The Broken Mirror

by Keywii_Cookies55

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 11537

The world of Equestria is bright, colourful, and friendly. But what if it weren't? What if it were a dark place filled with terrible things. Join Pinkie and Rarity as they explore this concept.

It was an unusual day for Princess Twilight Sparkle. Normally she'd be busy with royal duties, or solving some form of friendship problem, but on this particular day she was free to do as she wished. She awoke to Spikes cooking, she had a friendly conversation with her friendly friends, and she did some science.

So with such a lovely day, what could possibly go wrong?

This story is an undertaking so large I had to call in the assistance of my good friend DrPinkieDie as a colleague and co-writer.

Unfortunately I am no longer writing this, however, a good friend of mine has taken to rewriting the Broken Mirror, with all it's borken goodness you all crave. It can be found here: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/369113/broken-mirror

Published 2015-10-21 22:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-10-21 22:00:01 UTC

Ch1 Daily Dealings

Princess Celestia.

Ruler of Equestria, and benevolent alicorn leader of all ponykind, was rising the sun on yet another beautiful day in the magical lands. This, however, was such a common event that nopony even thought twice about it. In fact they relied on this for their very way of life.

Celestia, however, was but one of four alicorn princesses in this country filled with talking cartoon horses. Along side her was the Princess of the Night, Luna, who raised the moon and watched over the dreams of every pony. Another of the princesses was Cadence, who was the Princess of Love, and ruler of the Crystal Empire.

And finally, there was Twilight Sparkle, the newest of the four and the beloved Princess of Friendship. This was the first night after receiving her castle that Twilight finally felt at home, and was blissfully sleeping the dawn away. This wouldn't stand however.

On this particular morning Spike, Twilight's adolescent dragon assistant, was in the castle's kitchen. Preparing Twilight's favourite breakfast; a stack of 10 chocolate chip pancakes drizzled in syrup and topped with a generous helping of whipped cream. He was getting impatient with just cooking however and decided to take action.

Setting the stack on the kitchen counter and taking off his heart-adorned apron, Spike began marching through the grand hallways towards Twilight's bedroom. The door was closed, but this wasn't unusual, so he knocked on the door and waited. Getting no answer above a light mumble, he felt further action was needed.

So he barged in.

"Twilight, wake up! I made you breakfast." He called to her from the now open doorway. In response she mumbled something he couldn't hear.

"Twilight!" But his voice was proving ineffective. So, thinking on his feet he ran back to the kitchen and grabbed the plate of food.

With his 'motivation' now in hand, he walked back into Twilight's room and held the plate in front of her nose. It didn't take more then a fraction of a second for Twilight to begin sniffing and smiling in her sleep.

With the remainder of the second she shot up from her sleep and exclaimed "I'm pancake!"

...

Birds were very faintly heard through the closed windows in the room.

With Spike now staring at her, eyebrow raised, Twilight grew a light shade of red in her cheeks, clearly embarrassed, "...awake. I meant awake..."

Spike just smirked and walked away with the plate of delicious wonderfulness in his claws.

"Breakfast is ready!" He shouted back to her as he tried to stifle a laugh.

Now alone in her bedroom, Twilight stretched and attempted to wake up properly. Beginning her morning ritual she walked over to the window and opened it, soaking in the marvelous morning sunlight.

She yawned happily, "It sure feels like it's going to be a good day, today." She thought to herself, "Princess Celestia doesn't have any royal duties for me to take care of."

Drinking in the morning air she smiled to herself and began making her way to the dining hall for breakfast. "And It sure has been a while since I just sat down and read a good book." It was about this time that the delightful fragrance of her favourite meal enveloped her completely.

"That sure does smell good Spike," Twilight said rounding the corner, eyes still closed from the morning fast she had yet to break.

"Yeah! he's certainly outdone himself today," beamed the cheerful voice of an equally cheerful mare as she joined Twilight on her walk into the room.

Twilight simply smiled, she was not much of a morning pony herself, but the energy of others was always welcome. "I'm glad I have him, I'd probably go hungry if he wasn't here to cook for me."

Hearing this, Spike smiled and turned to reply, but upon noticing something, became confused.

"Pinkie? If I knew you were going to be here I would have made more." Spike said, not thinking too much about it.

Pinkie Pie was an Earth Pony, and good friend of Twilight's. 'Energetic' and 'happy' failed to properly describe this walking ball of Laughter, as nothing could keep up with her antics. Being addressed by Spike didn't phase her, and she just waved a hoof dismissively as she took a seat at the circular table, "That's okay, I already ate breakfast, but we can make lunch together." She walked over to sit at the dining table.

Spike smiled at this as he got up onto a chair at the dining table himself. "That'd be great, but don't you have to work?" he asked, genuinely curious why she was here and not at the cafe she resided, Sugarcube Corner.

But Pinkie just dismissed this comment as well. "Don't be silly, I was up late last night baking so I could be free to have fun around Ponyville today!"

"Oh, that sounds great, what were you baking?" Spike asked.

But as these two friends chit-chatted about this and that, Twilight couldn't help but feel like something was off. There was something about this scene that was unusual and that required her attention, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was with her still sleep-clouded mind.

"Did I forget to follow the checklist?" She thought to herself before remembering she promised to stop having a checklist for her everyday life. "No..."

She sat down at the dining table and started eating her breakfast, "What could it be?" she continued thinking as she practically inhaled her short-stack.

When she finished, both her food, and attempting to discern the issue. A bright pink mop of cotton candy shaped hair popped up behind her.

"Wow Twilight, you sure ate that fast," is what Pinkie wanted to say, but was interrupted by Twilight jerking forward in surprise. "GAAAAH!"

"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled, now fully awake after such a startle, "You can't just keep doing that, I thought you were sitting over..." She trailed off before she began to point to the empty seat beside Spike as it occurred to her what had felt off this whole time.

"...Pinkie," Twilight began slowly after a short pause, "How long have you been here?"

"Just now when you finished eating." Pinkie answered curtly, smiling to herself at such a response, but Twilight just held out her hoof in a 'stop' motion.

"No, I mean, when did you get to the castle?" She asked, putting emphasis on every word in order to make sure Pinkie understood correctly.

"Oooohhh, that happened just a few minutes ago when you said you were glad to live with Spike." Pinkie remarked thoughtfully, but this answer didn't satisfy Twilight's curiosity either.

"That doesn't make sense though, that's right before I first saw you, and you would have had to come in before that." Twilight stated, almost to herself as she began pacing.

Pinkie remained silent but thoughtful.

"You would have had to be at the castle itself before hearing me say that if you answered me right away like you did."

Spike just watched the exchange happen from his seat, knowing full well not to get involved.

"I suppose you could have crawled in through the windows, but then Spike would have saw you, and he didn't see you until after I did." Twilight's eye began to twitch.

Now it was Pinkies turn to interrupt her friend, "Twiliiiiiight, I thought you already learned that you need to believe." She said, with just a touch of annoyance.

Twilight was broken from her thought process and looked to Pinkie, "But that was just for your Pinkie Sense, this is about how you always go from place to place all the time."

Although Twilight was entirely serious, Pinkie broke out into a laugh, her pink coat shaking slightly from the impromptu giggle fit. "Hehehe ahahehehaheha! Oh Twilight, my jumps aren't a secret." Pinkie continued laughing, but Twilight seemed even more baffled.

"But...but HOW?" Twilight stammered out.

"I don't know, but it sure is fun!"

It was maybe 20 minutes later, Twilight had left Spike to watch over the castle while she went out to get answers. Pinkie was hopping along cheerfully as Twilight simply walked through the streets of early morning Ponyville. She learned from the last time she tried to study Pinkie that just asking questions and recording data resulted in simply wasting time. As well, the entire time she and Spike had been following her that day, not only did she not learn anything useful, she also got pretty badly injured along the way.

Maybe back then she'd have been too proud to ask for help when it came to science, but these days she'd gladly accept the assistance of anyone that would be able to offer it. Unfortunately there weren't too many ponies in Ponyville that cared much for science in the way she did. Devoting more time to practical things, such as farming the food they ate, or doing repairs on the frequent weekly damage the buildings around here took. So her options were few.

In fact, her and Pinkie were on their way to the only other scientist in the entire small town she knew about. Time Turner, or as he preferred to be called; Doctor Hooves, was a brilliant scientist and an accomplished inventor. It was only a week ago that he'd showcased his now-renowned Flameless Fireworks™ at the highly anticipated wedding of the towns resident donkeys, Cranky and Matilda.

Twilight didn't really think much of the Doctor before then. He was polite and intelligent, but he mostly kept to himself. This changed just recently however. The day of the wedding, after the event had taken place, Twilight knocked on his door and formally introduced herself, praising his creation and asking him questions about how it worked. Ever since that day they'd frequently been spending time together and discussing advanced level science and any other scholarly things that they could think to bring up with each other. At this point she considered the two of them friends.

This was why she was heading over to his house now. Perhaps with his fresh perspective, she could finally sate her burning curiosity and put the years long matter to rest. Not that Twilight thought she could figure it out today. Pinkie could seemingly teleport without the aid of unicorn magic, and Earth pony magic certainly couldn't explain everything Pinkie was capable of. But asking the Doctors help would be a step in the right direction.

On their way to his house, Twilight and Pinkie passed by the local Hay Burger Queen, and spotted Doctor Hooves eating outside with one of his other friends. Twilight had already eaten breakfast, and it was a delicious, if short-lived, breakfast at that. But she was still weighed down by a bit of hunger. With this in mind, she decided that if nothing else she can grab a bite to eat to tide her over until lunch. Princessing was hungry work, after all.

Twilight couldn't hear what Time Turner and the grey mare he sat with were talking about, but as she and Pinkie approached, Twilight caught the tail end of the conversation.

"-and they've been so happy together." The doctors friend finished saying as Twilight and Pinkie walked up to them. "Pinkie and Twilight? Hello!" His friend cheerfully greeted.

Pinkie quickly waved in response, hey mane lightly bouncing as she did, "Hi Derpy, how are you today?"

Derpy Hooves, a grey pegasus with seemingly perpetually crossed eyes, was a carefree mailmare and a good friend with most of the ponies in Ponyville. Because she shared the last trait with Pinkie, the two always took the time to talk and swap stories.

As their conversation began however, Time Turner focused his attention on the more purple of the mares. Taking an occasional bite of his morning meal as he did, "Twilight!" he exclaimed, "Just the mare I wanted to talk to. I think I've come to a solution regarding yesterdays conversation that I wanted to run by you. Are you busy today?" He asked, excitement clear on his face.

"I am free, but I wanted to talk with you as well." Twilight replied, sitting down in an empty seat beside him.

He straightened his bow tie in pride, "No doubt it has something to do with the plasma globe you saw the other day? I'm rather proud of that one myself."

Twilight just smiled and shook her head, wasting no time in getting right down to her point, "I am still curious about that, but no, today I wanted your help with something that's been troubling me for a long time."

Flabbergasted, the Doctor dropped his food onto the plate in front of him, "Great whickering stallions! That simply won't do! By all means, what's gotten the great Twilight Sparkle bewildered?"

Twilight blushed slightly at the praise, but quickly regained her senses. "It's about Pinkie, she does things that I just can't explain, and I stopped questioning her 'Pinkie Sense'" she said putting air quotes on the last two words, "but there's other things about her that don't make any sense!"

Doctor Hooves just listened on as Twilight continued describing her concerns. "She can just teleport around! And I don't know why! Earth Pony magic isn't capable of doing that!"

"I would certainly think not, no." the Doctor quickly added, "Speaking from personal experience, hopping about from place to place is strictly Unicorn territory."

"Exactly!" Twilight exclaimed. "But all the tests I've run didn't answer any of my questions, if anything they just left me more curious."

Time Turner quickly stood up and threw a few bits onto the table beside his plate. "Well what are we waiting for then?! Come! Let us retreat to my lab and see what can be done about this curiosity of yours."

This alerted the attention of both Pinkie and Derpy, as well as that of the odd pony or two in the vicinity, but only the former two continued to look after a short few seconds. Derpy looked up at him with a confused expression.

The Doctor returned her look with an apologetic smile of his own. "I must apologize, my friend, as science is calling me! I do hope we can continue this conversation at another time." He proclaimed loudly, followed by speaking quietly to himself for a second, "I'm rather interested in the story of this book of yours."

Pinkie smiled brightly and said goodbye to Derpy before following Twilight and Turner.

"Let us make haste!" He shouted before running off towards his home.

No time at all had passed between chatting at the cafe and walking through the front door of Doctor Hooves home, being that he, Twilight, and Pinkie had quickly rushed over. From there the theorizing began; how far can Pinkie 'jump'? Why is it that she's as light as a pegasus? Where does she pull her party canon from? How does she store things in her mane?

Questions were only getting them so far however, and after maybe half an hour Twilight was growing a bit restless. She suggested hooking Pinkie up to sensors and graphing information. But the Doctor had a different solution.

"Perhaps we can take some samples and run the tests on those." He suggested to Twilight, to which she was hesitant about. Saliva was one thing, and although a mare's mane is important, it can grow back, but he had also suggested taking a blood sample from Pinkie, and that unnerved Twilight slightly.

The scientist part of her brain was entirely convinced that this was a good idea, since in the right hooves, taking blood is entirely safe. The 'Princess of Friendship' portion of her was uneasy at the prospect however. Especially when the idea was pitched to Pinkie and she seemed to be partially afraid of the needle that would need to pierce her skin. Pinkie seemed to be afraid of needles in general, "I'll b-be fine..." Pinkie meekly said, putting the needs of her friends before her own. This just made Twilight feel guilty, but she made sure Pinkie was alright by asking a second time.

With the pink horse now insisting, the samples were taken, but as quickly and painlessly as possible. "That should be the last of them." Twilight reassured an uncomfortable looking pink party pony as she put the last of the cotton candy coloured hair clippings into a small bag with her magical aura.

Pinkie saw fit to get some fresh air at this point. And Twilight understood completely.

After she left the lab, the testing could begin. The first two tests had resulted in nothing happening, much to the disappointment of a certain purple alicorn. The third however, quite literally exploded in a puff of hot pink smoke and confetti.

"...another failure..." Twilight lamented after a short fit of coughing.

Doctor Hooves seemed to have taken notice of something however. "Not necessarily Twilight. When you've got a second, take a look at this," he motioned for her to join him on the other side of the room.

Twilight shook her head in an attempt to regain a bit of her composure, but smiled and joined the other scientist by the microscope he was using.

He moved aside for her and smiled, "I was carefully studying Pinkie Pies skin cells in an effort to gauge any difference from our own and spotted nothing significant initially."

Twilight bent her head downward to look into the microscope and gasped at what she saw, "but after hearing the explosion," the Dotor continued, "every cell seemed to almost stop and look at it, followed by what you see now."

She couldn't believe her eyes, "This doesn't make any sense!" She thought to herself. Looking at the sample again, she noted the distinct sight of what could only be described as a party. Each cell had it's own miniature party hat, and dozens were mingling. Some looked to be lightly vibrating on cue with each other, as if talking. Which Twilight confirmed when it looked as though one of the cells had told some style of joke and several nearby it had began shaking in a form of laughter.

Her head shot up in excitement as Doctor Hooves smile only widened further. "Do you realize the implications?!" He shouted excitedly.

"We have to document everything!" Twilight almost screamed in pure delight.

While this was going on in the laboratory, Pinkie saw fit to wander the Doctors home, if nothing else, then to calm her nerves a bit. She was happy for Twilight, even if this would probably end in another hydra attack at Froggy Bottom Bogg. But she was still unsure.

"Why does she have to question everything all the time?" Pinkie thought as she wandered into the kitchen, "why can't she just have faith in something?" Though seeing as she was wandering backwards into the kitchen while she considered Twilight's lack of beliefs. Pinkie Pie failed to spot the white Unicorn currently deciding which style of curtains to hang in the window that would best frame Ponyville.

Rarity was Ponyville's premiere fashionista, owning her own boutique and having worked from the bottom upward. As well, she fancied herself a good friend, knowing both Twilight and Pinkie for years now. She did, however, have a prissy air about her.

"Hmm...no, too orange!" The Unicorn briefly remarked before Pinkie bumped her brightly coloured balloon-adorned flank into Rarity's diamond covered rear.

This startled both of them.

Calming down somewhat, Rarity dispelled the telekinetic magic she was using to hold up the differently coloured pieces of fabric, and turned to face her friend. "Pinkie Pie?" The Unicorn breathed in surprise. "Good heavens dear, whatever are you doing here?"

Pinkie, to her credit, caught her breath and analyzed the situation far quicker then Rarity. Thus she was no longer surprised to see her seamstress friend at Dr. Hooves own home.

"Oh hi Rarity!" Pinkie spoke, now turning to actually face her friend. Her expression was that of defeat with just a touch of annoyance, "Twilight is studying me again!"

This did little to answer Rarities question however, and she became confused. "Pardon?"

Pinkie grew a quizzical sort of look for a second before smiling and putting her left foreleg over Rarity's shoulder, "Oh right, you weren't there." Giggling, she continued, "Twilight didn't understand my Pinkie Sense, so she followed me around all day and I had fun leading her everywhere. And then Fluttershy was in trouble, but we got there and she was fine, but that wasn't the doozy! As it turns out the doozy was that Twilight took a leap of faith, I didn't expect THAT!"

Part way through the short ramble, Rarity nudged out from under Pinkies grasp and stood facing her instead. "But I guess it didn't take..." Pinkie continued, taking on a sort of somber presence.

Rarity had little idea what to do here, not only because she had no idea what Pinkie was talking about based on her vague description of events, but also because she was focused on interior design before meeting her energetic friend less then twenty seconds earlier.

Still attempting to catch her bearings, Rarity attempted consoling her upset looking friend. "...Pinkie..."

"Oh, what do I say here?" She thought to herself, "I don't even know what's bothering her, it has something to do with Twilight, but past that I haven't a clue."

Rarity shook off her doubt and smiled at Pinkies waiting eyes. "...Pinkie Pie, what happened?"

This took Pinkie by surprise, she thought she explained what happened at Froggy Bottom Bog pretty clearly, "...but I guess not," she second guessed.

There was a pause as the two looked at each other. Pinkie was getting uncomfortable however and decided to change the subject. "So...what are you doing, Rarity?"

"Now, now, darling, don't dodge the question, I AM curious what really happened with you and Twilight." Rarity pried, normally it was standard practice to let Pinkie be herself and not interfere in her antics. Everyone in Ponyville knew this. Rarity however was making an exception this time knowing that Twilight was involved. She found herself following Twilight's antics more closely ever since she became a princess several months ago, And even more so now that so had her own castle.

Pinkie however was never one to like repeating herself, and was hesitating at Rarity suddenly demanding her to expand upon her unclear recollection of events from years passed.

"...I, but I already explained that s-silly!" Pinkie was sweating, normally she had no trouble dodging ponies asking her to clarify herself when she acted the way she did. But it was getting increasingly difficult as this particular conversation continued.

Rarity realized at this point that she was causing unwanted stress and determined that a change of topic was indeed in order. So, shifting her eyes a bit, she addressed Pinkie, "Well, that's quite alright."

She turned her attention away from her nervous friend to the fabric she was looking over earlier. "Since you did ask me what I'm doing however, I suppose an answer is in order."

The mood improved immediately as Rarity described her reason for her visit today. "You see Pinkie dear, ever since the wedding a week ago, Time Turner." She took a short break in speech to get out a quick laugh "Or, the Doctor, as is the name he chooses for himself these days."

She turned quickly to a smiling Pinkie Pie, holding four differently coloured curtain patterns in her magical blue aura, "He impressed all of us with his inspired fireworks. Flameless he calls them? Well he seems to have found himself quite the attention recently."

Pinkie was watching Rarity as she eloquently recalled her reason for visiting, and all the while specifically watching a shiny, star covered pattern. It reminded her vaguely of Twilight's first Gala dress, at least the revised, not-as-good one.

"And as such," Rarity continued, almost forgetting Pinkie was even there, "he's asked me to help, how they say, 'spruce up the place'? Yes, I rather like that one."

Pinkie could see Rarity practically beaming with excitement, and wanted to share in her exuberance with some of her own. "Wow! That's cool!"

But that didn't happen. Instead, Rarity hesitated, not getting the reaction she had wanted. "I've seen her get more excited about a slice of pie," Rarity thought to herself.

"Yes, I do suppose it is quite... 'cool'" Rarity stated as she turned away, more hurt then annoyed.

This hurt Pinkie as well, "What's wrong with Rarity?" she thought, "She went from super excited to super frowny all at once." So, without a good understanding of why each other was acting the way they were, they remained in silence for a minute.

...

This stretched on for several minutes. Rarity had decided on a kitchen curtain aesthetic that worked and moved onto the front room. All the while Pinkie was attempting to conceive what exactly she had said to upset Rarity. "And then I said that I already explained it, and she looked at me, but lightened up..."

The silence continued however, All the while Rarity felt a bit guilty, "I've never seen her this quiet before. Sure she wasn't as excited as I expected, but did I perhaps create this lull in conversation?" She thought as she stole a glance or two at her normally bouncy pink friend.

"...ah..." she began, but quickly retracted as she realized she didn't actually have anything to say. "What can I say to console her?" Rarity began thinking, "How does one cheer up Pinkie Pie?"

This went on for another 20 minutes, both struggling to start a sentence and break the silence, and both entirely focused on the words they'd already shared.

"And you're sure this big glass window will protect us?"

Twilight Sparkle and Time Turner had spent roughly an hour running tests and documenting any and all information on the odd habits and mannerisms that Pinkies DNA held. They'd learned dozens of things in that time; that Pinkie hops around all the time because she oddly has some pegasus magic imbued in her regular earth pony magic. That if she were any other colour she'd have different skills, yellow for example had her cells running a business, and red had her creating and inventing different machines.

But Twilight had yet to solve the problem she came here for. The solution was as of yet out of her reach. So the good Doctor felt that something a bit more controlled was in order. Thus, with Twilight following closely behind, he walked down his basement stairs into his Testing Complex. Which was just his way to name a small empty room connected to an observation area by a large, three inch think slab of solid glass. The two sat in the observation room and looked in on a lock of Pinkies manehair.

By normal standards this would be seen as perfectly safe, perhaps a bit creepy under different circumstances, but still, safe. This was however a scaled up version of the experiment Twilight had run earlier. The one that literally exploded in her face. As such she was a bit more then hesitant.

"Not to worry, Twilight," Doctor Hooves stated as he tapped his hoof on the glass, "This mere 'window' has protected me from any number of explosions. I'd think that adding a little colour to the mix shouldn't make things more dangerous."

Twilight lightly smiled, she was sure that the magnitude of the explosion would easily crack the glass enough to pose a threat. But she was only here because she wanted a fresh perspective, and on that front she'd certainly not been disappointed.

"Well if we're in no danger then I think we're ready to begin." Twilight remarked.

The Doctor handed Twilight a pair of thick goggles to wear. "Safety first, as they say!" He exclaimed while he put on a pair of his own.

With their safety gear firmly applied, and having double checked that the doors were locked so nopony could wander into the basement while the experiment was taking place, they were ready to begin.

Twilight looked focused as she stared at the lock of hair. She intently studied every strand, the way they appeared as cotton candy. The way that the frayed end seemed to curl in on itself ever so slightly. Each curl, shade, and exact placement was taken into account when Twilights alicorn horn lit in a brilliant magenta colour.

She knew the exact magic she wished to invoke, and like clockwork, the hair in the adjacent room was enveloped in the same magical aura. This was where absolute concentration was required, Not due to lack of experience, but solely to the complicated level of spell Twilight was conjuring.

"I wonder what will end up happening," Twilight thought as the spell took effect.

But as before, a bright pink explosion of confetti and streamers engulfed the room around the spell, throwing the hair forward at the glass. Twilight almost cancelled the spell, but she felt something. Something she couldn't explain, an unseen force that felt just a little bit different.

Twilight knew from experience that the flow of an explosion was traditionally outward in all directions, the force being a push. But the secondary force she felt was unusual, an...inward pull? It started off small at first, almost like an itch in the back of her mind, but it quickly grew to make itself known.

"Ahhh!" Twilight yelped, as all of a sudden, there was a second inward explosion, and this cancelled her spell outright. Throwing her out of her magic and disorienting her. She stumbled back, but caught herself before she fell over.

"Great Wickering Stallions!" Doctor Hooves exclaimed as he stared at the implosion before him. Twilight shook her head a bit and then looked forward. She immediately regretted doing so however.

"What is that?!"

Rarity had had enough, she was supposed to be Pinkie's friend, yet she'd acted unbecoming earlier. It'd nearly been an hour, and she was through waiting in silence.

"Pinkie dear," She said, turning to the confused and upset looking pink mare in the room with her. "I'd just like to apologize for my rude behavior earlier."

Pinkie looked at Rarity to listen, but something was wrong. VERY wrong.

"You were excited and I clearly failed to return your wonderful compliment." The white unicorn put her right hoof on her friends shoulder, "It was rather unladylike of me and I do hope you can accept my apology.

But Pinkie was too preoccupied to notice anything Rarity had said. Someone, or something was trying to invoke her Pinkie Powers, which was very much so NOT a good thing. It even knew what it was doing, It was attempting to 'jump' Pinkie into the basement.

She knew she could jump from place to place to entertain her friends, she even had a good grasp on how to do it, but never had anyone or anything else done it FOR her.

Rarity took notice of the worry plastered on Pinkies face and became worried herself. "Is something the matter, Pinkie?" But instead of answering, Pinkie just grew more frantic

Pinkie was sharply aware that she had less than a second to react now. She was about to be in the basement, and although that wouldn't be too much of a problem she thought, Rarity was still touching her. Thinking fast, Pinkie attempted the push Rarity's hoof off of her. Stepping to the right she almost succeeded, but her purple maned friend held firm.

And then, the two ponies were no longer in the room. Instead, in their place, a small lock of pink hair gently floated down to the floor.

"I...did...WHAT?!" Twilight screamed, fear plain on her face.

"You opened up a..." The Doctor was in the middle of answering when he saw it. Or rather, them.

In the testing room, Pinkie and Rarity, seemingly while no one was looking, suddenly appeared, facing the glass. Pinkie was worried and disturbed, And Rarity was just now realizing that she wasn't in the Doctors library anymore.

Twilight's fear exploded into outright terror as she saw her friends standing in the room in front of her. Without thinking she tried to reach through the glass to reach out to her friends and pull them out of danger.

Pinkie was about to say something, but she suddenly felt an immensely strong wind behind her. Rarity felt it as well. This was followed just as suddenly by the glass in front of her getting further away as they were pulled backwards.

"HELP!" was what Pinkie wanted to scream, she wanted desperately to scream this, but it was easily drowned out by the increasingly louder winds pulling at her.

And just as suddenly as everything else; the room, the light, and Twilight Sparkle all faded away, replaced by blackness.

Blackness...and a nagging need to sleep.

Author's Note

Welcome to a very ambitious project of mine and my good friend DrPinkieDie. I hope you enjoy, and if you notice the pacing being a little fast in places, don't be afraid to say so, I'm always second guessing myself.

Ch2 The Grass is Always Bleaker

Ch2 The Grass is Always Bleaker

Silence.

This was all there was as two ponies lie unconscious in an unfamiliar place. The two mares laid side by side, though more specifically, one of the ponies was a white unicorn. She had flowing hair with a two-toned purple and magenta colour scheme, and her flank was adorned with three blue diamonds.

Roughly ten or so feet away from Rarity stirred an unconscious mare of a single colour, Pink. Her mane was a large curly mess, so tangled in on itself that it moved more as a single mass then as a multitude of separate strands. It's look was reminiscent of cotton candy, and her tail was much the same. Her coat, although still pink, was a much lighter shade then her hair. Finally, sitting on either side of her flank was three tied balloons, The outside two a light sky blue, while the centre balloon was a calm yellow colour.

The silence was interrupted as a small droplet of water fell from above and landed squarely on Rarity's forehead. This was followed in haste by a groan from Rarity herself as she awoke from her unconscious state.

"MMMMMmmmmmmm..." she mumbled as she moved her right foreleg to lightly swat at the air in front of her face. This stopped quickly though as Rarity realized how uncomfortable she was. This was punctuated by several details. the first was the lack of her warm red blanket, the second was the lack of sleeping mask over her eyes. The third, and perhaps most important, was that she seemed to find herself, not lying in her bed, but on that of the hard ground.

Rarity's eyes shot open, "AHHH-" she began to scream before a deafening migraine overtook her. The world was a confusing mess of dark greys and blacks all swirling around as her headache pounded away in her skull. Testing to see if anything was broken or damaged, she got to her hooves and made sure no sharp pains came to her. One pain did, but this was quickly remedied by holding a hoof to her head and closing her eyes.

"Oooohh... what happened?" She asked herself aloud as the world slowly began to spin less and less. She wasted no time looking around, and instead decided to focus on what lead to her being where she was.
"Well let's see here," Rarity thought to herself as she paced slightly, "I was assisting Time Turner with my precise eye for fashion. When Pinkie Pie surprised me to say hello."

"...and things became awkward." She said feeling the guilt of her earlier conversation wash back over her. She stopped pacing and looked over at Pinkie sleeping peacefully, remembering that she tried to remedy her behavior.
"I was in the middle of apologizing to her, but then I was in a different room." This confused Rarity greatly, as she didn't remember casting a teleportation spell.
"Not that I could," she thought as she recalled what happened, "I don't know much magic that isn't gem related."

But then realization hit her like a tonne of bricks, "Twilight," she whispered slowly.
"I saw her looking simply terrified just before I fainted. She must be the reason I'm here now." Rarity thought before looking around.
"Wherever 'here' is," But that didn't add up quite right.
"Why would Twilight teleport Pinkie and I away? Perhaps whatever was scaring the dear so badly was behind the two of us."

"Yes, there was something simply dreadful right behind Pinkie Pie and myself. And being that Twilight Sparkle is Twilight Sparkle, she felt that taking us away from the situation was best." Rarity felt content at her conclusion.
"So where am I?" She asked herself inwardly, though with much less haste knowing she was sent here safely.

Rarity decided that the best course of action here was to go on a hunt for her bearings. And so for the first time since waking up here she paid careful consideration to the walls and ceiling of this place. Engaging her ever watchful eye and focusing closely on the place she presently found herself.

"A cave?! She sent me to a CAVE?! Of all the places to send me it had to be a dark, dirty, disgusting cave?" Rarity huffed at the nerve Twilight Sparkle had for daring to send her to a cave instead of a salon, or perhaps somewhere for more realistic, like a grassy field. Yelling loudly like that disturbed her headache of course, but it had calmed down to a dull throbbing in the back of her skull, in the last few minutes.

Looking around the cave, Rarity noticed nothing spectacular, it was fairly small and it didn't go too far in any one direction aside from a slope leading to a light source maybe 50 feet away. An exit if ever she saw one, she trotted forward toward it to see where in Equestria she might be. This was before she heard a screech from Pinkie behind her.

This upset Rarity's migraine some, but not too terribly. Realizing that her pink friend was now awake and most likely as confused as she was, Rarity turned around to advise Pinkie.
"Darling, I'm going to need you to calm down, everything is-"

This was about when Rarity looked up to see Pinkie clinging to a stalactite...not unlike a cat.
"WRONG, Rarity, everything is WRONG!" Pinkie shouted, finishing Rarity's sentence, she looked frightened beyond belief. Rarity had never seen this sort of behavior from Pinkie before, she was scared almost to the point of parody, looking around frantically, shaking uncontrollably, fear was plain as day on her face. Rarity felt sympathetic for the Earth pony, knowing that she was afraid, but considered her actions to be ridiculous and over the top.
"Just Pinkie being Pinkie," Rarity thought to herself with a smile.

"Pinkie Pie, everything is absolutely fine, the two of us were in a dire situation, and our dear friend Twilight removed you and I from whatever crisis stood just behind us." Rarity consoled, and to her delight, Pinkie visibly calmed down.
"There's nothing to be upset about because we're safe here...wherever we are."
"But Rarity-" Pinkie started in before the stalactite she was practically glued to broke off from the cave ceiling and crashed to the ground. Pinkie in turn got up, looking unhurt, but still worried.
"Don't you feel it? The ground is all messed up!" She rushed over to put her hooves on the Unicorns shoulders. "It's all weird and broken and...cold."
Rarity lightly lifted Pinkies hooves off her shoulder and leaned against her as a form of reassurance. Pinkie in turn leaned into Rarity, quite forcefully seeking emotional support.
"Pinkie dear, the ground is always cold, it's why I prefer to wear boots for the colder months."

This didn't seem to have the effect that Rarity was looking for however. So, still a bit afraid of having a repeat of their earlier awkward exchange, Rarity quickly changed gears and tried to sound as sincere as possible.
"I'm sorry Pinkie, but the ground simply doesn't feel any different to me." She apologized as Pinkie lowered her head. But Rarity would have none of that and used her hoof to raise Pinkies chin upward so she could show Pinkie how sure she was that everything would be alright.
"I don't know why you're feeling the way you are. But know this," Pinkie focused on Rarity's words with rapt attention, "You're safe, and nothing is different. As long as I'm here by your side, nothing can hurt you."

She'd fed Sweetie Belle the same line the last time the filly was having trouble separating her nightmares from real life. She really did have an overactive imagination, but it worked. And Rarity deplored stretching the truth with her friends, but it seemed to work here too. Pinkie had given a smile, Rarity could tell it was forced, and that Pinkie was still upset, but she seemed to be assured that nothing was wrong.

Pinkie was unsure, the ground felt twisted and thorny instead of the usual warmth she felt from it, but what if Rarity was right? Maybe she was just imagining things were different. She'd rarely ever been teleported through unicorn magic before, and never through alicorn magic, maybe this is what it felt like? And Rarity didn't seem bothered, maybe she felt the same way but ignored it to help her out.
"What a good friend!" Pinkie thought, "I need to chin up and get back out there! It's only fair to Rarity, she is just as scared of this weird place as I am."

It was Pinkie that finally broke the silence as she looked ahead and spotted the way out of the cave.
"Hey look." She showed the white unicorn by her side, "A way out of here!"
Rarity just smiled knowingly and stood up, Pinkie was still upset of course, but she wanted to make sure Rarity was okay by remaining confident. This didn't stop her from darting her eyes in every direction to determine what exactly she felt was staring at her, but it was a start.

Light, this was the first thing the mares noticed as they exited the cave. Light, and skyscrapers.

"MANEHATTEN!" Rarity cheered excitedly, "I take back everything I've ever said wrong about Twilight, a cave leading to the fabulous Manehatten is simply marvelous!" Rarity looked at the tall building, eyes filled with wonder.

But Pinkie looked at them differently. They were tall like Manehatten, but everything looked grey and faded, all the colours she remembered seeing weren't here. And they must have been in the outskirts of the city, because she couldn't see ponies anywhere. Pinkie looked up at the sun as well, to see what time of day it was, but had trouble finding it in the usually blue sky. Confused and uneased at not finding blue, but at the yellow haze she did see.

Looking at the closest building as well took her by surprise. She had expected to see the regular small bricks, reflective glass, and brightly coloured awnings. Instead the buildings looked like they were consistent, like rock, but seemed to look way stronger, made with better material then brick. And what little windows she saw looked too reflective, not just shiny, but like actual mirrors. And there were no awnings of any kind anywhere. It almost felt like someone sucked all the fun out of Manehatten and left a bunch of thin grey mountains.

And what's worse was that the weird feeling she got from the ground came from these buildings too. Something was definitely wrong around here, and Pinkie noted every last detail. She was always good at absorbing information about the ponies and things around her, and she was making great use of that skill now. Even if this weird part of Manehatten was making her feel even worse then she did in the cave.

She had to put on her strongest face for Rarity though.
"Not only are the two of us safe from whatever dangers Twilight saved us from, but she moved us to the glorious metropolis of Manehatten." Rarity beamed as she trotted forward.
"Perhaps we can visit Coco Pommel while we're here. Oh, I hope she isn't too busy!"

They wandered for about two minutes, Rarity rambling excitedly all the way, until all of a sudden the unicorn stopped. She looked back at the worried looking pink pony.
"Pinkie Pie," She asked in an unsure tone, "Do these streets seem a mite deserted to you?"

Pinkie, as if unaware that Rarity was even speaking, was having a heated mental dialogue.
"...And that means that, no, no it wouldn't. But then how do you explain the puddle over there? Sure it looks normal but what if it isn't, it could be hiding any number of secrets! But wait, Rarity is as upset as I am, I need to put on a big smile for her. Be the element of laughter she knows! But how did we get here? Was it really Twilight, HOW COULD SHE SEND US HERE! This place is broken! No I shouldn't be mad at..."

But of course all Rarity could see was the roller coaster of emotion rushing past Pinkie's face at almost Rainbow Dash levels of speed. In the span of several seconds Pinkie went from confused, to suspicious, to gleeful, to rage filled, and settling on something close to guilt before she noticed Rarity had stopped and was looking at her, a touch of concern and a bit of her own guilt on her face.

"What's up Rarity?" Pinkie asked trying to sound as together as possible.
"I'm just concerned is all," Rarity replied, taking a step closer to Pinkie.
"Oh no!" Pinkie quickly thought to herself, sweating bullets while Rarity took another step towards her. "Rarity isn't happy, we need to talk about something else quick before she starts crying!"
"You've been uneasy since we've woken up here. I'd feel just awful if I didn't help you in any-"
"It sure is grey around here!" Pinkie abruptly shouted, interrupting Rarity.

Rarity stood dumbfounded for a few seconds, confused by Pinkies outburst. Not just by the fact that it happened, but also by the words themselves. 'grey around here'? She repeated to herself. But upon looking around at the forest of skyscrapers, she couldn't help but notice that yeah, Pinkie was right. It seemed almost duller then the beautiful metropolis she knew and loved. Rarity would have responded to Pinkie, but she was captivated by looking around at everything around her. A slight sigh of relief could be heard from beside her, but Rarity was unconcerned with that and simply drank in her surroundings.

After a moment she looked back at a calm looking Pinkie.
"Yes, I don't think I've ever come to this part of Manehatten before. The word 'bleak' certainly comes to mind." Rarity noticed the less panicked looking Pinkie Pie and smiled.
"It's just terrible that I haven't done much to help Pinkie Pie. She's FAR too stressed for a day trip in Manehatten." Rarity thought to herself as an idea began to form. "Perhaps we can find a quiet cafe to sit and talk, it is almost brunch after all."

"What say we look for somewhere to talk over brunch, hmm?" Rarity stated while taking a slow stride forward.
Pinkie returned her look with a smile, "No thanks, I already ate breakfast, I'll talk though."
Rarity's expression fell a bit, after seeing that Pinkie's smile was indeed, still forced.
"This mare is impossible!" she lamented, "How do you even cheer up Pinkie Pie!"

It was then that Rarity noticed a stallion walking further down the street. He was a dark orange earth pony a bit older then Rarity with a large frame and looked to be physically strong. He had a faded night blue mane in a short style and seemed to have a focused looking scowl on his face. The oddest feature about him, Rarity noticed, was his cutie mark. It was some sort of device, but she had no earthly idea what it could be. Even getting closer didn't help, it seemed to be some mechanically fashioned holder for...packing tape? It was. The roll of tape was held in place by a triangular bit, with a part extending outward, which Rarity guessed was the handle. And underneath was a mish-mash of different parts intended for who knows what.

"Excuse me sir," She asked as she got with in earshot, "But my friend and I seem to be a bit lost, could you give us directions?"
Pinkie tentatively waved as he looked his way, she'd normally be more open and friendly, but he gave off the same cold weird feeling as everything else around here seemed to.

Now Pinkie was a mare of surprises, she enjoyed making ponies smile and often times that meant doing the unexpected. In her short 19 years of life, she'd learned a thing or two about what to expect and what not to expect. Now obviously you can't be prepared for everything, but you can learn to expect certain things at certain times. For example, the stallion Rarity got the attention from could do any number of things. He could be rude and tell them to go away. He could be kind and give directions. He could be shy and hide when he noticed he was being talked to. He could check the time and realize he was late for something.

However, no amount of experience with other ponies could have prepared anyone for what he actually did.

Slowly he looked in Rarity and Pinkies direction, slightly surprised by an interruption to whatever he was thinking about. He looked at Rarity standing about 20 feet away, or more specifically at her horn. He then raised his right hoof to point at her and let out an ear demolishing screech.
"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!"

Both Pinkie and Rarity covered their ears to block out the invading sound. Rarity even closed her eyes as she tried to focus her senses on ignoring the sound as best she could. She thankfully didn't have to hold out for very long as the stallion became silent, only to charge head first towards her.

Pinkie was shocked. She felt pride that she was right about everything in this place being wrong, but quickly pushed that aside as she saw the stallion charging. Thinking back on her experience with rowdy party guests, and using her quick reflexes she pushed Rarity out of the way of a powerful blow from the attacker. Rarity didn't fall over, but instead ran to the side as Pinkie ducked below this stallions outburst.

"You Dirt ponies are always putting yourselves in danger for these damn Caners, makes me SICK!" He hissed as he stomped his right foreleg down. Fortunately for Pinkie, she was far quicker then him, and avoided this attack as well. Which became even more fortunate as the sidewalk beneath his hoof cracked in several directions.

Rarity almost fainted in fear at practically seeing one of her best friends be killed right in front of her. She kept strong however, not wanting to give this pony a free chance to take her out, since Rarity seemed to be the one that angered him in the first place.

"Hey You Big Bully!" Pinkie yelled in defiance, "I don't know what 'caner' means, but leave Rarity alone!" She moved out of the way of yet another blow while the guy continued to get angrier.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAHHHH, WOULD YOU STOP MOVING ALREADY?! YOU DAMNED CLOUD ROOTER!!!!!!"
"What's wrong with you? how could you say things like that?!" Pinkie asked, upset that anyone could be so mean.

Unfortunately he didn't seem to be the 'civil' type, and just kept going after Pinkie with a blood lust in his eyes. He no longer looked like a pony, but a savage animal seeking to kill and devour its prey
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR GOD DAMN SWAYING BACK AND FORTH, NOW SIT STILL SO I CAN TEAR. YOU. TO. PIECES!!!!!!!!!" Of course, Pinkie refused to listen, and kept dodging each swing from this stallions hooves, he eventually started stomping the ground in disgust, leaving cracks where he made contact. He charged, smashing the ground as he went, hoping the next thing he hit was the pink pony he despised so much

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH, I SAID STOP MOVING SO I CAN SPREAD YOUR BLOOD ACROSS THE GLORIOUS CONCRETE!!!!!" Pinkie got caught by his final swing, while it only grazed her, the strength of the pony was enough to send her flying back, and the stallion moved in for the kill. This was the last straw for Rarity, she couldn't just stand idly by while her friend was inches away from ending up like the sidewalk. She ran in and readied her hoof for her tried and true right hook.

Pinkie was doing all she could, she got back up but was starting to get tired. She was starting to slow down, and her throbbing cheek was proof enough that Pinkie was quickly running out of time. She closed her eyes and attempted another dodge, but she never felt her legs move back. This was it, this was the end of Pinkamena Diane Pie.

But the final punch never came. She was sure she heard hoof connecting to muzzle, but didn't feel any pain.

Pinkie opened her frightened looking blue eyes to see her vision mostly filled with orange. The stallions hoof was so close she could smell the concrete from when he'd struck the sidewalk earlier. Looking past his hoof, Pinkie noticed his expression, he seemed less insane and blustered then moments earlier. Connecting to the left of his face was an extended white foreleg, stopped mid assault, and connected to a very confused looking fashionista.

Rarity was surprised, she'd expected to knock the attacker to the ground. Or at the very least do more then nothing. She lowered her leg slowly, realizing that he was far better built then she'd accounted for. He began to turn his head and Rarity could see his expression shift.

To say he was angry before would've been an understatement, but to have said it now? You'd be downright lying. Blood vessels started growing as he slowly tensed up. Both Pinkie and Rarity took a fearful step back as he took a vengeful step forward. The air around him began to darken as he slipped further into the realm of rage-induced madness.

Not wanting to find out if he was actually going to kill them, Pinkie fearfully looked to Rarity for advice. Rarity didn't say anything, but nodded as she returned the look. There was only one thing to do in a situation like this, and the mares knew it well.

They turned and ran.

"There's...another one! To the left!" Rarity shouted beside her to Pinkie as they sprinted through the city streets. "Where...do they...keep...coming from?" she huffed, clearly out of breath as she shared her thoughts with Pinkie.
"Maybe they heard him scream!" Pinkie shouted back, looking spooked, but not out of breath like her friend.

They'd been running for several minutes and attracted quite the attention. Now not only was there a mad stallion on their tail, but a group of equally mad and enraged ponies chasing them block after block.

"What...do...we do?!" Rarity wheezed, she was spending all of her energy keeping her legs moving forward, and so she wasn't coming up with any ideas for their next course of action. Pinkie thought about Rarity's question and looked around for an escape.

Pinkie looked around desperately for something, anything, that would be their salvation. She looked to her left and saw a dead end leading to four different buildings. She looked straight ahead and saw another two of those insane ponies running towards them. She looked to her right and saw the street extending into the distance another two blocks.

Pinkie squinted slightly to see what there was at the end of the street, and a look of sudden realization spread across her face.
"That way!" Pinkie shouted to Rarity, who made no motion to disagree and followed the pink mare.

"Get back here you caner pus!" The stallion shouted before he noticed Pinkie Pie picking up the pace. Rarity was doing valiantly, but was very quickly running out of steam, running on fumes as it was.
"Just another block, Rarity, you can do this!" Pinkie thought her encouraging words as she ran closer and closer to her destination.

Pinkie could hear the sound of dozens of hooves closing in on her and Rarity. This couldn't continue, and she was well aware of it. Time was quickly running out and there was still too much street left. She looked to her left and saw that Rarity was about to collapse.
"You're almost there!" Pinkie shouted to her friend, realizing then that she was finally feeling the wear of running for so long.

Back, back,

Front, front,

Back, back,

Front, front,

Clup, clup,

Clup, thup,

Clup, clup,

Thup...

"'Thup'?" Pinkie Pie thought, "that doesn't sound-"
"HOLD FIRE" but she was quickly pulled from her attention by a booming voice ahead of her.
"It's a Unicorn and True Earth! I SAID HOLD YOUR FIRE!" the feminine voice sounded again.
Pinkie and Rarity didn't stop to focus on whoever this new pony was, and instead continued forward down a slope, and then back up another slope.

What they encountered was a line of ponies 20 across all wearing some description of military uniform. They stood behind a chest high wall of bags and all looked to be unicorns with spells prepared.
"Delta Squadron, hold position! Current, formation one one four! Horns, prepare Gallon-over-Quart!" Yelled once again the same voice. Pinkie guessed she was in charge.

Pinkie and Rarity made it to the bag wall and were met with who Pinkie would describe as the most serious looking expression she'd ever seen. The serious expression in question belonged to a mare no larger then herself, but somewhat older. The pegasus wore a green uniform that had alot of small crown pins. Her mane was a short two toned white and light grey colour, and not styled in any particular way. Her coat was a light navy blue colour. Pinkie also noted that her cutie mark was chess pieces.

The officer looked at Pinkie, seeming to study her, taking three seconds for her eyes to flicker over her entire pink form. She then looked over Rarity, noting the severe exhaustion she seemed to be suffering from.
She turned her head to the left slightly, her expression not changing once.
"Corporal Beat Feet!" she shouted.

Within several seconds a skinny looking unicorn about Pinkies age ran up to stand a short distance from the mare that shouted his name. He was wearing a uniform the same colour as the mare's, but it covered his entire body, hiding his cutie mark from Pinkies curious eyes. He raised his right front hoof and lowered it hastily, almost eerily so. He then stiffened up his body and stood at attention staring forward.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Grand Strategy!" He sounded, though less out of obligation it seemed, and more out of respect. Grand Strategy turned towards him and spoke with a commanding voice.
"Corporal, see to it that these two mares are taken to Tent 13 and given any healing needed."

Having given her mandate, the Pegasus in charge turned and started addressing the ranks, giving out more orders. Rarity took this moment to collapse from exhaustion, breathing heavily but quickly on the ground, and shortly thereafter passing out.
"Rarity!" Pinkie yelled in worry and got down to her level, "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault I shouldn't have-" Pinkie starting yelling, tears coming to her eyes.
She was swiftly interrupted and pushed aside by Beat Feet.
"Stand aside!" He barked at Pinkie.

Pinkie was shocked, she was entirely invested in crying and blaming herself for Rarity's entire experience since getting here, but she was forcefully pushed aside by whoever this stallion was. His horn illuminated a faded yellow colour and the same colour enveloped Rarity, lifting her up from the ground.
"This unicorn needs healing, follow along Earth." He curtly demanded of Pinkie. Tears were still flowing from her eyes, but she followed the rude stallion, after all, he was bringing Rarity to be taken care of.

Beat Feet lead Pinkie, rather briskly, past different tents that were a boring dark green colour. Pinkie took this time to observe her surroundings, most of the ponies seemed to be back at the bag wall, but a few were walking around the area back here as well. The biggest change Pinkie noticed was the lack of buildings everywhere. She was right in thinking she'd found an escape from the city. All those weird Earth ponies back there weren't still chasing them she'd realized as she looked back and saw the city behind her. Around her now, other then the small town of tents, was clearing. There was dirt under her hooves, and even though it felt sick and in need of help, it wasn't cold and broken. The Earth out here wasn't wrong! That made Pinkie feel relieved for the first time since waking up here. Pinkie angled her ears to try and hear as much as she could, all she could hear though was Mrs Serious yelling at everypony, and loud sparky-buzzy noises.

Pinkie almost looked back, but stopped herself before she saw something she probably didn't want to. She didn't recognize the sound, but ever since she got here things had been terrible and depressing, and she was trying to smile as best she could, but she absolutely wasn't feeling it. ,
"How can I stay happy when I keep getting yelled at and talked to badly. I've gotta figure out a way to-"
"EARTH!" Screamed Beat Feet, ripping Pinkie out of her thought process, "NOW!" She wasted no time in catching up to him. Just then though he whispered something that truly disheartened Pinkie .
"I swear, all these stupid dirt eaters would be long dead without our guidance, bucking morons." Beat Feet said to himself in a voice he probably assumed was too quiet for anyone to hear.

"What do I do?" Pinkie thought to herself while making sure to keep up with this meanie.
"I could stand up for myself, but he's helping Rarity, what if he decides he hates me more then he likes her?" Pinkie made sure to put on her patented Fake Smile™ the one she knew nopony could tell was fake, but required little effort to maintain while she contemplated things that concerned her.
"How bad is Rarity right now? All we did was run, she just needs to rest for a while."
As Pinkie followed along with the stallion bringing Rarity somewhere to rest, she couldn't help but overhear some whispers of the unicorns around this weird military place.

"What a stupid look."
"Aren't she the enemy?"
"Think she's a Concrete?"
"No, She's too disgustingly pink to be one of those freaks."
"Hope she trips and dies so they can take her body out of here."

"Just keep smi-smiling Pinkie." she desperately tried to reassure herself, "Don't, don't cr-cry where they can se-see you."
"We're here, Earth," Beat Feet affirmed once they reached a tent with a red cross sign outside.

"Stay outside the tent, and for Celestia's sake, don't, touch, a thing." He commanded, talking slowly and putting emphasis on the last few words.
Pinkie was beginning to hate him, but she'd never hated anything in her life; not working on the farm, not Cheese Sandwich, and none of the enemies she'd fought in the past at all. When Discord broke her brain she thought she might dislike her friends, but that was the closest she'd ever come to hating anything. Things were different now, she had no idea where she was, and nothing had made her feel even slightly better except Rarity. And right now Rarity wasn't there to help her stop from hating.

"No!" Pinkie inwardly yelled at herself, "He might be the worst, but hate is wrong, I can't 'hate' something, what would Granny Pie think?"

"Just be sure to let me know when she wakes up." Beat Feet smiled as he talked to a nurse closing the curtain on a resting Rarity

"Of course Beat, she just needs to rest and breathe for a few minutes. She'll be right as rain in less than an hour," The magenta Pegasus returned the smile.
"Thanks," He said, quickly getting into saluting stance. "And sorry for bothering you with this." Beat Feet looked apologetic.

"Look," The nurse said knowingly, lowering his raised right hoof, "You're still a rookie, but when you've been in a war for as long as I have, you get thankful for ponies that are just exhausted."
"But didn't you hear, Tender? I got promoted to Corporal recently!" Beat Feet proudly boasted.
She flashed him a smirk, "Is that recently for you? Or for the rest of us?" and laughed lightly at her own joke.
Beat laughed as well, "It was last week."
"Well congratulations," the nurse said, walking towards the opening to the tent, "You've only been on the 3rd division for seven months, and you're already two ranks up from Basic, you'll make Master Corporal in no time."

Beat Feet followed her to the entrance flaps, "I should really get back to my post." He said once he realized that he'd been in Tent 13 for too long, "Thanks again Tender," he smiled.
"Mmhmm," She smiled back, lowering her eyes in a knowing look, "And that's nurse Tender Care to you, corporal,"

Corporal Beat Feet left Tent 13 feeling refreshed, talking with Tender always seemed to brighten his day. It immediately came crashing down however when he remembered the other mare he'd been instructed to bring to aid. The overly emotional pink one. He really hated these 'True' Earths, how weak they were. Always smiling, always willing to please, always doing whatever you told them. He truly abhorred them, the world was a dark place, and if they weren't willing to accept that then maybe he needed to wipe their disgusting smiles away himself. Sure they weren't his real enemy, but at least he respected his enemy. They were a group of treasonous heretics, but they knew where they sat, they didn't try hide their weakness.

"Is Rarity alright?" the pink one asked, getting right up into Beat Feet's face. He despised everything about her; her mane, her blatant disrespect, but especially her smile. But what could he do? He was ordered to make sure this disgrace of a pony was taken care of. And by the youngest military mastermind in over 300 years Grand Strategy no less. He wanted to lock up this stupid dirt eater and refuse her rations, but he couldn't. So instead he decided to be as quick about getting away from her as possible.

"Inside," he rudely stated before trotting off. Pinkie didn't once lower her Fake Smile, despite how much she wanted to punch him in his terrible face. He was gone though, and Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief. Noticing, as well, that she'd caught her breath from running by this point. She calmed her nerves a bit and entered the tent.

What Pinkie was met with was a Magenta coloured pegasus mare, with a short light pink mane. Her cutie mark was that of a bandage, and she seemed to be smiling lightly as she noticed Pinkie walk in.
"Ah, you must be Rarity's friend, I'm sorry, but I wasn't told your name." Nurse Tender Care sweetly said as Pinkie looked at her.
Pinkie didn't answer, but instead just looked hopeful at the nurse. She seemed to understand what this meant though.
"She just needs to rest, she'll be up on four hooves before you know it." The Nurse reassured Pinkie in a maternal voice.

Pinkie took this time to sigh happily. She'd done it, she'd gotten Rarity to safety. She could rest.

Author's Note

As always, this was written both by myself, and by the articulate DrPinkieDie

Well well, the place Pinkie and Rarity seem to find themselves in is certainly an odd place.

The Earth Ponies are aggressive, the Unicorns are racist, and the Pegasi are experienced in the art of war. I wonder where things might go from here, Hopefully not the grave.

Oh, and before anyway asks, I based the 3rd division closely to the Canadian military, being as I know more about that then the American military. Hence why ranks might seem a bit off to you.