Unchaining Hope

by Moondog58

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Other, Adventure, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Alternate Universe
Length: 5735

In an Equestria ruled by selfish nobles, Twilight Sparkle has found hint of an anceint threat that want to rule Equestria, and a conspericy determined to let it. Now on the run, can Twilight find the Elements of Harmony and save Equestria

The Princesses are obscure myths. The land is ruled by nobles who only care for themselves. Smog from factories choke cities, and the open skies are full of danger. This is Equestria, and it has been this way for over 1000 years, and it seems that that's not going to change anytime soon. But things might be changing... but not for the better, as one unicorn discovered. Twilight Sparkle has found hints of a forgotten threat that has it's eye on taking over Equestria for itself, and there's and age-old conspiracy that is determined to let it just do that by hiding it's only weakness.

Now after tracking down and stealing one of the pieces of these 'Elements', Twilight is forced on the run. With time running short before the threat comes to conquer Equestria, she must quickly find the other pieces of the Elements of Harmony. But even with help, can Twilight find them in time? And even if she does, can she make them work in a land were friendship is hard to come by? Or will the threat succeed in destroying Equestria?

Published 2014-09-11 00:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-11 00:00:02 UTC

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Canterlot. Held up magically on a cliff, the city was a sight to behold... but only from a certain view. Specifically, from the outside (at a distance) it seemed to be impeccable and pristine, but as one got closer, they would start to see its, for a lack of better terms, flaws. The air shipyards, that were the main way in and out of the city, were messy and needed a good cleaning. The buildings, despite being colored a bright white, looked like they needed multiple new coats of paint. And yet, despite this, the western side of the city facing the air was still gorgeous, and a nice place to live. If you had money, that is. Because if you didn't, then you don't belong on this side, do you? And because if you were then, as the elitists say, part of the 'filthy commoners', then you were visiting the eastern side, not theirs'. And because the further and further you went eastward into the city, things start to...take a turn, shall we say.

If the western side was (supposedly) the city's beautiful face, then the mountain-facing eastern side was it's dirty, dark, little secret. The houses got smaller, and closer the further east you went, with the streets getting dirtier. The air is filling up with smog from factories, (as no pegasi in their right mind would even try to clean that stuff up.) And, more and more beggars fill the street until you hit the Rustyard, the city's trash dump, which nopony in their right mind lived in five miles of. On this side, you had to know what you were doing to live here, or at least know how to act around other ponies. But none of that is important at the moment. What is important is a certain purple unicorn in a dress holding a red jewel, and currently running for her life along a road leading into the eastern half of the city.

"Stop right there!"

Twilight Sparkle was not having a good day. Oh, it had started out bad already, with the stunt that she had just pulled. But having some of the Guard being sent after her tail? Not good.
'BANG!'

"EEEEK!" Twilight screamed as a bullet passed by and struck the ground in front of her. 'That almost hit my head! They're actually trying to kill me!' she thought, as panic started to set in and she started to run faster. As she started to pick up the pace, Twilight looked back to see what exactly she was up against. She immediately regretted it, as she had had been wrong. They didn't just send some the guard after her. They had sent the whole guard after her. From what she had seen with just a quick glance, she had at least 6 heavily armed earth pony squads, 7 Pegisi sniper squads, and probably a lot of gun wielding unicorn squads.

'Oh, why didn't I see this coming? Of course the daughter of Lady Velvet and Lord Light stealing from the Lord Regent of Equestria would have the guard on full alert!' Twilight groaned to herself, realizing her underestimating of the situation as she turned down an alleyway, hoping to avoid being shot to bits as a bullets flew by her. As she ran through the alleys, the noises of the guards slowly went away, and Twilight slowly relaxed.

"Well, That's over... for now" she said, but she knew that the Regent would never give up on the search after what she stole."Hmm..maybe that's why the whole guard was sent after me. Maybe it's just as important than I thought!" she exclaimed. Her mind was going a mile per second trying to figure out if what she had stole was exactly what she thought it was.

Unfortunately for Twilight, she had just wandered out in to the open, and as someone who looked like she came from one of the wealthier family's of Canterlot (which she was), as well as the fact that she was now a wanted mare with the entire city on lookout for her, made her blunder deadly. As Twilight walked through the square distracted by the theory's and questions rapidly forming in her head, she neglected to watch where she was going and bumped into a pony, taking her by surprise.

"Oof!" she exclaimed "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going." she apologized

"Well, you should be sorry. Do you know how much this dress costs! Probably more than whatever excuse you're wearing." the pony said in a uptight, snooty voice " Now, if you would kindly get out of my way!" the pony got up and made a move to shove Twilight out of her way, but stopped when she looked at Twilights face.

After noticing the mare expression, Twilight became confused. "Ma'am? Is something wrong?" She asked politely, not wanting to cause a scene. She then noticed the mare's eyes were quickly moving from something behind Twilight and then back to her. Starting to get a sinking felling in her stomach she turned around- and saw her face on a wall. On a poster. Specifically, a wanted poster.

Slowly turning back to the mare, Twilight slowly started to back away as the pony started to hyperventilate, hoping to get away before the enviable. Unfortunately, her streak of bad luck wasn't done with her.

"AaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" the pony screamed "CRIMINAL! ANIMAL! SUCM! HELP!". As the mare screamed her head off, Twilight burst in to a eastward gallop as the Canterlot Guard, hearing the screams, quickly converged on her position, and the chase started up again.

Pinkie Pie was having a great day! It had already started off good with finding out that the smog that had clogged the air had thinned out enough for a bit of the sun to shine through (which didn't happen often), and had further improved with the completion of her latest toy. At the moment though, she was repairing one of her creations that a local colt had bought in after it had broken down. After finishing the repairs and wiping her hoofs of grease. "I'm doooonnnne!" the toymaker said, bouncing back to the counter where the colt and his mother were waiting.

"Thank you for repairing it, Ms. Pie. Tornado Bolt was very upset after he broke it, It's one of his favorites!"

"Mooooooooooooooooom!" Tornado whispered "Don't tell her that!"

"Oops, sorry sweetie." His mother said is a teasing tone "Anyway, How much will the repair cost me?" She asked.

"Weeeeeeeeelllll, it would normally be about 40 bits... but since it's his favorite," Pinkie said, giving Tornado a grin as he blushed with embarrassment "I'll make it 20! Is that okay?" she said

"Okay! that's great! were in a bit of a jam money wise. You know how it goes." Tornado's mom said with a smile.

Pinkie's smile wavered a bit "Yah, I know." she said, as some of her bad days came to mind. "But enough of that! There's a colt who needs his favoritest toy back!" She leaned over the counter and hoofed the toy back to Tornado

Tornado grinned "YAH!" he shouted in excitement, and he started to play with the toy as his mother paid for the repair. Tornado's mother looked at him "Tornado Bolt, what do you say to Ms. Pie after she repaired what you broke?"

"Huh?" he looked up "Oh! Thanks Pinkie!" he said, beaming, before giving his full attention back to the toy.

Tornado's mother sighed and looked back at Pinkie "Thanks. He really was upset when he broke it. I don't like seeing him that way."

"Oh, that's alright. The toy's fixed, you got a 'favoritest-toy' discount, and I got to make somepony's day brighter. It' a win-win-win for all!" Pinkie said joyfully.

Tornado's mother laughed "Yes, I guess it is. You take care of yourself Pinkie, okay?"

"Oki-doki-loki!" Pinkie said "but remember to take care of yourselves too."

Tornado's mother laughed "Don't worry, I will. Say goodbye, Tornado!"

"What?" Tornado said look up to see who had interrupted his playtime "Mom?"

"We're leaving, sweetie. say goodbye"

"Okay! Goodbye Pinkie!"

"Goodbye Tornado!" Pinkie said "And remember to check your pockets for wockets too!"

Both of them laughed at that "We will, Pinkie, we will" Tornado's mother said "Have a nice day!"

Pinkie watched them leave her store with a little grin on her face, happy that her creations were making ponies happy. But now wasn't the time to get so thoughtful. She ran over to the register and opened the draw, turning it over and spilling all this month's hard earned bits on the table. After combining it with the twenty bits she just made, she realized that she now had enough money to finely get what she wanted from the market. And, judging by the time, it would be a perfect time for a lunch break. Her smile got brighter as she thought to herself 'this day really is a great day!'

After putting on her coat and surprising fancy top hat (Nopony knew why she owned it, or even afforded it), Pinkie stuck her head out the window to see the weather. After a few seconds her smile got even brighter, as it seemed that the smog that choked the air was thinner than usual, and she would only need to wear her scarf outside; which was good as her goggles could be a pain sometimes anyways. After locking up her store, she started to make her way to the nearest market, humming a song on the way.

As she made her way toward the local market, she noticed something odd. Ponies seemed to be quieter than normal, and many were looking over their shoulders a lot more than usual. Taking a closer look at the number of ponies in the street, she found out why. There seemed to be an increased number of the City Guard (or the Grumpy Guard as she called them; they were impossible to cheer up!) in the streets . While there were a lot already around the place in order to 'keep it in line', there hadn't been this many here for a long time. Deciding that getting arrested would not be in her interests, as it would defiantly ruin what seemed to be her bestest-day ever, she decided to pick up the pace.

Finally coming up to the marketplace, Pinkie actually stopped for a second to go over what she was seeing.

The market was normally a very loud and confusing place, with salesponies arguing with customers over prices and ponies pushing each other to get to stands and shops with their money before their object of interest was taken by somepony else. Today, though the market was filled with ponies who were silently arguing with each other, and the crowd was much more orderly than usual. Despite being slightly confused she shrugged her shoulders and started to enter the market-

"Hold it right there!"

and was dragged to the side of the entrance by two member of the 'Grumpy' Guard. After getting back up on her hooves and putting her top hat back on (nopony touches the hat!), she got a good look at the Guards. they both seemed quite focused on her, and not in a friendly way. "Hey, new buddies!" Pinkie said, hoping to see if not all of the Guard were Grumps "How are you doing-"

The Guard on the left side eye's narrowed " Miss, you shall address me as 'sir', not 'new buddy'. I am not you 'buddy', and never will be."

"Oh. Okay." Pinkie said, realizing that he was one of the 'professional grumps' of the 'Grumpy' Guard, who she knew not to try to cheer up. Last time she did, the end results wasn't pretty. "So guys, what can your ol' pal Pinkie do for you?" she said in her normal upbeat voice.

"Didn't I-"

"Ugh, Astral Ax, just stop." the guard of the right said "Listen Miss, if you cooperate, we'll let you go back to.. whatever you going to do." Opening up a pocket on his comrades satchel and pulling out a stick that started to glow "Now." the guard said "If you would hold still-"

"Oooh, cool! is that a glow stick!" Pinkie said "I hear there really great for parties!"

"No, it's not. it's-"

"Oh, oh! it's a laser sword!"

"No-Wait, what? Laser swor-?"

"Or maybe it's a magic wan- "

"Filly, SHUT UP!" Astral Ax shouted. "You are getting on my nerves. And ponies who get on my nerves do not end up in happy places. GET IT!" he finished, snorting in anger.

"Yes." Pinkie said quietly, her ears back and shaking in fear "I do. Sir"

As a smug grin appeared on Astral Ax's face, the guard on the right and shot a nasty look toward his comrade "Excuse us for a second." he said to Pinkie, gesturing to her 'stay there', and then dragged Astral closer to him "We need these ponies to help us with the search!" he hissed to him under his breath "Scaring them out of their minds is not going to do that!"

"Silver Pike, they said to use any means to find her. That includes making sure annoying, uncooperative Rusties-"

"You're looking for somepony?"

The two guards jumped in surprise, as Pinkie had seemed to appeared right next to them despite no sign of movement. "H-how did you get-aw, forget it." Sliver said, shaking his head.

Pinkie tilted her head in confusion "Forget what?" she asked.

Silver sighed, chosing to ignore the question, "Yes, we're looking for somepony. Specifically this pony. Have you seen her?" he said, holding up a poster. "She wanted for high treason against the Regent and Equestria."

"Huh." Pinkie said, closely studying the wanted poster "Hmmmmm.... nopey-dopey! I've never seen her before." She frowned "Which is really weird, 'cause I know almost every pony around in a ten mile perimeter. Oh well! That means there's a new friend out their!" She said, smile returning to her face.

The two guards blinked in confusion at the exactness of Pinkie's 'friend zone'. "Anyway" Astral said " Can we finish this up here? I got a headache, and I want to get as far away from here as possible now." He then turned towards Pinkie "Mostly because of you."

Silver looked between his partner and the odd mare "Alright then. If you would just stand still Miss, I'm going to use this scanner to scan you for any illusions or other magical disguises you might have casted on yourself."

"So that's what it does!" Pinkie said, turning her head with the scanner to watch it do its work. "So can I go now?" she asked after it was done

"Yes, you can go now." Astral said, putting the scanner back in the satchel "You have a nice day now."

Pinkie grinned "Thanks Mr. Pikey and Mr. Axey! have a nice one too!" She then turned around and quickly bounced toward the market before her item of interest was gone

"WHAT!" Astral shouted "How DARE she! That's it." he said, pulling out a some sort of club "She's coming with me." he growled, moving towards Pinkie.

Silver rolled his eyes "Astral, stop it." he said grabbing his partner "Save that anger for the mare whose actually wanted. Don't waste it on Rusties, okay?" watching as Pinkie bounce away into the crowd.

"But she called me-"

"I don't care what she called you. We have somepony to find and we are going to find them. Got it?" Silver said.

After a short staring contest, Astral relented and put his club away. "Fine" he grumbled, following his partner away from the market. "You're not going to tell the others about this, right?" he said after a few minutes of walking.

A small smirk appeared on Silver Pike's face "Of course not..Mr. Axey" he said "And before you ask ; yes, I'm never gonna let you live it down."

Taking a look at her surroundings, and finding it clear of any threats, Twilight slowed down and started to relax. After nearly getting caught at the market (thank Equestria for that crazy mare), she had quickly moved through ally after ally hoping to find a gap in the circle the guards had managed to trap her in due to her panicking. Luckily she had managed to find an old, worn, thrown out cloak as well as a scarf and goggles which covered her nicely and kept her fur and mane colors well hidden while she was out in the open.

"Of course, I wouldn't be in this situation if I'd have stuck to the plan" she belittled herself as she started to remove the uncomfortable outfit. She had everything planned out... except being branded as a traitor and pretty much having a death sentence put on her head.

"So, where do think that wanted mare is?"

"No clue, but I'm still gonna get the reward!"

Twilight froze where she stood. Right around the corner were two ponies discussing her. Specifically two locals, or 'Rusties' as they were known on the west side. Which terrified her. Everypony on the west side of Canterlot have had stories of the Rusties told to them as colt's and fillies. After all, living next to a bunch of broken up airships and inhaling smog daily was not good for the mental health of ponies.

"So, how we gonna catch her?" The first voice said "I've heard she's suppose to be really powerful."

Twilight heard a snort "Yeah, but remember, she's a Snobber. Bet ya that she's probably runnin' like a scared little filly."

Despite being frozen with terror, Twilight felt anger at the jab. 'I'd like to see how long you live with a kill-on-sight order' she thought to herself.

The second voice continued "besides, she's wanted 'dead-or-alive'. If she gets too hot to handle, we'll take her out."

Now Twilight was no longer 'terrified'. She was horrified. And her mind wasn't helping, with all the scenarios it was coming up with. And she didn't know if she should vomit or faint due to the things she was speculating.

"Well, I hope it doesn't come to that" the first voice said "it would be pretty hard to explain to the Guard. Besides, she's probably used to clear air. It wouldn't be a stretch for her to pass out due to lack of it." the first voice chuckled. "In fact, I bet you she thinks that the smog was thick today."

"Thick!? Today?! If she thinks that, she's bucked."

Now Twilight was worried and horrified. She had in fact thought that the smog was thick today and she also had a hard time breathing too. If it got thicker... she really didn't want to think about it. She also started to get the feeling that she was missing something. Something important... and then it clicked.

The voices had been getting closer. She had just been too focused on the conversation to notice.

Snapping out of her frozen state, she quickly started to look around for an exit, any exit and finding that no matter which way she went, It would attract the two ponies attention. Feeling as if her heart would jump out of her throat, she steadied herself for whatever would happen.

"HEY! YOU TWO!"

At the sound of a third voice, Twilight jumped into air; and from the sound of it, so did the other two voices.

"What the hay?!" the first voice shouted "Is that.. your mom?"

"Yeah, it is. Hold on I got this. WHAT IS IT!" the second voice yelled

"YOU FORGOT YOUR SCARF AND GOGGLES! I DON'T WANT YOU DYING BECAUSE OF SMOG IN THE NIGHT!"

"BUT IT'S NOT THAT SMOGGY OUT!!"

"THEY JUST SAID THEY'RE LETTING ALL THE STORED SMOKE OUT OF THE FACTORY!!!"

"WHAT?! WHY!?"

"THE SEARCH, SWEETIE! THEY HAD TO CLOSE THE FACTORIES SO THE PEGISI CAN SEE! WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S BEEN LIKE THIS!?"

"UHHHHH...GOOD LUCK?!"

"Dude," the first voice said "let's just go back over there. We can't catch that Sparkle filly if your voice is shot"

"Oh! Right! Wanna be able to call her out if we see her." the second voice said "Good idea. WE'LL BE RIGHT OVER MOM!!" it yelled.

Twilight heard -who she guessed to be the first voice- a facehoof, and then the two voices started to fade away. Twilight slowly relaxed as the immediate threat had passed. But now she knew something important; the reason there was less smog than normal today (which she could hardly believe) was because the factories normally belching the stuff had been closed, and in order to make up for that, it seemed that they would be releasing the 'stored up' smoke tonight, which meant that if she wanted to breathe anytime soon, she needed to find a place to sleep that was indoors.

Looking around, she saw nothing that seemed to fit her need. There were only what she guessed to be residential houses, until she saw what seemed to be some sort of store. Grinning to herself, as she made her way towards the store, she found out that it was a toy store. Hoping that nopony was inside, she sighed in relief at the 'closed' sign on the door, and after checking the lock, Twilight found that it wasn't that complicated. Focusing her magic, she carefully moved the tumblers until she heard a 'click'. Now tired due the complex spell she had used, yet filled with some much needed confidence, she made her way inside.

As Twilight shut and re-locked the door behind her, she got a good look at the inside of the shop. "Wow." she said "This place is...really messy."

That was a bit of an understatement. The shelves looked like the owner had just thrown the toys on them, and, as she made her way to the back of the store, she found that what appeared to be what was the toymaker's workshop was even messier then the front section of the store. Gears and springs were all over the place. There were what appeared to be blueprints for new toys, mostly mechanical in design, and on the walls next to it notes that said everything from 'Pick up today at 12:30' to 'Save bits for new thingamajig'.

'New thingama-what?' Twilight thought. Realizing that finding out what some toymaker was up to was pointless, she shook her head and instead focused on trying to find a place to settle down for the night, which was turning out to be harder than she thought. Every single place that seemed that she could fit in to turned out to be filled with unfinished toys, designs for toys, and toys that the owner made for themself.

"Well, she's certainly dedicated to her job. Maybe a bit too dedicated though." Twilight said. She was getting a bit annoyed that her place of refuge wasn't really turning out like she expected. "Of course, I am in the Rustyard. I should've know things would be different. But not this different though." Finally finishing checking the downstairs, she made her way to what she guessed was the upstairs storeroom. 'Maybe I can hide there. It might be risky though, if the owner needs supplies tomorrow.'

At least, that was what she was expecting. "Huh?" Standing at the top of the staircase, she blinked in confusion. Where were all the boxes of supplies that kept the shop stocked? All that was up here was a old heater, a worn cupboard, a dented desk, and what seemed to be a bed in the corner of the room. In fact, this looked less like a store room and more like "...a bedroom." she whispered. "it's a bedroom."

And it was. Why it might have been just an attic originally, that had been changed. The walls were a bright pink, and there was a blue and yellow carpet in the middle of the floor. The desk looked well cared for and seemed to be regularly used, and the cupboard probably held the owners clothes, and looked like it had been dusted recently. It even had random stuff on the floor too!

Twilight felt like smacking herself. "Geeerrrrr" she grumbled in anger. What was she thinking, that there would be a storeroom?!. This wasn't the Central Plaza! The owner wasn't making enough to live somewhere else! ' Alright, Twilight, get yourself together. You can still make this work. You're just going to...' But her train of thought stopped there, as she heard noises from downstairs.

The owner was home.

Pinkie was ending her day on a very high note. After meeting those two members of the Guard, she had manage to quickly head to Time Turner's Gears and Stuff stand and manage to get her thingamajig at half the price, leaving her with enough bits left to get some scrumptious cupcakes from the Cake's bakery. This left her with time to visit some of the fillies and colts who weren't that lucky and put a big Pinkie Pie smile on their faces. She had even managed to (somehow) get some random guard to laugh! Now with her bestest day almost finished, she bounced back to her house-shop (that's what she called it) in order to squeeze the rest out of it. She was surprised to see a note nailed to the door, though. She decided to read it inside with the cupcakes. Quickly entering and locking the door behind her, she took of her jacket and scarf and, carrying her cupcakes, made her way to her workshop.

Pinkie paused. Now that was unusual itself, as the pink pony rarely stopped moving. Ever. But she had a good reason. You see, even though her workshop seemed like a mess, which it absolutely was, Pinkie had an odd knack of knowing where any part that was needed for her latest toy, or for fixing a broken one. And from simply taking one glance at the room, she could tell that some things were out of place. And she had been out all day, which left only one option. Eyes narrowing, Pinkie put her soon-to-be-eaten-after-she-deals-with-this cupcakes down on the table and reached in to a pile of parts, pulling out a magnifying glass, and then pulled a deerstalker hat out of a cupboard. If she was going to track down somepony, she was going to look the part, darn it!

Even though Pinkie wasn't a professional pony-finder, she knew some things that she could do. First, she decided to see if the pony was friendly.

"HELLO!" Pinkie shouted "I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!" After getting no response, she decided to sweeten (teehee!) the deal "IF YOU DO, I MIGHT SHARE SOME CUPCAKES I GOT!!"
Nopony yelled back.

Pinkie steadied herself. Now she knew she was probably dealing with somepony that didn't mean well. Nopony would ever refuse cupcakes (well, nopony she knew.)

"Alrighty then." Pinkie said, reaching for her magnifying glass "Let's do this thing."

Twilight was nervous. Very nervous. The owner was back, and from what it sounded like downstairs after she had made her 'offer' (Cupcakes? Really?) it seemed as though the mare was going over her house more thoroughly than the Guard trying to find her.

'How did she find out that I was here that fast?' Twilight wondered. 'This place is a mess! What could I have possible have done to get her to notice me?' Despite this question and others like it running through her head, she (quietly) moved around the room, looking for a place to hide.

There wasn't that much in the room in the first place. The mare down stairs obviously put a lot of her money into her work, but from her 'offer' the mare did spend it on herself. Just not on things in which Twilight could use to hide in. The biggest thing in the room was the bed, which didn't have enough room under it for her to slip under. The other thing she could hide in was the cupboard, but that was most likely where the mare would check first right after the bed. And only a crazy pony would think of hiding in the heater.

"Ohhh, what do I do, what do I do, what do I doooo!" Twilight hissed in frustration and panic. The mare was nearly finished searching downstairs, and Twilight was about as open as The Regent opinion of Blueblood's flank-kissing (not that Blueblood noticed) 'Idea, idea, I need and idea!' she thought 'c'mon, Twilight, think!'

'thunk'

Twilight froze where she was standing. The mare was done checking downstairs, and now she was on her way to search her room. only three words could be used to sum up Twilights situation

' oh, buck me'

"FREEZE,CUPCAKE HATER!"

Pinkie slammed the door to her room open - only to find it devoid of anypony. This did nothing to stop her suspiciousness of the room in question.

Slowly closing the door behind her, Pinkie gave the room a look. She was quite tired of searching around her house at this point, and she really wanted to go eat those super-duper-tasty-amazing-tantalizing-wonderfully-surgery cupcakes, but Pinkie had a job to do, and sweets wouldn't get in the way....yet.

"Alright miss culprit, I searched everywhere else. And I meant everywhere. Up. Down. Left. Right. Sideways." Pinkie said, looking left to right. "And now, I'm going to do the same to this room. Up. Down. Left. Right. Sideways. And I will find you." she pulled out her magnifying glass. "Now then...let's find something suspicious"

Meanwhile, above, Twilight was watching the pink pony wearing a weird hat in fear as she held on for dear life some beams she had notice when she was looking around franticly. She figured that it would serve as a temporary hiding spot while the room was being searched, and thank Equestria it was working; how the mare had managed to make 'let's find something suspicious' sound so ominous, Twilight would never figure out. All she could do right now was watch as the mare search the room starting with...the heater?

All of a sudden, a loud grumble broke the semi-silence of the room, nearly causing Twilight to scream. She luckily stopped herself from doing it though. 'But where did it come from?' she wondered to herself.

"Mr. Tummy, I know you want to eat. I want to too." the pink mare said to her stomach. "But there's a possible cupcake-hating culprit in my house-store, and I will find them or my name isn't Pinkie Pie! You HEAR me, Mr. Culprit! I. Will find. You!"

'Well, I know what her name is at least' Twilight thought 'Not like that helps me in any way... Or does it?' Twilight started to grin. She finally had a idea that may be able help her. Looking down on Pinkie, who had just came out from checking under the carpet, her confidence rose a bit

After going over her attic bedroom an eighth time, Pinkie started to think that she was possibly, maybe overdoing things. and after checking heater again, maybe a little crazy too.

She scratched her head in confusion "I don't get it. The culprit should be in this room. it's-"

Piiiiiiiinkkkkieee....

"Huh?" Pinkie looked up "Who's there?"

Piiiiiinkkkkieee...

"I said, 'who's ther-"
Iiittt'ss meee

"It's who?"
Iiiitt'ss meee. The one you've been waiting for...

"'Waiting for'?"

Yeeesss. Downstairs.

"...Cupcakes? You can speak?"

Yeeesss I caaannn. And I want to let you kno-

"Hey, why are you extending the words of your first line?"

....Because.. Reasons?..

"Okay!"

...Right. Well, I just wanted to let you know; you can eat me

"Uuum....Okay? I knew th-"

No. I meant NOW would be the best time to eat me.

"But I'm busy now! I have a-"

Do you know how long I've been downstairs?

"Yep!" Pinkie said "I've been keeping track! It's been about 1 hour, 16 minutes and- "

Exactly! So let's do us both a favor and enjoy ourselves! You eat me, I'll get chewed...

"..That was a little creepy."

Sorry. So, go downstairs?

"Well... the house is locked," Pinkie frowned "I guess..but"

Hey, I have an idea! How about you bring me up to help?

Pinkie gasped "Wow! That's a great idea! I'll go get you okay?"

Seee ya sooon!

With some new-found pep in her step, Pinkie left the room to go pick up her friends from downstairs

As the door shut behind Pinkie, Twilight slowly let out a sigh of relief. "Well, That was close. I better figure some other way out of he-"

"SUSPICIOUS!!!!"

"EEEEEKKKK!!!" Twilight hit the floor hard, and before she could get up, she was flipped on her back where she received an face full of pink from a certain pink pony currently standing over her

"You thought you could use my hunger against me, HUH!?" Pinkie said "You thought that you could trick me into thinking that my funneriffic day ever topper could talk, HUH!?"

"B-but you shut the door!" Twilight stammered "How did you-?"

Pinkie ignored her "Quiet! I'm asking the questions!" she leaned in closer "Now then Ms. Fancy pants, I'm gonna ask you some questions, okay?" Twilight quickly nodded, not wanting to get in any more trouble than she thought she was in.

Pinkie grinned, happier now knowing that she would now be getting to the bottom of her puzzling conumdrom. " Alrightly then!" she chriped "My first question is this...do you really not like cupcakes, or are you faking it?"

And that question was the straw that broke the pony's back for Twilight Sparkle. The sheer randomness of it, combined with running for her life, nearly being killed, the exhaustion from casting that last spell, and the daylong paranoia finally caught up with her, and she did the first thing that came to mind; she panicked.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, tossing Pinkie off her, and ran at full gallop towards the door-

*WHAM*

-and hit it face first, having forgotten it was closed. Letting out a small whimper, Twilight stumbled and collapsed on the floor and
let the sweet embrace of unconsciousness engulf her.