As the Elements of Harmony looked on with varying degrees of awe from her dramatic re-entry into the world, Princess Celestia turned away from her star student and gazed across her former home. It had been many years since the old castle had been used, and it showed in the now-dilapidated throne room. The once proud trappings of leadership had faded and rotted over the years from neglect and disuse. Celestia's eyes came to rest on a small, dark-colored alicorn, who until mere moments ago had been a bitter foe. Much as it pained Celestia to think of her little sister like that, with any luck, the rest of this plan would work without a hitch and she could work on healing the divisions that had stood for so long. She spoke, her soft voice filling the silence. “Princess Luna... It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister...”
“Sister?!” The herd of ponies behind Equestria's ruler gasped.
Princess Celestia, ignoring their surprise, continued, trotting toward her defeated sister. Leaning down to her, she pleaded, “Will you accept my friendship?”
The smaller alicorn looked down, confusion still plain on her face. Everypony in the room stared at her, intent on her answer. Seconds that felt more like lifetimes passed as all in the room awaited the answer that would doubtlessly affect history for thousands of years to come. Celestia began to grow anxious. Something felt wrong in the air.
Eventually, Princess Luna looked up at her sister, tears streaming down her face. “I'm sorry, big sister... I'm so sorry, but... I can't forget what happened.”
Princess Celestia drew back slightly, as though not expecting this. “I... realize a thousand years is a very long time. But surely, we can work through our differences and—”
“NO!” The small alicorn reared up, trying to look as powerful as she could, though fear was still evident on her face. “You can talk about friendship all you like, but it doesn't change that I'd still be in your shadow! I... I wanted to be respected … like you. Nothing would change if I went back. You know that. Nopony appreciates my night! I'd be... I'd be... forgotten... again.” Luna settled on her hooves, despair and misery written plain upon her face.
Maintaining the same calm, even tone she always used, Princess Celestia pleaded, “Change takes time. Please, Luna. Don't you remember the good times we used to enjoy together? I've missed you so, and I'm sure if everypony else gets to know you, they'll appreciate you just as they do me. I'll admit things weren't perfect back then, but much has changed in one thousand years. Ponies do appreciate the night now. Please, at least show me the world you've returned to.” She extended a hoof to her younger sister.
Luna turned her head as tears began to build in her eyes. A small squeak escaped her. “I won't go back.”
Princess Celestia sighed, a bitter tone entering her voice. “Then, it seems I have no choice... Twilight?”
“Y-yes, princess?” Twilight approached her teacher, dread evident on her face. The five ponies behind her wore a mix of emotions on their faces, but all felt a palpable sense of unease.
Princess Celestia spoke in a low tone, never averting her eyes from Luna as she lowered her hoof. “Again.”
With a frown, Twilight quickly looked at her friends. “I... guess it can't be avoided?”
Haltingly, Fluttershy spoke, “U-um, but can't this be talked out...”
Pinkie Pie chimed in, “Yeah! It's no fun to be all gloomy and spooky and darky! Let's just all be friends and then I could throw a big PARTY and everypony would have so much fun and we could have games and cupcakes and streamers and—”
Celestia stamped a hoof, causing Pinkie to jump in fright. The ruin shook slightly, and for the first time, Twilight heard irritation from her teacher. “None of you were there! The things she did... would still do to you all, if she had the chance! If she won't come back... please, my little ponies... do it.” A single tear fell from Celestia's exposed eye, her authoritative facade cracking in a rare display of emotion.
Twilight nodded to them all, her face grim. Slowly, as the two sisters unable to make amends sadly stared at each other, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony readied themselves to unleash their power again. Celestia's gaze never wavered, nor did Luna's less sure gaze ever leave her sister's face.
Luna whispered, “You've always been a tyrant, sister.”
The ponies behind Celestia once again unleashed their power, causing a brilliant cascade of colors to come streaming forth... but something had gone horribly wrong. Instead of a graceful, flowing rainbow bursting forth from Twilight's direction of the ponies' efforts, a chaotic mess of distorted colors and grinding sounds came forth from the ponies' magic, slowly forming into a shifting blob of bright disorder that was painful to look at, as though one was viewing something that should not exist outside of a nightmare. Discomfort was plain on the faces of all six ponies.
Celestia shut her eyes, refusing to see what had just been summoned, though she could feel its very presence warping the world and fate around it. She had been aware of this possibility when she gave her order, but had hoped it wouldn't happen. Now that “it” had entered this world, it would not stop until it claimed its due from all in the room: her, her sister, and worst of all... the bearers of the Elements.
The raw mass of magic lurched forth from the six ponies, not in a graceful wave as the rainbow had, but lumbered forth like a clumsy, drunken hydra struggling to keep its balance. Beads of sweat ran down the ponies' faces, and Twilight's glowing eyes narrowed in frustrated concentration, intent on holding the slow, chaotic mess together. It threatened to break loose from its small semblance of order as a piece of it lurched to one side, and even Twilight's magical capabilities strained to control the monstrosity. Pained looks twisted the faces of all her friends as they all strained to hold together the strange energy they had summoned.
The two princesses merely stared each other down. The technicolor mass surged forward, moving straight through Celestia as the white alicorn shuddered, and then enveloped Luna whole. As it surrounded her, the smaller alicorn opened her mouth in terror, as though to scream, but no sound emerged. A terrified expression spread across the rebellious princess' face as she struggled against the magic, thrashing out with her legs wildly, as though in a panic. Her horn lit up, but before she could cast any magic, a thin tendril of dark light reached out from the strange magic field and enveloped her horn. Luna shuddered, her horn dimming, then shattering. Her legs began to wobble, and her movements became sluggish, as though the strange cocoon was draining her very life away.
Luna gave her sister a desperate, pleading look, but nopony could see Celestia's reaction. Luna began to shimmer slightly and became hard to spot amongst the swirling blob of magic. Her rear legs disappeared from view, and tears streamed down the alicorn's face. Twilight's throat tightened. A small vortex formed within the blob and tightened around Luna, tendrils of all colors slicing at her.
Just as the six new friends thought they were about to collapse from strain, Luna vanished, the nightmarish blob of magic disappearing with her with a hissing noise that seemed to rend the very air. Twilight and her friends fell to the ground, feeling drained, confused, and frazzled. All that remained of Luna was a hole burnt in the ruin floor, a parting gift from the raw magic that had apparently consumed the younger princess.
Rarity, never one to let a silence go unfilled, said, “Oh dear, how could I have summoned something so garish? That wasn't at all what happened the first time. We had form and function, not that horrible... thing...” Rarity trailed off, expecting an answer or explanation from somepony else in the room. Naught but silence answered her.
Celestia made no move save staring at the spot where her little sister had stood. Twilight, growing impatient in spite of herself, decided she had to ask the questions that were on everypony's mind. Not even Twilight had heard or read of magic like that before, and it certainly had a different feel to it from the power of the Elements of Harmony. Whereas the Elements had filled Twilight with a feeling of the calm before the storm, whatever they had just did left her feeling sullied, tired, and irritated. Panting with exhaustion, yet filled with energy from sheer adrenaline, Twilight demanded, “Where did she go, Princess? Has she been sent to the moon again, or somewhere else? That was so powerful, and I couldn't tell what that magic did, and frankly, I think we all want some answers about what in Equestria just happened here!” Twilight blinked and stepped back involuntarily, a look of horror crossing her face. Why did I blow up like that? That's not like me. What's come over me?
In a chilling tone that made Twilight and her friends wince and draw back in fear, Celestia stated, “No one will be seeing her... ever.” She turned to the group of exhausted ponies, suddenly all warmth and smiles as usual. However, to all facing her, nopony could help but feel that they were seeing the princess in her weakest moment. Twilight, in particular, noticed a slight eye twitch from the regal mare who almost never betrayed any emotion beyond a calm benevolence.
Celestia broadened her smile once more. “You've all done quite well.”
Pinkie Pie bounced a few times and clapped her hooves together. “Oooh! You know what this calls for...? MEXICO!” She continued bouncing with joy, her left eye twitching violently as her grin widened unnaturally, utterly oblivious to the confused stares from every other pony in the room. Her mane and tail began to deflate slightly.
Applejack gave her hyperactive friend a questioning look. “And just what in the hay is that, sugar cube?”
Pinkie Pie continued bouncing, seemingly unaware of what she'd just said. Her eye continued to twitch, albeit less violently than before. “A party? Oh, you silly. A party's where you eat cake and apples and candy and there's punch and lots of music and fun and—”
Princess Celestia laughed. “I suppose we could all use a party after what just happened. Let's give everypony a happy ending to the Summer Sun Celebration!”
Slightly reassured by Pinkie's enthusiasm and Celestia's calm, everypony headed for Ponyville.
Twilight couldn't keep her mind off what had just transpired. I don't get it. The Elements of Harmony are supposed to fill its bearers with a feeling of... well, harmony. Whatever we just did... I felt horribly alone and isolated from everything, even though everypony else was right beside me. I felt... alone again. I couldn't even picture Spike's face... or even my own. I felt like I was summoning some kind of... nightmare... I'd never wake up from. It was as though I was all that existed, and all that ever would exist... unless I killed that foalish rebel. Twilight froze. N-no, we didn't just.. Surely, the Princess didn't just trick us into committing regicide, into killing her younger sister... did she? Frowning, she stared at her teacher, who was trotting ahead of her proudly. Princess Celestia... was all that talk about the magic of friendship a lie? Whatever we just did sure didn't feel like friendship. Was all this just a means to an end for you? Can I really trust any of these ponies... or you, for that matter? How much of this was scheming on your part? Did I become your student solely for this?
Rarity and Applejack, trailing behind the rest of the group, spoke in low tones, looking around and making sure they weren't attracting attention from the others. Twilight seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, occasionally muttering darkly to herself. Pinkie Pie was being Pinkie and yammering on about some new kind of balloon that involved water to nopony in particular. Rainbow Dash had flown ahead to let everypony know the good news. Fluttershy was quietly talking to a bird, a curious expression on her face. The princess said little, but merely led the group back to town.
Satisfied they could speak in private, Applejack whispered, “Whaddya think all that was back there? Was it any kind of magic you know, Rarity?”
“Well, I can't be sure. I'm not used to that level of magic. Apparently not even that self-important brat Twilight is.” Rarity blinked, surprised at herself, then continued. “Yet... I felt like I should... have everyone pay a price for what I was doing. It felt so strange, like a suddenly couldn't think of what I was doing as just a favor. Everything seemed like a terrible hardship. It was as though... I had some kind of revelation.”
Applejack nodded slowly. “Ah know whatcha mean. Ah felt like... I couldn't tell what the truth was, or if anything was... real or not. Like ah was in a real clear dream or somethin'... or maybe nightmare might be a little closer.” The farmer shuddered, both at the reminder of the being they'd just defeated and the eerie sensation of uncertainty that still lingered in her mind. “Ah just hoped ah wasn't goin' loco, but if you felt somethin' too, maybe it was just some side-effect. I just hope Pinkie Pie's alright.” A confused expression crossed the farmer's face. “What IS a Mexico, anyway?”
Rarity shrugged and the six ponies walked onward, toward a future twisted and fates corrupted.
Meanwhile, in another place, another timeline, one where events transpired as they were meant to...
“Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that...” Twilight's voice trailed off. A vacant look spread across her features for a moment as the unicorn stared out the window of the library, transfixed on nothing in particular.
“...Twilight?” The small dragon asked, looking up from the scroll with obvious concern in his eyes.
“Oh, sorry Spike. I just got distracted by a thought.” As Spike rolled his eyes,Twilight shook her head in hopes of clearing it. She couldn't stop thinking about the strange comet she'd spotted last night; not even her new copy of The Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac to All Things Astronomy she had consulted had mentioned anything about comets at this time of the year! It was probably nothing important, and certainly nothing to pester the princess with... though she couldn't shake a nagging feeling of unease about the phenomenon. “...today I learned that when a friend is in need, that friend is—”
“TWILIGHT!” The door to the library burst open, sending scattered papers flying about. A panicked orange earth pony wearing her trademark wide-brimmed hat galloped in and looked around frantically.
“...is Twilight.” Spike murmured, writing. “Wait, huh?” Spike squinted at the scroll, as though incredulous that he had actually made such a simple error.
Twilight chuckled at Spike's mistake and started down the stairs. Behind her, Spike rolled up the unfinished letter and set it on Twilight's endtable. As she descended, Twilight could not help but feel concerned. She hadn't seen Applejack this worked up in some time, probably not since... well, ever. “Applejack, what's the matter? It's not like you to be in such a hurry, and certainly not at such a late hour.”
Applejack dashed up the stairs and nudged Twilight along quickly, earning her an annoyed glare from the unicorn that quickly melted into genuine concern as Applejack began to speak. “C'mon! I dunno if it's just too much sugar or what, but somethin' is seriously wrong with Pinkie!”
Twilight's eyes widened as she quickened her pace and left the library, Applejack galloping alongside her, leaving Spike to shrug and see to tidying the library up from Twilight's latest mind-boggling feat of disorganization that Applejack had only amplified. “She's not... talking to inanimate objects again, is she...?” Twilight asked, her voice betraying intense unease.
Applejack shuddered. Rainbow Dash had told them all about that particular incident after the fact, at Twilight's insistence. All her friends had been sure to keep an extra eye on Pinkie Pie after that, just in case. “No, but... she just ain't makin' sense! I'm hopin' you of all ponies could talk to 'er an' help.”
Twilight nodded, biting back her questions for the sake of haste. “So, where is she?”
“I saw 'er around the outskirts of town talkin' nonsense. I ain't even sure if she recognized me, the poor filly.”
Resolute, the two friends soldiered on, eager to help their friend. A few minutes later, near Fluttershy's cottage, the two spotted Pinkie Pie sitting on the grass, staring peacefully at the emerging stars. Twilight gave Applejack an inquisitive look. All the farmpony muttered was, “Just try talkin' to 'er.”
Twilight calmly trotted up to Pinkie. “Hello, Pinkie Pie! It's... a nice night tonight, isn't it?”
Pinkie Pie slowly turned to look at Twilight. “Aeiou.”
Twilight took a step backward in surprise. “W-what?”
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie dropped down from above Twilight so she stood directly beside her. “Aeiou! Aeiou! Aeiou!” Each time she seemed to move to a new location faster than should have been possible, using whatever strange ability the earth pony had. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered Twilight, but something sounded wrong with Pinkie's voice. Pinkie sounded... hollow, somehow, or just very tired to the point of being loopy. ...Well, loopier.
Confused and a little frightened, Twilight spoke, a nervous tremor entering her voice, “J-just slow down a little, Pinkie. What is... uh... an 'ayu'? Is it... some kind of new cake?”
Pinkie Pie put her face very close to Twilight's and stared at her intently with an unusually serious look on her face. Twilight, suddenly very uncomfortable being this close to her friend, blushed and resisted the urge to shy away.
Pinkie broke out into one of her usual broad smiles and exclaimed, “President breasts demanding!” and ran off after leaping in the air a short ways, leaving a confused Twilight in her wake. Applejack put a hoof to her head and muttered, “Oh, horse apples. She's only gettin' worse...”
Fluttershy poked her head out of her cottage shyly. “O-oh. I-is she gone? She was scaring some of the animals, so I stayed inside to calm the poor things down.”
Applejack called out, “It's fine, sugar cube!” In a normal tone, she added, “...Though I would like to know what in the hay was goin' on here. Any ideas, Twilight?”
Twilight put a hoof to her head and thought intently. True, Pinkie was very... random... but this was beyond what anypony had seen from her. “I don't have a clue, Applejack, and besides that, I'm not sure where she went. Maybe we should just let her be and see if things have gotten any better overnight. It's getting dark, so even if we tried to look for her, I doubt we'd make any progress.”
“If you say so, Twi...” Applejack couldn't help but look concerned.
Twilight smiled confidently. “Don't worry, Applejack. It's Pinkie Pie we're talking about. She comes around eventually... just not always in the way we expect. I'm sure this is just another little eccentricity of hers. Let's give her some space and she'll probably be fine.”
Looking relieved, Applejack remarked, “I reckon you're right, Twilight. Well, I've got a long day tomorrow. Night.”
“Good night, Applejack.” The two friends parted, content to let the problem resolve itself.
Later that night, Twilight couldn't stop herself from thinking about Pinkie's strange behavior, making no progress on her sudden comet research. Pinkie Sense she could accept. Pinkie's ability to occasionally be... places... that didn't make any sense she could ignore for the sake of her sanity. Not even magic could explain some of the things she had seen Pinkie do. But this? This seemed like out-and-out madness, and that worried her. She and all her friends had been keeping an eye on Pinkie for more signs of mental instability since the birthday incident, and it appeared she had snapped again. Still, Pinkie wasn't the type to have a problem for more than a day or so. Even during that debacle on her birthday all it took was seeing a cake to bring her back to her old self. Pinkie was fine, or soon would be, at any rate. Best to sleep on it and consider how to help her in the morning, she told herself as she climbed into bed.
The next day, Twilight awoke much earlier than normal and headed straight for Sugar Cube Corner to check on Pinkie. Hopefully she had returned home last night... if not, Twilight had a very busy day ahead of her. With a yawn, Twilight slowly walked out into the early morning's sunlight, relishing the feeling of warmth on her face. “I feel like today is going to be a good day,” she said to herself confidently.
The delicate aroma of dozens of different sweets greeted Twilight's nostrils as she entered. Mmm... I should really stop by here in the morning more often when everything's so fresh. ...But that would mean getting up early...
“Hiya, Twilight! Isssss somepony hungry?” a bubbly voice called out from behind the counter. There stood Pinkie Pie, as cheerful as ever, hoisting a fresh tray of pastries onto the counter.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Hi, Pinkie Pie! I'm glad to see you're feeling better.”
In a flash, Pinkie Pie somehow moved from behind the counter to stand by the door and Twilight faster than the unicorn could blink. “Whaddya mean 'better'? It doesn't get much better than this! A beautiful day, sugary sweets at my hooves, aaaaand one of my bestest friends is here! I mean, sure, we could be having a party, that would be more fun, but I think I just had a party last week or was it this week or next week? It was so fun I can't remember!” She bounced a few times in delight. The earth pony's boundless energy made Twilight smile, in spite of the gravity of her mission and Pinkie's usual disconnected trains of thought.
“But, um, Pinkie, what about last night?”
“What about what about last night?” the pink earth pony replied, a more amused look than usual present on her face as she tilted her head to the side slightly.
Utter befuddlement plain on her face, Twilight asked, “You don't remember?” Upon receiving no reply, Twilight added, “...What you were doing near Fluttershy's cottage?”
Pinkie giggled. “Oh, you silly! How could I have been at Fluttershy's when I was at Rarity's last night? Wait, is this... ohmygosh Twilight, are you trying to pull a prank I'm so happy for you! Now, your execution was okay, but it lacked a certain Pinkieness to it, I mean first you have to—” Pinkie was silenced by a swift purple hoof in her mouth. Pinkie gave Twilight an amused, but quizzical, look.
“So, let me get this straight,” Twilight said, her left eye twitching slightly, “you weren't at Fluttershy's last night?”
After Twilight removed her hoof, Pinkie happily replied, “Nope!”
“And you're sure of this?”
“As sure as a party is fun!”
Twilight sighed. “Okay. Well, I should get going. I'll see you later, Pinkie.” She turned to go, hearing Pinkie's usual cheery response of “Okay dokey lokey!” following her out of the shop.
Clearly, I'll have to get Rarity to tell me the whole story, Twilight thought. I just hope things start making sense soon. There's got to be a logical explanation for all of this.
Twilight was broken out of her reverie by narrowly avoiding a rapidly plummeting gray figure. “Derpy!” she yelled, in no mood for the mailpony's usual nonsense. “Watch where you're going for once!”
The wall-eyed pegasus got up with a guilty look on her face. “Sorry, Twilight...”
Twilight softened. “No, I'm sorry. I'm just a little confused this morning, and so I'm a little stressed. Is there any mail for the library, as long as we're both here?”
“I dun think so... Have a good day, Twilight!” The pegasus flew off, making a beeline for Sugarcube Corner, no doubt to have a muffin before starting her rounds. Twilight yawned. I really am up early if Derpy's not even started her rounds yet... Twilight's stomach grumbled, as though to remind her she hadn't eaten. “...Okay, I'll have Spike make some pancakes, then I'll quiz Rarity about this. Surely, this can wait an hour or so...”
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was humming to herself while baking more muffins. Derpy had, as usual, bought most of the muffins in the shop, so she had to make sure there were some for others. She kept humming to herself as she worked, listening intently in case anypony came into the shop at this early hour, when suddenly she heard a very familiar, yet alien, voice say, “Aeiou.”
Pinkie turned around to see herself sticking her head out of a flour bin. Being Pinkie Pie, she trotted over, completely unafraid, and said cheerfully, “Wow, Twilight! Is this some kind of magic or trick or prank or—” She put her hoof to the duplicate's face, expecting to feel nothing but the slight tingle of an illusion.
Her hoof touched the other Pinkie's pink fur on her face. For a long moment, everything stood still as two very real Pinkie Pies stared at each other. Eventually, the Pinkie who had just been baking took her hoof away and backed up, genuinely disturbed. “Ha, ha, ha?” she laughed, unsure of herself as she stared at an almost perfect double of herself.
The other Pinkie hopped out of the flour bin and looked around the kitchen, saying nothing, her expression a serious, blank one that unnerved the “real” Pinkie to see something so glum etched on her face, or something that looked like her face. As the Element of Laughter backed up against a counter, frightened, her double drew closer, a slow, mirthless grin spreading across her face.
