Mother and Child

Chapters

Chapter 1: Aftereffects
Chapter 2: Crossing Streams
Chapter 3: Blood is Thinner
Chapter 4: Escape
Chapter 5: Return to Sender
Chapter 6: The Emerald City
Chapter 7: Sunfall
Chapter 8: Answers
Chapter 9: Friends Unknown
Chapter 10: Freedom
Prologue

Chapter 1: Aftereffects

Chapter 1 – Aftereffects

Rock farms are a critical part of modern pony society. In the olden days, the earth ponies mined the mountains of Unicornia to find precious gems and minerals. This, however, created a staggering amount of environmental damage, especially due to the avarice of those such as Queen Crystal and Princess Platinum. Nowadays, rock farming is an infallible science. Rather than stripping an entire mountain in search of a fifteenth ruby, rubies can be grown using a combination of earth pony magic and modern geomancy. It has turned gemstone sales from an elite luxury to an affordable option for the masses. While rock farming may be hard work that most would rather avoid, Equestria would not be the monument of pony success that it is today without it.

~Modern Equestria, volume 4, Agriculture and Production

“Pinkie! There's a letter here from your mother!”

They were words that Pinkie was never truly ready to hear. It was almost never cheerful news that brought Cloudy Quartz to write a letter to her prodigal daughter. If there had been anypony else up for the challenge, Pinkie knew, she would have asked them instead. Pinkie pulled herself from her busy oven to meet Mr. Cake standing by the front door. He held a letter away from the others and let Pinkie take it from him, while he looked at the rest of the letters and murmured, “Bills... bills...” Pinkie opened it, making sure to read every word:

Pinkamena,

It seems we've had a break-in last night. The Child is missing. Were you here when we unearthed it, or had you already run away? In any case, please come immediately. Whoever came here last night left nothing but a few hoofprints and a tiara of some kind. It will be helpful to have the entire family here helping.

Mother

P.S. It may be prudent to bring your friend Twilight Sparkle as well. There are some magical traces as well that we are unfit to analyze.

Pinkie shook her head and laughed. So that was it. They needed the smartest unicorn in the world, not the pastry chef. But Pinkie did remember the Mother and Child gemstones; if one of them was missing, it was definitely important to get it back.

“I'm gonna have to take some vacation days, Mr. Cake!” Pinkie said. “There's been a family emergency.”

“Don't get into any trouble, all right, Pinkie?”

“I'll be back for supper! In two weeks!” Pinkie called back. “Oh, and don't forget to pull those cookies out!”

“Will do, Pinkie,” said Mr. Cake. “Say hi to your mom for me.”

Pinkie made an immediate beeline for the library, where the unicorn of the hour was waiting. Sure enough, a knock on the door brought Twilight right to her. “Oh, good morning, Pinkie!” Twilight said. “How are you this morning?”

“Not good, Twilight! Not good at all! You know my parents, right? They keep a rock farm out west from here?”

“I think you've mentioned them once or twice,” Twilight replied.

“Well, they have this really big ruby, a-and this smaller ruby, and now the small one's missing!”

“That's terrible! Who could have done something like that?”

“They have no idea.” Pinkie wisely held back the mention of the dream she'd had last night. Twilight wasn't the most accepting of things she couldn't explain, like visions. If they could prove it really was the filly from the dream, she'd make sure to bring it up. "My mother wants your help with the investigation. Do you think you could leave the library with Spike for two weeks or so?"

"Of course, Pinkie. I'd love to. Let me go pack." As the two of them headed up to Twilight's bedroom, Twilight asked Pinkie, "You know, you almost never mention your family. Are they all right?"

"They're just fine," Pinkie said, but there was something in her voice that Twilight detected.

"Are you sure? If there's anything we can do..."

"It might be better if you saw them for yourself," Pinkie told her. After that, she wouldn't say another word until they were out on the road. Over the next few days, Pinkie was her normal, fun-loving self, but now Twilight had seen behind the curtain, and there was an undercurrent of tense suspicion behind every playful antic. With each day that they neared the farmstead, Pinkie's humor began to trickle away, until it seemed she was turning as gray as the dusty plains around them.

As Pinkie and Twilight neared the farm, they could just make out the drab white figure of Pinkie's mother standing just by the gate. Upon their arrival, she said, "Hello, Pinkamena. I Sensed your arrival." She looked at Twilight and said amiably, “I don't believe we've formally met.” After a few empty seconds, she turned to Pinkie and held back a scowl. “Pinkamena, introduce us.”

“Mother, this is Twilight Sparkle of Vespers, student to Princess Celestia. Twilight, this is my mother, Cloudy Quartz.”

“A pleasure,” said Twilight.

"Likewise." She pointed to the field out in the distance. "The crime scene's out there, when you're ready. But you must be tired after traveling so long. Why don't you stay in the house and I'll prepare your rooms?"

"O-of course, ma'am," Twilight said. As Cloudy Quartz hurried back to the house, Twilight turned to Pinkie. "So... many... questions."

"Yes, the Sense is genetic. No, they're not the same as mine. Yes, she's always like that. Mother taught me how to do proper introductions so that I'd never embarass her. Yes, I know your lineage. I'm in the Sext lineage, actually. And yes, Mother keeps tea in the house for visitors. Now, did you want to go inside?"

"I, uh...right. Let's go."

The Pie house was a humble home. Pinkie wondered if Twilight, a mare born in the lap of luxury, had ever seen such a simple way of life. This was not a place of such meaningless things as joy or dreams; it was a place of work and quiet contemplation. If Twilight had harbored any doubts as to why Pinkie had left, they were surely cleared now. The two of them waited in the drab gray living room while Cloudy Quartz prepared their rooms for the evening. Out of all of it, the silence was what bothered Pinkie the most. She would love to start a song with Twilight that would get the whole house bouncing, but that wouldn't go over well with the rest of the family in the slightest. When Twilight began humming, Pinkie almost shushed her right there for breaking the tense atmosphere. And when she began picking up photos off of the side cabinet, Pinkie thought the house was going to implode. That was simply not done in the Pie house.

"Do you like that picture?" said Cloudy Quartz. Pinkie waited for the wrath of Celestia to come down on Twilight, but strangely, she seemed almost amiable to the purple rulebreaker. "It's the six of us at Ghastly Gorge on vacation. This is my husband, Igneous, and our daughters. The youngest is Marble, and those are Limestone and Sandstone next to me."

"I bet the pink one is Pinkie, right?" Twilight joked.

"Pinkamena, yes," Cloudy Quartz said. "It is also the name of Igneous' mother; we thought it was appropriate, given her... demeanor."

"Err...right." Twilight shuffled about, unsure of what to say after something like that. “Did you find rooms for us?”

“Your room is upstairs next to Pinkamena's. I assume that won't be a problem for you.”

“Of course! Why wouldn't it be?”

“I think that's enough questions for now, Twi! Let's go check out your room, right now!” Pinkie swept Twi up and got her away from Cloudy's constant glare. Once they were in the safe bedroom, Pinkie released a pent-up sigh. “Phew! I think we can talk about whatever now,”

“Can you just explain what you're being so jumpy about?” Twilight asked.

“My mother and I don't see eye to eye. I like fun, she likes order. Please, please don't step out of line, or I'll get in trouble.” Pinkie gestured to the barren rock field just outside. “We should probably start investigating before Mother gets mad.”

Before Twilight could protest, Pinkie was already dragging her along to the back door. When they made it to the backyard, Twilight forced Pinkie to stop. “Please, Pinkie, just stop!”

“But we really need to start with the--”

“Look, right now I don't care about that!” Twilight said. “There must be something I can do to help with you and your mom!”

Pinkie shook her head. “Sorry, Twi, but Mother and I have tried and failed before. We're just two sides of the same pancake. I'm the sweet, tasty side with all the syrup, and she's the flat, boring side on the bottom.”

“I've been hanging out with you too long; that made sense,” said Twilight. “But if you and your mom don't agree, why would you agree to help her?”

“Because she asked me to!” Pinkie replied.

“...Okay, then,” Twilight said. “So what are we going to look at first?”

“Right this way!” Pinkie called out. Before Twilight could blink, her pink companion was already bouncing through the rock fields. Twilight only laughed and picked up the pace. When they arrived at the spot Cloudy Quartz had mentioned, Pinkie began to twist back and forth. “Oooh...” she moaned.

“What's wrong, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“I don't know! I just feel really weird for some reason. It's sort of in my tummy, but sort of through my sides, too.” After a moment's pause, she added, “I think it might be my Pinkie Sense.”

“I see. And what does 'sort of in your tummy, sort of through your sides' mean, then?”

“Dunno. We'll have to look around some more, won't we?”

“All right then.” Twilight turned her gaze from her reeling friend to the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see. It was merely a rock formation with a large ruby in it. The light glittered across its facets, but otherwise, Twilight couldn't see anything unusual about it beyond the broken section where the Child had rested. There was a trail of hoofprints coming towards it, but only two or three coming away from it; they simply vanished. While Twilight was looking around, Pinkie pulled out the tiara from her saddlebags. As she passed it over, Twilight said, “Thank you, Pinkie. Do you know if anypony nearby owns a tiara like this?”

“Doubt it. We don't grow diamonds like that around here! That's farther north. Oh, and Inky said that the craftsmanship on this is at least 1000 years old.”

“Inky?” Twilight didn't remember Cloudy Quartz mentioning a filly named Inky.

“My sister, Limestone. She has a really dark coat, and... oh, forget it. Anywho, she's an expert in that stuff, so she's probably right.”

“I see.” Twilight began to pace back and forth. “So, we're looking for a pegasus, probably living nearby, with access to thousand-year-old jewelry.”

“Why a pegasus?” Pinkie asked.

“See these tracks? They disappear right here. I'd bet if we go to the beginning of the track, we'll find the same thing where the pegasus landed.”

“But Twilight! If a pegasus took off here, wouldn't they have blurred the tracks with their wings?”

“Oh.” Twilight hadn't thought of that. “But if it wasn't a pegasus, then how...?”

“Twilight, Twilight! Come over here! I'm getting that same feeling over here!” Pinkie stood a ways down the field, waving her hooves to get Twilight's attention. She ran down, noting subconsciously that the hoofprints had increased in speed about halfway through. There, just as she predicted, was the other end of the tracks, randomly in the middle of the field. However, something was very strange about these prints: instead of being perfectly elliptical, these were brushed in a radial motion. Twilight knew she recognized it from somewhere...

“No... it can't be...” With Pinkie watching nearby, Twilight began a simple magical detection spell. The spell would have been cast a week ago, but some of the magical residue was probably still there...

When Twilight stood up again, Pinkie asked, “What is it, Twilight? What did you find?”

She was silent for a moment. Then, she said, “I would never have expected something like this. This is... this is big time. With this, I think I've just proven White Crest's Theory of Critical Segmentation!”

“Okay, now tell me in a way I'll understand!”

“The thief arrived here, as well as escaped, using time travel!”

Chapter 2: Crossing Streams

Chapter 2 – Crossing Streams

Time travel, or “chronomotion” as it is also called, is a dangerous and greatly untested process. Even now, the majority of time travel spells are creations of the famous unicorn magician and alchemist Star Swirl the Bearded. His notes are a labyrinth of thoughts, concepts, and theories, not unburdened by his use of a complex cipher later in his work. Some translated spells from the ancient High Unicornian include “Stepback,” “Return to Point,” and “Walking Through Time.” As Star Swirl chose not to take part in the Pony Exodus, one could only wonder at the spells he may have devised between then and his assumed death. As it stands, it is still widely unknown how time travel actually occurs. While Star Swirl the Bearded fully believed in the creation of “stable time loops” and a single, unchangeable timeline, modern chronomotion theorists prefer such concepts as parallel timelines and 10-dimensional space. Only time (and further evidence) will tell.

~Magical Phenomena, section 7: Travel through Time and Space

“Uhh... Time Travel?”

“Right. These are definitely β-string tachyons! This is the discovery of the century, Pinkie! No, the millenium!” Twilight sobered up. “But it also means there's something you're not telling me. This wasn't a simple theft. Who would travel through time just to steal the Child? What is the Child, really?”

“We don't know. We were waiting for it to mature before we would do any measurements. I'm sure it'd be super-duper awesome, though!” Pinkie said.

“That's not the point. It apparently must be important if someone traveled through time to get it. Who has access to that kind of magic?”

“Ooh, ooh, I know! You do!”

“I've done time magic once, Pinkie, and that was just a simple jump back a week or so. It definitely didn't do enough to cause a β-type schism.”

“Twilight? You're losing me. What's a θ-type schism?”

“β, Pinkie. It means... well, let me try to simplify it a bit.” Twilight knelt down and drew a picture of a line in the dirt, then drew an arrow swooping back. “Suppose I went back in time and told myself to eat an extra muffin for breakfast.”

“Mmm! Muffins are delicious!”

“Right, but it wouldn't have a terribly significant effect on the timeline. I would just be slightly less hungry the rest of the day. As long as my interference was minimal, nothing out of the ordinary would happen.

“But suppose I went back and made it so that my parents never met. What would happen?”

“Your hoof would start disappearing, and you wouldn't be able to play 'Earth Angel' at the high school dance, right?”

“That's... uh, one theory, but no. I'd create a paradox. If my parents don't meet, then I won't be born. But if I won't be born, then I won't go back in time to keep them from meeting.”

“And if you don't keep them from meeting, then they will meet, and you will be born, but then you will go back in time, and you will stop them from meeting, and aaaah!”

Twilight set a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. “Exactly. In order to keep that craziness from happening, the theory goes that the universe splits into two strings: one where you are born, and one where you aren't. So if we're in the normal timeline, or α for short, then when the thief went back in time, they did something so bad that it caused a divergence, creating a β timeline! Now do you understand?”

“Yup!” Pinkie replied. “We just need to jump over to that silly string and get the Child back!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Pinkie! You can't do that!” Twilight said.

“What? Why not?” asked Pinkie.

“It could be super dangerous! We have no idea where the thief went, or when, or even if you can get it back!”

“But I promised my mom that I would find it,” Pinkie said.

“That was before we knew it was in another time period!” Twilight shouted. “I'm sure she'll understand.”

“I promised, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie always keeps her promises.”

“But it wasn't a Pinkie Promise--”

“Every promise is a Pinkie Promise!” Pinkie told her. “Now send me back to that gem, Twilight, hop to it!”

“That's not the only issue!” Twilight let her head drop. “If you go over to the β string... I might not be able to bring you back.”

“You don't have to!” Pinkie replied cheerfully. “The way I see it, someone had to send the thief here, right? All I have to do is persuade them to send me back! How hard could it be?”

“Pinkie, that idea is so nonsensical, I don't even know...” Twilight shook her head. “Pinkie, why don't you just ask your mother whether she wants you to go or not?”

“Go where, exactly?” Cloudy Quartz had appeared behind them while they were talking.

“Aha, perfect. Mrs. Quartz, could you please explain to your daughter why going back in time is a terrible idea?”

“Go ahead,” she replied simply. “Will you be gone long?”

“It's time travel, Mother. Theoretically, I could be back five minutes after Twilight sends me,” Pinkie responded.

“Pinkie! Mrs. Quartz! What are you--”

“Twilight.” Pinkie turned to her and tipped her head. “I know it doesn't make sense, but... I have a feeling I'll be back. The magic of friendship will bring me back home. Do you trust me?”

“I...” Twilight's voice faded away for a moment. “I do, Pinkie. I'll send you back. But please, come back home. With or without the Child, okay?”

“All right! Goodbye, Twilight.” She shook Twilight's hoof, then turned to Cloudy Quartz. “Goodbye, Mother.”

“Goodbye, Pinkamena.” She nodded her head once, then asked Twilight, “Can you do it, Twilight?”

“I think so. Here goes nothing.” She passed her magic through the particles, and, as she expected, they responded by imitating the spell she'd used in the library. A great ball of light began to form around Pinkie; then, with a sudden crack, the spell disappeared, leaving a second whorl of sand where Pinkie had stood. Once she was gone, Twilight said, “And now we wait. Mrs. Quartz,” she started, “why did you tell her to leave? Aren't you scared she won't come back?”

“Perhaps,” she said. “But Pinkie chose a long time ago to live her own life. It isn't my place any longer to tell her what she should or should not do.”

“What happened back then, Mrs. Quartz? Why won't you talk to her?”

“...She grew up, Miss Sparkle. That's all.”

Twilight turned back to the spot in the sand waited for Pinkie to return. It was ridiculous, impossible... but Pinkie had said it might take only five minutes, so she began to count down from 300.

Pinkie opened her eyes. The world had changed completely around her. She was standing in the middle of a road, though she didn't know exactly where it was. Here and there were scattered small snowbanks, and the sun shone through the clouds. It was so cheerful and bright Pinkie couldn't help but start singing a song. It was lively and bouncy, and before too long, she'd started hopping back and forth and singing happily:

I've got myself in some new escapade,

this ancient world I'm passing through.

But I'm not worried cause I've got it made!

This is all I need to do:

I'll just keep on singing all day long,

staying cheerful with my song!

I am always happy,

no matter where I am.

And my song is catchy;

at every step I can

I'll spread it high and low

through song and dance and show

I'll bring my joy and laughter where I go.

Just as she was about to launch into the second verse, she heard a rustling in the bushes next to her. Curious, she headed over and looked at whatever was there. It was the little filly from her dream. Her faded white coat was nicked and bruised from the bush's thorns, and her purple mane and tail were twisted with twigs and leaves. When she saw Pinkie looking over her, she curled up again and wouldn't look her in the eye. “Hey, hey, shh... it's okay,” Pinkie told her. “I'm not going to hurt you.”

The filly paused for a moment, sniffed, then got to her hooves. “Dikolpi ihn. Ih lege yoa zengen,” she said.

Pinkie wasn't sure what to say to that. If it was Equestrian, it wasn't words she recognized. “Do you speak Equestrian, kiddo? I'm looking for that ruby you took. Do you have it anywhere around here?” She looked around. “I don't see it anywhere.”

“Hwas zane dichen yon?” said the filly. She tipped her head to the side and looked at Pinkie quizzically.

“What do I do, what do I do...” Pinkie said to herself. “I've got it!” She pointed to herself and spoke really slowly. “My name is Pinkie Pie.” She pointed to the filly, then to herself. “You, me. Me, Pinkie Pie.”

“Ata. Ih those ki il kenna,” the filly replied.

From the way the filly responded, that sounded like a confirmation. Pinkie hazarded a question. “My name is Pinkie Pie. What is your name?”

“Iya... nom...ze Prinzina Arginasa,” the filly said, just as slowly as Pinkie had.

“Prinzina? You're Prinzina?” The filly nodded. Pinkie cheered. “Haha! Take that, time travel!” She turned her attention to another question. She took a stick nearby and drew a small picture of a house. Next to it, she drew a little stick figure of Prinzina and an arrow into it. “Where do you live?” Pinkie asked slowly.

After a few seconds, Prinzina took the stick and added little parapets to the house. Then she pointed behind Pinkie's head and said, “Ih vit en der kastiler hy hiore.”

“Der kastiler? The castle?” She turned around and saw the huge castle nestled against the side of the mountain. It wasn't Canterlot Castle; what castle could it be?

Prinzina looked at her with liquid eyes and asked, “Tokome yos mid ihr, O Pinki? Ih ze terronet.”

“Of course!” Pinkie said. She wasn't sure what she'd just agreed to, but whatever it was, it certainly made Prinzina happy. She immediately jumped to Pinkie's side and hugged her tight. Then, she pointed her small steps to the castle and trotted along. Pinkie fell quickly in step. As they walked along, Pinkie noticed that Prinzina was trying to whistle the song she had been singing. She laughed to herself; things were already feeling like home.

Chapter 3: Blood is Thinner

Chapter 3 – Blood is Thinner

[…] The Hearth's Warming Eve pageant is also particularly inaccurate. For one, while the earth ponies did have a “chancellor,” this is not quite the correct translation. “Lord,” “Vassal,” or perhaps even “Daimyo” Puddinghead was one of multiple earth ponies in charge of oversight of the earth pony farms. She did not “rule” the earth ponies, nor did “General” Hurricane rule the pegasi. Rather, all were servants to the Royal Crown of the unicorn tribe. The last major error which should be addressed is the case of Princess Platinum. Multiple sources suggest that her father, King Ironcoat, had already been dead several years before the Windigo Convention which would eventually lead to the Pony Exodus. Therefore, the term “daughter to the king” used in the play either uses this in the past tense or is a misunderstanding of the relationship between herself and the regent at the time, Noble Blood. Princess Platinum was approximately 13 at the time, not quite ready to assume the throne.

~Modern Equestria, volume 1, Pre-Equestria and the Foundation of Canterlot

Prinzina led Pinkie up right past the gates. The two guards simply stared at them without so much as a reaction. Pinkie was awestruck at the beauty of the great castle. It wasn't like Canterlot Castle, but it really wasn't like the Crystal Empire one, either. It was a sweeping, detailed place; when Pinkie tried to follow some of the loops and swirls with her eyes, they'd lead her on seemingly infinite paths. She could also see that, unlike Canterlot Castle's ivory austerity, there'd been no expense saved on this castle. Every wall and fixture was either gold, silver, or gem-encrusted, and the tapestries and carpets throughout were nothing short of beautiful. But it made Pinkie think of who had made all of it, who had mined all the gems and woven all the tapestries. And unlike Canterlot Castle or the Crystal Empire, the whole place felt cold and lifeless. She didn't see any pegasus servants sweeping up in the alcoves or earth pony politicians bustling by with a clipboard full of notes. What unicorns were about simply stood by in their gaudy-colored robes and watched the two of them walk by. She hadn't heard anypony speak, neither modern Equestrian nor the strange speech Prinzina used. She still wasn't sure where she was.

They made their way to the throne room, where a stern, brown-coated stallion sat in thought. When he saw Prinzina enter, his eyes opened wide, and he motioned Prinzina forward. During the commotion, a fourth pony in a blue-and-gold robe appeared from behind one of the columns. At first, he talked to Prinzina, but he soon turned his attention to Pinkie and asked what seemed to be a question. She gestured to Pinkie, and she, taking this as her cue, headed up to join the little crowd. Prinzina told the blue-robed pony something along the lines of, "O Stelmoto, des ze Pinki. Sci halpet ihn bakturn tu der kastiler."

"Hello!" She tried to recall what Prinzina had said before. "Iya... ze Pinkie Pie?"

Prinzina laughed. She told the other two, "Sci ne kennet Unikornesh," and they nodded.

Pinkie felt awfully left out of the conversation. She tried signalling to her mouth and saying, "Can you help me? I don't understand at all!"

The brown stallion seemed uncertain. "O Arginasa, sci ze urteka. Warm ze yoan firenden sci?"

"Pitta! Yos musse halp scin zamwa!" Prinzina cried out. She clung to the blue-robed ponies hooves and seemed to asking for something important by her sad face.

He looked uncertain, then finally acquiesced. "Ata, O Prinzina. Ih totrate." He turned to Pinkie and motioned to her. "O yos. Komi hire."

"Come here? Okay." Pinkie did as he asked. He began to charge a spell, and Pinkie braced as the effect passed through her. It was incredibly disorienting, and Pinkie could hardly keep her mind straight. At last, when the effect seemed to recede, she opened her eyes again. Everything now seemed... familiar, in a way she couldn't quite place. Not deja vu, not Pinkie Sense, just... familiar, somehow. She tried to speak, and it almost sounded like she was saying two things at the same time. "Did it... did it work?"

The three of them cheered. "It did work! We can understand you! Can you understand us?"

"Yeah, I totally can! You know what this calls for? A party!" Unfortunately, she realized she had left her party cannon back in her own time.

"Is it more common in the future for ponies to have parties?" the brown pony commented.

"Only party ponies like me, Mr. Guy!" Pinkie replied.

"Pinkie, you can't talk to him like that!" Prinzina told him. "This is my stepfather, Regent Noble Blood. He rules over all of Unicornia in my stead, and he deserves your respect!"

"I didn't vote for him..." Pinkie mumbled to herself. "Anyway, how did you know I was from the future?"

"A very long story, I'm afraid," said the blue-robed pony. "My name is Starswirl. I'm the regent's alchemist and magician. You're welcome, by the way."

"Oh, Starswirl the Bearded? My friend's a big fan of your future work."

"I don't want to know more than that, Miss Pinkie! What if it could change the future?" Suddenly, he got a wicked gleam in his eyes. "But then I could learn so much more about the effects of future knowledge upon the timeline. But perhaps it could destroy the entire space-time continuum... or perhaps that's an acceptable risk."

"In any case..." Noble Blood gave a large smile, though it didn't go past his eyes. "We thank you graciously for bringing Princess Platinum back, but--"

"Who? Oh, Prinzina. Or... Platinum. Right."

"As I was saying, We're very grateful that you've brought our princess back to us, but now it's time for you to leave."

"Leave?" cried both Platinum and Starswirl. "She just got here!"

"I could learn so much more about the future!" said Starswirl.

"And she's really nice and friendly. Can't she stay just a little longer?"

"But she's an--! Urg, fine. Pinkie, you will stay with Platinum for as long as you wish."

"I'll need to go back home eventually," Pinkie said.

"And you shall," said Starswirl. "I can use the same spell to send you to the future as I did Platinum. It'll be easy. And you deserve it for helping bring back the princess."

"Thank you, all of you," Pinkie replied. See, Twilight, she thought, it was simple. Now all I have to do is find the Child and I can head back.

“Now, if you'll excuse us, Miss Pie, the princess has some lessons to get to. She has quite a lot of catching up to do, now that she's two weeks behind,” said Noble Blood. Platinum blushed and looked away as he pushed her out the door, leaving Pinkie and Starswirl alone in the big chamber.

“If anypony would be perfect for the job of teaching Platinum, I'd think it'd be you, Mr. Swirly!” said Pinkie.

“I would, of course, but I'm a bit busy with other projects at the moment. Besides, she's doing history today, and I've never been much for that.”

“But this is history! At least for me, anyway,” Pinkie replied.

“So you've learned about me, then, I take it?” Starswirl asked.

“Well, my friend Twilight has. She's really smart. Most of what I know comes from this play we do every year. 'The pegasi were stewards of the weather, the food could only be grown by the Earth ponies, and the unicorns magically brought forth day and night. And so mistrust between the tribes festered.' Wait, what does 'festered' mean, anyway?”

“To grow rotten and weak,” Starswirl said with a sigh. “It's true. You remember what Noble Blood said, right? 'But she is an earth pony. Why is she your friend?'”

“Actually, I didn't catch that part, but I believe you. What's his problem, anyway?”

“There's a lot behind it. If you asked him, he'd say that he's only naturally cautious around earth ponies since they led rebellion four years ago. But the truth is, he's a unicorn, and most unicorns think that earth ponies are worthless, save for their effectiveness as slave labor,” he said. He scowled and shook his head.

Pinkie looked deep into his eyes. “But you don't, do you, Starswirl?”

“No, I don't.” He laughed without any humor in his voice. “I've met earth ponies. I've met pegasi. They're not better or worse than any of us, just... different. They have their talents, and we have ours. We unicorns may be smart and be able to use magic, but that tends to make us a bit... isolated. I mean, look at you! I've barely known you for thirty seconds, and I feel as though I can talk to you about anything. All of the earth ponies I've met are so warm, friendly, and good. And pegasi! Pegasi are the strongest, bravest ponies I've ever met. True, they're not educated as we are; their education revolves around the sword and lance. But that means they are far nobler, more loyal, more determined than any unicorn or earth pony I could mention.” His smile faded, though, and he looked out one of the windows sadly. “I wish that unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi could live together without this separation someday. All three of us have a lot to learn from each other. And I believe that there is one thing that can bring us all together.”

“Harmony?” said Pinkie.

“No, science!” Starswirl cried out. “Science shall be the great equalizer! In the world I imagine, nopony will be left without. There shall be great machines to carry ponies through the sky, and devices to carry messages from one side of the kingdom to the other. There will be machines to plow the fields and water the crops, and there will be compounds to prevent death itself! There will be implants to simulate magic, and prosthetics to simulate flight. And in those days, earth ponies and unicorns and pegasi will be one and the same; the earth ponies will leave their fields, the pegasi will leave their clouds, and the unicorns will leave their towers. Alas, I cannot create all of those in my lifetime; would that I had 1000 years! But in the meantime, I'm working my hardest with what I have.”

“That's, err... quite a dream you've got going there.” Sure, there was the telegraph and the zeppelin, but the rest of those were complete fantasy! She didn't have the heart to tell him that ponies would find a way to overcome their distrust without the aid of fancy-pants contraptionology.

“But come, Pinkie. You must tell me more about your world! Oh, but don't tell me too much. I want it to be a surprise.” He gave her a wink, then gestured out to the hallways.

“So, how about I tell you about the first time I got to run Sugarcube Corner all by myself?”

“And just like that, we found out what the doozy was! Apparently, it was getting Twilight to trust that my Pinkie Sense really did work after all.”

“Pinkie Sense?”

“Yeah, like—whoa, there it goes right now! Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch. Starswirl! Away from the door!”

Not a second before he stepped out of the way, the door next to him swung out, and Noble Blood stepped into the hallway. Behind him were two little fillies: Platinum and a purple-coated filly with an open book cutie mark. Noble Blood commented, “Oh, hello Starswirl, Pinkie. Are you well?”

“Very much so,” he replied. “Pinkie was just telling me about some of her adventures back in her own time.”

“I'm afraid that'll have to wait for another time,” said Noble Blood. “Platinum and Clover are done with their history lessons, but since Platinum is behind, you should probably help her with her magic lessons. Clover could use a refresher on her astrology, too.”

“Aww, and I was just about to get to the story about the time I went and watched the Best Young Flier's competition in Cloudsdale! And that's one of the best stories, too!”

“You went to Cloudsdale?” Noble Blood asked, any thought of Platinum and Clover forgotten. “But you're an earth pony.”

“Oh, that's no problem. My friend Twilight used a spell on us to let us walk on clouds.”

“I see... very interesting...” Noble Blood smirked.

“Why's that?” asked Pinkie.

“Oh. It's just that I've been meaning to talk to Commander Hurricane about our defenses against the diamond dogs in the southwest, and he is too busy to come down to the castle. With that spell, I could visit him up in Clouvergne and discuss our plans.”

“That makes sense.” Beside her, Starswirl lifted one hoof and pressed it slowly to his temples.

“Can we sing a song before we go?” Platinum asked. “Pinkie's really good at songs.”

“Actually, Pinkie sang a really good one a little while ago. How did it go, now? Winter Wrap-up Winter Wrap-up! Let's finish our holiday cheer.”

“But it's autumn!” said Clover.

“Okay, so not that one. Well, what about... help me out here, Pinkie.”

“What about this one? Cuz I love to see you smile, smile, smile, yes I do!”

“Yes, yes, very charming, Miss Pinkie,” Noble Blood said. He corralled the two fillies towards the hallway and headed them away from Starswirl and Pinkie. “Unfortunately, it'll have to wait for another time. These fillies must get to their lessons.”

Only when the three of them were out of earshot did Starswirl tell Pinkie his thoughts. “Perhaps you should have saved that story for when Noble Blood wasn't around.”

“Why?”

“...Never mind. I'll just have to smooth it all out later. Now, you were telling me about a Young Flier's Competition?”
***

That night, Pinkie and the Princess were tucked away in their beds. Although Pinkie tried to fall asleep, all she could think about was her old home. She knew that, theoretically, she could come back right after she left, but she still wondered what Twilight and her family were doing back at the farm. Were they waiting for her anxiously, or had they already forgotten about her? What if she never made it back? What would the Elements of Harmony do without her? Replace her? Suddenly, she regretted coming back. She had been so certain that she would be able to find the gem and get back without a hitch, but suddenly she wasn't so sure.

In the midst of this uncertainty, she heard Platinum whisper to her, "You said you knew about Starswirl. Do you know about me?"

"Yeah," Pinkie replied. "We have an entire holiday for you."

"Oh. Just for me, or...?"

"No, there are five other ponies in it."

"Okay." Silence. "Are we... the six of us, I mean... are we friends?"

"...Sorta? Not really. We do this play where we live out your lives, and you spend most of it fighting everypony else."

"Oh." Silence.

"I mean, Clover's in it! And you and her seem to get along pretty well. You know, I was in the play once. I was a character named Puddinghead. My friend Rarity played you, she looks just like you, and Clover was my friend Twilight Sparkle. ...Twilight..." Pinkie murmured.

"Do you have a family back in your own time?" Platinum asked.

"Yeah, I guess, but I don't really speak to them anymore. We don't get along."

"So it's like you don't have a family either..."

"I guess not," Pinkie said.

"Do you miss your mother?" Platinum asked again, almost insistently.

"Yeah, I do. I wish I could talk to her about it, but she just... isn't there for me anymore." Pinkie didn't hear a response. "Platinum?" she asked. She could hear, faintly, the sound of Platinum quietly sniffling and her tears falling to the ground. Pinkie turned her head away, some invisible attempt to give her privacy. "Goodnight, Princess," said Pinkie. And with that, she fell asleep, dreaming of something warm and close to her.

Chapter 4: Escape

Chapter 4 – Escape

If there was one tribe that was least happy with its lot, it was the earth ponies. The unicorn rulers never truly felt that they had control of the earth ponies, no matter what they did to appease their need for self-agency. Even the appointment of the chancellors did little to appease the earth pony nation. Had the Pony Exodus not occurred, it is possible that the earth ponies would have rebelled against their masters and reinstated earth pony independence. As it stands, we are lucky that the tension between the three tribes was destroyed by the Fire of Friendship, or the earth ponies might still be rebellious today. So too should we be grateful that the unicorns have learned the value of the other tribes and see them as equals, not inferiors. It truly would be a terrible world without the harmony we now know.

~On Tribal Relations, part 1, section 3, Pre-Equestrian Age: Earth Ponies

"Pinkie. Pinkie, wake up." When Pinkie opened her bleary eyes, she saw Platinum jostling her awake.

"Platinum? But it's..." She looked towards the walls, but without a clock... "Early o'clock! Before sunrise o'clock! Why are you getting up so early?"

"We've gotta go now if we want to escape, Pinkie!"

"Escape? Why would you want to--"

"I can't take it anymore! You don't understand how terrible everything is. Noble Blood is terrible to me. He's always going on about how I have to 'become a real princess' and 'always look the part,' and I hate it. And he said that my classes with Clover are going to end next year, that I am better than her 'as is my blood.' But I don't want to be better! I don't want to be a princess anymore. I just... want to be me!"

"If that's what you want to do, then I respect that." Pinkie was sure that Princess Platinum leaving forever would probably affect the timeline, but for the moment, she'd let Platinum do what she wanted. In the end, she could probably convince Platinum to go back if need be. "But why now?"

"Starswirl is up raising the sun, and Noble Blood is overseeing it. There's no way they'll catch me leaving!"

"But what about the guards?"

"Shoot! I forgot about them." This was starting to look less and less like a reasonable plan, Pinkie thought. "What do you think we should do?"

"Hmm... well, we could climb up and down the tapestries, hide in the shadows, use a cardboard box, whack the guards over the head to knock them out--"

"Pinkie! We can't do that!"

"Oooor, we could tie the sheets into a rope and shimmy down the wall."

"What a great idea! Let's do that."

With Platinum tying with her magic and Pinkie passing them over, they made record time. It was... probably a little short, but they climbed down as well as they could. Platinum landed softly, but Pinkie landed with a heavy whumph, and a nearby guard's ears pricked up. Before he turned around, Pinkie whispered, "Run!"

As Platinum rocketed to the gate, Pinkie grabbed the bedsheets and balled them up behind her. When the guard came by, she told him, "Hello, officer! Just out for a little walk, haha!"

"Stay indoors, ma'am," said the guard. He went back to his post, and Pinkie slipped away to the door.

Pinkie followed Platinum's laughter out beyond the castle to the path stretching out before her. There she was, frolicking in the sunlight, enjoying the cool breeze. "So," said Pinkie, "what do we do now?"

"Don't worry. I know exactly what we're going to do. We're going to Wishsong's home."

"Who is Wishsong?"

"After I got teleported to the future, I took that gem, and it took me to Wishsong's house. I don't really know why, but--"

"Wait! Is it still there?"

"Maybe," said Platinum. "I didn't stay long, and I left it there when I tried to go home. But if we go back, she'll probably let me stay. Especially with you along, Pinkie."

After a few minutes of walking, they came to the cottage. It was a small thing: uneven clay bricks, pallid thatched roof, very primitive windows. Just behind it, Pinkie could see three foals running about, each chasing the other. The tallest was a colt with a gray coat, a white mane, and a cutie mark shaped like an arrow. The other two were fillies, both about the same age, one black with a blue mane and a white circle for a cutie mark, the other white with a pink mane and a half-circle for a cutie mark. The last looked just like her mother coming out the door, who, when she saw the two of them coming down the path, fell to her knees in genuflection. "Princess Platinum! It is an honor to see you again," she said.

"No, please, no need to bow." Platinum held out a hoof, which the mare used to get back up. "Pinkie, this is Wishsong. Mrs. Wishsong, this is my new friend, Pinkie."

"Hey, Dawn, Wish, the princess is back!" The three foals from outside came around the house and ponypiled onto the little princess, and she laughed as she struggled to get them off of her.

"These are my children, Pinkie. Quicksilver, Coming Dawn, and Silver Wish." She pointed to each in turn, and they turned and waved amid their struggles.

"Is there a Mr. Wishsong out in the fields?" Pinkie asked her.

"N-no," said Wishsong. "My husband Morning Star passed on several years ago." At this, the four fillies stopped fighting and fell awkwardly to the ground.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

"No, it's all right. I'd rather you know than wonder." She turned her gaze towards the four foals next to her. "If you go inside and wash your hooves, I'll have breakfast ready in just a second." Once they'd run off, she returned to Pinkie. "So, who are you, exactly? You're not from around here."

"Short story? I'm from the future. I'm looking for a gem Platinum brought with her the first time she was here."

"Oh, yes, of course. I'm sure we can find it around here somewhere. But in the meantime, would you like to come inside?"

"Would I!" By this point in the morning, Pinkie was usually already up, baking treats for all of Ponyville to eat (and usually eating some herself in the process). She was starting to get rather hungry.

When they got to the little kitchen, Wishsong nodded towards the pot on the fire apologetically. "I'm afraid all we have is gruel for the morning. Most of our food goes up to the unicorns in the castle."

"Ooh, I've never had gruel before!" She went over and tasted a bit of it. She tried not to wrinkle her snout so as not to hurt Wishsong's feelings. "It's certainly... gruel-y."

"I'm sure you eat much better in the place where you come from."

"Not place, time! But... maybe, I guess. I mean, I'm sure this stuff is perfectly fine!"

Platinum and Wishsong's children came out of the washroom, hooves neatly clean. When Silver Wish saw the pot, she cried out, "Ooh, gruel! My favorite!" She rushed over, grabbed a bowl, and stood eagerly by the pot.

"I'm afraid, since we have some guests, we'll each have to take a little bit less to share."

"Not to worry, Mrs. Wish. I've got this." Out from her mane appeared a big bag of oats, after which came a pot, her own personal stash of brown sugar, and lastly, a little bottle of maple syrup. "I'm more of an oatmeal type, myself." When she saw the awestruck faces on the other ponies, she replied, "What? I didn't want to wake up and find out they weren't making oatmeal, so I nabbed some from the kitchen before I went to bed. Would you like some?"

Wishsong began to tear up. "Pinkie, thank you. You've done us a great kindness."

"I'm not kindness; I'm laughter! But I'm glad to share what I've got."

So all of them sat together and enjoyed Pinkie's gift. In between bites, Coming Dawn asked Pinkie, "What did you call this? 'Maple syrup?' It's very good."

"It's made from the sap of maple trees!" Pinkie replied. "Don't you have maple trees nearby?"

"No. That sounds really cool!" said Silver Wish. "How'd you come up with that?"

"Well, I didn't!" Pinkie laughed. "Some smartypants saw a maple tree and thought, 'Wow, that tree must be delicious!'"

Everypony laughed. "And the brown sugar?" Quicksilver asked.

"Not my idea. Probably somepony else thought, 'You know what this sugar needs? More sugar!'"

The other ponies were laughing so hard that they could hardly breathe. Wishsong herself was holding her chest with one forehoof and wiping tears from her eyes with the other. "Oh, Pinkie, you're so funny! It's been quite a while since I've had the opportunity to laugh."

"I'm glad!" Pinkie replied. "And if you take Platinum in as well, I have a feeling she'll bring laughter to you guys as well."

"Is that why you're here, Princess? To join our little family?" Platinum nodded. “...All right, Princess. If you really do want to live with us, then we will take care of you. But you can't go around looking like you do now!”

“What do you mean?” Platinum asked.

“If any of our neighbors saw you, they'd know you were a noble right away. Your mane is so long and pretty, and you have the purple of the royal family in it,” Wishsong said. “We'll also need to get... a hat, I suppose, to hide your horn.

"Okay." After a moment of thought, Platinum took off her tiara and handed it to Wishsong. "If you need to, you could try and sell this."

"Thank you, Princess, but we won't need that. My husband was... well-loved in the community; money won't be an issue." She then turned to Pinkie. "While I'm out, would you be willing to watch Coming Dawn, Silver Wish, and Quicksilver for me?"

"Not a problem!" She waved goodbye as Wishsong and Platinum headed out. Platinum wore one of Morning Star's old capes to keep from being seen.

Pinkie found herself alone with Wishsong's three foals. “So...” she started. “Those are some neato cutie marks. Do any of you want to tell me about yours?”

“Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me!” All three of them jumped up and down, hoof in the air. Pinkie pumped a hoof. Kids were so predictable; cutie marks were always the first thing on their minds.

“All right. How about... Coming Dawn?”

“Thank you, Pinkie,” Dawn said, her composure returned. “My story is about a few years ago. I... guess you wouldn't remember the big pegasi storm, would you? Well, there was this big snow storm the pegasi made a couple of years after the death of King Ironcoat. Silver Wish, Quicksilver, and I were all here at home, but Mother and Father had gone out to the stores, and the storm had separated us. We couldn't even leave the house, the storm was so powerful. Quicksilver had gotten his cutie mark at that point, but Silver Wish hadn't, and she was so scared. We tried our best to console her, but nothing we could say or do would make her feel any better. But then, when the storm was at its absolute worst and the windows started to freeze over, I pointed as best as I could to the sky and told her, 'Silver Wish, do you see all those clouds?'

“'Yes,' she replied.

“'I know we can't see it right now, but the sun is right behind those clouds. No matter how hard the storm may get, no matter how cold or how scary, you must always remember that the sun is waiting to break through at any moment. No matter how bad things get, there is always hope.'

“I guess that doesn't sound like much, but it meant a lot to Silver Wish at the time. She stopped crying and simply held us close. And sometime between then and when the storm finally died down, my cutie mark had appeared. So that's what mine means, Pinkie. Mine means that, no matter what happens, there is always hope.”

“So did your parents make it back safe and sound?” Pinkie asked.

“Mother, yes. Father... no. He didn't make it through the storm like Mother did. It was hard at first to accept Father had died, but we've survived.”

“Don't talk about Father like that!” Silver Wish cried. Pinkie could see the hint of tears forming at her eyes. “Don't you miss him?”

“I do,” Coming Dawn replied, “but I know that there isn't any point in crying over him any more.”

“Do you remember when I got my cutie mark?” Silver Wish said. “You had been crying all night after we learned that Father had died, and you were so torn you wouldn't come out of your room.”

“We all thought you were too young to understand!” Quicksilver said.

“I did. You have no idea how much I did. Even worse was the fact that you had just gotten your cutie mark, Coming Dawn, and I still didn't have mine. And you were the one crying, while I had to do all your chores for you!”

“Silver Wish... were you... jealous?” Coming Dawn asked.

“I was. I felt so worthless. Mother was always by your side, and she never had time for me. At one point, I wanted nothing more than for you to just die so that Mother would notice me for a change!

“I think I had some sort of assassination plan made up, or something. Just when I was about to go into your room, I heard you sob, 'Father! I miss you!' And I realized you were suffering, same as me. I didn't want you to be sad like I was, so I decided to find something that would make you happy. I went around our entire farm, looking for things you might enjoy. At one point, I looked up into the sky, and I saw the moon, completely full, like a beautiful crystal ball. I wished that I was a pegasus, so that I could fly up and bring it to you, or a unicorn, so that I could pull it down with my magic and give it to you.

“I don't know why that in particular was so important to me, but at that very moment, I got my cutie mark. Your cutie mark means 'hope,' right? Then mine means wishes, just like my name. And what's more, it represents the love I have for you, my sister. I would give anything to make you happy, anything in the whole wide world.”

“And I would do anything to make you happy, Silver Wish, my dearest sister.”

“Aww, that's so sweet,” Pinkie said.

“Hey, Pinkie, do you want to hear about how I got my cutie mark?” Quicksilver called to her.

“Oh! Uh, sure.” Whatever had been floating in Pinkie's mind was erased as Quicksilver launched into his story, a charming tale about an exchange student at his school (whom Pinkie recognized as Smart Cookie), a running race that had ended in Smart Cookie getting hurt, and Quicksilver helping him to the finish line. By the time he was done, Wish Song had returned from her trip with Platinum. Pinkie was shocked at the effect that was created. The princess looked almost nothing like she normally did. With her mane cut, her coat dyed, and her horn hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat, she looked like another average earth pony. She looked right at home, Pinkie thought, with Wish Song's loving family. So she decided the Child could wait, just for a little bit. They might not have a had a lot, but this felt like home.

Chapter 5: Return to Sender

Chapter 5 - Return to Sender

By all accounts, Princess Platinum was a darling, sweet filly when she was younger. Unfortunately, Noble Blood kept her in a private, sheltered environment where she was always praised and taught that she was superior over all other ponies. Her ghastly behavior at the Windigo Convention was a reflection of this arrogance that was inculcated in her from a very young age. It is a shame that she had no friends or companions in her younger years; perhaps they could have evened her out or taught her to be more friendly. On the other hand, would she have caused the Pony Exodus in the same manner, thereby founding Equestria? It is difficult to say. Is the happiness of one filly worth the price of an entire civilization?

~Royal Families: part 1.c: The Unicornian Line (Regency-Exodus)

For a few hours, this was all to Pinkie's life. The five of them simply spent time together: Quicksilver raced Pinkie to prove his speed; Platinum matched them in energy and cheer; Silver Wish egged them on; and Coming Dawn stood to the side and watched them with a quiet smile. After that, they went inside, and Pinkie taught them fun card games that she knew. Granted, they used a weird deck with a bunch of extra cards in it, but she figured out how to make it work. Afterwards, she went to the kitchen and helped Wishsong with dinner while the foals continued to play with the cards. “So, have you been enjoying yourself?”

“Totally! And Platinum's been having fun, too!”

“That's good. I'm glad to see that she is fitting in with the others. I can tell she's very lonely.”

“I just wish things could stay like this forever.”

“If only, dear,” said Wishsong. “But things can change in the blink of an eye.” She pointed out to the yard where, out away from everything else, there stood two gravestones. The first was tall and square, while the second was small and in the shape of a wing and horn.

“Who does the other one symbolize?” Pinkie asked.

“My third daughter. She died during the birth. We named her Requiem.”

“I'm very sorry,” Pinkie said.

“We must move on. Besides, she has Morning Star now with her.”

“Pinkie! Come look at this!” Quicksilver said.

“Coming!” Pinkie looked at Wishsong one last time. She saw now a very different pony than she had when she'd first arrived. This mare had seen great tragedy throughout her life, and yet she survived for her children. She saw the joy, but she also saw the pain and the weariness.

“Pinkie!”

“All right, I'm coming!” She walked to the living room, where the four foals had three cards laid out on the ground. “This doesn't look like a very fun game,” Pinkie noted.

“It's a reading, Pinkie,” said Coming Dawn. “Quicksilver thought this one was really accurate.”

“I prefer crystal balls myself,” Pinkie said. “So, what does it say?”

“See, this first card represents being controlled, like Platinum is always talking about. That's the past. But this card shows a happy family together for the present! And then this last card is the Queen of Swords. It means that Platinum is going to become a wonderful Queen someday!”

“Isn't that the King of Swords?” Pinkie asked.

“...Oh, you're right. What does the King of Swords represent?”

“A strong, forceful presence?” Coming Dawn said.

“A strong... No!”

Just as Platinum cried out, there came four knocks on the front door. Then the door shot open, and Noble Blood appeared in the threshold. With him were two guard ponies and Starswirl himself. When Noble Blood saw the family before him, his face suddenly shifted into a cruel grin. “What a coincidence!” he said. “You've led me right to the home of the Morning Star Rebellion! I thought for sure you had all died out.”

“What are you talking about?” Pinkie asked.

“There was a stallion about four or six years back by the name of Morning Star,” Starswirl explained. “He organized the earth ponies in this area into a huge rebellion which went on for years. It only ended when he died in a snow storm and his followers broke apart.”

“And yet the rebellion hasn't ended, has it?” said Noble Blood. “It is still continuing, but in whispers.” He walked back and forth near the four of them, peering closely into their eyes. “So who among you is leading it? You, Mrs. Wishsong, carrying on your husband's legacy?” He passed on to Quicksilver, who was looking up with a fearful darkness in his eyes. “Or what about you, Quicksilver, the eldest? Or perhaps one of you two?” He stared into Silver Wish's eyes, but she was almost unreadable. “Did your father convince you that his cause was just, that what he did was right?” He moved on at last to Coming Dawn, whose strong composure seemed to be cracking slowly but surely. “Which one of you took on his position and now leads the rebellion?” He saw Coming Dawn's weakness and fixed his gaze even harder on her. “Can any of you understand how foolish it is to upset the natural order we've founded?”

“No! Stop!” cried Silver Wish.

“Yes?” said Noble Blood.

“I-if you take me, p-promise me you'll... you'll let them go,” she said.

“Very well. What do you have to say?” he asked.

“Don't do this, Silver Wish!” Dawn called to her.

“I... I am S-sidus Immortale, the Undying Star,” Silver Wish said. “Though my father has... p-passed on, his light shines ever on! I am his light, and I sh-shine where he cannot! I am the morning star, born anew, and I will never die! I live on in... in the h-hearts of all earth ponies, and we will not rest until we have our right!”

“I knew it! I wasn't expecting the youngest, but still. Guards, take her away!” At Noble Blood's command, the guard ponies stepped up and held Silver Wish by the forehooves. They dragged her out of the cottage to the sound of Wishsong's mourning.

Coming Dawn drew close to Pinkie. “Please, Pinkie, you have to do something! She isn't Sidus Immortale; I am! She wants to take the fall for me, but she's completely innocent.”

“What can I do?” Pinkie asked. She did the only thing she could think of and ran to Starswirl. “Starswirl, Silver Wish isn't the leader of that rebellion thingy. Can't you read her mind or something and prove it?”

“Read her mind? I suppose so.” He turned to Noble Blood and whispered something. Noble Blood called the guards back in, and they marched Silver Wish back into the room. Starswirl said, “This is a simple spell which will allow me to review your memories. If you are Sidus Immortale as you claim, I will see all of your treasonous acts.” He fired up his spell, and a bluish-indigo beam connected his horn to the top of Silver Wish's head.

It seemed that a century passed while Starswirl sat, almost motionless. In reality, it was only a few minutes before the spell expired. Starswirl blinked as the spell faded, but he seemed off. He muttered, “Per ignem et aquam...”

“What did you see?” Pinkie asked. Rather than respond, he whispered again in Noble Blood's ear. With each word, Noble Blood's smile grew and grew.

“Well,” he said, “apparently, I've been mistaken. I'm sorry to bother you.” He turned around, but after a brief pause, he added, “In fact, I have a better idea. How about we move all of you up to the castle? I'm sure Princess Platinum would be happy to have you all living with her.”

“Really? You mean it?” Platinum said, her eyes wide.

“Of course. If this family really does mean so much to you, then I would be remiss if I didn't let you spend time with them. Besides, it'll be nice to have some ponies your own age around, no?”

“Oh, thank you, papa!” she said. She jumped to Noble Blood's side and nuzzled him closely.

“That was... easy,” Pinkie noted. “What did you tell him?”

“Ah, Pinkie. I hardly noticed you were still here,” said Noble Blood. “I take it you came with the princess?”

“Yes. I mean, I was going to stop her, but--”

“No worries on that count. I know she can be quite persuasive.”

Pinkie wondered for a moment if this was a completely different pony she was now talking to. From what Platinum had told her and from what she'd seen, this was utterly unlike him. And to let a whole family of earth ponies in his home?

Noble Blood gestured to the guards. “Could you help this family move their things? We'll put them up in the east wing, over by Starswirl's lab.”

The guards' horns lit up, and objects from around the little cottage began to organize themselves by the front door. Pinkie saw what looked like a little red gem float by, but by the time she registered it, the ruby was covered by a dozen other items. Soon, all of them were out on the road, with Noble Blood, Starswirl, and Platinum in the front, the guards in the back, and Wishsong's cheerful family and Pinkie in the middle. Despite the general positive atmosphere, Pinkie couldn't help but feel like she was missing something important.

The move-in had gone completely smoothly. They all had their own room, save for Coming Dawn and Silver Wish, who had to share. Pinkie was wandering about the halls when Starswirl pulled her to the side. “Pinkie! There's something I want to show you.” He pulled out the ruby she'd seen in the stack. “Is this the gem you were looking for?”

“Yes! How'd you know?”

“Lucky guess, although the magical gem among the things where Princess Platinum landed was a pretty good sign.” He spun it once around his hoof, then passed it to her with a broad smile.

Pinkie was torn. She was glad she had finally found the Child, but at the same time, she was enjoying her time here with Starswirl, Platinum, and Wishsong's family. But soon she remembered Twilight and all her friends back in her own time, and she realized that she wanted to go back home. “I guess now that everything's back to normal, I can head home, huh?” she told Starswirl.

“Yep. Back to your own timeline. It's a pity we couldn't do more together, but I'm sure you're very homesick.”

“I really am! I miss Ponyville, and all my friends there, too! Go ahead, send me back!”

A massive portal appeared between them. Before Pinkie could thank him, he said, “Wait, I haven't started yet! How did you do that?”

She looked down at the Child, which was now glowing with a warm, red aura. “The Child is doing it! I don't know how, but I guess it is!” She looked into the portal, but it was too dark to determine what was out there.

“I've never seen such a powerful gem before. I wish I had studied it a bit before giving it to you!” he added with a laugh.

“Sorry, Charlie, but it's gotta come with me. See you soon, and take good care of Platinum for me!”

“Will do,” said Starswirl.

“Oh, and if you ever see a mention of 'Windigos' in one of your books, make sure to tell Clover about them!”

“All right.”

“Maybe I'll see you again some time!”

“Maybe.” He waved one last time as Pinkie stepped into the portal. As it closed, he looked away. “Windigos, huh? Better go check it out.”

Pinkie landed in a dark room filled with the smell of hay. She recognized it all too well; it was probably the grain silo near the house. Why the Child decided to put her there instead of anywhere else was beyond her. She stumbled about and looked for the light switch. After a few steps, she slammed into a small wooden fence that had no place being in the silo. She followed it down, but once again she slammed into a wooden fence, this one with a gate on it. She kept going, but soon, she realized exactly where she was: a stable. But that was impossible. There weren't any stables on the Pie homestead. In fact, there weren't any stables in all of Equestria anymore! The last time anypony had used stables was back when--

The light snapped on, revealing that she was exactly right. There were ten or twelve stalls stretching down the long building. There by the door was a pegasus, green-gray in hue with a brown worksaddle around her wings. But there was one thing that shocked her the most: the mare's coat glistened as she walked towards her, like a flawless gem. “Who are you, and what are you doing in our quarters?” she asked.

Pinkie let her jaw drop. “I don't think I'm in Ponyville.”

Chapter 6: The Emerald City

Chapter 6 - The Emerald City

1. No crystal pony (winged or un-winged) shall be outside unattended after sunset.

2. No crystal pony (winged or un-winged) shall speak to a unicorn unless first spoken to.

3. No crystal pony (winged or un-winged) shall overtake the natural talent of a unicorn.

4. No crystal pony (winged or un-winged) shall sire a unicorn or be recognized as having unicorn lineage.

5. No crystal pony (winged or un-winged) shall have luxury or comfort beyond the necessity of life.

6. No crystal pony (winged or un-winged) shall be recognized as equal to a unicorn, for this is an abomination.

~ssw.govern.dp/crystal/065.html

“That doesn't answer the question,” said the green crystal pegasus. “Who are you, and what are you doing in our quarters?”

“I don't know what you're talking about! You're Jade Shine, the Ponyville repair pony, aren't you?”

“You have me confused for somepony else. I am Jade Shine, but I've never heard of a place called Ponyville,” Jade said.

“But if you're Jade Shine, why are you all crystally?”

“Why aren't you?” Jade replied. “You're a crystal pony, aren't you? I don't see a horn on your head.”

“I'm not a crystal pony!” Pinkie said. “I'm so confused. If this isn't Ponyville... where am I?”

“Why, you're in Everfree City, of course! Technological center of the Great Triumvirate!”

“Now you're just making stuff up!” Pinkie said.

“Take a look for yourself!” Jade told her.

Pinkie unhooked the stall gate and made her way to the door where Jade had come in. It was so bright out that Pinkie could hardly see. But once her eyes had acclimated to the noonday glare, she was awestruck by what she saw before her.

She had never seen such a city so incredibly marvelous in all her life. There were massively tall buildings all around, built of what looked like glass and shiny steel. One in particular seemed like it was about to scrape the sky! She could see pegasi weaving between these buildings, but there were also earth ponies and unicorns up there, too! They stood on top of small, metal planks and whizzed around like any pegasi! She looked on the street, and she could see carriages moving without any ponies pulling them! Everywhere she looked seemed almost alien how strange it was. The sidewalks moved on their own; the signs lit up in color and text; and lots of ponies who walked about were wearing a black earpiece that wrapped around to their mouths. And on every light post and every building was a flag she didn't recognize. It was a triangle split into three sections: a green section with yellow stars, a white section with purple swirls, and a black section with red triangles. This could be nothing else but the flag of the Great Triumvirate. Jade Shine wasn't lying at all. This wasn't Ponyville. Something had gone horribly wrong.

Pinkie started to hyperventilate. How would she get home now? Twilight had sent her back here with the expectation that Starswirl could send her back, but if she hadn't come back like she should have, could she ever find a way back? Or was she trapped now in this alternate world she didn't understand?

Pinkie went back into the stable and stood by the stalls. “Jade, do you know anypony who can cast time travel spells?” she asked.

“Sorry, I don't,” she replied. “I'm just a crystal pony.”

“What do you mean, 'just' a crystal pony?”

“I mean just that. I'm not a unicorn. I'm just a slave. I fix mechanical problems, not magical ones.”

“A...A slave?” Pinkie's thoughts began to shoot into double time. Crystal ponies as slaves... it was impossible! Had Sombra never been defeated in this timeline? But the world didn't look like a blighted wasteland. Either Sombra had gone nice, or...

“Look, you can't stay around here,” Jade said. “You probably need to get back to work.” She grabbed a screwdriver in one of the stalls and put it into her worksaddle. “So do I. See you around.”

The mare disappeared into the blinding light outside. Pinkie followed her for a while until Jade stepped onto one of the floating boards and headed off into the sky. Now she would have to find her own path.

As Pinkie walked along down the road, she came upon a building filled with the most amazing devices she had ever seen! She rushed in and stared at the colorful devices as they jumped from picture to picture.

“Interested, ma’am?” came a voice behind her.

“Am I!” she cried out. She turned around and saw an earth pony in a blue uniform in front of her. “I’ve never seen something so amazing! It’s like a movie screen, only all by itself!” she told him.

“…It’s just a television,” he replied. “They’ve been around for centuries.”

“Well, whatever they are, they’re so cool,” she said.

“Are you sure you’re all right? And where is your horn, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, right!” Pinkie remembered that only unicorns had normal coats. If she wanted to blend in, she’d have to come up with something realistic. “Well, you see, I was working in the lab, and then all of a sudden, blam!”

“Blam?”

“Blam! My horn was just gone!”

“Really.”

“Yup! Thankfully, the rest of me’s okay. I’m all right, at least for now.”

The employee looked at Pinkie with a suddenly weary eye. “Well, if you decide to go get that horn fixed, you should probably go ask the Wizard.”

“The Wizard?” Pinkie took her gaze from the TV screen, now interested.

“Right, the guy up top! His magic is so powerful, they say he can cure anything. If you need magical help, he’s the one to talk to.”

“All right, then I will!” She bounced her way out of the door, only to come right back and ask, “Uh, which way do I need to go to do that?”

“Thattaway,” he said. He pointed towards the tallest building in the skyline with the huge letters EC on the top.

“Right,” she said. She put her hooves to pavement and headed out to the tower in the center of the city.
***

“And so your horn just blew off?”

“Yup, blam! So now I need to see the Wizard to get a horn. Or grow my old one back, however this works.”

“If that’s the case, then you’ll need the hospital wing out back.” The doorkeeper/secretary gestured out to the side, where the ever-present red crossed bars marked her destination. Once she got there and checked in at the front desk, she sat down in one of the little chairs and picked up one of the magazines resting next to it. It was an interesting read, though naturally she hardly understood anything it was talking about. What she did manage to pick up confirmed what Jade had said: Equestria was broken up into three districts, and she was in Everfree City. High Canterlot was kind of like her Canterlot, a snooty magic-based city, while the Dark Paradise was apparently really creepy and nopony lived there if they could help it. Anything else was pretty hard to understand, being as it was significantly more advanced than what she knew from Ponyville. The math section used a method she couldn’t follow, the poetry was all really weird (none of it rhymed!), the etiquette section talked about crystal ponies in such a disturbing way that Pinkie had to turn the page, and the find-it in the back was already colored in. So she tossed that to the side and contented herself with watching the TV up in the corner until somepony called her name.

“Pinkie?”

That somepony being someone she hadn’t expected at all: Starswirl! She jumped up from her seat and looked at who it was. No doubt about it: it had to be Starswirl! She jumped up and was about to say something, but he nodded his head in such a way as if to say, “Careful now.” What he actually said was, “If you’ll come back with me, please, we can get started?”

“R-right.” She kept her cool and followed him back to one of the check-up rooms. She was so nervicited! She had so many questions to ask him, so many things she needed to know about what was going on!

When they got into a room, he placed a spell over the door, then sighed. “There. Now we’re safe from eavesdroppers.” His tone shifted from the neutral doctor tone he had been using to the cheerful grin she was so familiar with. “I’m so happy to see you, Pinkie! Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of time, so our reunion will have to be brief.” He turned to a nearby cabinet and began rummaging through its contents.

“Why didn’t I get back home? Where is this? And, well, how are you—”

“Alive?” He laughed, but it wasn’t a very happy laugh. “I’m afraid that’s a very long and somewhat painful story. As to the others, I’m afraid they’re all tied in with the same question. You see, you didn’t fix the timeline like you were supposed to. Through a long series of events, I’ve been granted immortality, and I run this portion of the world now. I’m Starswirl the Immortal, Lord of Everfree City!” He took a pose, but he quickly deflated. “And now things are flying further and further out of my control. Noble Blood and Sombra are driving Equestria into the ground, and I—”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Noble Blood’s alive, too?” Pinkie asked. “And you’re allied with Sombra? Is that why you’ve enslaved the earth ponies and pegasi?” she added accusingly.

“No, you don’t understand! I’m trying to help them!” Starswirl said. “I don’t know what you’ve seen of the crystal ponies’ plight, but if you go to High Canterlot or, Lords forbid, the Dark Paradise, you’ll see that they’ve got it so much better here! But I can’t do anything too quickly or Sombra and Noble Blood will overrule me.”

“But you can’t just let them stay slaves!” Pinkie cried. “It isn’t right!”

“I know it isn’t. And I’m trying my best. But for now, this is all I can do. I lead Everfree City as best as I can, I give the slaves as much freedom as I dare, and I try to use my magic to make up for my mistakes. Like so.” He showed her a glass ring that pulsed with his magic. “Take this,” he said, “and put it in your mane.” She did so, and in an instant a pink horn jutted out from her forehead where the ring was sitting. “That’ll work for anypony but the other two Lords, so don’t go running into them.”

“What if I need to look like a crystal pony? Can you make me-- Wait!” she said before he answered. “Send me back home! If you send me back again, I can fix everything and make it so this never happens!”

“Can you, though?” Starswirl said. He looked at her sadly. “Hasn’t it happened already? You may turn back time, but will that make this cease to exist?”

“I…”

“In any case, I can’t. Even if we had the time for me to prepare an entire time travel spell of the power we need, I don’t have the components for it.” Starswirl looked warily about. “You’ve got to go. If we stay here any longer, Cold Storage out there will get suspicious, and if she gets suspicious, she’ll report me to the other Lords.”

“Why would she—”

“She’s one of their spies, now go!” Starswirl pushed her out the door and followed her with a broad, fake smile.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Pinkie whispered to him.

“Go to High Canterlot, find my successor,” he whispered back. “She can get you home. But if you want to know why this world is how it is, go to Dark Paradise and right my wrongs. My greatest mistake is in Sombra’s castle on the 27th floor.”

“What does any of that me—hey there!” Pinkie said. She, too, had put on Starswirl’s smile.

“Everything all right?” the secretary asked.

“Just fine, Storage,” Starswirl said. “Got Pinkie’s horn fixed up right as rain!”

“Thanks so much, Mr. Lord Starswirl, sir!” she said.

“It’s what I do,” he replied genially. He turned around, but then he thought of something. “Oh, if that horn feels a little out of balance, use this spell.” He scribbled something onto his prescription pad and passed it to her with his magic. On it was written, “Remember—HC, successor. DP, 27th floor, mistake. Right what is wrong.”

“Gotcha,” Pinkie replied. Cold Storage didn’t seem to know any the wiser. With one final wave, she watched Starswirl head back to the other rooms, perhaps to look at some other case. He was different, but deep down, he was still the same Starswirl, really. He knew what was right, and he wanted it for everypony, unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony alike. But, just like in Unicornia, he was trapped by circumstance, unable to be what he truly wanted. It was pitiable.

But he had set her to a task. If the Dark Paradise housed his “greatest mistake,” then clearly that was where she must go.
***

Hours later, Pinkie sat on a train, watching the country fly by. This train (the conductor had called it a “maglev,” whatever that meant) moved so much faster than the trains at home. The technology was fascinating, but there was no way she could have wrapped her head around it. Now Twilight, she would have the whole thing reverse-engineered quicker than you could say, “For Science!” She was the one who should have been out here, not Pinkie. She pulled the Child out of her bag and held it close. She was just a pastry chef. She couldn’t do… whatever it was Starswirl expected of her. But she had to, she supposed. She was the only one who could.

The light outside cut out in a single instant. Pinkie looked out the window. The greens and yellows of Everfree City had vanished, replaced with black and red. The sky up above was filled with roiling black clouds, and black crystalline spires shot out every which way. This was, without a doubt, the rule of Sombra. This was his Dark Paradise. Pinkie had arrived.

Chapter 7: Sunfall

Chapter 7 – Sunfall

Sometimes, when it's really quiet, I can hear the cries of a little filly, somewhere in Sombra's castle in the mountain. I don't know who it is or why, but it breaks my heart to hear it. Does anypony know who that is? Is there anything that can be done? ~Anonymous #1301038

That information is classified. Report to the castle immediately for termination. ~Admin #1301039

~ssw.ponychat.dp/res/m/0193 (immediately deleted afterwards)

The clouds above Pinkie disgorged not rain or snow, but ash. Pinkie opened up an umbrella and continued down the path through the Dark Paradise. It certainly lived up to part of its name: everything around her was black, red, and gray, without a trace of joy or happiness to be found. Why it was called a "Paradise," though, Pinkie couldn't fathom. There was only one pony she could imagine enjoying such a place, and that pony was Sombra himself. Apparently, the name was some kind of sick joke on his part.

Along the way, she saw scores of houses, but they all seemed... deserted. Where was everypony? Why had they abandoned such perfectly functional homes? Granted, she wouldn't want to live here, either, but if they'd built houses, that must have meant they'd intended to stay, right? She peeked a look into one of them, and realized to her shock that they were just as empty as the streets. No furniture, no picture frames, no nothing. So... nopony had lived here at all? Dozens of houses, all unused. What was the point? And everything, all around her, was as silent as the grave, without even the gentle sound of wind blowing to comfort her as she wandered through a literal ghost town.

When she reached the end of the path she was walking on, she finally managed to find ponies, though they mostly seemed to be soldiers. There were no crystal ponies out, pegasus or earth pony, and the majority of the unicorns wandering about wore heavy black armor and face-covering helmets. It had the unsettling effect of feeling less real than the empty houses she'd just passed by, as though the guards were keeping patrol to make sure everyone followed along with the illusion of life. She tried to stick close to the buildings, just to keep from attracting too much attention. A few houses down, she espied a building with a burger and fries on its sign. Her stomach rumbled underneath her: she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and that had literally been millenia ago! She darted across the open square, forgetting for the moment the guards passing by.

"Oh, thank Celestia! Food!" she said after bursting through the front door. The pony at the register, a small crystal pony filly wearing a white paper hat, trembled and looked at the ground. Pinkie stopped and checked herself. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm really hungry, and I would really like something to eat." When she checked her pack, she realized with a heavy heart that all she had in her pack were Equestrian bits, which probably wouldn't be worth much, considering the Equestrian mint didn't exist in this reality. "Oh, but I don't have any money."

"That's fine; we haven't got any food, either." This came from a full-grown mare, who stepped out from the back of the restaurant and nestled an arm over the cashier filly. Pinkie guessed that they were probably related: they were both earth ponies, and they both had the same pink coat and yellow mane.

"No food?!" Pinkie groaned. "But I really need to eat!"

"So do we, and we don't have any food, either."

"Mama!" The filly gasped and turned around. "You can't speak to her like that!"

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie asked. "I can understand not having any burgers to sell me, but when you say no food...?"

"I mean we were supposed to get our rations six days ago, and we haven't seen a single crumb of it." The mother sighed and rested her hooves against the countertop. "I've been cutting each day's amount in half and giving my portion to the kids, but... it's not going to last for much longer."

"But we'll keep doing our best! Won't we, Mama?" the filly added, seemingly eager to keep her mother from saying any more.

"No way! That's not okay at all!" Pinkie replied. "If you're supposed to have food, then by golly, you're going to get it!"

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" the mother said. "The guards don't listen to slaves like us. We've asked over and over again, and they never do a thing to help us."

Pinkie looked up at the top of her head, where she could just see the false horn Starswirl had given her. "Maybe... Maybe they'll listen to me."

The filly smiled, a big toothy grin that was a rare sight among her kind. "You mean you'll represent us? That's great!"

"Sure! In fact, are there any other ponies around here that haven't gotten their fair share? I'll represent them, too!"

Now the mother seemed to be filled with hope as well. She turned around and called into the back, "Bolero! Jaunty Tune! Cadenza! Melodica! Come down here! We're going to get more food!"

It sounded like a rolling cloud of thunder coming from upstairs. Soon, four crystal ponies, three pegasi and another earth pony, attempted to all squish through the door at the same time. As they struggled, the mother laughed and tousled the mane of the filly next to her. "Lyric, why don't you help your siblings out of their jam." While she went to do that, the mother laughed. "Foals, am I right?"

"Oh, I know. I take care of my bosses' foals. Their names are Pound and Pumpkin. They're just the cutesiest-wutsiest!" Though now that she thought about it, as she watched Lyric and the other four bicker and reorganize themselves, she was reminded more of her own sisters. She wondered how they were doing in this weird alternate reality... and Pound and Pumpkin, too.

"Huh. What odd names for unicorn foals." Before Pinkie could correct her, she said, "Is everypony ready to go?" All five children had finally arranged themselves into something resembling a line. "Good! Then are you ready, miss...?"

"Pinkie Pie! And you are...?"

"Oh!" It seemed like she hadn't expected that question. "Pitch Perfect."

"Double Ps, just like me!" Pinkie cheered. "Then let's get going!"

Pitch Perfect led Pinkie around the town. At each house they stopped at, she asked the crystal ponies within whether they were late on their rations; with each positive response, she invited them to come along with promises to receive what was owed to them. By the time they'd made a full rotation around the town, the sun was heading towards the horizon, and Pinkie had a entourage of about twenty or thirty ponies behind her. As they neared the tower in the middle of town, she noticed that the group was starting to get a bit rowdy. So, to get them all focused and ready, she decided to lead them in a song:

Living by the tower,
Living in the shadow of the shadow king
When we've been discouraged
We can raise our spirits when we sing

Waiting for our rations,
waiting for our water, bread, and feed,
If you listen closely,
you will understand just what we need:

All we ask is for your blessing!
All we ask is for the food we're due!
All we ask is for a light to shine again!
That is all we ask from you.

"What is the meaning of this?" The guard at the front door of the tower stopped them all flat. He squinted at Pinkie Pie, almost distrusting his own eyes. "What exactly are you doing with all these slaves, citizen?"

"Weren't you listening to the song? They need their food!"

"You organized all this for that, citizen?" The other guard standing next to him scoffed. "They'll get their food when Lord Sombra wills it. Not a second earlier."

"Well, according to these ponies--" All of the crystal ponies cringed at Pinkie's use of the word "--Sombra promised to give them food days ago. So the way I see it, they should have their food now!"

"Move along, citizen." The two guards almost lazily crossed their spears, denying Pinkie and her little parade entrance.

Dejected, she turned around and faced them all. "They don't want to let us in. We'll just have to think of something else."

Pitch Perfect looked at her askance. "There's twenty-five of us, Pinkie."

"Right, which means it might be kinda hard to sneak all of you in. Now, if we could find enough instruments, we could make a big band and--"

"There's twenty-five of us," she repeated, "and only two of them."

It took a few moments for the implication to set in. "You can't be serious!"

"Isn't that why you gathered us all? We're ready to rebel!"

"No, no! That's not--"

"C'mon, everypony! The food's inside! CHARGE!" Pitch Perfect pointed forward, and all the crystal ponies charged forward as one at the two guards. Before Pinkie could blink twice, they'd subdued the guards without so much as an injury between them. It almost seemed as though the guards hadn't expected something so insane. While pairs of crystal ponies dragged the guards into the tower, the rest surged inside to look for food. Pinkie followed behind them, still a bit dazed.

"Please...!"

She stood in the hallway while one group of ponies pried open a crate with a nearby crowbar. At her comment, they stopped what they were doing and looked at her. "Just... Please don't take any more than you were promised, okay? It wouldn't be right."

The crystal ponies looked more subdued after Pinkie said that. Rather than the fervent pace they'd been keeping before, they slowed down and passed along freeze-dried and vacuum-sealed packets that only barely resembled food. That seemed... at least a little okay, in Pinkie's mind. Not as bad, anyway. She brushed aside any lingering doubts and reminded herself of her mission. Somewhere in this tower, on the 27th floor, was Starswirl's greatest mistake.

The inside of the tower was as foreboding as the outside. Tall, black, and severe, the walls stretched high above her, decorated in only the roughest, unstylized patterns. As the sound of the crystal ponies bustling behind her dwindled into silence, she found herself slowing her hoofsteps to keep from disturbing the chilling silence of the area. Was this tower as abandoned as the town around her? If so, why were there guards defending it? Was it solely to protect Starswirl's mistake? Was it truly that dangerous?

At the end of the hallway, she found a room with a strange red orb. She gave the orb a few brief taps, but it didn't seem to do anything. Next to it was a device with several switches and indicators--the chief of which was a large screen with the number "01" on it in glowing blue text. Pinkie found that, by spinning the dial next to it, she could increase the number all the way to 26. Pressing the button next to it lit the orb up in a bright glow. She marveled at the technology the unicorns of this society had created. She touched the orb and was immediately overwhelmed with the sensation of motion, even while standing completely still. It was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach.

"Phew! That was rough!" Pinkie said to herself. "But if I'm right, then I should be..." She peeked out of the room. Now the floor was bustling with unicorns carrying documents from room to room. It was clearly very important, as they didn't stop even as she stepped out and began to walk through them. They hardly acknowledged her presence. She attempted a glance at what was on their documents, but they held their folders tightly to their chest, revealing nothing. The doors were marked with their number, each of them beginning with "26." Clearly, then, this was the 26th floor of the tower. But if that was the case, how to get to the 27th...?

She picked the first pony she saw--a light blue unicorn mare wearing a green headband--and pulled her to the side. She stopped, almost as if breaking out of a trance, and snapped at Pinkie, "What do you want? I'm very busy, you know!"

"Ah, I'm just trying to get upstairs to the 27th floor. Do you know--"

"You're trying to get to Lord Sombra's office? Ask your supervisor." She brushed off Pinkie's hoof and continued on her way.

"I don't have a supervisor. I'm actually looking for something of Starswirl's; it's supposed to be on the 27th floor...?"

"Starswirl's business is none of mine. Ask the spymasters, if you've got SHADOW clearance. They're just downstairs. Now leave me alone!" The mare ducked into room 26-15, and then locked the door behind her when Pinkie tried to follow.

The mare was certainly frustrating to work with--and she had no doubt she'd get similar results from the rest of the staff around her--but she'd given Pinkie enough of a lead to start on. She hurried back to the teleporter and set it to 25. The floor was much more subdued, as she'd expect from a bunch of sneaky spies. However, she could still hear the hustle and bustle of the office ponies on the floor above her. That gave Pinkie an idea...

She changed her mind; the spies wouldn't be able to give her anything anyway. Instead, she went back to the 26th floor and pulled another employee out of the constant rat race. "I need... a really big room... enough to hold everypony on this floor!" Pinkie asked, now starting to run out of breath from running back and forth to the teleporter.

The employee looked confused. "You mean, like the conference room on the 12th floor? Why would you need everypony on this floor?"

"Pass the word around. I'm going to do what I do best: throw a party!"

***

For a last-minute job thrown together out of bits and bobs, the party was fantastic! She'd found some decorations, a boombox, and table-setting charges in that infinite void she called a mane, which was enough to get a rowdy atmosphere going. No food, unfortunately, but the office workers didn't seem to have a problem with getting the chance to relax for a moment and chat.

While they settled in, Pinkie went back to the 26th floor, which was now completely silent. She stood in the center of the hallway, taking in the quiet. She couldn't hear anything going on in the floor above her, but she imagined nothing was up there save Sombra himself and Starswirl's mistake. She needed to find out how to get to the 27th floor, and only one pony could tell her...

There! She heard a shifting sound behind her, and Lord Sombra stepped out of office 26-01. He looked exactly like Pinkie remembered him, but even more intimidating in his full splendor. Tall, with a deep black coat and his red horn that oozed malice, he cut an imposing figure. The green magical aether that normally poured from his eyes now seemed to come from every pore of his body, covering him in a toxic-looking mist cloud. And his eyes! His stare alone seemed to radiate his fury. "What's going on down here?" He stepped all the way out into the hallway and noticed there was nopony around, save for Pinkie herself. He locked onto her immediately. "You! What have you done with my staff?"

Pinkie smiled nervously and began to back up. "What makes you think I had something to do with it, Your Lordship? Maybe I just came by and noticed everypony was gone!"

"Don't give me that!" As he got closer, he suddenly noticed her horn and scowled. "That horn... it's fake! Who are you?!"

"Horseapples!" Pinkie had forgotten in the heat of the moment that Sombra would be able to see through her disguise. "Gotta go!" She ducked into the nearest office. Sombra roared and followed after her.

Pinkie knew she was a little weirder than anypony else, that she could do things nopony else could do. This was one of her Shticks, as she called it, and it infuriated Twilight to no end. When Sombra stepped into the office where she had gone in, Pinkie simply stepped out of one of the other doors. She crossed over to the other office, and Sombra appeared out of yet another office, unable to find her. The criss-crossing pattern was perfect to avoid capture, and it made for great spectacle; the fact that it involved the two of them seemingly warping from office to office without physical explanation mattered to Pinkie not one whit. It was all great fun, and that was all that she cared about.

At the end of the Shtick, she decided to step out of office 26-02 and cross over to 26-01, while Sombra continued to "chase" her through the other rooms. She sighed and locked the door behind herself, then looked at what she'd achieved. The bookshelf in the back of the office had been moved aside, and a staircase led upwards, towards the top of the tower.

Bingo.

She made her way up and found herself in another office, though this one was far more ornate. There was a huge throne on the left-hand wall, and it was surrounded by screens like the televisions she'd seen in Everfree City. There were artifacts of all shapes and sizes lining the walls: some were clearly trophies taken from conquered nations, while others rattled and smoked with malevolent energy. She looked at all of them intently, but nothing particularly screamed "Starswirl's mistake." She shuddered and headed out of the office.

Unlike the other floors, there were no office doors lining the hallway. Instead, there was just one, on the complete opposite side of the hall. The door was covered in a huge metal chain and painted bright red--at least, she hoped it was paint. The doorframe was also lined in bright blue runes that glowed menacingly at her. Pinkie immediately knew this was what Starswirl had sent her here for. She hurried as quickly as she could manage, shuffling through her mane to look for a hairpin. Of all the things, Pinkie thought to herself, a hairpin had to be hardest thing to find in there!

Just as she reached the door, she heard another roar from below. She ignored it and, finally finding a hairpin, began to pick the lock holding the chain in place. The door to Sombra's throne room/office slammed open, and Sombra stepped out, enraged. He moved towards her with lightning speed, shifting into a form that reminded her of the smoke form he'd taken upon being banished. He was fast, but not fast enough. The chain collapsed in a noisy heap, and she slipped through the door, using her tail to close the door and re-lock the chain as she went in.

The room she was in was dark, but she could hear and feel Sombra as he pounded against the door and yelled at her. She heard... something activate, and he made a quiet "yip" sort of sound. Pinkie figured the runes had been designed to detect aggression on the door, and weren't particularly picky about who was doing it. She imagined it wouldn't be long before he was back with the key and the ward to neutralize the room, so she would have to hurry.

As she reached about for lights, she heard a voice from close by. "Please..." The word came out rough and hoarse, with only the hint of a feminine affect to suggest a filly's voice.

Pinkie's hoof brushed against a brazier, but she didn't have anything on her to light it. "Who's there? I'll be able to see in a second, don't worry!"

"Please... you've already visited me once today. Mercy..."

Pinkie grasped a long, rod-like object, and it burst into flame upon her touching it. Hurriedly, she lit the brazier, then turned around to find another one behind her. Once lit, the rest of the room came into sharp relief.

Across the room, not far away from her, was a small earth pony filly. She hung from all four hooves against the wall, her coat and mane matted with sweat. She lifted her head up, but her eyes were closed, as if it would overexert her to open them. "Either leave me be," she said, "or end my torment. Let me die!"

Pinkie's whole body shook. It was impossible. It couldn't be... "Coming Dawn?"

Chapter 8: Answers

Chapter 8 – Answers

I am not I.

You are not you.

Somewhere, in a distant river,

we are floating.

In that river, you are you

and I am I

and we are happy,

happier than we've ever been

here, and now.

But here we are,

pretending,

and the world is not ending

or beginning

but dying

or dead.

I don't know which.

~ssw.poetry.hc/freeverse/?user=trisk333/theriver

"Is that...?" The filly hanging off the wall fluttered her eyes, that small movement clearly taxing her. Once they were fully open, however, a huge smile broke across her face. "Pinkie Pie! You're not Sombra! How did you get in here?"

"How did you, Coming Dawn?" Pinkie asked. "Is it the same way Starswirl and Sombra and Noble Blood are alive?"

At the mention of those names, Coming Dawn slumped down, the chains on her hooves rattling. "Yes. They are immortal because... because I am immortal. We wanted to tell you, Silver Wish and I."

The realization hit Pinkie like a lightning bolt. Two immortal sisters, with cutie marks based on the sun and moon. "You're... you're Princess Celestia."

She shrugged. "That name doesn't mean anything to me. As for Coming Dawn..." She looked away, towards one wall. "That name doesn't seem to fit for me anymore either. For me, the Dawn will never come again. My sun has long since fallen. 'Sunfall' seems more appropriate, now."

"Don't say that!" Pinkie cried out. "I'm here to get you out!" Pinkie recalled the hairpin and began to work on Sunfall's chains. "I'll get you out, and then we'll find wherever Luna--err, Silver Wish--is, and then we'll--"

"She's dead!" Sunfall sobbed and wailed, struggling against her chains. "They took her immortality, and she died with my father and mother and brother and everypony else I've ever known and loved, and the only ponies I have left are those... those monsters!"

Pinkie slowed down, her mane seeming to deflate as she took in what Coming Dawn was saying. "I... I'm sorry. I really didn't know."

Sunfall looked at Pinkie, smiling despite herself. "No, it's all right. I remember, so long ago. You left in the afternoon, when everything seemed to be going all right. It wasn't until that evening that... that everything went wrong." She nodded with her head towards the door, as a gesture towards Sombra and the Great Triumvirate. "I take it this isn't the home you were expecting?"

"No! It's all wrong! You're supposed to be the Princess of Equestria--you and Silver Wish! Sombra--well, Sombra's a long story, and Starswirl--okay, his is even longer, but you're supposed to be in charge! And earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns all live in friendship together, and the Elements of Harmony, and... and..." Pinkie rubbed her eyes with one hoof. "My friends... I have no idea where they are in this world. For all I know, they could be dead, too."

"It's okay." The final clasp snapped open, and Sunfall fell to the ground, only to immediately jump up and smother Pinkie in a big hug. "You'll be home sooner than you think, and then you'll be able to see your friends again."

"I don't know." Pinkie pulled out the Child from her bag; it was glowing faintly red, like a warm feeling between the two of them. "If I'm going to go back home, I need to know what happened after I left, and why I can't get back to my timeline."

"I can help you with that first one." Suddenly, they heard a rattling and a echo-y, magical sound. From Sunfall's reaction, it was clear what was happening. "He's... he's here! What are we going to do?"

"Don't worry! I've got a plan."

***

A few seconds later, the door swung open, and Sombra stamped into the small dungeon. The lights were off, but he hardly needed them: his eyes glowed bright through the mist and darkness enveloping him. He looked to the back and saw, not Sunfall, but Pinkie hanging from the chains on the wall. His temper flared, and his magic responded in kind. "You! Where is the child?"

"Long gone!" Pinkie gave a wink. "She slipped behind you when you came in!"

He turned around and noticed the door now shut behind him. He growled, but instead of racing out, he sighed and swung back to look at Pinkie once more. "Feh. I've had my fun with that brat. She'll most likely be caught by my soldiers anyway. You, on the other hand..." Here Sombra grinned, each tooth a wicked fang. "You are much more interesting."

Pinkie gulped despite herself. "Little old me?" she asked.

"Indeed. You've demonstrated a persistence and ingenuity I rarely see from ponies of your kind. But I'm curious..." He leaned forward and sniffed her. "You're not a crystal pony. Are you a unicorn half-breed, come to kill me? If so, your attempt at assassination has been very strange so far."

"No, I'm not here to kill you, and I'm not a half-breed! Well, technically great-great-great-grandpappy Molasses was a unicorn, but--"

"Ah!" Sombra's eyes lit up, and he stood back proudly. "The baking name in your family gives it away. You are Pinkie Pie, are you not?"

"Always a pleasure to meet a fan?" Pinkie replied uncertainly.

"I am a fan, quite. In fact, I feel I should thank you. You were a key player in the pony I've become today."

"...Is it something I can take back?"

"Ahahaha!" Sombra laughed uproariously. It was horrible, and it filled the whole chamber. "No, Pinkie, not unless you can travel back in time. Starswirl and Noble Blood have a lot to say about you. In particular, Noble Blood tells a story about you all the time. Apparently, when you visited, he says you told him a story about a unicorn and her friends who stood in Cloudsdale on their own four hooves. Magic, so you said, that could mimic a pegasus' cloudswalking."

"I... did tell that story, yes."

"It was that story that convinced Noble Blood that unicorns were superior to all other kinds of ponies. He'd already believed it, of course, and the immortality helped it along, but that really cemented it down. Now that they were obsolete, he expelled all earth ponies and pegasi from the unicorn kingdom, and where do you suppose they went?"

"To... to the Crystal Emp--"

"To the Crystal Empire!" Sombra laughed again. "That tripled my nation's population overnight. They bred and intermingled, until all were crystal in the frozen kingdom. And when I seized control, that meant triple the slaves, and triple the fighting force when Noble Blood and Starswirl the Immortal came knocking. Without that upswell, my kingdom would have surely been defeated--instead, I ground the war to an eventual stalemate."

Pinkie felt her skin grow clammy. Had she really caused all of this? All because she'd been a little too eager to share stories of her adventures with Starswirl?

Sombra saw the look in Pinkie's eyes and chuckled. "To be honest, I don't know how much of that was really caused by you, or how much Noble Blood and his pet sorcerer were going to do anyway. But hay, I got immortality out of the deal, so I call it a win in my book!"

"I'd try to talk you out of it, but I don't know if you even have a heart in there," Pinkie spat at him, really, truly mad.

"Talk me out of what? An endless lifetime of pleasures, an eternal empire, my Dark Paradise? If I get all of this at the cost of my heart, it was a trade well made."

"In my timeline, you were defeated. You'll be defeated here as well!" Pinkie said.

"By whom? For what reason? We reached a balance a long time ago. The crystal ponies stay in their place, the unicorns work and experiment, and Noble Blood and the Wizard leave me to my fun." Sombra grinned. "This may not be the same world as yours, but ponies are happy. Even the crystal ponies, in their way. I won, Pinkie Pie, a long, long time ago."

"Hope and joy will always win," Pinkie said, "but you're just too blind to see it." She leaned forward, the chains around her hooves clinking, and she waved in front of herself. "Sunfall, now!"

Sombra turned to look where Pinkie was gesturing. "Hrrm?!" At that moment, Pinkie slipped her hoof out of its clamp and thumped Sombra soundly on the forehead. He went down like a sack of flour.

Moments later, the door creaked open, and Sunfall peeked inside. "Is it safe now?"

"Yep! He fell for the double-distraction like a champ." She stuck out her tongue and proceeded to release herself from the chains (which, of course, had been unlocked the whole time). "Funny, he didn't seem to question why I was in your chains."

"Huh." Sunfall watched quietly as Pinkie hefted Sombra onto her back and proceeded to lock him into Sunfall's chains. On a whim, she said, "Oh, Pinkie."

"Hmm?"

"I... didn't hear everything Sombra told you, but I heard when he was telling you about... what happened."

"...Oh. Right." Pinkie kept working on chaining up Sombra, but her heart clearly wasn't as into it.

"Pinkie, I said I didn't blame you, remember?" Sunfall said. "What you told Noble Blood, and what he did because of that... he was going to do it anyway. He already believed in the superiority of unicorns over the other races. The most you did was accelerate his plans."

"But..." Pinkie said, thinking out loud, "if there's anything I've learned in all this time travel craziness, it's that small things can have a huge impact on the future!"

"Right, but big things have a much bigger impact," Sunfall replied. "Princess Platinum escaping from her room to visit our family was what leaked our secret of immortality to Noble Blood. Compared to what you did, that was a much bigger issue."

"That never happened in the original timeline," Pinkie said. She finished chaining up Sombra and clapped her hooves clean. "He's not breaking out of that for a while! Let's get out of here. While we're going, can you tell me what happened after I left?"

"Yes." They opened the door to the dungeon and began to leave. Behind them, Sombra was just starting to recover; as the door closed, they could just hear him thrashing against his chains.

***

“Most of the story, you already know," Sunset began. "Princess Platinum escaped to our home, but we were found by Noble Blood and allowed to stay in the castle. Little did we know this was all a trap. That night, while we were sleeping, Noble Blood kidnapped Silver Wish and spirited her away to Starswirl’s laboratory in the tower above. He demanded Starswirl find a way to somehow transfer Silver Wish’s immortality from her to him. To his credit, Starswirl tried his best to do it without harming her, but... he partly succeeded, and partly failed. After a long night of torment, he managed to removed Silver Wish’s immortality--but it went into himself, rather than Noble Blood.

“Noble Blood was furious. He was ready to come for me next, but--I don’t know whether to call this good or bad--Starswirl realized the mysteries of immortality in that moment. He understood it so perfectly that he could copy that immortality to whomever he wished, without losing it himself. After granting it to Noble Blood, he tried to copy it to Silver Wish, but... it was like something had been torn out of her. Once removed, she could never be immortal again.

“She was never the same pony after that. The proud, quiet dreamer turned into a pony barely clinging on to life. To her credit, she lived for a very long time; but in contrast to my millennia of life, she might as well have died that night in Starswirl’s lab.

“The rest you heard from Sombra. I can only tell it from my side. After Noble Blood gained immortality, he became a ruthless tyrant, eventually casting out the pegasi and earth ponies for being ‘inferior races.’ We wandered for a long time until we found what seemed to us to be heaven: a perfect crystal kingdom, ruled by the Princesses of Heart. Living in the Crystal Kingdom, I thought for sure that my suffering had ended. Even though my coat never crystallized like the others, I thought we had found a new home. For centuries, I was happy there.

“...But in contrast to my millennia of life, that part of my life was like a drop in the bucket. And that stretch of time ended with Sombra.

“Nopony expected him to take power the way he did. He grew like a thundercloud; by the time we heard the rumbling, he was already disgorging lightning. I was one of the few who never became a slave--at least, not while he reigned alone. I lived in the capital and did what I do best: try to spark a rebellion. We never succeeded, of course. My fellow rebels were captured and killed, until eventually it was me and me alone in our little hideout.

“Then the war came, like the past invading the future. I can’t speak to that much, nor can I tell you much about the Unicorn Civil War that was happening at the same time in Noble Blood’s kingdom. Rumors said an entire generation of female unicorns had died senselessly battling one another, and their leader--a mare with a strange, ancient name, Alice I think--had been killed trying to assassinate Noble Blood and Starswirl. In any case, the war went nowhere, just life upon life lost in the carnage, until the three rulers decided to call a truce. Sombra’s dark magic made him powerful, but not immortal; in exchange for immortality, he would form a peace treaty and join with the Unicorn Kingdom to create the Great Triumvirate.

“There was one last part to the peace treaty. I’d been able to hide from Sombra for his entire reign, but just months after Noble Blood and Starswirl stepped into the Crystal Empire, they were able to find and capture me. They gave me to Sombra to be his plaything, the perfect subject for any torture--impossible to kill, regenerates any damage, never runs out of screams.”

Here, Sunfall paused. “Pinkie? If anypony offers you immortality... don’t take it. Forever is too long for ponies to experience. I’ve lived through centuries of normal life, centuries of paradise, and centuries of torment. And all I can say, looking back, is... I’m very tired. I’m so tired, Pinkie, and everything is gray.”

Chapter 9: Friends Unknown

Chapter 9 – Friends Unknown

Hey, my name is Lyra! This is my first post, so go easy on me. Does anypony know where I can order My Little Human merchandise online? It'll have to ship up to High Canterlot, so no Dark Paradise stores, please! ~LHeart21514x2

using IRL name

lol, newb. Go back 2 ponychat, humie mule. ~hxmaster4105

Please excuse hxmaster's shameful display. Some of us here do have some decency. In any case, welcome to webmeet! I'm sure you'll love it here. I own a few My Little Human coats myself, and I can tell you, ordering from Sharp Dress in Everfree City is perhaps the best choice. Although, I've been known to dabble in making my own clothes from time to time. (Xavier for best human!) ~triskelion181

You don't wanna go w/ Sharp Dress. He lets his cryzzes run amok in his shop. No, better sp who keeps better care of his slaves. I'd say Bracer's in High Canterlot is more your style. ~JSet213

Well! Some of us prefer our humie products to be cruelty-free, thank you very much! Crystal ponies may be inferior to unicorns, but they are ponies too, are they not? ~triskelion181

Yeah, like Alice Jenkins always says, “It's not the outside that matters, but the inside.” She's totally best human, too. (Not that I don't love Xavier, triskelion.) ~LHeart21514x2

Cryzz-loving humies should kill themselves. ~hxmaster4105

~ssw.webmeet.ec/fanstuff/mlh/merch/02019

After Sunfall finished telling her story, they made their way out to the front door of the tower. Pitch Perfect was standing nearby a group of pegasus crystal ponies, two of which were standing over the captured guards. Pinkie looked concerned. “We’re gonna have to let them go eventually... right?”

Pitch Perfect frowned. “If we do, there’s nothing stopping them from telling Sombra who all was in it. They’ll bring punishment down on us for sure.”

“What if we make them Pinkie Promise they won’t say anything?” Pinkie asked hopefully.

Pitch Perfect gave her a dour look. “I doubt that’ll make them go against Sombra. These are trained guards, not five-year-olds.”

“Okay, but...” Pinkie wracked her brain, trying to think of an alternative. “What if we moved everypony out of here to somewhere else?”

Pitch Perfect only shook her head. “The only reason we live here is because we have nowhere else to go. You can’t possibly find room enough for everypony.”

“But...” Pinkie started walking back and forth anxiously. “I’m sure they understand, right? You just needed to get the food you were due. And it’s not like you’ve been rough to them! Why can’t they just play nice?” She fell to the ground and started sniffling, tears in her eyes.

Pitch Perfect and the other crystal ponies looked away, clearly uncomfortable. Sunfall looked down at Pinkie and pulled her to the side. “C’mon, Pinkie. This isn’t helping.”

She slowly got up again, wiping away the tears. “I’m sorry, I just... don’t know what to do. I don’t want you to hurt them, but if you let them go, they’ll just hurt all of you. And it’s... just not fair.”

“No, it’s not.” Pitch Perfect put a hoof over Pinkie’s shoulder. “But we have to make do with the situation we have.” She took a second glance at Sunfall. “You’ve picked up a friend, looks like.”

“Oh! How rude of me.” Pinkie waved at Sunfall. “Pitch Perfect, this is Sunfall. We’re friends; we go waaayyy back. Sunfall, this is Pitch Perfect. We just met, but she’s really nice, and she has a bunch of really cute kids.”

Pitch Perfect looked at Sunfall for a few moments, then her eyes suddenly went wide. “Is she the crying filly from the top of Sombra’s tower?!”

“How did you--”

“Rumors. Whispers. Sometimes, if it was quiet, you could just barely hear her. But the guards have been indiscriminate in getting rid of anyone who so much as breathes a word about her. If you’ve rescued her...” Pitch Perfect blanched. “Sombra will be looking for her. Maybe we should leave, on the chance he thinks we were implicated.”

Pinkie quivered in fear. “Oh, no! I’m... I’m sorry. I just...”

Pitch Perfect sighed. “I know. You just wanted to save her. And looking at her, I can’t help but think you did the right thing.” She looked at Sunfall sadly. “The poor filly looks like she’s done a stint in Tartarus. Might have been pretty close up there, actually.”

One of Pitch Perfect’s children came up and tugged at her apron. Pinkie couldn’t quite remember which one she was. “Momma, momma! Is she gonna stay with us?”

“I don’t know. That’s up to Pinkie.” She looked up and gave Pinkie yet another difficult decision. “Since we’re going to be leaving anyway, she could come along with us... if you like. Her coat isn’t as crystalline as ours, but she’ll still blend in. We’ll take care of her. Give her a family. Would you like that, Sunfall?”

Sunfall slumped down, every part of her visibly giving up in one motion. “I don’t care. Whatever Pinkie decides, I’ll do.”

Now Pinkie was totally stuck. She knew Pitch Perfect would make Sunfall happy. But what if she needed Sunfall later? Did Starswirl want to see Sunfall again, now that Pinkie had freed her? But if she did that, it would mean bringing Sunfall into danger, and put her at greater risk of being recaptured by Sombra. But then again, no matter where Sunfall went, Sombra would likely still be looking, so maybe it would be better if--

“Pinkie, what do you think?”

“...No, thank you. I want Sunfall to come with me.” The words felt almost... alien on her tongue. Almost immediately, she began to regret her decision, but... the die was cast. She’d have to move forward with her choice.

Pitch Perfect, it seemed, took it in stride. “That’s fair. I know you’ll do a good job of protecting her.” Then she told the filly standing next to her, “Go and get your siblings. We’re gonna pack up and go before Sombra sends his guards at us,” and walked away.

“Oh, right, the guards!” Pinkie looked at the two bound guards next to them. “What are you going to do with them?”

The pegasus standing to the left shrugged. “Probably just hold onto them for now. If we stay, maybe we can soften them up a little. If we leave, Sombra can let them out.”

“I... guess that works.” She thought that was still kinda mean to the guards, but it was a far shake away from “kill them.” She sighed and gave Sunfall a wave. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Sunfall asked.

“High Canterlot. It’s up on a mountain, just like where Canterlot is in my timeline. There’s someone I have to talk to if I want to make this all better.”

“How are we gonna get there?” she asked next.

Pinkie stopped. She hadn’t really considered that. "We can't take the trains," Pinkie said. "Sombra knows who I am, and he knows you're gone. He could have the trains stopped before we make it there. We'll have to go on hoof."

"Okay." Sunfall was nothing but complacent, but it was a horrid, lifeless quiet. There was little in her in common with the filly Pinkie had met so long ago. Pinkie had to remind herself that Sunfall was actually many thousands of years old, trapped in her filly form by grief and an inability to achieve her goals. She should have been Celestia, and instead she was... this. A tortured, defeated child.

There would plenty of time to think about that later. Pinkie turned and looked to the north, where, if she looked really close, she could see a white mountain top peeking out of the gloom, and an elaborate city perched on its side. That level of architecture and engineering could only be the work of skilled unicorns. That was High Canterlot for sure. Pinkie started walking, and Sunfall followed quietly behind.

***

It was a long, hard trek through the mountainous regions of Dark Paradise, but eventually the death and smoke began to clear, and they found themselves at the edge of Canterlot Mountain. There was a beautiful stairway carved up one edge leading up to the city-state of High Canterlot, and a constant flow of ponies climbing up it. Pinkie readjusted her horn, took Sunfall by the hoof, and slipped in with the rest of them. They must have come in after the border check, if there was such a thing, because they encountered no guards or police ponies as they went up to the city proper.

Upon entering through the gate, Pinkie's first reaction was that it was... just like Canterlot. Unicorns of all shapes and sizes wandered about on their daily tasks, most dressed up in stuffy, puffed-up suits and coats. Was there slightly more of an air of pretentiousness? A more elaborate architectural style in the buildings? Pinkie couldn't say; that wasn't exactly her forte. What she did find was the missing pegasi and earth ponies made it feel much less joyful and harmonious than her Canterlot had been. That part reminded her all to well of Noble Blood's castle, all those years ago.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, she finally asked one of the local ponies where Starswirl's student lived. They didn't recognize who Pinkie was talking about, but they did suggest checking the Arcana district, where all the big wizards and magical researchers lived. Following their advice, she and Sunfall found themselves in a small corner of the city. The houses were pretty plain--Pinkie imagined magical researchers weren't exactly big into decorating and lawncare. However, as they got closer, they found a house that was vastly different from the others. The paint looked freshly applied, the trim was stunning, and the hedges and lawn were immaculately kept. Something told Pinkie that this was the kind of place Starswirl's student would want to live in... whoever that was. She knocked and hoped her story wouldn't seem too strange.

A stallion opened the door. He was broad-chested, with a white coat and a wavy golden mane. He seemed... not put out, but perhaps a bit inconvenienced to have strangers at his door. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Ah, you're the one who owns this house?" Pinkie asked in return.

"Indeed. Gilt Edge, at your service." He gave a small bow and continued, "Again, can I help you?"

"Oh, right! My name's Pinkie Pie, and this is Sunfall. We were sent from Everfree City to ask for your help."

"Oh, how marvelous! Come in, come in. We can discuss specifics in a moment." He ushered them in to the front parlor, then magicked up three sets of teacups and placed them on the table. When Sunfall reached for one, he scooted it away from her, saying, "I'm afraid you're confused. This is for my fillyfriend. She's in the shower, but she'll be with us shortly." Turning to Pinkie Pie, he asked, "Do you train your servants to be so grabby?"

"Here, Sunfall. You can have mine." At Gilt Edge's look, she shrugged. "What? She really likes tea."

Gilt Edge laughed. "You're just like my fillyfriend. You're far too nice to the help for your own good."

"I think of them as ponies, just like you or me," Pinkie replied.

"Debatable. In any case," he said, leaning forward, "you wanted my services. Now, I usually charge thirty-five bits per piece, plus extra if you want gold filigree on it, but I'm doing a sale on statuettes--"

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie asked.

"I'm a sculptor," Gilt Edge said. "The finest in High Canterlot, ask anypony."

"No, no, we're looking for Starswirl's student who can make me a time travel spell!"

"Ohhh!" Gilt Edge laughed. "You're here for her, then. She doesn't get as many requests as I do, so I simply assumed..." He leaned back in his seat and called out, "Honey, there's a visitor here for you!"

"I know, darling. I heard you talking." The other pony's finely accented voice came from around the corner. When she walked around to look at them, both she and Pinkie gasped. "I... I know you," she said.

"Rarity..." Pinkie Pie said under her breath at the same time.

"I'm confused," said Gilt Edge. "If you know each other, why did you think I was her?"

Rarity struggled with an answer. "It's not that I know you, exactly, but you seem so... familiar to me."

"She said she's from Everfree City," Gilt Edge said. "Perhaps you know her from there?"

"There's probably a crystal pony who looks a lot like me there," Pinkie said. "Maybe that's who you're thinking of."

Rarity shook her head. "I know Pinkie Pie, and you are not her." She walked over quickly to Pinkie Pie, then, before Pinkie could react, she knocked the horn off Pinkie's head. "Star Swirl's work. I'd recognize it anywhere. No, you are Pinkie Pie, only from another universe, and I know you."

Gilt Edge looked shocked. "So she's... But she's not... and you... Can somepony explain to me what the hay's going on here?!"

"I think I can try..." Pinkie stepped forward and laid a kind hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "You're right on all counts, Rarity. I'm Pinkie Pie from another timeline, where none of this--" she gestured out to the rest of the house, and by extension High Canterlot "--ever happened. In that timeline, we are best friends, and we protect the world together. I don't know how or why, but somehow, you resonate with that friendship. It's like... we're already friends!" Pinkie beamed at this realization.

Rarity returned Pinkie's gesture, then pulled Pinkie into a hug. When she spoke, her voice carried a dazzled joy to it. "Yes, Pinkie Pie. We are certainly friends. But you must tell me everything."

***

They sat there for a while as Pinkie shared everything she could think of about the Equestria timeline. Rarity listened with rapt attention, while Sunfall and Gilt Edge tried to follow along. When Pinkie described her Rarity's pony-napping at the hands of the Diamond Dogs, this Rarity gasped and worried, then cheered at the solution. When Pinkie described her Rarity kissing Celestia's hooves, this Rarity waggled her eyebrows at Sunfall, who blushed and turned away. When Pinkie described her Rarity's attempts to woo Trenderhoof, this Rarity laughed and laughed, while Gilt Edge tried to look appropriately jealous. Here, Rarity commented, "So your Rarity is still single, I take it?"

"Yup, but I'm sure she'll keep looking! Maybe she'll find our Gilt Edge, and you'll be dating the same pony in two timelines!"

Rarity fell to coughing, and Gilt Edge looked over to her, confused. "Yes well, I'm sure it's possible. Why don't I tell you about my life while we're here, hmm?"

"Yeah! I can't wait!" They got up and left Sunfall and Gilt Edge in the parlor.

"I was born in Everfree City, as you know," Rarity began. "My parents and my sister still live there, and I visit on occasion."

"How is Sweetie Belle?" Pinkie asked.

"Still looking for her Cutie Mark, and she doesn't have Apple Bloom or Scootaloo to help her. I'll have to tell her about your Sweetie Belle's adventures next time I visit. They might help her find her way."

"Maybe!" Though, Pinkie thought to herself, Sweetie probably wouldn't believe as quickly as Rarity had.

"In any case, I was apprenticed under Star Swirl for a while, and that's when I got my cutie mark." Pinkie hadn't noticed, but Rarity's cutie mark was subtly different here than in Equestria. It was still three diamonds, but they were connected by a swirl of magic in a complicated shape Pinkie didn't recognize. Rarity noticed Pinkie thinking and said, "The triskelion. My cutie mark represents my talent for making magical jewelry, but that's not my only talent. I picked up transfiguration remarkably quickly, and I'm one of the few ponies in the Triumvirate with a natural talent for time magic. I also dabble in quilting and clothes-making, like your Rarity. Would you like to see my studio?"

"Would I!" They passed through the kitchen and the dining room before finally entering the studio. It was a huge room, split in two by the materials on each side. On one side lay various chisels, blocks of marble, and sketchbooks, all carefully organized for best access. On the other side was what could only be described as controlled chaos: an explosion of gems, fabric, and pony-forms littered the desk, drawers, and floor. On one form was a red dress in mid-production; it looked remarkably similar to the one she had worn to the Grand Galloping Gala. However, it lacked the restraint the other Rarity had used, and it appeared to be made of such expensive material that it came off as tacky in its excess.

"I see you've noticed the dress. What do you think?" Rarity asked.

"It's... nice," Pinkie tried.

Rarity frowned. "You don't like it. Well, no matter. Simply tell me what your Rarity would do, and I shall do that instead!"

"It's not that easy, Rarity," Pinkie replied. "Besides, you should make it how you want to make it!"

"But I want to make it like her! How else can I make it?"

"However reflects your life, which is way different than my Rarity's. Like all that time magic stuff." Pinkie decided that the best way to get off the subject of comparing one Rarity to another was to get back to the task at hand. "I came to visit you because Starswirl said you could create a spell to get me back home."

"Well, it's an interesting conundrum," Rarity said. "The only way to get back to your timeline is to realign the events which happened in the past so that they point towards your future, rather than this one. Have you figured out what caused the rift?"

"I think so," Pinkie replied. "Starswirl used a spell on Sunfall's sister to become immortal. She died, Starswirl and Noble Blood became immortal, and everything went wonky because of that."

"Very well. Then what you'll need to do is go back, prevent that event from happening, and the timeline will realign itself. Now. A spell that will send you back, not so difficult. A spell that will send you back and allow you to change events, significantly more challenging. Also, how long do you think you will need, between going back and making the necessary change?"

"I... don't know." Pinkie shrugged. "If you were to send me back to the same point in time... maybe a few hours?"

"Okay, the max I can do is six before things get exponentially more difficult." Rarity moved over and began pushing things off of her desk. She unrolled a sheet of blueprint paper and began sketching a design. "Now, if we make a gemstone necklace with some sapphires and rubies, we'll have everything we need. The rubies will provide the energy to get you to the past, and the sapphires will help keep you there." She paused for a second, then continued insistently, "And here is the most important factor, darling. Once you put this on, you absolutely must not take it off until you return home. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes." It frightened Pinkie that Rarity had to be so serious about it. If she took it off, would it just pull her back to the present, or would some more grisly consequence occur? She was starting to wonder what she was doing, playing with time travel as much as she was about to.

Perhaps realizing she was scaring Pinkie more than she'd intended, Rarity softened up a bit. "It's quite all right, dear. It won't kill you, just pull you back. Then I'd have to find some more magically-infused gemstones for you to--" Rarity slapped her forehead with a hoof. "Shoot! How could I have forgotten? I don't have any gemstones with a travel-back enchantment at the moment. And what's more, I have no idea where to find one on short notice."

Reluctantly, Pinkie reached into her saddlebags and pulled out the Child, still faintly gleaming red. "This brought me forward in time, and took Princess Platinum back. But... I need it back when you're done. It's my mother's."

Rarity gave a small smile. "Of course, darling. I just need to copy the enchantment in it." When she held the gem, her eyes lit up. "My, my. This is a very powerful ruby. It'll have more than enough magic to get you back home."

"Thank you, Rarity," said Pinkie, finally able to relax.

"No, thank you, Pinkie. I'm so glad our paths crossed ways today." Impulsively, she jumped forward and crushed Pinkie in a huge hug.

Pinkie appreciated the moment for as long as she could. Even if this wasn't the same Rarity she had known for so long, it was still a quiet pleasure to have a huggy moment like this again. Even in this strange world conquered by Sombra, Noble Blood, and a reluctant Starswirl, Rarity could still be counted on to be Rarity--supportive, generous, fabulous Rarity. With Rarity in her corner, Pinkie had no doubt that she could make it back home.

Suddenly, she heard a pointed cough behind her. Rarity suddenly let go and pretended to look over the blueprint again. When Pinkie turned around, she saw it was Gilt Edge, looking unamused, while Sunfall hid behind his legs. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"Not at all, dear," Rarity replied. "I was simply... sizing Pinkie Pie's neck up for her necklace."

"I see." He nodded towards Pinkie. "Would you like me to set up the guest room? I'll put out the good sheets for miss Pinkie, here."

"I'd greatly appreciate it, dear. And if you could, get the little mattress out of the attic for Sunfall here. Must give her the royal treatment, after all!" she added with a wink in Sunfall's direction. For her part, the little filly never seemed to grow accustomed to the association with Celestia, as she immediately blushed again and cowered behind Gilt Edge even more.

"Very well." He gave a nod, said to Sunfall, "Let's go!" and headed off. Sunfall followed meekly behind.

Now Pinkie had to ask. "So how did you meet Mr. Edge? He seems a bit... rough around the edges."

"I think he's just a bit thrown about all this. I met him when I moved here from Everfree City. He shares the best traits of both the suitors you mentioned: he is tall and strong and noble like Blueblood, yet an artist and a gentlepony like Trenderhoof. I moved in with him a few months ago. He's been nothing but wonderful to me for all this time. I expect he's going to propose in a few days."

"Ooh, ooh! Are you going to say yes?"

"I might."

"Whoo-hoo!" Pinkie cheered. "That's so exciting! I wish I could be here to throw you a 'Rarity's Getting Married!' party!"

"...Aren't you, though?" Rarity pouted her lip out and gave her best puppy-dog eyes. "Your time travel necklace will probably take some time to complete. You could ask Gilt Edge when he intends to propose, and you could throw that party, just like you wanted. I'm sure he'd be okay with it."

"...Oh. Yeah, we totally could!"

"Now that you're here, Pinkie, I want to make the most of our time together," Rarity said. "I just wish you didn't have to leave."

"Me too, but..." Pinkie looked Rarity in the face. She looked so similar to her own Rarity, but... it wasn't her, and it never could be. "I have to go home. Everypony's waiting for me."

"I know. So for now, we'll take it as it goes." Rarity grinned and set her pen to the side. "For now, though, it's off to bed for the both of us. Tomorrow, we'll get started."

Chapter 10: Freedom

Chapter 10 – Freedom
Hey, everypony! My name is Lickety-Split. My master's name is Mr. Redstone, but he's letting me use his computer, just for today! He says that it's not illegal as long as I don't respond to any comments from unicorns. Oh, and I have to advertise his business so that I'm technically still working. So make sure to stop by Mr. Redstone's Quality Craftlights! They have a special red stripe so you always know it's Redstone!

It's kinda hard using a computer for the first time, but Mr. Redstone says I'm picking it up quick! These things are so cool. I wish everypony could use one, even crystal ponies like me. Maybe someday, we can do things just like regular unicorns all the time. It's okay, though. I don't mind being a crystal pony. I have so many wonderful friends, and we work hard together and have fun.

Maybe if I'm really good, Mr. Redstone will let me play one of his daughter's computer games tomorrow! I have to make sure not to leave a save file, though, or save over hers. That would get me in a lot of trouble. But anyway, please make sure to stop by Mr. Redstone's! Buy one of his Mega Lights to light up your backyard for a special occasion! Maybe you'll see me working in the back, repairing the defective lights. If you could, just wave hello. It would really make my day.

~ssw.blogspace.ec/redstonesqc/?date=06.24.4123

The dream was about Twilight, back home.

In the dream, Pinkie was a ghost, invisible and disembodied, while Twilight explained to her mother what had happened to her. “I don’t know for sure if she’s okay, Mrs. Quartz. She promised she would come home right away, but... it’s been almost an entire day since I sent her back, and I have no idea if she’s still alive.” Twilight sobbed, then fell on Cloudy Quartz, who awkwardly tried to hold her up. Pinkie screamed and screamed, “I’m okay! I’m so close! I just need a few more days! Don’t cry!”

But they couldn’t hear her. Slowly, the scene faded into darkness, and Pinkie snapped out of sleep, awakening in Rarity’s guest room. For a brief moment, she thought she was in her Rarity’s home, the Carousel Boutique. But when she looked on both sides of the bed, she saw Sunfall sleeping on her mattress below hers. This was still the Great Triumvirate timeline. Pinkie groaned and rolled back over in her bed, folding her pillow over her head.

However, before she started falling asleep again, a set of hoofbeats drew her attention. Just in front of the door, Gilt Edge walked past towards Rarity’s room. Pinkie slipped out of her bed and slid behind Gilt Edge, making sure to tread more softly than his own steps. Once in Rarity’s room, Gilt Edge magically closed the door behind him; Pinkie held her ear against the door to listen in.

Rarity was apparently still awake, because as Gilt Edge walked towards the bed, Rarity asked, “What’s the matter, dear? Having trouble sleeping?”

“We need to talk about the two earth ponies you brought into our house today.”

Rarity scoffed; Pinkie could swear she heard Rarity’s eyes roll. “This again? Neither of them are crystal ponies; one’s from another timeline, the other’s--”

“That’s my point.” Gilt Edge stomped his hoof. “Set aside that they are not unicorns. Who is this Pinkie Pie to you?”

“You heard her stories. In another timeline, we’ve been friends for ages.”

“Another timeline!” Gilt Edge shouted loud enough to rattle the doorknob; Pinkie cowered away from the door for a moment. “That Rarity isn’t you. Why does she matter to you?”

“I... I don’t know what to say,” Rarity replied. “I felt a resonance to the poor dear the moment I saw her in the foyer. And even if I hadn’t,” she continued, “I would still appreciate her. Miss Pie is kind, cheerful, and much smarter than she lets on. I would still want to be her friend if I did not have that special connection across timelines we have.”

“Well, I fear that your ‘special connection’ may be blinding you to the truth about who these ponies are.”

“I don’t like what you’re implying, dear,” said Rarity, this time adding a dash of venom to her usual pet name, “but I’ll let that slide. What truth do you think I’m blind to, exactly?”

“There’s a warning going about that a certain prisoner of Sombra’s has escaped: an earth pony filly with a pink mane and white coat.”

Rarity gasped. “Sombra was holding a filly captive? What could possibly possess him to do that?”

“That’s not our concern. We’ve got her right now, and every second we keep her out of Sombra’s grasp is another second of treason against the Triumvirate.”

“You can’t possibly be suggesting we turn an innocent filly like Sunfall back over to Sombra, are you?”

“...Fine, I’ll admit that I don’t like the idea of giving her back to Sombra. I know full well what his idea of the proper treatment of prisoners is like, and I wouldn’t wish that on anypony, not even a crystal. Pinkie, on the other hoof--”

“If you think I’ll give Pinkie up to that monster we call a Lord, you’re grossly mistaken!” Rarity shot back.

“I don’t want them in my house any longer! If we don’t get rid of them, Noble Blood or Sombra will find us with her, and all four of us will be in peril.”

“But Gilt, her necklace, I promised--”

“I don’t care! They both need to leave as soon as possible!”

“Tomorrow night!” Rarity’s voice came out in short, quick breaths--she sounded clearly worked up. “We can’t get them out during the day; too many witnesses, of course. And I don’t want to wake them up tonight. I’m sure the both of them are sleeping like the dead after all they’ve been through.” At this, Pinkie felt a guilty pang grip her.

“Fine, tomorrow night. But it’ll be up to you to keep them out of sight for the rest of the day.”

***

The next morning, Pinkie sat nervously at the dining table, deciding how best to reveal to Rarity that she knew her visit had a much tighter time limit than they’d expected yesterday. Luckily, she didn’t have long to wait, as the first words out of Rarity’s mouth the next morning were, “Good morning, Pinkie Pie. I’m afraid you’ll need to head out tonight.”

“Is everything okay?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh yes,” Rarity replied, no tension in her appearance. “In fact, you must leave tonight for your benefit; Sombra and Noble Blood are looking for you two, and the longer you stay here, the more likely it is for you to be captured. I really, sincerely wish you could have stayed longer.”

“And the time travel necklace?”

“We shall have to figure something out. Perhaps I can have it shipped down to Everfree City once it’s done. Starswirl can no doubt keep you safe until then.”

“Okay. Is there anything you want to do before we have to go?”

“Well, there is one thing I want to show you before you go.” While Rarity pulled out a box of cereal and poured herself a bowl, she magicked a small black square over towards Pinkie.

Pinkie turned it over slowly. “What is this thing?”

Rarity winked. “It is the gateway to the greatest invention in all of ponykind: the Star Swirl Web.”

“Wow! It’s even better than marshmallows?!”

“I... yes. Better than marshmallows.” She walked over, her cereal bowl and a mug full of coffee hovering around her grasp, then drew a complicated pattern on the screen. The square lit up, an image of various cartoony characters sitting together.

"Oh, wow! That's--"

"Just my desktop, darling. It's the opening screenshot from my favorite show. But the Star Swirl Web has so much more to offer. All manner of media, information, forums to talk with ponies across the Triumvirate. What would you like to see first?"

Pinkie pondered this for a moment. "I need... recipes. Recipes for cupcakes."

Rarity blinked uncertainly. "Well... all right." She walked Pinkie through the basic process of opening a search frame and letting the Star Swirl Web take her to where she wanted to be--in this case, ssw.craftycakeslist.ec, full of all the recipes an apprentice baker could ask for. Next, extending the search frame to Crafty Cake's List to find the specific recipe Pinkie wanted--vanilla with marzipan buttercream frosting.

Pinkie looked over the recipe doubtfully. "This... Rarity, who wrote this recipe? It's awful!"

"I thought that might be the case," Rarity admitted. "Crafty Cake doesn't write the list herself. She gets the recipes from her crystal pony bakers and gives it her own personal 'twist' before putting it up on the site. It's not fair or right, but... that's how it goes."

It was another reminder that her current predicament was nothing like how it was back home. Pinkie sighed. "Are there any good recipes on here, then?"

"I'm not much of a baker... or a chef... or much of a foodie at all, unless it comes in a heater box." She chuckled, in that way that belied a long history of coming to terms with an uncomfortable truth. "So tell you what. Find me a really good one, and we'll see if Gilded Edge can make it for us before you go."

Pinkie nodded. The site very helpfully recommended recipes similar to the one she was looking at, so she clicked on the picture to take her to the next recipe. This one was for a vanilla pound cake, which Crafty Cake had decided really needed half as much flour and twice as much baking powder. Worthless. She clicked on the one next to it, a cinnamon Clavier cake with green icing. This one appeared to have had all of its teaspoons changed into Tablespoons--in other words, a cinnamon bomb encased in a drippy frosting. Horrible. The next link on the page made her laugh mirthlessly. What kinda numbskull would put cinnamon and butterscotch in the same pie recipe? She scrolled right past that to--

The next picture made her heart stop. It was a recipe for apple brown betty, which of course reminded Pinkie of her distant relative, Apple Brown Betty, who of course was also Applejack's second cousin, and that made her think of--

"Applejack!" She brought back the search frame and typed in "Applejack," but that only gave her recipes to make applejack, the drink. She clicked back and back and back and back until she was out of Crafty's Book of Lies and Culinary Nonsense and back in the original search frame. "RARITY!" she cried out. "How do I search for ponies?"

Rarity came back around the corner. "Not so loud. Some ponies are still trying to sleep. Who are you trying to look for?"

"Applejack. You remember her, right?"

"The farmpony, yes. Normally, I would recommend the news listing, or the intranet where she worked, but..." Rarity grimaced, and Pinkie could already guess the answer.

"It doesn't track crystal ponies... does it."

"No."

Pinkie sighed deeply. Something inside her was starting to crack, just a little bit. "So, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash..." Rarity shook her head. "But Twilight!"

"Maybe Twilight. I think I saw her get mentioned in a news article somewhere. Try the High Canterlot Gazette."

The search yielded a fruitful result. The article bore the picture of a familiar-looking mare with an uncharacteristic flat affect, posed in front of a metal structure covered in wires and screens. While Pinkie pored over every detail of the photo, Rarity remarked, "Oh! She works at the university! That's not far from here at all. I wonder if I've ever run into her at the supermar... ket... Pinkie? Are you okay, darling?"

Pinkie sniffled and rubbed tears from her eyes. "Yeah. It's just... I miss Twilight. My friend, Twilight. She's back home, and she's scared, and... she's waiting for me."

"I know, darling. Believe me, I'm doing everything I can. In just a couple days, I can have that necklace, and you'll be able to stop all this from happening. I know you can do it, Pinkie."

"Thanks, Rarity." Pinkie sniffled. Even in this other world, Rarity still found every possible moment to be generous.

"In fact," Rarity continued, "there may just be one thing I can do. And all I need is a single hair from your poofy mane."

Perplexed, she let Rarity pull a strand with her magic, then watched as Rarity dug underneath her workspace, pulling out bits and bobs that were much too big to fit under that tiny desk. "Turns out, I'd been working on a device yonks ago that could help you, but I couldn't use it without some way to tune it. But Pinkie, you're covered in just the particles I need!"

"Oh! ...Good!" Finally, Rarity pulled out a big box with one of those television screens on the front. On top were two metal antennae sticking out; to Pinkie, they looked like Angel's ears, pointing in two different directions. Rarity suspended the strand of hair between the two "ears," and after a few seconds of buzzing magic, the antennae realigned, revealing the inside of what looked like her Rarity’s Canterlot boutique.

“How marvelous!” said Rarity. “This is showing the exact location of where we are, displaced into your world. Judging by the decorations, I take it this is where your Rarity works?”

“She lives in Ponyville, but yes, this is her shop.”

“What a coincidence.” Rarity shrugged. “But such are alternate timelines. Now, let's see if we can find Twilight and your other friends."

"Okay." Rarity adjusted the antennae on top of the screen, and the image flew through Equestria before landing at the Ponyville library. "Ah, so this is Ponyville," Rarity remarked. "It looks just like Everfree City, only..."

"Not." Pinkie felt the same way. "Sweet Apple Acres is out there."

"Ah." The image on the screen flew again, until landing on a scene of Applejack and Big Mac discussing something or another. The sound was tinny, and the image kept flickering on and off, but that was Applejack, all right.

Pinkie put one hoof on the screen. "It's really her," she said.

"It truly is." Rarity sighed happily. "Simply marvelous."

Pinkie hummed in agreement. After a few seconds, Rainbow Dash came flying in and added her own part to the conversation. "Who should we find next?" Pinkie asked. "Fluttershy? Twilight? Ooh! We could go find my Rarity!"

Rarity's eyes went wide, and she hurriedly moved the image on the screen to a random part of the Everfree Forest. "No, I... don't think that's a good idea. Not at all."

"Really? I thought you would have been all for it."

"All for what?" Sunfall had appeared at the doorway and was pawing the gunk out of her eyes. "Good morning, by the way."

"Good morning, Sunny!" Pinkie chirped. Then, to Rarity, "Change of plans. I know exactly who to go find."

Rarity nodded. "I'm already ahead of you." The image jumped up Mount Canterhorn and to the castle right on the edge of Canterlot, then scrolled through the halls looking for their target of choice. "Do you think her room is where Lord Noble Blood's room is in this timeline?"

"Maybe!"

While Rarity kept searching, Sunfall asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Just a moment... There!" At the top of the stairs were two doors, one labeled with the sign of the sun, the other with the sign of the moon. The first was closed, while the second was propped open by a yellow magical glow. Pinkie nodded, and Rarity moved into the bedroom marked with a moon.

Pinkie stepped to the side and pointed to the screen. “It’s you, Sunfall! See?”

Sunfall looked at the screen, still half-asleep. But when she saw Luna talking with Celestia, she was spellbound. She refused to look away as Celestia gave Luna a hug and tucked her into bed. Rarity asked quietly, “Everything all right, dear?”

“She’s... beautiful.” Sunfall ignored the tears as they trickled down her cheeks. “She looks so happy. I’m glad there’s a world out there where Silver Wish is happy.”

Pinkie held her tongue; the last thing she wanted was for Sunfall to know the rough truth about Nightmare Moon and the thousand years of separation between the two of them. For the moment, it was enough to let Sunfall appreciate the beauty of the world of harmony. As Rarity followed Celestia out, a thought idly ran through Pinkie’s mind: “I wonder if the Elements of Harmony are hidden somewhere in this world?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knocking on the door. Rarity jumped, and the tablet fell to the floor before Pinkie caught it. "Just a minute!" she called out. "You two," she said, turning to Pinkie and Sunfall, "will need to hide for the moment."

"This way, Sunfall." The two of them scurried deeper into the flat; behind them, Pinkie could hear Rarity greeting some friend or another who'd come by to chat. Hopefully, she thought to herself, this would be the last interruption, and she'd get to spend the rest of the day with Rarity before they left for the night.

***

"Rarity..." Pinkie panted her protestations, and even Sunfall looked a little more ragged than usual. "I hate to say it, but it's... a little annoying how popular you are!"

"Yes, well..." Rarity chuckled awkwardly. "If you had come to visit any other week besides Armistice Week, when Gilded Edge and I are at our busiest, we might have had more time for ourselves."

"Still! That was number..." Pinkie counted on her hooves, quickly ran out of hooves, and said lamely, "like a bajillion!"

"I know. And they'll all have to be done by Unification Day by the end of the week, or I'm toast."

"How are you going to get that all done?" Sunfall asked.

Here Rarity preened herself, alight with pride. "You forget, my talent is time magic. If there's anypony with the oomph to make the most of the witching hour, it is yours truly!"

"That's great, but..." Pinkie smiled weakly. "Just don't burn yourself out, okay, Rarity?"

"I appreciate it, truly, darling." She sighed and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "Now, with Seafoam's order well and truly discussed, we can finally--"

Another knock came from the door, and Rarity wailed, "Oh, you can-not be serious!"

"It's okay, we'll go back to the room," Sunfall said.

"You'd better must," she replied. "Coming~!" she said, the image of propriety instantly restored.

They waited in the bedroom, but Pinkie's thoughts were spinning. "We can't keep doing this," she said to herself.

Sunfall shrugged. The words having come out, now Pinkie couldn't help but keep processing them. "The longer we stay here, the more likely it is somepony accidentally sees us, and that gets Rarity and her boyfriend in trouble. We should leave. What do you think, Sunfall?"

Sunfall only shrugged again. Pinkie wrinkled her snout. "Okay. Thanks for the vote of confidence." She trotted over to the bed where she'd slept last night and quickly stripped it of its covers. "I used this trick way back when with Princess Platinum. You remember her?"

Sunfall said quietly, "I remember learning of her death the night after she asked for her own share of immortality." She looked at the bed and shivered. "They found her strangled in her own bedsheets."

Pinkie finished tying a knot in them and just stared. "Uh... wow." Pinkie pointed out the window. "Well, uh, we're using them to go out the window, not... that... so... ready?"

They clambered down into Rarity's back garden, which luckily had lines of hedges to block their little stunt from the neighbors. Pinkie looked back and felt a pang of regret for ditching Rarity, but... duty called, so to speak. "Well, no time like the present!" she chirped. "We're on the road to the--"

Sunfall pulled her back just as she was about to pierce the hedgerow. "Hey! What was that for?" she asked. Sunfall wordlessly pointed up in the air, as a black object looking kinda like a camera covered in helicopter blades soared past. "What is that thing?"

"A camera, I think." She pointed as it flew around the corner towards the edge of town. Right where they'd come in, in fact. "They're looking for us."

"What!?" Gilded Edge had made it sound like Sombra was pulling out all the stops, but Noble Blood must have been helping, too. "So we can't leave?"

"I guess not." Sunfall headed to the back door of Rarity's house and prepared to knock on it.

"Wait!" Sunfall turned around, and Pinkie presented the tablet Rarity had given her. It was still showing the article they'd looked up regarding Twilight Sparkle. "Twilight lives in the city, and she could be our ticket out! Let's give it a shot!"

Sunfall looked at her, then at the door. "Without Rarity's help." Pinkie nodded. "Okay."

***

In the end, it had taken a bit of stealth to sneak past the drones, the guards, and the various other unicorns out and about. By the time the sun had begun to slip towards the horizon, they'd only just made it to the university. Another short walk, and they were in the apartments abutting the college buildings, and before too long, they were standing in front of the apartment they were looking for. The doorbell buzzed with shocking loudness--maybe to be heard over whatever was going on inside.

“Come in!”

Pinkie and Sunfall walked quietly into the apartment. In contrast to the outside, the inside was a mess of creeping wires, trailing out in every direction and feeding into various devices suspended on the walls and ceilings or jammed into nooks by the floor. It gave a sense more like a jungle overgrown with vines than a house; Sunfall seemed reluctant to step on any of them, as though they would come to life and grab her by the hooves. Pinkie held her breath and walked over the larger ones as she followed them towards the center of the apartment.

All of the wires drew together in the bedroom, which was filled on every wall with computer screens flashing blue and green against the near-total darkness of the room and the night outside. In front of the largest screen was a unicorn mare, her coloration and mane style nearly impossible to see in the shadows. What wasn’t impossible to see, however, was her magic, which irradiated everywhere to activate dozens of panels, devices, and other equipment, and which glowed with a shimmering purple Pinkie would have recognized anywhere.

“Twilight!” Pinkie called out. It was so good to see her friend again. Rarity was nice, but Pinkie fully admitted that the two of them rarely hung out. But Twilight... Twilight was the spark that held all of them together. After how many years living with her, she could hardly imagine life without her. She was smart, capable, and above all, a kind and loyal friend.

“What do you want?!” Twilight snarled without even looking away from her screen. “If it’s the noise, I told you already, it’s for my research, so just get out of my apartment, you overbearing, grubby mudcrawler!”

“I... what?” Pinkie let the moment fly past her without fully comprehending it. Surely she’d misheard. Surely there were some kind of extenuating circumstances for why Twilight would say something like that. “No, it’s me, Pinkie! I wanted to ask for your help.”

“Pinkie?” Twilight looked up and to her right, lost in thought. “Nope, never heard of you. If it’s for computer help, you can wait until my normal working hours. If it’s for something else, you can find somepony who actually cares. I’m sure my bleeding-heart brother and his bag-of-hammers wife Lady Carnelian would be willing to waste their time on charity cases.”

Rattled, Pinkie stepped back. Sunfall stepped forward and gave a try. “Miss Twilight, please. Lord Starswirl is waiting for me, and--”

“Gross, is that a foal?” Twilight made a retching sound. “Kids are mucus factories and chew on my wires. Pristine, or whatever your name was, kindly get your crotch spawn out of my sacred house of technology, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s Pinkie, and she’s not my... whatever you called her! Look, I don’t know what’s got you so cranky, but you don’t need to be so mean!”

“Mean? Oh, that’ll be my princy, prancy nice mode if you don’t clear out in the next thirty seconds. I tire of this conversation, and I have a very important program to write, so get out of my apartment, now, before I start doing it the hard way.”

“But Twilight... this... I...” Frustrated, angry, and more than a little wounded at Twilight’s attitude, Pinkie felt hot tears threaten her composure. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did, but... I’m sorry...” Unable to fight any longer, her butt fell to the floor of Twilight’s apartment, and she began to wail in huge, wracking sobs.

Sunfall looked uncomfortable, and Twilight immediately twisted around in her chair. When she saw Pinkie crying, her eyes grew wide, and she stammered, “W-what are you doing? Why are you crying?”

Sunfall moved to stand between Pinkie and Twilight, as though to shelter the former from the latter. “You hurt her feelings, that’s why. And mine, too.”

“Hurt her feelings? But then... why isn’t she yelling at me? Hurting my feelings back, getting mad?”

“Because that’s not how she works,” Sunfall explained. “She’s very empathetic, and she hates having ponies mad at her. She thinks it’s her fault; she doesn’t really understand that you’re just a bitter, mean-spirited creature who preys on those weaker and less intelligent than you.”

Here Sunfall scowled. “But I do understand that, which is why I find your behavior intolerable.”

"L-look, you have to understand--"

"Oh, I understand. You're smart, so you think you can say whatever you want and nobody will stand up to you, because they need you. You have all the cards, so nobody will put up a fight. Well, maybe you're right. But this is what happens when you talk like that. You cause real pain."

Twilight shook her head. "No, no, it's just--" She walked over to one of the windows and looked out it, more to look away from Sunfall than to see anything out there. "It's just for fun. It's not supposed to be taken seriously!"

"Apparently, Pinkie didn't get the memo." Sunfall's voice was full of venom. "Or maybe there was never a memo, and that's just the lie you tell yourself to protect your ego. Otherwise, you'd have to admit that you've become a nasty pony with no regard for anypony else's feelings."

I..." Twilight collapsed onto her knees, shaking her head as she said, "I didn't know. I just... I didn't know."

While Pinkie gradually pulled herself together, Sunfall walked over and knelt down next to Twilight. "Now that you do know... what are you gonna do?"

Twilight sniffed back a tear. "I'm... I'm just so lonely. I don't... I can't act any other way."

Sunfall nodded over as Pinkie finally stood up and watched the two of them, her eyes shimmering with a mix of pain and joy. "You've got a chance. Do you want to try again?"

Twilight nodded, then stood up and walked in front of her computer monitor. "Hi, Pinkie," she said. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, head computer technician for the Canterlot College of Magic, Science, and Technology. And you are?"

Pinkie laughed. "I'm Pinkie Pie: baker, time traveller, and your best friend!" She opened her forelegs out wide and said, "Come here, you!"

Twilight looked at Sunfall questioningly, who answered the unspoken question: "She's trying to give you a hug." Twilight looked back to Pinkie, who waggled her eyebrows invitingly. With no small amount of reluctance, she stepped closer, and Pinkie jumped forward to close the distance and glomp Twilight in a rib-crushing hug.

"Ow ow ow!" Twilight pulled and strained to get out of the hug. "That's good, Pinkie, that's good!"

Sunfall came around the other side of the desk and chuckled quietly. "That's Pinkie Pie for you. Whether she's sad or she's happy, you really know it."

Finally, Pinkie let go, and they could get to the topic at hand. "You said you wanted my help or something, right?"

"Mm-hmm." Pinkie drew a circle in the air with a hoof. "Sunfall and I need to get to Everfree City to meet up with Starswirl, but we can't make it if we're caught on camera. Can you help?"

Twilight chuckled. "Can I help? Who do you think you're talking to?" At a glare from Sunfall, she coughed and said, "Right, sorry, less sarcasm. Yes, as a matter of fact, I can. There's two best ways I can help you. First, I can give you a manecut."

"A manecut?" Pinkie asked. In a flash, Twilight was next to her, magic flowing around Pinkie's mane as she restyled it in a very un-fluffy shape. When she was done, she magicked up a mirror for Pinkie to look at. "Whoa..."

Twilight had swirled it and colored it and clumped it, then pulled it all in front of her face. All that done, she was totally unrecognizable--as a pony, let alone as a wanted fugitive. As she set onto Sunfall's mane, Twilight remarked, "That's called dazzle camouflage. The cameras won't be able to recognize your face with that; it's deliberately adversarial to the cameras' algorithms."

Pinkie nodded, although most of it was flying over her head. "So it can't tell who I am, got it."

"The other thing you'll need is this." She dug into a drawer and pulled out two tail clips. She threw them to Pinkie, and Pinkie passed one to Sunfall. They put them on, and Twilight said, "That's basically the same thing, only for your cutie mark. It's a microprojector that'll mask the little details that make your mark unique."

Pinkie looked at her flank, but her mark looked... basically the same. "Are you sure it's working?" she asked.

"That's the fascinating thing," Twilight said. "Near-identical cutie marks pop up everywhere, but despite how similar they look, they actually have tiny spots called 'minutiae' all over--little quirks and deviations in the color. Surveillance cameras use those to prevent mismatches, but we can take advantage of them by making microscoping changes all over. Just as effective as a full image change, and requiring much less tech and internal energy."

Now that was the Twilight Pinkie was more familiar with.

Pinkie looked over to Sunfall, who was playing with her dazzle manecut. "Time to go, I think. Thank you so much, Twilight. I owe you one."

"No, really. I'm glad to do it. I think..." Twilight looked at the screen behind her ruefully. "I think I have a lot more to learn about friendship. If I want to be a little less lonely..." She gulped. "I'm gonna need to make some big apologies."

Pinkie smiled. "That's okay! If you make a really honest apology, they'll know you're learning! You're gonna do just fine!"

Twilight gave a weak smile. "I sure hope so." She rubbed a hoof on her back, before saying, "Well, wish me luck."

"Good luck!"

Author's Note

A chapter several years in the making. Apologies if it feels choppy. I have sworn on everything below heaven and above hell to get this f :flutterrage: in' fic finished, even if it's a piece of garbage afterwards. Enjoy!

Prologue

Silence. Dust and rocks. The endless echo of an empty plain.

At once, wind. The skittering of gravel over the barren ground. A light, shining brightly like a beacon through the night. A figure amid the light. Growing. Forming. Slow breathing.

Panic, gradually. Darkness. Fear. Worry. A plaintive cry from the lonely filly. No response.

Lost. Confused. A lonely sojourn through the rocky wastes. Nopony around to hear her cries. Nopony to understand her. Mourning the inevitable. No return. Nothing familiar. Forever afraid.

Faster. A slow trot becoming galloping. Screams filling the empty space. Guttural. Heartbroken. Too far away. Another place, another time. Nopony nearby.

An empty field. A lonely filly.

A tiara, bright as diamond, falling from her head. A clatter. Nothing. Weakness. Emotion overtaking her. The ground, hard as steel. Her bitter tears, hot against her cheek. Given up. Pooling. Everything against her.

To the side, a glimmer. Like starlight. Red. Standing up. The last sniffles, the last teardrops. Curiosity. Inspection.

Two beautiful rubies. One large. One small. Mother and Child. Dazzling. Inviting. Cool to the hoof. Smooth and flawless.

Snap! The hum of magic. The smaller gem, tucked away in the filly's bag. Even within, still cool and close. A smile. Security, weak among the desperation. A wish, small and quiet, so as not to break the silence. A vibrant glowing from the filly's bag. Surprise. Uncertainty. Warmth, overflowing. An image, flickering, growing nearer. Open hooves. A warm fire. Three small foals, playing and running about in a way only foals can. Another smile. A step. Another. Vanishing.

Numbers, flickering. Growing ever higher. 0.7%. 0.85%. 0.96%, 1.23%. A shift. A jump. A schism. Fear. Pain. Suffering. A hundredfold.

The nightmares of a simple baker's apprentice of Sugar Cube Corner.