"I need a warrior to accompany me," Princess Luna turns to a courier, clad with royal attire, "One that is ready to do battle in my name, not just willing, but able."

"Ah, with all do respect, Your Highness," The messenger gives Luna a concerned gaze, "Don't you have an entire army of enlisted guards at your disposal, that are required by law to aid you?" The Princess shakes her head sternly, pacing concentratedly back and forth before her throne.

"They are but figureheads," She says apathetically, "Guard dogs for the castle. You know as well as I do that Equestria has not seen war for ages. But tell me, Courier, is there not a stallion in Ponyville that has seen deadly combat through a soldier's eyes?"

Puzzled, the messenger flips agitatedly through a thick record book, using one hoof to turn the worn pages, and the other to ward dust away from his face as it is cast off the pages. On one page he stops, nearing the back of the book, and he stares at this page for a moment, reading carefully over what the tome has to say.

"Hmm," He clicks his tongue, "This looks like the only pony who has been in battle, at least that we have documented. An immigrant from... From...?"

Scootaloo, who had been waiting silently by the messenger, peers over the stallion's shoulder to see what he wasn't saying.

"It says he was still on active duty when he showed up in Ponyville," Scootaloo reads aloud, furrowing her brow, "He was stationed... Off... Planet?" The confused filly looks up at Luna, who gives an affirmative nod of the head in response, as if this was expected.

"Let us fetch him, Scootaloo. Our poor Courier has been sent all over Equestria recently; he shall be spared this errand. I feel that it's necessary that we pay Ponyville a visit, whether or not our extraterrestrial friend decides to join us will be determined in time."

Rainbow Dash apprehensively pushes open a creaky wooden door to a vacant house, completely unlocked and empty. Pinkie Pie follows closely behind her, her blue eyes darting around the house as the pair enter. Upon a quick inspection, the house appears completely unused, completely unfurnished, yet lit with small candles throughout the room.

Each room has a window or two, each hung between two dusty curtains that look like they've been there for centuries. The soft resonating of a harp's song lies under the sound of the ocean, coming from somewhere nearby.

"Is somepony there...?" Pinkie inquires, directing her eyes to the ceiling, where this song seems to emanate from. Almost immediately, the music comes to a halt, leaving the small house in an empty void of silence.

Hoofsteps click slowly across the ceiling directly above the two, and Dash takes off after them, motioning for Pinkie to follow. They are led in a straight line directly out the front door, facing again out towards the lighthouse. The hooves, however, continue onward, as if an invisible figure is walking on the air above them. This trotting gets farther and farther away, until eventually the two puzzled mares that followed it give up.

Silently, the two reenter the house, this time to find it completely furnished to be a home. In the room that they have entered, which they had presumed to be the living room of the house, has two comfy-looking couches and a beautifully carved table in the center.

Continuing their search, and neglecting all of the typical furniture, the two turn up with:

A worn, leather saddlebag, a magnifying glass with a broken handle, plenty of blankets, an unopened box of matches, and a wide variety of books found in a dusty bookshelf in the bedroom.

The last item was the most unnerving, and frankly the only one with any significance whatsoever. In the singular bedroom that the house has, Pinkie Pie uncovered by happenstance a rectangular picture frame. Laid into the glass, a color photograph of the raging ocean at sunset stared back at her. In the center of this picture, with their backs to the camera, sit Pinkie and Dash, with their heads leaned together.

"We never had our picture made," Rainbow Dash interjects, pointing an accusing hoof at the image, "And the sun's just now setting! I don't like this, Pinkie." The cyan pony yawns, and throws herself on the bed, which she finds to be extremely comfortable. "I'm so tired, though."

Pinkie sits at the foot of the bed, remaining unusually quiet. Her blue eyes faze off into somewhere far away, and they leak tears slowly down her cheeks.

"You probably hate me," she begins with a sigh, directing her attention to the ground, "You probably think I'm a murderer, and that you don't want to be my friend anymore."

"C'mon Pinkie Pie," Dash shakes her head, "You know I don't think that."

"I'm... I'm just really scared, Dash, and..." the mare covers her mouth with a hoof, stifling her crying, "I just need to talk to somepony sane for a little bit."

Rainbow Dash slides herself over, and pats the bed beside herself, inviting Pinkie to join her. The mare does so, propping herself up beside her winged friend, and exhales deeply, punctuated by small hiccups from crying.

"So Celestia was possessing you?" Dash asks just above a whisper.

"Y-Yeah. I dunno. She was... In my head, and I... I couldn't get her out..."

For a moment, Dash is silent. Beside her, she can feel the gentle rise and fall of Pinkie's slightly quickened breathing. Her breathing steadily slows, until it matches Rainbow Dash's almost perfectly. The pink mare turns her head to face the pegasus, who returns her gaze.

"What do you think this place is?" The cyan pony asks, closing her eyes, and imagining the ocean outside, "It's really weird."

"I dunno, but... Those weird eyes we saw earlier... Who else is here? I don't like it."

"Y'know, after what you did to me," Dash can feel the other mare tense up, "I'm not afraid of much anymore... But this place scares me more and more the longer I stay. I'm... Glad I'm not here alone."

"I wouldn't want to be here with anypony else."

Rainbow Dash smiles at this sentiment, and feels herself beginning to nod off into sleep. She lets her eyelids open slightly, and she sees Pinkie's blue irises staring back only a few inches away.

"How did you die, Pinkie?" Dash asks her under her breath, resisting sleep.

"I think," the pink pony yawns, and then continues, "I think an angel killed me, so you wouldn't be alone up here."

"That's silly," The blue pegasus yawns as well, "But I guess that would fit right in with everything else so far, huh?" She chuckles softly.

Pinkie smiles, and closes her eyes. Dash looks at the pony for a moment, and has a hard time believing that this mare had tried to kill her twice in cold blood. However, her face is detailed with lines of worry and sadness, and her perpetual grin has been replaced with a constant state of deep thought. Her mane is partially deflated from exhaustion and sorrow, and Dash realizes that this mare was a completely different pony than the one she knew only a few days prior.

"Goodnight, Rainbow Dash."

"Goodnight, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie silently slinks from the bed she shares with Dash, and sneaks out of the small cottage into the wispy island night. In the cloudless sky above her, there are millions upon millions of stars- more than she'd ever seen before, even on the darkest of nights. There was no moon- Not just a new moon, but there was physically no moon present in the sky. The grass sways with a nonexistent breeze, and the constant thundering of waves slamming the shore is the only sound that can be heard.

Pinkie looks with tired eyes up at the striped lighthouse, which casts its beam eerily towards the empty, frothing ocean. Without her usual enthusiastic skip, the mare trots absentmindedly to this column of radiant light, and starts up the winding staircase up its exterior. After a moment of climbing numbly, her blue eyes finally take a look at the stairs themselves- and find that they are made completely out of solid gold.

Unwaveringly her ascent continues, punctuated occasionally by brief stops to admire the island from a higher vantage point. After what seems like an hour of monotonous stepping, Pinkie's hooves ring out against metal with a satisfying clang; the upper platform of the tower. Her attention goes first to the grassy field below, dotted with small structures and flowers. Then she stares blankly into the black abyss that is the ocean.

Thoughts come rushing into her head immediately.

What about my other friends?

What else has Celestia done?

When will I get off this island?

What is this island?

Who was that golden-eyed pony up here?

Behind her, Pinkie hears a low hum, and she turns to see the tower's light much dimmer than it was previously. However, lost in her thoughts, she ignores this anomaly, letting herself become engulfed in tears.

"I just wanted my friends to be happy," she cries towards the sky, "What's going on? Why is this happening to me?"

In her anguish, she suddenly feels an invisible embrace take hold of her, the gentle squeeze of two forelegs around her, making her entire body feel warmer. Her attention finally captivated, the mare looks around the platform, puzzled.

"Ah, don't cry, luv," comes a soft voice in an accent reminiscent of Rarity's, yet slightly less flamboyant, "You always hate when ponies cry...!" The sound of this voice alone calms Pinkie, in a strange maternal sense, filling her with even more inexplicable warmth.

"H-Hello...?" She replies, continuing to search the area anxiously.

Before her very eyes, a mare materializes out of thin air and props herself up against the railing around the platform. Her coat is a stark, pearly white, her mane glittering gold. From her shoulders, two delicate wings are folded down her back, her feathers incredibly well-kept. Two lavender eyes look down into the water below, filled with some sort of unearthly omniscient knowledge. A gentle smile graces her face, and she turns to face Pinkie, flashing her a wink.

This mare, Thinks Pinkie Pie, her mind racing, is beautiful.

"Y-You don't have gold eyes," she stammers, backing away a small step, "Wh-What?"

"Well," replies the mare, regaining the steps that Pinkie took, "That's a fairly solid observation to make, have you nothing else to ask?"

"Wh-Who are you?"

"That's of little importance. But you're distraught; you need an answer," she raises her eyebrows, "I am the only permanent resident. Of where? I'm a perpetual tenant of both this realm and yours. Ego sum, however, a victim of terrible tragedy."

"What tragedy?" Pinkie asks, now curious.

"Oh, you'll discover in time. Or perhaps you won't. That's a story for another life. We have met before, though, even if you cannot recognize me. Yes, we have encountered each other many a time, and exchanged not a single word."

"Have we met... Recently?"

"Oh, sic, remarkably so! Now, I'm no mind reader by any stretch of the imagination, but I can sense that you're about to realize wha-"

"...An angel."

"Right on the money, Ms. Pie!"

"Huh," The pink mare is silent for a moment, looking this pretty creature over quietly. "What all do you... Know?"

"Sodet, you can't be so vague. Like... You want to know what I know about you?"

"Um... Sure...?"

I know you represent the Element of Laughter, and that you take pride in making friends with everypony you meet. Ah, but that's general knowledge. I know that you have a pet alligator named Gummy, and that sometimes you feel bad because he can't chew rock candy. I know that you're very nice to everything and never expect trouble, but for some reason you still keep a wooden bat under your bed. I know that you can't sleep in the rain. I know that you're not responsible for the terrible actions you've committed against Rainbow Dash, and that you think she still blames you for those things. On that note, you're in denial about your feelings for the mare, and you just wish you could put those emotions into words. You're terrified of the eyes you saw in this lighthouse earlier, but you're already trusting me completely. My knowledge extends further, but I see no reason that you would need more proof. Do you?"

Pinkie Pie is silent for a moment, absorbing all of this information, then she narrows her eyes. "Okay, Dashie and I are ju-"

"Come now, that isn't important. The important thing is, you'll be returning to the 'real world' come morning, and I have something that I want you to have."

"Wait, I don't want to go back! Sure, this place is creepy, but at least I can't hurt anypony," she sighs, looking down, "I can't hurt Dash, I guess."

"I wouldn't worry about hurting her."

"Oh, really? Does that mean I won't be, like, possessed?"

"No. You'll still be possessed, but Rainbow Dash will not be leaving with you."

"O-Oh... So... Will you... Keep her company?"

"I can't, I'm afraid. I have my own pressing business to attend to, but that's beside the point. I need you to hold out your hoof."

Pinkie looks at the strange mare for a moment, then hesitantly raises a foreleg towards her. The white pegasus smiles, and suddenly a small burst of light appears before her face, bearing something small and shiny inside. The mare gingerly scoops the item out of the air, and hangs it delicately around Pinkie's hoof.

"A... Necklace?"

Dangling from a thin chain on her foreleg, there hangs a beautiful chrome locket in the shape of a heart. Light from the stars glitters off of the trinket, making a speckled light pattern on the two mares. The locket, although small, is oddly heavy, and a strange, noticeable feeling of serenity falls over her.

"This is the power of a cosmic pony. As long as this piece of metal exists, you have incredible powers. It's only up to you to figure out how to use them. You, Miss Pie, are the living embodiment of Life itself."

"Wh-What does that mean?"

"Let me explain, and I'll share the prophecy with you as well."

"There are many universes in our reality- some are incredibly similar, some are vastly different. The difference between universes could be as small as somepony making a choice in two different ways, or it could be as big as a nuclear war engulfing all of Equestria. Either way, each universe is different, and, as time progresses, has the capacity to become infinitely more different than it previously was. There is a guarantee, however, that one day, the prophecy I'm about to tell you will find a place in each universe."

"There is one being that resides outside of these universes- They watch, waiting for the prophecy to surface in each one so that they can swiftly put each universe out of existence. Thus is the unfathomable power of this being. There is a single constant in each universe that allows for this to work- there is always a single group of three ponies, blessed with powers from generations passed, that are charged with stopping this inter-dimensional being from destroying their universe. This would mean permanently killing said deity."

"These three ponies represent Life, Light, and Time. Life has powers that an touch all things living; the powers to heal or slay anything in their path. That's you. Then there is Light- yours truly-"

With another flash, another locket of crystalline construction appears, but the mare magically casts it away again before Pinkie can get a close look.

"-Who has the powers of the sun itself. Lastly, there is the almighty, unchallenged Time. The Time incarnate possesses only one power, but an ungodly one. Time has the sacred ability to rend its universe to smithereens by ripping holes in the time-space continuum. On that note, there used to be a theory that there was a fourth embodiment, Space, who was more powerful than Light and less powerful than Time, but I refuse to believe it."

"Only the Time incarnation has the ability to kill the ultimate being, and that's where we run into issues."

"Who's the Time pony?" Pinkie asks, hanging on to every word, "Do you know them?"

"Ah, yes. I do know her. I also know that she's... Temporarily out of action."

Pinkie continues to turn her heart locket around between her hooves, not entirely believing what the mare was telling her, but at the same time becoming excited at the promise of adventure. She smiles, and looks up at the angelic pony again, to find that her excitement isn't shared.

"Protect that, Miss Pie," Says the pegasus with sincerity in her eyes, "You'll need it. We all will."

Pinkie nods, and places the jewelry around her neck gently. When she looks up again, the strange mare is gone without a trace. Alone once more, the pink pony bounds down the lighthouse stairs with newfound energy.

Quietly, she returns to the cottage, and eventually the bed that she shares with Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus stirs, her eyes opening just a sliver, enough for her to see Pinkie getting back into bed.

"Where... Mmm..." She yawns while Pinkie worms her way into the bed beside her.

"Just getting some water," she replies cheerfully, hiding her locket from view. For a moment, she stares at Rainbow Dash, her mind racing.

You're in denial about your feelings for the mare, and you wish you could put those feeling into words. The white mare's words bounce through her head.

"See you..." She whispers, pausing, "I-In the morning, Dash..."

A stallion gazes out of a rectangular window in his humble Ponyville home, hooves pressed anxiously against the sill. Outside, he watches as a ballistic mare launches herself aggressively at a wooden door, yelling incoherent gibberish at whatever poor resident lived beyond it. The stallion, whose coat is light orange, his mane two shades of blue, steps away from the window, a fearful expression on his face. As he does, he hears a gentle knock on his front door, alarming him further.

"Wh-Who is it?" He approaches the door, tensing up, and repeats himself, "Hey, I said 'who is it?'"

"It's... Uh... I'm with the Princess Luna," comes a small voice from right outside. The voice, belonging obviously to a filly, shakes with the same fear as he feels.

"What do you want...?" The stallion open the door slowly, to find an orange and purple filly stooped at his doorstep, her eyes glancing worriedly around the town. "Look, kid, this is no time for you to be outside, look at all this-" he gestures widely at the numerous insane ponies sauntering around, attempting all sorts of violence. "I don't see the Princess, either."

"Sh-She's busy looking for Princess Twilight Sparkle, so she sent me on an errand..."

"Uh, kid..."

"...And my best friend, well, my honorary big sister, was killed by this mare that was..."

"Hey, you, um... Might wanna...?"

"...And so basically, do you know a stallion named-"

"Look out!"

The older stallion dives swiftly between a psychopathic earth pony, another stallion, and the terrified filly. His jaw is clipped by a flying hoof, but her delivers a punch to the assailant's gut, and then slams his other hoof into the attacking stallion's throat, putting him on the ground instantly.

Behind him, the filly cowers in a ball, staring up at him.

"Y-You wouldn't b-be a space soldier, would you...?"

"Uh," the older pegasus takes a second to catch his breath, "The name's Waffle Town. Y-Yeah, I guess I was a space soldier.

Author's Note

Waffle Town isn't based off of me. I used his name for my account. That is all.