> Quantum Pink
>  by DigiDuncan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight Sparkle sat in her hoof-chair cradling a book entitled 'Compendium of Magical Hexes Volume XIV' by her fireplace late into the evening. Well, evening may have been the wrong word, as a glance at the clock above her mantelpiece revealed the time to be roughly one in the morning. Spike lay upstairs in his bed, sound asleep, unaware of any of the goings-on underneath him. Unbeknownst to either of the residents, a presence lurked towards the abode.
Pinkie Pie was a very special Earth pony. She, like all of her best friends, possessed the ability to channel one of the Elements of Harmony, six unique auras which maintained balance throughout Equestria. Pinkie’s Element was Laughter, and as of such, she was the go-to pony in Ponyville for all things party and fun. But every now and then, Pinkie Pie had some strange abilities even Twilight couldn’t fully explain. For one, she seemed to possess some sort of future-telling of immediate and spontaneous events, which she referred to as her ‘Pinkie Sense’. But strangest of all, she seemed to be able to manipulate the world around her in specific moments to her will, a phenomena Twilight, after much research, dubbed ‘breaking the fourth wall’. As far as Twilight knew, Pinkie Pie was the only Earth pony capable of harnessing these powers.
A pink hoof extended towards the door attached to the treehouse-library in which Twilight resided. Hesitantly. Pinkie Pie began knocking on the door.
“Who’s that rapping at my chamber door?” inquired Twilight Sparkle, giggling at herself over the literary reference. She placed her book on her end table after placing a bookmark in her current location in the novel, and rose from her plush chair, and began trotting towards the front door. She opened the door and immediately Pinkie began blurting out.
“Twilight help me I think I’m dying!” she frantically exclaimed.
Twilight Sparkle was understandably taken aback, and she pressed on for further information.
“Can you please explain?”
“Well, it seems that I’ve randomly been–”
And suddenly she was cut off by an event neither expected by Twilight Sparkle nor anticipated by Pinkie herself. Pinkie Pie spontaneously appeared ten feet in the air, upside down, hovering.
Pinkie continued her sentence. “–glitching out?” she said unknowingly, as that was the best word she could come up with for the various outbursts that ailed her. She returned to her proper position.
“Come in… carefully,” Instructed Twilight, becoming more curious by the minute. Who could have caused this? What was the ‘this’ that was caused in the first place? How did Pinkie manage to get even more confusing? All these questions and more would have to be solved soon – for Pinkie’s sake.
Pinkie Pie, taking Twilight’s instructions to heart in her Amelia Bedelia-esque fashion, began tip-toeing in to the foyer. As she did so, high-octave piano keys sounded with every step. Twilight had come to terms with this much quicker than she may have usually, given what she had seen earlier.
“Do you want anything to drink?” inquired Twilight, trying to direct Pinkie’s concentration away from the potentially perilous situation at hand.
“Ginger ale?”
“Sure… diet ginger ale,”
Twilight began to walk into the kitchen and get two glasses, when she second-guessed herself, and grabbed plastic disposable cups instead. She placed some ice cubes in the glasses and opened the ginger ale bottle. A soft release of carbon dioxide escaped the vessel. Just as Twilight was about to begin pouring, a shout was heard from the living room. Twilight dashed into the room to see Pinkie Pie standing in the center of it, panicking, trotting around in circles. With all her frantic movement, it was hard to see the problem at first, but upon closer inspection, it became obvious. Pinkie Pie had eight legs. At that moment, Twilight shared the same feeling of panic as her pink friend. Pinkie began to take deep breaths, but not exactly in what one would consider a relaxing manner, though obviously trying. After roughly thirty seconds, she gained composure enough to remark to Twilight.
“This is going to take some getting used to, isn't it.”
Twilight, however was certainly not done panicking. While Pinkie began stumbling around the room, attempting to utilize her newfound appendages, to unsurprisingly no avail, Twilight ran upstairs to get her faithful, trustworthy assistant, Spike the dragon.
Twilight’s faithful, trustworthy assistant was in all actuality in a deep sleep, unaware of the world around him. Twilight pondered to herself what would happen if an actual burglar were to attempt to intrude. She grabbed the dragon by the arms and shook him awake.
“E-e-emeralds?” the sleepy Spike spoke, trying to grab at the air in an attempt to procure the nonexistent gems of his dreams.
“Spike, we have an emergency! Go get me that copy of ‘Magical Medical Mysteries’, and hurry!” pressured Twilight. The obvious fear in her voice alerted Spike to the fact he may want to get moving. He ran down the stairs, and Twilight trailed swiftly behind. As Spike began searching through the tomes, Twilight looked over towards Pinkie. And instantly she was appalled. Pinkie Pie leg count seemed to have normalized, but her eye count had certainly not. In fact, it seemed to have halved, leaving her a pony Cyclops.
Pinkie began complaining to Twilight. “My legs are back to normal, but I can’t see out my right eye!”
Twilight reluctantly explained, “Pinkie… you don't have a right eye.”
At this, Pinkie Pie collapsed. And the worst was yet to come. Forming around the area in which Pinkie lie was a shiny pink ooze. Pinkie Pie was melting like a raspberry ice cream cone. Twilight Sparkle, reacting quickly, fired up her horn and fired an ice beam directly at Pinkie Pie, encasing her in a layer of ice, then another beam, this time sealing the pony popsicle in a translucent purple encasing.
“Can she survive like that!?” asked Spike worriedly.
“This is the best I have right now, Spike!” retorted the distressed alicorn. “Let’s just hope the theory of cryogenics holds up…” she said, but hope was obviously fading from her voice. “Where’s that book?”

> Chapter II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Right, right,” Spike stumbled. “Here!”
Twilight began rifling through the book. She mumbled to herself as she flipped through the book headings, stopping every now and then on one she thought looked helpful, before quickly dismissing it and moving on.
Spike began to inch toward the frozen Pinkie Pie.
“Don’t touch her!” warned Twilight abruptly. Her tone calmed slightly. “I need every calculated move I make to her executed precisely and accurately, and any outside stimuli could render all my efforts useless!” Spike realized the severity of the situation and backed away. He waited nervously while Twilight rifled through her tome.
“Okay...” she said, much to the delight of Spike. “I think I can un… goo her, but I don't know how to stop the outbursts without literally restraining her physically, and even that may not work given what we’ve seen so far.” Spiked seemed pleased by this. “I’m going to start unfreezing her, so stay out of the way.” 
At this, Twilight’s horn began glowing a soft red, and a warm glow began moving towards the brick of ice containing the pink pony. The haze slowly encroached upon the solidified water, and Spike began to panic.
“Don’t burn her! Careful!”
“Spike,” Twilight reassured. “I’ll be careful.”
Twilight began her procedure again, only to be interrupted again.
“Oooooo be careful!”
“SPIKE!” exploded Twilight.
“Sorry, sorry… I’m just worried.” admitted Spike.
“I am too… just… just let me concentrate.”
Slowly the beam traversed its way forward and began to create water drops on the surface of the rectangular prism, and small divot began to form. Tension built as slowly, slowly, the ice began to from puddles on the floor, and the translucent purple magic began to shimmer away. When nothing was left but crystals on the fur of the pony, Twilight quickly cast a magical aura so powerful it nearly blinded her, almost making her miss her aim. Once the afterflash faded from everypony’s eyes, a fully intact Pinkie Pie lay on the rug, breathing softly in a slumber.
And Twilight collapsed along with her, weakened by utilizing so much mana at once. Spike took a breath, as he had been holding it in panic through much of the previous event.
Pinkie Pie’s material form rapidly appeared and disappeared in chunks for a second, before seemingly settling down, albeit shivering.
“I’m going to get Pinkie a blanket, you apply Procedure P2-Gamma 7.”
Spike rolled his eyes. “You know I can’t possibly remember all those codes, especially the ones that have seemingly no use in any situation.”
Twilight grunted. “Make Pinkie as comfortable as possible, and make sure she doesn’t leave, willingly or otherwise.” Spike understood this Common-language set of directions, and began to move her towards the sofa, noticing how peaceful Pinkie Pie looked, unaware of any of the peril she was just put through. It made him uneasy.

> Chapter III
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Minutes passed slow as molasses as Spike sat across from the slumbering Pinkie Pie, waiting for something to happen, quick to be triggered by any small movement. Yet nothing happened, and Spike sat and waited. He could hear fumbling in the upstairs room as Twilight got supplies to properly deal with the situation; a blanket, pillow, a stuffed cow Twilight found in the back of her closet.
Twilight came down the stairs to see Pinkie lying in the same position she had been for quite some time, and Spike, unblinkingly, intensely watching Pinkie for any signs of trouble.
“Good, she’s still asleep,” remarked Twilight. She lifted the blanket with her telekinesis, straightening the fabric in mid-air, before gingerly placing it on Pinkie’s napping form. She reacted minutely to the cloth being placed on her fur, but was still in the land of dreams. Twilight carefully lifted Pinkie’s head, and placed the pillow under it, and the cow toy next to her.
“Hopefully,” whispered Twilight to Spike, “she'll sleep through the night.”
“Do you need me to keep watch?” asked Spike, as he yawned an audible yawn.
“I think she'll be fine until morning,” replied Twilight. “I have some special preparations to ensure nothing goes amiss.” Spike believed her blatant falsity.
The next morning, Pinkie Pie woke up to find herself more comfortable than she remembered. Looking around the room, she deduced that she was indeed on the sofa, it was morning, the other residents of the home were still sleeping, and she had previously been snuggling with a stuffed cow. This made her giggle initially, but she caught herself as to not disturb Twilight and Spike, who had obviously taken great care of her the night previous, and most likely needed the rest.
And then she noticed most likely the most important thing about her situation: the side of her body was no longer goo. This pleased her immensely, and she hopped up of the sofa to trot around, feeling free, finally, to move by his own volition. Her stomach rumbled, and she began to walk toward the kitchen, when she saw a note on the kitchen door.
She read the note aloud.
“Pinkie Pie, a lot happened last night that I can’t write down here. We'll talk about it in the morning. If you are awake before Spike and I, make yourself some breakfast and watch TV or something until we get up. It was a long night. Signed, Twilight.”
“Okey dokey lokey!” She said to herself in the quietest way one can shout the phrase ‘okey dokey lokey’, and headed off to the kitchen to see what was available. In the kitchen, she found a box of cereal, some various rolls and muffins, but none of this appealed to Pinkie Pie. She looked at the time, and saw it was 6AM.
“Twily and Spike won't be up for a while… I'll make all of us breakfast!” And like that, her brain was in autopilot, prepared to make a delicious batch of waffles. She made a batch. And then another batch. And another, and another, Pinkie Pie couldn't help herself from cooking more and more.
Twilight Sparkle woke up at 9AM to hear commotion in the kitchen. Upon opening the door, she was shocked to see nearly every available surface; the table, the counters, the windowsill; covered in stacks and stacks of homemade Belgian waffles.
“Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?!” demanded Twilight.
But Pinkie was in a trance, seemingly in her own world, where her only goal seemed to be filling Twilight’s house with as many waffles as she could muster.
Twilight had to put an end to this. She ran up to Pinkie Pie and tackled her to the ground. Suddenly, she seemed to snap out of her delusions.
“Where am I? What happened? I was going to make some waffles for breakfast and…” Pinkie looked around the room, and the mountains of waffles contained in it. “…it looks like I… did?”

> Chapter IV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and bounced out of bed, eager to see how Pinkie Pie was doing. Walking down the stairs, he noticed Pinkie’s sofa-bed disheveled. He walked into the kitchen to find Twilight on top of Pinkie on the floor, and the kitchen filled top to bottom with waffles.
“Am I… walking in on something?” questioned Spike worriedly.
Twilight quickly jumped off Pinkie and stood upright on all fours. “This looks really awkward, but trust me, it’s just as weird for me too.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Are we inviting all of Ponyville over for breakfast?”
“We’re going to have to, at this rate. Pinkie Pie went on an uncontrollable cooking frenzy starting early this morning. We now have 700 waffles kicking around.”
Pinkie Pie giggled nervously. “Te prometo que no tenía intención de hacer que muchos gofres.” Pinkie Pie covered her mouth in shock. “¿Por qué estoy hablando en otro idioma?” she questioned. “¿Puede alguno de ustedes entender lo que estoy diciendo, o no? ¡Ayuda!”
Spike held in his oncoming laughter. “Twilight,” Spike said under chuckles, “I think Pinkie is speaking Spanish.” He burst out laughing.
“¡Sí! Eso es correcto! Español!” confirmed Pinkie Pie.
“This is no laughing matter, Spike! I can’t understand a word she’s saying!” Twilight said worriedly. “We have no idea the extent of random occurences that can happen to Pinkie at this point, and they just keep getting weirder and weirder!”
Pinkie Pie was oblivious to the panic, and began having fun with her new found talent. “Sí, el regalo perfecto para mí… es una sonrisa amplia como una milla, ¡hazme feliz como puede ser!” she sang. “Sonrisa, sonrisa, sonrisa, sonrisa, sonrisa!...”
“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight shouted at the singing Pinkie. “Stop singing in Spanish and help us get everypony together for a group meeting.”
“¡Vale!” she exclaimed, and bounced out the front door.
“Wait, I had something else…” Twilight shouted out the door, but Pinkie was already out of ear shot. Twilight sighed. “How is Pinkie expected to communicate with anyone if she can’t speak English?!”
This didn’t stop Pinkie, though, as she bounced over to Sweet Apple Acres. She knocked on the front door of Applejack’s house, and Applejack opened the door.
“Tienes que ir a la biblioteca de inmediato!” she instructed. But Applejack was confused.
“Pinkie Pie, what in Equestria are you saying?” Applejack said, puzzled.
Pinkie suddenly realized her mistake. She couldn’t talk to anypony like this! But she had to tell everyone to get to Twilight’s house. She had an idea.
Pinkie began miming. She pointed to Applejack, then towards the town. She mimed reading a book, then jumped up and down panicked.
“Um… you need me to go to the… library?” asked Applejack, hoping she understood Pinkie’s charade. Pinkie Pie nodded her head rapidly. “Well, alrighty then!” Pinkie Pie bounced happily, then dashed off towards Fluttershy’s house. Applejack was worried as to what to expect from her visit already.

> Chapter V
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash was very confused. The first point of oddity was that Pinkie Pie had just seemingly played a game of charades in her doorway, and had apparently told her to go to Twilight’s house, which she was planning to do later anyway. Secondly, the fact that Pinkie Pie was standing in front of her door in the first place was strange, seeming how Rainbow Dash lived in the clouds. Thirdly, and possibly the strangest, was that after her miming act, Pinkie Pie became polka-dotted and teleported away. That was difficult to explain.
Obviously something was important, or Twilight wouldn’t have sent Pinkie to gather up everyone. The last time she did this Fluttershy had gotten herself trapped in a steel box. That was a conundrum. Rainbow ended up using a sonic rainboom to weaken the metal enough to blast through it with Twilight’s energy beams. Rainbow realized she was staring off into space thinking of flashbacks instead of actually going to Twilight’s place. She flapped her wings and rose upwards, and with a bit of a wind-up, zoomed from her house with no further hesitation towards the treehouse library.
Upon opening the door, she saw the rest of her best friends sat in the main room with Pinkie Pie in the center. She was no longer polka-dotted, despite Rainbow’s assurance that she had seen just that but a few minutes ago. Maybe it was just her eyes. But the teleporting was something else. Rainbow rubbed her head. Hopefully this meeting would clear most of this up.
“Attention, please!” Twilight announced, and the subtle chatter the emanated throughout the room died down quickly. “I have some disturbing news.”
A gasp came from a few of the ponies, but silence soon reinstated its overwhelming grasp on the room.
Twilight Sparkle began explaining what had happened the previous night. Pinkie Pie’s sporadic behavior, the glitching, the melting, the cryostasis. Pinkie chimed in at random intervals in various language, until she finally began speaking English again.
“Twilight! I can speak soooo many languages now! But I couldn’t speak English and it was really weird but I can finally talk to you guys again and I’m so happy because I love to talk to you guys because you guys are my friends and friends should always talk—”
“Pinkie, please,” injected Twilight. “this is serious. You could end up really hurt. If you end up ‘glitching’ into an unstable state, we could lose you… and I’m not losing anyone else in this lifetime.”
The rest of the Mane 6 stared at Twilight with wide eyes, shocked at this reveal of her apparently dark past. Twilight began to look somber for a moment, but snapped out of it quickly.
“We have to figure out how we can control these outbursts,” Twilight Sparkle stated very matter-of-factly, reassuming her leadership tone, as if attempting to use it to hide the sadness she felt in that moment. “We could use this power for good, but we need it to not be random and wild.”
At this, Pinkie began to shake. “Pinkie… are you okay?” asked Fluttershy nervously.
“I feel… weird… I…”
And then, Pinkie slowly began to grow to an enormous size. All the others in the room sprinted to the edges of the room. Fluttershy began to cower in a fetal position, Rainbow Dash flew up to the ceiling, Rarity hid inside her hat, and Applejack did the same as Rarity. Twilight, on the other hand, attempted to watch what was happening, but it was difficult with the blinding light produced by the massive amounts of energy due to the conversion of matter centered on the pink pony. It ended a few moments later, with Pinkie steaming, and standing twenty feet tall, filling half the room.
Pinkie looked confused at the situation, and then turned her gigantic head towards Twilight’s figure.
“Twilight?” Pinkie’s voice boomed. “How am I going to get out?”

> Chapter VI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight Sparkle mulled over her options. Pinkie actually raised a good point: how was Pinkie going to get out of the library? Some of her altercations had lasted hours; it was going to be difficult getting a twenty foot tall, 44 ton pony anywhere but right where she was. As it stood, her head was scrunched up against the ceiling to the point she had to bed her neck down significantly as to not punch a hole with her head through the second story floor. The thought of concussing herself and ruining Twilight’s home scared Pinkie enough to continue hunching over. She was also suddenly very hungry, as her stomach was now 125 times larger than just moments before.
“Twilight, I’m realllly hungry…” an amplified Pinkie complained. A roaring rumble was heard from her stomach.
“Well then, it’s a good thing you made a few hundred waffles this morning…” she replied with a drop of snide in her voice.
“A few HUNDRED waffles?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “Please let’s have a waffle party!”
“Did somepony say party?” Pinkie Pie shouted with a few too many decibels for her new found largeness, and began to bend her knees for a leap into the air.
“NO PINKIE DON’T JUMP!” warned Twilight, but it was too late. Pinkie Pie was already airborne, or at least as airborne as her current constraints would allow. The ceiling above her shattered, leaving a huge hole in the floor of the second story. She burst through into that hole, and then upon landing she cracked the floor beneath her, leaving a large indentation in the shape of humongous hooves.	 At the force of the shockwave after her landing, all the others in the room were shot into the air, except for Rainbow, who was already in the air. Seeing this commotion, Rainbow Dash shot around the room grabbing the unsuspecting ponies out of the air as to avoid injury.
“Sorry, my bad…” said Rainbow Dash sheepishly.
Twilight shook her head in dismay. “We’re going to have temporarily relocate while I use some repair spells on the library. In the meantime, keep Pinkie outside, please? We won’t be able to keep up with her rate of destruction if we attempt to put her in a building or containment.”
Rainbow Dash glanced at the hole she had indirectly created. “Agreed. Me and Applejack—”
“Applejack and I…” corrected Twilight, despite the situation. She just couldn’t help her grammatical urges.
“Ugh. Applejack and I can take Pinkie outside and keep her entertained safely.” Suggested Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah, I could do that,” chimed in Applejack.
“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Twilight. “in the meantime, I’ll work on repairing my home…” She looked down and breathed a deep sigh. “Fluttershy, you can help with any medical issues that arise from her sudden embiggenment.”
“I’ll make her some giant hats!” exclaimed Rarity.
“You mean ‘more-giant-than-usual’ hats?” mocked Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow, you know – yes,” she admitted.
“All right, we all know what we’re doing?”
All the ponies nodded in agreement. Then, they all put their hooves in the center on top of one another, and simultaneously chanted “1, 2, 3, FRIENDSHIP!” At this, they split up to do their respective tasks. Fluttershy, however, stayed behind to talk to Twilight.
“Twilight, I’m worried about Pinkie.”
Pinkie’s enormous hoofsteps could be heard as she broke through the side wall of the house to leave, as it was her only available exit. Twilight sighed.
“Me too, Fluttershy. I just hope we can control these powers instead of having to completely suppress them.”
“Why is that?” inquired Fluttershy.
“Well, for a couple reasons. Not only could these abilities be helpful to use to our advantage in the crusade of friendship, but Pinkie also seems to be having a lot of fun with it. I don’t want to take that happiness away from her.”
“But how can she even do that? How does she even have the ability to bend the fabric of reality so suddenly?”
“I don’t know, Fluttershy. I have some hypothesis, but I don’t want to say anything before I know for sure, and that’s going to require running some tests. Unfortunately, I was going to do that today, but now we are most likely going to have to wait until her eventual deflation.”
“I’m going to go bring Pinkie a few of those waffles.” Said Fluttershy.
“I think you’re going to need more than a few.” Twilight responded.
“Good point.”



Rainbow Dash and Applejack began leading Pinkie Pie slowly to Sweet Apple Acres. They had decided that would be the safest place for her, as it was mostly secluded and had large open areas. However, they had the obvious problem of getting Pinkie through the town first, while trying to freak out as few ponies as possible.
That of course, did not happen in the slightest. The loud crashes from Twilight’s home must have caused quite a stir, as a good amount of civilians had gathered around the area to see what the commotion was. The commotion amplified ten-fold once a giant Pinkie Pie smashed through the side of abode. Ponies that were standing near the building screamed and ran in fear, while those in the town began boarding up their windows and locking their doors, as the twenty-foot pink pony was easy to spot from many areas of Ponyville, maybe even from Canterlot at this rate.
Rainbow Dash flew up towards Pinkie’s head.
“Hey Pinkie?” asked Rainbow Dash. “This may sound really weird, but —”
“Of course you can ride on my back!” Pinkie shouted, or maybe just spoke, it was difficult to tell at her large size.
“Yes!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she hopped aboard her friend.
“Hold on now!” shouted Applejack from below, and brandishing her lasso, flung herself on top of the pony as well. “Onward to Sweet Apple Acres! Yeehaw!”

> Chapter VII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle looked up and saw something they were not at all expecting. A giant Pinkie Pie loomed over them, the shadow encapsulating the three in darkness. Ponies ran and screamed around them, trying to get as far away from the monstrous hooves as possible.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Scootaloo, always up for an adventure. We so have to check out what’s going on over there!”
“I don’t know…” said Sweetie Belle cautiously. Whatever’s going on over there could be pretty dangerous.”
“We have to see if they need any help, at least,” Apple Bloom stated with a tone of leadership.
“Well, alright…” muttered Sweetie Belle, still concerned with the whole situation. Giant ponies weren't something you see every day in Ponyville, even with the seven saviors of the world living here.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Conundrum Crackers! Yay!” they shouted in unison, and prepared a wagon hooked up to Scootaloo’s scooter. Scootaloo was the best scooter-er in Ponyville, and thus had no issue having the other two fillies in tow. They then set off for where it appeared they were heading: Sweet Apple Acres.

Pinkie Pie was thrilled to be a living taxi to her friends. Of course, it wasn't something she could do normally, so the fun in the opportunity was multiplied exponentially.
“Next stop: Sweet Apple Acres!” announced the pink vehicle.
“Don’t go too fast!” reminded Applejack.
“I don’t think that’s an issue, A.J. As it is, she’s only moving at a slow trot,” Rainbow Dash said with a pinch of disappointment in her tone.
A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination, an open field on the farm, still unaware of the three fillies following their every move.
“All passengers, please exit the pony!” announced Pinkie. Rainbow Dash giggled, but Applejack rolled her eyes. They hopped off their friend, Applejack using the lasso as a makeshift rope to slide down, Rainbow simply flying down.
“All right!” said Pinkie. “What kinda funerific stuff can we do?”
“Um… I don’t know,” admitted Applejack. There ain’t much I can think of.”
“How about Hide-and-Go-Seek?” suggested Pinkie Pie.
“Um… I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“Tag?”
“No.”
“Football?”
“No!”
Then, the Cutie Mark Crusaders reached the open field.
“Apple Bloom! How did you find us!” demanded Applejack.
“Um… we followed the giant pink pony,” Apple Bloom said in her most sarcastic of voices.
Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy arrived at the field as well.
“Hi Twilight! Hi Fluttershy!” roared Pinkie.
Scootaloo stared wide-eyed at the enormous pony. “Can we ride on you too?” she asked with anticipation.
“I don’t think there’s enough room for all three of you…” Twilight observed.
“Ooo! I know what to do!” Pinkie exclaimed, and she tightly shut her eyes. Then, she began shaking, as if she was full of energy. And after that, Pinkie did something that made Twilight Sparkle collapse in shock. Pinkie Pie grew twice her size.
“Is that better?” asked Pinkie, now standing well over forty feet tall.
Fluttershy flew as fast as she could to the barn, got a bucket of water, and dumped it on Twilight’s head. Twilight awoke with a jerk.
Twilight rubbed her head. “What happened?”
“Um… nothing. Just don’t look to your left,” warned Rainbow Dash.
“Why? I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff in my time in Ponyville, I think I can handle –” and then she turned her head leftwise. And what she saw she definitely couldn't handle.
“Rainbow Dash, could you fly me on top of Pinkie?” Scootaloo inquired excitedly.
“Waaay ahead of ya!” Rainbow Dash said with delight as she scooped Scootaloo up to climb aboard Pinkie. Twilight began asking questions to Fluttershy.
“Did you see that too?!” asked Twilight, half astounded, half excited for the possibilities ahead.
“Yes,” Responded Fluttershy flatly, as to not spark a nerd freak-out from Twilight.
“Did she just- willingly use her glitch power?!”
“Um… I think so?” Fluttershy wasn't so sure what had just happened, really, but that is most certainly what it looked like.
“IS PINKIE NOW FORTY FEET TALL?!”
“Yes,” That, Fluttershy was sure of.
Twilight placed her head in her hooves. She sat down on the grass. It felt wet beneath her.
“Fluttershy, why is this area of the grass wet?”
“Um… you kinda passed out when Pinkie did her thing. I woke you up.”
“Oh. Thanks for that.”
“Anytime.”
“I have to go talk to Pinkie.”
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to stay here.”
Twilight flew up to Pinkie’s face.
“Did you see that Twi!” Pinkie shouted with glee. “I did it all on my own!”
“How did you do that?” asked Twilight, legitimately curious.
“I just thought reeeeealy hard about it, and then it happened! But I’m still a bit dizzy from it.” responded a self-satisfied Pinkie Pie.
“Well, that’s to be expected. Let’s just hope nothing crazy happens to you while you’re in this unstable state. Maybe you should lay down in the grass. Or take a bath in the…” Twilight had to think for a moment. “…lake.” Twilight needed some time to think over the events that just occurred; she was baffled as to how Pinkie was suddenly able to control the power, even if only somewhat.
“But Scoots and Rainbow are having so much fun!” Pinkie said. “Are you guys ready to rumble?” she shouted behind her.
“Yeah!” responded both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. And as gently as she could, Pinkie Pie began shaking slightly, which to the comparatively tiny ponies on top of her, was like riding the rapids.
“Okay, then…” Twilight said, giving up. Suddenly, a massive grumble sounded from the pony.
“Twilight?” said Pinkie. “I’m pretty hungry.”
“How’s a hundred waffles sound?”
“Like a good snack,” responded Pinkie. Twilight giggled. She flew down to the waffles they had brought Pinkie. She placed them under her snout. “Thanks!” she exclaimed, and bent down to eat the massive plate. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo skid down her head like a slide, and hopped off.
“Be careful she doesn't eat you two!” shouted Applejack to Rainbow and Scootaloo.
“Why would she do that?” Scootaloo said.
“She wouldn't do it on purpose, you silly filly!” said Applejack. Suddenly, a loud, high pitched frequency pierced the ears of the ponies, and in less than an instant, Pinkie Pie shrunk back down to normal size.
“Awww…” groaned Pinkie. “I was just about to finish those waffles!”
> Chapter VIII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight began to walk towards Pinkie, cautiously. For all she knew, her kidney could be a nuclear fission reactor and it wouldn't be the weirdest thing to have had happen to the poor pony. As she got closer, however, she saw Pinkie Pie sitting in the grass calmly, gawking over her extravagant meal in front of her. Twilight had had every intention of confronting Pinkie on her methods of controlling the power, but as she made the short to walk to Pinkie, changed her mind. Pinkie Pie had gone through enough today; the best idea was probably just get her home.
"... and then I just kinda said 'I don't have any vanilla icing, I only have buttercream today' and she started saying she was going to call my manager, but I'm my manager! So I —" Pinkie noticed Twilight beside her. "Oh hi Twilight! I was just telling Rainbow this hilarious story from the store a few days back. So, this green mare walks in wearing a trilby..."
"Pinkie, can we talk about this story later? We need to get you home," Twilight said with a mix of exhaustion and relief that Pinkie was seemingly herself.
"I know how to get to my own house, Twi."
"Actually, I was going to recommend you stay at my house for a night or two. Just to make sure this is under control?"
"Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting about this thing. I'm kinda getting... used to it, I guess."
"Well maybe that'll be the first step to controlling it," Twilight said, not knowing how true that statement actually was. "I already set up a place for you in the guest room."
"Okie dokie then!" Pinkie said happily. To be honest, her house got kinda lonely sometimes. It was nice to be able to spend more time with Twilight. "Can I sleep with the stuffed cow again?"
"Sure, Pinkie," said Twilight, giggling.
"Do you guys need any help?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I don't think so," said Twilight honestly. "I think I have things more under control now that I know to what extent of madness I'm dealing with here. I've actually set up some extra precautions to the library while I was repairing it.
"As opposed to the fake precautions you made earlier?" inquired Spike, who was standing next to Twilight.
"When did you get here?" asked Twilight to her dragon assistant.
"I started walking here after some of your 'repairs' nearly made it rain sawdust in the kitchen," stated Spike, slightly miffed.
"I probably should have warned you about those," admitted Twilight.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Alright Pinkie, you up for a little teleportation?" asked Twilight, gesturing Pinkie to come closer. After Pinkie stood facing Twilight, Spike hopped on Twilight's back, and an aura encapsulated the three, emanating from Twilight's horn. In a flash, they were gone.
"Ah don't think Twilight knows what she's in for," remarked Applejack to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash shook her head. Fluttershy whimpered worriedly.



Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Spike appeared in the front yard of the treehouse. Twilight had done remarkable repairs to the home, and then some. The outside was completely un-smashed, and looked like new again. They walked in the front door. The inside was clean as a showroom, with everything back in it's place and back to the way it was, minus a fridge full of waffles. Somehow, Twilight had managed to construct a guest room above the kitchen on the second floor, which Spike could have sworn wasn't there an hour and a half ago. The laboratory was fully restored, and even appeared to be equipped with some new machinery. This worried Spike slightly.
"Pinkie, you go up to the guest room and get settled. Do you need anything from your house?" Twilight said to Pinkie.
"Nope! I'm good," replied Pinkie. She trotted up the staircase.
"When did we get a guest room?" Spike asked Twilight.
"About an hour ago. I've been learning some construction spells," Twilight said with a hint of brag in her voice. Spike sighed. This was his normal at this point, he may as well roll with it. "Not only that, but I've equipped the guest room with a magical alarm system. If anything out of the ordinary happens in that room, I'll know."
A small explosion could be heard from upstairs.
"Like that?" asked Spike.
Twilight rushed up the stairs, mumbling to herself. "I swear that alarm was fool-proof..." As she opened the door to the guest room, what she saw didn't surprise her. Pinkie stood in the middle of room, herself and everything else covered in ash and smoke, the bedspread on fire slightly, and the contents of the chest-of-drawers spilled onto the floor from the shock of the blast.
"Twilight, I exploded," Pinkie said with a calm tone that said, "This is normal to me now."
"Yeah, I see that." Twilight pointed her horn at the bed, and upon casting a spell, white fire extinguishing foam released from it, putting out the crackling flame.
"Sorry?"
> Chapter IX
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Later that night, Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie Pie sat on the couch, watching TV, eating popcorn, and laughing up a storm. They really needed a break after such a long string of terrifying, energy-draining events. The thought of doing anything more taxing than simply vegging on the sofa was hell on Equestria to them. Luckily, Pinkie Pie supplied a great dose of laughter as usual, by being her own Mystery Science Theater 3000 throughout the entirety of their television session.
"Who would buy money?" she quipped at the Equestrian Shopping Network, which was showing off special gold and silver designed bits. "You already have money, and then you give them money to give you less money?"
Twilight giggled at Pinkie's ignorance, but decided not to correct her.
It was nearing 1 AM, and the ponies (and dragon) began to head off to bed. But, Twilight had ulterior motives. As soon as Pinkie and Spike lay sound asleep in their respective beds, Twilight snuck down to the lab, examining her equipment.
"Now, where was the... aha!" She had found what she was looking for — her mana scanner. A revolutionary piece of technology designed by Twilight Sparkle herself, with a patent still being processed up in Canterlot. In her mind, two conflicting ideas still battled for dominance. Those being that A, only unicorns possessed mana in the first place, and that it would make no sense for an Earth pony to have any in his or her body, and B, Pinkie Pie sure was exhibiting signs of having some anyway. She had to know for sure. She wheeled the large machine to the bottom of the steps, and began attempting to drag it up. She hoisted the machine by some handles she had installed on the top, but the heavy machine wouldn't budge.
"Wait a minute, I have wings!" she exclaimed to herself. She hadn't quite gotten used to that yet. She flew up to the top of the machine, grabbed the handles, and began to fly up the stairs, the machine restricted her movement a hundred fold. She accidentally let go of the handles and launched herself up the stairs. A loud bang sounded from the impact.
"Oh, by Celestia's..."
She flew back down the stairs to save wear on her now bruised backside. She tried once more to lift the machine, with no avail.
"Wait a minute, I have magic!" she exclaimed yet again. Maybe cider at 1 AM wasn't her smartest move. She struggled, but managed to levitate the steel, fridge-sized scanner up the stairs to the main floor, and then up again another flight to the landing in front of the guest room.
"All right, now to just hook this up to Pinkie," she said under her breath. Pinkie Pie was a very deep sleeper, but Spike had trained himself to be more alert at night. Or so he claimed. Twilight turned on the machine. With a crackle, and then a droning hum, the screen showed a blank image, and nulled readouts. The various tubes and wires that were to be hooked up to the pink pony were stored in the back, and one by one, Twilight began attaching the peripherals to various locations on her body. Minutes later, the task was finished.
After a good look at her handiwork, Twilight went up to the machine. With bated breath, she pressed the activation button. Dials rotated, lights flashed, electricity passed from diode to diode, and after a few moments, the readout was nearly ready to be processed...
The screen abruptly flashed and staticed. It turned a stark, vivid blue, with white error codes and log information painting the display.
"Bucking stupid operating system!" Twilight shouted a little too loudly. Pinkie awoke with a start. "Oh oats!" she shouted again at noticing that she was no longer asleep. She ripped the wires of of Pinkie, and burst out the door, dragging the machine behind her. As she took a sharp turn towards the stairs, she tripped, entangling herself in the cords of the scanner and tumbled down the two flights of stairs, the steel monster chasing her within inches of her already battered form. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, with ninja-like reflexes, she formed a magical barrier between her and the oncoming injury. Pinkie ran out of her room and shouted down the stairs.
"Are you okay?!"
"Peachy."
> Chapter X
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight decided that moving would hurt too much, and be fruitless in the end, and thus, she slept on the floor where she lay. The wires entangled around her were almost comforting. Though maybe she was convincing herself of that.
Around 9:00 in the morning, she woke up to find herself in exactly the same position she had fallen asleep. Spike was still sound asleep as ever, (so much for that alertness training, Twilight remarked silently,) and Pinkie had seemingly gone back to bed. Twilight hoped she wouldn't be questioned about her antics when she arose. Twilight untangled herself from her electronic cocoon, pushed the machine back into the lab, and dragged herself up to the main floor. She needed some caffeine after all of this.
Twilight brewed herself a light cup of coffee. It was a common misconception that darker coffee contained more caffeine; in fact, a lighter brew was more powerful in that way, as the brewing process is what extracts the energy-giving drug from the beans.
Twilight stopped herself. Why was she explaining the fundamentals off caffeine extraction to herself? She had gotten so used to teaching everypony, it seemed, that she began being both the teacher and the student in her own mind. Gah, maybe the coffee would clear this up. She was obviously a little too exhausted. She poured herself a mug and took a sip. The heat of the coffee rushed down her trachea and through her stomach. It felt horrible and amazing all at once.
The smell of coffee woke both Spike and Pinkie. Pinkie floated down the stairs, her nostrils following the aroma on their own volition. Spike rubbed his eyes and shadowed Pinkie.
"Oooh coffee!" Pinkie said as she softly landed on the the kitchen floor.
"Yep. Want a cup?" twilight asked. Pinkie nodded her head ferociously. "One sugar or two?"
Pinkie pondered for a moment, wondering if eleventeen would be an acceptable answer. She finally decided on two.
Spike went to the kitchen and poured himself a mug. They all sat down in the eating area and began sipping their coffee.
"So what happened last night?" asked Pinkie. Crud. Twilight thought. I didn't want her to ask anything. Twilight decided that, as always, honesty was the best policy.
"I was trying to get some readings on you while you were in REM sleep," Twilight said, full disclosure.
"Well, you could have just asked, silly filly!" said Pinkie Pie. That was not the reaction Twilight was expecting, but certainly the one she hoped for. "I don't mind if you hook up some wires to me at night time. I've gotten way worse before!" Twilight decided not to comment on that last bit. "And I have no idea what any of this has to do with R.E.M." she said matter-of-factly, and began humming Shiny Happy Ponies. Twilight giggled.
Then, suddenly, Pinkie Pie began to vibrate. At about 240 Hz, as well, pretty much exactly how Twilight had anticipated it. Twilight checked the time. 9:47 AM. Right on cue. The strong cup of coffee had triggered a glitch. Twilight sprung up from the table. Pinkie stood up too, as the chair smacking against her pony flank two-hundred-and-forty times a second was very uncomfortable. Spike rose up from the table in shock, and slowly started to back away. Whatever Twilight was about to do, it was going to be rash, and most likely dangerous.
What Twilight did next was indeed rash, and highly dangerous. Without hesitation she grabbed Pinkie by either shoulder, and began to vibrate with her. Instantly, she felt pain like none she had ever experienced. Every particle that made up Twilight Sparkle felt a surge of indescribable energy, and microseconds later, began slowly expanding away from her body. Still vibrating, and still feeling the ever-intensifying white hot pain, what once was Twilight had become a Twilight-esque gas, with every subatomic node of her essence moving in every conceivable direction; forwards, backwards, up and down, left and right, forwards and backwards through time itself, across planes of existence that nopony's mind could possibly begin to understand. She had to let go, she had to let go, she had to let go...
With all of her willpower, she lifted what her mind told her were her hooves up off of the pink body after what felt like hours, no, days, and suddenly with the force of the entire multiverse, her existence snapped back together like an over-stretched rubber band, her form solid once more as she was thrown across the room as if by a thousand cannons. The relief of pain and the feeling solidity was too much for the mortal's mind. She collapsed for the third time in forty-eight hours.
> Chapter XI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight awoke to find herself in a hospital bed. The sound of heart monitors and the low hum of an IV sounded in her ears, the familiar smell of a mix of cleaning solution, latex, and saltines wafted through her nostrils. Upon further speculation, she found an electrocardiogram attached to her chest, and a purple, glittering fluid being pumped directly into her veins via an IV attached to her front left leg. She tried to lift her head up, but the feeling was uncomfortable, as she was in the only position feasibly possible for the wires and tubing to not choke her or strangle her. She dropped her head back on the pillow in defeat.
Spike noticed the stirring from the bed. He hopped to his feet to see if Twilight was awake yet, something he had done dozens of times in the last few hours. When he confirmed his suspicion, he greeted Twilight back to the land of the conscious.
"Hi, Twilight."
"Why am I in the hospital?"
"Well, it seemed like the logical thing to do after I watched you explode, then de-explode, then get flung by some unknown force into the wall and pass out," Spike said, half-hoping for an explanation to why any of the aforementioned event occurred.
"Oh, yeah, right. Nearly killed myself and learned nothing from it. How long ago was that?"
"About eight hours."
Twilight hmmed. That was longer than her usual blackout. She turned to look at the purple, shimmering IV fluid to her left. Without even asking the question, Spike supplied the answer.
"Mana fluid. You dried yourself out trying to hold yourself together when you grabbed Pinkie, so much so that when the nurse tried to read your levels, it gave her a negative number. Technically impossible, they said. Ran to get you hooked up as fast as her freaked-out legs could carry her," Spike explained, trying to stay calm about the whole experience.
Twilight wondered if they could inject her with the stuff even if she was at full health... would that increase her abilities? Could she perform more powerful spells than anypony had previously achieved? What if...
No, Twilight, she said to herself. More pressing matters currently. Project for another day.
"Anywho," Spike continued, "Pinkie should be here any minute. She feels like it's a little her fault all this happened, so she's been practicing really hard controlling the power like you said you wanted her to, and I think she's actually getting close-ish."
"Oh horse feathers," said Twilight. She didn't want Pinkie feeling guilty for something that was entirely her fault, and she also didn't exactly want Pinkie trying glitch tricks without her.
"I told her it was a bad idea, I really did," Spike said to the now obviously concerned purple alicorn sitting in a hospital bed.
"I'm sure you did Spike, thank you," Twilight responded. She didn't want Spike feeling guilty either. It was entirely her stupid idea that nearly got her killed.
Minutes later, Pinkie arrived in a slightly more standard way than her usual arrivals: via the door. This was never a good sign coming from Pinkie Pie, and her slightly less poofy mane and downwards look added to the notion. She turned towards the bed, and perked up a bit.
"Twilight! You're okay! I was worried that when you exploded into a million pieces, some of those pieces didn't go back where they were supposed to go, but you look great! Except maybe you need a shower. And some deodorant. And a mane-brush," Pinkie said, her honesty and sporadicity a welcome sound for Twilight.
Twilight examined herself. "Yeah, you're probably right," she admitted.
Pinkie Pie looked at the monitor screen, examining the readouts displaying information about Twilight's status.
"You seem positively peachy!" Pinkie Pie said after a moment. "Why are you still hooked up to all this stuff?"
"I feel the same way, Pinkie, but the doctor has to release me before I can leave," Twilight explained.
"I have something that will cheer you up!" Pinkie said. She moved to an empty corner of the room, and after ensuring she was within Twilight's vision, squeezed her eyes as tight as she could. Suddenly, a bright flash consumed Pinkie Pie's form, and as it cleared, Pinkie Pie was very much more blue.
"Tada!"
Twilight fainted for the fourth time in forty-eight hours.
> Chapter XII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight's machinery began to beep. Immediately, a nurse teleported into the room. Grabbing the IV machine, she injected a shot of adrenaline into the syringe slot. Twilight woke with a start, and began to flail her limbs. The nurse had to hold her down to stop her from falling out of the hospital bed. Mere seconds later, the nurse's pager beeped and she disappeared in a flash of light.
"Um, are you kay?" asked Pinkie earnestly.
"Oh, yes, I'm doing wonderfully," replied Twilight, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh, good!" Pinkie Pie obviously was poor at detecting tone.
"Great. Listen," began Twilight, and at the command, Pinkie promptly crossed her legs and sat on the floor, listening intently. ",we need to get you back to my house, and I'm not waiting the several hours for hospital discharge." And at that, Twilight teleported out of the room in a flash.
Concerned about the legality of the situation, Spike piped up.
"We should probably get out of here."
"Agreed," replied Pinkie, detecting the tone in Spike's voice. Pinkie squeezed her eyes tightly and began to strain herself. A pink bubble formed around the two, and then popped, and suddenly they were in a new location.
That location was Mareis.
"Oops!" exclaimed Pinkie, examining her surroundings. "Let me try that again..." Yet again, Pinkie performed her ritual. And yet, again, they found themselves in a new location.
"Welcome to McSparkle's, may I take your order?"
"Oops, I didn't mean to come here... but while we have the opportunity..." Pinkie drew a large breath. "I'll have a double cheeseburger, ketchup only, add some onions and extra salt, a medium fry, a medium Cutie-Cola, and a six-piece gem nugget for the little guy."
"For here or to go?" said the cashier in a monotonous tone.
"To go," said Pinkie, and she began to vibrate. "Er... in like five seconds."
Four seconds later, their meal was handed to them. "Have a nice --"
And Pinkie and Spike disappeared, clutching their meal.
"-day?" finished the cashier, confused. Pinkie Pie and Spike were already at their new location.
Pinkie Pie and Spike landed on teh authp[ers keybaard aihsodb gfffffffffdgoz bausydioakjht qo51nmv hzyn aREWqGNG
> Chapter XIII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	In one more final flash. Pinkie Pie arrived at her desired destination: Twilight's house. Twilight jumped at the sight of them, as she had previously been balled on the floor in terrible pain.
"What the hay happened to you?" asked Pinkie, shocked to see her friend's usual endurance crumbled.
Twilight stood upright and brushed herself off with a flinch. "Teleporting IV lines directly out of your veins is surprisingly painful," Twilight remarked with a false mask of neutrality. Spike and Pinkie Pie cringed at the thought.
"What matters right now is my continued exploration and analysis of the events currently unfolding, before they get to chaotic too control, if that is a possibility... and there's the root of our problem, isn't it?" Twilight paused for a moment. "We need to identify the type of situation we're dealing with before we can deal with it. My best guess currently is that it manifests as some sort of energy. This is easily demonstrated by the fact that Pinkie has the ability to move and manipulate matter. To do 'work', as it's referred to in physics, the formula requires energy, else it evaluates to zero. Whether that is kinetic energy, heat energy, mana energy, or something completely different, we need to identify it's type and source before we an make any further moves. Another advantage of this theory is that energy is, in practice, infinitely producible, so getting a sample from Pinkie would cough hopefully cough cause no harm or disrupt to her internal systems, or 'glitch power' as we've been calling it colloquially." Twilight gasped for air.
"But what would occur in a dimension where the speed of light was a negative value?" inquired Pinkie Pie, to Spike's disbelief.
"Well, the c value gets squared before it's evaluated. A negative times a negative is a positive, so you would still require positive amounts of energy." responded Twilight, unphased by the high-level question. Pinkie Pie thought for a moment.
"And in a dimension where c is equal to zero?"
"Oh Celestia I hadn't thought about that. If c was zero, light wouldn't move, as it would literally be a stationary object, and thus mass or energy couldn't traverse the spacial occupancy of the plane. It'd be a single frame of life, like a three-dimensional picture. You would phase in, but never out. You would die a statue in an infinite art piece."
"Oh. I'll avoid that..." Pinkie responded with a hint of worry.
"Don't be worried about that," Twilight remarked noticing her friend's tone. "The probability of that happening is literally infinity infinity to one." Twilight said with a tone of matter-of-faction. "Listen, I need to think this through. You relax and watch television down here, Spike and I are going to go have a chat. We all need to wind down after today. Spike will make something for dinner."
"Okay!" said Pinkie, reassured by her best gal-pal's facade of calmness. Twilight and Spike went up the stairs to Twilight's bedroom.
Twilight collapsed on the bed, spread-eagle with her left foreleg hanging of the edge.
"Oh sweet Luna this has been a long few days; not only that but I feel like we've made roughly zero progress!" she complained to Spike, the one living being who would listen to her continuing ons. A small pop was heard from downstairs. Before Twilight could even register the sensory input she received as noteworthy, Pinkie Pie shouted up to them.
"It's okay! My cutie mark is creating popcorn! Nothing to worry about!" Another few pops sounded from her flank, and the smell of artificial butter wafted up the stairs. Twilight sighed deeply.
"Spike, what time is it?" asked Twilight.
"Um..." Spike looked at his pocket watch. Where he kept said watch, Twilight had no idea. Maybe scales had pockets. She didn't particularly care at this point. "It's half-past thirty-one in the morning," said Spike, then realized what he said. "I think I've been around Pinkie a bit too much recently."
> Chapter XIV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Pinkie Pie pondered for a moment what her next best course of action was. She wasn't the best at thinking in the long-term; her sporacity contributed to this, and was also the result of it. At the moment, her movie theater snack erupting from her flank was her top priority. It was making quite a mess of Twilight's living room. Pinkie decided a bowl was the most logical container for the snack, and trotted to the kitchen to fetch one. Opening a cabinet, she grabbed a bowl, trotted back to the living room, and positioned the container in the line of fire. Out of sheer curiosity, she grabbed a kernel and ate it.
"Mmm! Delicious!" she remarked at the taste of the gourmet popcorn treat.
Back upstairs, Twilight rubbed her temples with her front hooves. "This is literally impossible to deal with.  I have no idea what we're going to do about any of this ridiculousness. My logic is failing me." Twilight was obviously upset at her normally infallible knowledge failing her.
"Maybe we should just let it happen and see what... happens?" suggested Spike.
"And let Pinkie Pie tear a hole in the universe? Not on my watch." Twilight rebutted.
"But you're way over your head!"
Spike was right. Twilight was in no position to deal with a problem that warped the very fabric of reality. She needed help.
"Let's just go downstairs and see how she's doing," Spike offered. Twilight followed him as he exited out of the room and down the stairs.
Popcorn kernels were scattered about the room, but besides that and Pinkie Pie sitting next to a bowl, everything seemed fairly normal. Twilight Sparkle and Spike sat down next to Pinkie Pie on the sofa.
"So, did you think of anything?" asked Pinkie Pie with optimism.
"Not really. I just wish there were more of me to work on this issue!" Twilight joked. She began to laugh to herself, but was interrupted.
Suddenly, standing in fromt of her was another Twilight Sparkle. This wouldn't have been the first time she had seen a clone of herself staring back at her, but the out-of-blue nature of the event took her back. Her most concerning realization, however, was that more and more clones of the purple mare were spawning in the house, at a rate of one a second.
"Okay, seriously, what the buck?!" was all Twilight could get out of her mouth before feeling like she was going to faint a fifth time. She forced herself not to, knowing that without her intervention, this would get out of hoof, very quickly. Turning to Pinkie, Twilight noticed that her friend was convulsing on the sofa involuntarily. She then realized that somehow, Pinkie was creating this duplicates.
"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted over the sound of magic zapping from the apparition of Twilights. "Think about something other than me! Think about, I don't know, balloons!"
Balloons. Why did she have to say balloons. Immediately, instead of Twilights, balloons began appearing, then floating to the ceiling.
"Bucking Celestia!" cursed Twilight. "Spike... you..." Twilight thought of what the best course of action was. "...I don't know, knock her out or something!"
Eager to stop the madness, Spike touched a claw to Pinkie's neck, rendering her asleep almost instantly.
"How did you do that?" Twilight asked Spike.
"Ancient dragon neck-pinch technique. Works every time."
> Chapter XV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Now that Pinkie Pie was sufficiently unconscious, Twilight had to decide her next move. "Spike," she requested, "could you try to clean up these balloons?"
"Gotcha," Spike replied, and began popping the helium-filled spheres with his claws. Twilight had to figure out how to get rid of the various replicas of herself, and sadly Spike touching his claw to them wouldn't do the trick.
"I have an idea!" said Twilight.
"So do I, what was your idea?" asked Twilight.
"It's probably the same as mine, now that I think about it," remarked Twilight.
Twilight couldn't think with all these Twilights. "Okay, Twilights, one at a time, please," begged Twilight.
"Okay, can I go first?" asked Twilight. The other Twilights agreed silently. "What if we use the clone removal spell we used in Incident 'TMPP?'" suggested Twilight.
"It could work, but we don't know if these clones..." Twilight paused for a moment and changed her wording. "...we are the same type of clones from that incident."
"Can we analyze our DNAs somehow?" Twilight speculated.
"Possible, but a lengthy process," Twilight mumbled. "Wait! We could only do it on one of us, since we are most likely all the same structure type!"
"We'd have to test at least two to validate that hypothesis," interjected Twilight.
"Okay, fair enough. Who would volunteer to be tested?" asked Twilight. Every Twilight raised their hoof.
"I have a feeling we'll have to randomly select, then," said Twilight.
"Got it. Everypony, let's write numbers on our flanks and roll dice!" said Twilight authoritatively.
"Pinkie, Spike, let's go upstairs and let this... sort itself out," said Twilight Prime. Spike and Pinkie Pie mm-hmm'd in agreement, and followed Twilight upstairs.
Once upstairs, Twilight sat at her desk while Pinkie Pie crashed on Twilight's bed.
"Phew! I'm beat," remarked Pinkie.
"You should be," said Twilight. "Using that much magic at once positively drains a pony."
Pinkie sighed. "We don't even know if it is magic!" she complained.
"I have a good feeling it's a least a form of it. I know magic, and this sure looks like it."