The Show Ends with You

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Why am I in this game? What did I do? How come-wait, what? I thought to myself as soon as I realized I was no longer standing outside Carousel Boutique. Where the hay are we? The location was dark and deserted. Cracked stones served as pavement, black bricks as walls. A few randomly strewn pieces of trash blew about in a slight breeze that appeared to come from a solid wall.

As I glanced around, I saw Pink holding a small scrap of paper, her gaze adamantly focused on it. "Oh," she sighed. "I hope I can do this. I have to do this."

"Hey, Pink," I called to her.

Pink jumped and nearly fell over. "Hey! Don't go around scaring people like that!"

Baby. You need to try and stop acting like a foal.

"Are you alright, Twilight?"

I then realized I had been standing there, unmoving, for about five seconds after she shouted at me.

"Yeah. Do you know where we are?"

Pink looked around for a second. "It looks like Canterlot Station. This is probably the abandoned warehouse part of it."

"And... how did we get here?"

"Maybe we fell asleep and woke up here."

"What? So you're saying that after we defeated the bear Changeling, we fell asleep, in the middle of the day, standing up. Then we just randomly appeared here, still standing up and apparently awake. That's your explanation?"

Pink shrugged. "Got a better idea?" she asked before ringing started to resound around the building.

I checked my phone for the mission. "Lift the statue's curse. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and be obliterated. The Pegasi." The sharp pain quickly arrived and receded on my hoof once again. "There's the timer. Why do we have timers?"

"For the challenge. Were you listening at all to the briefing?"

Briefing?

"We need to do what the Pegasi tell us before the timer hits zero, or we're obliterated. Come on, the exit's this way!"

Pink and I started trotting through the downright enormous warehouse. It easily took five minutes to get to the end, during which I was given some time to gather my thoughts. All of this sounds like some old mares' tale. But then again, after yesterday, anything's possible after meeting that Pegasus yesterday. Heh. Pegasi existing. Sooner or later I'll find out that Unicorns exist too.

A few minutes later, I glanced down at my wristphone, and a piece of information on it caught my attention. "Hey, it says it's a day after the last mission!"

"Yeah," was Pink's reply. "A day went by while we were sleeping or whatever."

Right, right, right, I thought to myself.

"So, the sculpture this challenge is referring to... I think it's Winona. How about you?"

I remained quiet. She didn't repeat the question. I hoped she finally got the message.

Okay, there's the way out at last. Come on, Pink, let's just go. Let's-"Ah!" Right at the exit to the warehouse, there was once again an invisible wall.

"Another one?" asked Pink. I nodded. "Oh, no..." Pink looked ready to cry. "What are we gonna do? We're going to fail the mission..."

Is that all you can do? Complain, complain, complain. You're never helpful beyond telling me what's what.

"There's no other way out. We're trapped. We're going to be obliterated." Color began to drain from Pink's body as she continued talking, and her poofy mane started to lose its form in favor of a straighter shape.

"We can find a way through. Look around!" I shouted. The less time I have to spend with this idiot, the better, I subliminally added. "We got through it yesterday, we can get through it today."

"Got any ideas?" she asked, her color instantly returning and her mane puffing up again.

I said nothing. We had to look for the trick, not chitchat, and I figured setting an example would be the best course of action.

"Well?"

I said nothing.

"Well?"

I said nothing.

"Hello?"

"Aha!" I shouted. "I think I found the trick."

"You did? What is it?"

I raised my hoof in the direction of a small corner near the invisible wall. In the corner, there stood a guard. He looked just like the pony that stood by the wall yesterday. "It's him. He's the key." I held up the black skull pin. "Well then. Let's see what he's thinking."

I flipped the pin, and as I caught it, I saw a slight wave of energy that signaled the mind-read. The wave drew closer and closer to the guard, before... breaking apart. I saw the wave move around him and reform behind him, as if he had some form of protection against the mind-read. "What?" I flipped the pin over and over, each time seeing the same thing. "I can't... I can't scan him."

"What?" screamed Pink. "Then we can't get through! He's the- hey, what are you doing?"

"Hello, sir," I spoke to the pony after quickly trotting right in front of him. He stood there, unblinking, as if he couldn't see me. "I know you are part of this whole wall thing. Now take the wall down, or else."

"Want past this wall?" he asked without skipping a beat.

"What the hell do you think we want? A bucking ice cream?"

"Defeat the changelings in this area. Then I will bring the wall down."

"Oh, of course!" Pink facehooved. "Why didn't I think of that? Just ask the Pegasus. Duh!" Something about the way she said duh really got on my nerves. I ignored it.

"Well then, let's begin."

"Wait, Twilight. I gave you the fire pin because it wouldn't work for me. Not every psyche works for every pony," she added as I quizzically glanced at her about the fire pin. "But you should have more than just that and the Player Pin. What else do you have in your pack?"

My hoof leafed through my saddle bag. "Hey, you're right." In my bag there was a small collection of pins; one with a blue blast on it, one of a claw, one of a lightning bolt, and a gray swipe. "Let's try these out."

"You might not be able to use all of them, but if you can use one, then they send a message to you about how they work. One other thing. You have two Player Pins?"

I looked at my collection. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay, whatever. It doesn't matter. Let's get rid of these changeli... where are they?"

"Hmm... I think I know how to find them." I took one of my two Player Pins and flipped it. The wave expanded across the warehouse, missing the Pegasus but showing me a few very important symbols. "Come on, then. You, you, and you." I pointed at the Changeling symbols and watched as each of them began to barrel towards in the exact order I called them in. "I may not share my power with you this fight, Pink. I want to use it to try out these pins."

Pink nodded, just before the symbols enclosed in on us and she vanished.

As the frogs appeared, I raised my hoof in the air towards them. A barrage of the blue blasts flew forth in a spectacular display. Any frogs caught in it were hit over and over by the bullets, vanishing soon after. Yes, yes! Ha ha, this is amazing!

I then took a look at the claw pin. I focused on a stray traffic cone that was in the corner of the warehouse. My eyes widened as it defied gravity and raised itself in the air. Go right, I thought to myself as the cone went right. The cone responded to my every command, even going so far as to hit the frogs hard enough to Obliterate them.

The lightning pin was simple enough. I look at a Changeling, focus a bit, and they get hit by lightning.

One frog closed in on me, near enough to touch me with his feet. I pulled out the final pin, and swiped at the frog with my hoof, claw pin equipped. A gray slash appeared in the air, and the frog flew backwards. Ha ha, yes!

As the final Changeling vanished and Pink reappeared, the Pegasus trotted towards us. "Complete. Wall clear." The invisible wall glowed white for a second. As I placed my hoof where it was, I felt nothing and could pass through.

I looked around at the world in front of me. Nothing had changed, but the fact that there were so many who had never heard of ponies with wings, or using magic from pins or anything else, seemed strange to me, even when I had never heard of them before. At least, I didn't think I had. When you can't remember anything, you just never know.

"Those pins were great, Pink. The Changelings didn't stand a chance against all of those."

"Wait," she replied. "You mean you were able to use every single one?"

I nodded.

"Wow! I'm only able to use a few myself. So, why do you always vanish while we're fighting?"

"Me? You're the one who vanishes."

"The Changelings exist in two seperate planes," called the voice of the Pegasus. "And the only way to defeat them is to purge them from both."

"Ooookaaaaay..." I replied. "Whatever. Come on, Pink, let's go."

We ran. We ran like hell towards Winona. I just had one question remaining. "What's Winona?"

"WHAAAAAT!" Pink nearly tripped over her own hooves. "How can you live anywhere near Canterlot and never hear of Winona?"

"Can you just tell me what the hay it is?"

"Winona is a sacred dog statue in the center of Canterlot. Every year there's a celebration about her. In it, you have to touch Winona in the right spot"-insert sex joke here, I thought to myself-"and you'll have good luck until the next one. Touch the wrong spot, though, and you'll"-she paused for dramatic effect-"be cursed for a year!"

How long until this idiot pony grows the hell up and decides to stop believing in these goddamn wivestales? What, did her parents drop her on her head when she was a baby or something? It's the only explanation I can-

"Hey! Stop right there!"

"Oh, for the love of-" I turned around to be met by a gray mare with a white mane and a white tail with red streaks running through it, and she looked extremely angry about something. Trailing behind her was a pink filly, a slightly lighter shade than Pink was, with a pure white mane and tail.

"What do you want?" I asked, attempting to sound as annoyed as I could. I guess it worked.

"What I want is you two Pegasi dead," shouted the mare. My eyes widened briefly.

"We're not Pegasi," Pink explained. "We're Players, just like-"

"Don't give me any of that goddamn horsecrap!" shouted the gray mare. "You bastard pegasi are not leaving this street alive! You hear me?" There was a fire in her eyes, an anger the likes of which I had never seen before. "Prepare yourselves, dumbflanks!"

"Cheshire, stop!" The filly finally found her voice, apparently. "They're telling the truth. They're Players too!"

"Don't listen to them, Lovehearth. I can't scan them. They have to be Pegasi!"

"But you couldn't scan me either! Maybe it doesn't work on Players or Pegasi. And look. They have Player Pins too, see?" Lovehearth pointed out the Black Skull pins that Pink and I had been carrying.

Cheshire stopped dead in her tracks. "...Oh. Ha, ha, sorry." She turned back to us. "It was... just a misunderstanding, right? We can forget that happened, right?"

No.

"Of course! We'd probably do the same in your position." The world according to Pink.

Go on a homicidal rampage? I shrugged. I dunno, maybe I would.

"It's just that we were attacked by a Pegasus yesterday. Crazy mane, all the colors of the rainbow. She came in, threw some powerful noise our way, and then left." Cheshire looked down. "We barely made it out alive. We wanted"-Cheshire stopped, noting that Lovehearth was staring at her with a strange look on her face- "Okay, I wanted to go get some revenge before we went to Winona."

"We were attacked yesterday too," continued Pink. "Maybe it was the same person?"

"Maybe," Lovehearth finally spoke up. "What do you think?" she asked me.

I said nothing.

"Hello?"

I said nothing.

"Do you ever talk?" asked the goddamn annoying filly.

"Sometimes," answered Pink. "She's just being Twilight. She has a hard time talking to new ponies."

And old ponies. And basically all ponies.

"So, your mission," Lovehearth asked enthusiastically. "It was to remove the statue's curse too, right?"

"Yeah! You got the Carousel Boutique mission too yesterday, then?"

"We did, but... it was wierd. We never got there, but our timers vanished anyway."

"We got lucky," added Cheshire. "But we're not pushing our luck again. We're doing this one."

"Hey! I just got an idea!" shouted Lovehearth. She seemed quite excitable. "Why don't we team up? We can get this done in no time!"

Pink almost squealed in delight. "That's a-"

"No." Everypony turned to look at me. "You idiots will just slow me down. I'd rather team up with a giant rock I had to carry everywhere. Come along, you'll get us all Obliterated. Alone, half of us are still doomed, but at least the rest stand a chance. Here's a hint; the half of us does not include you. Now get out of my goddamn sight."

There was a good few seconds of dead silence. "Well then," Cheshire finally spoke up. "I guess we're not teaming up with you. Good luck." She spoke the last two words with heavy contempt. The two ponies trotted off, Cheshire not bothering to look back, but Lovehearth stealing one final look before following her partner.

Pink turned to face me. "What. The. Hell are you thinking!?"

"I look out for myself. I team up with whoever is strong. And believe me, I'm already carrying enough dead weight in this group."

Pink said nothing, but her eyes spoke worlds. Why? is what they seemed to say. Why are you so cruel? I didn't reply.

"Well then, this is Winona?"

"This is Winona." Pink acted as though she had recovered. I knew she hadn't. "So, let's see what's up."

I looked around. We were standing in a central courtyard. Ponies milled about their daily lives, knowing nothing about the insane challenges that we were forced to complete. Small buildings dotted the perimeter of the area, but for the most part, it was clear. The only obstacle was a small statue of a Border Collie, her tongue out to enjoy the breeze.

"I don't know," Pink mumbled to herself. "It looks a bit... off somehow. How about we scan it?"

I flipped the pin. "No Changelings. No weird symbols. One guy saying something about polishing-hmm, polishing?"

"Yeah. Let's do that. It looks like it needs one anyway."

The two of us began frantically rubbing the statue, grimacing as the grime and dirt covered us. If we were visible, we'd look like idiots.

"You know, the more we do this, the less it looks like Winona." Pink shrugged. "Wait, what are these?" She pointed towards some blue markings across Winona's body.

"Some vandal with a marker." We continued polishing.

Grr.

"What was that you said, Twilight?"

"I didn't say anything."

Grr.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

GRR.

We both stepped back from Winona. Pink was the first to speak. "That... wasn't the statue, right?"

"I think... it was."

The statue's marks glowed, and a symbol floated out of it. "Well, there's the curse. Come on, then, let's get them."

The symbols this time spawned two wolves, their white fur in stark contrast to the blue marks that traced around their body. One leapt at me, only to be knocked back by a barrage of blue blasts. Somehow, the beast got to its feet again and snarled at me. I saw Pink in my mind's eye, frantically dodging and countering with her stuffed dragon. I sent power to her and watched as her dragon bashed a Wolf right on the snout. The beast recoiled, collapsed, and vanished, but just before it did so, I saw something. It almost smiled at me, as if it knew something I didn't.

Oh, wait. Weren't there two of these-

A barrage of sharp claws tore at my back, forcing me to the ground. The wolf leapt on top of me, drool escaping its mouth and dripping down onto my chest. Its eyes seemed to pierce right through me.

I imagined fire burning away the wolf's tail, but it wasn't even fazed. Lightning struck it. It wasn't even fazed. I slashed at it with my hoof. It blinked.

Damn it. Pink, hurry up, I'm going to die here. Wait. Well... shit. I thought about what I had done earlier that day. Calling her dead weight, chasing off Cheshire and Lovehearth... why the buck would she even bother saving me? I know I wouldn't have. I closed my eyes and waited for the monster to finish me.

"Hey. Hey, Twilight! Twilight! Why are you still lying there?"

I opened my eyes slowly to find that I was lying down in front of Winona, Pink staring down at me. Well. I look like a dumbflank, don't I? "Why... why did you save me?"

"Because we're bonded! That's what we do. We save each other."

This... this pony... saved me after what I did? "And the timers?"

"Gone! See?" Pink raised her hoof to show me it was blank. "We cut it close though, Twilight. Only a few seconds left."

"Really? Guess we'll have to step it up tomor"-

"Well well well, if it isn't the bond that deprived me of my points yesterday!" The voice rang out among the center, not deafening but certainly loud.

"It's that Pegasus again." I turned to see a blue winged pony with a mane composed entirely of rainbows.

"Hey! You're the one who attacked Cheshire and Lovehearth, aren't you?"

"You mean the gray mare with all bark and no bite who had that annoying-ass filly following her around?" the mare asked smugly.

Damn. I like this girl already. "Those are them. Now, I'm really not in the mood for this. I kind of just want to get the Challenges done, so if you leave us the buck alone, then we might not have to kick your ass."

"Ooh, a challlenge is it?" The rainbow mare smiled, then frowned. "Wait- We're not allowed to attack Players directly. Damn it. But," she added, the smile returning to her face, "there is something I can do, and believe me, it will help you, Twi."

Twi? The hell? Okay, so maybe she heard Pink say my name and then shortened it a bit, but... Twi? I'm never going to live this down. "What is it you want?"

"I'm offering a bonus Challenge. Complete it, and I'll let you go five days early."

My ears perked at the sound of a quick exit. "Tell me. Tell me now."

Rainbow Mane pointed to Pink. "All you have to do is Obliterate your hyperactive friend over there."

"What?" I cried. "No, you idiot! She's not my friend!"

"Your time limit is one minute. You in?"

"I'm in."

"What?" Pink looked horrified. "Twilight, you can't be serious! You wouldn't do this."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Fail, and you're Obliterated instead. 45 seconds!"

"You hear that? Now I have no choice."

"Twilight. I saved your life. Repay it for me. She won't Obliterate you. She doesn't have the right to do more than throw some Changelings our way."

"35! Oh, here's a little note for ya, Twi. Your friend here? She's spying for us."

"What!" screamed Pink. "You can't possibly"-

"Your wristphone. You kept looking at it over and over."

Pink fell silent.

"25!"

I took the claw pin. I focused. I grabbed Pink by the neck with it, lifted her into the air, began to squeeze the air out of her. "Are you even going to fight back?"

Pink began to cry. "No," she gasped out. "You're my partner. I won't fight-ack! you... even if you do kill me... I won't...stop...you..."

"10! You're nearly done with her, I see."

Rainbow mane was right. She was so close to death I could see the life draining from her eyes.

I squeezed even harder, waiting for Pink's breathing to cease.