Blast Shields and Bunkers
Pinkie bounced towards the centre of the field.
“Everything. Is. Perfect!” she thought to herself. The pink pony looked over her setup, and started to bounce back to the trench.
Applejack watched Pinkie through the binoculars. Ducking back down, she looked to Twilight.
“You sure Pinkie’s thought this through, Twi?” The apple farmer asked, and looked behind the unicorn to boards filled with equations.
Twilight beamed, and replied “Oh yes. Even in a worst-case scenario, Ponyville would have no chance of being harmed.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow, “So, uh… What about us?”
Twilight stopped for a second, and her eyes opened wide. Spinning around, she raised her chalk and came face-to-face with the pink pony.
“What are you silly-billies doing sitting here? We need to get this party started!” Pinkie said, and dragged the librarian to the other side of the trench.
“No, Pinkie, we need to ext-“ Twilight started to say, before Pinkie slapped a pair of safety-goggles over her friend’s head.
The pink pony looked around. “Everypony ready?” she asked, getting nods from all but Twilight and Applejack.
“Don’t worry guys, it can’t be that bad,” she said, and pulled a pair of goggles out for herself.
The purple unicorn looked over her friends, as they all peered towards the field. Pinkie bounced over to the pull-cord and Twilight ducked, head-in-hooves.
Pinkie Pie inhaled, and looked out over her blast zone with admiration.
“I love the smell of sugar in the mornings…” Pinkie said, and pulled the cord backwards.
A flash of light erupted from the centre of the field. Noise erupted, and Twilight held her head even tighter.
The noise stopped, and the light subsided. The first thing to run through Twilight Sparkle’s mind was “What in Equestria…”
The purple unicorn lifted her head and looked about. All she could see were a few book scattered about, and the radiant pink of the sky.
She looked up, mouth agape. Twilight got up on all fours, and scampered her way out of the trench.
“It’s the same from here to Canterlot…” she thought, staring into the distance.
Twilight heard a groan in the distance. Looking to her left, she saw Applejack lying on her side—hat not too far away.
“AJ!” she called, and ran over.
As Twilight got closer, she slowed down and stared at her friend’s hair.
“Twi?” Applejack said, and slowly stood up. She turned to her friend.
“Twi, what happ…” Applejack started, before noticing Twilight’s stare.
“You alright, sugarcube?” the earth pony asked, moving to take a step forwards.
Twilight saw her friend bounce towards her, and jumped back. After a few seconds, she replied.
“Applejack, you’ve got Pinkie’s hair,” Twilight said, staring at her orange friend.
Applejack got a confused look on her face, then pulled a full-size mirror from nowhere and plonked it on the ground in front of her.
Darn it Pinkie, what have you done this time? Applejack asked herself, staring at her new mane and tail. She rounded on Twilight.
“Is Pinkie Pie out there with my hair? Doing whatever wacky stuff she does all the time?” Applejack asked the unicorn, looking worried. “And what if-” the apple farmer stopped as she stared into the sky.
“Applejack, we have more to worry about than a bad hair day. We don’t even know if everypony else is safe yet,” Twilight said. She looked towards Canterlot, and Applejack turned to face her.
“You’re right,” she said, closing her eyes. Looking around, Applejack asked “So, where did everypony go?”
“You were pretty close by, so they shouldn’t be too far away,” Twilight replied, and looked behind herself across the open plains.
“Then again…” Applejack said, “I also ducked once it started.” Twilight’s brow creased, and she looked at her friend for a few moments.
“On second thoughts, let’s get some other ponies to help us out,” the unicorn said, and turned towards Ponyville.
As they headed to the town, Twilight began to notice differences in the flora and fauna. Everything’s so… chipper, she thought. She took a second look at some blooming flowers, before continuing towards the town.
As they got closer to Ponyville, the two mares heard a very busy-sounding Ponyville. Talking, talking, and more talking dominated the soundscape, drowning out even the extra-chirpy birds.
Ponyville came into view. Twilight saw a mass of ponies moving around town. Some were more pink than usual, some much more talky, and others just taking on a very familiar pink hairstyle. Applejack looked over the scene.
“What in tarnation…” she said, taking in a busy, loud, and very pink Ponyville. The two of them slowly walked into town, while pony after pony jumped in front of the pair and began to talk their ears off.
“Twi…” Applejack said, still looking around curiously.
“Yes, AJ?” Twilight answered, head down as she tried to ignore the drone of voices around them.
“This is…” the mare paused for a moment, looking for the right word.
“strange?” Twilight cut in, and looked to her companion.
“You can say that again,” the orange mare said, her pink mane bouncing as she looked to Twilight.
Twilight looked to the mare in front of her. “Fluttershy!” she yelled, jumping forwards and embracing the yellow mare.
“Oh hiya Twilight did you guys come here after the big explosion it was pretty big and went-” Fluttershy made a ‘boom’ noise, extending her hooves out at the same time. The rest of the mares around them did the same thing. “And then I was thrown really far away and I thought you guys might be hurt so I tried looking for you and then I found you and I am so happy you girls are alright…” Fluttershy said, her speech coming to a halt.
Applejack and Twilight looked to each other, eyebrows raised.
“Library?” Twilight asked, and Applejack nodded. They grabbed the yellow pony in front of them and headed off.
Fluttershy stepped into the library, still talking about animals. The two mares other followed her inside.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight said, closing the door. The yellow pegasus stopped talking with an “eep.”
“Have you seen any of the others since you got here?” Twilight asked, staring at Fluttershy.
“Well yes I think I saw Rainbow Dash flying towards Town Hall but then I saw you two and I was like *yay* and came over and started talking and then we-“ Fluttershy stopped as Twilight held up a hoof and turned to Applejack.
“So, Town Hall?” she asked. Applejack nodded, and turned to the yellow pegasus looking at them with a look of confusion.
“Now y’all stay here, alright?” she asked. A meek nod came from behind a light pink mane, and Fluttershy laid on the floor. Twilight floated a book over to the pegasus, and she began to read.
Twilight and Applejack stepped back outside, closing the door behind them. They looked out at the scene before them, pink splayed across the town. Twilight looked to the sky, and saw that it was the same pink as before. She groaned, and dipped her head.
“I tried to tell Pinkie, but no. “It can’t be that bad,” my flank,” Twilight said. Applejack’s face softened, and she nudged the unicorn next to her.
“Twi, trust me—this’ll all be fine. Nopony’s been hurt, and you can be sure nothing’ll happen to Pinkie,” she said, and gave a smile to her friend. Twilight looked up into Applejack’s eyes and sighed.
“I guess you’re right… still…” Twilight said. As she looked over the town, a brass section trumpeted from the sky. Twilight looked up and saw a carriage with gold and pink filigree flying towards them. The unicorn’s eyes expanded, as she muttered “Oh no.”
The Princess and the Petrified
Twilight stood still for a few moments, petrified as her mind raced.
“What if everyone in Canterlot is affected as well? What if Celestia says this is my fault for not stopping Pinkie?” Twilight frantically asked, pacing left to right.
“Twilight!” Applejack yelled, and the unicorn before her stopped. “Remember what I told you, everything will be fine,” She continued, and smiled at her friend.
Twilight began to relax, slowly becoming less tense before hearing a carriage land behind her. Spinning around, Twilight saw a very regal, very pink Princess Celestia step out.
The Princess stood there for a moment, looking at the two of them. She put on a small smile and started walking towards them. “Twilight, Applejack,” she said, nodding towards each of them.
Applejack shook her head. “Princess!” she said, kneeling down and lowering her head.
“It’s quite fine, Applejack,” Celestia said, and looked to her student with a small smirk. “Not exactly what you expected, I’ll assume?”
The orange pony gingerly poked her friend. Twilight looked to Applejack, and back to Celestia. “Uh… Um, Princess…” Twilight looked the pink princess up and down, “No, not at all what I expected.”
“Are you… mad?” Twilight asked, looking to the pink-haired guards connected to her carriage.
“That, my student, depends on what caused it. But I must say, it was interesting to see the upper class worrying about everything,” Celestia said, shooting a smile towards Applejack. The orange pony let out a small laugh, being cut off with a glare from Twilight.
“We’re mighty sorry, Princess. Pinkie wanted to try out a new recipe and, well…” Applejack said, trailing off.
Twilight half stepped in front of her friend. “I must have miscalculated the blast radius. It wasn’t her fault—I should have consulted you beforehand, but there just wasn’t enough time to do it before testing, and I figured it would be safe but-“ the princess raised a hoof, and Twilight stopped.
“Everypony makes mistakes. As a student, you should know that,” Celestia said. Stepping forwards and lightly nuzzling her student, she continued, “I simply ask that you do your best. Treating mistakes like the end of the world is the last thing I would wish for you.”
Twilight started to ease, and let out a sigh. “You’re right, princess… But I can’t find Pinkie anywhere, Fluttershy’s babbling like she first met Spike, and I’m worried all of Equestria might be like this.” She stared up to the princess, her eyes wide.
Celestia looked over to the carriage. “Guards,” she said, “We’re looking for a pink pony, with a mane and tail similar to Applejack’s here. She’s unpredictable, so be careful.”
Walking towards the town, Celestia looked over her shoulder and said to the two ponies, “Well, come on then.”
Twilight and Applejack looked at each other, before speeding next to the princess.
“So, what are the symptoms, as far as you can tell?” Celestia asked, looking around the affected townsponies.
“Well princess, pink hair, pink bodies, and extreme talkativeness,” Twilight said, dodging a charging pink pony just in time. Spinning around, Twilight watched the pink Fluttershy giggle and bounce away.
Twilight’s face fell, her mouth open wide. “Oh this is not good,” she said.
Twilight slowly turned around, and was face-to-face with Celestia. She yelled, and jumped backwards. “Uhh…” she asked, “Princess?”
Slowly cantering forwards, a glean in her eyes, Celestia started on a spiel. “Twilight have you even been bowling? No I don’t think you have, given it was never in the castle. Ooh, I should install a bowling alley in the castle. Luna loves games so much, she would like it if it was in her area. We could play games and make all that stuffy old political stuff so much better!” she said, and stopped. Her face was half an inch from Twilights, eyes staring and grin across her face.
“Princess, uh, your majesty?” asked Applejack, “shouldn’t you search for Pinkie as well? Bein’ so… big, and all?”
Celestia stared at Applejack, deadpan for a few moments before jumping into the air and splaying her wings out. “That’s a brilliant idea I need to see her about the opening ceremony and what abo…” The rest drifted off as the Alicorn flew across town.
The two of them looked after the princess, Applejack with a stern expression and Twilight with her mouth open wide.
“Right. We need to get out of this before we start goin’ all crazy too,” said Applejack, as she began walking towards the library.
Twilight began cantering towards her home, still looking out towards the princess. “I… But…” she said, trailing off. “It’s advancing?” she asked herself, looking to the ponies around her. She noticed more pink than a short while ago.
Stepping inside the library, Applejack swung the door open and looked around. “No Fluttershy,” she said, and turned around.
Looking to Twilight, Applejack saw the mare’s frizzled hair, vacant face, and tears in the corners of her eyes. The farmpony slowly walked towards Twilight, a grin plastered on her face.
“Hey Twi, you feeling okay? I mean you don’t look that good and your hair is all messed up and are you gonna cry? I’m sure the princess will be back soon don’t mind you none, just as soon as she finds that Pinkie. I’m gonna head back to the farm lots of work to do,” she said a mile a minute, giving Twilight a small hug and bouncing off to Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight dropped her head and stood quietly for a few moments, a single bastion of quiet serenity in the town. She shuffled inside the library, and began preparing to find Pinkie.
