As the days went on, Twilight began to observe more and more ponies coming out of the single room feeling happier. But whenever she spoke to them, something caused their eyes to go blank and do something silly, just like Lyra and Vinyl. She also noticed their manes and tails becoming curlier and curlier as time went on.

Though she didn't see her that often, Pinkie was even happier than when Twilight first found her in the library, despite the fact that she told Twilight that she had pulled a week of all-nighters to perfect stage 1 and begin stage 2 of her cure, whatever it was. But, despite her happiness, Pinkie's behavior also worried Twilight more and more. Whenever she and Pinkie talked, Twilight would notice twitching and rapid blinking among other things. Pinkie was also constantly giggling.

Finally she couldn't take the suspense. Twilight set off to interrogate Pinkie, if she could find her of course. She was wandering around calling out for Pinkie when she heard that door open. Out came Berry Punch, looking happier than ever.

"Twilight!" she exclaimed joyfully.
"Thank you! The treatment worked. I don't know how you set that whole thing up, but it really worked!"

The princess stared at the pony in puzzlement.

"I didn't set anything up in that room, Berry," she pointed out.
"I don't even know what's inside of it."

"Oh, stop being so modest! Just take the compliment."

"No really. I don't need any unnecessary inflation on my ego---Berry?"

It was happening to her too! Berry's eyes turned blank. She stood on her back legs and pulled out a pink tank of gas.

"Where did you---?" Twilight began.

Berry pulled out a tube with a nozzle at the end. She pointed it at her flank and, without hesitation, shoved it up her butt.

"What the buck?" Twilight shouted in disgust.

Berry turned the wheel on top of the gas tank and soon her flank began to inflate. Twilight stared at it as it grew to massive proportions. Just when the princess thought it was going to pop, Berry turned off the gas and removed the nozzle from her butt. Next she took her tail and twisted it to make it fit together. She took the tail and shoved it up her butt.

Then she sat on her flank and propelled herself upward. Soon, she was bouncing all around the tall hallway, laughing madly. Twilight goggled at the sight. She didn't know what to make of it. As the purple pony bounced, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash happened to enter.

"What the buck is going on with Berry Punch?" Rainbow asked Twilight in disgusted shock.

"I don't know."

After about five minutes, Berry took her tail and pulled it out. There was a squeaking sound as her flank deflated to normal size. The four ponies were stunned.

"What's wrong?" Berry asked when her eyes returned to normal.

Twilight tried to find the words for what had just occurred, but found nothing to describe it. Neither of the other 3 had an answer either it seemed. At this Berry Punch shrugged and walked away.

"Well, ahm never gonna git that outta mah head," Applejack shuddered.
"Which is odd cuz ah should be used to it by now."

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight wondered.

"It's not just Berry Punch who's been acting like that," Rainbow explained.
"Cloud Kicker was acting like that just this morning."

"But Cloud Kicker was in here," Twilight exclaimed.

"That's why we came over," Fluttershy explained calmly.
"Perhaps there's something that went wrong with your magic. Not on purpose, of course. I know you would never do that, would you?"

"Of course not. And it isn't my magic," Twilight added.

"What do yeh mean?"

Twilight gestured towards the library.

"I'll tell you everything in there."

As the ponies sat around the library sipping some hot tea Twilight had prepared, Twilight told them everything. All through it, she couldn't help but wonder why they were so cheerful.

"It's cuz a some a them ponies," Applejack answered when Twilight popped the question.
"Som-a their tricks were a might strange, like Berry's, but some were pretty neat and they made me happy."

"We don't know how you're doing it," Rainbow said.
"But it is pretty cool. A lot of other ponies have given up drugs, alcohol, and sex because those tricks are making them happier."

"That's just it," Twilight replied concerned.
"It's not my magic that's doing it."

"Well, we traced the magic to your castle," Fluttershy pointed out.
"Perhaps it's something in there?"

Twilight searched her mind for something to explain the strangeness of the citizens of Ponyville. All she could think of were all those tricks. And everytime she had seen those ponies acting strangely, they had come out of that little room....

"Of course!" Twilight gasped.
"Inside the door!"

The other three looked at her questioningly.

"That door that Berry was doing her trick nearby. Everytime a pony has come out of there, their manes and tails are beginning to curl and they start doing tricks."

"How could a door do magic?" Rainbow scoffed in disbelief.

"It's not the door doing magic. Rather it's what's beyond it. Something must be hypnotizing the ponies, implanting trigger words and actions into their minds, and ensuring they have no memory of what had occurred inside."

"So what do we do then?" Applejack asked.

"I've got an idea. There's a spell that I've recently perfected. It allows one to recall things they forgot or were forced to forget. If I could cast the spell on one of you, then you'd go inside the room, come back out, and you'd still be able to tell me what's inside the room and what went on in it."

"Okay, so then who's going in?" Rainbow asked.

"There yeh are, sis!" a voice called out in a panic.

The four mares turned to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo running towards them.

"Yeh gotta help! Big Mac's been actin' real strange since he returned from the hospital!"

"Ah wish ah could, but ahm helpin' Twilight with somethin'."

"So who's gonna go in the room?"

"I will!" Scootaloo yelped.

"Me too!" Apple Bloom agreed.

"Me three!" followed Sweetie Belle.

Applejack cleared her throat.

"Ah don' think so. It's a might too dangerous."

"But we wanna help out!" Scootaloo protested.

"I'll go in," Rainbow volunteered.

"Okay, Rainbow," Twilight said.
"Hold still. I'll cast the spell."

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated hard on her magical energy. Ever since the blues began, she hadn't had much time or energy to use her magic, so getting the spell at full capacity was going to take a lot of concentration and stamina. After a while, her head began to throb in pain from the concentration. With a yell, she let the spell loose.

There was a scream and a cry of "Apple Bloom!" Twilight opened her eyes to find the CMC lying on the floor of the library. Groaning in pain, the three fillies stood up.

"How did that happen?" Twilight asked in shock.

"We got in your spell path and got hit with it," Sweetie Belle exclaimed excitedly.

"Maybe this'll help us when we're in the door," Applebloom deducted.

"All right, Cutie Mark Crusaders! Let's go!" Scootaloo announced.

The three fillies ran off.

"Apple Bloom, yeh git back here right now!" Applejack shouted in anger.

The four mares followed behind, in hopes of catching them, but when they reached the door, they found it partially propped open and no fillies in sight.

"Looks like we're too late," Twilight sighed.

"Well, can't you just do another memory spell on one of us?" Rainbow exclaimed.
"That way one of us can go in and get them."

The princess shook her head.

"The spell is still in the early stages of development. Those take a lot of magical energy to perform. It will be a while before my magic comes back to full power. In the meantime, let's hope those three fillies have the common sense to come back before it's too late."

"So then, what do we do?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight sighed as she sat down on the ground.

"All we can do now...is wait."

Author's Note

I don't know how long I'm going to make this. I'm kind of excited to go to the reveal and make it as grandiose as possible.