And laying on that pillow, legs tucked up against her body, was Skitch-Sketch.
Unlike the last time they were face to face, Skitch appeared much less confident, her expression more conciliatory than anything else. She was also bound in place. A heavy collar of the same black metal that made up the door was wrapped around her neck. It looked...uncomfortable, the raw chafe marks clearly visible on her coat.
A heavy ring was welded to the front of the collar. Thick umbral chains, that almost bled a dark energy, lay in coiled piles around the base of the dais before snaking into the floor; just enough slack to move around the room, but not enough to leave.
“So…,” Twilight sadly sighed as Skitch turned her own tired gaze her way. “The you we saw down below…”
“Even in here.” She shrugged, chains clanking from the motion, voice heavy with sadness, “I’m good at illusions.” She gestured to her flank, “Still my special talent.”
An awkward pause filled the room.
“So...thanks for not blasting me.” Skitch eventually offered.
“You’re welcome.” Twilight smiled in a manner she hoped was reminiscent of her mentor. Celestia’s smiles always calmed her down at least, “So...why did you stop fighting?”
Skitch sighed, her chains continuing to clank against each other, as she shifted in place. “It was what you said, in the end. Pointing out that I could just be a pawn.” She tapped her chains, “Though, I guess I should have figured that out already.”
Twilight just nodded, letting her continue.
“But I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. That I had been lied to about this human. So, I started to poke around his memories. And you know what I found?”
“What?”
“Memories of family and friends. Memories of great things that humanity has done.” She smiled, a lightness filling her voice, “They explore. They invent. And they fight for what they believe in...and more than a few have died, trying to make their world better.”
Her head drooped, the levity suddenly gone.
“I killed him Twilight. You were right. I wanted to live again and I killed him.”
“How did it happen?” She interrupted, “I mean….you were dead…”
“I’ll show you.” She simply stated, her horn beginning to glow. And then the scene changed.
- - - -
The place they were standing in now looked like a library had been smashed into a antique shop, and then the resulting mix had been shaken like Berry Punch shaking a mixed drink. Books, scrolls, photos, coins, wands, staffs, weapons and armor were piled all about. On shelves, on tables, in piles on the floor, in boxes and in bags that were in turn thrown about haphazardly. And then there was the collection of different styles and technology levels apparent within the collection, also arranged haphazardly. For Twilight’s detailed and organization focused mind, this place was like dragon claws on a chalkboard.
Aside from the small paths that snaked through the piles, the only other section that was clear was the large worktable that rested under….some manner of contraption that Twilight didn’t know what to make. Half a metal circle built into the ceiling, with a small army of arms hanging from its underside, each one with its own bizarre attachment. And on that table, the blonde maned human she saw in the screens rested.
And then there was the sky outside the windows. Not so much as sky as a swirling vortex, made up of streams of pink and purple light, with occasional white motes whipping past and rumbles of thunder to top it off.
“Where...are we?” She gaped, staring out one of the cracked windows.
“Far as I’ve been able to tell,” Skitch shrugged. “It’s the space between spaces. The...nothingness between universes.”
“It can’t be nothing! There’s something here!”
“Well...yes. But I think he brought this stuff with him somehow...I dunno really. I only had a partial view of this place.”
“He?”
In response, Skitch pointed across the room, to where a figure was working at a workbench. He was another human- or so Twilight assumed- but his appearance couldn’t have been more different from the one on the table. For one, he was significantly heavier; the stained brown leather jacket he wore was drawn tight across his stomach. He was also older. His mane was balding in the front, long and gray everywhere else. What hair was there was matted like it hadn’t been washed in weeks.
He arranged a series of white crystals around a strange square metal box, its top marked by black and yellow stripes. Stepping back from the box, he pointed a little square...thing at it.
The top popped open, light spilling out as the ghostly filly that was Skitch-Sketch sprung into being, shrieking and screaming in rage. The white crystals immediately began to glow in response. A humming tune flooded into the room, the light and graceful notes beginning to calm the seething ghost child down.
Realization settling back into her eyes, the ghost of Skitch-Sketch looked right at the human that had let her out.
“W-where am I? Where’s Canterlot? Who are you?”
“You may call me The Collector. And I, am your savior.” His voice was deep and rumbling, with a distinctly scratchy quality to it.
“Huh?”
“I am here to give you your life back. To free you from wandering the streets and back alleys of that city you called home as a rage filled apparition.”
“Oh...okay! That sounds nice of you.” She blinked, “How?”
“Don’t concern yourself with such things. Leave that to those who understand all of the applications of the arcane. Now,” He pointed to the unconscious form on the table, “If you’ll come over to the other subject…”
Skitch blinked again, noticing the table human for the first time. “...He’s still alive. I can feel him. How are you going to…?”
“Weep not for the human.” The Collector waved her off, “His kind are monsters as a general rule, and this one has done such horrible things.”
Skitch’s eyes darted from the table, back to The Collector. “You’re going to use him to bring me back?”
“Yes.”
“That...sounds wrong. They always taught us at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that necromancy is wrong-”
“Really?” He interrupted, “Well, if you’re so morally opposed, I can just put you back. Never mind all of the good you could do. Or how you almost improved the life of one of Equestria’s heros far before her time?”
Twilight felt the Skitch next to her shudder at that. Sighing, she put a forearm around the mare, pulling her close. Twilight wouldn’t have liked ponies to see her at her weakest either. The Skitch from the memory tilted her head regarding The Collector with a confused look.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“You’re the one who approached her in the lunch room all those years ago.” The Collector shot back, pacing back and forth, gesturing wildly with his arms. “I study the people that I’m going to save very carefully. You could have pried Twilight Sparkle out of her shell far earlier than she did! And then...then, the Princess would have sent both of you off to the Summer Sun Celebration. You would have helped save the day! You would have helped rescue Princess Luna from herself! It is your right to not be just the forgotten footnote of history!”
Memory Skitch fidgeted in midair, mulling over what had just been laid upon her.
“That does sound...nice.” She said eventually, “Okay.”
“Good. Now if you would be so kind as to float over to the body, we’ll get started.”
Skitch acquiesced, floating into position.
Shuffling over to the table and his odd contraption, The Collector set to work. Muttering to himself, he produced a manner of marker from a pocket and began to draw on the unconscious human.
“So, what’s his name?” Twilight asked, “I...I never asked what his human name was. I thought she...he was nuts.”
“His name is Jake. Jake Berland.”
The Collector walked over to a panel of switches of some kind on the wall. With an almost casual flick, he hit one of the switches, the machine in the ceiling roaring to life. A beam of pinkish light leapt from one of the machine arms, through the ghost form of Skitch-Sketch and to the unconscious form of Jake.
Skitch yelped, as she was yanked into the form of Jake’s body, which began to warp and change immediately. Sickening cracks and pops filled the air as bones and muscles twisted and rearranged themselves into a more equine configuration.
Twilight winced, looking away as Jake’s hands and feet crunched into hooves, fingers and toes curling and merging together. She had seen transmutation spells in action before back in school, and this one was remarkably crude. It was probably good that Jake hadn’t been awake for the process.
Glancing back when the sounds ceased, Twilight watched the Skitch-Sketch that she had been dealing with for the last two weeks sit up and look herself over.
“Oh, I’m an adult...I guess that makes sense.”
“Yes. You need to properly fit in.”
“...How? It seems I’ve been gone for a while.”
The Collector smiled.
“Please. Just leave it to me.”
- - - -
The scene snapped back to the room they had started in, Skitch hanging her head. “There you have it. I took his deal, made a wish on the ring, and the next thing I knew I woke up in my new home, though not exactly in control…”
“You two were fighting back and forth for control?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, “And my presence in his head was just pushing around his memories. I was basically kind of...replacing him.”
Twilight frowned, settling into a seat next to Skitch. “So...did you know why? Why he did that stuff for you?”
“I thought he really was just being nice at first.” She responded, flopping to her barrel with a snort, “So stupid. But tonight he contacted me again. Said that he needed to cast through me to complete something and that I better hurry up and deal with Jake, because you were all closing in me.”
She bit her lip. “But I think he’s planning something. Just...everything seems suspicious in retrospect. I guess that I just...didn’t want to notice before.” She shrugged, turning her head slightly to look Twilight dead in the eyes, “You need to stop him Twilight. He was willing to use both of us like this. His intentions can’t be good.”
“What about you?” Twilight asked, “You still-”
“Need to move on, I know. But I can’t.”
“Skitch.”
“No, I seriously can’t.” She poked at the chains again, “I think that these things are keeping me from leaving the body.”
“Let me take a look.”
Activating her arcane sight spell, Twilight turned her attention to the smokey black chains. If there was active magic as part of their construction, the spell should have revealed them. But their appearance was the same. Thick and black with occasional motes of dark, flickering light that would leap from its surface. Everything about them said that they should be magic, but she couldn’t find the weave of the spell anywhere.
“Are you sure? I can’t see a spell anywhere…”
Skitch blinked. “No, it’s there. I can see it, I just can’t make heads or tails of it.”
“But it’s not there-”
“Hold on.”
Skitch pressed her horn against Twilight’s side, a spark passing between the two. Twilight shuddered, a distinct chill running down her spine. But, the magic on the chains suddenly became visible.
“What…” Twilight gaped.
“I gave you a little piece of my magic.” She explained, “Since we’re two minds-”
“In close contact.” Twilight finished with a smile. But the smile quickly turned into a frown, “But how couldn’t I see it? You can’t hide the existence of magic like that!”
“I don’t think it’s magic...at least not how we understand it. You saw his hideout. And his name? I think that he just collects everything he can and uses it.”
“And you could see it because?”
“I don’t know.” Skitch fidgeted, but keeping her horn resting against Twilight’s side, “Maybe because it’s hooked directly to my spirit? But I don’t know what he used on Jake and I! Just...please fix it.”
Sighing, Twilight turned her attention back to the chains.
“Hmm. Okay,” She muttered, more to herself than anything else, “It’s basically three spells woven together into...well, some kind of super spell.” She beamed at that, “Ah ha! Now that was a mistake. Weaving magic together like that can compromise the overall-”
“Umm. Twilight? You’re lecturing.”
“Oh.” She chuckled nervously, “Sorry.”
Pushing her own power forward, she could feel the Element of Magic subtly empowering her efforts. The supercharged tendrils poked along the arcane construct; feeling for a weak spot from which to attack the whole spell from. The chains- constructs of shadow, smoke, and chill- reacted to the touch.
They hissed.
Twilight suddenly found herself hanging onto an enraged serpent of an enchantment. The spell whipped, coiled and bucked under her telekinesis, the chains clanking like they were caught in a hurricane force wind.
Reventa ve vile lenli!
“I don’t know what you said, but I bet it wasn’t nice!” Twilight fired back, scrunching her face up in concentration.
Conjuring up images of sunlight and warmth in her own mind to help counter the chill and cold of the chains, she attacked again. Drilling and stabbing this time, she raked the tendrils along the super spell’s form, looking for her weak point.
The spell thrashed harder, the chains leaping up and wrapping around Twilight and Skitch.
Si geou jikmada dout drihliri!
They began to constrict, pulling tight across their bodies, the links digging into their coats. Skitch whimpered, her eyes darting from chain to chain in fear.
“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight declared, a grin crossing her muzzle.
She had found what she was looking for. A crack in the spell weave.
Weaving a dispel magic enchantment together, Twilight smashed it into the weak point. The chains howled, loosening, almost trying to get away. She just scrunched up her face in concentration and pushed more power into her attack, forcing the threads of her magic into every nook and cranny she could force it into.
The chains thrashed once more, then crashed back to the floor, sloughing off their bodies before falling apart in a shower of sparks. Twilight sighed in relief, glancing back towards Skitch, the beginnings of a smile crossing her muzzle. But that smiled vanished at what she saw.
Skitch-Sketch was a filly again.
“Thank Celestia. That thing was chafing like mad.” She smiled sadly, glancing up at Twilight, the tip of her tail beginning to turn transparent, “Guess it’s time for me to do what I should have done years ago.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Twilight smiled sadly.
Skitch squeezed her eyes closed, horn glowing for a moment, irregular shapes of light springing up all around the edges of the room. Suddenly condensing, the blobs of light formed into bookshelves, crammed to the brim with tomes.
“There.” She said, “I left some of myself behind. That way if you can’t make Jake human again, he can still use my body and my magic. Don’t want to cripple him. Uhh...assuming that you can save him...” She finished lamely.
“We won’t give up. I promise.”
“Okay...can you do me two favors though?”
Twilight blinked, tilting her head slightly. “What?”
“Well, the first is...can you tell my parents what happened?” Her voice hitched, “J-Just, tell them that I still love them.”
“O-oh, okay. What’s the second one?”
Skitch glanced back at her fading tail.
“I-I’m still scared about where I might be going. Can you sit with me until I’m gone? Please?”
Blinking back tears, Twilight flashed the most comforting smile she could manage and lowered herself to her barrel, letting the filly nuzzle close. “Of course Skitch.” She soothed, draping one foreleg over Skitch’s withers, “I’m here. Just close your eyes...and think of paradise.”
- - - -
Rainbow Dash paced before the metal door, shooting angry glares at it, like her indignation could somehow open it. Her friends watched her pace like they were watching a tennis match, tracking her progress up and down the hallway.
Princess Luna, by contrast, sat serenely on her haunches, staring right at the door.
“But Twilight could be in trouble in there!” She shouted, spinning to face the princess, “Princess Luna, can’t you-”
Whatever Dash was going to ask for, it was rendered moot as the door slid open again and Twilight came trotting back out of the room. Her friends couldn’t help but frown at wetness in her eyes, Fluttershy rushing forward to hug her.
“What happened in there?”
“I’ll tell you girls later.” She answered tersely, “But she’s gone now. We can use the Elements of Harmony.”
“Alright!” Pinkie beamed, bouncing in place. Then she paused, tapping her chin with a hoof, “Uhh. Are we supposed to use them someplace special?”
“Here will be fine.” Luna answered, stepping close to the element bearers, “It is the nexus of where Skitch was controlling the body.”
“Positions, girls.” Twilight nodded.
Forming up in a circle, the element bearers closed their eyes, tapping into that ethereal connection that bound their better natures to the artifacts themselves. The white light engulfed them, lifting them into the air, the rainbow stream of magic shooting out from them in an all encompassing ring.
Washing over their surroundings, everything vanished as it was engulfed by the brilliant rainbow light. As quickly as it began, it was over, the girls landing back on their hooves in a vaguely similar, but also very different looking place.
They were standing outside a lakeside building built out of stone, two tiers of multiple short steps leading up to an entrance that sat behind four ionic columns. A series of garish banners hanging above the entrance proudly declared that the building before them was “The Field Museum”.
And towering behind them was a city that made Canterlot look small by comparison. Towers of metal and glass stabbed high into the air, each one looking like it could hold the whole of Canterlot castle.
Humans of all ages were walking around them, not only walking in and out of the museum, but also towards another stone building to their east and towards a series of vaguely square shaped boxes.
“It seems that we manifested in a specific memory.” Luna observed with a smile, “This is a good sign.”
“Where is our human though?” Rarity asked as she looked around, “There’s just so many of them here, and he never did tell us what he looked like.”
Before anypony could respond, Pinkie’s ears began to flip-flop. Then her tail did a little spin and with a massive gasp, she took off through the crowd at top seed.
“Pinkie! Where are you going!” Twilight shouted, the group rushing after her.
Without so much as a word, Pinkie tackled one of the humans to the ground, pulling her into a very full hug.
“Gah! Pinkie! You’re bruising my ribs!”
“Nu-uh! It’s a dream silly filly. They aren’t really ribs.”
The human’s blonde mane was pulled back in a simple ponytail. She, like the rest of the humans around, was bedecked in clothes; her shirt depicting the strange shelled doctor from before with the question “Why not Zoidberg?”
“Jake?” Twilight blinked, “Is that you?”
“Yup.” She smiled, ruffling Pinkie’s mane with a hand, “I’m back baby!”
“Skitchy!” Pinkie grinned, “I’m so glad you’re okay! Don’t you ever let yourself get replaced by the ghost of a dead filly ever again! Especially before I get the chance to throw you your real welcome party!”
“Okay Pinkie.” Jake chuckled, rolling her eyes slightly, “I’ll do my best.”
“Nuh-uh!” Pinkie shook her head, letting go of the hug, sitting on Jake’s stomach and poking her in the chest, “Pinkie Promise!”
Jake sighed, rolling her eyes again, but smiling all the same, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She finished, placing a hand over one eye.
“Goodie!” Pinkie grinned, hopping off of Jake as her friends surrounded the human.
“Skitch, darling.” Rarity interjected, raising an eyebrow, “When did you become a girl?”
Jake sat up, flipping her ponytail back over her shoulder with a nervous grin. “I’m honestly not sure if it happened when my feminine side and I got buried by Skitch, or when the elements kind of...fixed things. I mean, honesty is one of the elements….”
She took a deep breath, smiling widely and genuine this time. “But you know what? I don’t care. I almost got erased by the efforts of some guy named The Collector. I’m done hiding from my feelings, especially from myself.”
Rarity swept forward, pulling her into a hug. “That’s wonderful darling! I’m so happy for you! I had a feeling I was right about you!”
“Little miss empathy here.” Jake chuckled, patting Rarity’s back, “Yeah, you had me pegged it seems.”
“Anypony else feel like we’re missin’ part of a conversation here?” Applejack blinked.
“We’ll tell you later.” Fluttershy said with a nod.
Rarity broke her embrace, stepping back and tilting her head, “But what should we call you now?”
“Jane or Skitch is fine for now.” She shrugged, getting to her feet, “I’ll worry about picking a more permanent name later. We have more important things to worry about now.”
“Yeah.” Twilight nodded, her expression grim, “We need to find this...Collector, before he does whatever he does.”
“Agreed.” Jane nodded. She paused for a moment, biting her lip as she contemplated something. “Oh, and girls?” She quickly knelt down, pulling the lot of them into a group hug, “Thanks for not giving up on this crazy human.”
“Yeah, well, I guess you’re not as bad as I thought you were.” Dash smirked.
“Love ya too Dash.” Jane chuckled as she straightened up, looking to Luna. The princess of the night had been quiet during the exchange, a serene smile on her face. Jane gave a quick bow to her, “And I owe you one for leading them in here princess.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“So...how do I wake up from all of this?”
“I shall stir you from your slumber on the way out. You should awake not long after us.”
Jane nodded, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll see you on the other side then. And then we’ll find this jerk.”
Luna nodded, her horn beginning to glow as she and the element bearers rose into the air, growing more faded and indistinct. Shrugging, Jane sat down on the steps, waiting to awaken.
“Hmm. Janet? Na...Jessica, maybe?”
- - - -
Twilight stretched as she returned to the waking world, rolling back to her hooves. All around her, her friends were doing the same, shaking sleep from their eyes. Princess Luna was somehow already awake, looking rather bemused at the situation.
“Well,” Applejack muttered, rubbing the side of her head, “That was an...interestin’ experience.”
“Dream walking is not an easy experience fair Applejack.” Luna smiled, ”You were all very brave.”
“I thought it was fun!” Pinkie grinned.
“Of course you did dear.”
Twilight laughed, looking at the sleeping form of Skitch...or Jane. She’d probably go with Skitch, as she was physically still a unicorn, the Elements of Harmony having done nothing to address the changes to her body.
Curious, she began to channel, dropping back into a detect magic spell. Casting on her hooves, she threaded in the spark of magic that Skitch had left her, making sure that she could detect any remnants of those spells from before. Scanning Skitch’s body, she was quite glad to see that there was no trace of the spells she had dispelled clinging to her magic aura.
Sighing in relief, she glanced towards Applejack and froze.
Twilight had looked at Applejack’s innate magic in the past. Like all earth ponies, it cycled from her head to her tail and then back down into her hooves, where it pooled; though Applejack’s had always been on the strong side, matching her physical strength. But now, those same spells she had noticed in Skitch-Sketch’s mindscape grew through Applejack’s aura like dark and twisted looking weeds. Quickly shifting her gaze, she looked at the rest of her friends.
Her stomach twisted. The same blackness was creeping through their bodies. She looked at Luna, a startled squeak escaping her lips when she saw that the princess had been infected as well. Looking around wildly, she could see that the tendrils of magic weren’t just on her friends, they were overlaid across the very stones of the castle.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, her voice full of concern, “What’s wrong?”
Twilight opened her mouth to respond. To warn them, even as she went for a dispel magic. But then her whole body shuddered, power surging through her, as she lost complete control.
- - - -
Jane’s eyes fluttered open.
She blinked once, twice and then pushed herself into a standing position. It was obvious to her that she had been put in a cell, which made sense to her. They had to play it on the safe side when they didn’t know what they were dealing with.
Rainbow Dash was waiting for her, sitting on her haunches with a very bored expression on her face.
“Dash?”
“‘Bout time you woke up.” She nodded, trotting for the door, “Come on. The others are with the princesses in their office. They want to hash out a plan tonight and get the Night Guard on it before we get some sleep.”
Jane followed, nodding as she went. “Makes sense to me.”
For a little while they walked through the halls, with just the sounds of their own hoof falls keeping them company. Eventually, they entered into a large war room slash office, where the others were supposed to be waiting.
Instead, Jane’s heart dropped. Twilight and the rest of the element bearers were unconscious, scattered about the floor. They were joined by all three princesses, Celestia slumped over the table.
Standing amongst the fallen ponies was the human that Skitch had left memories of in her mind. The Collector. He casually held what looked like a phaser from Star Trek in one hand, a wide smirk on his face.
“Ahh. Jake. Dash. Glad you could join us.”
“You sick son of a bitch.” Jane snarled, "I should kick your ass for this!”
The Collector held up a hand. “Please! We are both reasonable humans. Hear me out, I have a reasonable proposal. These,” He idly waved a hand towards the princesses, “Are what I’m really here for. Their power.”
“...And how does this relate to me?” Jane asked, glancing towards Rainbow Dash, somewhat surprised she hadn’t thrown herself at the man yet.
“I don’t need the Mane Six, as you call them.” He chuckled darkly, running a hand through his thinning hair, “Agree to stay out of my way, and I’ll let you take them with you to some new world of your choice. I’ll even help you set their memories to be your friends at no extra cost!”
“No.”
“Oh, alright. I’ll throw in the Cutie-Mark Crusaders too.”
“I said, NO!” Jane growled, “Without them, no one can control the sun and moon, and this planet will either freeze or burn. I won’t let you sacrifice this world!”
Letting loose a battle cry, Jane charged forward, aiming to buck him in the legs as hard as she could. She made it a half dozen steps before she slammed into something hard and metallic, pain shooting through her head as she stumbled away.
The Collector laughed, clapping his hands together.
“My dear, dear Jake.” He grinned, the contents of the room fading away, revealing the interior of the cell Jane had awoken in. The human turned unicorn had crashed right into the bars beside the still open door, of all the luck. Rainbow Dash was also present, but her eyes were glassy and unfocused, “Did you really think I’d let you out before I knew what your answer would be?”
He laughed again, nodding to Rainbow Dash.
“Dash?”
“Yo?”
“Kill him.”
“Kay."
With a flick of her hoof, the cell door slammed shut, and Rainbow Dash launched right at her.
It was an odd thing for him. Considering that he had arrived with Twilight and the others around midnight, and it was now approaching two in the morning. He should have been curled up in bed and dead to the world. But he couldn’t sleep. And he knew why. He was worried about Twilight. And fair Rarity. And the rest of his friends. Heck, he was even worried about Skitch-Sketch or whatever her name actually was. It wasn’t like anything that had happened to her was her fault. Least he didn’t think so.
Which was why he was marching back down to the dungeons.
The dungeons that really should have some ponies on guard duty. He thought, walking through the empty guard station at the entrance to the cell block.
“Well...this isn’t intimidating or anything,” He muttered, peering into each empty cell as he passed.
The sound of a crash reached his ears, coming from up ahead, where the magic proof cells were; and where Skitch-Sketch had been locked up. He picked up the pace, the bangs, shouts and crashes growing louder with each step. He arrived just in time to see Rainbow Dash slam Skitch up against the bars of the cell.
The expression on Rainbow Dash’s face almost made Spike trip over his own feet in shock. It wasn’t angry; that was the freaky thing. Her expression was detached, distant, almost looking past the world and everything around her. If it wasn’t for the fact she was trying to throttle Skitch-Sketch to death, he’d say that she was in some kind of trance.
Skitch desperately kicked out with a hoof, firing Dash back across the room. With a flare of her wings, the pegasus quickly recovered, swooping back towards the unicorn.
“Skitch?” Spike gaped, “What’s going on?”
“Spike!” She winced, trying to hold Rainbow Dash off with her forelegs, with debatable success. Each wingbeat made Skitch’s limbs buckle more, closing the distance between the two. The weather pony was much stronger than the human turned unicorn, “Open the door! She’s being mind controlled!”
Diving for the door, Spike grabbed the bars of the door firmly in his claws and pulled.
It didn’t budge.
“It’s locked!”
“Well find the keys or some-”
She was cut off as Rainbow Dash took advantage of Skitch’s split attention, pouncing on her and throwing a foreleg around Skitch’s neck, beginning to squeeze. Skitch coughed, eyes bugging out, hooves scrabbling against Dash’s steely grip in a blind panic. Spike reacted the only way he could. He breathed, spitting a stream of red hot yet still shimmering green flames directly into the lock.
The dungeon of Canterlot Castle was well designed, built and maintained...but not with dragons in mind. One couldn’t really call it an oversight, since most dragons were large enough that they would have a difficult time fitting into the building, let alone a jail cell. That, combined with the fact that the cell itself had been proofed against magic, meant that nopony had thought to protect the lock mechanism against the heat of dragon breath. The mechanisms melted to slag, the door popping open, magic suppression field fading with it.
Throwing the door open and stepping into the cell, he winced, “Sorry!”
Without any other options, he sunk his teeth into one of Rainbow Dash’s legs. The pegasus didn’t yelp in pain, but she did let go, twisting to regard this new threat. Skitch collapsed to the ground quickly rolling onto her back, her horn glowing.
“What he said.”
Throwing a flash of light into Dash’s face, she flipped back over and bolted, spilling back out into the corridor with Spike right behind. A cry of surprise escaped Spike’s lips as he was scooped up by Skitch’s magic aura, and deposited roughly onto her back. She was galloping full out now, trying to put as much distance between her and Rainbow Dash as possible. Spike gulped. The moment Dash managed to clear her vision.... The thought was cut short, however, as the violent motion of Skitch's body almost threw him to the floor. With few other options Spike grabbed two clawfuls of mane, and hung on for dear life.
“OW! Spike!”
“Sorry!”
A loud bang echoed through the hall behind them as they cleared the guard station and entered normal corridors again. Spike twisted about, pulling Skitch’s mane a little tighter at the sight of Rainbow Dash shooting down the hallway, that same detached look still in her eyes.
“You need to go faster.”
“I am going faster!”
“No, you really need to go faster!” Spike gulped, watching Rainbow Dash effortlessly close the gap between them.
She grew closer and closer, her wing beats propelling her along like a cannonball. In a matter of moments she was almost on top of them, just a few more wing beats away from a hoof strike or tackle.
“This is so not good.”
One of the doors in the hallway suddenly swung open right in front of the pegasus, a brown maned, light brown coated stallion emerging from the room beyond. Spike winced at the sound of Dash slamming into it at top speed, but he couldn’t deny that it had slowed her down.
Skitch slid around a corner, dashing towards the staircase that lead back up. But instead of taking them, she pressed herself up against the wall, clapped a hoof over Spike’s mouth and quickly wove an invisibility enchantment around the pair of them.
A moment later, Rainbow Dash rushed around the corner, and right up the stairs. The dragon and the unicorn stood there for a few minutes, saying nothing, their hearts hammering in their chests, their ears straining for any sounds of their spell bound friend returning. But when her hoof falls continued to fade into the distance, they slumped to the floor, Skitch letting the spell fade.
“Thanks Spike,” she nodded, removing her hoof from his mouth. “You really saved my hide back there.”
“No problem,” He grinned back. “Knew that there was something wrong the minute I saw her eyes. Really creepy.” Raising an eyebrow, he looked her up and down, “So, is this the human back in control now?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, “Twilight fixed things. You can call me Jane, or Skitch, whatever works for you. But we need to find the girls. I think they’re in trouble. ”
“Rainbow Dash attacking you give that away?”
“Well, that and the illusion of some punk human calling himself The Collector trying to offer me a deal to sell out this planet.”
“Ugh.” Skitch sighed, rubbing the sides of her head, “But we have no idea where they are! We can’t search all of Canterlot. Gotta think….” She began to pace back and forth, “He said he wanted power. Doubt he’ll be satisfied with just what he can take from the Princesses though.”
“What about the Elements? Maybe he’s where they’re locked up?”
Skitch paused, tapping her chin with a hoof in thought, returning to her preferred method of logical deduction now that she was whole again.
“No…I don’t think so. The Elements are portable, basically. Once he’d get in the vault there’s no reason to stick around. The only reason I’d hang around would be if I needed something that I either couldn’t move or would have a lot of trouble moving.”
She suddenly perked up, a wide grin crossing her muzzle.
“Discord.”
“The ancient lord of chaos and disharmony?” Spike blinked, “What does he have to do with this?”
“Well, assuming it’s like what I saw in the show and he’s a statue in the garden…”
“Wait...that statue of Discord is actually the real Discord?!” Spike gaped.
“Far as I know.”
Spike blinked, scratching the side of his head. “That would explain the signs asking for peace and quiet.” With a shrug, he headed for the stairs, “Let’s go! I know a shortcut to the statue garden.”
“One second.” She nodded, running back around the corner, “I want to grab something from that guard station first.”
Sighing, Spike crossed his arms while he waited for her to return.
"Hey!" Her voice floated back around the corner, "Where'd that stallion go?"
- - - -
Twilight wanted to scream.
Since she lost control of her body, she had been forced to just sit and watch, unable to move more than her head and neck. Her body had marched along with those of her friends- while Princess Luna had teleported ahead- winding their way through the castle until they were in the middle of the Canterlot Castle’s statue garden.
She had been here a few times during her study with Princess Celestia, usually when the princess was teaching history and philosophy. The hedges that fenced in the statues had given them a modicum of privacy at times, and the hedgerow maze that dominated the center of the garden had been fun to explore. Amongst the statues, they had discussed the nature of the world.
What she saw here now horrified her.
Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance stood in front of the entrance to the maze, the former holding the Elements of Harmony with her magic, the latter standing stock still next to her. Luna was there as well, the remains of a spell fading away from her horn. Their eyes were glazed over and unfocused, firmly under the thrall of the spell that had snared her and her friends.
And facing the trio, arms folded behind his back, a shimmering orb of pearlescent light clutched in one hand, was the human behind this all.
The Collector.
At their approach he turned, slowly, almost savoring the moment. Standing tall, a smug smile was quite evident on his features, his eyes slowly roaming over each one of them.
The hoarder look of his home had been carried over into his own appearance. He wore a belt that was full of pouches, almost stuffed to bursting with Celestia knew what. And it didn’t stop there. He had more crystals, bits of metal and other things strapped to his body, including a sword on his right hip.
Unlike in Skitch-Sketch’s memory, his jacket was open this time. The shirt he wore actually looked somewhat clean. At the very least he had put some kind of effort into taking care of it. It was black at the top, across the neck and shoulders, and dark blue everywhere else. A single gold sphere was pinned to the collar, signifying...something, she guessed.
Twilight felt a burst of anger flow through her.
She hated him.
She had no idea why he had decided to inflict everything he had upon Equestria, why he had decided to use the ghost of a child as a pawn in his plans, or why he had effectively kidnapped someone from another reality to use as another pawn. She didn’t care, either. She could only hear the last thing Skitch said to her.
Can you sit with me until I’m gone? Please?
Part of her just really, really wanted to hurt him.
The surreality and downright wrongness of the scene was only added to by what The Collector had brought with him. A six foot tall lattice tower, constructed out of a silvery metal, stood in the middle of the statue garden. Glowing runes were etched directly- and in some cases haphazardly- into the metal work, glowing brightly enough in the night to illuminate the whole area.
The top of the tower was a four pronged facet, thick cables running from there, down the length of the tower’s skeleton, to both a square screen and typewriter like board on the side facing them and from there, past the base to six smaller similar lattice towers. Small oval spheres were also tucked among the wiring of each tower, though Twilight couldn't guess at their purpose.
Most bizarrely, the statue of Discord had been covered horn to tail in pieces of paper, with what looked like Neighponese characters scribbled on their surface.
Satisfied with his silent gloat, The Collector extended one of his hands, raising it slightly. A glass box rose from a circle of darkness on the ground, floating over to him with another small gesture. Yet another opened the top of the box, and the Elements of Harmony were transferred to it, before the whole thing was secured in place in the facet.
Slowly walking over to his tower- and stowing his magic orb in the process- he began to tap a series of keys upon the typewriter like board. Twilight and her friends were ignored as he focused on what he was typing and adjusting. Truly, it seemed like he couldn’t care less that they were even there, as he worked.
“Twi,” Applejack quietly hissed. “Can ya do somethin’ about this?”
Twilight bit her lip, “I’ll try.”
Every unicorn knew as part of learning how to spell cast, that doing so was almost like flexing a muscle. And like flexing a muscle, it was possible to overexert oneself. But, that particular knife cut both ways. Beginning to channel, Twilight fed it with less power than she usually would, suppressing the usual glow and sound of spellcasting. Once her magic made a connection with that of the spell, she began to slowly poke and prod for weakness, like she had in the mindscape.
“If he looks this way," she whispered. “Try to keep him talking and focused on something other than me. This is going to take me some time.”
“Can do!” Pinkie whispered back, throwing her friend a wink.
“Contemplating your destruction?” The Collector spoke up, continuing to type away, “Please do it quietly. As I’m sure Twilight Sparkle could tell you, it’s not easy juggling magic of this magnitude. Doubly so when blending it with technology.”
“Boy, you sure sound bored,” Pinkie observed. “I mean, you’ve only taken control of the princesses, with your weird tower thingie! I mean, it is a tower, right? Though I suppose it could be more of spire….Oooo! What about an edifice! Would it count as an edifice?”
The Collector paused for a moment, shooting a glance Pinkie Pie’s direction.
“And she hasn’t driven all of you insane, because?”
“Because she’s our friend,” Fluttershy said simply.
“Oh, right. Friendship is magic,” he raised an eyebrow. “I suppose that if it can banish villains and purify that one,” he jerked a thumb towards the zoned out Princess Luna. “Then it could make her presence tolerable.”
“Awww. It sounds like Mr. Grumpypants needs to change into a pair of happy slacks!” Pinkie grinned.
The Collector stared at Pinkie and Pinkie beamed right back at him, like they were at some kind of party, rather than engaged in a struggle. Even as she continued to poke at the spell, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie and how much was her attempt to keep the human distracted.
“How do you function?”
Before Pinkie could respond, the orb he had stowed earlier began to beep.
“Report.” He stated, dropping a hand to it, “Did you deal with Jake?”
“No,” The voice of Rainbow Dash answered, devoid of emotion. “She escaped. Thanks to Spike. And then I lost them.”
“The dragon?” He questioned, “Really?”
“What should I do?”
Concern crossed his features for the briefest of moments, but then it was gone. “Keep looking for both of them. I’m going to send some backup your way.” Keeping his hand on the orb, he turned to face the trio of alicorns, “Search the city. Find them and kill them.”
With a rush of wing beats, the princesses took to the air, splitting off in different directions to begin their search. Apparently satisfied that the matter would be handled, The Collector turned back to the tower.
“And here, we, go.”
Hitting one last key, the machine rumbled to life with a low hum that echoed through the statue garden and right through their bodies. Twilight swore that she could feel it in the roots of her teeth. She winced slightly as he turned to face them again.
“So,” Rarity spoke up, grabbing The Collector’s attention. “All of this. What’s it for? What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish here?”
“What? You expect me to talk about my plans? As if I was some kind of comic book supervillain?”
“Well, you’re the one with the tower that resembles some manner of doomsday device darling.”
“And your spellcraft is weak.” Twilight muttered.
“And you totally made this suuuppper duper too complicated! I mean, kidnapping a human from another reality and gluing her together with a pony? Waaaaaay too involved!”
The Collector lunged towards Pinkie Pie, his calm expression suddenly a mask of rage. “The day my plans get critiqued by a pink coated retard-!”
“Haaaaaapppppyyyy slacks,” Pinkie grinned.
Taking a deep breath and running his hands over his head, he regained his composure. “Fine. I’ll explain what I’m doing! If only to prove her,” he jabbed a finger at Pinkie Pie, “wrong.”
He paced, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the pink mare. “I suppose that it's pointless to say that this isn't personal? You just have something I want. Magical power and- thanks to your princesses- immortality."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's all you want? Just power?"
The Collector shrugged, almost casually. "You were expecting something more? I mean...your world isn't exactly alone in that regard, I will admit. I’ve collected a great deal many items from worlds full of magic. I’ve taken powers from their residents too. I didn't pick the name 'The Collector' out of a hat after all.”
“But yours is different in two chief respects. The first is what I hung the thrust of my spell on. It's one of the subset of universes where magic is very much based on emotions. That’s why I took a human fan of your show from another reality.”
The group exchanged glances for a moment, before Applejack spoke up. “Ah’m not followin’.
“Oh? You don’t, little miss ‘living embodiment of honesty’? Then let me spell it out for you. He loves you. He loves the idea of you all. There’s a whole damn subculture on his planet that call themselves your fans. Fan. Short for fanatic. And that’s one large pile of emotional love to feed a spell with,” he finished a wide grin splitting his face.
The gears in Twilight's head began to turn, lessons on spell work and enchantments coming to the forefront again. What he was describing....
"Tell me, Twilight Sparkle," The Collector nodded, falling into lecture mode, "what is the definition of sympathetic magic?"
"Sympathetic magic," she responded through clenched teeth, "is the art of magic that is defined by two primary principles. Imitation and correspondence. The general idea is that you can influence a thing via like things. Very common in Neigh Orleans voodoo."
Slapping hand to forehead, The Collector sighed. "Neigh Orleans. Christ. You people. But...yes, you got it. “So, one part devotion,” he held up one hand, falling into lecture mode, “and one part desperation to live again from the original Skitch-Sketch.” He held up the other, “Mixed together, and I have the perfect starting point to send a spell into overdrive.”
“So, my hybrid enchantment. It spread. It spread to everyone and everything she went near. And, again, Jake’s fanboy nature just made it worse. First day after he woke up in his house? He decided to explore Ponyville! And then he followed you all to Cloudsdale, and ran straight to the princesses! Important places, important ponies,” he shrugged, "sympathetic magic."
He motioned to the tower. “Every point of infection comes together to here,” And then he motioned to the orb, still on his belt, “And here. It's all sympathetic magic, making all of you all the more susceptible to other spells. Like when I remote controlled my puppet to steal some of your cherished items and used those to implant my control spell."
Twilight fumed, working all the faster, the Collector continuing his rant.
"The orb lets me control and give orders. But the tower...oh yes. That is my shining achievement.” His wide grin turned into a half crazed giggle, “It will drain the power from my chosen targets and transfer it directly into me.”
Twilight snapped out of her spell breaking reverie, a gasp escaping her lips. “You want the princesses!”
“I’m not getting any younger,” he shrugged. “Youth potions have already started to hit the point of diminishing returns. And immortality is hard to pass up. Though I’m not just going for them. I’m going for every other power player that’s been sealed away. That’s what I’ve spent most of the last two weeks doing. Seeding the sites that none of you had any reason to go to.”
"Are you completely crazy!? If Luna and Celestia are gone, the sun and moon will stop-"
"Leaving your planet half in shadow, half in sun. Very much like a tidally locked planet in a universe that even pretended to follow the laws of physics!" He snorted giving a dismissive wave of the hand, "Don't worry too much though. There should still be a habitable band across the planet where the two sides meet."
"No!"
The burst had come from Fluttershy, who was torn between looking horrified and incensed. "You'll kill so many ponies and animals! H-how can you do this?"
The Collector offered a shrug in response. "It doesn't matter. Not really. I mean...this is hardly the only reality out there. If this all dies, the multiverse will just keep," he casually waved a hand through the air, "spinning on. All that does actually matter? What you can take for yourself. And I'm finally going to eat the peach."
“But...the fake memories? The physical evidence?" Twilight cut in again. "How could your hybrid spell handle all of that!”
The Collector shrugged. “I have other toys. And I’m not about to tell you all of my tricks. Truthfully speaking, I’ve probably said far too much.”
“No!” Twilight shouted, springing forward with an angry hoof stomp, “I won’t let you hurt them! And for all your boasting, your spellwork is still incredibly shoddy!”
The clearing was quiet for a moment, as both Twilight and The Collector realized what had just happened.
“Hmm. Broke my spell on you while your friends kept me distracted. Well done.” He drew a vaguely rectangular shaped...thing from his belt, “Don’t worry though. I won’t kill you. You’re still connected to your element and they’re the focal point of my spell.”
Twilight teleported, a golden beam of light whistling through the air and impacting into the grass where she was a moment ago. Re-appearing next to one of the statues, she dove for cover behind it, another golden beam springing forth from his weapon; the front of the statue glowed red hot for a moment, before fading away again.
“You can’t escape Twilight. Even if you did, it wouldn’t do any good. My machine will keep churning away. We’ll hit phase two soon enough!”
Licking her lips, Twilight peeked back around the base of the statue. The Collector was stomping towards her hiding place, a determined look on his features. Pulling back, she took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut.
Think Twilight, think! There has to be some kind of leverage I can use….
An idea popped into her mind. With another flash, she was back across the statue garden, now at the foot of Discord’s.
“Hey! Collector!”
The human spun about, the stopping at the side of the statue Twilight had just left. She flashed what she hoped was an intimidating grin, wrapping her magic around the scrolls that adorned the statue’s form.
“I was so worked up over you, I forgot one of the legends I learned back at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns! Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony, turned into a statue by the Elements. And then I realized…” She narrowed her eyes, grinning even wider, “You wouldn’t have done something to this statue if it was just a statue!”
“Well guessed, Twilight Sparkle.” He grinned back, “But what are you going to do with that information?”
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do.” She glowered, giving one of the scrolls the slightest tug of motion, “I’ll let him out!”
Her friends gasped in shock.
“Twilight, dear,” Rarity smiled, her eyes darting nervously back and forth between the two. “Are you really sure that’s a good idea?”
“Discord was defeated once before. Better the creature Equestria knows,” she glared right into The Collector’s eyes. “Now, turn your machine off!”
The Collector gave a derisive snort, “Oh, please. If you actually had the stomach for that kind of fun, you would have just done it, instead of trying to bluff me.”
“Oh, I’ll do it!” Twilight snapped back, “I’ll release that draconequus!”
“Go ahead then! Release that draconequus!”
Twilight bit her lip, trying to ignore the bead of nervous sweat that was now working its way down the side of her head. Her eyes darted from her friends, to the Collector, to the machine, then back again. He wasn’t buying her bluff. She couldn’t really unleash Discord...could she?
The Collector raised his strange weapon again at her hesitation, chuckling, “Yeah. Didn’t think so.”
With a roar of frustration, something broke deep in the pit Twilight's stomach. Another burst of magic and the distance between the two melted away in an instant, the librarian appearing behind the human. Lashing out with the strongest buck she could, there was a slight surge of satisfaction at the grunt of pain that came from The Collector.
Whipping about, horn already glowing, Twilight threw her magic power into her telekinesis sculpting it like an artist would clay. The resulting raw magic blast would have hardly won her any awards at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It was a raw, jagged magical energy that strained and threatened to slip out of her grasp.
"You used a foal!" she screamed, letting the blast loose. It impacted into the human's stomach, blasting him a good three feet backwards. "She was a scared little filly afraid of death and you used her!"
"Spare me your sanctimony." The Collector grunted. "Do you really think she was the first child to get a bad run of luck, even in your sugar saccharine filled wonderland? It happens a million times, across a million worlds!"
Dipping a hand into one of his coat pockets, a black, somewhat crescent shaped device was sent whirling through the air, only to explode with a brilliant flash of light. Yelping in pain Twilight instinctively flinched away from the searing brightness. A choice that she ended up regretting a moment later when something heavy struck her in the side.
"If you had any clue about how irrelevant you really are!" the Collector sneered, another heavy strike cracking her side. "The world I took Jake from, where you're all so well known? They won't even know that you're gone! All the little toys and cutesy drawings will keep getting cranked out, until some marketing executive has decided that ponies have run their course and need to be replaced by something else. No tears shed, no time spared to mourn and all of you forgotten. Because that's how the multiverse fucking works!"
The chime like tones of a magical aura played through the air, catching their attention. A split second later, a polished steel shield burst from the exterior hedgewall, propelled through the air by a shimmering amber aura. Impacting into the midpoint of his back like a bullet, a half choked cry of pain erupted from the human, as he was sent sprawling face first into the grass. The bushes rustled for a moment before parting, a pair of familiar faces stepping into view.
Jane, with her head held high and a confident smirk on her muzzle. And Spike, perched on her back, a spear (most likely liberated from the same place as the shield) clutched in his right claw. The unicorn raised a hoof to her forehead, firing off a mocking salute to The Collector as he scrambled back to his feet.
Despite her external bravado, Jane’s heart was hammering in her chest about a mile a minute. Her eyes roamed over every bauble and gadget that hung on The Collector’s belt. And the phaser that he snatched back up from the ground. Because, of course he had a phaser. Why wouldn't he? Sparing a quick glance towards the rest of the Mane Six, she frowned at their struggles to try and move.
“Spike,” she whispered, “aim for his belt. You need to get it off of him.”
“Sure thing.” He nodded, tightening his grip on the spear.
Not waiting another moment, she charged, pushing into a full gallop to close the distance as quickly as possible. The Collector responded faster than she expected, swinging the weapon about and leveling it right at her. But Twilight’s aura sprung up around his hand, yanking it skyward. Jane’s ears flicked back at the distinctive snap hiss of the energy beam as it sliced high into the sky like a beacon, but she continued the charge.
While Jane rushed past the left side of the the human, Spike lashed out with the spear. The Collector twisted, pulling away from the razor sharp edge as it cut through the air. He smiled at the slight ripping sound that greeted his efforts, the belt half slipping, but refusing to fall off completely.
“That’s the spirit!” Applejack cheered, Jane looping back around for another charge, “Show em how we do things in Equestria!”
“Yeah! Kick their butts!” Pinkie grinned.
“No comments from the peanut gallery!” The Collector roared, twisting to face Jane’s next charge, pulling against Twilight’s magical grip. Twilight scrunched up her face, magic aura smoldering and crackling with power, refusing to let go.
Jane smiled, lowering her head to aim her horn right at one of The Collector’s legs. But then the sound of her hooves pounding on the ground ended, her whole form yanked into the air. Sent tumbling head over tail, she felt Spike throw himself from her back, before she was whipped right at Twilight as a living piece of ordinance.
Impacting into Twilight’s side, the purple unicorn was bowled over, both of them skidding a few feet before they could untangle and right themselves.
“Twilight!”
Spike was rushing towards them, belt clutched in a claw. “I got it! I got it!’
The Collector was drawing a bead on him, however, looking quite furious.
The Collector fired just as Twilight and Jane threw matching explosions of light into his face. With him reeling from the blinding strike, the lance of energy tore through the ground, missing Spike by a matter of inches. Jane grabbed the belt as he reached them, nervously glancing towards the angry human, who was furiously blinking to clear the spots from his vision.
“I’m gonna get his attention.” She whispered, “Twilight, if you can get the girls loose, maybe we can take him together.”
“What about me?” Spike asked.
Jane glanced to the tower, unable to ignore that the humming noise it was making was beginning to get louder.
“See if you can turn off that doomsday device.”
Draping the belt across her back she rushed forward, snatching up the shield she had thrown earlier.
“Hey! Dandy-dick!”
Pushing more magical energy through her horn, she threw it as hard as she could. Not that she bothered to see the results of her throw, however, as she was already galloping for the entrance of the hedge maze.
“I got your stuuuffff!”
The grunt of pain and following enraged shout warmed her heart.
“I am one hundred and ten percent done!”
Rushing through the pathways of the maze, Jane floated the belt of gear off her back. The distinctive sound of sloshing liquid rose from one of the pouches. Potions, maybe? And there was some kind of odd remote control device on another pouch. Still, she was more interested in the control orb.
Sending a mental prayer of thanks to Skitch-Sketch, she wrapped herself and it, in a cloak of invisibility, moving slower so that her hoof falls wouldn’t give her away. Pausing for a moment, she reached a hoof out to it.
“Dash? Celestia? Is anybody out there?”
The orb remained gray and silent. She frowned. Most likely some kind command word or arcane lock.
“Ohhh Jaaaakkee…”
Crap.
Looking about, her heart hammered even harder when she was unable to see hide nor hair of The Collector.
“You’re not the only one who can turn invisible you now.” His voice echoed out again, closer this time. He was somewhere on the path behind her, that much was obvious, but she couldn’t narrow it down at all.
Nervously licking her lips, she trotted further into the maze, beginning to telekinetically rifle through some of the other pockets. Starting with the pouch she heard sloshing about before, a grin crossed her muzzle at the sight of a series of small vials, full of different colored liquids. She had been correct. Potions. All clearly labeled too.
Keep him talking…. She thought, nodding to herself.
“You know,” She began, quickly slamming back a potion of bull’s strength. Her muscles swelled and tightened under her coat, magically empowered strength surging through her, “I should probably thank you.”
“Really?” The Collector responded, “How did you work that out?”
“Well,” Jane quickly drank a bear’s endurance and cat’s grace potion at the same time. Much like with the last potion, she felt the physical changes washing over her, becoming tougher and more nimble, “If you hadn’t done this too me, I wouldn’t have met Rarity and I would have never been forced to confront my own gender issues.”
“I’m so happy for you.” He snarked back, voice dropping with sarcasm.
“And it gets even better!” She grinned, before drinking a three pack of potions to boost her intelligence, wisdom and charisma. Her brain felt...tingly, for the lack of a better term, as they took effect. “If I had gone for surgery and hormones, I wouldn’t have been able to have my own kids.”
There was a distinct pause at that.
“What?”
Jane resisted the urge to giggle like a loon. The confusion and disgust was clear in his voice. Now to twist the knife a bit.
“What can I say? Stallions have had a certain amount of...appeal to me, as of late. I mean, have you seen Twilight’s brother? Such a well groomed coat, deliciously looking muscled body, a voice that just makes a heart aflutter-”
“You twisted little freak!” The Collector sputtered. Becoming visible, his left arm dropped to his side, hand wrapped around the grip of a katana; the most likely source of his invisibility. “Your entire fanbase with it’s ‘clopping’, and horse based porn! How your diseased minds function…”
Jane ignored his angry ranting as the control orb sprung to life, Rainbow Dash’s voice floating to her ears.
“Sir, I…”
“Dash!” Her hooves leapt to the orb in a moment, “Snap out of it and-”
The phaser beam sprung forth again, whizzing past her as he fired blindly. The Collector was advancing, sword in one hand, beam weapon in the other. Clenching her teeth, Jane responded with the only item at her disposal, and threw the sphere as hard as she could, immediately becoming visible again.
It caught The Collector on the right side of the face, the impact sharply jerking his head back. Jane charged again, once more leveling her horn for the legs of her target. Crashing full tilt into the left one, the impact sent shockwaves down through her neck and down her spine, right to the tip of her tail.
The Collector stumbled, dropping his weapons and sliding back, but refusing to fall. Snarling, he lashed out, grabbing Jane around the middle of her barrel. She thrashed and bucked in his grip, but it was like iron.
“Gonna plant me a dumbass tree!”
“No, no, no!”
Pain drilled through her head, and stars exploded in her vision as she was brutally slammed horn first into the ground. The world wobbled, spun and remained thoroughly upside down, despite her desires for it to knock all of that off.
I better not be stuck.
She twisted, trying to right herself, but the world refused to properly right itself.
...This is a downside to being a unicorn that no one told me about.
“I have you now.” The Collector smiled striding into view, one arm extended towards her, katana in the other. With a casual flick of his hand, she was tilted to the right, and then back to the left, before he centered her again, “Interesting trick, wouldn’t you say? I drained the power from a Sith Lord a few years back.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Jane deadpanned.
“Ahh well.” He pulled back the katana, ready to swing, “Ready to find out if a katana really can slice a body in twain?”
“Damn.” She winced, squeezing her eyes closed.
“Hhiiiiiiiii!” A familiar and cheerful voice rang out.
“GAH! Unhand me at once you living lump of cotton candy!”
Jane opened her eyes to a sight that would have been hilarious if the situation wasn’t so dire. Pinkie was perched atop The Collector’s shoulders, hooves clapped over his eyes while she rode him like (ironically enough) a bucking bronco. Two pairs of hooves pulled her from the ground, carefully placing her upright.
“Ya okay sugarcube?” Applejack smiled.
“I am now.” She sighed in relief, “Nice last minute save there.”
“Well, thank Twilight for breaking his spells.” Rarity nodded, “But she and Spike need you back at the tower. They’re hoping you can figure out how to turn that blasted thing off.”
“You help them.” Applejack nodded, adjusting her hat slightly, “We’ll hold him off.”
With a nod, Jane scooped up The Collector’s gear, and tore back the way she came. Applejack watched her go, before shooting a furious glare at The Collector.
"Let's dance, partner."
- - - -
Spike and Twilight were right by the the keyboard, like Applejack said. She rushed to their side, dropping the belt along the way and turning her gaze towards the the screen. It was dominated by two windows. One showing a clock that was rapidly counting down, the other displaying a small black screen with white letters.
“You gotta be kidding me.” She gaped.
“What?” Twilight blinked.
“DOS!?” She shook her head in disbelief, “He’s built a crazy fusion of magic and super technology and he’s running his commands through the flipping DOS prompt? What kind of Mickey Mouse crap is this?! What’s next? We gonna run a giant robot on Windows 8!”
“Jane! Focus!” Twilight snapped, jabbing a hoof towards the count down, “Clock is ticking!”
Less than two minutes.
“Right. One side Spike. Presumably, this is what I went to college for.”
Reaching out with her telekinesis, she began to poke at keys as fast as she could. Quickly bringing up the directory she could see that there was only two programs installed on the contraption.
“Well, I’m going to assume that it’s not slfdstrct.” She muttered, “So that leaves us with this bad boy…. Deltree wrlddrain.”
A message flashed across the screen.
ACCESS DENIED.
“Jane….” Twilight winced.
“Okay, okay! Can’t delete it, soooo…let’s try to go ahead and change the time left on timer…”
ACCESS DENIED.
“Jane!”
“He’s locked down the whole of the file structure somehow!”
“Well, unlock it!”
“It’s not like a door, Twilight! He’s stolen and collected technology and magic from across the multiverse! It could be a DNA lock, voice lock, psychic lock, arcane lock, all grafted into a user interface that’s older than I am!”
She glanced up at the clock. Thirty seconds.
“...The Elements! He locked them into that facet! Maybe if we get them out!”
Twilight immediately grabbed Spike in her aura. “Help me lift him!”
Adding her magic to Twilight’s, the pair of unicorns hefted the baby dragon up to the glass box. Spike latched onto it, prying as hard as he could with his bare claws.
“It’s stuck!”
“Try harder! We’re running out of time!”
“We are out of time.” Jane winced, as the clock reached zero.
Spike was blasted backwards, a massive and jagged beam of light shooting high into the night sky, before splitting into an intricate web of light that blocked out the stars and moon. Tendrils then dropped from the web, coiling their way through the city, one plunging into the hedge maze, another striking Discord’s statue.
A bright flash engulfed them for a moment, the world going suddenly topsy-turvy as they were all pulled and yanked about by magic. When the light faded, Jane, Twilight and Spike found themselves locked in place by shards of black crystal, alongside Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.
“Game over.” The Collector beamed, pacing before them. A tendril of power was flowing from the tower, straight into his back, transferring stolen energy. With a snap of his fingers, his belt was back on his waist, “I win.”
“NO!” Jane screamed, “It can’t end like this!”
“It’s over Jake.” He casually motioned to the garden around them, “The power of the princesses and many of their old nemesis are mine. This world will die.”
Jane glared back up at him, her face a furious mask.
“Just keep one, very important thing in mind, Collector. There’s always someone bigger and badder than you. Even if you win here, eventually, you are going to tick off the wrong person who will roll over and crush you. And when that day comes, and you find yourself laying broken on the ground, I want you to think back to this day, and remember this.”
The Collector snapped his fingers, and Jane found herself cut off, the world looming huge around her, her body locked in a singular, immobile position; head arched back, one foreleg raised, just like the Rarity minis from her blind bag dream.
“No.” He grinned, “I think I'll focus on becoming a god and stealing the combined magical essence of the world." He knelt down, poking at Jane’s miniaturized form, “Seems more worthy of reminiscence than the last breaths of hate from a loser, you see.”
“Change her back!” Twilight shouted.
“N-”
KRACK-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A ring of rainbow color cascaded over Canterlot, a rainbow colored blur dropping from the sky so fast that the group didn’t have time to register the impact into The Collector’s chest. The momentum propelled him across the open ground, his body slamming right into the tower, a loud crack sound echoing through the air.
The impact blasted the box containing the Elements of Harmony out of the socket, it smashing to pieces on the ground below. With the connection severed, the process that was affecting The Collector began to reverse itself; the stolen energy flowed back the way it came.
Rainbow Dash didn’t let up on the assault. Lashing out with a wild flurry of punches and kicks, she kept The Collector pinned up against the tower’s structure.
“You don’t hurt my friends! You don’t hurt the princesses! And you don’t control my mind!”
Jane felt herself pop back to her full pony form. Gritting her teeth, she channeled raw power and anger through her horn. “Get that crap away from him!”
Applejack charged, lashing out with a buck to The Collector’s knees, while Rarity and Twilight joined Jane in yanking everything they could away from him, starting with his belt, but then delving into the pockets of his leather jacket.
Jane yanked the remote looking device from the belt, quickly examining it. It had a touch screen as it’s main interface on it’s narrow black form, and a series of icons for navigation, one of which was clearly marked “Saved Universes.”.
The Collector, still reeling from Dash’s strikes, shoved her back and slammed a fist against the keyboard. “S-Self des-destruct. Russel, Red-0-0-1.” A hacking cough shook his whole body, blood splattering against his shirt, “I’m g-going t-to take you all with me.”
The metal spheres began to beep.
Wincing, Jane’s eyes flicked back to the remote, her hoof tapping the saved universes icon. Eyes roaming across the options, they lit up at the sight of an option that might be their salvation.
“Dash! Get out of the way!” She shouted, quickly hitting it.
A swirling oval portal of blueish-purple energy tore itself into being, hovering a few inches from the ground. Twilight glanced towards the portal, then towards The Collector, an expression of sudden realization crossing her face.
“Girls! Time to send him home!”
Dash and Applejack lead the charge, swooping in from either side of the human. The Collector weakly raised an arm, lightning flickering around the fingers. A blast lashed out at Applejack, the farm pony neatly hopping to the side and continuing her rush without missing a beat.
“Ya heard the lady.”
Lashing out with a pair of powerful bucks, Applejack and Rainbow Dash caught The Collector in the stomach, sending him tumbling through the portal. The others were already pushing the tower, throwing all of their weight into it as it scraped along the ground.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushed to aid them, throwing their own strength into moving it. With the extra assistance, the spire of metal ground through the last few feet of dirt and grass and toppled through the shimmering curtain edge.
With the central tower dragged through, the secondary spires were pulled right along with it. Snaking and snapping through the air like a bunch of angry snakes, everyone was forced to scatter as they whipped dangerously about, before vanishing into the portal next. As the gateway began to close, Jane yanked the control sphere from the belt and pitched it through.
- - - -
The Collector dropped like a stone as he exited the interdimensional doorway, crashing into one of his own overstuffed shelves of lucre from across time and space. The shelf, already top heavy from being loaded to the brim, tipped and then toppled over. An avalanche of metal and magic items smashed him to the floor, eliciting another cry of pain.
His chest felt like it was on fire. He was pretty sure that the rainbow maned one had delivered some kind of compression fracture to his ribcage. He groaned, struggling to push the metal shelves off his body. It didn’t matter, all he had to do was to get some healing potions, stock back up and then he’d make them pay. He’d make them all pay!
And then his rigged tower came tumbling through the portal in a discordant shriek of metal and sound, crashing into the pile and adding even more weight to the stack; the burning sensation in his chest grew worse, his ribs compressed even further into his lungs.
Heh. He smiled wistfully, slumping back against the floor, the control orb for his mind control spell dropping onto his head as a final insult. Killed by ponies. Worst death ever.
The last thing he felt was a moment of pain as the explosion vaporized his home.
- - - -
Jane looked up at the night sky, a smile splitting her muzzle as Luna’s stars and moon faded back into view, the last remnants of the light rivers fading away. In a moment, it was once again a peaceful Canterlot night.
“We did it.”
She smiled even wider.
“We did it!”
Letting loose a laugh of wild abandon, she threw herself at Rainbow Dash, pulling the pegasus into a hug. It was a gesture that was soon repeated by the rest of the Mane Six, and Rainbow Dash soon found herself buried under ponies.
“That...was...AWESOME!”
“It was really impressive.”
“It was super duper terrific Dashie!”
“Alright!” She waved her hooves, “Everypony, get off of me!”
“I knew you could do it!” Jane grinned, untangling herself from Dash, “I knew you could do a sonic rainboom!”
A soft trio of pops echoed through the clearing as Celestia, Cadance and Luna appeared, horns glowing with magic energy, scanning the garden for any signs of The Collector. The group dipped into a bow, while Jane sat back on her haunches. She figured she’d let Twilight explain the situation. Maybe it was because she was still worked up from the battle, but she was still breathing hard.
“It’s okay!” Twilight smiled, straightening back up, “He’s gone. He tried to blow his tower up, but we sent him and it back to his home base.”
Celestia smiled. It was a warm, almost motherly smile, that was matched by Cadance and Luna.
“I am so proud of you all, my little ponies.” She nodded towards Jane, “And our visiting friend. You showed true fortitude and dedication when things seemed at their darkest.”
“You held true to the bonds of friendship.” Cadance added.
“And thou vanquished the villain who attempted to overthrow Equestria!” Luna nodded.
“Shucks.” Applejack nervously grinned, kicking the ground, “We just did what we had too.”
Jane nodded, beginning to pant now, her lungs almost screaming for a breath of actual air. Celestia, noticing her distress, frowned.
“Are you okay?”
“I...I” She gaped, reaching a hoof to her chest. It felt like there was a vice in her chest, crushing her lungs, “I can’t..can’t...breathe.”
The world was suddenly spinning, and everything went dark.
“...cascading arcane contamination. We need to stabilize…”
The world was a mottled blur of color and movement again. Jane would have voiced her annoyance if she could have said anything; this was becoming an annoying pattern in her life. A mass of purple and blue shadow swam into view.
“Help...”
“...stable now…elements...”
Stable? Then why couldn’t she move!
“...elements of harmony...willing to try…”
Focusing, she tried to push her way through the fog that wrapped around her mind. To raise a hoof and declare with certainty that if they didn’t help her, she’d be very cross with all of them. But as quickly as they came, they faded away again.
Left in silence and a blotchy mess of white light, a sense of exhaustion crashed down on Jane. She just didn’t have the energy to fight right now. All she wanted to do was to sleep.
A nice long sleep.
- - - -
The soft sound of music suddenly pulled Jane back to the land of the living. The first thing she heard was the rapid tones of a violin chorus playing a sweeping concerto movement. The music sounded slightly tinny and crackling, like it was floating over a radio, or coming from a record. She could feel a warm blanket pulled around her body, and a pillow behind her head.
Hospital? She thought, slowly opening her eyes and glancing to the left, the music tones fading away to an end.
“And that was Treble Clef, Violin Concerto Number Two in C, by the Royal Canterlot Orchestra.” The boxy radio sitting on a table next to the the window, declared, “We’ll be back after these messages.”
The radio then rolled over to an advertisement for wing care products, with the requisite annoying jingle.
Blue Crystal Feather Conditioner! Keep those flight feathers flicking, flitting and flying free! No other feather conditioner can match; try it and you’ll agree! Bluuuueeeeeee Crysssstaaaallllll!
“Ahh. Advertising.” She smiled, glancing out the window, “It seems our people aren’t so different after all.”
The sun was working its way through the sky. Probably about mid morning by Jane’s estimation. Rolling her head back, she turned her attention to the rest of the room. A series of colorful balloons, more than a few of them declaring “Get Well Soon!” had been tied to the foot of the bed.
A monitoring machine was on her other side, its screen seemingly carved from a block of clear crystal. A silhouette of her body, full of green light, and surrounded by many technical and medical sounding words, were displayed on its surface. The strange magi-tech fusion continued with the IV- or equivalent there of- that ran into her foreleg; a tube ran from a glass canister of fluid, to a square, white patch of cloth that ran across her leg.
A small collection of books had been left on a bedside nightstand, a neatly written note laying atop the stack, while a pouch rested against the stack’s side. Humming to herself Jane floated the rote over to herself and read.
Jane,
I left these books for you in case you woke up before we could visit. It’s just been a little bit crazy the last few days cleaning up after the The Collector. I hope that you’ll enjoy them! They’re my copies of A Pony’s History of Equis and Universal Charms and Enchantments.
Celestia has left you a stipend for while you’re in the city and given you one of the ambassadorial suites at the palace to stay in for now. We’ll catch up with you as soon as possible.
Your Friend,
Twilight Sparkle
“Awww.” She grinned, effecting her best Jewish grandmother impression “Isn’t that nice, she took the time.”
Sitting up a little straighter in bed she picked up the book of history and began to tuck in to pass the time. The next hour turned into a blur as she tore into Equestria’s past, devouring the information in the way only a fan and lover of history could.
The coincidental similarities to Earth history, not only in terms of the events, but in terms of aesthetics as well, were evident from the start. The pre-Equestrian pegasai in particular, with their martial discipline, crested helmets and history of staying mobile and raiding what they needed from their neighbors, reminded Jane of a crazy blend of Spartans and Viking raiders.
And that wasn’t counting the actual Viking like creatures, in the form of sleek elk longships, lead by powerful elken Jarls that raided earth pony farms and griffin sky fortresses alike. In fact, the pre-Equestrian unification world was a bit more violent than she was expecting for the world.
The book was full of illustrations and pictures of artifacts as well. The chapter defining the founding of Equestria was introduced with a photo of two sections of tapestry. Long and narrow, it was reminiscent of the Bayeux Tapestry of Earth, with a linear collection of images obviously meant to indicate a series of events.
“The Trayon Tapestry.” Jane muttered to herself, reading the caption, “So named for the village in northern Prance where it was woven. Currently on display in the Canterlot Historical Museum. ...Seems legit.”
The pictures were a collection of events that rang with a familiar residence to Jane. Three groups of ponies, one unicorn, one earth pony, and one pegasai locked in conflict over bushels of produce. This was followed by six ponies staring up at an overlapping moon and sun.
“Wait a minute.” She frowned, flipping to the next page, “If this is the founding of Equestria, where’s the wendigos?”
Delving deeper into the page, she searched for any mention of the icy horse spirits, but found none.
On the third week of the conflict, a celestial meeting of the sun and moon during the daytime sky drew the attention of the tribal leaders. Taking it as a sign from the heavenly sun and moon, Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead banded together to form the nation we now know as Equestria.
“Huh...do they not exist in this timeline? That’s probably the biggest deviation so far…”
Quickly flipping back to the chapter introduction, she looked at the photo again. The next tapestry section depicted a fresh conflict. Griffin clashing with ponies in a circle around a powerful and armored looking griffin locked in single combat with a similarly powerful looking pegasus.
The section after that was another piece of whiplash for Jane. It depicted Luna, Celestia and Discord, of all creatures, surrounded by ponies bowing in reverence.
“...Discord, being involved in the world?” She gaped at the pages, half expecting them to suddenly declare ‘Fooled You!’, “Now I know that this is world just messing with me.”
A further scan of the page revealed that Discord had turned on them in relatively short order, necessitating the use of the Elements of Harmony against him.
“Ahh. Good. Familiarity.”
The door to the room clicked open, a creme colored unicorn nurse with a rose colored mane trotting in. “Oh!” She exclaimed, the surprise obvious in her voice, “You’re awake!” She immediately swooped over to Jane, levitating a yellow crystal out of her jacket, and slowly waving it before her eyes, “Follow the light please. How are you feeling?”
Jane’s response was interrupted by the rumbling sound that escaped her stomach.“Uhh. Hungry, apparently.” She nervously grinned, “How long have I been out?”
“A few days. You were suffering from some nasty magic backlash there.”
“Magic backlash?”
“Yes.” She smiled, her voice very chipper, “You were turning into a kind of hard rubber like substance.”
“Oh.” Jane blinked, “I don’t have to worry about that happening again, do I?”
“Oh, of course not. Not at all. Nothing to worry about.” She grinned widely, “Just don’t have any transmutation spells cast on you for the next few years.”
“What.”
“I’m going to get the doctor! Sit tight!”
And with a blur of color she was right back out the door, leaving Jane alone with her books and her bed.
“Alright.” Jane snapped the book shut with a flourish of magic, “Enough of this madness.”
Yanking the magical IV from her foreleg, she rolled out of bed and almost collapsed to the ground. Her legs felt tired and wobbly, from a few days of being bedridden, she guessed. With another glance around the room, she spied her saddle bags resting against the wall. Tossing both the books and pouch of money into the bags, she secured them onto her back and trotted for the door.
It swung open again before she could reach it, a dark blue coated unicorn stallion following behind the nurse from earlier. The doctor- given away by his coat and stethoscope- just raised an eyebrow at Jane.
“This…” Jane began, before just giving up and shrugging, “Yeah, this is exactly what it looks like.”
“Well, if it’s not too much trouble,” The doctor began, horn glowing, “I’d like to at least examine you before you complete your daring escape.”
Jane laughed nervously.
“And the fact that I feel fine?”
“Doesn’t mean anything.” He grumbled, horn lighting up, stethoscope snaking it’s way to Jane’s chest, “Now breathe.”
Trapped, Jane sighed and took a few slow, deep breaths. The doctor’s face scrunched up in a frown as he carefully listened. After a minute or so of said listening, he nodded to himself.
“Lungs sound good and healthy. No residual changes there. Seems like our attempt to stabilize your condition were successful.”
“That’s good. I can go then, right?”
“You can.” He frowned, “But allow me to make something perfectly clear for you. You’ve been exposed to multiple transmutation spells, half of them from sources that are completely foreign to me. To make matters worse, The Collector was channeling power from Discord when he hit you again.”
“Okay…” Jane blinked, suddenly feeling very nervous, “What does all of this mean?”
“Practically? Stay away from shape changing spells. They could do anything from activate his original enchantment again, to catastrophic body and organ failure.”
“Catastrophic.” Jane repeated in a deadpan voice, “As in?”
“Your body could completely fall apart. Organ rupture, bones twisting, parts of you trying to become one thing, while the rest of you tries to become another thing, the whole nine yards.”
“Ah.” Jane paled, “I see.” She bit her lip for a moment, her eyes drilling into him, begging for help, “Doctor...I have to ask. Will I ever be human again? Or am I stuck like this?”
The doctor’s expression softened, compassion filling his eyes as he moved onto the silver lining of the explanation. “The good news is that we used a cosmetic transmutation spell to stabilize you. Very similar to the one your friend Rarity used to effect her own change. Eventually, the magic will just fade into your aura and it will be as if you were a naturally born unicorn.” He placed a hoof on her withers, flashing his warmest smile, “Once you’ve hit that point, you’re free to be changed again.”
“Oh, okay!” Jane smiled, “I can deal with that. How long is it going to take?”
“A few years, unfortunately.”
Jane pondered that for a moment, idly rubbing her chin with the back of a hoof. Being stuck as a pony for a few years. Her knee jerk reaction was a surge of aggravation at the thought of being a quadruped for another two years at least. Anger at not having hands or being human.
But almost as soon as those thoughts coursed through her brain, her conscious felt the need to speak up. The Collector, focused on her, had not seen Rainbow Dash coming. And that had probably been his downfall.
“The ship...out of danger?” She muttered, smiling wistfully.
“Pardon?” The doctor blinked.
“It’s nothing doctor. I understand. Am I good to go now?”
“Yes. You’re free to go.”
- - - -
Jane hummed to herself as she trotted through the streets. The doctor had provided her with directions towards the palace, but she wasn’t heading that way.
She wanted to explore.
Perhaps it was the post battle rush. Perhaps it was the fact that she could do so without worrying about spreading any ritual spells. But she was feeling oddly perky as she trotted through the streets.
She couldn’t keep the changes to the story of Equestria’s founding out of her head either. No wendigos was a very big deal in her mind, and now she was wondering if they even existed in this version of Equestria.
Flipping a few bits to a corner bistro, she munched on a carrot dog (Equestria food was strange sometimes) and contemplated where to go. She could wander over to the library, maybe check things out there.
Nah. She thought, taking another big bite of spiced carrot, I could use something a little more hands on. Oooo! The museum! The book mentioned the Canterlot History Museum!
Resolving to find out, she glanced at the earth pony who was working behind the counter.
“Excuse me Miss?” She inquired, “Do you live around here?”
“Yes mam.” She nodded back.
“Would you happen to know where the Canterlot History Museum is?”
“Sure thing! Just head two blocks east, hang a right, and follow it to the end of the street. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks.”
Trotting along the streets, Jane’s attitude remained upbeat at the sight of all of the ponies going about their day, safe from the threat of freezing to death with the sun locked on the other side of the planet. It lifted her heart, that only rose further when she spied the museum at the end of the block she just turned onto.
The vendor pony had been correct. She couldn’t miss it. The entrance was flanked by a pair of alicorn statues, but as they lacked any cutie-marks Jane was hard pressed to guess if they were supposed to be anyone in particular or more alicorns in general.
The entrance of the building lead to a central hallway, that other galleries branched off of. But the room itself was dominated by another statue of alicorns. It stood ten feet tall, carved out of white and black marble, and displayed what she imagined was supposed to be Luna and Celestia. But they were very...different takes than she was used to.
Celestia’s statue stood with all four legs firmly planted on the base, head held high, carved with a body build that was more unstoppable juggernaut than the pretty pony princess. The expression carved on the statues face was authoritarian, almost angry.
Luna’s statue, by contrast, seemed to be thinner and more ethereal than the actual pony, carved in such a way to almost seem like a coiled serpent, ready to strike. Standing diagonally across from Celestia’s statue on the base, the expression carved on her muzzle was playful, and scheming.
The placard set up before it proudly declared that the piece was “Sol Invictus and Lunam et Infames.”, carved by Artistic Flourish in 110 PU (Pre-Unification), and displayed in the Temple of the Sun and Moon, until the arrival of Celestia and Luna.
“So...they were worshiped as gods. At least at one point.”
Working her way through the exhibits, Jane’s brain was firing on all synapses. The reflections of earth history that she noticed in Twilight’s book were all the more common and obvious among the displays.
Then, as she stepped into another hallway, she came to a stumbling halt.
The entrance to this exhibit was guarded by a statue of Nightmare Moon, leering down at those who would pass with a fanged smile. A sign at the statue’s base read “The Age of Nightmares”. Jane blinked a few times, mulling those words over.
“Just how long was Luna, Nightmare Moon?”
Stepping into the hallway, she began to delve into a dark period of history.
She was immediately confronted with a miniature statue of Discord standing in the middle of a diorama of Canterlot, being faced down by Celestia and Luna. The petrification of Discord, right where it should be. Jane shrugged, trotted around the corner, and found herself face to face with a golden death mask.
Jerking back in shock, she shuffled around the stand, staring at the camel shaped mask that looked like it belonged to a pharaoh.
“Replica of the burial mask of Akhem the Twice Cursed. Scourge of Ancient Dromedous.”
The story that this room told was a sad one. A sorcerer king that betrayed his brother and launched a reign of terror against his own people, wiping away whole villages that dared to defy him, a few scattered artifacts of mundane life- a child’s doll, a cracked bowl, a hoof written note- sitting in cases as a final testament to those lost.
It was a reign brutal enough that magic had apparently been banned from the land since then, as the photos showing Celestia accepting magic using refugees to Canterlot spoke too. He was sealed away, only for the next threat, Grogar the Demon Ram (as revealed in the next room) to kill the donkey city of Tambelon twenty years later.
And so it went. Over a period of five hundred years, Celestia and Luna engaged in a prolonged game of whack a mole with every dark horror that crawled out of the pit. It was an era in which the tiger sorceress Catrina made the scattered kingdoms of Inj howl, in which the Celestial Bureaucracy of Equis’ equivalent to China was toppled by the Thunder King. It was when the diamond dog civilization collapsed and when the Changelings rose from the depths of the Rainfall Jungle to hunt for the love of their fellow sapients.
And then, the final chapter in the sad affair, Luna’s fall and banishment, which ended up giving historians the name of the era. The Age of Nightmares. It seemed that only then did the madness stop, the slings and arrows of fate apparently exhausted, the world settling into a more peaceful state that had lasted till the current day.
On balance, it was a much more realistic take on the land of candy colored ponies. A world where King Sombra was much less of a rarity and more just the dictator that had the distinction of being the one who appeared before Luna became Nightmare Moon.
Sighing, she shook her head, and began to work her way back to the door. Idly, she mused about the possibility that in another five hundred years both she and The Collector would be but footnotes in Equestrian history. The strange bipeds known as humans just an oddity, the subject of tales used to scare foals into going to bed on time. Right now though, she just wanted to rest at the palace.
A roar of noise assaulted her ears and an explosion of flashes tore across her field of vision like a bunch of angry diamonds as she stepped through the doors.
“Miss Berland! Miss Berland!”
The call came from all sides, ponies with notepads and cameras swarming around her like a school of sharks on a freshly wounded seal.
“Miss Berland! What was your role in the battle with The Collector?”
“Miss Berland! What are humanity’s intentions for Equis? Who do you represent?”
“Miss Berland! How do you think your presence will disrupt the current political situation?”
Flinching from the continued assault of photographs, Jane fell back on the only thing she could. The tricks her father had taught her on how to handle nosey reporters.
“I’m just happy that the situation was resolved and that everypony’s okay. I can’t comment on your other questions unfortunately. I’m not familiar enough with the political situation to comment, and I’m not a government representative of any kind. Now,” She began to push her way through the crowd, “If you’ll excuse me.”
The reporters shouted their disbelief, their further questions, their demands for clarification on her statements and their own follow up questions.
“What does the existence of life outside our planet mean?”
“What’s your opinion of the princesses?”
“I’m sorry.” She answered to them all, “But I’ve really said all I can. Please let me through.”
“Ya’ll heard the mare!” A voice barked out, familiar stetson bobbing it’s way through the crowd, “Let her through!”
Ponies parted before Applejack, the farmer using her country raised strength to just push those who refused to move aside. Jane rushed forward, drawing even with Applejack as she bumped the last stubborn reporter out of the way.
“Come on Jane.” She nodded, “Let’s get back to the palace.”
“Agreed.” Jane responded, dropping into step alongside the orange mare, “How’d you know where I was anyway?”
“The princess had some ponies watchin’ you while you were recovering. Mostly to keep the likes of them,” She twisted her neck about to shoot a withering glare at the group of reporters as they faded into the distance, “From botherin you and the doctors.”
“What, and they followed me to the museum?”
“Yup. Came ta get me when you went inside.” She glanced over at Jane, raising an eyebrow as she aimed a pointed question her way, “Why didn’t ya wait at the hospital for us?”
“I didn’t want to be cooped up.” Jane shrugged back, “Sides, that history book Twilight left me put a thought in my head that I wanted to check out.”
“Oh? What was that?”
“Ehh. Just a disconnected between the founding of Equestria I know, and the one that you girls know, apparently.”
“That’s been happening to you a lot, hasn’t it?”
Jane just shrugged. She didn’t have a good answer for that, really, as it was largely true.
“I guess it’s kind of like looking at a tree through a very dirty window.” She said, eventually, “You can see some of the branches, but until you actually walk over to the tree, you can’t see how big it is.”
“That makes sense ah suppose.”
“I’m surprised that you aren’t back at Sweet Apple Acres. That farm doesn’t take care of itself I imagine.”
“Ah, Big Mac’s got it under control. We’ve been busy cleaning up after The Collector. There’s a big pile of stuff of his that we ain’t right sure what to do with. Not sure how dangerous it all is”
“I’ll take a look. Assuming he’s stuck with the pattern, he’s probably stolen things from half of the universes I recognize.” ‘
“You might want to take a bath first. You’ve been cooped up in bed for the past few days after all.”
“Good point.”
- - - -
“Mmmm...yesssss….”
The bathwater was almost perfectly to temperature, just warm enough to drain the stress from a pony’s body, but not hot enough to be uncomfortable. It was just what Jane needed right now, she thought.
The square marble bath was very large in relation to her pony body, constructed so that some of the larger species on the planet would be able to fit comfortably within. So, she had plenty of room to move about.
Casually grabbing the scrub brush from its hook on the wall, she set about scrubbing her coat, washing away the accumulated filth from The Collector fight, and being stuck in bed for a few days.
After a few minutes of thorough cleaning, she cast her gaze to the collection of jars that rested on a nearby shelf. Picking one at random, Jane examined the label. The label declared that the contents were bath salts, citrus in scent, so a liberal amount was added to the water.
“Celestia really knows how to treat visiting dignitaries.” She happily sighed, leaning back in the bath, closing her eyes and just letting the warm water buoy her aloft.
It really was nice of Celestia to give her such a nice room to stay in for the time being. The bed was huge and soft, with fresh silk sheets. The carpet, woven with both sun and moon iconography, was full and plush under her hooves, and the wide balcony provided a really lovely view of Canterlot.
...Wait a minute.
She opened her eyes.
“Why am I being treated like a dignitary?”
Flipping over with a series of undignified splashes, she paddled over to the edge of the tub, clambered out and gave herself a full body shake to begin the elaborate drying process. At least it was a process made easier by the primitive (compared to earth at least) hairdryer that had been provided.
Her mind couldn’t stop chewing on her previous question though. She was being put up in Canterlot palace, where a visiting diplomat would usually be staying.
“Would that make sense?” She muttered to herself, drying her mane in a very absentminded, hap hazard manner, “I guess I’m the closest thing to an ambassador from Earth there is…”
It was a realization that flowed naturally from the questions from the reporters. Everyone was staring at her (both literally and metaphorically) wondering what all of this meant.
Not that she had any clue what it meant either.
“What if Celestia asks me for an opinion on Earth? What the hell am I going to say? I can’t throw my species under the bus! But I can’t sugar coat it either! How am I going to suggest she make first contact? I’m not trained for a first contact situation!”
Biting her lip, she quickly dried the rest of herself off and trotted back into the bedroom just in time for a knock on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Royal Herald, royal advisor to the princesses. Can I speak with you please.”
Jane pulled the door open, blinking at the pony on the other side.
He was an older unicorn, an expression of consternation still evident through his bushy eyebrows and very full moustache that drooped past his chin. His tan mane was balding (an odd look on a pony, really), the remains pulled back in a ponytail. Dressed in a red coat with gray cuffs, he would have cut a rather dignified figure, if he didn’t look so flustered.
“Can I...help you?”
“Quite.” He huffed, brandishing a scroll from his jacket like some kind of knife, “Itinerary.”
“Itinerary?”
“Princess Celestia has decided to host a garden party tonight in ‘celebration’ of the defeat of The Collector.” Jane could almost see the air quotes around the word celebration, “In reality, this is to allay the fears of the Canterlot nobility. Your presence is requested.”
The scroll clearly laid out the schedule (eight o’clock), as well as provided a map from both the current room, and from a room somewhere in the basement, to the garden in question.
“Well, I suppose it makes sense….”
“Until then Princess Celestia asks you to assist with identifying The Collector’s...collection.”
“Best get to it then.”
Royal Herald lead the way through the palace’s maze of corridors, down into the depths of the earth and the hiding place of the The Collector’s collection.
The room that Celestia had chosen to lock the items away in had probably been a storage room at one point. Buried in the basement as it was, its walls seemed quite thick, which gave Jane the impression of a magical blast chamber.
Everything that The Collector had brought with him had been spread out on the floor in neat little rows. Royal Herald nodded towards the set up, pulling another roll of paper, quill, and bottle of ink from his jacket.
“Princess Celestia would like you to identify what you can, and assess how dangerous they might be.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Satisfied, Celestia’s majordomo trotted off, leaving Jane to her work.
Jane set to it with the same logical efficiency that she set to programming. Neatly trotting up and down the the rows, she marked the paper with the name of the item (or a deduction in the cases where she wasn’t sure), the universe of origin, and an assessment of possible danger.
The items spoke, in their own way, to The Collector’s obsessions. A great amount of what lay before her were things that practically screamed “Dungeons and Dragons”, their numbers only matched by what seemed looted straight from a Federation armory, the remaining spaces filled out by items picked up here and there.
Your garden variety geek, turned world raiding supervillain.
Strangely enough, despite that fact, most of what was there was more on the mundane side...relatively speaking. It was mostly magic trinkets on one hand- wands, rings, and other miscellaneous arcana- and modern to futuristic weapons on the other.
That being said, the powerful pieces he had brought were dangerous enough. The Honjo Masamune sword- in addition to providing The Collector invisibility- had almost cut her in half, and they were all probably quite lucky that he hadn’t had a chance to use his Staff of the Magi.
Her journey of cataloguing came to an end at the portal opening remote control; the key to The Collector’s ability to travel from world to world. Levitating it from the ground, Jane idly tapped its touch screen controls. Names flicked past her vision, each one speaking to a whole new universe of possibilities.
“Ahem.”
The feminine cough made Jane almost jump right out of her fur. Almost dropping the remote in her shock, she spun about, only to find Princess Celestia standing just inside the door. An impish smile played across her muzzle as she carefully picked her way through the things on the floor.
“Did your analysis go well?”
“Well enough I suppose.” Jane commented, carefully putting the remote down, and presenting her findings, “Here’s what I’ve worked out so far.”
Celestia’s magenta eyes scanned the writings, her expression frustratingly neutral as she took in everything that Jane had written. Eventually, she peered at Jane over the top of the page, her gaze suddenly piercing.
“And what would you do with them, if you were in my place?”
“Well, the minor magical stuff you could probably keep if you wanted. The wands are just spell storage devices when you get right down to them. The more powerful items,” She shrugged, “Well, those I’d lock up or send back where they came.”
Contemplating that for a moment, Celestia nodded, the list vanishing with a soft flash of light. “Your logic is sound.” She motioned to the door with a wing, “But, I shall worry about it later. It’s time for the garden party.”
Following Celestia out of the room, Jane raised an eyebrow. “You think that a party will really help calm the nerves of the nobility?”
“Not all of them.” Celestia sighed sadly, “But statescraft is also showcraft, and I am hoping that your presence at a civilized gathering will convince them that humans aren’t coming to drink their blood in the night.”
“Do...do they really believe that?”
Celestia smiled, a hint of bitterness creeping into the expression. “It has been long enough since Canterlot has faced real monsters, that idle minds see fit to invent their own.”
Jane frowned, but said nothing as the two continued to trot along. But, Celestia didn’t remain quiet for long.
“How are you feeling? The Doctor told you the news?”
“He did.”
“And how are you feeling about that?”
Jane shrugged. “I can’t really say it’s ideal...nothing against your people, princess, but I don’t think that I’d choose to be a pony. But…” She hesitated for a moment, before shrugging again, “Look, when it comes down to brass tacks, if being stuck as a unicorn for a few years is the price to pay to keep this planet safe, I’d gladly pay it again.”
“Really now?” Celestia asked, the ethereal smirk returning to her muzzle.
“You shall not stand by the blood of your fellow. I may not have been very devout in my life, but I remember that teaching at least. My discomfort is in no way equal to the lives of millions.” Jane responded, a serious bite in her voice, that gave way to a more light hearted tone, “Besides...I do get to play around with magic for a few years. And for me, that is amazing.”
“Speaking of which….”
Celestia’s golden magic sprang from her horn, coiling lazily around Jane’s form before suddenly snapping taught and falling into a garment. The sky blue dress draped loosely across Jane’s back, croup and dock, falling to the midpoint of her hind legs.
“Don’t tell Rarity.” She winked.
- - - -
“There you are darling!” Rarity beamed, rapidly waving a hoof as Celestia and Jane stepped into the palace garden.
Looking around, it was hard to believe that a few nights ago, a battle had raged here. Now, dignified looking ponies milled between the statues, long tables of refreshment set up in convenient places so that even coverage was provided for the guests.
The girls- minus Twilight Sparkle and Spike- bedecked in their own simple dresses, had been waiting by the entrance. Jane nodded to each in turn as she drew close.
“Hey there girls. How’s the party?”
“Boring.” Rainbow Dash said simply, as if it were self evident, “Everyone’s all stiff and weird still.”
“Mmm.” Jane’s eyes darted about the garden, “Aren’t we missing someone? Where’s Twilight, and Spike?”
“They’re around darling.” Rarity soothed, already leading her towards a group of ponies, while the rest of the group split off, “But its time to mingle.”
Jane frowned for a moment, but walked forward to make nice with ponies the best she could, putting her best party smile. With Rarity at her side, she introduced herself to nobles (“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Jane Berland.”), and answered inane questions (“No, I don’t think that I can eat meat anymore.”).
But as the night wore on, it quickly began to fall into a mental blur. The names of the canterlot elite, outside of Fancy Pants and Fleur-De-Lys, were never things she had paid much attention to back on Earth. And in terms of the actual party itself…
Ugh. This is so damn boring. She thought, excusing herself from a pair of nobles, This is just like dad’s promotion parties. Lawyers.
Wandering over to one of the tables, Jane eyed the red colored punch for a moment before helping herself to a glass. Downing it in one smooth gulp, she let the flavors settle on her tongue. It was mostly cherry, but there was an undercurrent of some other kind of berry. It tasted good at least.
Lowering the glass she paused, staring at the way it seemingly stuck to her hoof.
“Contemplating something, darling?”
“Nothing important, really.” She sighed, putting it down, “Just finding this party tedious. I’m just gonna go for a walk.”
“Are you sure dear? This is supposed to be for you.”
“No. It’s supposed to be for them. So they can see how not dangerous I am. Bunch of bitching idiots. Just…” She shook her head, “Just give me some time.”
Leaving Rarity, she began to trot to the around the side of the hedge maze, away from the festivities. As the sounds of the party grew more distant, she broke around the edge of the hedges and stopped dead.
Twilight Sparkle sat alone on the grass, looking up at the night sky.
“Twilight?”
Almost flinching from hearing her name, Twilight turned her head towards Jane, a wide but strained smile on her muzzle.
“Hey Jane. Enjoying the party?”
“Not really.” She shrugged, “Why are you out here on your own, anyway?”
“Just...thinking.” She shuffled in place slightly, staring awkwardly at the ground for what felt like a few minutes before speaking up again, “I had to fix the memories of Skitch-Sketch’s parents today.”
“...Oh Twilight…” Jane flinched away from the words, “I am so, so sorry.”
“It had to be done. I mean...we couldn’t let them just live on with the false memories.”
“Yeah...but it probably didn’t hurt any less.” Jane observed, sinking into a seat next to her.
“No. It didn’t. And it just...got me thinking.”
Jane cocked her head slightly, letting the gesture ask the question for her.
“I’m just thinking,” Twilight elaborated, “That things are never going to be the same. Not really.”
“Come on! You’ve faced down horrible threats before. Your charged Nightmare Moon!’ She grinned, “That’s something my father would call ‘chutzpah in the first degree’.”
“Chutzpah?”
“Guts. Audacity. Spine. You’re one tough librarian Twilight.”
“Maybe...but everypony knew who Nightmare Moon was. She’s in all of our history books!” Twilight countered with a hoof jab, “They just didn’t believe she was going to break out anytime soon.”
“Huh. Another deviation.”
“See! That! That right there is what I mean!” Twilight stomped a hoof, a deep glower darkening her features, “Nightmare Moon didn’t come with implicit evidence that the world didn’t work entirely the way we thought it did!”
She took a calming breath.
“I’m sorry Jane. I know that none of this is your fault. It’s just...you’re the big question. What do you mean for us?”
“Heh.” Jane sadly smiled, rubbing the back of her neck, “I guess I can’t blame ya there. Can’t really claim it doesn’t work the other way either.”
“You’re scared too?”
“...Maybe? I suppose I really haven’t had the chance to really process this all myself. But the existence of Equestria does raise some real big questions that...well, I just don’t have the answer for.”
“And it’s like I said before. Will things ever be the same?”
Jane looked to the stars, falling quiet as she contemplated that question.
“No.” She said, eventually, “I guess it won’t. There are a lot of questions that will have to be answered someday, by both of our people. But...there’s something a wise man said, that I think applies here.”
“What’s that?”
“When I reach for the edge of the universe,” She swept a hoof across the night sky, “I do so knowing that along some paths of cosmic discovery, there are times when, at least for now, one must be content to love the questions themselves.”
Twilight considered that for a moment, and then smiled. “I think I can believe that.”
Jane smiled back, settling down to lay on her barrel as the two mares returned to star watching.
“What are you going to do now?” Twilight asked not long after, “Going to stay with us until you become human again?”
Jane frowned. It was an important question really. But as the two sat side by side one thing became increasingly clear in her mind.
“I can’t. It..doesn’t feel right.”
“Doesn’t feel right?”
“I kind of feel like I’ve caused enough chaos in the world, I guess. Besides, I’ve been gone for a few weeks of earth time. My parents are probably going nuts.”
“You’ll go back as a pony?
“Why not? The fact that I’m a pony should shock them enough that revealing I’m transgendered will be easy by comparison.”
Twilight grinned and then broke into laughter, Jane quickly joining in. And from her position, peaking around the side of the maze, Princess Celestia smiled.
- - - -
The next evening, it was time to say goodbye.
Jane looked to each of the Mane Six as they stood in the first floor of the art emporium she first woke up in. Her saddlebags were secured on her back, The Collector’s haul resting inside the portable hole that was in turn, sitting in said saddlebags.
She looked to Applejack first, bowing her head to the farmer. “Keep that farm strong Applejack. You’ve earned it.”
“Thank you kindly Jane.” She nodded, passing over a small bag of apples, “I rustled up some provisions for your trip.”
Tucking them into the saddlebags, Jane turned to Fluttershy. “Flutter on, Fluttershy. Never stop being kind.”
“Be careful.” Fluttershy responded, “It sounds dangerous out there.”
“I will.” Jane agreed, facing Pinkie Pie just as the party master embraced her in a full hug, “Ack! Pinkie?”
“The party I would have thrown you would have been amazing.” She sniffed.
“It’s okay Pinkie. You threw me that party in spirit.” Patting her head with one hoof, Jane extended her other one to Rainbow Dash for a quick hoof bump, “You show the Wonderbolts what for Dash. Never forget how awesome you are.”
“Like there’s a chance of that.” She smirked back.
Twilight trotted forward, holding the books she had left Jane to read in the hospital.
“I want you to keep these. Something to read on the way home.”
Jane nodded, adding them to her load, as Pinkie let go of the hug. Turning to Rarity last, Jane smiled her widest smile yet, embracing the white coated mare in a hug of her own.
“Thank you Rarity. I don’t think I would have been able to admit the truth to myself without your push.”
“Think nothing of it darling. I’m just happy that I could help you with that realization.”
Breaking the embrace, Rarity pulled a cloak from her own saddlebags, draping it across Jane’s form.
“I made this for you. A nice all weather cloak for your trip.”
Jane hugged her again. “Thanks again Rarity.”
Letting go, Jane pulled the remote from her pack, and pressed the button that would take her home. The swirling blue portal appeared before the group, hissing and whistling as it churned with it’s chaotic energy.
Looking back to the girls one last time, she nodded to them. “See you girls in the pictures.”
Canterlot was built on the slopes of a mountain. It was a fact that had a lot of hidden baggage tied up into it. One of the biggest being that the city’s cemeteries couldn’t always be burried into the earth.
The solution to that problem had mostly been above ground mausoleums, decorated to blend in with the architecture of the city. And one of those mausoleums was exactly where Princess Celestia was going today.
Photos, trinkets and candles were sat before many of the stone chambers. Little shrines of memories, combined with offerings to ponies long and recently dead. An attempt to help guide the spirits of the dead to the Elysian Fields.
The sound of soft weeping ahead made her slow as she walked around the corner into the row she had been looking for. After some digging, she had been able to determine where Skitch-Sketch had initially been entombed and she recognized the two ponies standing in front of her grave.
Apple Polish, with her straight brown mane and cream colored coat, was one of the teachers at her own School for Gifted Unicorns. Her head was bowed, her body shaking as she sobbed, her horn glowing as she rested a photo against the vault.
Standing at her side, with a foreleg draped across her back, was her husband, Black Marble. His wavy mane matched his name, while his coat was a pristine white. While he wasn’t sobbing, he looked no less devastated, his head hanging as well.
Apple Polish plucked a piece of paper covered with writing from a nearby saddlebag, resting it next to the photo. “A-and may the Elysian Advocate argue with vigor,” She then pulled a small iron bar from the pack, resting it against the photo and the document, “May Thanatos show mercy in his judgement,” Finally, she placed a golden coin atop the iron, “And may the grasp of Tartarus pass over my little girl.”
“It is rare.” Celestia spoke up, as she approached, “To see the old prayers spoke.”
“Celestia.” Apple Polish gasped, almost tripping into a bow, “I…”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“Since she just…” Black Marble sighed, “She didn’t make it to the Fields before….”
“I know. But I am quite sure she has this time. According to Twilight Sparkle, she left this world on much happier terms than before.”
With a pair of sad smiles, the parents bowed their heads to Celestia.
“Thank you for your kind words Princess.” Apple Polish said. “But I think that we’re going to take our leave. Grieve in private.”
“Of course.”
Princess Celestia watched the couple go, before placing the tip of her horn on the vault door, and tracing a simple sun sigil upon its surface. She stared at it for a moment before frowning and shaking her head.
It didn’t feel like it was enough.
Trotting back out of the crypt, she took wing and flew back to her bedroom in the castle. Landing neatly on the balcony, she trotted back inside and over to a mirror.
Ornately constructed with a golden frame, most ponies assumed that it was just another part of the princesses bedroom decor. In reality, however, it was a bit more special than that. Horn glowing, Celestia stepped forward, pushing through the glass.
The warmth of her bedroom fell away, the coldness of polished marble springing up in place. Emerging from the mirror, she stepped into a large oval shaped chamber that was very similar to a legislative chamber in the waking world. Three rings of seats set before dark marble desktops, each one marked with a golden nameplate.
Not pausing, she trotted across the marble floor, the clip-clop of her hooves echoing in the empty chamber. The room was only ever full in very specific circumstances and this was not one of them. Heading to the second level, she picked one of the seats and forced her way through the wall behind.
The scene suddenly changed again, the marble of the senate hall replaced with the dark and polished wood of an elegant looking courtroom. Two low tables sat before the raised box where a judge would sit.
A figure sat at each table, both of them familiar to her.
The first was a young pegasus mare, with a light brown coat and neatly trimmed blonde mane and tail, a hoof pointing with authority marking her flanks. At the sight of Princess Celestia, a wide grin cracked her muzzle and she dipped into a bow.
“It’s good to see you again, Celestia.”
“And you as well Stare Decisis. It has been a long time.”
“A very long time.”
“And yet, you’re still here, arguing the laws of the dead.”
Stare grinned all the wider. “Death itself couldn’t drag me away from the law.”
“Bah! Sentimental drivel.”
Those words belonged to what one could charitably call “opposing counsel”. The bipedal figure was covered in shaggy brown fur, great bat like wings growing from his back. His elongated head was topped with pointed ears, and a crooked fang poked from his lip, while his dark eyes darted to and fro with a nervous energy.
Scorpan. Tartarus’ dagger in the dark.
When he felt like it at least. In all the centuries Celestia had known the beast, she had always known him to take the easy way out. In fact she had a running theory that Scorpan only dickered over the souls of the dead to stay far away from the lord of Tartarus and his anger.
“That,” Celestia frowned, “Is your opinion, Scorpan.”
“Ahh,” A third voice, this one deep and devoid of mith, joined the conversation, “Opinions. Everycreature has them.”
Shadows coiled around the bench, forming and solidifying into a figure. Like Celestia, it was an alicorn, but that was where the similarities ended.
A powerfully built stallion, his coat was black as coal, save for the long, feathered white “socks” around his fetlocks and pasterns. His color and the size, easily a foot taller than Celestia herself, cut an intimidating figure.
His cutie-marks didn’t help with that perception. A pony skull, marked with the outline of a gavel in the dead center of the forehead. His deep red eyes seemed almost devoid of warmth as he stared down at Celestia from the bench. Gray robes were draped across his form, matching the dull gray of his solid iron right hoof.
“But as I wear the robes, mine are the only ones that matter here.”
“Good to see you too, brother.”
“Call me by name in chambers.” He growled.
“Very well, Thanatos.”
Satisfied, the judge of the dead settled back into his seat. “What can I do for the sun today?”
“I wished to speak of some souls that have passed and may have passed through in the last week. The filly Skitch-Sketch,” She thought for a moment, “And the foreign creature known as The Collector.”
Thanatos waved a hoof. “Skitch-Sketch passed through my court and into the Elysian Fields. Easy judgement.”
“The human.” He frowned slightly, “As he passed from Equis, I can not say for sure if he died or not. Though, I would be surprised if he did somehow manage to survive. Rainbow Dash’s strike would have killed him in time anyway.”
“You sound almost relieved.”
“I was not looking forward to judging the soul born outside our universe. It would have been...interesting.”
“Hmm. Very well. Can I speak with Skitch-Sketch then?”
The alicorn of the dead tilted his head slightly, regarding Celestial with a detached sense of disbelief.
“I should refuse you. You tied yourself to the mortal realm. What happens beyond the veil is not your concern anymore.”
Celestia gave a melancholy smile.
“Then throw me out.”
Thanatos sighed heavily. “I would not. We are still family.” A door to the right of his stand creaked open. “Go ahead.”
Bowing her head in a gesture of thanks, Celestia trotted through the door and stepped into a warm and sunny meadow. A single tree stood a few feet ahead of her, a leaf green pony sitting in the shade under its boughs. Smiling, she trotted over to Skitch-Sketch’s side, lowering herself onto her barrel.
Skitch-Sketch looked up from the sketchpad that rested between her forehooves, eyes sparkling with light and energy.
“Princess!” You’re here? Did everything work out? Is Equestria safe?”
“Yes. Yes it is, my little pony. Everyone is okay.”
She sighed in relief, picking up a pencil and returning to her drawing. “Good. Now I can rest easy.”
“Skitch-Sketch...I am sorry that I wasn’t able to protect you.”
“Princess...it’s okay. I’m not angry anymore. And I don’t blame you.” She smiled offering her pencil to Celestia, “But I could use some help with my drawing.”
Taking up the pencil, the princess began to draw.
- - - -
A rich chocolate cake was carefully lowered into the box, which was then sealed up and topped with a big pink bow. Pinkie Pie then carefully slid the completed dessert onto her head and made for the door, shouting back towards the kitchen as she went.
“I’m off to deliver the cake!”
“Okay Pinkie!” Mrs. Cake called back, stepping behind the counter, “Give Ditzy my best wishes.”
Trotting through the streets of Ponyville, Pinkie kept her usual bounce in her step, humming a happy tune as she went, occasionally pausing only to wave at passing ponies. She had been busy over the last week, cheering ponies up in light of the sudden holes in their memory.
Not that she hadn’t been a little sad herself at times. She hadn’t really walked through the town square over the last week. Nopony really knew what to do with Skitch-Sketch’s Art Emporium, so it remained locked up, and the empty building couldn’t help but make Pinkie frown.
She never had thrown Skitch-Sketch her welcome to Ponyville party.
She pushed those sad thoughts from her mind as she reached Ditzy Doo’s house, and knocked a hoof against the door. The door cracked open, the mailmare peering out at her. Pinkie beamed right back, tilting the box towards her.
“Heya Ditzy! I have the double-delicious chocolate cake you ordered!”
“Thanks Pinkie.” Ditzy grinned wide, carefully balancing the box on one hoof, “Can I still count on you for Dinky’s birthday party next week?”
“Of course! I wouldn’t pass up the chance!”
Nodding, Ditzy ducked back inside the house, and Pinkie began to trek back towards Sugarcube Corner.
That was until a shiver rushed down her spine, her tail rapidly twitching and her ears flip-flopping in a surge of her self titled Pinkie Sense.
“Twitcha-twitch?” She blinked, a wide grin crossing her muzzle. She was off like a bolt, tearing through the streets as fast as her legs could take her. Bouncing over ponies, swerving past carts and boxes, she came sliding into the town square.
She scanned the open space, grinning every wider when a leaf green pony stepped out of town hall, a key clutched in her amber magic aura.
“Skitchyyyy!” Pinkie shouted, charging right at the unicorn, and then throwing herself into a flying hug tackle. Jane looked up, her eyes going wide as the ball of pink and fluff hurtled towards her. The hug slash impact sent the two tumbling end over end, off the porch, and onto a nearby patch of grass.
“I missed you too Pinkie.” Jane smiled, patting Pinkie’s back as she hugged her tight.
“You came back! I thought that you weren’t going come back?”
“Well, as I ran around, returning all of these items The Collector stole, I began to think about the situation and the possibility of exploring something new.” She ruffled Pinkie’s mane, “So, I said ‘What the hell.’ talked to my parents about it, and here I am.”
Pinkie gasped, letting go and hopping into the air with a flourish of movement. “I can throw you your ‘Welcome to Ponyville!’ party!”
She was gone in a flash, leaving Jane chuckling to herself as she pushed herself back to her hooves, and slowly walked to her home away from home.
“I wish I could harness even half of her energy.”
- - - -
It was early evening by the time Pinkie had managed to pull everything together. She had pulled out all the stops, presumably trying as hard as she could to make up for the fact that Skitch-Sketch’s original “Welcome to Ponyville!” party only had existed in a banished memory.
Decorations had been set up all around the Ponyville town square including, most impressively, a series of streamers that ran from the spire of town hall to the roofs of the buildings that bordered the space. Tables both for holding food and drink, and for ponies to eat at, were likewise set up all around the square, that had to be crammed with over a hundred ponies all enjoying one of Pinkie's biggest bashes yet.
Jane sat a little away from where the main crowd was mingling at the moment, a plate of cake and a full flagon of hard cider resting on a small crate before her. While it was her party, she had grabbed some refreshments and then snuck away for some alone time. She watched the assorted ponies, occasionally taking a bite of cake as she took it all in and thought; though she would have to get over there soon, or Pinkie would start looking for her.
“Isn't this party for you? Sitting off on your own doesn't seem all that much fun.”
Jane glanced at the voice. A white furred earth pony with wavy pink mane and tail, yellow eyes and a wide smiling sun cutie-mark was standing next to her; a coy smile was evident as she looked Jane over. She had approached amazingly quietly.
For her part, she smirked right back. “Hello again, Celestia. Cute disguise you have there, though the sun mark gives it away some. Why the incognito approach?”
“Mostly because I wished to speak with you in private. Imagine my surprise when I returned from some business to find a letter from Twilight detailing your return. I thought that your mind was quite made up.”
“Situations change.” Skitch said simply, before taking a long drink of cider.
“I see.” Celestia said as she took a seat next to the unicorn. “And your intentions?”
“I'm just looking for a place to call home again.”
Celestia blinked tilting her head slightly.
“What of your old...”
“Celestia...I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm just not ready to talk about it.”
There was a pause for a moment, before Celestia got to her hooves again and nudged Jane in the side with her head.
“Well then, I suggest that you go and make nice with your new neighbors. No sitting here like some kind of depressed poet. Your new ruler commands it!” She finished with a giggle.
Jane looked at Celestia and shook her head. “Okay, okay, I'm going!”
Celestia watched her disappear into the crowd. Nodding to herself she teleported back to Canterlot...after grabbing the slice of cake that had been left behind, of course.
As Jane walked back into the crowd she was aware of just how many eyes were on her, each pony most likely asking their own internal questions about the unicorn's desires. Applejack glanced at her from where she was helping herself to some cake.
“Ah, there ya went. Don'tcha think you should properly introduce yourself ta the town?”
“Speech from the human!” Came Lyra's half drunk call, as she raised a mug of hard cider.
The crowd agreed, cheering as Skitch hopped up on an empty table.
“Thank you Ponyville! Allow me to introduce myself properly this time, devoid of any spells or outside interference. My name is…” She paused for a barest of moments, “Skitch-Sketch, formerly Jake, formerly of the planet Earth and new arrival to the condition of pony kind.”
She looked out over the crowd taking in each pony as she continued to speak.
“While I did live here for a few weeks before, that is hardly enough time to live among such excellent and admirable ponies.”
A cheer rolled through the party.
“I don't know half of you half as well as I would like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”
This lead to more of a mummer of confusion.
“I kid, I kid.” Skitch continued as she held up a hoof. “In all seriousness, I hope to come to know you well as both a friend and a neighbor as I settle into life here in Ponyville.”
An appreciative round of stomping applause filled the square as Skitch jumped down from the table.
“Now! This is a Pinkie Pie party is it not? Enough pontification from me. Let's get crazy up in here!”
- - - -
“That party was a blast.” Skitch thought as she sat on the ground, stomach full of delicious vanilla and lemon flavored cake as well as a few mugs of rich and hardy cider.
Everypony had broken away after the festivities had wrapped up, Skitch returning to her own place. She paused outside the door though, turning and watching the rest of the houses as each of the lights snapped off. Only when Ponyville was engulfed in darkness, she walked back inside to where her saddlebags were resting in the corner of the main room.
Grabbing them, she trotted upstairs to her bedroom. She began to pull items out of the bags, which seemed to be much larger on the inside as she yanked out things that wouldn't fit in a normal saddlebag.
The first was a sleek and futuristic media center that was tucked next to her desk. The next item removed resembled a small pistol in size and shape, but not much else. The barrel was a tube of glass, framed with a bronze cage, tipped with a bronze opening; a small knob stood out on the side and a crackling line of electricity danced along the inside of the gun. That was stowed in one of the desk drawers.
She pulled out another firearm next. A large, sleek rifle made of silvery-gray metal that looked like something out of a science fiction movie; a glowing line of green light running down either side of it's barrel. That was tucked away in the closet.
Finally she turned to some personal effects. Starting with a piece of paper plucked from her saddlebags, she looked it over with a slightly sad smile before tucking it between the wall and the edge of her bedpost where the hand drawn picture of her family would watch over her while she slept.
Pleased enough with what she had done right now, she closed the drawer and the closet. Climbing up into bed she looked out over the sleeping town, a determined look on her face.
“No one is going to hurt this town or world again.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“No one.”
And with that, she yanked the covers over her to try and get some sleep.
