> Attack of the evil doors > by thetrapezoid > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ear Flop, Then Eye Flutter, Then Knee Twitch > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a boring, rainy day in Ponyville, because you can't have bright and sunny days all the time. Especially not when another storm was overdue from the previous week. As a result, business was slow at Sugarcube corner. But that didn't stop Pinkie Pie from baking loads of pastries for fun. "Pinkie, if we can't sell those cupcakes by the end of the day, we have to throw them out," said Mr. Cake. "We will lose a lot of our revenue." "But why must we stop baking cupcakes? I love baking," replied Pinkie Pie. "Thank you, Pinkie. But we can't be wasting food now can we?" "I'll just eat whatever we don't sell. It's no big deal." As Pinkie Pie grabbed another tray of uncooked cupcakes, Mr. Cake slammed the oven door shut. "No Pinkie. I don't want to make more than we can sell unless it is a special occasion." "Mr. Cake, you have to be nicer to the oven door." The pink mare's smile had turned into a frown. "I don't think doors like getting slammed all the time." "Pinkie, its a door. It doesn't have feelings." Pinkie gasped loudly. "MR. CAKE! How could you be so insensitive? How would you like it a door slammed you? How would you like it if doors didn't care about YOUR feelings?" Mr. Cake didn't answer but walked away rolling his eyes. "Typical Pinkie." As he moved out of the kitchen into the lobby, Pinkie's ears began to flop uncontrollably. "Uh, oh," she said. Then her eyes fluttered, then her knees twitched. "Mr. Cake! Watch out for the door!" He got the message too late. The upper half of the two-part door slammed right into Mr. Cake's face. Rubbing his head, he called out to his wife, who was busy upstairs. "Honeybun, I thought we agreed to close the windows on rainy days." "I DID close the windows," she replied. Mr. Cake checked all the windows in the store. They were indeed, closed. That's funny. Why would a door open quickly for no reason. "Simple," said the pink mare behind him. "He wanted payback injuring his friend." How did she read my... whatever, I don't have time for this. "Pinkie, why don't you take the rest of the day off. Business is slow anyway." "Okey, dokey, lokey." The pink mare bounced toward the lobby, but stopped to address the door that hit Mr. Cake in the face. "Two wrongs don't make a right, mister. You should apologize to Mr. Cake." Mr. Cake rolled his eyes as the party pony went out to play in the rain. *** Unlike most ponies, Pinkie Pie loved the rain. Her parents would never let her go out into the rain. She would always jump in the biggest puddle to make as big of a splash as possible. If only my friends could see how much fun this was. As she moved to jump in a puddle, she heard a large crash coming from Carousel Boutique. Pinkie Pie ran over and opened the door to Carousel Boutique. A table was overturned, clothing racks were toppled over, and Rarity was using one of the hooks to try to pry open the door to her bathroom. "Hi Rarity. Whatcha doin'?" "RRRRGGGHH! Trying to get the door to the bathroom open. For some reason it's stuck and I have to go really badly." She took the hook out and bucked the door. "What is WRONG with you?" "Rarity! Be nicer to the door! It isn't going to open if you do that. You have to say the magic words. Allow me." Pinkie Pie walked up to the door. "Could you please open up for my dear friend Rarity?" The door did not respond. "SERIOUSLY? Stop joking around and do something to break it down!" complained Rarity as she started to run in place for having to go. Pinkie put her hoof to her chin as she was thinking up ideas. "What we need, is a battering ram. I'll go get one. Why don't you just run to Sugarcube corner and use our bathroom?" "Thank you," said Rarity as she ran toward the front door. Suddenly Pinkie Pie's ears flopped, and her eyes fluttered, and her knees twitched. "STOP!" she shouted. This time Rarity managed to stop at the entrance to her boutique. As she did, the door slammed shut on her. Rarity attempted to open the door but it was jammed. "AHHHHHHHHH! I have to go!" she whined. Pinkie Pie ran into the kitchen and picked up an empty glass jar. "Here, Rarity. Use this." "Pinkie, that is disgusting. I'm not going to do that." "When ya gotta go, ya gotta go." "Rrrrgh, fine. Don't tell anyone about this." Rarity grabbed the jar and flew into a dressing room to take care of business. Now why would doors not want Rarity to go to the bathroom? thought Pinkie. Well, no more Mrs nice pony. Those doors need a lesson about inconsiderate behavior. Pinkie looked for a way to escape Carousel Boutique. Turns out it would be the same way that she breaks into buildings: the chimney. After popping out the top of the chimney, she slid down the roof and landed on the ground. She shook the soot off of her body before heading toward the farms. She dashed toward a sheep pasture near one of the farms. When she tried to open the door to the pen, splinters dug into her hoof. That's weird, now the door to the sheep pen is against us too? Why are doors being so mean? After picking the splinters out, she hopped over the fence and grabbed a ram named Sam the Ram.with her hooves and tied him up. "What are you doing to me?" he shouted. "Sorry, but I need your help for just a second." Pinkie ran back toward Carousel Boutique, carrying Sam on her back. When she arrived she got up on her hind legs and positioned the ram's head toward the door. The ram immediately tried to squirm out of his ropes once he realized what was about to happen. "Don't worry, Rarity. I brought a ram to break down the gate." Pinkie rammed the ram's horns into the entrance to Carousel Boutique. After a minute, Pinkie was able to break in. As Pinkie dropped Sam the ram, he collapsed on the ground from the abuse that was inflicted on him. As Pinkie walked into Carousel Boutique, she heard a scream coming from across the room. "Help me!" shouted Rarity. She was caught in her bathroom doorway. The door looked like it was suffocating her. "No! Bad door!" Pinkie said as she grabbed Sam to ram down that door as well. After a few smacks, Rarity was free from her trap. "You were right, Pinkie. The doors, THEY'RE AFTER US." Rarity was shivering in terror. "How did you even get stuck in the door?" asked Pinkie. "This one looked like it was working when it finally opened up, but then it tried to squeeze me to death when I entered the doorway." "We'll have to warn the others before they end up trapped by the doors too." The two ponies ran out of the Carousel Boutique into the pouring rain. Their first stop was the library. "Can I leave now?" asked Sam, who was still under Pinkie's custody. "Never! You are our only weapon against the doors." The bounded ram scowled as he bumped up and down on Pinkie's back. > Door Dependency > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Rarity and Pinkie Pie arrived at the library, they noticed that the door was missing, and that there were charred remains surrounding the frame. Water was raining onto the floor near the doorway. As the two ponies walked into the tree, they found a heap of books lying scattered across the floor. Twilight was levitating books across her eyes, scanning them for something relevant. Spike sat in the corner trying to bandage his fingers. "Twilight! Have the evil doors struck here as well?" Pinkie asked. Twilight had just noticed her two friends in her house. "Pinkie Pie! Rarity! Thank goodness you're here. Yes, the doors in our house have been very aggressive. Spike had to incinerate the front door just to free his fingers. Has the rest of the town been like this as well?" "Yes, it has," said Rarity. "My bathroom door tried to squish me!" "Don't worry, I'm already trying to find a counter spell to whatever is causing this." "Twilight, it isn't a spell," Pinkie said, "It is a revolution. The doors of Equestria are tired of being slammed, jammed, propped, and abused by their masters. They plan to destroy us all. We must fight back against the traitors. Once they are defeated, we can address some of their grievances." The other two ponies just stared at the crazy pink pony. Sam was the first to speak. "I think the explanation of the purple one is more..." "SAM. Can you please go get your friends? We need all the rams we can get in order to fight the doors." Pinkie untied the ram still lying on top of her back. He began to run out the door in his newly acquired freedom. "Wait, are you going to help us?" asked Pinkie Pie. Sam turned back to face his pink kidnapper. "Why should I help you? You kidnapped me and shoved me into several doors. In fact, I don't see a reason to help any of you ponies. You also enslave us and treat us horribly. You keep us in pens and shave our hair to make fancy clothes for yourself." He glared at Rarity, who began to shift her eyes in guilt. "Because you will be affected by this too," Pinkie replied. "Your own pen is blocked by a door. And those doors are merciless. They will be against you too." Sam didn't respond. He just scowled and ran off. "Pinkie Pie, you can't honestly be suggesting that the doors are alive right?" Twilight asked. "Of course I'm suggesting it," said Pinkie. "Doors have feelings too you know. And right now, they're feeling angry." "Well, gather the others. We may have to use the Elements of Harmony. Whether the doors are sentient or under a spell, the elements should fix the problem. It will be our last resort if I can't find a spell to solve the problem" "Twilight, The elements of harmony are locked behind a door," said Pinkie "Yeah, and Celestia can just open it with her magic," replied Twilight. "But that won't work, since that door is probably part of the revolution too. If only we weren't dependent on doors for everything," said Pinkie "We'll see if this epidemic has reached Canterlot. First get Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy," commanded Twilight. "Yes ma'am," said Rarity and Pinkie in unison. Each of them left the library and went into the storm. They split up in order to reach their friends faster. *** Rarity fought her way against the rain toward Fluttershy's cottage. She didn't like how her mane was being ruined over and over again, but her friends' safety was more important. Besides, her closet which contained her umbrella was blocked by a door, which, like all the others, was uncooperative. There it is. Just gotta knock on the door and hope she is home. As she tried to knock the door with her hoof, the door bent inward to avoid her hoof, forming a concave shape. Oh no, not this one too. I'll just have to try and force my way in. This isn't my area of expertise, but this door must be punished for disobedience. Rarity put aside her thoughts and trotted a few feet away from Fluttershy's door to get ready to charge. When she was ready, she bolted toward the door. Right before impact, the door swung open by itself. Rarity's momentum kept her going right into Fluttershy's room impacting directly with the yellow pegasus. The door slammed shut afterward. Wow, how did the door even know I was here? thought Rarity as she got off of her friend. "Fluttershy, I'm so sorry, but you've got to help us. Have you noticed how aggressive doors have been acting lately?" Rarity said as she pointed to Fluttershy's front door, "We must use the elements of harmony to banish the curse." "Yes, I have. The doors in my house have been hurting my animal friends. I can't figure out why." "I can't either. But perhaps we can use the Elements of Harmony to fix the problem. We'll need your help for that." "Wait, we can't go just yet." Fluttershy brought a birdcage that was lying on her desk. "You have to help Morning Glory. She is trapped inside, and the door is locked shut like all the other doors. And the gaps are too small for her to fit through." "These doors will even hurt innocent animals," Rarity said woefully. That means that Sam the Ram might be in trouble after all. Rarity magically grabbed the birdhouse out of Fluttershy's hands. "I think I may be able to remove the nails on the roof. Then she can just fly out." "Oh, thank you, Rarity. I don't even remember why I have a lock on the door." Rarity tugged on the nails of the roof with her magic. Slowly they began to slip out. Once they were all removed, out flew a small robin. It chirped with delight and relief. "Thank goodness you're safe," said Fluttershy as she gave Morning glory a small hug. "Quickly Fluttershy. We must find Rainbow Dash and get her to the library." "How will we get out though? The door is keeping us locked in." Rarity opened one of Fluttershy's windows. "Oh yeah, right," Fluttershy said, "Just let me get my umbrella." "Is it behind your closet door?" Rarity asked. "Yes it is. Why do you... Oh." The two ponies hopped out the window toward Rainbow Dash's house. The window hit Rarity's head on the way out. *** Pinkie Pie wasn't in her usual chipper mood. She traveled to Sweet Apple Acres by running instead of her usual hopping. The first thing she saw when she arrived, she saw that their barn door was broken down. She passed the barn and walked toward the house. She saw that every single door and window in the house was shattered. Rain was coming in from all entrances and making the first floor of the house fairly uninhabitable. Yeah! No door can stand up to the strength of AJ. She is like a prison warden and the doors are the prisoners. Then again, that isn't a very nice thing for wardens to do to their prisoners. The pink pony entered the drenched interior that was the house of the Apple family. The carpet made loud squishing noises from being soaked in water. "Applejack!" she yelled. "Down here," came a voice from below her. Pinkie ran over to Applejack's basement door, which was also broken down and ran down the stairs. The only source of light in the room was a small lantern sitting on a desk in the middle. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were sitting near the lantern wrapped up in towels. Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith were also down there, trying their best to keep the CMC warm. "Doors all over Ponyville are..." "Trying to hurt us, yes," interrupted Applejack. "The little ones were trapped up in their clubhouse when they the storm started. We had no idea that the doors and windows were locked shut, or that the clubhouse was covered in leaks. We eventually had to break every single door and window down before it could hurt anyone else. What's your story?" "Well, Twilight plans to use the Elements of Harmony to stop the doors from revolting. We need your help to do so." "Revolting? Alliance?" "Yes, the doors are unhappy with us, and they have come to fight for their freedom." "Uh... huh. I just think it's just one've them curses. But I'll help ya out." "Why did you shatter the windows though?" "They were also acting viciously." "So the doors and windows are in cahoots! No way!" Applejack made one last check that everyone else was okay before heading out the basement with Pinkie Pie. "You are a pretty brutal prison warden Applejack. I don't think the public would be happy with how you treat your prisoners." Applejack just nodded; not even attempting to comprehend what she had heard. *** Rarity and Fluttershy arrived at Rainbow's floating house. Fluttershy moved up to the window to get Rainbow Dash, who was taking a nap on her bed and snoring very loudly. "Psst. Rainbow Dash, wake up," Fluttershy said as she gently nudged her friend. "Wha? Is it time to end the storm yet?" asked the sleepy pegasus. She sat up from her bed. "No, Rainbow Dash. Doors are trying to take over Equestria." The lazy pegasus fell back on her bed and drifted off to sleep. Oh yeah, Dash doesn't have doors in her house. She wouldn't know anything about this. How can I convince her to help? thought Fluttershy. "Rainbow Dash? Twilight needs your help." "Urmf, she probably just got disorganized. She worries about everything." Rainbow said. "I need your help too." The blue pegasus sat back up. "What do you need help with?" "Fighting back against doors." "Doors? That thing that the rest of you have that just get in the way of everything?" "Yes. They are trying to hurt us. You probably didn't experience this because you are... door independent." "That was because back when I was at flight school, I fractured my hoof when it got caught in a door. I have been avoiding doors ever since. I designed my house to be completely free of them." "Then you must believe me when I say that the doors are now actively hurting us." Rainbow sighed. "This wouldn't be a problem if you designed your houses to be as awesome as mine. But let's see how I can help." "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Fluttershy gave her sleepy friend a wet hug, due to flying in the rain. "Wonder why any of you ground dwellers even need doors. They just latch onto loose body parts." The two pegasi flew out and descended from the flying house. They found Rarity trying to get the water out of her mane as she took shelter under the house. "It's hopeless, you're gunna have to come out sooner or later," said Rainbow Dash. "Unless..." *** The two groups arrived back at the library at roughly the same time. Rarity was having her own personal cloud to shield her from the rain. Meanwhile, Twilight had a brown paper bag over her snout as she tried to calm herself down with heavy breathing. "So what's the news Twilight? Could you get the elements of harmony?" asked Applejack. Twilight took a deep breath. "No. Whatever this is, it has affected Canterlot as well. In fact, the magical seal on the door lock to the elements was even stronger than Celestia. In fact, Celestia's horn is actually CAUGHT inside the lock. She is effectively trapped." "Wow, these doors are even stronger than we thought," Pinkie said. "We have a huge fight ahead of us." "But," began Twilight. "She was able to identify the magic that was binding the door." "What kind of magic is it?" asked Rarity. "Sombra's." > Rise From The Mountain > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Sombra's magic? I thought that huge crystal explosion disintegrated him," said Rainbow Dash. "Well, he's back apparently. We must find out where he is and stop him," said Twilight. "But Twilight. You already defeated King Sombra. This MUST be the doors acting on their own free will," blurted Pinkie. "Celestia was sure that this was King Sombra's magic. It must be him that is behind this," replied Twilight. "That is exactly what they WANT us to think. They're trying to trick us to into leaving Ponyville for the crystal empire, so we won't be around to stop them." Twilight wasn't convinced with Pinkie's rebuttal. "Well, if we are going to the crystal empire, it's going to be a long journey." "Can't we just take the train?" asked Applejack. "We could, but what do trains have on them?" asked Twilight. "Oh yeah, doors." "Maybe we should go rescue Princess Celestia. If we free her from the door, she can use her magic to wipe out all the doors at once, teleport us to the crystal empire, or who knows what," suggested Rarity. "Hmm, that might actually be a viable option," replied Twilight. "But Canterlot is a two-day walk from Ponyville." "Well, we CAN still take the train. We just have to rip off all the doors first," said Rainbow Dash. "Hmm, that is true. Anyone have any better ideas?" asked the purple unicorn. The others just shrugged their shoulders. "I'll take that as a no. To Canterlot it is, then." The mane six began to make their way toward the train station. It had finally stopped raining, but most of the ponies were trapped in their houses by their own doors. When they got to the Ponyville train station, there was indeed a train there, but no employees or passengers in sight. "Hello?" shouted Rainbow Dash. A loud banging came from inside the engine. "There are ponies trapped inside the engine," Twilight exclaimed. Why would a train engine need a door? Don't the engineers need a way to breathe from all that smoke? thought Rainbow Dash. Twilight charged up her magic as she ran toward the front of the train. When she got close to the engine, she disappeared in a bright flash of purple light. "Oh no! The doors have gained the ability to make ponies disappear altogether. AHHHHHHH!" The pink mare began to shout and run in circles. A few second later, Twilight reappeared with the train's driver and engineer. "Calm down Pinkie, just a teleportation spell." "Oh, I know. I just like being scared sometimes." "Well, this isn't the time for the fun of being scared, let's rip the doors off this train and get to Canterlot." "Sorry ladies," said the driver, "But the train is out of service. At least until this... occurance is over." "We're sorry too, but we need to get to Canterlot to rescue the princess. Can we at least take your engine?" "Wait a minute. You guys are the elements of harmony right?" "Yes," they replied in unison. "Then I guess I can give you the engine, but first, there are a bunch of passengers trapped inside the train. We need to get all of them out." The band of heroes agreed. One by one, they began to rescue the prisoners of the train doors. Twilight teleported each of them out, one by one. Applejack and Rainbow Dash broke down the doors of various other cars. Pinkie apologized to each individual door that was broken down. She also began keeping track of each of those doors in a notebook, marking them as a war casualty. Rarity and Fluttershy escorted each of the refugees to the town square, away from any form of shelter. After all the passengers were out of the train, the driver handed over control of the train engine to Twilight. He also unbuckled the engine from the passenger cars, so they wouldn't be slowed down. "Wait, before we go, let's have a moment of silence to each door we lost in this battle." Pinkie closed her eyes, sat down, and clamped her front hooves together. Rarity got down beside her. "What in tarnation? Ya don't actually believe her, do ya?" asked Applejack. "I don't know. It's just... Pinkie saved me from these doors. Maybe she does understand them better than we do." "Doors aren't alive, Rarity. Let's get in the engine," said Twilight. Neither of them moved from their sitting positions. Twilight got frustrated and telekinetically lifted them up into the train engine. After ripping off the door to the inside, they started the furnace and the train was off. "How do you know how to drive a train?" asked Applejack. "Books!" said Twilight and Rainbow Dash in unison. *** "There's the tunnel. We're halfway there." Applejack was looking out the open window. "Race you to the other side," said Rainbow Dash. She hopped out the train and began to fly over the mountain. "Wait! Come back! We have to stick together." But Twilight did not reach the eager pegasus. "Calm down Twilight. This is our first break from fighting doors in a while," said Rarity, "Let's just have a little fun and we'll be at Canterlot in no time." "Calm Down?" "Yes. Deep breath in..." Twilight inhaled deeply. "And Exhale." Twilight exhaled loudly. "Okay, let's tell ghost stories while inside the mountain." "Great idea Twilight. Rainbow Dash is gunna be upset when she finds out she missed out on ghost stories," said Applejack. As the train became shrouded in darkness from the tunnel, Twilight began her story. *** Jewels were constantly sought after by the rich nobles of Canterlot. That is why the caves beneath it were created. Hundreds of ponies were hired to dig deep down into the caves to find all of those prized gems that were demanded. As they dug deeper and deeper to find more jewels, they unleashed a dark horror within. Workers returned with cannibalistic behavior and complete insanity. Eventually, their bosses decided to quarantine the workers down in the depths of the mines. They did this by encasing all of the lower levels in crystals. Those trapped down in the caves were never seen again. And no one else entered those caves, FOREVER. *** SLAM The train had crashed into something and sent the five ponies flying toward the front of the engine. After recovering, Twilight exited the engine to see what had happened, using her horn to illuminate the area. What she saw was something she should have anticipated. "Girls, I think I forgot about something." "What happened Twilight?" asked Applejack. "I forgot that these tunnels have sliding metal doors to the entrances. They were supposed to prevent the tunnels from getting flooded in case of a rainstorm, but now they are preventing us from getting out," Twilight explained. "Wait. So we are *gulp* trapped in this here tunnel?" "No, of course not. I'll just teleport us to the other side. Let me just check to make sure this is the exit." Twilight lit up her horn and disappeared from the cave. The piercing sunlight from the exit temporarily blinded her. The pegasi have finally cleared up the clouds. Those doors can't stop my magic. It took a second for Twilight to realize that she wasn't standing on anything. She looked down and saw nothing but a giant cliff below. The ground seemed so far away. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Twilight was falling and completely in shock at what had happened. How come there were no train tracks from the other side of the door? After taking a second to get over her panic, she charged up her magic and prepared another teleportation spell, but the ground was approaching fast. She blinked back to the cave just milliseconds before impact. "There is nothing but a cliff on the other side!" shouted the terrified unicorn. "NO WAY! The doors have gained Discord's powers. They can now manipulate the terrain at will." Pinkie became both terrified and impressed. "Is there no limit to your powers?" she shouted at the metal door. "I highly doubt that Pinkie. Let's put the engine in reverse and go back the way we came. There will be a door at where we came in, but I can just teleport us out that way." As Twilight hopped on the train, Rarity put the engine in reverse. This time, Twilight kept her horn illuminated the whole time, so she could see where they was going. Eventually, the train came upon a solid rock wall, upon which Rarity stopped the train. "Uh, Twi. Is the door from where we came in supposed to be made of rock?" asked Applejack. "No, it's supposed to be made of metal, like where we came in." She tapped on the rock wall. "It's hollow, I'm going to see what is on the other side." Twilight telported to the other side. Her hornlight showed train tracks running parallel to the door, as well as a branch of tracks leading into the door. "So, the train splits off the path to Canterlot, and goes off on a path to nowhere blocked by this rock wall. But that would mean that this rock wall is actually a..." Twilight tried to grasp the stone door with her magic. Despite it's resistance, it slowly began to swing open. Twilight saw her friends in the passage that the hidden passage revealed. "A ROCK DOOR? That's what led us to the track to nowhere?" Rarity's voice was cracking as she was yelling. "These doors are everywhere! WHY do we need rock doors?" "I"m trying to figure that out myself," said Twilight. "Um...I think I know why." The ponies turned to the shy pegasus. "I heard that the train company wanted to extend the train to Cloudsdale, but the cancelled the project when they found out that floating train tracks were too expensive. Rainbow Dash was especially upset when she heard the news." "Ohh, so Cloudsdale must be where this track was originally headed for," continued Applejack. "And after cancelling the project, they sealed the branch line with a stone door." "Well, that solves that mystery. Let's get going, shall we." Twilight hopped back in the engine, and the train started moving toward the entrance again. The rock door attempted to smash the engine as it passed through, but Twilight was able to negate it's movement with telekinesis. Eventually they came across what they thought was where they came in. As suspected, it was blocked by a steel door. "Okay girls. Let's get out of these caves." Twilight lit up her magic and teleported the five of them and the train engine to the other side of the door. Unbeknownst to them, it was another cliff. After falling for a second, Twilight teleported all of her friends back inside the cave. The train engine continued to fall to the depths below. "Another cliff. That means that this isn't the way we came," panted Applejack. "There was probably more rock doors along the entire line, all deceiving us into going in the wrong direction," continued Twilight. "Who knows how many times our course had deviated. Rrrrrrgh, I knew we shouldn't have calmed down. We should have been on alert the entire time." "Are... we going to be stuck in this mountain forever?" asked Fluttershy. "Are we going to end up like the miners who were never found because no one went looking for them?" "YYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS," shouted Pinkie Pie dramatically. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," replied Rarity dramatically. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH YEEEEEEEEEEEESSS WEEEEEE ARRRRRRRE STUUUUUUUCK INNNNN HEEEERRRREEEE." "I know, i meant "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" as in "OOOOOOOHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO"." Suddenly, the metal door burst open. From outside came a familiar white ram. "SAM! You came back for us," said Pinkie Pie. She ran over and gave the guy a hug. "Took you guys long enough. Thought you might need some help." It was the voice of a familiar blue pegasus. "Rainbow Dash, Ah thought ya left us," said Applejack, who ran over to give her friend a hug. "Alright, we got out. But we still can't go anywhere. Rainbow Dash can't carry all of us to Canterlot." "Oh, I'm carrying nobody. Sam, show 'em how awesome you are." Sam the ram walked back toward the entrance. His wool coat slowly began to get larger and larger. It looked like he was going to burst, but instead, he started rising up into the air. "I came up here by myself. Your blue friend just showed me the way to where she saw you guys falling." Five jaws fell to the floor as they saw the ram fly, all on his own. "Ya never told us you could fly," said Applejack. "When you exert your authority over others, you prevent them from exercising their full potential. Oh, and because there are five of you, I brought friends." Four other sheep floated up in front of the entrance. Each of them tossed a rope into the cave, for each of the ponies to hang onto. "Good thing you guys remained loyal to us, unlike the treacherous entrances," said Pinkie Pie. "But why do ya wanna help us after all we've done to you?" asked Applejack. "We were always willing to help. All you had to do was ask." replied Sam the flying ram. After much more apologies, each of the ponies (except Fluttershy) grabbed onto a rope and continued their journey toward the city of Canterlot by inflatable sheep. "Looks like we will rescue the princess after all," said Pinkie Pie, who was finally back to her cheerful mood. > Ram Cannon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the flying sheep passengers got closer to Canterlot, they noticed that the situation there was much worse than in Ponyville. Multiple houses were being torn down by the royal guards in order to free the inhabitants inside. Soldiers were surrounding the castle both on the ground and in the sky, trying to find a way in to rescue their leader. "Drop us down in front of the castle," said Twilight. The flock of flying sheep dropped their new friends in front of the castle. Sadly, nearby ponies were too preoccupied with the current disaster to notice what the sheep were doing. "What are we waiting for? Let's teleport inside and rescue the princess," said Rainbow Dash. "We can't do that," replied Twilight. "Why not?" "The royal castle is protected by a magical aura that prevents outside ponies from teleporting inside. If it wasn't there, any unicorn could get inside and rob the place." Rainbow Dash groaned. "So the only way is through the front door?" "No, there is also back doors and side doors." "But only doors, right?" "Uh, yeah. But don't worry, I will be able to find a way inside." "Good luck with that," said one of the guards. "We've been trying to get in there for a while now." "Have you tried breaking through one of the windows?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Of course, but this is crystallized glass imported from the Crystal Empire, which is impenetrable. It was built for security reasons." "Are any of the doors leading to the balconies breakable? I could fly up there and..." "Nope, it's all made of crystallized glass." "But there HAS to be a way in there." BOOM The cracking thunder was loud enough to have everypony's ears ringing for a few seconds. As they all turned to face the source, they found a huge hole in the stone wall. In front of it was Pinkie Pie, grinning while laying on top of a large black cannon. "Well, you never said that the stone walls were impenetrable," she said. "Pinkie Pie, you're a genius," exclaimed Twilight. "I didn't know your party cannon was that powerful." "No, THIS cannon is my hole-y cannon, cuz it makes holes. My party cannon is for parties only." "Awesome," said Rainbow Dash. "Not so awesome for me." Sam was lying dazed below the hole. "Good thing I drink a lot of milk. These horns wouldn't be able to take this much abuse otherwise. "Sorry, I didn't have any cannonballs with me," replied the abusive pink pony. Pinkie Pie picked up Sam as she and her friends entered the castle through the breach. She dragged her cannon with her, as there would inevitably be more walls and doors to break down. The princess was trapped on the third level, where the elements of harmony were located. Their first door stood fifteen hooves (about the same as a human foot) high and twenty hooves wide. "Nothing my hole-y cannon can't solve." As Pinkie Pie fired Sam at the door, the door quickly swung open to let Sam through, then immediately shut again. "Nice move, but let's see you dodge this!" The pink cannoneer loaded two of the other rams into her hole-y cannon. "You know the only way to repay us for this is our complete freedom, right?" they said. "No problem," replied Pinkie. The cannon was lit and the shots were fired, one after the other. The first shot aimed directly at the door, which it dodged. But as the door attempted to shut closed again, it collided with the second fired ram. The door was breached open, revealing stairs on the other side. The band of ponies and rams ascended the stairs to the second level. The large doorway to the next level was twenty hooves tall and made of concrete. "How am I supposed to break through that?" Sam asked. "Simple, we use more powder," Pinkie replied. "Pinkie, I think they've had enough. Give the cannon a rest then." "Why we have to go through the door specifically?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Maybe we don't," said Pinkie Pie as she placed Sam in the cannon and aimed it upward. She fired a large hole into the ceiling. "Ah, good thinking." The rams then lifted the flightless ponies up through the clearing, while the pegasi followed them. As they continued toward the chamber of the elements, they found that they had to contend with one more door. Pinkie began to stare down this final door. "Time to kick doors down and chew candy, and I'm all out of ammunition... Wait, that's not right." "How in the hay are we going to get past this door?" asked Applejack. "It's like, forty hooves high and made of crystallized glass on top of more concrete." "We have no choice. We must... reason with it," asserted Pinkie. "Pinkie, if reasoning with the doors didn't work before, why would it work now?" asked Rarity. "Maybe we can bribe it," suggested Rainbow Dash. "But we have to find out what doors like?" "Don't tell me you're buying into the sentient door theory as well," said Twilight. "Who knows maybe it'll work." "Oh, I know something that the door would want." Rarity walked up to the door, "If you let us in, I'll give you the most fabulous paint job you ever received." "Yeah, ya can trust Rarity. She's great at making things look good." asked Applejack. "Applejack..." began Twilight grumpily. Suddenly, there was some rumbling from below. It had the sound of a marching army, but not one with hooves for feet. "I'll go see what that is," said Rainbow Dash. She flew back down the hole to the lower level. Meanwhile, the door had started making growling noises. "Grr. Rrrrgh. Ahhhhh." "That sounds like King Sombra," said Applejack. "Twilight, you were right, it does sound like King Sombra," Pinkie said. "Thank you Pinkie. As you can see, this is not in fact a revolution of sentient..." "That means it only understands Sombra." Pinkie cleared her throat. "Rrrrghh. Rawr. Hahaha. Grrrrrr." The door responded. "Rrrrgh. Mine. Grrrrrr." "Rrrrrrgh. Crysssssstals. Uhhhhhhhhhh." "Rawr. Uhhhhhh." "What did it say?" asked Rarity. "Not sure. He either said that he is not letting us through under the orders of his master, or that The Home Stable is having a great sale on windows." "Tell him the bribe we are offering." "Rrrrrgh. Paint. Grrrrgh. Ahhhhh. Mine. Haarrrr." "Ah. Grr. Rawr. Arrrrr. Grrrrr." "He says he'll take it, as long as it's blue and orange polka dots." "But that's such an ugly color scheme. No one would look good in that." "Rarity, just agree to it. Remember that the customer is always right," said Applejack. "You guys weren't right when it came to your gala dress design." Rainbow Dash came speeding back into the third floor. "You guys! That marching sound is an army of doors. They have somehow detached from their buildings, overpowered the guards, and are now climbing up the stairs toward us." "Rrrrgh. Rarity, just accept the deal," said the frustrated orange pony. "Fine." Pinkie relayed the message and the door opened up to the Elements of Harmony hallway. Quickly the team rushed inside and shut the door before the other doors could catch up to them. "How did they even know we were here? Doors don't have eyes, do they?" asked Sam. "That's a good question. At least the windows in here aren't also against us as well," said Rarity. "Whater you talkin about Rarity? The windows ARE in on it." replied Applejack. "But we left Fluttershy's house through her window. What do you mean they are also in on it?" "Uh oh," whispered Fluttershy. She flew to Rarity and began digging through her mane. "Fluttershy! What are you doing?" she asked. Fluttershy dug out the splinter that the window had planted inside Rarity's mane when they left the house. "That must be how they know we are here. That splinter is some sort of... tracking device," said Pinkie. "So all the doors in Equestria have closed in on us to prevent us from rescuing Celestia," Rarity commented. "Wait, where IS Celestia?" asked Rainbow Dash. They hadn't even looked at the magical door for the elements standing on the other side of the room. When they finally did, they saw that indeed, Celestia wasn't there. "Did, she escape?" "No, we would have heard from her if she did," said Twilight. "Hold on, what is that?" asked Sam. He was pointing to something on the ground in front of the door. As they approached the object, it turned out to be a door. Not just any door, but one with Princess Celestia on it. It looked like she barely fit into the space allowed by the door. Jaws dropped as they realized what had happened. "Celestia... is a DOOR?" "She must've been stuck inside the magical door for so long that it turned her into a door," cried the purple librarian. "Celestia! Can you hear me?" There was no response. Instead, Celestia opened herself up to reveal a stairway beneath her. "I didn't know this tunnel existed," said Rarity. "Neither did I, but I feel that we must go down there in order to stop this madness," said Twilight. Meanwhile, there was a large bang at the front gate. The door army had made it to the chamber. "I'll go down there. You guys stall the door army as much as possible," Twilight ordered. "I'll go with you," said Pinkie Pie. "No, I'm doing this alone." "Twilight..." Pinkie suddenly became very serious, "You are going to need my help with this. We wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise." Twilight gave this some thought. Surely Pinkie wasn't correct when it came to a lot of things. But then, how else could the door have opened without her diplomacy? How could they have made it into the castle without her quick thinking? Perhaps it was worth it to bring her along. "Ok Pinkie, you can come." "Thank you, Twilight." As the two ponies descended down the stairwell revealed by Trapdoor Celestia, the steel door started making growling noises with the door army. "Looks like the army is trying to convince the big door to join their side again," said Rainbow Dash. "Let's start barricading the door." The ponies started propping various objects in the room against the door. They were hoping that their friends would find the source of the problem before the door army could overpower them. > Bright Lights > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Pinkie and Twilight traveled down the narrow corridor, it began to grow darker and darker. Twilight illuminated her horn so they could see where they were going. In addition, Sombra's laugh was faintly echoing in the hallway. "Do you know what it is saying?" asked Twilight. "Don't be silly, Twilight. It's not saying anything right now." replied the pink pony, "Most of the language is just meaningless evil laughter." "Uh huh..." As they continued down the hallway, they found themselves a small hemispheric room that was about 20 hooves in diameter. On the other side was a large black door with a crystal at the top. "That's Sombra's door. I remember it from the crystal empire." "Well, let's open it," said Pinkie. As she moved her hoof to open the door, it moved away to the right. When she tried again, it moved up to the ceiling. "It... It wants to play tag! I love tag." Pinkie began to chase the door around the room trying to grab the doorknob. Twilight shot a magical bolt at the crystal above the door, making it stationary. "Gotcha!" said Pinkie Pie as she grabbed the handle. As she opened the door, there was a bright flash of light and Pinkie found herself standing in the middle of Ponyville. Huh? How did I get here? The first thing Pinkie noticed was the large number of ponies walking around town. They seemed extremely frustrated. Looks like these ponies need some cheering up. "Hi Daisy! Why are YOU so unhappy? It looks like you managed to get out your door." Daisy returned a large scowl. "Pinkie, what in the world made you think you were welcome back to Ponyville?" "What? I live here." Applejack joined the conversation. "I thought we told you we didn't want to see your face around Ponyville ever again. We are SICK of your constant singing and reckless behavior." "Applejack! I'm your friend. Why would you say that?" Rainbow Dash landed beside her. "I'm afraid that your disgustingly chipper attitude isn't welcome around here. Now leave this town, and never come back." "How could you say that?" Pinkie began to break down crying. *** "Pinkie? PINKIE!" Twilight was shaking Pinkie Pie out of her trance. "Wha? What happened? I was in Ponyville, and my friends were telling me they didn't want me..." "Calm down. It's the door. It shows us what we fear the most." "Well that's not nice!" shouted the pink pony at the door, "How would you like it if I showed you what your biggest fear was?" "What would a door even be afraid of?" "This!" Pinkie Pie took out her cannon. "Now tell us," began the pink interrogator, "Why have the doors revolted against us?" "RRRRRGGGHHHhh! SLAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVEES! CRYSSSSTALLLLLLSSSS!" "At least this one UNDERSTANDS our language," commented Twilight. "You enslaved them? But how?" The door continued to speak with the grunts and growls of the Sombra dialect. "You showed them their worst fear? But what is a door's worst fear?" *** The door flashed another bright light and both Twilight and Pinkie Pie found themselves back in Ponyville. They began to brace themselves for any scary dialogue from other ponies, as that was what Sombra's door liked to do. Instead what they saw was Rainbow Dash taking doors off of of various buildings and putting them in a big pile in the center of town. Twilight, utterly confused, walked up to her friend to ask what was going on. "Well Twilight, I'm glad you asked," answered the pegasus. "You remember the recent invention in Cloudsdale? The Selectively Permeable Cloud?" "Yeah." "Well, every homeowner in Ponyville is buying them, since they perform the same function as a door, but are so much safer against potential door injuries." "And you are gathering all the doors in Ponyville?" "Yup. It's awesome. Finally Equestria see the inherent danger and evil that is present within doors, and are moving forward to a safer alternative. No longer will hooves, manes, wings, or horns be crippled by those wooden menaces." *** There was another flash of light and the two ponies found themselves standing in the small room again. "So the doors fear they will all become useless and turned into scrap wood with the recent invention of the SPC," said Twilight. "That's horrible! I wouldn't want to become a scrap pony. What does a scrap pony do anyway?" "Well Pinkie Pie, I guess you were right. The doors are sentient after all. They were just being enslaved by Sombra's door," said Twilight. "So let's do to this door what we did to Sombra." "But that would require us to go all the way to the Crystal Empire to get the crystal heart. AND, this plan would be a violation of the 8th amendment to the constitution, which protects criminals from cruel and unusual punishment. We can solve this problem by negotiation RIGHT NOW." "What amendment? What constitution? I thought we lived in a monarchy." "Oh, right. Wrong universe. But we can still solve this problem right now." Pinkie turned to the door. "If you stop trying to take over Equestria, we'll give you a new paint job." The door swung open and slammed in Pinkie's face. "Okay... I guess you're not into makeovers. What DO you like?" The door responded with more Sombra language. "Well, we can't let you enslave other doors any longer. They need free will like every living thing." "Pinkie Pie," began Twilight, "Not every evil being can be negotiated with." She lit up her horn and fired a white beam at the top of the door. The door was forced open to reveal the chamber behind it. Inside lay a small chest on top of a concrete pedestal. "The elements of harmony. We HAVE to use them." Twilight levitated the chest out the chamber and opened it. She levitated her crown above her head and then attached the element of laughter to Pinkie's neck. "Now let's get the others," said Twilight as she began walking back the way they came. Pinkie sighed. "I was THIS close to ending this without deus ex machina." *** The two ponies stopped at the trapdoor formerly known as Celestia. "Shh... Do you hear that?" asked Twilight. Pinkie put her ear to the door. "No, I don't hear anything." "Exactly! When we left, the others were trying to keep the other doors from making it here. Right now, there is no sign of a struggle. Did they... fail?" "Only one way to find out." "PINKIE! NO!" But the eager pink pony had already opened Celestia. Instead of finding themselves back in Canterlot Castle, they found themselves in room with four small corridors. Torches provided light in all of them. Each one had a small door at the end of the corridor. "Whoa! Surreal!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "This doesn't make any sense," said Twilight as she followed Pinkie out the door. "I'm sure this was the way we came." "Look!" Pinkie was pointing at one of the doors. "That's Applejack's cutie mark!" Twilight squinted her eyes at the door. "Hey, you're right." In fact, all four of the doors had the cutie marks of their friends plastered right in the center of them. "Have they been turned into doors as well?" asked Pinkie. "I don't think so, otherwise we would actually see their bodies on the doors like with Celestia." Twilight turned to close the door behind them. She intended to ask her mentor for advice. "What is this place? What do we do now?" The picture of Celestia merely winked at her student. "I think we should open one of those doors to find out what is on the other side," said Pinkie Pie. Twilight and Pinkie walked to the door with Applejack's cutie mark. As they got closer, Twilight realized that the apple was not rounded, but polygonal. Ignoring it, she used her magic to turn the knob slowly and open the door. There was a bright flash of light. *** The two ponies found themselves standing in the middle of an orchard. The sky was bright, sunny, and clear. The first thing that Pinkie took notice of was the strange fruit growing on the trees that were neatly organized in rows beside them. They were cubic apples and were sparkling in the sunlight. "This must be an orchard in the Crystal Empire," said Pinkie Pie. "Okay, but why are we here?" "Hey! You two!" The shout came from behind them. As the pair turned around, they came across a sparkling red crystal pony. Her mane was tied up in fashionable pony tail. Her cutie mark was a polygonal apple "Do you work here?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Yes I do! But what are you two doing out here in the open? Sombra is on the loose!" "Sombra! Where?" panicked Twilight. "There! Look out!" shouted the crystal farm pony. Twilight felt a large pelt on the back of her head. She rubbed the back of her neck and found that someone had hit her with a clod of dirt. She turned to face her attacker, only to find a small black unicorn colt standing about thirty hooves away from her in the orchard. He was holding another dirt clod in his hoof." "That kid Sombra keeps pelting all the passersby with various objects, including my precious crystal apples. I keep warning ponies not to come too close. If only I could catch that mischievous little runt." The farm pony began to chase after the colt, Sombra. There was another bright flash of light. *** Twilight and Pinkie found themselves standing outside the door where they came in. "So Sombra was just like any other pony?" asked Twilight. "Yeah, but let's go to the other doors to find out just how he went from just a funny prankster into such meanie meany-pants who tries to take over Equestria with doors." The duo headed back down the corridor from where they came and headed down the one with gemstone cutie mark. A bright flash of light accompanied them as the door was opened. *** The two ponies found themselves standing outside of a dark cave. A few crystal ponies which could only be identified as miners were walking in and out of the cave carrying heavy loads of crystals. The surrounding country side was covered in snow. Few trees were around on the desolate tundra. For some reason though, Twilight and Pinkie Pie did not feel cold. "Look over there," pointed Pinkie Pie. It was Sombra the colt. He was galloping toward one of the crystal unicorns standing near the cave. She had a single purple gemstone as her cutie mark. Her coat was a shiny navy blue with a curly purple mane. "Hey! *pant* I'm back," said Sombra. "Where were you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago," said the mare. "But sis, why do we even need to do this? I feel like all we do is dig, dig, dig." "Well, when you're older you can decide how this family makes money then." "Why should we even have to work for our money? Why can't others work for our money? Why can't any of these stuck up ponies work for us?" "Because only the nobles are allowed to do that. And we are the serfs that work under them." "Well, we should be the nobles. All they do is sit in their nice comfy mansions and throw their lives away at jousting tournaments." There was another flash of light that blinded Twilight and Pinkie Pie. *** "So apparently he was jealous of his position in the feudal society that he lived in," said Twilight. "And that is how he got the motive to become the enslaving slaver who enslaves other ponies," replied Pinkie Pie. The two ponies ran back and entered the door with butterfly cutie mark. Unlike Fluttershy's cutie mark, this butterfly had flames on it. *** After the flash, the first thing that Twilight and Pinkie had noticed was the burning crystal city. This time the sky was dark and full of smoke. Far away on the road a battle was taking place between various crystal ponies. Unicorns shot flaming projectiles from their horns. Earth ponies and pegasi were fighting each other with various spears, swords, and axes, all made of crystal. Citizens were running around in the street in panic. "What is going on here?" asked Twilight. "It's a coup! What do you think?" The voice came from a a stallion with a butterfly for his cutie mark. "The serfs have gone crazy! They say that they intend to overthrow the oppressive nobles and establish a new regime. They completely burnt down my garden and plan to raze the rest of the city." "Is there any way we can help?" "I doubt it. Us nobles are hopelessly outnumbered." *** The two ponies returned to the room from where they came in another flash of light. "One more to go!" shouted Pinkie Pie. The final door with the lightning did not flash light. Instead, they two ponies blacked out. *** The ponies regained consciousness in the crystal palace. The area was quiet, so they could only assume that the battle had passed. Newly crowned King Sombra was sitting in the throne room with his sister. He had taken on his recognizable form, having dark red eyes and an aura of black magic surrounding his body. "Well bro, we finally did it. We overthrew the oppressive nobles and are now the new dictators," said the mare. "Yes, time to make all those crystal ponies work for me!" ordered King Sombra. "Wait, what about all the other serfs that helped you in your revolution? And what is this about "me". WE overthrew the government." "They must become my slaves as well." "But why? They helped us." "I will not tolerate slaves that talk back to me." "I'm not your slave! I'm your sister." Sombra charged up his dark green magic. A large green lightning bolt erupted from his horn and hit her sister square in the chest. "Now you are my slave. You will spend the rest of your life guarding the crystal heart that the crystal ponies must not find." "Yes, of course. Master." The mare disappeared into the ground. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Twilight and Pinkie Pie were too shocked to say anything before they started teleporting back to the chamber. *** "So, what now?" asked Twilight. "We know Sombra's back-story, but how does that allow us to stop his door?" "Remember that Sombra said that his sister would spend the rest of her life guarding the crystal heart," said Pinkie Pie. "Yes." "Well, what was guarding the crystal heart back in the crystal empire?" "THE DOOR! Sombra's door is actually his sister! And with my anti-changeling spell, I can return the door back into its original form." "Great idea, Twilight!" Celestia had opened up by herself as the two ponies raced back to Sombra's door, having finally solved the puzzle. "Time to set you free." Twilight charged up her magic and fired a blast at the door. It glowed purple before it slowly began to fade away. Inside the chamber, a navy blue crystal pony began to fade into existence. When she had finally solidified, she jumped to her feet in panic. "STOP! I REFUSE!" "It's okay," assured Pinkie. "He's gone. It's over. You're safe." "Are we?" "Yes, but now we need your help in saving our friends." "What happened to them? Where am I?" "Well, while you were enslaved by your brother, you somehow turned every door in Equestria against us." "I'm sorry. I was just so confused. When I noticed I had no master, I had this sudden urge to keep enslaving all other doors." "Sombra's magic must have made you like him. He planned for you to take over in case her was defeated, whether or not you wanted to," said Twilight. "Well, I think I can help. My brother is not the only one who knows door magic," said the mare. The trio walked back toward Celestia. As she was opened, they came across an army of doors waiting for them. "My name is Humbra, and I command you to return to your hinges." The unicorn charged her magic up in a bright flash of blue light. Everyone was blinded. *** When they came to, the chamber of the elements of harmony had been restored to it's original layout. The army of doors were completely gone. Twilight's friends all woke up on the floor in confusion. "Where is she?" asked Twilight. Pinkie pointed to her mentor lying on the ground, who was slowly opening her eyes "Princess Celestia! I'm so glad you're okay." She rushed to give her teacher a hug. "How did you lose to the door? What is it like being a door? How..." Princess Celestia put her hoof to her student's mouth. "None of that matters anymore, my faithful student. Well done in saving Equestria yet again." "Your welcome. I guess this means we can all go home now, right?" "Wait! What about the doors?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Are they okay?" "Of course they are," said Humbra. "They have been returned to their dormant states. Unlike ponies, doors are actually happy to serve." "And what about us?" asked Sam the Ram. "Do we get anything out of this?" "Yes, I shall make it outlawed for equines to enslave other sentient creatures," said Celestia. Sam and his friends cheered in delight. "What about the SPC? Will they replace the doors?" "Of course not," said Rainbow Dash, "As of now, they are still way too expensive. They are still working on bringing it to market. Your doors are safe... for now." "Well then, I guess that solves everything," said Pinkie Pie. ***One week later*** It was a bright and sunny day in Equestria, because those days are just beautiful, no matter how cliche they are. SugarCube Corner was very busy with customers. "Good morning Pinkie Pie," said Humbra. "What are you up to?" "Just workin' my rump off to make enough food for all these ponies. What are you doing here in Ponyville? Don't you want to go back to the Crystal Empire where you lived?" "Nah, I think I'll have a better life here in this small town. After all, this is where my new friends are." "Aww, thank you." Pinkie Pie handed Humbra a cinnamon bun. "How did you know I was going to order this?" "Just a hunch. Have a nice day." "You too." As Humbra walked out the door, she was stopped my Mr. Cake. "Careful!" he shouted. "What?" asked Humbra. She looked at her hind hoof and noticed she was about to kick the door closed. "Oh, sorry." She turned around, lifted her arm, and gently closed the door to SugarCube corner.