> Magical Mystery Drama
>  by AstroStar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> When Murphy Strikes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie got herself ready for the number’s finale.  She was feeling over exuberant at that moment.  It wasn’t just that she had just remembered her true destiny (at least according to the script), but that this particular episode was going fantastically well.  It was a lot of hard work to be sure, and it was emotionally taxing on everypony during the sadder moments.  However it all came together wonderfully thus far, and Pinkie was ready to send this particular number out of the park.  She turned to the camera, operated as always by Spike.  Thank goodness for the switch to videotape, she thought.  This would have been hard to do live.

The dragon signaled thumbs-up.  “Cameras are ready to roll!” 

Pinkie nodded in response.  She then turned to her friends.  “Everypony ready?”

“We’re good to go Pinkie!” Twilight smiled.  Her other friends nodded enthusiastically as well.  Pinkie turned back to the camera.  She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, focusing her energy.

“Count me down, Spike.” 

Spike responded quickly.  It was finally time.  

“In 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… ACTION!”

The camera’s red light blinked on.     

“COME ON PONIES!!!  I WANNA SEE YOU SMILE!!!”

“PINKIE!!!” The crowd shouted, overjoyed that Ponyville’s party pony has returned.

They all quickly transitioned into the song’s finale, Pinkie marching alongside her friends down the streets of Ponyville.

A true, true friend is a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light (to see the light)
That shines (that shines)
From a true, true friend!

“Cut and print!  That was fantastic!!!”  Spike yelled from behind the camera. 

The large crowd allowed themselves to relax.  A few of them cheered and hollered as they wrapped up the song.  Twilight Sparkle and her friends had finally broken away from their group hug that punctuated the number.  

“How did it look?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“It was absolutely perfect!” Spike gave an a-ok gesture.

Pinkie nodded.  She turned back to the crowd.  

“Ok everypony, that’s a wrap for today!  Thanks a bunch, you did great!!!”

The crowd gave themselves a nice cheer as they began to go off on their own way. 

“We did it!  I can’t believe we actually did it!”  Twilight shouted.

“Guys, I think that was our own personal crowning moment of AWESOME!!!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Ah honestly think that that was the best number we’ve ever done!” Applejack added.

Rarity smiled with pride.  “I knew a musical episode would have been a fabulous idea!”

“It was tricky, but we pulled it off!!!” Pinkie jumped in excitement.

“We rock!  Woo-hoo!”  Fluttershy cheered in her own small voice.

Rainbow Dash chuckled and gave Fluttershy a gentle, playful nudge.  “Still got a ways to go there, Fluttershy.”

“Oh I know, but I can’t help myself,” Fluttershy blushed.   “This whole episode has been great!  I hope the fans will like it.”

Pinkie Pie gave Fluttershy a reassuring pat on her back, her usually bright smile a bit brighter than normal.  “Trust me, the fans will absolutely love every second of this!”

“I know I for one will appreciate all the hard work we put in this episode,” Rarity said, wiping off a few beads of sweat from her forehead.

“Hard work?”  Rainbow Dash scoffed.  “Who do you think actually brought all those clouds to Ponyville in the first place?  Not to mention I DID help you arrange those clouds too!  By the way, checkerboard clouds?  Really?”

“It just seemed more tidy that way!” Rarity defended herself.  “I was just trying to make it *ahem* 20% cooler as it were.”

“Ugh, it’s bad enough you had my cutie mark, but could you lay off my catch phrases, please?”

“I thought it was 200% cooler, Rarity.” Spike said, losing himself in another Rarity-filled daydream. 

The cyan Pegasus could only groan.  She then turned to her fellow Pegasus comrade.  “By the way Fluttershy, I’m NEVER babysitting Angel ever again!”

“He was only supposed to tie you up when me and Twilight came in.  I didn’t know he was going to go that far,” the timid Pegasus explained.

“You have to admit that it was pretty funny Dash,” Twilight giggled.

Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves.  “But it’s still embarrassing when you get overpowered by a bunny.”

“At least you didn’t hav’ ta try your hoof at dressmaking,” Applejack chimed in.  “Ah had bad Manehattan flashbacks back there.”

Pinkie sighed.  Filming the switched cutie mark scene was particularly rough for all of them.  Not only was there extra make-up work required to ‘switch’ the cutie marks, but the act of being so miserable seemed to sap all the energy away from all of them.  Thankfully, this latest song number was more than enough to perk everyone back up.  

“I know it was emotionally rough back there,” Pinkie told her friends, “but it was all worth it though, right?”

“It really was Pinkie,” Twilight nodded.  “We’ve had adventures before, but we’ve never had a story that illustrated friendship like this before.  I just can’t wait for the big finale with Princess Celestia!”

“Don’t worry, Twilight.  Everything is all set for tomorrow.” Spike announced.

The ending to the “Magical Mystery Cure” episode was set to be spectacular indeed.  The Mane 6 would decide that they learned so much about friendship that day that a letter wasn’t enough to contain it all.  So instead, they all travel to Canterlot where they deliver the friendship report to the princess in person in the most elaborate musical number they’ve ever done, where they sum up the lessons they all have learned over the past three seasons.  I hope Octavia’s ready.  She’s been practicing her duet with Rarity for months Pinkie thought.  

After the number, Celestia would congratulate Twilight for accomplishing her goals and offers her a spot at the prestigious Canterlot University as the head professor of Magic Studies.  That bombshell would mark the end of the episode, and lead into a two-parter to open up season 4 where Twilight is faced with the prospect of leaving Ponyville, and her friends, forever.  Where that plot point goes from there, Pinkie didn’t know.  However, that was a question that she had time to mull over the summer.  For now, however, the season 3 finale still had to be completed.

“We can worry about the finale later,” Pinkie said.  “It’s getting late anyway.  How about wrap up for the day?  I think we all deserve it.”

“Sounds good to me!  See ya later!”  With that, Rainbow Dash bolted off back to her house before anypony else could blink.  Applejack simply shook her head in amusement before starting to make her way back to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Ah guess Ah’ll mosey on off mahself.  Bye, y’all!”  Applejack tipped her hat on her way out.

Spike was the next one to set off.  “I’m gonna head back to the library to get this tape set down.  Is that ok, Twilight?”

Twilight gave her little assistant a hug.  “You go on ahead.  I’ll be along soon.”  Spike returned the hug and began to make his way back to the library.

Rarity stretched her legs.  “Well, I think I shall retire to the spa.  Anypony care to join me?”  

“Thanks for the offer, Rarity.  But I’ve got to plan tommorow’s big Season 3 wrap-up party.” Pinkie replied.

“Uh, I kinda wanted to catch up on some important research tonight.  Sorry,” Twilight smiled sheepishly.

Fluttershy gently pawed the ground.  “Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind joining you.  I need a relaxing treatment after trying to run Sugarcube Corner for a day.”

Rarity beamed.  “Oh wonderful, Fluttershy!  Maybe we can get some honest girl talk in without Photo Finish barging in.”

“Have fun you two!”  Twilight waved.

“See you tomorrow!” Rarity waved as she and Fluttershy began their trek to Aloe and Lotus’ spa, leaving Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie by themselves.  Twilight took a look at the quaint town that she has called home for the past three years.  She began to feel a bit nostalgic. 

“Hey Pinkie?  Do you remember our very first story? ” Twilight asked

“You mean the one when I did this?”  Pinkie proceeded to leap straight up in the air, letting out an overdramatic gasp much like she did in her very first scene.

“Yeah, when you did that,” Twilight giggled. 

“I know what you mean.  I just can’t believe it either.  Three whole seasons,” Pinkie sighed.   “When we started, I was worried we wouldn’t even make it half-way past season two.  By the way, you sure you’re not mad about not getting as much screentime as previous seasons?”

“Why should I be mad?  It gave me some time to catch up on my Advanced Quantum Teleportation readings.  I was worried I was going to fall behind there.”

Pinkie let out a small laugh.  “You’re such an egghead, you know that?”  

Twilight blushed.  “I guess that’s just the way I am.  But at the same time, we sure did come a long way since I first came here.  This episode made me realize how much I’ve changed over the past three years.”

“We’ve all changed Twilight,” Pinkie pointed out.

“Heh, you’re one to talk Ms. G3!”

“Hey, don’t hold that against me!” Pinkie laughed.

Twilight giggled softly for a moment.  She then sighed sadly.

“This is actually why I don’t know if I can go through with this next storyline.  I don’t think I can handle losing the friendships I’ve made here in Ponyville if I take that job.  It was bad enough going through being responsible for messing up everypony’s destinies.”

“We still have some time to talk about it,” Pinkie reassured her friend.  “But after an episode like this, we have to try to start thinking about ways to keep our fans invested.  We do have to think about the future, after all.”

“You’re probably right, but I’m still uneasy about it.” Twilight admitted.

“Everything’s going to be just fine, Twilight.  You said it yourself, remember?”  Pinkie reassured Twilight with a warm smile.  “Tell you what, we still have a whole summer until we have to worry about season 4.  We’ll worry about it later.  Let’s rest up for tomorrow, ok?”

“Sounds great, Pinkie.”      

“That’s the spirit!  Now don’t forget we have to go to Canterlot tomorrow for the grand finale.”

“Don’t worry about me.  I’m just more concerned about Rainbow Dash sleeping in.”

“I’ve got that covered.  I told her if she was late, that ‘Lady Rainbow’ will fill in for her instead!”

Twilight cringed at the thought.  “The ‘dress-in-style’ Rainbow Dash?  Ouch, that wasn’t very nice.”

Pinkie winked.  “Hey, what are friends for?” They both giggled.

“Well, I guess I’ll head back to the library now before it gets dark.  See you tomorrow Pinkie!” Twilight waved before trotting back.

“Goodbye Twilight!”  

Pinkie waved back as she watched Twilight head home.  Pinkie lingered for a few more seconds, taking one last good look at what has been an absolutely fantastic day.  She then began to head back to Sugarcube Corner, a huge smile on her face.

“This is gonna be one the bronies will be talking about forever!”


~~~~~


Later that evening, Twilight had finished catching up on her readings and had decided that she had a little bit of time to try to get ahead.  She wandered to her shelf browsing through her books.  The room grew rather messy as the purple unicorn went through her large book collection.

“Hmm… Ancient Transformation Theories… The Biography of Ludwig van Neighthoven…  Human Mysteries in Equestrian History?  Hmm, I see Lyra finally returned this one.”

Twilight continued her search as Spike entered the messy room.  

“Hey Twilight!  Whatcha doing?”

“Nothing much, Spike.  I’m just trying to find something to read.”

“Shouldn’t you be resting up for tomorrow?  We’ve got a big day after all.”

“I know, but I trying to keep my mind off it for now.  I guess I’m a bit nervous.”

Spike took a seat on a pile of books next to Celestia’s student.  “Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be just fine!”

“Thanks Spike.  I shouldn’t worry about the show this much.  I should be more worried about how messy my library got tonight!”

The dragon assistant shrugged.  “Even I’ll admit we’ve got a few too many items laying around here.  I mean, I even found the Alicorn Amulet replica.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow.  “We still had that?”

“Yeah, check it out!”  Spike then whipped out the prop.  Twilight chuckled as memories of her magic duel with Trixie played in her head.  She remembered she was particularly scared going into the episode.  It wasn’t because it meant the ‘return’ of the Great and Powerful Trixie, the two had been on good terms since around the end of the first season.  Her fear was mainly due to the amulet.  It was the most powerful artifact she read about outside of the Elements of Harmony.  It was also the most dangerous since the full extent of the amulet’s power remained unknown to many.  Thankfully, for everyone’s safety, the amulet used for the show was just a very well crafted prop, and it magic was fueled thanks to Princess Luna, giving a magical assist backstage.  Despite the darker feel of the episode, everypony had a blast making it.

“I still can’t believe that this is just an imitation.”  Twilight observed as she levitated the prop to her face.  She took the opportunity to scrutinize every inch of it.  “It looks so real…”

“Well, Rarity does have an eye for details,” Spike sighed.

Twilight rolled her eyes as her #1 assistant lost himself in another marshmallow-filled fantasy.  Looking at the prop and knowing that the thing was completely harmless, she decided to put it on just for fun.

“Well what do you think, Spike?  Do I look ‘Grrreat and Powerful’ now?” she asked, imitating Trixie’s own signature style.

“You’re gonna need to get your pointy hat and cape for that!”  Spike laughed. 

“I will say that Rarity did a great job with this replica.  She even included the inscription on the back.”

Spike tilted his head.  “Inscription?”

“Apparently, the actual amulet had an inscription that supposedly unlocked its full power when in the right hooves.  Problem is that there are no records of that ever happening, so nopony knows if it’s just another tall pony tale or not.”

“What does it say?”

“It’s actually inscribed in Early Equestrian so it’s kinda hard to read, but I remember reading a translation in a book.”

Twilight closed her eyes as she recalled the words she read a while back.

“A power desired by many but possessed by few.  
To achieve such greatness, you must first look to you.  
A journey complete is a journey begun.  
An Alicorn’s path is never done.  
For one so brave, one so bold.  
A brand new chapter is about to be told.  
It is destiny, it is fate.  
Take heed, for a whole new world awaits.” 

As Twilight recited the incantation, the amulet’s jewel changed from its red color to purple.  When she finished, the jewel began to emit a purple light. A magical hum began to fill the library.

Spike grew confused, and then frightened as the supposed show prop continued to react magically.  “Uh, Twilight?  The amulet is glowing!”

The unicorn’s eye’s shot open.

“What?!”  She looked down to see the amulet, its purple glow growing brighter and brighter.  Twilight’s pupils shrunk as the amulet continued to react.

“But, how can…” she stammered.

Before she could utter another word, she was suddenly completely enveloped in a ball of bright purple light, which shone impossibly throughout the library.  The intense magical energy crackled the air around it as the magic reached its peak, the mess of books swirling around it.  Spike had to shield his eyes in order not to be blinded.  

“Twilight!” The dragon shouted as loud as he could.  The only thing he could hear was the loud humming and crackling of the energy ball, and the screams of a pony in agony.

After what seemed like an eternity, the light faded away, and the disturbed books settled back to the floor.  All was quiet in the library once more.  It took Spike a few moments to recover from witnessing such a surge of magic.  It had virtually buried Twilight underneath the books.  Spike immediately took to the book hill and tried to get Twilight out of it.  He could hear her moaning in exhaustion.

“Twilight!  Are you Ok?”  He asked with grave concern.

“I… think so.” Twilight answered, her strength slowly returning.  “Hold on, I’m gonna try standing up.”

Spike got out of the way as the hill of books began to stir.  Seconds later Twilight Sparkle emerged, looking rather worn out, but thankfully she didn’t have a scratch on her.

Spike sighed in relief as he saw Twilight was ok…

…and then his face froze with shock.

“Spike?  Is something wrong?”  Twilight asked as she noticed her assistant was looking at her very strangely.

“Uh… uh… uh…” Spike stammered.  His mind seemingly broken as to what he was seeing.

Twilight began to panic.  “Something’s wrong isn’t it?”

Spike nodded slowly.

Twilight ran towards her assistant.

“Spike, what happened?  What did that thing do?!?”

“They’re… They’re…” Spike continued to stammer, slowly pointing a claw towards her.

“What are you pointing to?  Is there something on my back?”

“You could say that…” Spike said, his voice shaking uneasily.

Twilight slowly reached her hoof towards her back, completely unsure about what she would find.  

And then she found them.

The peaceful Ponyville evening was briefly interrupted by the sound of a pony shrieking in terror. 


~~~~~~


In the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie pulled out a batch of freshly made, rainbow-colored cupcakes from the oven.  She grinned, they were absolutely perfect!  She made sure that this batch came out just right.  After all, Rainbow Dash herself requested them.   And Pinkie knew just why.

“I never knew she would have like that story this much!  She really does love a scary story, even if she’s the victim!”

It was all part of the big Season 3 Wrap-Up Party.  This particular party was by far the biggest one she had ever put together, not only to celebrate the success of the show and the end of 3 great seasons, but also to celebrate the recent news that they had been green-lit for season 4, and that they may also be a possible movie in the extension too!  It was certainly time to celebrate, and Pinkie felt that she needed to go all out with this one.

Unfortunately, planning a party this large was nearly impossible for one pony to handle on their own.  Thankfully, the Cakes went on ahead to secure the major party essential from Canterlot, leaving her alone for the evening.  Also, she was being assisted by one of her older friends from another Ponyville, a mint green earth pony with a light pink mane with three mint-shaped candies on her flank.  And that pony hadn’t been seen for a few hours.

“I wonder what Minty is doing up there,” Pinkie said to herself, making her way up to her bedroom.  

When she opened her door, she was greeted by an avalanche of balloons.

“What the…?”  She tried to make her way past the first wave only to find her room was almost filled with balloons from the floor to the ceiling.  In the middle of the scene was the mint-colored pony, catching her breath as she finished blowing up what seems like her millionth balloon in a row.

“I see those balloons are coming along fine, Minty.”  Pinkie asked while trying to make her way toward the middle of the room.

“I don’t think I’ll have any air left to breath after this!” She huffed.

Pinkie could only chuckle.  Ever since she was reunited with her old Generation 3 friends last summer, they had proven to be an invaluable asset behind the scenes.  Starsong helped out with the songs; Toola-Roola helped out with the art work; the original Rainbow Dash, now known as Lady Rainbow to avoid confusion, had teamed up with Rarity in the costuming and design aspects of the show; and Cheery Blossom, who used to go by the name of Cheerilee, turned out to be a fabulous script writer and story teller.  Meanwhile the original Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who opted to go by the names of Sweet Heart and Sparkleworks in Equestria, were instrumental in keeping the young fillies and colts entertained and well-behaved.  The current incarnation of Cheerilee was especially grateful.  Minty on the other hand, tended to stay out of the way due to her clumsy nature, but was happy to help out any way she could.  Pinkie was happy that her old friends were able to chip in with the success of the show.

“You didn’t have to blow all the balloons in one go,” Pinkie pointed out.

“I know…” the mint pony gasped.  “…but this is such a special occasion!  If we’re even one balloon short, it would be catastrophic!”

Pinkie giggled.  “Oh Minty!  Don’t worry about the small things.  That’s how the whole Santa fiasco started that Christmas, remember?”

Minty blushed.  “I guess I got carried away a bit there, didn’t I?”

“How about coming downstairs and help me with the treats?” Pinkie offered.

“I can do that!”  Minty shouted as she made her way past the mountain of balloons towards the hallway.  “So how did the episode go today?”

Pinkie couldn’t contain her smile.  “It went better than expected.  I don’t think I’ve ever done an episode this excellent.  This is already the best episode ever!”

Minty arched an eyebrow. “Better than the gala episode?”

“Yes!” Pinkie nodded

“Even better than Nightmare Moon?”

“Yup!”    

“Better than the Princess Promenade!”

“It’s even better than that!”

“Even better that… Newborn Cuties?”

Pinkie cringed on that last one.  Now THERE’S a mark on her resume she’d like to have expunged from history.

Pinkie let out an exasperated smile.  “Yes, it’s even better than Newborn Cuties.”

Minty’s eyes lit in amazement.  “Woooow!!!  How do you guys do it?  What’s your secret?”

Pinkie could only shrug.  “I can’t really tell you.  Lauren was the one who set it all up.  She gave us our personalities, and she gave us some adventures to go on.  We’re just being ourselves really.”

“Man, this Lauren sound amazing.  I can’t wait to meet her!”

Pinkie’s face fell slightly.  “Actually, I don’t think she’ll ever come back.  She left after our first year.  She only told me that she had to move on, and that I was in charge.  And then… she was gone.”

“Oh.” Minty said softly.  “I’m sorry.”

Pinkie sighed.  She sat on her haunches as she began to reflect.  “She saved me, you know.  When the old Ponyville vanished?  She could have just left me there to vanish alongside it.  I don’t know why she did it, but she saved me.  She brought me here, gave me a new life, a new purpose… and new friends.  I owe it to her to make sure this show keeps going strong for as long as possible.”

“Well you’re doing a great job Pinkie!  I bet Lauren is super proud!”

Pinkie looked out a nearby window at the beautiful Ponyville night.  She smiled.  “I know she is, Minty.  I know she is.”

“Hey!  Don’t get too touchy-feely!  We’ve still got a party to plan!” Minty shouted, pushing Pinkie towards the kitchen.

“Ok, Minty.  Could you help me frost the cupcakes?”

“Sure thing, Pinkie!  I’ll make sure they are all frosted real goo…. Hey, why are the cupcakes rainbow colored?” Minty asked, a little warried.

Pinkie giggled.  “It’s was Rainbow Dash’s idea.  She got it from a story she read.”

“Oh thank goodness, for a minute there I thought you might have actually…”

The conversation was interrupted by a loud banging at the front door.

“Who could that be?”  Pinkie wondered.  She cantered over to the front door and shouted to the mystery customer.  “Sorry, we’re closed now!  You could come try us again tomorrow and…”

“PINKIE!!!  OPEN THE DOOR!!!” shouted the voice on the other side.  It sounded like a young boy.  Or rather, a young dragon.

“Spike?” Pinkie gasped.  She opened the door.  “Spike, what’s the matter?”

She opened the door to be greeted by not only Spike, but Twilight Sparkle as well.  Spike was wearing a very worrying look on his face, and Twilight looked as if she was in the midst of a panic attack.  She was hyperventilating, failing desperately to preform her calming breathing exercises.  Her wings were flapping in panic.  Her eyes were shrunk into pinpricks, seeming unable to cope with the shock.  Pinkie couldn’t understand what could have caused Twilight to…

Wait a minute…

Wings?

Horn still in place, albeit a tad bit longer?

Wings?!?

A few inches taller?

WINGS?!?

Pinkie Pie froze in panic.  Somehow, someway, Twilight had become an Alicorn.

“We have a bit of a problem.” Spike simply stated.

“What’s going on out here?”  Minty ran over to the front to see what the commotion was all about.  Then she noticed the freshly-minted Alicorn.  “Oh my…”

Pinkie let out a soft moan as she fainted over, overcome by the shock.

Minty groaned to herself.  “I knew I should have blown up that last balloon.”     
> Crisis Management
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


~~A few days ago...~~


The setting of the episode had shifted to Sweet Apple Acres, now under the guidance of Pinkie Pie.  The pink earth pony took a look at her flank.  Three red apples.  Rarity had outdone herself with the makeup job that was required to switch everypony’s cutie marks.  It was almost as if she had always had it.  She had also allowed her mane to go flat to reflect that farmer Pinkie Pie was not having any fun at all.  She was also wearing Applejack’s trademark hat to symbolize her place on the farm. 

Pinkie looked to her friends behind the camera, all sporting their different cutie marks, except Twilight of course, and it was now Rainbow Dash’s turn to operate the camera.  

“All set Pinkie?” she asked.

Pinkie closed her eyes and focused.  

“I’m ready,” she responded after a few quick moments 

Rainbow Dash took to the camera, its lens pointed at Pinkie. 

“Aaaand… ACTION!”

With that, Pinkie Pie literally went to work.  She took to the task of struggling with the farm work while at the same time singing her part of the song.

“I don’t care much for picking fruit, 
And plowing fields ain’t such a hoot!  
No matter what I try, 
I cannot fix this busted wa…whoa WHOA WHAAA!!!!”

The hat fell over Pinkie’s eyes while on the water chute, causing her to lose her balance and fall over early.   The other five ponies and one baby dragon quickly rushed over to the fallen pony in concern.

“Pinkie, are you all right?”  Twilight shouted.

With a groan, Pinkie raised herself back up.  She took off the Stetson off her head.  

“On second thought, you keep the hat, AJ,” she said, handing the headwear to its rightful owner.

“If you say so.”  Applejack took hold of her hat and placed it back on her head.  

“Do you need to take a break?”  Fluttershy asked in concern.

“I guess I’ll take a little breather before the next take,” Pinkie decided.  “We can’t take too long though.  We still need to film Applejack’s and Rarity’s parts after this.”

Rarity groaned.  “Ugh, don’t remind me.  I can’t believe my swapped destiny is something I could only do outdoors!  I’m feeling miserable just thinking about it!”

“Well, that kinda is the point here,” Spike pointed out.

Rainbow Dash spoke up.  “Guys, let’s face it.  Our lives would completely stink if this really happened to us.  I mean look at me!  Butterflies!” She pointed to the three pink butterflies on her flank. “There’s no way I could ever make this look cool!”

“I think butterflies are nice…” Fluttershy squeaked out.

Rainbow Dash stammered, hoping that she hadn’t inadvertently hurt Fluttershy’s feelings.  

“Uh, I didn’t mean that butterflies are bad at all.  It isn’t!  It’s just that, this cutie mark just isn’t me, you know?  My destiny is to be up in the skies as chief captain of the Wonderbolts!”

“And my destiny is in my very own boutique in the middle of Canterlot.”

“Well, Ah tried leaving the farm once, and it ain’t ever gonna happen again as far as I can help it.  Ah belong right here!”

“I just like to stay with my animals if that’s ok?”

“Putting a smile on ponies, and people too for that matter, is what I do, both in Ponyville and the show!  That’s a 2-for-1 destiny!  Beat that!”

Twilight chuckled as her friends sounded off on their true destinies.  “Sound like we don’t even need the second act!  We’ve ended the episode right there!”

Pinkie smiled in response.  “Let’s keep going with this episode anyway.  I’ve got a good feeling that this is going to be special!”

“In that case, let’s reset and try the scene again!” Spike announced.

“Right!”  Everypony shouted in unison.  They began to reset their positions when Fluttershy suddenly spoke up.

“Wait!  We’ve been so busy talking about destinies.  But… what about yours Twilight?”

The question caught Twilight off guard.  It took her a few seconds before she offered up an answer.

“I… don’t know, to be honest.  I’ve always seen myself as a student.  I’ve never really thought about destinies that much.”

Applejack put a hoof on the purple unicorn’s shoulder.  “Ah wouldn’t worry too much about it.  Sometimes you go out and find your destiny, and sometimes your destiny finds you.  You just never know.  So it doesn’t make much sense worrying about it.  You’ll know when it happens.”   

“Besides, we still have a whole summer to talk about all that, for both real life and for the show,” Spike added.

Pinkie overheard the exchange before heading back to reshoot the scene.  The conversation got Pinkie thinking to herself.   

That has to be one of our main plot point for next year.  But at the same time, I don’t know how to go with it right now.  

Pinkie took a long look at Twilight, who was walking away to her mark for the scene.

Just what is your destiny, Twilight?


~~A few days later...~~


Minty had grabbed the unconscious Pinkie Pie and had put her back into her room.  Also present in the room were Spike and Twilight, who had calmed down considerably from earlier, but was still a bit antsy over the situation.

The three didn't have to wait very long for Pinkie to regain consciousness.  Her eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Pinkie!  Pinkie, are you ok?”  Minty asked.

Pinkie began to snort a laugh.  “Oh Minty!  I had the craziest dream.  You were in it, and Spike, and Twilight, and get this, she turned herself into an alicorn!  Isn’t that just silly.”

“You know, you’re dreams sound a lot like real life Pinkie,”  Minty observed.

All laughing ceased.  Pinkie slowly turned her head to Twilight who waved back at her nervously.  Yup, a horn AND wings.  It hadn’t been a dream.

“Twilight…. What happened?”  Pinkie asked slowly, suppressing the urge to panic.

The purple alicorn quickly shook her head, still in disbelief over the whole situation.  "I don’t know!  I was in the library, we thought we found the Alicorn Amulet prop.  But I think it was actually the real thing!”

Pinkie gasped.  “I though we put the real amulet away!  Do you still have it, Twilight?” 

On cue, Spike produced the offending artifact.  “Here it is!”

Minty was the first one to notice something was wrong with the amulet. 

“Um, wasn’t that jewel supposed to be red in the show?  It turned black.”

The news caught Spike by surprise.  

“Black?  It was still glowing purple in the library.”

The four all gather around to inspect the amulet.  It’s jewel had indeed turned pitch black.

“Is it dead?”  Pinkie asked.

“I sure hope not.”

“Why not, Twilight?  Can’t you just try to change back without it?”

Twilight shook her head.  “It’s way too risky.  The amulet is very old and many of the scriptures about it have been lost through time.  We need to study the intricate details of the amulet’s magical aura to try to see if it even possible to reverse this!”

Spike's expression fell.  “In other words, you’re gonna be stuck like this for a while right?”

Twilight sighed. "I sure hope not! The sooner I turn back to a regular unicorn, the better. It just feels strange having wings like this."

“Hey look on the bright side!”  Minty interrupted, “There are worst things to be turned into.  I mean, you could have turned into a demon-dragon slave thing to be used as a chariot for an overlord of evil.”

Spike, Pinkie & Twilight all gave Minty a confused look.

“Well, it seemed like an epic idea for a show,” Minty shrugged.

Pinkie suddenly gasped.  “THE SHOW!!!”

Minty perked up suddenly.  “Oh you think so too!  Or maybe we should make it into a movie, or maybe a comic book tie-in…”

Pinkie shook her head.  “No, not that.  Our show!!!”

She began to pace back and forth in panic.

“Oh, this is bad!  This is really, really bad!  We can’t finish the episode like this!  How in Equestria can we even explain it?  The fans are never gonna buy that Twilight became an alicorn just like that!  Twilight’s supposed to be a unicorn!”

The other three occupants in the room looked on in concern.  Twilight tried to reach out to the panicked pony.  “Pinkie, maybe if we calm down we could try to…”

Pinkie didn’t listen.  She was lost in a whirlpool of stress.   “This is it.  We’re ruined!  It’s all over!  Oh, why is this happening again?  We barely got through the rerun fiasco in one piece last year.  There’s no way the fans will forgive us for this.”  

“Pinkie, you need to calm down!” Spike shouted.

“I can’t be calm!  We’ve got a major crisis on our hooves!  How are we gonna fix this?!?”

A light bulb went off in Minty's head.  “I have an idea.  I think it’s time for a Pinkie Squink!”

Twilight arched an eyebrow in confusion.  “A Pinkie… what?”

“A Pinkie Squink,” Minty explained.  “Pinkie did it all the time back in the day.  Whenever you have something you need to figure out, all you have to do is squeeze your eyes real tight and think!  Squeeze and Think!  A Pinkie Squink!”

“What.”  Spike stated flatly.

Minty continued.  “Oh, and you have to shout out ‘I got it!’ as soon as you figured it out.  It works every time!”

“Seriously?”  Twilight deadpanned.  She turned her head towards Pinkie Pie, who was blushing a deep crimson red.

“I’ll explain later,” Pinkie laughed nervously.  “At any rate, I don’t think now is a good time for a squink, Minty.”

Minty donned her best puppy dog face.  “Come on.  Try it, please?”

Pinkie sighed in defeat.  “All right.”

With that, the pink pony closed her eyes and begins to concentrate.

Spike scratched the back of his head.  "Uh, are you sure this will..."

Minty quickly covered the dragon's mouth.

"Shhh!!!  Not while she's squinking" she whispered.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was lost in her thoughts. 

Wow, this really feels silly, Pinkie thought.  Things really were a lot simpler back in the day, weren’t they?  And now that I think about it, things were also a lot more pink back then too.  Really, REALLY pink.  Was that why I was the lead character in G3?  Because I had the most pink out of anypony else?  It doesn’t seem too well thought out in hindsight.  Heh, I’m kinda happy I worked in that G3 gag in “Too Many Pinkie Pies”.  I have to remember to thank the changelings for helping out with that.  It wouldn’t have been possible without them.  Wait a minute… The Changelings!!!

“I GOT IT!!!”  Pinkie shouted triumphantly.  

Twilight and Spike looked stunned that the ridiculous tactic apparently worked.

Minty smirked.  “What did I tell you?  Works.  Every.  Time.”

Pinkie began to hand out instructions.  “First things first, we need to tell everypony what’s going on.  Spike, write to the princess and tell them to come to Ponyville as soon as possible.”

“Right!  And I’ll also write to HQ too.  If we’re lucky, they might give us some more time to deal with this.”

“We also need to let our friends know what’s going on too,” Twilight pointed out. 

Pinkie nodded in agreement.  “And the sooner we tell everypony, the better!  Minty, go fetch the others and tell them we have an emergency meeting and everypony needs to get here now!”

Minty gave a salute in response.  

“It shall be done!” 

“I’m going back to the library to get those letters out right now!  I’ll be right back, Twilight!”

Minty and Spike quickly dashed out the front door, wasting no time to get their new tasks completed as soon as possible.  The two remaining ponies could only wait now for their return.  Pinkie turned to Twilight, still finding it weird to see her friend with wings.

“You sure you’re ok, Twilight?” she asked.

Twilight took a good look at her wings.  “Well excluding the obvious, I don’t feel any different.  I still feel like I’m me.”

“That’s good at least,” Pinkie sighed in relief

“I sure hope we can fix this.”

“Don’t worry Twilight, everything’s going to be just… fine…”  Pinkie hesitated.  Despite her emergency plans, there were no guarantees now that everything will end up ok, anymore.  She just had to hope.

~~~~~


Princess Celestia had summoned her own personal mirror into her chambers.  She had set it up horizontally rather than vertically, much like the way Lauren said the television sets were set up in the other world.  But unlike those devices, which required electricity and cable, Celestia simply used her magic to summon different images onto the screen.  On this night, she had been watching several previous episodes of their show they had done over three years.  In particular, she was watching episodes that featured her own faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

“She’s my teacher!  Do you know what teachers do to students who don’t pass?” the image of Twilight panicked.

The image of Spike simply looked on bewildered as Twilight answered her own question.

“They send them back a grade!!!” The answer prompted a quick facepalm from the baby dragon.

Princess Celestia chuckled.  “Oh Twilight…”

Princess Celestia had a lot on her mind that particular night and found herself unable to sleep.  It wasn’t unusual for her to be up this late as being the head ruler of Equestria usually meant that there would always be something to worry about.  However, this night was unique because all of Celestia’s thoughts centered around one purple unicorn.  Tomorrow, she would be in Canterlot for the episode’s grande finale, and Celestia would present her with a spot on the Canterlot University faculty.  As prestigious and important that moment is, something about it all made Celestia feel uneasy.

While the episode continued to play, Celestia’s sister and well-loved Princess of the Night, Princess Luna entered her chambers.

“Sister?  It’s getting late.  You really should get your rest for tomorrow,” Luna observed.

Celestia sighed.  “I know it’s late, Luna.  I’m just reminiscing, that’s all.”

Luna turned to see what Celestia was watching.  She chuckled at the sight of the bookworm comically losing her sanity.  

“You certainly have a fondness for Twilight Sparkle,” she noted.

“I’m just so proud of her.  She’s grown so much since she moved to Ponyville, both in real life, and in the show.”

“If I may ask, if you are so proud, then why do you seem so bothered lately?”

“I have… more than a few objections to the upcoming story line.”

Luna tilted her head in confusion.  “Why?  It is a great honor to be appointed as a head professor at Canterlot University and Twilight Sparkle is more than qualified for the position, is she not.”

“I know she is, but it just that after all she’s been through, becoming a teacher just doesn’t seem ... right.  Besides, if I sent her to Ponyville to make friends in the first place, why would I turn around then take those friends away from her.  It just seems cruel on every account.”

“Well… when you put it that way…” Luna’s expression sank a bit, understanding her sister’s position.

“I just feel like a pony like Twilight ultimately deserves more.  She’s done more than enough to earn it.”

“But what else is there?”

Celestia closed her eyes.  “I don’t know, Luna.  I just don’t know.”

Seeing her sister in a sad state, Luna decided that she needed a laugh.  And she knew just where to go to get one. 

“Well if I may be the first to suggest a destiny Twilight shouldn’t get, that would be a Changeling babysitter,” she smirked.

Celestia chuckled.  “I almost forgot, we were expecting Chrysalis and Derpy’s company tonight, weren't we?”

“They’ve arrived a few hours ago, and Discord is… entertaining them at the moment,” Luna said, stifling a laugh.

“Oh is he, now?”  Celestia arched an eyebrow in amusement.

The relations between the Changelings and the rest of Equestria had been tense for a long time, culminating in the changeling’s attempted takeover during the Royal Wedding.  Even though the changelings and their leader, Queen Chrysalis, were defeated and banished, many remained paranoid about a possible return of a vengeful Chrysalis army.  As it turned out, the changelings were in the process of a retaliatory attack on Equestria last summer.

That was until Queen Chrysalis discovered Derpy Hooves’ muffins.  The changeling queen was amazed to discover all the love that was contained in those muffins and she immedatley shared them with her children.  With all the love contained in every batch of muffins the wall-eyed Pegasus produced, the changelings had been rendered effectively harmless.

Derpy now spent most of her time with the changelings, providing them all the muffins they ever needed.  This sadly meant that her welcomed presence in the show had been cut dramatically.  Derpy was disappointed that she wasn’t able to participate in the show as much as she used to.  However, spreading muffin love to the changelings proved to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Earlier that day, Chrysalis and Derpy had arrived to the Canterlot palace in advance of the big Season 3 wrap-up party and the reformed spirit of chaos was tasked with entertaining the visitors.

“So how is Discord getting along with our guests?” Celestia wondered.

“Come downstairs and see for yourself,” Luna smirked.

Luna led Celestia down towards the part of the palace where Discord were entertaining the guests. They made their way to one of the throne rooms where an overly-happy Queen Chrysalis and Derpy Hooves were hopping around and singing silly muffin songs to a very annoyed Discord.  Apparently, the two had taken him hostage earlier and went as far to dress him up as a giant muffin against his will.  It was clear that Discord was not having a fun time. 

"Let’s all sing the muffin song!  
The muffin song!  
The muffin song!  
We all like the muffin song!  
Muffin, muffin love!!!" the duo sang.

"I hate my life…"  Discord grumbled.

The sight left the two royal sisters laughing on the floor uncontrollably.

"Oh this is one for the Royal Photo Album!" Luna snorted in between giggles.

Celestia wiped tears from her eyes.  "The royal album isn’t enough.  This deserves its own stain glass window!"

Discord pupils shrunk.  "You wouldn’t dare!!!"

"How did all this start anyway?"  Celestia asked, trying to compose herself from laughing so hard.

"Well, Chrysalis Discord and I were talking about muffins and Discord said that he didn’t really care for them," Derpy explained.

Chysalis nodded.  "So we took drastic actions in order to make him love muffins!"

Discord rolled his eyes.  "I can assure you, that it’s actually having the opposite effect."

Chrysalis gave off an evil smirk.  "Well it looks like we’re gonna have to try harder next time!"

"I never thought I would actually miss being a statue," Discord muttered under his breath.

Derpy let out a yawn.  "I think we'll handle that next time.  I’m getting really sleepy right now."

"You are more than welcome to stay in the guest suite," Celestia smiled.

Derpy knelt in respect.  "Thank you, your highness."

"I think I’ll stay up with Mr. Grumpy Pants a little while longer," Chrysalis announced.  She rubbed Discords cheeks for added emphasis, which prompted a death glare from the draconequus.  The scene gave Derpy a quick laugh.  

"Goodnight everypony!" the pegasus waved as she made her way to the guest suite for the night.  After a short while, the muffin-suited Discord began to try to get the outfit off of him.

"Can I get out of this outfit now?"  He asked.

Luna playfully gave Discord's attire a second look.  

"I don't know.  I think the outfit really suits you!"

"You’re joking, right?"  he deadpanned.

Luna ignored the reply and continued badgering him on.  "Maybe we should make it your official royal attire.  Or maybe we should…"

Luna was interrupted as a surge of magic fire materialized in front of the group.  It swirled around the room before the magic settled in front of Celestia and materialized as a scroll.  

"A message?  At this hour?"  The confused princess opened the scroll and begins to read it.  Celestia's expression slowly turned more serious as she silently read the letter.

"Our presence is needed in Ponyville.  Awaken the royal escort.  We leave immediately!"  The princess urgently announced.

Discord's eyes went wide.  "We leave right now?"  He asked.

"Should I bring a muffin?"  Chrysalis pondered.

Luna slowly approached Celestia in concern.  

"Sister?  What has happened."

"It’s vague on the details, but it seems that there has been an accident."


~~~~~


In normal course of events, the streets of Ponyville were silent in the middle of the night.  That was not the case on this particular night.  In front of Sugarcube Corner a group of four ponies were gathered, all wondering why the mint-green earth pony had summoned them all here at this hour.

"Does anypony know exactly why we’re out here this early?"  Rainbow Dash yawned.

Fluttershy shrugged.  "I don’t know.  Minty only said that it was an emergency and that everypony needs to meet here.  I hope it’s nothing serious."

"It had better be something big at least.  Honestly, I need my beauty sleep for the big number tomorrow," Rarity noted, trying to keep her mane as presentable as possible at this late hour.

"Well, maybe the fact that we’re all her like this must have meant something happened that has something to do with that," Applejack speculated.

"What do you think could have happened?"

"Ah don’t know, but the more Ah think about it, the more Ah’m getting a bad feeling about this."

Rainbow Dash tried to ease the tense atmosphere.  "Well, maybe whatever happened isn’t that big of a deal and Minty just overreacted." 

"Well if it isn’t a big deal, them why am I seeing Princess Celestia’s chariot heading this way?"  Rarity pointed to the horizon where the royal chariot was approaching.  The four surprised ponies watch the chariot arrive and its four occupants, Celestia, Luna, Discord and Chrysalis, come out.

Applejack was the first one to speak up. 

"Princess Celestia?  What’s going on?"

"We were about to ask you that same question," the sun princess responded.  "We just heard that an accident happened in Ponyville."

The news caught the four present Ponyvillians off guard.

"Minty never said anything about an accident!" Rarity shouted.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" Fluttershy stammered in fear.

Rainbow Dash flew straight into Celestia's face.   The worried pegasus needed answers.  "Did something happen to Pinkie Pie?  Did it happen to Twilight?  Are they hurt?  Do we need an ambulance?"

Applejack wasted no time.  She pounded desperately at the Sugarcube Corner front entrance.

"PINKIE!!!  ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!?!  OPEN THE DOOR!!!" 

The sudden pounding frightened the occupants inside a bit.  Pinkie had made Twilight some tea to help calm her down, and sitting next to her were Spike and Minty, their emergency tasks long since accomplished.  The four took a look at the front door, and the desperate ponies on the other side.  Pinkie looked back towards Twilight. 

"Stay here.  I'll handle it."  

Pinkie got up and made her way towards the front door.  Outside, a frustrated Applejack began to rear back and buck the door open when she suddenly heard a series of clicking coming from the door.  A few clicks later, and Pinkie Pie emerged.  She was immedeatly mobbed by Rainbow Dash.

"Pinkie!  What the hay is this about an accident?  What’s going on?  Are you all right?"

"Yes, I’m all right Dashie.  I’m fine!"  Pinkie reasured her panicked pegasus friend who backed off, relieved that the pink pony was all right

"Pinkie?  Where’s Twilight?"  Fluttershy asked, noticing her absence in the assembled group.

Pinkie took a deep breath and began explaining.  "She’s inside right now.  And that’s why I called this meeting.  Something happened to Twilight tonight."  

Concerned shouts immediately came from Pinkie's audience over Twilight's well-being.  Pinkie had to hush them before she could continue.

"Hold on, everypony!  Let me explain.  The good news is that, she’s not hurt physically, and she’s also very sorry for what happened.  What happened was earlier tonight, she was in the library and… well, we thought we had the replica but as it turns out it was… ugh, how do I even try to explain this?"

Overhearing the conversation, Twilight began to make her way towards the front door, Spike and Minty following behind her.

"Pinkie?  Maybe I should just show them myself," the former unicorn decided.

Pinkie noded and steped aside, revealing Twilight Sparkle to the 8 newcomers.  She had her head down as she slowly makes her way to the entryway, stopping once she reached the front porch.  With a heavy sigh, she lifted her head and unfurled her wings in a swift motion.  

The jaws of everypony present dropped, gasps and surprised shouts coming with them.  Twilight noted the shocked and surprised expressions coming from her friends.  She also noticed that her mentor, Princess Celestia, was particularly frozen in shock.

"Whoa, nelly..." Applejack put her hat onto her chest, stunned into silence.

"Well, this is... different."  Discord noted with a sense of uneasiness, something that hasn't happened to him very often.

"It... I... You... Wow."  Rainbow Dash failed to find any words to accurately describe what she was seeing.

"Ooh, pretty..." Chrysalis observed in awe.

"Wi… Wi… Wings?"  Rarity had to rub her eyes several times, not believing what she was seeing.

Fluttershy slowly approached the center of attention, a little scared of the whole situation. 

"Twilight?  Is that really you?"

Twilight gave a small smile in response.  "Yes, Fluttershy.  It’s really me."

After her mind momentarily shut down over the sheer shock, Princess Luna was finally able to make whole sentences again. 

"You’ve… become an alicorn.  Is that even possible sister?"

Celestia didn't answer.  Instead, she turned to address her most faithful student.  

"Twilight?  What happened?"

Twilight proceeded to recount the events that had transpired only a few hours ago.  Her in the library, finding the spell, putting it on thinking it was the replica, and reciting the ancient inscription which triggered the reaction that had transformed her.  As Twilight spoke, Celestia lost herself deeper and deeper into her own thoughts, as if she was contemplating something more than the situation at hoof. 

"You mean say that was the real Alicorn Amulet?"  Applejack shouted in alarm.  "What happened to the replica?"

"Rarity, you had the real amulet at one point so you could create the duplicate, right?"  Discord asked.

"Yes, I was even there to oversee that the real amulet was handled safely," Luna confirmed.

"I had both in the shop up until the 'Magic Duel' episode," Rarity explained.  "I remember we were all busy getting ready for the episode, so Minty volunteered to get it."

Minty jumped into the conversation.  "And I remember exactly what you told me!"  Minty cleared her throat and began speaking in a posh accent.  "Make sure you get the one on the top shelf, Minty darling.  Picking up the wrong one would be THE.  WORST.  POSSIBLE.  THING!"  Minty shouted, doing her best Rarity impression.  An impression that was eerily similar from the real thing.

Rarity was left stunned by the impromptu performance.  "That was… actually a good imitation there," she noted.   

"I try," Minty blushed.

Rarity brushed the odd impression aside.  "Well we still have to figure out how the real amulet got into Twilight's hooves and…"  The white unicorn froze as she had caught a crucial detail from Minty's explanation.   

"Hold on.  What did you say I said back then?" she asked the mint pony.

"To get the amulet on the top shelf?" Minty confirmed.

Rarity’s face fell in horror.

"Minty, I said do NOT get the one on the top shelf!  The replica was on the bottom shelf!!!"

The revelation left everypony groaning in frustration.

"Well, to be fair, we really need to put labels on those things.  It’s less confusing that way!"  Minty began to rant.  She stopped as she noticed all the frowns pointed in her direction, particularly the angry expression coming from one marshmallow-colored unicorn.   Minty squeaked a nervous smile.  "I mean, I’m sorry?"

Rarity's expression began to twist with rage.

"MIIIIIINNNTYYYYYYYY….."  

Minty braced herself for the upcoming fury.  But it never came.  She saw Rarity's expression twist itself even more as she successfully suppressed the rage.  As quickly as she got angry, Rarity had regained her typical ladylike poise.

"It was just an unfortunate accident and it wasn’t your fault," she calmly stated.

"Wow, um, thank you!"  Minty replied, grateful of the sudden show of mercy.

"Excuse me everypony, I need to use the little fillies room."  Rarity turned and gracefully troted inside Sugarcube Corner. 

"She took that rather well," Chrysalis observed.

"Well, Rarity does try to maintain her composure as much as possible,"  Fluttershy explained.

Minty breathed a stress-relieving sigh.  "That’s a relief.  I was sure she was she was ready to throw me through a wall."

CRASH!

The pleasantries were interrupted by a bathtub crashing through the second floor wall of Sugarcube Corner and onto the ground outside.  The scene made everyone turn their heads in surprise.  Minty, in particular, seemed frozen in shock at the display.  A few moments later, Rarity rejoined the group, not losing a trace of her dignified poise.

"Feel better?"  Twilight asked the fashionista.

"A little," Rarity responded in her own ladylike manner.

Rainbow Dash decided to turn the groups attention back to the most pressing issue. 

"Okay, now we got that out of the way… we have to try to find a way to change Twilight back to normal."

"And we better do it fast!  We've got a show to do tomorrow!"  Applejack added.

Pinkie Pie smiled.  "I think we’ll be ok with the show."

"But Pinkie, Twilight can’t finish the episode with wings," Discord pointed out, taking a closer look at the bookworm's new appendages for himself.

"She won’t need to!" the pink party planner informed. "Here’s the plan, everyone.  We'll wrap up the episode like we planned, except we’ll have Chrysalis stand in for Twilight instead.  Do you think you can do that, Chrysalis?"

In a flash, Chrysalis transformed herself into the unicorn form of Twilight Sparkle.

"Consider it done!"  The second Twilight Sparkle nodded.

"Great!  That will get us through the episode and give us more time to try to fix this.  We’ll have the whole summer to figure out the show and try to get Twilight back to normal."

"But what about the subplot about Twilight’s new job?"  Luna asked.

Pinkie shrugged.  "We’re gonna have to scrap that idea now, I guess."

"But, where would that leave us for season four?"  Fluttershy wondered.

"We can worry about that after we finish this episode, Fluttershy.  Right now, we’ve got more important problems than the show."

Twilight sighed contently.  "At the very least, it sounds like we’re in complete control of the situation."

"Yeah, I’m glad it all worked out.  This could have turned out a whole lot worse!"  Pinkie laughed. 

It was at that moment when Spike burped out a letter, written in green parchment.

"Spike?  What was that?"  Celestia asked, surprised at the sudden appearance of a letter she had no part in writing.

"I think that’s the response from HQ!  I wrote them earlier to let them know what was going on here." Spike explained.

Twilight took the parchment and began to read it.  "From Hasbro;  We have heard about what happened to Twilight and we have delayed the season finale by a week."

Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief at the news.  All was well.

Twilight continued reading the letter.  "We at Hasbro have unanimously decided that… making Twilight Sparkle an alicorn is a fantastic idea?"

Everyone froze in shock at the news.  All was not well.

Pinkie Pie grabbed the letter from Twilight and continued reading the letter out loud.  Fear was beginning to grip everyone present.  "We are starting production immediately on a whole new line of Alicorn Twilight toys and accessories.  We will use the delay to market this as the Hasbro event of the year, to be capped by….. Alicorn Twilight’s debut in the season finale?!?"

Everyone gasped in horror at the news.  Everything had now gone very, very wrong.

"Keep up the good work and congratulations on three marvelous seasons.  Signed Hasbro HQ".  Pinkie finished reading the letter in disbelief.

Spike droped to his knees and shouted to the sky in anguish.

"HASBROOOOO!!!!"  He shouted, the accursed name echoed into the Equestrian night.

"What are we supposed to do now?!?" Rarity asked.

"Um… panic?"  Fluttershy meekly offered.

"You know, I’m with Fluttershy on this one!"  Rainbow Dash nodded.

Applejack raised a hoof.  "Ah second that motion."

Minty spoke up.  "All in favor?"

And so, they all panicked.

“What are we gonna do?!?”
“We’re doomed!!!”
“One week… Clock!  Is!  Ticking!”
“Press event?  Are they serious?”
“Oh, the bronies are just gonna LOOVE hearing this.”
“Squeeze and think!  Squeeze and think!  Squeeze and think!  IT'S NOT WORKING!!!”
“We’re gonna have to reshoot the whole dadgum episode!”
“The whole thing?”
“No way!  We worked too hard on this one!  We’re NOT scrapping it!”
“They’re spoiling an episode we haven’t even shot yet!”  
“We can’t possibly make a whole episode from scratch in one week.”
“How can they expect us to just throw all this out at everyone?  This is coming completely out of nowhere!!!”
"Walls closing in!  Everything's getting dark!  Can't.... breathe..."

Princess Celestia simply watched in silence as everyone around her lost their heads. After a while, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.  She didn't like using this as much as her sister does, but circumstances as they are...



"QUIET!!!"



Celestia's use of the Royal Canterlot Voice instantly put a stop to the mass chaos scene.  All eyes were now fixed on her.  She simply cleared her throat and continued speaking with her normal tone of voice.

"I know things seem to be a bit out of hoof at the moment..."

Discord rolled his eyes.  "There’s an understatement."

Celestia ignored the snide comment and continued. "However, we need to remain calm about this.  The last thing we need in a situation like this is panic."

"With all due respect Princess, Ah think that panicking is our only option here!"  Applejack offered as a rebuttal.

Pinkie nodded in agreement.  "She’s right!  We can't write in that Twilight became an alicorn in one week.  What are we supposed to do?"

Celestia closed her eyes.  "I don't know, Pinkie.  But I do know what I must do."

"Sister?"  Luna asked in surprise.

Celestia chuckled to herself.  "I never expected this to happen so soon, but seeing how the circumstances are now…"

She walked over to the purple alicorn, looking her student straight in the eye.  A warm smile graced her face. 

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student.  You have grown so much over these past three years.  The friendships you have forged, the battles you have fought, the lessons you have learned.  Everything you’ve experienced in your time in Ponyville has shaped you into a pony that Ponyville and all of Equestria can be proud of.  You’ve become a leader, a mentor, a source of inspiration for your friends, for Equestrians everywhere, and… for myself."

"Princess Celestia..." Twilight said softly.

Celestia continued.  "I believe that the Alicorn Amulet felt this too, which is why it reacted the way it did.  It must have felt that you are now ready.  Therefore, I believe that the time has come."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion.  "Time?  Time for what?"

"Twilight?  I would like for you to become an official Equestrian Princess."

The news was met with stunned silence from everyone.  Twilight began to stammer as she began to comprehend what her mentor was telling her.

"P… p… pri… Princess?  M… m… me?  I… I… oh~~~"

Overwhelmed, Twilight Sparkle fainted to the ground.

"That’s our second faint tonight."  Minty observed.

Rarity gasped at Minty's announcement.  "What?  We were having a fainting contest on top of all this too?  Well, I won’t be outdone.  Out of my way everypony!"

Everypony cleared out of the way as Rarity over-dramatically fainted to the ground.  Spike gave the performance a huge round of applause.

Pinkie Pie did not join in on the distraction.  She was too lost in her thought.  Seemingly everything had gone horribly wrong in one night.

First Twilight becomes an Alicorn, then Hasbro decides to wreck the episode, now Celestia wants to make Twilight a princess?!?  I think I’ve had enough surprises for one night.  Pinkie thought to herself.

"Hey Pinkie?" a 'Great and Powerful' voice shouted from behind her.  

"Now what?"  Pinkie groaned.  She turned around, expecting to see the blue unicorn appear down the empty Ponyville streets.

She and the others did not expect to see a blue-skinned creature running towards them on two legs, wearing a blue dress, oversized blue boots, and the distinctive matching purple hat and cape.  This weird human-shaped creature had Trixie's mane cut, as well as Trixie's voice.  Even Celestia herself looked absolutely shocked at what she was seeing.

"Pinkie?  Don't ask how it happened, but Lyra's spell backfired on me while we were planning Equestrian Girls.  Do you think you can get Twilight or Celestia to change me back?"

As Trixie reached the group, she Celestia was already here.  She also noticed not one, but two Twilight Sparkles, and one of them was unconscious.  And had wings.

"Did I miss something?"  Trixie asked.

Everypony slowly turned towards Pinkie Pie, expecting an explanation for this strange event.  They all had an expression that all read pure utter confusion.

Pinkie laughed nervously and shrugged.  "It's a work in progress."
> When It Hits The Fans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After being changed back to her normal unicorn self thanks to Celestia, Trixie joined the group as they made their way towards the library.  They had all decided that it was best to make Twilight as comfortable as possible.  The recently transformed alicorn was still out cold and Celestia volunteered to carry her back to her student's home.

"So you mean to say that was the real Alicorn Amulet this whole time?" Trixie asked as she entered the library.  She was still trying to get up to speed with the events of the evening.  A few nods confirmed her query.  It became clear that the stressful evening had worn everypony out.

"Yes, and now we have to figure out a way to write it into the show by next week," Rainbow Dash added.

"Not to mention that whole making Twilight Sparkle a princess thing, not that that’s important at all," Discord shrugged.

"Needless to say, we’ve had a bit of a night so far," Pinkie sighed in defeat.

Fluttershy turned to Princess Celestia, still carrying Twilight on her back.  "How is Twilight, your highness?"

Celestia took a look at her student. "She’s asleep now.  I’ll go and tuck her into her bed in case she wakes up."  Celestia began to make her way up the stairs towards Twilight's bedroom.  Before she made her way however, Luna caught up with her.  

"Sister, are you really sure about all this?" Luna whispered.  "Do you really think Twilight Sparkle is ready to become a princess," the princess of the night whispered.

"The Alicorn Amulet seemed to think so.  Do you think this is a bad idea?"

Luna hesitated for a moment.  "Well… I’m not going to object.  Twilight seems like a natural choice, but… this happened so fast.  I’m not sure if she’s still over the shock."

"I know, which is why I’ll stay at her bedside.  She’ll need all the support she can get."

"I’ll stay downstairs.  Let me know if anything changes."

Celestia nodded.  "Don’t worry Luna, I will."  

Celestia and Spike take Twilight upstairs to her bedroom.  Luna watched them disappear up the stairs before she returned to the others in the library's main hall.  Twilight's five friends, Trixie, Minty, Discord and Chrysalis, still in Twilight's unicorn form, had all settled on the floor after what had been a very shocking, exhausting night.  Discord had produced some tea for everypony to drink.

"I just don't believe it.  Twilight?  A princess?"  Fluttershy asked in disbelief.

Applejack shook her head, taking a sip of her tea.  "I know sugarcube.  It sounds so weird.  This is gonna take some getting used to."

Rainbow Dash was thinking outloud, trying to wrap her head around what was going on.  "Princess Twilight Sparkle.  Ugh, it sounds like a really bad Mary-Sue character."

"How is it that a filly Rarity becomes a princess in the third generation, but the genuine fashionista doesn’t?"  Rarity asked to nopony in particular.

"I think there are more important matters at hoof Rarity," the still-unicorn form of Twilight Sparkle pointed out.

Rarity answered absent-mindedly.  "Ok, Twilight… wait, Twilight's supposed to be upstairs, right?"

Applejack politely tapped the Twilight-shaped changeling on the shoulder.  "Don’t mean to sound rude Chrysalis, but could you stop being Twilight, sugarcube?  It’s getting mighty confusing."  

Chrysalis put a hoof on her chin in deep thought.  After a short while, she willed herself into another transformation.  After a flash, she stood in her new form.  A purple unicorn with a dark purple and violet mane and tail with the same star-shaped cutie mark just like before.  But this form had a larger build, had a shorter mane and tail, and a sharper, squared muzzle.  She wasn't Twilight Sparkle anymore.  She was Twilight Sparkle as a stallion.   

"Is this better?" the stallion Twilight asked.

Every mare in the room blushed a deep crimson at the sight of this male version of their best friend.  Trixie in particular had to struggle to keep from fainting to the ground.

"Um… actually I think that one’s even worse!" squeaked Fluttershy.

"Now that would bring about some chaos.  Why didn't I think of that?" Discord chuckled.     

The male Twilight frowned.  A flash suddenly surrounded him and second later, he was replaced by Chrysalis' regular form.

"You ponies are no fun," Chrysalis grumbled.  

Trixie tried to compose herself from the shock as best as she could.  

"Um, wasn’t there a crisis we needed to solve right now?" the magician asked sheepishly. 

"Well I guess we could talk about the how to fix everything in the show," Minty shrugged.

Rainbow Dash sighed.  "I’m sorry, but I can’t think about the show right now.  One of my closest friends might become a princess!  What’s going to happen if she says yes?"

"Is she going to have to leave Ponyville because of this?"  Rarity wondered.

Fluttershy gasped.  "But, whose gonna take care of the library?"

A sudden chilling thought ran through Applejack.  Her blood running cold for a second.  

"If she’s an alicorn and a princess, does that mean…. she’s gonna outlive us?"

Nopony said anything.  Nopony wanted to say anything in response to that thought.  Eventually, Luna decided to try to diffuse everypony's current fears.

"We can ask my sister when she returns, but I can assure you that despite what you may think right now, everything will not be as bad as you currently think."

Applejack slowly took her hat off her head and clutched it tight against her chest.  

"Ah hope so…" the cowpony quietly said.

The room stayed quiet for a long time as the somber thought sunk in.    After a very long, uncomfortable silence, Twilight's in-show rival spoke up, as a more positive thought ran through her mind.

"You know, if there is anypony in Equestria that does deserve this, it’s Twilight Sparkle," Trixie admitted.

Rainbow Dash let out a small laugh.  "I know what you mean.  She is usually the one we all turn to whenever a problem arrives."

"That’s who she is," Pinkie agreed.  "Whenever there is a problem, Twilight goes out of her way to make sure the problem gets solved."

"Even when nopony is listening to her, she’ll get after a crisis and solve it," Applejack added.   

"She tries very her best for us.  For everypony,"  Fluttershy smiled, happy that she could call this pony her friend.

Pinkie nodded slowly.  "Yeah… she really does."

"Not even chaos and disorder can sway her too far from doing what’s right for her friends," Discord reluctantly pointed out, remembering how his very first encounter with the then-unicorn ended.

Considering these new points, Pinkie found herself conflicted.  No matter what her senses told her about the show and pleasing the fans, her heart kept telling her that she should leave the events of this night alone and let Twilight become an alicorn princess.  A year ago, she would have listened to her mind and do whatever was necessary to keep the show going.  But now, she was listening to her heart.

"This goes against everything about maintaining status quo, but… the more I think about it… the more I think I’m in favor for all this."  Pinkie found herself saying.

Her other friends looked down to the ground as they considered their own feelings on the subject.  Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak up.

"You know, me too," the cyan pegasus nodded.

"She would make a wonderful princess," Fluttershy added.

"Well... it would be nice to be a close acquaintance with a royal figure…" Rarity sheepishly decided.

Applejack only shook her head in disbelief.  "Ah even told that bit about destinies and such.  Who would have ever thought…"

Hearing this verdict, Minty flashed a big smile.  "Well it sounds like we’re in agreement about Twilight being a princess, right."

"Yeah... I guess we are..." Pinkie found herself staring down to the floor somberly again, despite her decision.  This caused Discord to turn to the pink party pony in concern.

"You are happy for Twilight, right?" the draconequs asked.

Pinkie shook her head.  "I am, really!  I hope all the best for her!  But... I still don’t know what to do about the show... or the fans." 

"You still have no idea how to solve this yet, do you?" Chrysalis hypothesized.

"Even if I did, there's nothing we can do can fix this," Pinkie admitted.  She hung her head low and dejectedly slumped down to the floor.  "At any rate, it doesn't matter anymore.  It's too late.  Hasbro has probably let the word out that Twilight has wings.  In fact, they might have already made her a princess too behind our backs, and that means that the fans most likely know what's about to happen!  There’s no way the fans will ever accept this no matter what we try."

Everypony looked at each other with deep concern.  Needless to say the show remained a primary concern, but now their thought are now focused on the well being of the bearer of the Element of Laughter.

"Are you going to be ok, Pinkie?"  Trixie asked, echoing the worried concerns of the rest of the group.

"Considering the fact that my best friend could have gotten hurt a lot worse from a dangerous artifact tonight, not to mention the company that we owe our existence to stabbed us in the back by hijacking the episode, and the fact that the fans that we love so much would be ready to turn their back on us because we made Twilight a princess, I think I’m far from ok now." Pinkie had to fight back tears as she finished her rant.

Minty placed her hooves on Pinkie's shoulders.  "It was just an accident.  There was no way you could have known any of this would happen!"

"Hasbro probably didn’t know what really happened," Fluttershy pointed out.  "Besides, an alicorn Twilight toy does sound like a really great idea… I want one."  Fluttershy nervously pawed the ground as she confessed her feelings on the potential merchandising issues.

"I wish the fans were just as forgiving as you, Fluttershy, but the damage is already done," Pinkie sighed.  "Just the very idea of Twilight becoming an alicorn or a princess is enough to make a lot of them tune out."

"So you’re saying that no matter what we try, we can never patch things up with the fans?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie shook her head.  "Not if we’ve lost their trust.  It’s just like I always say.  Losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend."

"FOREVERRRR!!!!" 

A second Pinkie Pie shouted, appearing suddenly from right under the first Pinkie Pie.  The original Pinkie jumped back in surprise.

"Chrysalis!  Stop that!"  Luna shouted to the duplicate.  In a flash, the Pinkie clone transformed back into Queen Chrysalis.

"Come on, I always wanted to do that!" Chrysalis protested.

Pinkie gathered her senses after the sudden shock.  Now I remember why I stopped doing that gag. she thought.

Luna sighed at the distraction.  This whole night had been an ordeal to say the least.  Ironically, it felt that this night was indeed lasting forever.  Thankfully this night would eventually end.  That fact made Luna suddenly aware that everyone had been up for a while now thanks to this crisis, and it was clear that fatigue was beginning to settle in.  

"Listen, I know everypony has been up quite a while now.  Perhaps a good night’s rest will help ease out troubled minds." Luna suggested. 

"I like that idea," Rainbow Dash yawned.  "Man, I’m so out of it I don’t think I’ll make it back home!"

"Why don’t we all sleep here tonight?"  Trixie offered.  "That way we be here for Twilight, and we can get right back solving all this as soon as we wake up."

"Nothing’s wrong with that," Applejack agreed.  "Although I really wish I could go back to the farm and get my sleeping bag."

"Allow me," Discord offered, and with a snap, everypony found themselves wrapped in their own sleeping bags in true slumber party fashion.

"Well, I guess... good night everypony."  Fluttershy yawned.  

They all said their goodnights while the settled into their sleeping bags for the night.  As always Luna remained awake, fulfilling her duties as the guardian of the night.  It didn't take long until she found that all but one the visitors had fallen asleep, for as much as she wanted too, there was still too much on Pinkie Pie's mind to allow her to sleep.


~~~~~


Twilight stood behind the palace curtain eagerly anticipating Celestia to announce her to Equestria.  She definitely looked the part of a princess, with her crown, her royal gown and of course those wings she had inadvertently given herself.  And now, the moment had finally come where her mentor would introduce to Canterlot and the rest of Equestria as their new princess.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I present to you, for the very first time, Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

The curtain pulled back and Twilight slowly walked onto the balcony overlooking the massive courtyard where all the ponies had assembled.  She had her eyes closed, eager to hear the massive cheers the crowd would give her.

But the cheers never came.

Confused, Twilight opened her eyes and gasped in shock.  The courtyard was packed and crowded like she had expected.  However none of these creatures were ponies.  They were all standing on two legs, many of them were even wearing clothing that had pictures of her and her friends on them.  Some even went as far as dressing up as her friends.  These wern't ponies.  They were the bronies!  And they all were looking at her in a deep sense of shock.

After a few moments of stunned silence, the brony crowd broke out in a vicious chorus of boos and hisses.

"What kind of bull crap is this?"
"Princess?  Seriously?"
"Twilight?  How could you!!!"
"Hey everyone, guess what?  It's G3 all over again!!!"
"How could they ruin something so special?"
"My head cannon!  My poor, poor head cannon!"
"Aaaand, they've jumped the shark"
"I can't believe they sold out like this!  What were they thinking?"

Twilight stood shocked at the mass rejection that was taking place before her eyes. She was especially saddened by some of the more vulgar cat calls that were thrown around by the crowd.  She watched helplessly as all the bronies began to turn away, having had enough of the fraud in front of them.  Twilight reached out in vain.

"No wait!  Don't go!  I can explain this!  This was just an accident, I... I didn't want to become a princess..."

Her rebuttals fell on deaf's ears.  Soon, the courtyard was left completely empty.

"But... why?" Twilight said, frozen stiff at how everyone had turned.  She heard a couple of hoofsteps behind her.  She turned around to see not only her mentor, but also one of her very best friends, Pinkie Pie.  Twilight became worried as she noticed their expressions.  Celestia had a look of resigned defeat on her face, while Pinkie looked as if she had been betrayed in the worst way possible.  

"Equestria... has been forgotten," Princess Celestia announced sadly.

Before Twilight knew it, the entire ground shook violently.  A major earthquake?  No this was something else.  Something worse.  Twilight looked towards the horizon, where she could see Ponyville, and the village that she had called home was vanishing before her eyes, line by line.  Within moments, Ponyville was erased and a white void was left in it wake.  A void that was rapidly approaching her.

She turned back to see her mentor and screamed in terror.  Princess Celestia was becoming undone too, as if a giant eraser was going over her form.  The sun goddess closed her eyes and shed a tear as she too was erased from existence.  Seconds later, the same process began to happen to Pinkie Pie, hot tears streaming down her anguished face. 

"I trusted you, Twilight!  How could you do this to me?!?  I trusted you!!!" she shouted as she vanished into oblivion.

"Pinkie!!!"  Twilight tried to run to where Pinkie once stood.  However she found herself unable to move.  She looked down and let out a silent scream.  Her hooves were disappearing, being undone line by agonizing line.  This was it.  It was all over.  Everything she knew.  Everyone she loved.  All of it was vanishing.  Equestria was being erased.

And it was all her fault.

Tears began to flow freely down her face as the void reached her torso, slowly making its way to her head.  There was only one thing going through her mind while the mysterious force purged her from existence.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry........"


*****


"... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

"Twilight!  Wake up!  You're having a bad dream!"  Spike shook the librarian, hoping to wake her from whatever hell she had created for her self.

A few shakes later, Twilight suddenly shot back awake, her eyes still filled with tears.  She looked around her room, taking quick inventory that everything was still in place.  She breathed a mental sigh of relief when she determined that nothing had been erased.  Everything was still in place.  She turned to see that not only Spike was there as well, but Princess Celestia too, fully confirming that the horrible dream never happened.  However, after such a horrific nightmare, she found herself leaping off of her bed and straight into her mentor's hooves.  She clutched her with all her might, never wanting to let her go.

"Oh, Celestia.  I had a horrible nightmare," she sobbed.  

"Whatever it was, I can assure you that it never happened," Celestia reassured her frightened pupil.

"But you were... and Pinkie... and everypony... and it was all my fault!" Twilight choked out in between sobs.

Spike was quick to give the rattled alicorn a big hug.  "Twilight, it's over.  You're back in the library now.  And so is everypony else.  They're sleeping downstairs now." 

Twilight allowed to lose herself in the warm embrace of her mentor and her assistant.  "Thank you."  She simply said.  After a few moments of comfort, she turned to her mentor, remembering what had transpired before she had blacked out.  

"You were serious about making me a princess, weren't you?"

"Yes I was," Celestia nodded.

"But, I... I can’t be a princess!" Twilight stammered.  "I’m not princess material!  I’m nothing special, I’m just a student!!!"

Celestia knelt down and gave her protege a soft reassuring nuzzle.  "You musn’t sell yourself short like that.  You are an exceptional pony.  Even more than you realize."

Twilight lowered her head.  "But… this is all so sudden.  I mean, just a few hours ago everything was fine.  And now I…" 

Celestia exhaled.  "I know this is all overwhelming, and I sincerely apologize for putting you in this position so suddenly.  But you must know that this was something I had been considering for some time.  Although in normal course of events, I would have left the decision up to you and then the transformation would have occurred had you accepted.  I guess, the Alicorn Amulet made the decision for us."

"So… what happens now?"

"In the case of becoming a princess, the decision is still yours to make," Celestia explained.  "Whether you accept or decline my offer, I’ll understand.  However, turning you back into a normal unicorn is going to be more problematic.  More than likely, you’ll remain an alicorn."

That last sentance hit Twilight hard.  She laid herself down on the ground, losing hope that a quick fix was still possible.

"Nothing’s ever going to be the same anymore, will it?" she thought out loud. 

"Nothing ever remains the same, you know.  That's just the way life is," Celestia pointed out.

Twilight nodded silently.  She then looked up towards her window besides her bed, which currently had a clear view of the crescent moon.  She made her way back to her bed and gazed out the window.

"What about our friends..." she wondered.

"You need not worry about your friends," Celestia began to argue.  "I'm sure they..."

"It's not just them!" Twilight interrupted, her voice becoming more frantic.  "But what about the fans?  What about the show?  If they stop watching us because of me…"

"Twilight…"  Celestia reached out in concern.

Twilight lowered her head.  "If you don’t mind, your highness, I need some time to think."

Despite the sudden dismissal, Princess Celestia nodded in quiet understandment.  She slowly turned back to rejoin the others downstairs, leaving her protege and her dragon assistant alone.  

Spike wasn't sure how to approach the whole situation thus far.  However, with Celestia now out of the room, he found an opportunity to talk to Twilight, even though he wasn't sure if he should at the moment.   

"Do you want me to leave too?" he asked.

Twilight quickly shook her head.  "Actually, Spike?  Would you mind staying here for now?"

He didn't needed to be told twice.  He climbed up on the bed and embraced her. 

"For what its worth, I’ll still be here no matter what," he reassured Twilight..

"Thanks Spike.  I don't know what I would do without you."  Twilight took another look out her window, then she looked back at herself and those stupid wings that were ruining everything.  She sighed.  "I’ve really done it now, have I?"

"You didn’t know that all this was going to happen.  None of us did."

"But the episode.  We worked so hard on it, and now thanks to me, everything’s ruined.  Pinkie probably hates me for all this."

"Stop being so hard on yourself, Twilight."

"I can’t help it.  You know how much work she puts into the show, and you saw how proud she was during this last one.  And I wrecked it…. just like I did last summer."  Twilight tried to shake away that memory of last summer's rerun fiasco.  She still couldn't believe she had that nervous breakdown, and she still couldn't believe that she had it on live television. 

"Everything turned out ok that time, remember?"

Tears began to well up in Twilight's eyes again.  "But there’s no way things will be fine now.  You know how much Pinkie loves the fans.  I’ll never forgive myself if I’m the reason why the fans abandon us…"

The alicorn buried her head in her hooves.  Spike gingerly placed his hand on her shoulder in a attempt to comfort her.

"It’ll be Ok, Twilight.  Everything is going to be just fine." Spike said softly.

Twilight shook her head.  "No, everything's not fine.  It'll never be fine again."

Through tear-filled eyes, Twilight gazed out the window and into the night sky.

"What am I going to do?"


~~~~~


It was no use.  No matter how hard she tried, there was just no way Pinkie was falling asleep.  There was just too much on her mind.  Twilight's accident, her possible royal ascension, and most worryingly the state of the show and the fans.  Even as she lay in bed, Hasbro was spreading the word of the appearance of Twilight the Alicorn in the upcoming season finale, meaning that the fans were also finding out the new twist as well.  Pinkie shuddered to think about the barrage of comments that was more than likely flooding their message forums at the moment.  She sighed in frustration.  How in Equestria were they supposed to manage this problem? 

I know it's late, but maybe I just need a walk to clear my head, she finally decided.  Getting up as quietly as she could so that her friends' slumbers weren't disrupted, Pinkie got up out of her sleeping bag and made her way out of the library and into the Ponyville night.  

The quaint village was so different at night.  Normally the streets and buildings were full of ponies going about their daily business.  There was almost always something keeping the streets busy, from a couple chatting about their dinner plans to Pinkie herself leading the whole place in a rousing rendition of the 'Smile Song'.  However the streets were now empty and quiet, with every Ponyville citizen fast asleep.  Seeing Ponyville at night was a calming, yet creepy sight for Pinkie.

She continued her walk until she came across her own home base, Sugarcube Corner... and its lights were on and loud music was blaring from the inside?

"What the...?  We weren't supposed to have a party going on this late.  And who in their right mind threw a party and not invite Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie quickly went up to the candy shop's front door and opened it.  She was immediately showered with balloons, confetti and noise makers.  After quickly shaking off the loud welcome, she then stood face to face with a white pegasus who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.  She had a poofy blond mane and tail, and had three purple baloons for a cutie mark.

"SURPRISE!!!" the pegasus shouted.

In actuality, the visitor's appearance was not all that shocking to Pinkie.  It was Surprise that was the inspiration for her erratic, high-octane behavior on the show.  She remembered that in order to keep her around after the old Ponyville vanished, Lauren had to merge her spirit with the spirit of her own creation, Surprise, to create the Pinkie Pie she currently was.  The two spirits were one nowadays, but Pinkie still occasionally saw Surprise in her dreams once in a while.

"Surprise?  What are you doing here?  I though I only see you in my dreams," Pinkie asked.

"Duh!  You are having a dream, silly!!!" Surprise grinned.

Pinkie took a quick look at her surroundings.  "But, why does everything feel so real?"

Surprise put a hoof to her chin.  "Considering that there was already a dream sequence earlier in the chapter, I guess making this sequence emulate real life more than the last one would help balance things out in terms of story pacing and tone."

Pinkie arched an eyebrow.  "Uh, dream sequence?  Story?  What are you talking about."

The white pegasus gasped as she realized what she had done.  "Uh oh!  I think I broke the wrong fourth wall!"

"You... wait, what?!?"

Surprise began to pace back and forth in panic, trying to comprehend the consequences of what she had done.  "How does that even work?  Breaking the fourth wall in a story that already breaks the fourth wall.  Did I just break the 8th wall?  Or maybe that was the 16th wall?  Is there even a trope for that?  Oh, I hope I didn't accidentally divide by zero back there!"

"Let's not worry about any of that, Ok Surprise?"  Pinkie suggested.

"Ok, but watch out for any stray black holes.  I think we're in unchartered territory here."

Pinkie could only facehoof.  She was completely confused as to which tangent the pegasus was going on, which was an impressive feat considering confusing Pinkie Pie was very hard to do in the first place.  At least now she could better relate to Twilight's plight from "Feeling Pinkie Keen" a bit.  She shook her head and tried to reassess her situation.

"Okay, so if this is a dream sequence, then I'm still back in the library then, right?"

"Sounds right to me!"

Pinkie took a deep breath.  "Ok, at least I'm back on track in some way."

"Well getting back to the story, you seemed a little down lately Pinkie. So I threw this party to cheer you up!"

"Thanks, Surprise.  I guess I have a lot on my mind right now."

"Is it about Twilight?  I don’t know why you can be sad about that though.  She looks really cool!  I mean she’s an alicorn!!!  Oh, you know what?  This calls for an ALICORN PARTY!!!"

"Actually, I'm not worried about Twilight," Pinkie pointed out.  "I'm sure she'll be able to handle this." 

Surprise's expression dropped slightly.  "So… no alicorn party?"

"No alicorn party…. yet.  At any rate, I’m way more worried about the show, and the fans…"

Surprise heaved a big sigh of relief.  "Oh them?    For a moment there I thought it was serious."

"It is serious!  Without the fans, we wouldn’t even be here!  If they get angry because of this, they’ll never forgive us!  They might even stop watching!"

"So, we’re making this show just to make the fans happy?" Surprise asked.

"Well, that's what I've been trying to do.  But this whole alicorn thing is making it really hard to do that."

"Is it really that important to try to please every fan, Pinkie?"

Pinkie breathed in a deep sigh.  "I… ever since G3, I just wanted the fans to like us.  I tried everything I could back then to do that, and I failed.  But I got a second chance, and I vowed to myself I would never lose a single fan ever again.  I just hate the idea of losing fans... losing our friends…"

Surprise smiled sympathetically at the pink pony.  Pinkie Pie did have some abandonment issues that she still needed to deal with.

"You know, that’s kind of silly if you think about it," Surprise began to point out.

"How is that silly?"

"Pinkie, fans leave all the time.  Sometimes they leave if they don’t like the show anymore, but other times it just can’t be helped.  They have to leave because their lives had gotten too busy, or they had to move away and they can’t watch the show anymore, and… sadly some of them leave because they passed away."

Pinkie remained silent.  Death was a topic she wishes she'd never have to deal with on the show.

Surprise continued on.  "Even if you have the greatest show in the world, you will lose fans for one reason or another.  That’s just the way things are."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Well there's gotta be another reason why you make the show.  It's not just about the fans right?"

Surprise then pointed to the kitchen where Pinkie had been preparing some of the treats for the big wrap party.  In particular, she guided Pinkie over to one of the main cakes she had prepared.  It was a simple one layer cake that had the iconic picture of her and her friends from the show's intro frosted on it.  Pinkie had made it for a special surprise post-wrap-up-party party for just her friends and no pony else.  A smile slowly appeared on Pinkie's face as she noticed the picture of her friends.

"Well, the fans are important…" Pinkie began to realize.  "But at the same time… I like working on the show because I get to do it with my very best friends.  And we have a ton of fun putting it together."  

"And are you proud of it?"

"Of course I am!  We put in a lot of time, effort, and care in every episode we do.  And we work hard to make sure that the episodes come out as good as anypony can make them."

"And everything turns out all right?"

Pinkie gave a small nod.  "It really does.  When it all comes together like it does, it just makes me feel really happy.  Doesn't matter if it's for one fan or a million.  That feeling I get when we wrap up a really great episode is... magical."  

"Well, it sounds like you don’t have anything to worry about then!" Surprise smiled.

"Huh?"

"All I can say is trust your instincts, Pinkie.  Just go with what you feel you think would work for the show.  And in a situation like this, it’s best not to worry about things beyond your control.  Besides, I have a hunch that even though there’s gonna be a lot of shock at Twilight being alicorned, most fans will roll with it.  She is still the same egghead on the inside, after all?"

"That's why the fans love her," Pinkie admitted.  "That's why... I love her."

Surprise leaned into Pinkie, grinning a really cheeky smile.  "Oh, I never knew you thought about her that way before, Pinkie!"

"Oh... OH!!!"  Pinkie began to blush as she realized what Surprise was implying.  "I just meant I love her as a friend, ok?  A friend.  I'm not romantically interested at all."

"Oh, well I always knew you were saving yourself for Big Macintosh."

"Eeep!"  Pinkie Pie let her inner Fluttershy out as she squeaked out in surprise and ducked underneath the nearest chair.  Surprise doubled over in laughter over the flustered pony's antics.

"That wasn't funny, Surprise!"  Pinkie frowned.

The white pegasus gathered herself.  "I'm sorry, but you look so cute when you get embarrassed.  I promise I won't do that again.  Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"  Surprise recited, miming the motions of the Pinkie Promise.

"That's a relief," Pinkie sighed.

"At any rate, do you feel better, Pinkie?"

It took her a short while, but Pinkie finally nodded.  "Yes.  I really do."

"Don't worry Pinkie, everything's going to be just fine."

"Is it just me, or has everypony been saying that a lot lately?" Pinkie wondered.

Surprise shrugged.  "I dunno.  Must be the theme of the story... mmph!!!"  the white pegasus covered her own mouth again.

"Wrong fourth wall?" Pinkie guessed.

"Wrong fourth wall." Surprise confirmed.

"Oookay, maybe I should wake myself up now.  This dream sequence is getting way too meta even for my tastes," Pinkie decided.

"I think that's a good idea," Surprise nodded emphatically.

Before it was time to go, Pinkie ran over and gave her spirit companion a big hug.

"Thanks, Surprise."

"Don't forget about that alicorn party!"

"Don't worry. I won't forget!"

As the two embraced, a warm light enveloped them, willing Pinkie Pie back to the waking world.  


~~~~~


Morning came all too quickly as far as anyone in the library was concerned.  Everpony would have rather stayed in bed than face a brand new day.  But nonetheless a new day had arrived, and with it, bringing everyone closer and closer to the airing of the unfinished Season 3 finale.  Celestia found herself exhausted after raising the sun as she had spent the whole night with Twilight, so she excused herself to rest for a little bit that morning.  Slowly, everypony began to wake up as the new day begun.  Minty volunteered to be the first one to get up last night in order to open Sugarcube Corner while Pinkie stayed behind and work on the show.  Luna, Discord, and Chrysalis prepared breakfast for the others as they woke up.  Luna looked up the stairs.  She began to worry, there had been no sign of Twilight since her sister came down from her room last night.  She decided to keep her concerns to herself for the time being.  

It was Pinkie Pie who was the last to arise.  She greeted her friends with a smile that seemed to be brighter than the sun itself.

"Good morning everypony!" she shouted.

"You seem a bit too happy today," Rainbow Dash grumbled, still half asleep.

"Aren't you still worried about the show?  And about the fans?" Rarity pondered.

"I think I’ve got my mind around this whole situation now," Pinkie replied.

That bit of news caught shocked Applejack.  "Now there's a 180 from last night.  What's so different now?"

Pinkie smirked.  She produced a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere.

"Let's just say I had a..."

Pinkie put on the shades.

"...surprise visit."

"Yay!"  Fluttershy cheered.  A louder, longer, more appropriate 'YEAH!' might have worked better in that scenario, but Celestia and Twilight needed their rest and Fluttershy didn't want to disturb them.

"Well, it looks like Pinkie Pie is acting like Pinkie Pie again," Trixie commented.  "Perhaps we can return to the situation at hoof?"

"Right!  Fixing the show.  So, have you finally decided what we are going to do about the fans, Pinkie?"  Discord asked.

"Unfortunately, we can't do much of anything about the fans," Pinkie explained, putting her sunglasses away. "Besides, we can't waste too much time on them.  I think the most important thing now is to figure out how to explain Twilight becoming an alicorn in the context of the show.  If we do a well enough job, then I think the fans will accept it."

"If you say so,"  Applejack replied.

Discord arched an eyebrow at Pinkie's choice.  But he decided that she was right.  Fixing the show was first priority.

"In that case, does anyone have any ideas on how to write this in the show?"  Discord asked the group.

Luna rested her head on top of her hooves, deep in thought.  "Well, since it’s too late to plan an entire episode for this, maybe we can find a way to incorporate this into what we already have for the episode."

Chrysalis turned to the stars of the show.  "By the way, we forgot to ask. What have you guys shot so far?"

"Well, we’ve done everything up until the part where our cutie marks get switched back,"  Rainbow Dash explained.

"The last thing we shot was the 'True, True Friend' song number," Rarity pointed out.

Pinkie massaged her forehead as a big question began to rack her mind.  "So, how do we go from that point to Twilight becoming an alicorn?"

Everyone was lost in thought for a few moments before Fluttershy offered a suggestion.

"Well, we all still have our elements in the show, right?  What if the elements react like the Alicorn Amulet did?"

"That's a bang up idea, Fluttershy!!!"  Applejack nodded.

"But, what would cause the elements to react like that?" Luna asked.

Trixie shrugged.  "Maybe because Twilight fixed the destinies of the other elements, the other elements then react to fulfill the destiny of the element of magic."

"I like that thought…" Discord said, stroking his beard.

Chrysalis decided to object.  "It's a great idea and all, but it seems to be missing… something…"

"More importantly, what are we to do about the rest of the episode?  We are short one big musical number now!" Rarity pointed out.

"How about I throw Twilight an alicorn party!" Pinkie offered.  "We spend the rest of the episode with the party and we end it with Twilight making a speech thanking everypony and thanking her closest friends."

"Um… not to be rude… but wouldn’t that be a… letdown after the whole cutie mark switch?" Fluttershy meekly objected.

Rainbow Dash nodded.  "Fluttershy’s right.  The episode has been awesome so far.  We have to end it strong!"

"I know, Dashie.  But I don’t think we’ll have the time to plan another…"

"Excuse me everypony…" a small voice interrupted from the staircase.  Everyone looked to see Twilight Sparkle and Spike had finally woken up and had rejoined the group.  However, everyone was also quick to notice that the two of them looked very sad.  Spike seemed to be trying his very best not to cry in front of the group.

"Twilight!  Did we wake you up?"  Fluttershy asked.

Twilight shook her head slowly.  "No, you didn’t."

Princess Luna's heart sank.  She immediately felt that something was not right. 

"What seems to be the matter?" the night princess asked carefully.

"Princess Luna?  Could you please go and get Princess Celestia?  I have... something important I need to tell her," Twilight sadly said, her voice barely keeping it together.

Luna bit her lower lip.  "She is resting right now, but if it is important, then I shall go fetch her."

Luna turned to fetch her big sister, a sense of dread coming over her as she did.  Discord felt it too.  Despite his in-show reputation, he really cared for those troublesome ponies.  And it was clear that something was very, very wrong. 

"Does this have to do with Celestia’s offer?"  Discord guessed.

Twilight slowly nodded.  "I’m going to tell her that I will have to respectfully decline the offer."

"You what?!?"  Trixie shouted in disbelief.  The others also shared a similar shocked expression.

"Twilight?  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!  You’ve earned it!"  Rarity shouted.

Twilight shook her head.  Tears began to flow from her eyes.  "No I didn't!  This was a mistake!  It never should have happened.  And I can’t let you guys live with something that was my fault.  I’ve damaged the show beyond repair and I have to set things right, to make everything normal again."

Pinkie wasn't liking where this was going, but she had to ask anyway.

"What are you talking about?"

Twilight closed her eyes in shame. 

"I’m sorry everyone.  But I’ve decided to leave the show and move back to Canterlot."
> Conflict Resolution 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The announcement left the library deathly silent, expressions of shocked disbelief painted on all the visitors in the room.  It didn't seem possible for the ponies to experience anymore shocks than the ones they went through the previous night, but here they were, frozen once again.  And it seemed like there would be nothing to unfreeze this particular feeling.

"Spike sent a letter to my parents back in Canterlot," Twilight continued sadly.  "They're letting me stay there for now.  We'll be leaving tomorrow."

Trixie was the first pony to speak up, although she was still taken aback at Twilight's decision.

"You're really leaving?"

"But why move to Canterlot?  Couldn't you just stay here?"  Discord asked.

"I can go through the Canterlot Archives to see if there is a way to turn me back to a normal unicorn," Twilight explained.  "Besides, I can’t be seen like this. I’ll just get in the way if I stay in Ponyville." 

Twilight then noticed the display case that contained the Elements of Harmony.  She levitated her Element of Magic from the case and floated it over towards Trixie. 

"Trixie, you’re going to have to take over for me while I’m gone," Twilight told the showmare. "The show needs a strong unicorn like yourself to keep things together.  The fans wouldn’t mind if you became the new Element of Magic."  

Trixie looked down at the crown.  On the one hoof, she was honored that Twilight picked her to be her in-show successor.  But at the same time, she found herself shaking her head.  This was wrong.  This was very, very wrong.  She tried to open her mouth to try to change the purple alicorn's mind, but she couldn't find any words to do so.

Twilight turned her attention to the Changeling Queen next.  "Chrysalis, you’re going to have to stand in for me.  That way I can take the teaching job in the show.  That should take care of my exit."

"Twilight?  Are you sure you're not making a mistake?"  Chrysalis finally asked.

"I have to do this.  This is the only way," she replied, as if mindlessly repeating a mantra.

The alicorn then turned to face her five best friends, their faces still frozen in shock.  Applejack seemed to be slowly getting angrier as the news sunk in and tears were beginning to well in Fluttershy's eyes.  Her heart sunk.  This was going to be the hardest part, saying goodbye to her friends.

"Girls?" Twilight began, tears flowing freely from her eyes.  "I just want to thank you all for everything.  These past three years have been simply magical, for lack of a better word.  And even though it has to end like this, you five will always be near and dear to my heart even if I never come back.  I just hope you’ll all forgive me, but I just have to find a way to get everything back to normal."

After what seemed like an eternity, Applejack spoke up.  She slowly stepped forward towards Twilight, her anger slowly boiling over.

"So that’s it?" the cowpony said in a low voice.  "After everything we’ve been through?  All the battles we’ve fought?  All the lessons we learned?  Is this how it all ends?!?"  

"You’re just gonna ditch us over this?  Twilight, are you crazy?!?" the cyan pegasus screamed.

"Twilight Sparkle, how could you be so selfish?"  Rarity shouted in disbelief.

Fluttershy sat on the ground, putting her forehooves to her head trying desperately to shake away the nightmare that was unfolding before her eyes. 

"No… Twilight, please… don’t go…." the shy pony whispered to herself, dangerously close to losing herself in tears.

Pinkie Pie's reaction was unreadable.  Her face was cast downwards to the floor and her mane clouded her visage.  Strangely, Pinkie's mane never flattened as Twilight had expected.

Twilight looked at her friends expression in fear.  Deep anger, sadness and disappointment were etched on their faces.  Twilight closed her eyes.  She didn't want this.  She didn't want to do this to her friends.  But she owed her friends an explanation before she went away to fix her mistake.  She would have rather a somber goodbye hug and a 'good luck'.  But now, her friends were lashing out at her.  This was not the lasting image she wanted of her friends.  She was starting to screw-up her fix to her screw-up.

Twilight struggled not to break down crying.  "I’m sorry, but this is the only way.  I have to fix this on my own, I’d just get in the way if I stay."  

With her own eyes watering slightly, Applejack face turned redder than Big Macintosh's coat as she exploded in rage.  

"Twilight, have you had your head stuck in the mud this whole time?!?" the cowpony hissed. "Did you forget that you have friends to lean on?  Or were we even really friends at all if this is the way you’re treating us."

Applejack's accusation was too much for Fluttershy to process.  She collapsed on the ground and sobbed uncontrollably.  Rarity rushed over to comfort her.  Twilight nearly broke down herself too, but she managed to hang on to offer a reply.

"Applejack, please don’t say that.  Of course we're friends!  You guys were the best thing that ever happened to me!"

"And so our reward is to be betrayed like this?  Twilight, I thought we could always turn to each other whenever we have a problem!"  Rainbow Dash shouted.  Even she was struggling mightily to keep her emotions in check.

"I have to do this by myself.  I’ll just get in the way."  Twilight softly repeated the mantra she created for herself.

Twilight's stubbornness was way too much for Rainbow Dash to handle.  She was being shut out.  Nothing she did or say would matter.  The fastest flier in Equestria couldn't stop the tsunami of tears from flowing out of her eyes.  She lashed out at the alicorn. 

"You know what?  Fine!  Leave!  See if I care!  We were all just fine without you anyway!  If our friendship is really not important, then... why should we have even cared about you in the first place?"

Rainbow Dash collapsed on the library floor crying openly and loudly in front of everypony.  She was too overcome with grief from the betrayal of her best friend to care about maintaining her reputation.  Through her own tears, Fluttershy made her way over to her and the two pegasi cried in each other's hooves. Chrysalis tried to interject, but she was silenced by Discord and Trixie.  The three had no place in this argument.  They could only helplessly watch and pray for a positive resolution.

"I hope you realize all the heartache you’re causing Twilight Sparkle.  Is it really worth it?"  Rarity said to Twilight.  She wanted to cry too, but she found herself too disappointed at her friend to cry at the moment.

"Don’t do this to me, girls," Twilight begged. "Of course this isn’t worth it.  I feel horrible right now.  You have to understand this is the very last thing I ever wanted to do."   

"So why do this to us?!?" Rainbow Dash screamed through tears.

"It’s the only to save the show," Twilight replied in a very small voice.

That was the last straw for Applejack.  She slowly approached Twilight with an expression that would have struck fear into the most hardened villain.  The farmgirl was ready to knock some sense into the bookworm, whether she liked it or not.  Twilight began to back away slowly in fear.

"The show?  The show?!?  Ah swear to Celestia if you say one more word about that damn show Ah’m gonna…"

"ENOUGH!!!"

Pinkie's loud shout was enough to snap everypony out of the tense moment.  The all turned to see the pink earth pony, who was wearing an expression so serious it even made Applejack flinch.  Without saying another word, Pinkie made her way to Twilight's work table, where she kept her parchments and quills.  As everypony looked on in silence, Pinkie took one of the quills and began to scribble something on a parchment.  A few moments later, Pinkie Pie handed her work over to Spike.

"Send that to HQ right now, Spike!" she instructed.

Curious and confused, Spike read Pinkie's letter.  His face fell in horror as he read it.

"Pinkie!  I can’t send this!" Spike shouted in fear.

"Send it!!!"

"What does it say?" Twilight asked.

Spike gulped and simply read the letter out loud.  

"Dear Hasbro, it is with much regret that we inform you that as of today, we have been forced to cease production of all future episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic."     

"WHAT?!?" everypony shouted in alarm.  Pinkie's expression never wavered.  It looked as if she was actually willing to send the letter. 

"You can’t cancel the show, Pinkie!" Trixie shouted in fear. 

"Do you even know what the higher ups would do to us if we just quit like this?"  Discord warned.

"Let them get angry.  I don’t care!"  Pinkie replied plainly.

Twilight approached Pinkie, hoping to try to talk her out of this plan. 

"Pinkie, I can’t let you cancel the show because of me.  You’ll never forgive yourself!"

"Well I’ll never forgive myself for not stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life!"  Pinkie countered.

It was at that moment when the two royal sisters emerged in the foyer's entryway and into the tense standoff.  Overhearing the previous parts of the conversation, the two kept quiet and observed in silence from behind the doorway.  Their presence was not felt by the others in the room as the attention was now on Twilight and Pinkie Pie.

Twilight placed her hooves on Pinkie's shoulders.  "I know it’ll be hard, but you have to keep the show going.   The fans need you."

"The fans need you too!"

Twilight shook her head. "No they don't. They need Twilight Sparkle the unicorn.  You know, the one who doesn't have wings. Look at me, Pinkie! I'm not her anymore! I've changed too much."

Pinkie sighed. "Yes, you've changed Twilight. You've been changing from the very first episode!"

"What?"

"Season 1, Episode 1 – Princess Celestia sends her prized student, Twilight Sparkle, to Ponyville to make some friends. Remember how you used to be way back in the beginning? That pony who couldn't care less about friends?"

"I… I…" Twilight stammered as she began to remember.

"You haven't been that pony in a long time, but that pony was still Twilight Sparkle. And so are you!"

"The fans won't think so."

Pinkie frowned. "Well, in that case, why don't you ask your biggest fans?" She pointed towards the other four, looking on at her in concern. "Why do you think we all became such good friends in the first place?"

Rarity approached Twilight. "Remember that it all started with you Twilight, in every sense of the word. Because of you, we came together in the beginning, we overcame all those obstacles and we defeated Nightmare Moon. And we did it because we worked together."

"And what about after that?" Rainbow Dash asked, wiping the last few tears away. "What about the lessons we learned about being a good friend through thick and thin? You wrote most of those remember?"

Twilight tried to defend herself. "I... I was just trying to keep the show as stable as possible."

"And you thought the best way to keep the show stable is by eliminating its main character," Applejack noted.

Twilight looked down in shame. She had never felt this foolish before in her life.

Pinkie's expression softened. "Twilight, the truth is that we literally can't do this show without you. You're the main character. But most importantly, you're our friend."

"You could always rewrite it…" Twilight mindlessly rebutted.

"You can never write in the heartbreak that happens when you lose a close friend," Fluttershy sadly pointed out.

Twilight couldn't take all the sympathy anymore.  Her emotions poured out.

"But I ruined it!"  Twilight shouted, tears starting to stream down her face again.  "I ruined everything!   The episode, the show, our relationship with the fans, everything!!!  I can't let you guys be responsible for something that's completely my fault!  I have to fix this!  I have to make everything normal again!  Why can't you guys see that?  This was all my mistake... and I have to be the one to pay for it."

Twilight sits on the floor and silently cries.  Everypony looked at each other in concern, looking for something to say to Twilight to snap her out of this.  Pinkie's eyes however, remained fixed on the weeping alicorn.  She couldn't believe that everyone now found themselves in this situation.  And all because Twilight felt she had ruined the episode...

The episode!

Pinkie's eyes lit up in realization.  She let out a small laugh at how obvious the solution was.  

"You don't have to face it alone, Twilight,"  Pinkie smiled.

"Why shouldn't I?!?"

Pinkie began to take a few steps towards Twilight.  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to sing a slow, yet familiar tune.

"A true, true friend helps a friend in need…"

The tune caught everyone by surprise.  Twilight's heart sank as she slowly realized what the song meant.  Pinkie then turned to Rarity and gave a small nod.  Rarity smiled, understanding what the pink pony was up to.  Soon, she too began to approach Twilight as well as she sang.

"A friend will be there to help them see…" 

Without missing a beat Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy joined in.  The three of them singing together. 

"A true, true friend helps a friend in need…"

The five ponies made their way to Twilight and they all gave her a big hug.  Overwhelmed by the show of affection, Twilight warmly returned the hug, enveloping her friends with her new wings.

"To see the light that shines from a true, true friend," they all finished together.

The six friends allowed themselves to be lost in the embrace for a while.  A few moments afterwards, Twilight felt a small poke at her side.  She looked down and saw Spike, tears in his eyes, but wearing a smile.  Without further prompting, Twilight enveloped Spike as well, letting him join in on the group hug.  

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at each other and gave a small nod, both of them fighting back tears of their own.  Discord and Chrysalis were openly crying over the beautiful scene before them.  Discord, in particular, produced a handkerchief so he can loudly blow his nose into.  Trixie also shed a few tears of joy, happy that things were apparently going to work out for Twilight.

After a long, loving silence, Pinkie spoke up.  "If we can’t do this show together, then there’s no point in doing the show at all."

"But what about my wings?" Twilight asked.

Before anypony could try to think up an answer, Fluttershy spoke up.

"You know… it was a little strange at first.  But, I really like your wings Twilight!"

"You like them?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

"Honestly Twi, those wings look good on ya," Applejack concurred.

Rainbow Dash floated over Twilight's head. "Yeah, and it would be cool having another flying buddy.  I could teach every single trick I know."

"But, what about the fans?  What if they hate me like this?"  Twilight asked, her mind still haunted by her nightmare.

"I know it'll be odd for me to say this, but fans will be fans, Twilight," Pinkie shrugged.  "They could love us or hate us no matter what we tried.  Besides, I’m pretty sure the fans in this room will never hate you."

Applejack nodded emphatically.  "We’re your friends Twi.  We don’t care if you’re a unicorn, an alicorn or... that freaky thing Trixie was earlier.  We love you no matter what.  It’ll be impossible for us to move on if you ever went away." 

"It’s just like Apple Pie," Rarity added.  "Without any one of us, we would all just crumble apart."

Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Twilight's back.  "We’ve always stuck together Twilight.  And that’s not gonna change anytime soon.  You know we’ll always have your back." 

"Twilight?  We love you!"  Fluttershy said.

"Hey Twilight?" Trixie suddenly interjected.

The alicorn turned to see the showmare who held out the Element of Magic, ready to give it back to its rightful owner.

"I think you're going to be needing this," the blue unicorn smiled.

Twilight nodded and took her element back.  She mentally scolded herself.  She couldn't believe she was willing to throw all this love away just a few minutes earlier.  But thanks to the love of her friends, everything was going to be fine.

Well, almost everything.  Twilight frowned as there was still one major detail left unresolved.

"We still haven’t figured out what to do about the show, have we?"

The silence spoke volumes. 

"We were trying to brainstorm some ideas before you came down.  But we haven't come up with anything solid yet." Pinkie explained.

Everypony began to feel nervous.  There was a show to do, and time was running out to do it.  

"I bet Stawswirl the Bearded never had anything like this to deal with," Twilight spoke out.

Discord shrugged. "He was a noted loner, remember? He wouldn't have understood the magic of... friendship..." he trailed off as an idea suddenly came to him.

"Something wrong Discord?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hear me out on this one," Discord began. "We said in the show that Starswirl's spell was incomplete, right?"

Pinkie nodded. "That's how our cutie marks got 'switched up'."

"We could say that the spell was incomplete because he didn't understand the magic of friendship. However, Twilight does understand, and she uses that understanding to write her own magic to finish the spell and restore everypony's destiny!"

Twilight's eyes went wide as the scenario connected in her mind. "Magic not of the mind, but of the heart! It makes sense! I do something that Starswirl himself never done! That's how I become an alicorn!"

"Discord, that's brilliant!" Pinkie shouted.

"Hey, when you got it, you got it!" Discord smiled smugly.

"She just doesn't become an alicorn though!" Rarity suddenly spoke up.

"I don't?" Twilight asked.

Rarity's keen eye had noticed a detail that nopony had ever question before. "Hey, Twilight? Have you ever noticed anything odd about element?"

Twilight arched her eyebrow in confusion. "What's wrong with it?"

"Well the five of us have necklaces, but your element is a crown!"

Twilight's jaw hung open as she realized what Rarity was insinuating. Pinkie gave a small laugh, not believing she missed that connection. I wonder if Lauren planned this the whole time, she wondered.

"Rarity?" Twilight asked. "You're not suggesting…"

Pinkie smiled. "Writing your own magic and fixing our destinies is not just how you become an alicorn, Twilight. It's how you become a princess."

The pink pony proceeded to place the crown on top of the stunned Twilight's head.

"I’m… still not sure if I’m ready," Twilight admitted.

Applejack responded with a smile.  "You’ve been helping us this whole time sugarcube.  Ah think it’s high time we return the favor."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement.  "We’ll do anything we can to help… your majesty." 

Twilight looked on in awe as Fluttershy knelt down in respect.  Shortly after, one by one, the others in the room followed as well.  She didn't know what to think at the moment.  Three years ago, she was just a simple student and couldn't care less about friends.  Now here she was, in a room full of ponies all kneeling down to her, ready to accept her as their princess.  She was also touched that Discord and Chrysalis, two former enemies, were also bowing down in respect.

"Thank you!  Thank you everyone!  I... I just don't know what to say."

Princess Celestia looked to her sister who then nodded to her.  With that, Celestia cleared her throat loudly.  Everypony turned to see that the two royal sisters were now in their presence.    

"Luna said you had something to tell me, Twilight?" Celestia asked.

Twilight looked at her friends.  With smiles and nods all around, Twilight turned her attention back to her teacher and mentor.  She took a deep breath.

"Princess Celestia?"  Twilight began.  "On behalf of my friends, the citizens of Ponyville and all of Equestria, it would be my honor to accept the opportunity to become the next Equestrian Princess!"

"The honor would be all mine," Celestia smiled.

Twilight threw herself into Celestia and gave her a big hug.  Celestia shed a tear.  Twilight Sparkle has grown up.

"I’m so proud of you," Celestia whispered.

"Thank you, your highness." Twilight whispered back.

More tears of joy were spread among everypony present.  Everyone was overjoyed, Pinkie especially.  And she figured that it was now time to spread that joy to the whole fandom.

"Spike, take a note!"  Pinkie shouted.  

Not needing any more instructions, Spike got a parchment a quill ready to transcribe what Pinkie was about to tell him.

“Dear Hasbro," Pinkie began.  "We come to you with a royal decree.  On behalf of the cast and crew, we cordially invite everyone, young and old, to the season finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, where Equestria will celebrate the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle!” 

It didn't take long for Spike to finish writing the letter.  With a huff, he breathed his magic fire on the parchment, sending the good news to Hasbro and the fans.

"Well, I guess it’s safe to say crisis averted then," Discord sighed in relief. 

Chrysalis nodded emphatically.  "Honestly, I think I've had enough feels today to last me a whole month!"

"I just hope Hasbro doesn't mind that we'll be doing a princess coronation for the finale," Fluttershy pondered.

After a few short second, everyone in the room doubled over in laughter.

"They're probably so excited at HQ, they've wet their pants!" Rainbow Dash laughed.

Pinkie was the first one to speak up after the laughter died back down a few minutes later.  "At any rate, we still have a lot of work ahead.  We have the outline, but now we need to iron out the details, write the scripts, rehearse and shoot everything."

"Not to mention we have a coronation to plan," Luna added.  "Perhaps we should incorporate the ceremony into the show as well."

"I was just thinking the same thing, Luna," Pinkie said, starting to run through a mental checklist of items that needed to be done for the revised ending.  "That way it will fill up some time in the show and save us some time in planning the new ending.  On that note, I need to get Cherry Blossom and Starsong here ASAP so we can finalize any other details we can throw for the show.  We’re also gonna need Toola-Roola’s help for the coronation ceremony decorations and…"

"Uh, guys?"  Spike interrupted, his voice wavering in uneasiness.

"What, is it Spike?"  Twilight asked.

"Remember that letter you just told me to send to Hasbro?" the baby dragon meekly said.

"What about it?"  Pinkie wasn't sure what this was all about.

"I… think I might have sent the wrong letter."  Spike winced.

Pinkie's jaw dropped in fear.  "You did WHAT?"

Everypony froze in panic.  If Spike sent the wrong letter, that meant that they had inadvertently told Hasbro that they were quitting the show.  Fear began to grip everypony once again.  Even Celestia herself seemed to be frightened to her core.  The thought of what Hasbro might do to them if they quit was... 

"Just kidding!  I tore that other letter up back there!!!"  Spike grinned.  The baby dragon then fell on the floor in a round of laughter over his prank.  "Ha ha, you should have seen the looks on your faces!  It was priceless."

After a short while, Spike finally noticed all the extremely angry expressions on everyone's faces pointed directly at him from everypony in the room.  Spike's laughter died quickly as he figured out that nopony was amused one bit.

"Uh, that wasn’t funny at all, was it?"  Spike cringed, beginning to regret his decision to pull the prank in the first place.

Twilight gave her assistant a dangerous leer.  "Just out of curiosity, Spike?  Do you happen to like bananas?"

Spike's eyes shrunk into pinpricks.  He knew exactly what that phrase meant.  

"No!  No bananas!  I don’t want any bananas!  Somepony help me, please!  Argh!!!"  Spike ran around in panic before dashing back up the staircase in fear.

"Spoken like a true princess," Celestia smirked.

"I learned from the best," Twilight smirked back.

"Should anyone go and get him?" Fluttershy wondered.  "He looked genuinely scared back there."

"I’ll give him a few moments to calm down," Twilight said.  "He should have known better after everything we’ve been through with the show."

A thought ran through Applejack's mind after hearing that last word.  

"Speaking of the show, Ah just thought of something.  We were supposed to have a big musical moment to close out the episode, right?  What are we supposed to do about that now?"

"I know what you mean," Rarity agreed.  "We crammed all those songs in the first part of the episode, and now we’ve got nothing."

"Actually, I think I may have an idea..." Pinkie spoke up.  "And I think were going to need your help, Princess Celestia."

The regent of the sun was surprised by Pinkie's sudden plan, and her unknown part in it.

"Er.. what do you need me to do?"

"Well, we need to have a scene where Twilight is shown transforming into an alicorn, right?"  Pinkie explained.

"Yes…"  Celestia nodded.  For some strange reason, butterflies began to swirl in her stomach.

"Well, right before that happens, I think it would be appropriate if we have a sequence where you have a moment with 'Twilight' right before she transforms.  And I think the best way to do that is with your own very own song number!"

"M… me?  Sing?"  she stuttered.

"What do you say, your highness?"  Pinkie asked.

Celestia 's eyes shrunk in fear.  The room shrunk in fear.  She could feel the eyes of everyone watching her as she tried to belt a tune. 

"You…  I…  I… oh~~~"

With that, Princess Celestia fainted to the ground.  The others looked at the now-unconscious sun goddess in silent confusion. 

"You know, we really have to think about safeguarding Equestria against fainting ponies for next season," Twilight suggested.

"Agreed," Pinkie nodded. 


~~~~~


Later that afternoon, after everypony had a chance to settle down after what had been a very chaotic morning, the library was buzzing with activity once again.  The mane 6, including a unicorn form of Twilight Sparkle, had set themselves to shoot a new scene for the episode.  They were all wearing their elements, as they had been doing when they last left off.  Also present were Luna, Trixie, and Discord who were set up behind the camera.  Princess Celestia was taken upstairs by the real Twilight and Starsong, whom Pinkie had sought out a few hours earlier to help try to talk the sun princess into doing a musical number.

"Ok, so here's what's going to happen, just like we talked about," Pinkie told the Twilight-shaped pony.  "Trixie will handle the special effects for the elements, and Luna will handle the teleportation.  Make sure you get our reactions on camera, ok Discord?"

Discord gave a salute in response.  "Roger!"

"You sure this won’t hurt?" Chrysalis asked.  The prospect of being in the middle of a magic storm was not sitting well with her at the moment.

Trixie smirked.  "Trust me, Chrysalis.  I know how to put on a good light show.  Besides, there’s a yummy warm blueberry muffin with your name on it when you’re finished."

"Well, when you put it that way…"  Chrysalis scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Great!"  Pinkie smiled.  She then directed the actresses out the door so they can arrive like this scene prescribed..  "Ok everyone, we need to ask surprised here.  Remember, we have no idea what's going on this scene."

"Won't be that hard," Applejack remarked to herself.  "We've had plenty of practice at being shocked and surprise all morning."

Within moments the six ponies leave the library, ready to wait for their cue to come in for the scene.

"Ok, everypony ready?"  Discord shouted.

"We're ready!" Pinkie replied from behind the closed door.

"Aaand… ACTION!"

Using her magic, Twilight Sparkle (currently being portrayed by Queen Chrysalis) opened the door and immediately makes her way over to the open spell book.  The other five friends followed her in, curious as to what the unicorn had suddenly figured out.  'Twilight' got out a nearby quill and began to finish the unfinished spell. 

"From all of us together, 
Together we are friends.  
With the marks of our destinies made one, 
There is magic without end."

With that, 'Twilight' slowly used her quill to place a period in the book.  The spell was finally finished.

"Now!" Luna whispered to Trixie.

Using their magic, Luna and Trixie activates the reaction.  As the the on-screen ponies look on in confusion, the jewel in the Element of Magic's crown glowed brightly.  The other five backed away a few steps, not knowing what was happening.  Then one by one, the element necklaces shot out magical beams directly at 'Twilight', who first looked around in confusion, and then closed her eyes in silent realization.  

Behind the scenes, Luna and Trixie was concentrating hard in order to make the effects look good for the camera.  Trixie, as always, dazzled the camera with her magical light show which simulated the extreme reaction of the Element's of Harmony.  It seemed like it was only fitting that Pinkie left her in charge of any special effects they needed, and it turned out to be a safe outlet for Trixie to show off as much as she wanted.  Luna, meanwhile, handled the 'magic' from the Elements of Harmony.  Unlike the Alicorn Amulet, enough was known about the elements that the show continued to use the real artifacts with correct supervision.  However, it was decided by all that due to what happened with the Alicorn Amulet, Rarity would make a set of replicas for the show next season just to be safe. 

As the reaction reached its peak, a blinding white light flashed through the library.  That cued Luna to teleport 'Twilight' from her spot to a spot just besides her behind the camera.  On screen, meanwhile, the reaction died down and the remaining five ponies are shocked to find that 'Twilight' was gone, a burn mark shaped like her cutie mark left where she was standing.  The all began to audibly panic as to what had happened to their friend.

"Cut!" Discord shouted, ending the scene.

Chrysalis sighed in relief, glad to still be in one piece after being in the middle of the magical hurricane.  The other participants of the scene were also still buzzing after the intense magic show they had just experienced.

"That was… intense…" Rainbow Dash remarked.  She couldn't start to comprehend the amounts of magical awesome she had just witnessed.

"It was kinda scary though," Fluttershy confessed.  "Especially that last part of the scene."  She looked back at the spot where Chrysalis had been, now marked by the burn shaped like Twilight's cutie mark.

"Trixie?  Did you really make that burn mark?" Applejack asked.

Trixie uncharacteristically shrugged a smile.  "I thought it would be appropriate."

"Nice touch, Trixie!" Rarity nodded her approval.

The activity of the special effects got Starsong's attention from Twilight's bedroom.  The pegasus floated downstairs to the group.

"Pinkie?  What on earth was going on down here?"

"Sorry about that, Starsong.  We were trying to get another scene shot for the show."

"Well, could you warn us next time?  Spike thought for a moment the library was about to explode."

"Well, I didn't expect the magical effects were going to be that big."

"That was our fault," Luna admitted.  "Trixie and I never realized we were going a tad overboard back there."

"Don't worry, it looked great on camera," Discord pointed out.

"Oh by the way Pinkie, Twilight and I convinced Princess Celestia to do the song number," Starsong reported.

Pinkie clapped her hooves together.  "Great!  Now we can focus on Twilight’s transformation scene.  I was was thinking that we could do it at the royal castle.  It seems appropriate to have it happen there."

"Hold the farm," Applejack objected.  "What about the scene right after that?  You know, where we find out 'Twilight' is an alicorn?  Weren’t we doing that right here in Ponyville?"

Pinkie groaned.  The farmer pony had a point.  "I forgot about that!  And we just zapped ‘Twilight’ out of the library in that last take."  

"Well here’s an idea, Discord thought out loud.  "How about ‘Twilight’ gets sent to a mystical plane of magic or something?  That could be where the transformation takes place."

"That would be a perfect setting for Celestia song!  And then she gets her wings and she comes back to Ponyville as an alicorn!" Starsong grinned.

"But how are we supposed to find an other worldly realm to film it in?"  Rarity asked.

"I think I could whip up something," Luna smirked.  "There's plenty of room over by Sweet Apple Acres.  I could whip up a dreamscape just like how we did for Scootaloo's episode.  It shouldn't be that hard too..."

The episode planning session was interrupted by a frantic knocking at the library's front door.  Being the one closest to the door, Chrysalis, who had forgotten to change back from being Twilight, goes to answer it.  

"Hello, can I help..."

She wasn't able to finish as she was immediately mobbed by Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.  The stallion grabbed the purple unicorn and embraced her in a hug that nearly crushed her insides.

"Twilight!!!  We heard there was an accident so we came here as soon as we could!" Shining Armor shouted.

"Wait... I'm not..." the unicorn Twilight gasped for air.

Cadence didn't listen.  She began to spout out a series of questions.  "Are you hurt?  Were you attacked?  Do we need to take you to the hospital?  How's you're vision?  Here let me test it.  How many hooves am I holding up?"

"Listen…  I'm fine... but I'm not really..."

Shining Armor hushed the unicorn from speaking any further.  "Shh!  Don’t say another word!  Let your BBBFF handle everything.  I’ll make sure my little sister is all taken care of."  

Shining Armor then her a kiss on the forehead, making her blush slightly.  The other ponies in the room looked at each other nervously throughout the scene.  Things were about to get very awkward.  Rainbow Dash cleared her throat.  Somepony needed to straighten out this misunderstanding.

"Uh, Shining?  Cadence?  That's not Twilight."

"It's not?" Cadence asked in surprise.  The couple took another look at what they had assumed was Twilight Sparkle.  In a flash, the unicorn had transformed back into the Queen of the Changelings.

"Um… Hi?" Chrysalis squeaked sheepishly.

Needless to say, the sight of the figure that nearly ruined his wedding day by impersonating his wife and using him to launch an invasion against all of Equestria was a bit too much for Shining Armor to handle.  He slammed Chrysalis into a nearby wall in rage.

"What have you done with Twilight, Chrysalis?  Answer me!" 

Discord quickly separated the two.  "Relax, Shining Armor.  She’s had her muffins for the day.  She’s harmless."

"So where’s Twilight?" Cadence wondered.

"Brother?  Cadence?"  A voice asked from the staircase.

The married couple looked to the staircase and saw Twilight standing besides Princess Celestia and Spike, who rode down on Celestia's back.  It didn't take very long for them to notice Twilight's new set of wings.

"Twily?" Shining Armor asked in disbelief.

Cadence rubbed her eyes.  "How…  how did this happen."

Pinkie sighed a frustrated sigh.  "Does anypony want to handle the explanation?"

Chrysalis raised her hoof.  "I guess I'll do it," she volunteered.  She then turned to the two newcomers.

"You see, what happened was..."


Two hours later...


"So in conclusion, you shouldn't overmix the batter when you combine the wet and dry ingredients.  You should just mix only until everything is just moist to get a lumpy batter. A smooth batter will just give you tough muffins, and everypony hates tough muffins!"

It was at this point that Chrysalis finally noticed that her audience all had the exact same expression, eyes wide and jaws dropped in silent disbelief.  A sudden realization hit Chrysalis as she figured out what just happened.

"I... went a bit off topic back there, didn't I?  Hold on, let me try again..."

"NO!!!" everypony shouted in alarm, desperately wanting to avoid another muffin lecture.  

"I think I should explain this, Chrysalis," Twilight laughed nervously.

And so, Twilight Sparkle recounted the events of the previous 24 hours to Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, everything from the discovery of the Alicorn Amulet to her accepting Celestia's offer to become a princess.

"Wow," Shining Armor said as Twilight finished.  "It sounds like you guys had quite a night, huh?"

"That's putting it mildly," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

Cadence gave her now-fellow alicorn companion a big hug, which Twilight returned warmly.  "Congratulations Twilight."

Shining Armor was next.  The two sibling shared a long embrace, pools of liquid pride trickling in their eyes.   

"I’m so proud of you, sis."

"Thanks, Shining.  Thanks Cadence."  The soon-to-be-crowned princess smiled.

"But there’s still one thing I don’t understand from all this, Twilight," Shining brought up as he finally broke away from the hug.

"What’s that?" 

"Who won the fainting contest?"

Twilight frowned.  She wasn't amused by that question at all considering everything else that happened. 

"Princess Celestia did," she answered sarcastically.

The announcement made Rarity gasp loudly in shock.  "WHAT?!?  How could Celestia win?  Her form and follow through were completely off!  I demand a recount!" she stomped her hooves defiantly.

Everypony could only laugh at Rarity's overreaction.


~~~~~


The filming for the rest of the episode went by incredibly smoothly despite the circumstances.  The following day, with the encouragement from her faithful student and her little sister, Princess Celestia delivered a beautiful solo to 'Twilight' which led up to the big transformation scene, with Trixie again standing by to deliver the magical effects.  Fittingly, the first scene Twilight shot for the show as an alicorn happened at the day's twilight.  Unfortunately due to the time crunch, there wasn't enough time to offer exposition for much of the turn of events in the show.  There was simply too much to do in this last part of the episode.  However, this drawback seemed to work out in Pinkie's favor as a new storyline idea developed in her mind for season 4.

So now the scene had shift over to Canterlot and the filming of Twilight's coronation.  Everyone was dressed at their best, and nearly everypony was their to witness it.  Even Derpy had made it to the celebration!  To save time, they shot the coronation as a part of the show.  Starsong had surprised the cast by not only writing a song for Celestia in a short amount of time, but also coming up with two new songs for this occasion, one for when Princess Twilight makes her first appearance and a second song, which was a reprise of the song that began the episode in the first place where Twilight had sung that it was a perfect day in Ponyville.  It was a great bookend and it tied the whole, admittedly disjointed, episode together rather seamlessly.  Everypony now set themselves up to shoot this last song, the final scene of the third season.  

"Everything’s ready to roll!" Discord shouted, ready to operate the camera.

"Is everypony ready?" Pinkie asked her friends.

"We're ready!"  Twilight shouted from her chariot.

Pinkie Pie closed her eyes.  She smiled.  There was that feeling again.  This episode had been special indeed.

"Count us down, Discord" Pinkie said.

"In 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... ACTION!"

The camera's red light blinked on.

With the crowd of ponies cheering her on, Princess Twilight Sparkle's chariot makes its way down the parade route, the two royal sisters looking on proudly.  After a while, Twilight hops out of the chariot and trots down the street alongside her friends and her number one assistant.

"Life in Equestria shimmers,
Life in Equestria shines,
And I know for absolute certain,
That everything….. Yes everything….
Yes everything is certainly fine…..

The group appear on one of the royal balconies as they sing the last line.  The camera starts a long zoom out from the balcony to a long shot of Canterlot.  A few seconds later, a figure is seen flying off the balcony, making a few loops towards the camera.  We see that it is Twilight Sparkle, taking to the skies for the very first time.

"Yes!  Everything’s gonna be just fi--AAAH!!!"

WHAM!

"Oww....."

"CUT!!!!" Discord shouted.

From the small monitor placed on the balcony, Pinkie and the others cringed as they saw that Twilight missed her mark and instead flew straight into the camera.

"Reset and do it again, everyone," Pinkie simply instructed.

Rainbow Dash could only laugh at the irony.  "Figures we wouldn’t be able to get out of this episode that easy!"

A few moments later, Twilight landed back to the balcony, rubbing her nose in pain.

"Sorry about that, girls," she apologized.

"You ok, darling?" Rarity asked.

Twilight blushed.  "A little embarrassed, but I’m ok."

"I thought after Smarty Pants, nothing would be embarrassing anymore," Spike muttered to himself.

Twilight took another look at her wings.  "I guess I still have a lot to learn about how to use these things…"

"It’s ok Twilight," Fluttershy smiled.  "Not everypony gets it right when they fly for the first time."  

"Besides, you’ll have the best flying instructor in all of Equestria showing you the way."  Rainbow Dash nudged Twilight on her shoulder.

Applejack shot a sneaky smirk over at Rainbow Dash.  "Ah didn’t know Snowflake was teaching ‘er!"

That hit the cyan pegasus right in her pride.  "Low blow, AJ.  Low blow."

"Come on guys, let’s try to wrap this episode up, Ok?" Pinkie giggled.

Thankfully, Twilight nailed the maneuver on the second take.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long final day of shooting, followed by the Royal Coronation Gala, which also served as the official wrap-up party for season three, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were glad to finally return to Ponyville the following day.  However, before they made their way back to their homes, Pinkie had directed all of them to Sugarcube Corner instead.  The five ponies, being accompanied as always by the faithful dragon assistant, were suprised to find out that Pinkie had set up a special wrap up party just for them, and at the centerpiece of the party was a special screen, where Pinkie started playing some of their old episodes.  

They had decided to watch episodes at random rather than go in order and they were currently on the seventh episode of their watch party marathon, which also happened to be their least favorite.  It was 'The Best Night Ever', an episode that brought back too many bad memories for everypony for one reason or another.

Twilight and Celestia enter the hall and stood shocked as the finally noticed the aftermath of the chaos brought on by Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, & Applejack.  The prestigious Grand Galloping Gala had been ruined.

"Well, it can't get any worse," Twilight thought out loud.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake as a stampede drew closer to the gala hall.  A few seconds later, the front doors burst open as a herd of creatures burst their way into the hall in fear.  Standing in the doorway was Fluttershy.  She looked out of breath, her gala dress in tatters and her overall frustration at an impossible high over her experience with these stupid animals.  For perhaps the first time in her life, Fluttershy was consumed in pure rage.

"You're... going to LOVE ME!!!"

The rampaging pegasus resumed her chase and all hell breaks loose at the gala.

The seven viewers watched silently as the episode continued to play, with the aforementioned yellow pegasus hiding behind a sofa in fear of herself.  

"That’s definitely not one of our finer moments," Pinkie said.

Spike was the first one to notice that Fluttershy went into hiding during the big rage scene.  "You ok there, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy smiled nervously.  "I am, thank you.  I... just have a hard time watching that scene."

Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a reassuring smile.  "Trust me, I understand.  But at the same time, that has to be the most popular moments of the show."

"Really?  I always though the most popular moment was Pinkie's little mental vacation in ‘Party of One’?" Rarity pondered.

Pinkie simply shrugged.  "Oh, it wasn’t so bad!" she smiled.  Pinkie then let her eyes drift out of focus as she held the smile, much like she had done in the actual episode.

Applejack cringed.  "Could you stop that?  Seriously, that’s got to be the freakiest thing we’ve ever done."

Applejack felt a sudden tapping on her shoulder.  The farmer turned around and was met face-to-face by Twilight Sparkle, sporting an insane cheshire grin on her face.

"HIIII AJ~!" the purple alicorn grinned madly.  Applejack did her best not to wet herself right then and there.  

"Well, Ah didn’t feel like sleeping tonight anyway," the orange earth pony said in defeat.  

It didn't take long for Twilight to shake her head back to normal.  

"Sorry Applejack, I couldn’t resist.  But seriously though, it wasn’t any fun at all going through all that stress."

"Ah hear ya," Applejack replied.  "It wasn’t fun for me either putting together the reunion.  And that was before any of those activities Ah came up with.  Plate spinning tounge-twisters?  What was Ah thinking?"

Rarity put a hoof on Applejack's back.  "It happened to all of us at one point, darling.  Rainbow Dash almost quit her dreams to be a Wonderbolt, Fluttershy let her assertiveness training go too far, Pinkie Pie was at her wits end trying to be a babysitter, and I had to do the Sisterhooves Social race covered in mud!"

Rarity quickly noticed the angry looks being shot her way.

"Which was made worse by the fact that I was ready to throw away Sweetie Belle as my sister," the unicorn sadly finished. 

The angry looks faded away as Rarity's point came across.

"And we all had it bad with this last episode and the switched cutie marks.  Not to mention everything that happened after that..." Twilight added.

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head.  "Boy, I never realized how much we put ourselves through, both good and bad."

"Yeah, we do,"  Pinkie nodded. "But it’s ok.  We always manage to get through anything life or the show throws at us." 

Pinkie quickly dashed into the Sugarcube Corner kitchen and returned with the cake she had prepared earlier, complete with the photo-frosting of the six friends.

"We make it through because no matter what, our friends will always be there through thick and thin," Pinkie smiled.

"You know, we’re going to have to take a new picture for the opening," Rarity said, taking a good look at Twilight's wings.

"Let's not sweat the small stuff until it's time," Applejack winked.

Twilight sighed.  "Girls, no matter what this new season brings us, I’m glad that we’ll go through it together.  With you guys by my side, I feel that I can face just about anything."

Pinkie suddenly smirked.  "Really?  Well I did have an idea for a follow up for ‘Lesson Zero’."

"Ok, almost anything…" Twilight corrected herself.

"Hey, it sounds like a good idea Twilight!" Pinkie grinned.  "We could call it ‘Lesson Zero 2: Extra Credit!”

"Wait!"  Applejack shouted, wanting in on the playful argument  "How about ‘Lesson Zero:  Smarty Pants’ Revenge’?  The epic battle between Twilight and Big Macintosh for control of the ragdoll!"

Not wanting to be outdone, Twilight countered with her own idea.  "Oh well in that case, how about ‘Party of One: Rocky Strikes Back’?  Or 'Applebuck Season: When Oranges Attack'?"

Spike shrugged.  "I'm personally still waiting for ‘It’s About Time: In the Year 3000’!"

"What?  And miss the chance to do 'Spike at your Service: Driving Miss Rarity'?"  Rarity playfully nudged the little dragon, making him blush.

"No way we do that before we get to ‘Dog & Pony Show: Lost in Manehattan’!" Rainbow Dash objected.

Everyone sis not expect Fluttershy to clear her throat.

"But then…" the shy pegasus began.  "What are we supposed to do about ‘Sonic Rainboom 2: Electric Scootaloo’?"

The suggestion floored everyone in raucous laughter.

"Ok, there's no way we’re topping that one.  You win Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash could barely get her words out thanks to her laughing.

"Woo hoo!" Fluttershy squeaked a victory grin.

The rest of the party was spent coming up with mock plots for everypony's fantasy sequels. 


~~~~~


It had been one month since the big Princess Coronation event and ever since then, Princess Celestia had been going over the ins and outs of being a princess with Twilight.  It had been a lot of hard work learning the nuances of royal protocol, but for the student, it was an exciting challenge.  Thankfully, Celestia did her best not to push her too hard considering how sudden everything surrounding her ascent to alicornhood happened, so she gave Twilight a few weeks off before her training resumed.  So Twilight took that time to clear her mind the best way she knew how, inside the confines of the Ponyville Library reading her books.   

At the moment, Spike was out gem-hunting so it was just herself in the library.  Thanks to her new wings, reaching the higher shelves was no longer a hassle for her.  She took the opportunity to look over some of the books she might have overlooked.

"Hmm... The Unknown Depths of the Everfree Forest... Sunflower Gardening and You... The Magical Physiology of Earth Ponies!  I think I'll read that one next."  Twilight suddenly noticed an older book at the edge of the shelf.

"Hey, what's this one?"

She took the book off the shelf and inspected its title.

"Exploring the Aether for Fun and Profit?"

Twilight's eyes shrunk.  She slowly put the book back on the shelf.  "I don't think we're ready for that one," she decided.  

The purple alicorn returned to her bed and began to read the book about earth ponies and their magical connection to the ground.  While she read the book, she suddenly became aware of a pink visitor to her library home.

"Hey Twilight!  What’cha doing?"  Pinkie Pie asked.

"I was just reading a book.   Anyway, what brings you over here, Pinkie?"

Pinkie produced a piece of paper with an official seal on it.  "Well, we got the report card back from HQ over the finale."

Twilight prepared herself for the news.  "Well, what was the verdict?"

Pinkie quickly scanned the report.  "Well, the good news is that the season finale brought in huge numbers for the Hub and it looks like there’s a high interest on Princess Twilight Sparkle figurines.  As far as Hasbro's concerned, it was a huge success."

"What did the fans think?" Twilight asked.  It had always been on her mind since she had that awful nightmare.

Pinkie shrugged uneasily.  "Long story short, the fans are split over this honestly.  Some of them don’t like that you became a princess."

Twilight's head hung in sadness.  "I see..."

"It's ok though," Pinkie reassured the librarian.  "They actually have very great points against why this change should never have happened.  And it’s something I’m hoping we can address next season."

That fact made Twilight feel a little better.  "That's good at least.  But if some fans didn’t like it, what about the others?"

"That’s the best news," Pinkie smiled.  "A lot of the fans were unsure at first, but they gave it a chance and as it turned out, they liked it!  From the switched cutie marks to the coronation!  From the looks of it, the consensus is that they’re happy for you Twilight!"

"They are?"  Twilight couldn't believe it.  All things considered, hearing that the brony community reacted like this was far more than she expected.  Her lingering image of her nightmare was now replaced by a chorus of fans all cheering her on.  The purple alicorn princess nearly shed a tear at the thought.

"I wish I could thank them all personally!" Twilight exclaimed.  "I just love our fans so much, I want to give them all a big hug.  Too bad I can’t dimension hop, huh?"

"I think Surprise could find some way to make that happen," Pinkie thought to herself.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing."

Twilight waved any suspicion over Pinkie's statement away.  "At any rate, I guess that’s all she wrote for season 3, then."

Pinkie nodded.  "Yeah, I can’t believe how quickly it went!  Even though it was short, but I’m happy with what we’ve done this year."

"And it wasn’t just about me becoming a princess.  Everypony had a chance to shine."

"I know!" Pinkie laughed.  "I got to invade Ponyville with my own personal clone army; Fluttershy managed to ‘reform’ Discord all by herself."  

"Rainbow Dash got somepony to take under her wing..." 

"Applejack had her family reunion and she finally got her own song number..."   

"And then Rarity…"  Twilight paused as her mind came up blank.  "Uh, Rarity…." she struggled to remember.

The two pony's eyes grew wide in fear as they both came across the same thought at the same time.  While season 3 was indeed a great season, there was just one minor detail that had slipped everypony's mind.

"We forgot to write an episode for Rarity!" Pinkie shrieked in fear.

Twilight banged her head on her bed in frustration.

"Maybe I should have made her the winner of the fainting contest after all," she thought.


THE END