> The King of Equestria > by nobody_in_particular > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Twilight's Dream > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Bill Cipher’s POV) “This isn’t the last you’ll hear of me!” Bill called to Dipper and Mabel through the Dipper puppet as he tried to regain energy. “Big things are coming! You can’t stop me!” Bill grunted as he tried to move. “I’m sorry, Gabe.” Mabel said softly. She pulled out a small device with a big red button in the center. It was labeled ‘Big Finish!’ “Huh?” Bill said and looked down at what he was sitting on. It was a box full of dynamite. Mabel pressed the button and the stage blew up. The burning Dipper puppet landed at the real Dipper’s feet. He stomped on it with the little strength he had left in his body from going with no sleep and from Bill basically destroying him. Bill flew back to his own dimension. He was in his fear-amid. “No, no, no!” he yelled. “If only I could get in between dimensions. If I had Ford’s rift, then the Pines family couldn’t do anything to stop me!” He sighed and sat down. At least Fiddleford McGucket’s memory was erased. If he remembered seeing any of Bill’s true plans, then he would never be able to take over Gravity Falls, Oregon. Bill thought. Gideon was in prison, and he didn’t have the second journal anymore. Stanley did. He had copies of all three. But what if there was another dimension that he could take over? He would have more allies to help him take over Gravity Falls. But the dimension would have to be filled with magic. They would have to be willing to help him. Where would he find a dimension like that? A white orb appeared in front of him. Pictures flashed across the orb. It was showing all the different dimensions. There was a dimension with drawn backgrounds and puppets. There was a pixilated dimension with a man killing a tall green creature. Another with two young boys building a roller coaster with an Indian boy, a girl in a uniform, and a tough looking kid. There was a superhero family that had a little boy and girl in matching outfits and a man in a white superhero suit battling a giant robot that was shaped like a ball. There was a dimension with two teenage girls. One had a blue dress and a white bun. The other had brown braids and a green dress. The last one was a land filled with multicolored pegasi and unicorns. There was a video of a huge red centaur swallowing all of the ponies’ magic. Bill watched all of it fly towards the centaur. “Now that is a whole lot of magic! What’s this place called?” he asked. A word popped up on the orb. “Looks like we’re going to Equestria.” Bill said with a smile. He out his hand on the orb. He flew through dimensions and popped out in a dark forest. There were blue flowers all around him. A sign was labeled ‘Poison Joke! Do Not Touch!’He heard voices nearby. He flew into town, being sure to make himself unseen. There was a big white building with a red roof, a little shop that was decorated to look like a dessert, a clothes shop, a sofa shop, and everything in between. There were young ponies playing around with each other having a good time, and full-grown ponies in the shops or hanging out with their friends. All of the older ponies and some of the younger ones had little butt tattoos. Six of them in particular caught his eye. He spent most of his days watching each of them, but none of them proved helpful to his plan. Pinkie Pie only baked all day, Applejack worked on her farm, Rainbow Dash was only interested in winning at everything, Rarity sewed dresses, Fluttershy played with her animal friends, and she was way too nice to be of any use. And then there was Twilight Sparkle. A whiz at having the best scores on a test, having a book for anything you could imagine, and knowing almost every magical spell ever. There was also Discord, which Bill liked to think of as the Equestrian version of himself. The old Discord, anyway. He was basically reformed now, but he was way more fun when he was evil. Twilight could be manipulated if her friends left her, and she will go crazy when she obsessed over something. But there was a kind of magic Twilight could not use. And that magic was chaos magic, and that was Bill’s specialty. “Time to pay you a visit, Twily.” Bill said to himself. (Twilight’s POV) Twilight closed the book she had been reading. She had taken another long weekend to read all the new books Princess Celestia had sent her. She had been hesitant at first, thinking that if she spent another weekend in the castle another weird thing might happen, like Rarity wearing all ridiculously ugly clothes, or Pinkie saying that she got tired of baking and seeing the Cakes, so she left SugarCube Corner. After all, the last time she had done this all of her friends had spent a weekend with Discord and they were now friends. Twilight opened the next book. She hadn’t slept in a while, and she was about to fall asleep. She started to read the first page when her eyelids got heavy and her head drooped. All around her it was black. A high laugh echoed from somewhere. “Well, well, well, well, well, well, well! If it isn’t Twilight Sparkle!” The voice was high and echo-y, but it was a man’s voice, nonetheless. “How do you know who I am?” Twilight demanded. “Oh, I know lots of things. Say, Twi, I’ve been keeping my eye on you.” At his last words, the voice dropped to a deep roar. “You seem the most interesting pony out of all your friends. I’ve been trying to get into their dreams for a while. But it’s hard to get into somebody’s mind when pesky little Lulu is always watching ponies as they sleep. Your friends aren’t all that great. I think you should get new ones. I might consider hooking you up with my pal Teeth. I think you’d like him.” “What do you want?” Twilight asked. “I want to conquer this dimension. Trying to get my hands on that little journal written by old Sixer was a bust, so I figured your land looks pretty decent. You’re the only one out of the Elements of Harmony that would ever join me. Besides maybe Pinkie Pie. I like her. She’s fun. And fun is another way to say chaos, which I’m a master of.” “What are you talking about?” “Let me cut to the chase. I need you to join me. You’re more magically sophisticated than anyone I know. Even Celestia. What does Celestia do all day besides sit on her throne and eat bananas, anyway? If I teach you spells that I’ve learned, then we will be unstoppable!” “I’ll never join you!” Twilight screamed. “I’ll give you some time to reconsider. I have a feeling you’ll give in soon.” The voice started to fade away. “REALITY IS AN ILLUSION THE EARTH IS A HOLOGRAM BUY GOLD BYYYYYEEEEE” Twilight opened her eyes. Had that been a dream? What had she been dreaming about, anyway? The more she tried to think about it, though, the more confused she got. > Pinkie Pie's Slumber Party (part 1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That evening Twilight opened the door and saw the mail pony standing there. “Letter for the Princess.” he said as if this were something he had to do and not as if he were enjoying it. His eyes seemed a bit more yellow than usual, and his pupils were different. “Thank you.” Twilight said with a smile. The colt did not smile back. He handed her the letter and slammed the door in her face. “Who was that?” asked Spike, who was holding his blue blanket in one claw and his Rarity stuffed animal in the other. “It was the mail pony,” Twilight said. “But he seemed a little grumpy today.” “It is early morning. The guy probably had to wake up early, but I don’t have to!” Spike said happily. Twilight ripped the envelope open and read the note that was written in pencil. Dear Princess Twilight, I have invited all of our friends to a sleepover party. It will be held in the darkest part of the Everfree Forest near the Tree of Harmony. The party is tonight. Please come! It will be a lot of fun! From, Pinkie Pie. “Who’s it from?” Spike asked. “It’s from Pinkie Pie.” Twilight said. “But the sleepover she invited me to sound a bit odd. Near the Tree of Harmony? Who would want to sleep there?” “I don’t know. Somepony who likes to sleep under the stars and in remote areas.” Spike said. “I suppose so, but that’s not typical for Pinkie. And since when does she call me ‘Princess’?” Twilight wondered. “But you have to admit that Pinkie Pie can be pretty random. And is it really a crime that she’s changed a little?” Twilight sighed. “You’re right, Spike. There’s no reason to be so paranoid. It’s just a casual get-together.” “See?” Spike said. “Now what’d I tell you? You go have fun tonight and I’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone.” “You’d do that for me?” Twilight asked. “Of course.” Bill watched the scene as the mail pony. He looked through the window at the lavender alicorn and baby dragon. This was getting easier. > Pinkie Pie's Slumber Party (part 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All of the other 5 mares got the same letter as Twilight, except for Pinkie, who got the letter, but it was signed by Twilight. Applejack loaded a basket with apples. Twilight filled her saddlebag with books for late night reading. Rainbow Dash packed all of the scariest stories she had and the new Daring Do books. Fluttershy brought Angel knowing that he would keep her company, also a baseball bat to defend herself. Pinkie brought cakes and balloons in her saddlebag. Rarity brought some small cucumber sandwiches she had made along with her huge fancy tent and all of her makeup supplies. Pinkie bounced through the woods, humming to herself. She had left first, wanting to be early so she could set out the cakes and balloons. “Gee, I hope I’m not so early that I’m there before Twilight is. That would be weird.” She looked around. She was almost at the staircase to get to the tree and there wasn’t anypony around. “Huh, I guess I am the first one. Oh, well, Twilight won't be far behind.” She opened her saddlebag but stopped when she saw something glowing in the corner of her eye. It was a ring around her body on the ground. It was pink, the same color as her mane. She touched it, wondering what it would do. She jumped back as pink material built up around her, making a bubble. She pounded in it with her hooves, but it wouldn’t break. --------------------- Applejack trotted through the forest, eager to get to her friends. “It’s a might late to be out in these parts.” she muttered to herself. Suddenly she tripped on a rock and fell forward. The basket of apples on her back spilled out everywhere. An orange ring appeared around her on the grass. “What the hay..?” Applejack said softly. A bubble started to form around her. She cried out but nopony could hear her. Then the world around her changed. All she could see was orange. ----------------- Fluttershy trembled as she walked through the forest with Angel on her back, who was holding the bat. “Oh, I really hope there’s another pony there already.” Fluttershy squealed. “And I really hope that pony is not Rainbow Dash. I mean, she’s nice and I like her and everything, but I just know she’ll try to tell me scary stories and I’ll get scared and I don’t want to be scared unless there are other ponies there to get scared with me and help protect me from all of the scary things that could be hiding in this forest like Timberwolves or Star Spiders…” She looked down at the ground where a yellow ring shone in the moonlight. She shrieked and jumped in terror as walls formed around her. But as you may know, Fluttershy isn’t usually very loud, so her scream couldn’t be heard by anypony except Angel who isn’t even a pony, but you know what I mean. While she jumped, Angel Bunny flew off her back and was stuck outside Fluttershy’s bubble. “I guess there are magical sphere prisons in the Everfree, too.” Fluttershy whispered quietly. ----------------------------- Twilight flew a few feet above the ground trying to find everypony else. She was reading and flying at the same time, which you should never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever do because you could seriously injure yourself by hitting a brick wall or something. All I have to say is, At least what Twilight flew into wasn’t a wall covered in really sharp spikes. While the two things may be different, that is not the case if we are talking about what it feels like. In this case Twilight flew into a bush covered in thorns. Right when she hit it she did not at first feel the thorns piercing her skin, which is what we would usually feel first. Twilight watched as the book about conspiracies and the supernatural fell onto an especially sharp thorn, which tore through the book. Then suddenly the book flipped open. She stared at a picture of a triangle with one eye, a bow tie and a top hat surrounded by small symbols. She could see a six- fingered hand, a llama, a shooting star, a pair of glasses, a stitched up heart, a question mark, a star with an eye in it, some weird symbol that sort of looked like a fish, a bag of something, and a pine tree. She blinked couple of times and the book appeared to be shut. The purple mare shrieked as she felt the needle-like plants pierce her skin. Suddenly she was floating away in a purple bubble of madness, away from the bush, but sadly with some of the needles still stuck in her. ------------------- Rainbow Dash was flying at a fast pace, slightly weighed down from the things in her bag. She looked around. There was a cloud up by the moon that was somewhat hand-shaped. It was floating towards the moon as if it were about to grab it. She stared at the old, dead trees which seemed to be almost reaching out to her with their branches. Rainbow hadn’t even noticed that she was flying faster and faster. Then she stopped. “I’m not afraid of these old trees.” she said with a nervous laugh. “I mean, come on. They just look like they’re going to take me in their clutches and squeeze me until I pop.” She stopped when she realized what she had been saying. Her eyes widened. “No! I’m not afraid! They’re just trees!” She shouted. But as she said this, the trees were moving forward. They wrapped their branches around her and held her tight. “Hey, what gives?” she demanded angrily. A light blue dome came down over her. The trees loosened their grip. Before she could fly away, though, the bubble did it for her. ------------------------ Rarity recoiled in disgust at the sight of all the dirty plants. “Honestly, I love Pinkie, but sometimes she has such bad taste. I’ll have to have a word with her later.” She saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She looked through her pink-tinted sunglasses at the shadows. “That’s funny.” she mumbled. “I could’ve sworn I’d seen..” But then that something moved again. “Alright, whatever you are you’d better show yourself.” Rarity said nervously while using her straightening iron as a sword. The bush shook again and a little black mouse hopped out. Rarity lowered her “weapon”. “Aww, aren’t you so cute?” Rarity droned as she patted the animal on the head. She screamed as the mouse’s eyes turned red and it grew razor sharp teeth. She started to walk backwards. She knew she was cornered when she felt her back rub against rough bark. She saw a white ring on the dirt around her. She squeaked and ran away from it, but the ring followed and stayed circled around her. “Stop following me!” she whined as she ran. Suddenly, she banged her horn on something hard. She looked up and saw that a white dome had been constructed around her.She screamed in such a way that you would hear in a murder mystery movie. > The Mane 6's Bubbles > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The six bubbles containing the mares appeared outside of the Fear-amid. Bill flew out to take a look at them. They were the color of each pony’s coats and had their Cutie Marks on them. At this moment they weren’t able to see anything but the color of their bubbles. Then he let them have their eyesight back so that they could see the outside world. He needed to have a talk with these ponies. Twilight opened her eyes. It was fuzzy and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. There was somebody, or something, floating right in front of her. “What happened last night?” she mumbled. The being in front of her turned around-but really only his face and bowtie turned on his body. “Looks like you finally woke up. I felt like I was waiting an eternity.” Bill said. “Whoa, I just had a major déjà vu moment there.” Pinkie said. Twilight looked around to see her friends trapped in bubbles.Twilight still didn’t say anything. She just watched. “Where the heck are we?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “You’re in the Mind-scape. And allow me to introduce myself. The name’s Bill Cipher. And I take it you’re some kind of living Skittle.” Bill said, flying down to look Rainbow in the eye. “What?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t know what the hay you just said, but it sounded punishable.” Bill laughed. “I’m just kidding, Dashie. I know that you’re that you’re 21 years old, the former Element of Loyalty, the owner of a flying turtle, and almost a Wonderbolt. Also, you’re hoping that Spitfire will let you and Soarin fly together at the next performance so you can see him more.” “Hey!” Rainbow yelled angrily as her face turned red. “You’re Pinkemina Diane Pie, you’re the oddball of your family, you’re 18 years old, the former Element of Laughter, you work at Sugarcube Corner, the owner of an alligator, and right now you’re hoping for some Pineapple Upside-down Cake.” “Wow, he’s good.” Pinkie marveled. “Don’t encourage him.” Applejack scolded. “And it looks like it’s your turn.” Bill said, turning his attention to Applejack. “You’re Applejack, 23 years old, the owner of an Apple orchard; you have a pet dog, the former Element of Honesty, you can eat an entire apple in 0.43 of a second, you’re jealous of Rarity because of all the attention Spike gives her, and your parents died when you were 3 weeks old and still cry yourself to sleep about it.” “Shut up, Shut up!” Applejack screamed, covering her ears with her hooves. Rarity glanced sadly at her friend. “Now it’s time to talk about Miss Rarity. You’re 24 years old, former Element of Generosity, the oldest of your friends, the owner of a cat, you’re jealous of your sister’s singing voice, and you’re self conscious because you think you look like a marshmallow. Also, you’re still making the Diamond Dogs work for you.” “That is completely absurd!” Rarity screeched. “Your turn.” Bill announced, looking at Fluttershy. “Oh, no!” she squeaked, hiding behind her mane. “You’re Fluttershy, 19 years old, the former Element of Kindness, you own over 100 pets but you don’t want anyone to know that Angel is your favorite because you think it would hurt the other animals’ feelings. The only reason you moved to Ponyville is because there are some ponies that you’re afraid of in Cloudsdale. And, since you reformed him, you’ve always had a crush on the Lord of Chaos.” Fluttershy just looked at her hooves in shame. Nopony said anything. “Well, go ahead Fluttershy. Aren’t you going to tell him that he’s wrong about you and Discord?” Rarity asked. “No.” Fluttershy whispered. “I’m sick of denying it. I can’t fight how I feel about him anymore.” “Oh, so you admit it.” Bill said. “I actually just made that up to see what you’d do. And now I’ll be putting that piece of information in my speech when I’m taking over Equestria.” Fluttershy just looked at him in horror. “Well, come along now, ponies. It’s time to take you to Equestria. But first…” Blue fire appeared in one of his hands, and used the fire to cover the bubbles. “What are you doing?” Rarity cried. “I’m taking your magic away so that I can have a physical from!” Bill yelled. He laughed maniacally. Then all of the fire retracted back into Bill’s hand, and his form looked more 3-D. Taking away the ponies’ magic had made them feel considerably weaker, and once again made their Cutie Marks disappear. Once their magic had been drained Bill wiled the spheres to follow him and he floated to Canterlot to commence his takeover. “This is all my fault.” Twilight said softly. Everypony looked at her. She hadn’t spoken an entire word until now. “Aw, sugarcube.” Applejack said, trying to comfort her. “I’m sure that isn’t true.” “Well, technically, it kind of it since she could have told Princess Celestia or something.” Pinkie said. Applejack glared angrily at her. “But it is. Bill came to me in a dream and told me his plan. I could have done something about it then, but I was foolish and ignored what he had told me. If I had just done that one thing right, we would all be safe. And now everypony in Ponyville will be dead, and it’s because I was betrayed by my stupid thoughts that everything would be okay.” “Personal imperfections are a gift when you have friends to help you fix them.” Fluttershy said monotonously. “That was actually pretty deep, Flutters.” Rainbow Dash said. “I hate to interrupt your little moment, but there are some things I need to do.” Bill said. They were hovering above Canterlot Castle. “And don’t try to call for help. Nobody can see or hear you.” Bill transformed into a yellow earth pony with short grey hair and an eye patch over one eye. He still had his bow tie and his top hat was a bit smaller and was floating above his head. His Cutie Mark was a picture of blue flames. He walked up to the guards. “Hey, I’m here to talk with the princess.” he said. One guard opened the door. He walked into the throne room where Celestia and Luna were sitting. “Well, if it isn’t Tia and Lulu. Long time no see.” he said, tipping his top hat. Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Bill Cipher.” “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” Bill replied with a laugh. “You are not welcome here. Leave now or suffer the consequences!” Luna ordered. “Oh, no. I’m really scared now.” Bill said dramatically, placing the back of his hand on his forehead like a damsel in distress. “I have more power than the two of you combined. There’s nothing you can do to stop me now.” He shot a red ray out of his eye at the two of them, turning them into statues made of Jell-O. “Just as I suspected: Equestria is too easy for me to rule. This is going to be a breeze. Just as soon as I get these statues back to my Fear-amid I can start phase 2 of my plan!” > Adversity > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a usual day in Ponyville. There were ponies just taking a walk, shopping, and there were fillies running through the streets.This particular day Discord was walking to Fluttershy’s house for Tuesday Tea. “Citizens of Ponyville!” a voice called. Everypony turned their heads to stare at Bill Cipher with the line of bubbles next to him. Now that he could show his face without getting sent to Tartarus, he was changed back into his true form. “Please stay calm; this is only the day you get a new master: Me! I’m Bill Cipher, but you can call me your new lord and master for all of eternity!”He laughed as the sky turned red and Eye-Bats started flying around. Screaming. Chaos. Somepony yelling, “Where are the princesses?” Bill just rolled his eyes. “You’re princesses are gone. I froze them myself. It’s not like it was a real battle or anything.” “And I wanted to say…” “AHHH!” (That wasn’t Bill, that was a pony.) “I wanted to…” “AHHH!” (That was another pony) “I just…” “AHHH!” “Oh my goodness!” Bill screamed and his whole body turned red. “Shut up you stupid pony!” and with that he turned them into a statue. The ponies watched in horror as the statue-fied pony hit the ground. “Now everyone be quiet!” he yelled. Then everything was so quiet you couldn‘t even hear the ponies’ breath. “Well, I guess you see that I’ve captured you’re six heroes.” “Stop it, Bill!” Rainbow Dash yelled, her slightly muffled voice rang out over the silence. “I don’t think you're really in a position to try and stop me. I mean, what can you do, shake your fists at me?” he laughed his high, cold laugh. “Um, technically, we don’t have fists.” Pinkie called. A zipper appeared over her mouth. “Just take Twilight here.” Bill, said, not wanting to be interrupted anymore. “She acts like such a hero, but it’s Princess Celestia that always has to clean up her messes.”Twilight turned her head away angrily. “Like, did anybody realize that one time Applejack said ‘FlutterDash’? That totally makes it canon now.” Applejack tilted her head in confusion. “But it seems like all of Equestria depends on them! Or at least, most things do. The only reason Discord isn’t turned to stone yet is because Flutters here was to hopelessly in love with him to agree with the decision of using the Elements, or just turning him in to Princess Celestia.” Discord clenched his fists so hard his palms started to bleed a little. Everypony looked up at Fluttershy with a bit of horror and surprise. Fluttershy looked down at them. She felt her whole face turn beet red. She turned her head away, not wanting to watch the ponies look at her that way. Discord was going to fly up and give Bill a piece of his mind, but at the soft sound of Fluttershy crying sent a new instinct through him. Everybody turned their heads as he started to speak, “So, what’s news about Fluttershy having a crush on me? I have a crush on…her…too.” he said as bravely as he could. Bill narrowed his eye. “Oh, no you don’t. You like Celestia.” “Yeah. I liked her. As in used to. I don’t anymore.” Discord spat. Bill growled angrily. The people in Gravity Falls were never as difficult as these ponies. > The Journal's Secret > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight looked out at her city being destroyed and sighed deeply. “Don’t worry, guys.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to be hopeful. “How can we not worry?” Pinkamena asked through her tears. “The world is over, Dashie. Just admit it.” “Twilight will think of something. Right, Twi?” Applejack asked. Twilight didn’t move. “Not this time.” she said. “Nothing-not even the Elements if we had them-could save us now. Pinkamena is right: it is the end of reality.” Back in Gravity Falls Dipper watched as Mabel glued more pictures into her scrapbook. He would have been looking through the third journal, but after Giffany had come to life and tried to destroy Melody and Soos, he was kind of finished with mysteries for the next few days. Mabel giggled and glued in a picture of Dipper running in fear of the living animal robots. Dipper sighed out of boredom and flopped onto his bed. “I probably shouldn’t do this.” he said, and reached for the journal. He read into his coat to grab it, but it wasn’t there. “Mabel.” he said, starting to panic. “Have you seen-” He looked over at his sister, who was lying on her stomach on the ground, looking through the journal. “Dipper, come check this out!” she said. He walked over to her. She was looking at a page he didn’t know even existed. On the page there was a picture of a mirror. On one side of the mirror there was a city with people walking through the streets. One the other side there were animals that looked like ponies. They each had on cloaks and looked like they hadn’t had sleep in a long time. Dipper grabbed the book from her and read the writing out loud. “During my investigations of gravity Falls, I have seen many different dimensions, but none like this. There are horses there, but not like the kinds we see. These ponies have tattoos on their flanks that indicate their personality. The world is filled with mythical beats and is always in danger.” Dipper smiled. “Mythical beasts?” Mabel grinned. “Ponies? Dipper, does it say how to activate that portal?” Dipper sighed. “Mabel, I don’t know if we should. It says here that it’s always in danger. And even if those mythical beats sound cool, I don’t want to be eaten alive.” “Please, Dipper?” she begged. “Can we at least activate it and then look at the ponies? Not even go in? Please, please, please, please, please?” Dipper groaned. “Fine, but just a peek.” “Yes! It’ll be just like Pony Heist! Remember that, Dipper?” Dipper smiled, remembering how the two of them, along with Stan and Soos, had broken into the movie theater after being banned. > The Deal > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight groaned after another failed attempt at trying to figure out what Bill was doing. “It just doesn’t make sense!” she cried. Everything around her faded to grey and Bill appeared in front of her bubble. “That’s the point!” he said, taking off his top hat and pointing to his top acute angle. “What do you want? Why lock us up if you’ve drained our magic?” Twilight demanded. “Take a walk with me, Twi.” he said. He flew forward and Twilight’s bubble followed. “Look around and think about what you’re seeing.” Twilight looked at the lakes that had been turned to blood and the shattered remains of what once was. There were fires here and here and buildings that had been knocked over. A flock of eye-bats sat in a dead tree. She saw shards of crystals everywhere and wondered what had happened. Then she realized in horror that there was a gaping hole in the side of her castle. “This’ll keep going on for eternity if you don’t give in.” Bill said. “Give in? To what?” Twilight asked. “To power! I always knew you wanted to be powerful!” “I wanted to be good at magic!” she exclaimed defensively. “Those are practically synonyms! I can get you a thesaurus if you’d like.” Bill said, shoving a thesaurus in her face. On the page it said, Powerful: adj. Definition: What Twilight Sparkle wants to be. Synonyms: Full of power, power filled, power crazed, addicted to power Twilight glared at him. “So, I take it you’re not enjoying being locked up and watching your home be destroyed. I can understand that. But if you really want this to end we’ll have to make a deal.” “What do you want? To take my horn and used it as an accessory? To rip my highlights out and make a quilt out of them?” Bill rolled his eye. “Woah, calm down. Let’s say you join me and we leave Equestria. You never come back, but all your friends and family are safe.”He held out a flaming blue hand. “I’d never join you!” Twilight yelled. Bill shrugged. “I hope you enjoy watching the life you’ve built up get destroyed.” He laughed and laughed and laughed. Twilight opened her eyes to see that she was with her friends, who were also in their bubbles. They stared at her with confused expressions. “What?” Twilight asked finally. “Well,” Applejack said. “You fell asleep, and you were mumbling a lot.” She sighed. “Bill tried to get me to join him. He said if I did then he would leave Equestria.” “And I hope you said no. Spending an eternity with that ruffian is the last thing I’ll ever do.” Rarity said. “But it would kind of hard to say no, wouldn’t it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “There’s no way out of this except for if Twilight agrees to go with him. Look at this place! Everypony might be dead and there’s never going to be a loophole! “We’ll sit here for eternity, watching everything being torn apart! So could you guys please stop acting like there’s going to be some other way? You guys are always like, ‘The magic of friendship will save us!’ but there’s nothing friendship can do for us now, is there?” “I’m sure that makes Twilight feel so much better about the decision she’s having to make.” Applejack said sarcastically. Twilight closed her eyes so that she wouldn’t have to look at everything. She pretended she was back in the castle, sitting and reading all the new books she had. She could still hear Applejack and Rainbow Dash arguing, along with Rarity who had somehow gotten involved in the conversation. Pinkemina sat curled up in a sad little ball of depression. Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, who-judging by her appearance-had more or less recovered from Bill telling everypony about her crush on Discord. “Do you think she’s right?” Twilight asked softly. Fluttershy sighed. “I’m sorry, Twilight. But it is your choice.” “I wish choices weren’t so hard to make. If I say no, then we stay together but nopony is safe. If I say yes, then we never see each other again but Equestria is saved. You guys won’t forget about me, right?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Of course we won’t. How could we?” Twilight almost smiled. “Thank you.” Gravity Falls “Hey, Dipper, where do I put the Nome?” Mabel asked. Dipper looked up from the Journal and glanced at his sister, who was holding a Nome at arm’s distance, not wanting him to scratch her up. “Wait, hold on.” He walked over with a pair of scissors and cut of a handful of its beard. Mabel let go and the Nome ran into the forest. Dipper set the tangled hair in a pot that was already filled with other liquids. The hair melted instantly.“It’s done, Mabel. Now we have to smear is on the mirror.” Dipper announced. “Hey dudes, what’s going on?” asked Soos, who had been fixing the golf cart after Wendy had busted it again. “Just a portal where we can go to pony land and see the unicorns.” Mabel said. “Can I come, too? New opportunities for ‘Fixin It With Soos!’ he begged. “Alright Soos, you can come along. Just don’t get lost.” Dipper said. He put a towel over his hand and dunked it in the pot. He smeared the substance all over the mirror. The glass swirled around and around, while it turned pink. “I can’t see anything.” Dipper said, trying to see inside the mirror. “Now I don’t know if it even worked. This could be the portal to, like, Mount Olympus or something.” “There’s only one way to find out!” Mabel said excitedly. She ran at full speed at the portal. “Mabel, don’t!” Dipper cried. “NOTHING CAN STOP ME!” > I'm Sorry, My Friends > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight sat up. She had cried herself to sleep not knowing what to do. She smiled at her friends, simply lit up just because they were near her. They were all asleep, which was probably a good thing. She didn’t want them to have to see her do this. “Bill.” she said, but not so loud that she woke anypony. He appeared before her, twirling his cane around. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out!” he said. Twilight tried to block out his constant jokes. He’s just like Discord. She thought. Always making a joke out of everything……Discord. She wondered where he was at the moment. “I, um, I have considered what you’re offering me, and I have accepted.” she said slowly. Bill smiled. Or, he would have if he had a mouth. “Oh, man! It was about time, too.” “On one condition. Before I leave I want to speak with Discord.” Twilight ordered. Bill shrugged “Alright, I guess. But I’m coming with you so you don’t say anything that could possibly ruin my plans. Oh, and you’re staying in the bubble. It’s not that I don’t trust you…” Bill thought for a moment. “Actually, it is that I don’t trust you.” In a flash they were in Discord’s house in Chaosville. Discord sat on his couch he made to look like the one at Fluttershy’s cottage. He was reading a book upside-down because he said that the normal way hurt his eyes. He looked up at Bill and growled. “What do you want?” he spat. “Whoa, calm down. Mrs. Magic here wants to speak with you.” Bill said, putting his hands up in the surrendering position. Discord was confused. Bill actually let her come see him? Bill Cipher? The talking Dorito? Something was weird. “Discord.” Twilight said nervously. “Bill has given me an offer. If I go with him to his own dimension, then he will leave Equestria. I want you to tell the princesses that I’m sorry, and it was the only way. And… take care of the girls for me, alright?” Discord felt like a semi-truck (if they had had those in Equestria) had crashed down on him. Twilight was leaving? It was not like they were as close as him and Fluttershy, but they were at least friends. If Twilight left, who would be there to bother him and give out useless facts all the time? And he was supposed to take care of the other Elements? Even though he and Rainbow Dash, and also Rarity, had made up, it was still a basic recipe for disaster. He could only nod. Twilight gave a sad little smile. “Thank you.” she said. The magic portal Dipper could barley tell what was what. He had jumped into the portal after Mabel, followed by Soos. He was spinning faster and faster. He didn’t know if he’d ever make it out of here. He hit hard ground and groaned in pain. He felt as though he may have sprained a bone. Something was in his mouth. With a shaking hoof he pulled it out. He grimaced at the sight of a pile of soaking dirt. Wait, something was off. Maybe just a little. He looked down and instead of seeing a twelve year old wimpy body he saw the lower half of an orange stallion with a blue vest over a red T shirt. He looked behind him and saw a brown tail and a little picture of a tree on his flank. He started to panic, before realizing that he couldn’t see Mabel anywhere. “Mabel!” he cried. Suddenly Dipper was crushed by a large object. He wondered if it usually rained heavy things until he remembered Soos. “Oh, sorry dude.” Came Soos’s voice from above. He stepped off of the crushed boy and looked at his new body. Dipper stood up, glad to be able to breathe again. A light pink pony with long brown hair and a hot pink sweater ran towards him. “You guys made it!” Mabel said happily. She had a shooting star on her flank. “I almost died, but yes.” Dipper said, annoyed. He glanced at Soos, who had taken the form of a large stallion with grey skin and his usual hat and question mark shirt. He also had a question mark on his flank. “Dipper, look!” Mabel said. “Hooves! And butt tattoos!” Dipper looked around at the town. It was destroyed and had all kinds of crazy things around. “Whoa, what happened to this place? It’s, like, all destroyed and stuff.” Soos said. “Only one person could have pulled this off.” Dipper said. “Mabel, we’ve found Bill Cipher’s hideout.” He looked up at five large bubbles with a pony sitting in each one. There was a rainbow one who was yelling at the orange one and the white one. There was a pink one with a flat mane that looked crazy. And then there was a little yellow one with a soft pink mane. “I think we have to get them out.” Dipper said, studying each pony. “I’m so on it!” Mabel said, pulling a trampoline out from somewhere. She moved in so that it was right under the bubbles. She jumped and went so high that her head almost touched them. She pulled out a sewing needle and popped the bubbles. Each of the ponies fell until two of them realized they could fly. They grabbed the orange and white one, but the pink pony fell and fell and landed on the trampoline. She started to bounce slightly. Suddenly the sky turned blue again and the craziness left. It looked normal again, with lots of ponies in the streets scratching their heads in confusion. Mabel gasped at the sight of them. “Unicorns!” she cried. The five ponies looked at the three curiously. The pink one’s hair popped up and suddenly it was completely tangled. “What the heck?” the rainbow one asked. “What just happened?” “Mabel,” Dipper said. “How did you do that?” Mabel smiled. “Never underestimate silliness, Dipper. I am a Congressman for the eighth and a half President, remember?” “I’m happy that everything’s back to normal, but where’s Twilight?” the orange mare asked her friends. The yellow one looked at the ground, but it was plain she knew something. Dipper turned to his friends. “Guys, we did it! We defeated Bill!” A cold laugh rang out from behind them. Dipper whipped around and looked up at Bill Cipher, who was floating next to a large bubble containing a purple mare. “Hardly! So maybe you freed the Elements of Harmony. Big deal. I have what I want, anyway.” The five glared angrily at him. “Give her back!” the rainbow one shouted. “Everypony.” the imprisoned mare said. “This was my choice. There was nothing else I could do. Discord will take care of you.” “See?” Bill asked. “I didn’t make her come. She chose to. You have very weak minds, ponies. That includes Pine Tree and Shooting Star. Also the big one here. Not sure what that’s about. Now if you’ll excuse me, ponies, I’m returning to my own dimension.” “No!” a few of the five yelled. “You’re not leaving with Twilight!” the rainbow one yelled at him. “Stop yelling out all the clichés. You do realize there’s nothing that you can do, right?” All the ponies looked at each other. “I guess so.” the pink one said. “But the author is really running out of ideas here, so can we move along to where you leave with Twilight?” Nobody said anything. “I mean, she doesn’t want this scene to drag on forever. I don’t understand why she won’t say it herself, because she’s done it before. I guess she’s just tired of doing it or something, but I really have no idea. I think it’s interesting that she chose me to tell you. Is it because I’m the most random one? Well, besides Bill, anyway. But Bill can’t be the one to say this. He’s supposed to be leaving with Twilight. And I think I might be the only one that can actually communicate with the author, which is cool…” During this bit of Pinkie’s rambling, Bill decided just to leave while he had the chance. He snapped his fingers and a portal opened up next to him. He nonchalantly floated through it, seeing that the ponies weren’t paying attention. “…and that is why I don’t like hazel nuts.” Pinkie finished. “Excuse me?” Dipper asked. The five ponies turned to look at him. “Uh, hi. I’m Dipper; this is my sister Mabel and our friend Soos. We’re from another dimension.” The rainbow Pegasus eyed him suspiciously. “Not the same dimension that Bill Cipher is from, right?” “No.” Dipper said. “Unfortunately for us he does visit quite often. We were originally coming to check out what this place was like, but I think we might have been the reason Bill took your friend. We’re really sorry.” The orange mare sighed. “I suppose Twilight was gonna give into Bill anyway. Ah’m Applejack, by the way. This here is Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Our friend, Twilight sparkle, was taken by Bill. I don’t know what in the world he did to her, but he’ll pay. Be sure of that.” Fluttershy quickly started to explain. “Bill didn’t do anything to Twilight. He offered to leave only if she left with him. She wanted to keep us safe. We have to move on now, girls.” The five of them looked sad, until Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Wait, she told Fluttershy this and not me? Why not? I would have given Bill my karate moves.” She acted out kicks and punches in the air. “A hiya, and a whaboom or a shibbitydoom, and I’d kick him.” They giggled. “That’s quite the lovely interpretation of what karate sounds like, Rainbow.” Applejack commented. “It was, like, perfect!” Mabel added. Dipper could tell she was trying to help keep the ponies happy. Of course, it was working. It was almost impossible not to be happy when Mabel was around. Even when she was annoying him, part of Dipper was still kind of having fun. “Dipper,” Mabel said, turning to him. “We can stay for a while longer, right? I mean, we don’t have to leave yet, do we?” “Gosh, Mabel. I don’t know if the ponies will even want us here. And besides,” he spoke to her in a low voice. “They just lost their best friend. I don’t think it’s the best time right now.” “Of course you can stay.” said Pinkie Pie, who had somehow bounced over without either of the twins noticing. “I’ve never met anypony from a different dimension. Only Twilight has.” Pinkie scratched her chin. "Actually, there was that one time when I went into a different dimension to save Rainbow Dash from three little girls with superpowers. They were really clingy." “Yes!” Mabel cried, pumping her hoof in the air. “I’m gonna go get pictures with all of the ponies so that I’ll always remember this day, even though there’s no way I could forget.” Dipper gasped as a though occurred to him. “Mabel, where’s Soos? He’s not here. He must have wondered off. Now we will have to stay longer.” Dipper dragged Mabel alongside him as he walked by. Pinkie had been showing her Gummy, who Mabel thought was adorable. “I’ll be back, Gummy!” Mabel said. “I want to say bye before I leave.” “Come on, Mabel.” Dipper urged. “We need to find Soos.” “Dudes!” cried a voice from above. “Up here!” The twins looked up and saw Soos stuck in a very high tree, but the surprising thing was that there were no branches lower than eight feet above the ground. “How did he get up there?” Mabel mumbled in awe. “I really don’t want to know.” Dipper grumbled. THE END