Author's Note
Before anyone starts questioning me about the cover art, I do still hate The One Where Pinkie Knows, and I do still consider it to be the worst episode of Season Five. So I must be mad in using a shot from that episode for the cover of this story, right?
Well, no. Yes, I do admit that I've heavily hated the episode for a multitude of reasons, but I can't deny that there are some clever ideas for fanfics based on the imagery. In fact, while the imagery can sometimes be plagiarized, there can be some slivers of light streaking out of what they have to offer.
Even with a scene as revolting as the one for the cover, I can't deny that this story's plot goes so well with the picture. That's the one thing that sells it for a story. The picture has to act as a window into the tale you're trying to create, otherwise you'll leave your readers hanging, waiting for something interesting to happen.
Regardless, I hope you enjoy this story for what it's worth, and if you did, make sure to follow me, leave me some comments, and even upvote this story. It really lets me know that my work is being appreciated and that I'm being more recognized in the FIMFiction community.
P.S. I still hate the episode. There's nothing that will change that...
Inflation
Twilight Sparkle sat on the couch looking at one of the burnt books that she had salvaged from the destruction of the Golden Oak Library. A mournful expression crossed her face as she thought back to all of the memories she had made there and the countless times she must have read that book. She let out a small sigh before she lit up her horn and levitated a second, more pristine book towards her.
Twilight wasted no time in opening the book up and flipping through the pages to find the spell she wanted to use. In all of her years practicing and studying magic, she had picked up hundreds of tricks along her many travels; and now that she was an alicorn, she wanted to brush up on, and see if she could improve on what she had already learned.
Before she had found the page she wanted, Twilight heard knocking on the door. "Come in," she said.
Rarity walked into the room and used her horn to retrieve a book of her own from her saddlebags. "Hello, Twilight." She walked towards the table on the wall opposite the couch. "I just wanted to return this book I borrowed on ancient Equestrian fashion. It was okay but definitely not what I'd try reviving any time soon. It just seems so..."
"Tacky?" Twilight finished the sentence.
"In a sense, yes." Rarity cringed at hearing the word. "I'm personally glad that we've moved forward since the days of old. With all the new advances that Equestria made since then, there're dozens of new ideas for clothing, and I'm personally glad that we can live in these times instead." Once she laid the book down, she noticed Twilight's face was buried in her own book. "Ooh! What are you reading now?"
"Just an advanced magic spellbook." Twilight pulled her head out of the pages and words to speak to Rarity before her eyes drifted back down again. "I'm trying to see if there's anything I can do to make my spells more effective now that I'm an alicorn. Sure, there's a ton of spells only for ponies like me such as age and weather magic, but I want to see if I can push the boundaries of power for the stuff I already know, if that makes any sense."
"But you're already a powerful alicorn as it is." Rarity walked over to the couch. "You can do some amazing spells, fight off big adversaries, and save the world with your magic, so why in the world would you ever want to get stronger?"
"After my last battle with Starlight Glimmer, I've been starting to wonder just how strong my magic could become." Twilight closed the book and rested it on her laps to speak with Rarity. "If I could be matched by a single unicorn, then there must be more to my true potential than I originally thought." She picked the book back up and flipped back to the page she was on. "I've gotta find out just what I can really do..."
"Hey, girls!" Rainbow Dash burst through the door, causing Twilight and Rarity to jump. "How's it going?"
"Fine until you just charged in like that." Rarity scoffed. "Honestly, Rainbow Dash. You have to learn someday that it's simply uncouth to do that."
"Aww, c'mon, Rarity. You've been with me for a few years now." Rainbow Dash brushed some of her hair behind her shoulders. "My super-awesome entrances are never gonna go out of style."
"Well, maybe not for you, but I think it's good that we get some peace and quiet every now and again." Twilight rolled her eyes before she looked back down at the text. "Honestly, I expect this kind of attitude from Pinkie Pie, not you."
"Anyway, what are you doing all cooped up in here when it's such a nice day outside?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked out the window. "Yep. Clear skies, lots of sunshine, and plenty of stuff to do—Who wouldn't want to be outside on a day like this?"
"The ponies who are trying to study, maybe?" Twilight deadpanned.
"Or the ones trying to make some new dresses?" Rarity's eyebrows lowered as she crossed her hooves.
"Or the ones who just want some peace and quiet?"
Fluttershy quietly tiptoed through the door, yelping when it slammed on her after she let go. She brushed her hair back to normal, taking a deep breath before saying, "Hello, girls."
"Hi, Fluttershy!" Twilight's head shot up from the book once again as she greeted her. "What brings you to the castle today?"
"I just wanted to see how you were doing today," Fluttershy said. "With how lovely the weather is outside, I was wondering why you weren't outside enjoying the sunshine."
"Twilight's busy trying to make herself stronger after her battle with Starlight Glimmer." Rarity wrapped one of her hooves around Twilight's shoulders. "Something about improving what she already knows."
"Ooh! Here's a good spell!" Twilight jabbed the page with her hoof. "Transformation Configuration by the great sage Cloak Dagger." She held out the spell to show her friends. "Not many of his spells get published, so we're in for a real treat today."
"Cloak Dagger?" Rarity raised one of her brows at the name.
"He got that name because he was very secretive." Twilight began to read the spell. "Not many ponies got to see him, or the spells he had learned. He didn't want to be told that there was any pony better than him in the arcane arts, so he chose not to socialize with others. But the spells he knew that other ponies would be able to pull off with some major focus got put in books. They might be hard, but they're so satisfying to pull off."
"So what does this Transformation Configuration spell do, exactly?" Fluttershy walked towards Twilight and pricked up her ears.
"You remember the spell that I used to turn us into Breezies?" Twilight watched them all nod in unison. "Well, Cloak Dagger basically one-upped that spell to the point where it can turn ponies into anything without needing a template. So if I can pull this off, I can turn anything into anything. How cool would that be?"
"That sounds too good to be true." Rarity scratched her chin with her hoof. "Surely, there must be some side effects, right?"
"Usually. But I'm an alicorn, so I should be able to work out all the kinks to the spell." Twilight closed the book and carried it with her as she walked towards the door. "I'm going to practice it on some everyday items for a while. Feel free to join me at any time."
"Alright then." Rainbow Dash flew back out the door. "But that sun's not gonna stay out all day, Twilight. You know how the pegasus ponies can be with their weather schedules..."
"I know." Twilight made her way down the corridors towards the kitchen. "I'll be sure to go out and get something from Sugarcube Corner if I'm successful with this spell."
Twilight took a deep breath as she looked at the apple sitting on the table. She had one last speed read of the spell before she closed the book and put it down. Her horn lit up and her eyes closed as she focused on her target. A white beam of magic shot out of her horn and hit perfectly.
The apple bulged a bit before it collapsed in on itself and exploded into a bright white light. Once it died down, there was a single gold bit sitting in its place. Twilight walked over to it and picked it up, biting into it to make sure that it was real. Satisfied with the results, she smiled and put the bit down by the cupboards.
"Howdy, Twilight!" Applejack walked up to Twilight. "What are ya doin'?"
"Hi, Applejack! I've been trying out this brand new transformation spell by the legendary sage Cloak Dagger." Twilight picked the book back up and opened it to the bookmarked page. "So far, I've only used it on some of the food in the kitchen, and I've had positive results every time."
"Transformation spell?" Applejack's left eyebrow rose. "You sure that's really a good idea?"
"There were supposed to be some side effects to it, yes, but I don't think I've found any of them yet," Twilight said. "Maybe they'll come into play if I use the spell on other ponies? I dunno, but for now, I'm only limiting myself to inanimate objects, to make sure that it's perfectly safe, and nopony will get hurt."
"If any spells got side effects to it, I'm not sure that it's a good idea to try it out on a pony." Applejack's voice turned gruff and her eyebrows lowered. "I'm not ready to stand by and just watch as you potentially change somepony into something, and then won't be able to turn them back again."
"I agree." Rarity walked up to both of them. "A spell as good as that has to have a catch to it. I just don't think it's a moral thing to use it on a pony."
"Don't you think that it's probably too dangerous to try this new spell out?" Fluttershy's voice was nothing more than a gentle whisper. "If you can't fix it, then you'll feel very guilty for ruining a pony's life..."
"Fluttershy." Twilight put her left hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, gently stroking it as she brought it back down to the floor. "Cloak Dagger would never release a spell used for malicious intent. He's not that kind of pony. And if anything, these spells could enrich the lives of many other ponies when used correctly."
"Remember, Twi. Side effects." Rainbow Dash flew over to her and crossed her hooves. "It's gonna be all your fault if you can't change them back afterwards."
"Rainbow Dash. Would I use this spell if I wasn't confident in succeeding?" Twilight picked up an orange from the fruit bowl, put it in place, and then stood back to charge up the spell. "Just sit back and watch this..."
Twilight repeated the process from before. She aimed at the orange, charging up magic, and shut her eyes to concentrate. The buildup got stronger and stronger, and she was almost ready to launch the bolt. Taking a deep breath, she focused her energy into that one tiny little point and her horn glowed a bright shade of white.
"HEY, TWILIGHT!" Pinkie Pie barrelled through the doors, causing Twilight to jump again just as she fired the spell.
The bolt flew directly over the orange and now ricocheted off the walls and all across the kitchen, not showing any signs of slowing down after each bounce. It went around in circles for a few seconds before it hit the top of the ceiling and was now hurtling towards the six ponies.
"DUCK AND COVER!" Pinkie Pie was the only one who had followed the shot and jumped out the way just in time, almost being thrown away by how powerful the next blast of light was. She rolled on the marble floors of the kitchen, crashing into one of the lower cupboards in a daze.
All of the Main Six were groaning after they had recovered from the spell. In the centre of the room was a massive cloud of mist where Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were. It slowly began to die down after a while, and the other girls could now see Pinkie shaking her head.
"That almost felt like my freshman year at Cloudsdale University..." Rainbow Dash felt a pounding headache as she got up from the blast. "Why'd you have to burst in like that, Pinkie?"
Pinkie Pie saw what Rainbow Dash had turned into and gasped heavily. But instead of her usual gasps where she smiled, this time, she was stammering with her eyes wide as she pointed at Rainbow Dash. "D-D-Dashie?"
"I mean, Twilight looked like she had everything under control, and then you had to show up and mess it up. So not cool, girl."
"Y-Your... Y-Your..." was all that Pinkie could get out through her choked breath.
"What? Is it something stuck in my teeth?" Rainbow Dash tried to pick it out with her hooves but then realized that they were missing. She gasped too, and stumbled backwards, right into the rest of her friends, hearing the sound of rubber squeaking. "What the?!" She looked down at her feet and saw nothing more than a simple white string. "Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no no no! This is not happening!"
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked as she recovered from being pushed. She turned around to get a look at her and she too let out a gasp. "Your wings! And the rest of your body, it's completely gone!"
"So's yours, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie pointed at the whole ground once the smoke had settled down completely. "And Twilight's, and Fluttershy's, and Applejack's too! You've all been turned into balloons!"
Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all let out ear-piercing screams when they looked at each other. As they did, their strings wiggled really fast.
"PINKIE PIE?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO US?!" Twilight demanded as she got in Pinkie's face.
"I don't know!" Pinkie bawled and lightly batted Twilight away with her hoof. "I just came in to see how you were doing, and then I saw your super-freaky magic bouncing all over the place like a pinball, I jumped out of the way, and the next thing I know, you're all balloons!"
"I can't be a balloon!" Rarity cried out. "I won't be able to do fashion! Children will play around with me, or even worse..." She paused for effect. "I'm gonna be called fat!" She tried to cry, but the tears never left her face and simply disappeared.
"Twilight! You're the one who cast the spell!" Rainbow Dash slowly drifted towards her. "Can't you fix this?!"
"I'll try to, but—"
"This is all my fault, isn't it?" Pinkie Pie's heart sank as she hung her head. "I'm such a big bad meanie-pants for doing this to you..."
"Pinkie, I'm trying to say that there's no need—"
"I'll never be able to show my face in Equestria again!" Rarity hollered, once more cutting Twilight off.
"Girls! Calm down!" She tried to speak up, but she was still being muted by the rest of the room. Twilight took a deep breath, then yelled, "EVERYPONY, SHUT UP!" silencing everyone in seconds.
"There. Now if you could all just keep quiet for just a second while I try to fix this mess..." Twilight gritted her teeth and grunted as she tried to cast the spell to reverse the effects. She concentrated as hard as she could, closed her eyes really tight, and tried to find even the smallest spark of magic, but nothing happened. "My magic! It's gone!"
"But how can that be?!" Rarity asked. "You're Princess Twilight Sparkle! You've stopped Tirek from conquering Equestria; you've stopped Starlight Glimmer from re-writing time; you've done things no other unicorn or alicorn could even hope to achieve! So why can't you turn us all back into ponies?!"
"If I had to warrant a guess, I'd say that this is the side effect of the spell." Twilight floated close to Pinkie and lightly rested on her shoulders. "If the bearer is hit, then their horn's just stationary until they transform back into ponies. We just need to find somepony who knows how to turn us back, and we should be fine."
"But who else in Ponyville can use that fancy-schmancy magic apart from you?" Applejack used the string to simulate her hoof being raised.
"Starlight Glimmer could feasibly fix this..." Twilight used hers to try and scratch her chin, but only really rubbed it with how thin the white strip was.
"So, why not bring her in?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"As easy as that sounds, Starlight and Spike are away at the Crystal Empire on important business," Twilight's face fell slightly, causing her horn to lightly bop Pinkie and squeak some more as it bent backwards. "They won't be back until at least Saturday."
"Celestia and Luna?" Fluttershy raised her string.
"They're busy in Canterlot, and they'll be too busy with their royal duties to help out." Twilight looked to Fluttershy.
"And the last time I brought balloons into Canterlot, they nearly threw me out because I was being too Pinkie for them to handle," Pinkie Pie added. "Honestly, when am I never too Pinkie?"
"Yeah... There's that too."
"Cadence and Shining Armour?" Rarity was the next to ask.
"They're too busy with little Flurry to help, and they're part of Starlight and Spike's little business as it is, so that's a definite no-go." Twilight sighed, "Which is a shame, really. Cadence and my brother would've fixed this in a snap too..."
"So you're saying there's no other pony who can help us?" Fluttershy whimpered.
"I'm afraid not, Fluttershy." Twilight flew over to her and gently wrapped her string around her. "There's no pony in Ponyville that can undo this spell."
"And it's all Pinkie's fault..." Rainbow snarled as she tried to tackle her friend, but merely ended up lightly bumping against her. She tried to bite into Pinkie's neck, but her teeth merely sank into her inflated head. "Great! We're stuck us like this, and now I can't even try to get back at her?! This is just fantastic..." she groaned.
"Ah agree with Rainbow Dash for once." Applejack hovered forward. "If Pinkie Pie hadn't come chargin' in like that, we wouldn't be stuck like this."
"Of all the bone-headed, ridiculous, and downright bizarre things that Pinkie has done, this is by far the worst!" Rarity huffed and turned her head away from Pinkie.
"Now, now, girls. There's no need to jump the gun," Twilight tried to quell the other girls' tempers.
"Too late for that, Twilight. We've already jumped." Rainbow bumped Twilight away and furiously gazed at Pinkie.
"Pinkie's done some stupid things before, but Rarity's right too. We're stuck as balloons, there's no way for you to turn us back, and nopony else in Ponyville or Equestria that could fix this!" Applejack shouted.
"If you girls would let me finish..." Twilight slapped her face with her string since she didn't have her hooves anymore. "I said there wasn't any pony able to help us out anymore. I never said anything about no-one being able to fix this."
Fluttershy gasped when the realization struck her. "Discord! Of course! He can fix this!"
"So then what are we waiting for?!" Pinkie grabbed all of her friends and tied them around each of her hooves. Then, seeing as Twilight was the last one who wasn't secured, Pinkie wrapped her around her chest. "Let's go see Discord!"
"What? Pinkie—" but before Rarity could finish, Pinkie Pie darted out of the room and towards the castle's front doors. She let out a small scream as she was pulled through the air and was madly flailing around on one of Pinkie's back legs.
Pinkie Pie burst out of the castle as fast as her legs could carry her. She was so determined to fix her friends, that she didn't even listen to them moaning as they were shaken harder and harder as she ran faster and faster. Her smile didn't even show when she ran, nor did she stop to take in the outside world.
Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy felt a number of unpleasant sensations. They felt nauseous and disoriented as the world around them shook and shuddered violently. The way that they jolted up and down added to their discomfort as Pinkie's gallop gradually increased in speed, to the point where she was going faster than any regular earth pony.
"Don't worry, girls," said Pinkie. "I'll fix this in a jiffy!"
"Yeah. I hope—" Twilight threw up in her mouth. "—so, Pinkie. I don't want to be stuck like this for long."
"Don't worry about a thing, girls. You'll be back to ponies before sunset, or my name isn't Pinkamena Diane—" she slammed her hooves on the ground and skidded briefly as the momentum withered away when she saw the sight in front of her "—Pie-yi-yi-yi-yi!"
Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped as her eyes saw a massive parade going down the street. There were giant parade floats, performing ponies leading the way, and a bunch of different balloons being let go, to fly high into the air.
"Pinkie Pie..." Rarity warned. "I know what you're thinking, so don't you dare try to let us go!"
"I wasn't planning on it, Rarity." Pinkie Pie started to pace back and forth. "But that is a problem. There's a super-fun parade going on, and ponies are letting balloons go into the air to celebrate. So how am I going to get through that without wanting to take part in the festivities?"
"You could just take the market." Twilight looked over to the right where things were much calmer. "That's the one part of town where the parade won't be coming through today."
"What kind of event could possibly warrant a parade in the first place?" Rarity asked.
"It's the anniversary of when Twilight defeated Lord Tirek and got her new castle." Pinkie Pie slowly trotted towards the market this time, so as not to shake her friends up more. "I was going to invite all of you to take part and be the guests of honour, but then you got turned into balloons. Talk about bad timing, huh?"
"Tell me about it..." Rainbow Dash mumbled under her breath.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold up, girls!" Pinkie Pie stopped in her tracks and spread her hooves out to the sides. "What's happening here?!"
In all of the market stalls that lined the street, there were a large collection of cactuses going on sale. The ponies shelled out their bits in exchanged for the thorned plants and were carefully carrying them towards their houses, making sure that they didn't bump into anyone else and drop their goods on them or the pony that might have been in their way.
"Nopony told me there was a cactus sale today!" Pinkie's teeth chattered as she took a few steps forward.
"Yeah, sorry about that, Pinkie Pie." A green stallion walked up to the Main Six. "Turns out that sales on cacti have gone up since that freak storm in the Saddle Arabian deserts. Honestly, the weather team there shouldn't have hired that Lightning Dust girl. She's been nothing but trouble for those poor ponies."
"Uh, that's great and all, Emerald Shine, but I've got a bit of a problem here." Pinkie Pie slowly walked past him. "I've gotta go see a balloon about a draconequus." She twitched. "I mean a draconequus about some balloons! Bye!"
"Huh. Weird." He walked away.
Pinkie Pie nimbly ducked and weaved through the crowd of ponies, desperately tucking in her arms and legs in an attempt to make sure that the spikes didn't puncture her friends. It was an arduous process; one that made her sweat with how hard it was to make it through. "I just gotta—sorry—get—whoa!—through!" she said. "This would be a lot easier if you girls weren't ballooned."
"It's just a little farther, Pinkie! You're almost through the market!" Twilight shouted as she saw the end of the road.
"I am?" Pinkie's neck shot up and she bumped into another pony, causing the cactus they were holding to go flying through the air.
"I can't look!" Fluttershy screamed.
Pinkie hastily moved her arms and legs, yanking her friends out of the way of the spikes before proceeding to catch the plant with her hoof. "Oops! Sorry about that..." She gave it back to the pony, letting out a lame chuckle.
"That was a close one," Applejack remarked as the group walked out of the lane of stalls towards the clear road.
"Too close." Rarity and Rainbow Dash chimed together.
"Discord should be at my house, so we just need to make it past the schoolhouse and get to the edge of the Everfree Forest," Fluttershy said. "Hopefully, if he's not too busy, we should be able to talk to him and get him to fix this."
"Can I just stop you there for a second, Fluttershy?" Twilight moved as close to Fluttershy as she could despite her being anchored to Pinkie's chest. "That's a great plan and all, but we've still got to get past the schoolhouse. And those fillies and colts love balloons—especially the ones that Pinkie Pie makes and carries around."
"What are you saying, Twilight?" Pinkie turned her head back towards Twilight and Fluttershy.
"All I'm saying is that you'd better be ready to fend off lots of kids..." Twilight's brows lowered as they approached the schoolhouse.
When she figured out what Twilight meant, Pinkie Pie gulped as she saw the playground. True to Twilight's word, there were a lot of children playing on the equipment. They were sliding down slides, going up and down on the see-saw, and even some of them using the swings. All of the colours was a blitz to the eyes, but none of the ponies mattered about that.
"How the hay are we gonna get through there without being seen?" Rainbow Dash could not stop staring at all of the ponies playing their games.
"Alright, girls. Here's what we're gonna do." Pinkie Pie pulled out a little sheet from her mane that just got longer and longer until the other end popped out. "As long as they don't think you're balloons, we should be sitting pretty. Or floating pretty in your case."
"This is not going to work..." Rarity's voice trembled and quietened as the sheet went over her and the rest of the girls.
"It will, Rarity. Trust me. I'm an expert at playing it cool." Pinkie Pie flicked her hoof sideways slowly before she walked down the road. "Just stay quiet, and everything will be fine. As for me, I'm just an average pony going down to see Fluttershy in her cottage. Minus the whole average part."
As Pinkie Pie came up to the grassy playground, she heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Pinkie Pie!" Scootaloo ran up with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle by her side towards her. "How's it going?"
"Huh?" Pinkie didn't even notice Scootaloo. "Oh, hi, girls! It's going great for me," she began to feel hot again. "Yep. Totally swell-aroony. Nothing bad's happened to me or my friends. That's just the way I like it."
"You okay, Pinkie?" Applebloom tilted her head. "You sound funny."
"What kind? The silly funny, or the creepy funny?" Pinkie's pupils dilated slightly.
"Definitely creepy funny." Sweetie Belle slowly walked forward. "Is there something you're hiding from us?"
"Nope! Nothing at all!" Pinkie Pie started to stumble away from the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"You sure about that?" Applebloom started to smirk a little. "Whenever a pony says it in that kinda tone, they're usually hidin' something."
"Yeah. There's something underneath that sheet of yours, I'm sure of it." Scootaloo walked closer and closer to Pinkie Pie. "So tell us, Pinkie. What is it?"
"Nope! I'm not going through that nightmare again!" Pinkie immediately jumped high into the air and darted off towards the Everfree Forest before the CMC got any closer. The sheet fluttered onto the ground, leaving nothing as the three fillies could only see a multi-coloured blur when they looked back at Pinkie.
"What's her problem?" Scootaloo turned to her fellow crusaders.
"Beats me." Sweetie Belle inwardly shrugged before she went back to the other children in the playground with Applebloom next to her.
After a long dash across the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, Pinkie Pie and her friends finally arrived at Fluttershy's cottage.
"We made it, girls." Pinkie Pie pushed the door open and collapsed from exhaustion, falling head-first onto the rug leading towards the stairs.
"Uhh, yeah, that's great and all, Pinkie, but do you think you could untie us first?" Rainbow Dash said before she threw up. The chunks of vomit disappeared, just like the tears from before. "I might be the most awesome daredevil in Equestria, but even I've got my limits, thank you very much..."
"I have to agree." Twilight's voice slurred as the world around her spun for a few more seconds before she re-oriented herself. "I'm not comfortable being shaken around like that anymore."
"It's alright, Twilight. We're here now, safe and sound." Fluttershy smiled as Pinkie Pie untied the knot that held her to her left leg before doing the same with the rest of her friends. "Now we just have to talk to Discord."
"Where's his room?" Rarity looked around once she was freed from Pinkie's right foreleg.
"He doesn't have a room," Fluttershy explained. "He has a portal to the Realm of Chaos where his bed should be. It's sort of like a massive purple circle with lightning coming out of it every so often. You can't miss it."
"Why am I not surprised?" Twilight rolled her eyes as the girls all made their way upstairs. "Discord would have a portal to his world in his bedroom, wouldn't he?"
Pinkie Pie and her friends eventually arrived at two separate doors. One of them had butterflies emblazoned on the door, while the other door was completely upside down so that the handle was barely out of her reach. As she stretched up to try and grab it, the knob quickly slipped to the other side of the door and kept on moving away every time she even got close to it. After a while, she gritted her teeth and wildly flailed her hooves at the door, hoping that she could grab onto the handle and pull the door open.
"Here, Pinkie. Let me handle this." Fluttershy drifted forward and coiled her string around the handle. It didn't move when she did it, and with a hard pull, she opened the door for the others. "There. Discord put some magic on this door, so only he and I can open it."
"Thank you, Fluttershy." Twilight pushed herself against the door and flew in. "Come on, girls. We're getting turned back into ponies."
The Main Six entered the room only to find a peculiar sight. All of the furniture that was supposed to be in the room had completely disappeared. There was no nightstand, no wardrobe, no desk, and even no bed. Instead, there was a massive purple portal in the middle of the room. It had a swirling pattern rippling out from the middle, with the occasional bolt of lightning being fired out of it.
"There it is." Fluttershy floated in front of the group. "Beyond this point is Discord's world. A world of chaos and confusion. Few ponies have come in and out to tell the tale, and have ended up being lost forever in the void." Her brows and tone of voice lowered during the sentence, but they quickly went back up. "But Discord's our friend now, and he'll be more than happy to show us the way out once he changes us back."
"Y'know, Fluttershy. That whole creepy thing doesn't work out for you." Rainbow Dash came up to her as the other balloons entered the portal. "I hope you understand."
"I do. Just thought I'd let you girls know what you were going to see up ahead." Fluttershy went through the portal with Rainbow Dash by her side.
Pinkie Pie and her friends arrived in what looked like a perfectly normal living room, with some minor changes. The furniture was mostly turned the wrong way round and had dust bunnies aplenty. The stairs had been overturned so that it looked like a large slope, and the pictures that hung on the walls were all crooked or completely upside down. The windows had their curtains at the bottom which hung upwards, and on the outside, all that the girls could see was a purple plane of nothingness with a number of floating islands in the distance.
"This is Discord's living room?!" Twilight's eyes went wide at how unorganized it was, and tried to faint. All she could do was wiggle downwards as she tried to flop backwards.
"As repulsive as it might seem, I was kind of expecting it, to be honest." Rarity carefully looked around at what Discord had done. "He is the Spirit of Chaos after all. It wouldn't make any sense for him to try and act tidy—even after he's been reformed."
"Hey, Discord! Where are you?" Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her voice.
"Hello, girls." Discord appeared in a flash of light and knelt down to the group. He didn't even notice that most of them had turned int balloons. "How can I be of assistance?"
"Wh-what?" Twilight recovered from the shock of seeing the mess and saw that Discord was right in front of her. "Oh, Discord! Great timing." She approached him. "Could you help us out? We're in a bit of a pickle here."
"What kind? Dill? Gherkin? Candied? Mind you, Pinkie Pie would love candied pickles." Discord looked up and saw Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. "Oh. Oh my. Well this is..." He stifled laughter until he couldn't hold it in anymore, and ended up chortling as loud as he could. "I always knew Twilight was full of hot air, but this? This is just priceless!"
The girls all gave glares at Discord's amusement and waited until he calmed down.
Discord cleared his throat. "Anyways, I'm sure that whatever happened was an accident, and with the right spell, Twilight can fix this, right?"
"I'm afraid that I can't," said Twilight. "The spell nullified any and all of my magic. So this horn might as well just be for show." She looked over at Pinkie, who pushed her horn back into her head with little effort to prove her point. It bounced back out once Pinkie let go, and flopped around briefly.
"Well, have you tried consulting Starlight Glimmer and Spike?" Discord clicked his fingers, causing misshapen and disfigured mannequins of the two of them to appear in the room. "Go on, girls. Talk to them."
"This isn't funny, Discord!" Rainbow barked and gnashed her teeth. "We're stuck like this, and those two are away in the Crystal Empire on important business with Sunburst!"
"So you came to me as a last resort?" Discord was suddenly draped in a hawaiian shirt and was reclining on a hammock with a smoothie in his hands. He took a sip of his drink and said, "Well, that's awfully kind of you, but I'm afraid that I can't help you girls out either."
"WHAT?!" Everyone cried out together.
"Yes. As shocking as it might be, I, Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, am away on urgent duty." Discord clicked his fingers, and the things behind his disappeared, and he reappeared behind the girls. "Princess Celestia called me in to Canterlot to do something called a 'Friendship Independence Test'. She wants me to try and make a new friend all on my own, without Fluttershy or any of your help."
"B-but you're right here right now!" Pinkie Pie got onto her knees and tried to hug his own, but merely flopped onto her face when the legs merely went translucent.
"Sorry. This is just a hologram of me left behind by the real Discord to keep the house while he's away." It said as it flew into the kitchen to wash the dishes. However, it put in clean dishes, which came out dirty. "It does have less power than the original but it can still teleport, make things appear around it, and other such low-level magic. Unfortunately, it can't turn balloons into ponies, or the other way around."
"So there's really no way for you to change them back?" Pinkie walked into the kitchen and looked at the fake Discord with pleading eyes. "I got them into ths mess, and I really, REALLY don't know how to fix this without your help..."
"You know, Pinkie Pie, it's kind of odd, really." The fake stopped dirtying the dishes and turned to face her. "Whenever you see a regular balloon, you go all giddy and want to play with it. But when it's your friends that are like this, you tend to freeze up entirely." He encased them both in an illusory block of ice. It didn't affect them at all. "I mean, you've been in this scenario twice now and I was thinking you'd grown up and learned to face your fears."
"I can face my fears. But you see, my friends are so fragile in this state." Pinkie Pie hung her head and looked down at the floor. Her mane partially deflated as the ice shattered and disappeared around her. "They don't know it yet, but I'm afraid that one wrong move could cause me to ruin my friendships with them. I've been trying so hard to please them, but when I look at them like that, I just keep being reminded that there's no second chances if I mess up."
"Pinkie Pie, we would never break our friendships with you just because you mess up." Twilight came up to her and laid her string on Pinkie's hoof. "Everypony makes mistakes; even me. But it's because we make those mistakes that we can learn from them and become better ponies."
"Yeah." Rainbow approached her as well. "I mean, I've done some pretty ballsy things in the past, but most of the time, I've been forgiven by Twilight and the others."
"We're your friends, Pinkie." Fluttershy gave her a gentle nuzzle. "If you make a mistake, a sorry is all that you need. True friendships shouldn't be breakable if one of us makes a mistake—no matter how big or small."
"But look at all of you!" Pinkie threw her arms out. "You're stuck as balloons because Discord's away with Princess Celestia, and there's no one else in Equestria who can fix this!" She buried her head into the floor. "I've really popped the pinata this time..."
"Pinkie. There's still a way we can fix this. There's no need to cry..." Twilight gently stroked Pinkie's mane with her squishy horn. "Sure, everyone else is away, but that doesn't mean we've entirely lost."
"Who else could possibly fix this if Discord can't?" Pinkie's face was still planted firmly on the ground.
"We'll try Zecora next, and if that doesn't work, we'll have to head back to the castle to think of a new way to solve this." Twilight used her string to delicately pull Pinkie's head up. "There's no need to cry yet."
"Yeah. Let's go give Zecora a try," Applejack said. "I'm sure that she could brew up a cure to fix this here mess."
"If you're looking to get to Zecora's place, I think that I can help you out with that." The fake Discord dug his sharp claw into the air and tore into the air, creating a crack in the fabric of reality. "This body does still have the power to give someone a one-way trip back to Equestria."
"Thank you, Discord." Pinkie's smile returned, but it was much smaller than before. She tied all of her friends back onto her body and faced the rift. "I really owe you one for this."
"Be sure to tell that to the real Discord when he gets back from Canterlot for me!" The fake waved Pinkie off as she hurled herself through the split as fast as she could. Once she saw him leave, he slipped into a doctor's outfit, pulled up a surgical mask, and held up a needle and thread. "Now, let's see if I can close it too..."
Pinkie Pie and her friends crashed hard on the dirt ground just outside Zecora's house. She got out of the mud and shook herself off before she untied the knots again, releasing the others from her. Together, they went up to Zecora's door and were about to knock on the door when they noticed a note on the door.
"What the..." Pinkie pulled the note off of the door and read it aloud.
To anyone that was looking for me, I must offer a sincere apology.
I am away in Zebrica, collecing some herbs to fill my criteria.
When I come back, I'll have more recipes, to make some cure-alls for any disease.
But until I return, this house sits still. You'll soon come back. I know that I will.
"No!" Pinkie threw the note against the door and banged her head against it. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid me!"
"What is it, Pinkie?" Rarity asked.
"Zecora's away in Zebrica!" Pinkie Pie shoved the note in Rarity's face and let her read it before she flopped back down again. "Now there really is nopony who can fix this."
"Well, that's just it then." Rainbow Dash went off in a huff. "Everyone else who could turn us back is out of town, and Twilight can't use her own magic. We're gonna be stuck as ballons forever!"
"Calm down, Rainbow Dash." Twilight followed after her. "There's still a way—"
"NO! I WON'T CALM DOWN!" Rainbow snapped back at Twilight and knocked her away. "We've tried everything, and nothing's worked! I'm gonna be like this for the rest of my life, the Wonderbolts are gonna kick me out, and I'm never gonna be able to show my face in Ponyville or Equestria again, and it's all PINKIE PIE'S FAULT!"
"Rainbow Dash! She's trying her hardest to try and fix us, and you're not giving her a chance!" Rarity got in between Rainbow and Twilight.
"I did give her a chance, but she blew it!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Discord's out, Spike and Starlight are away, and now Zecora's gone too! I'm out of here! Hope you girls like being stuck this w" — before she could get away, she felt like she was being pulled back to Pinkie —"aaayy! Get off of me! I don't want to be here anymore! Let me go!" She frantically struggled to break free as Pinkie tied her around her leg again, along with the rest of her friends.
"Calm down, Rainbow Dash! We can still change back, but you're being arrogant again!" Twilight pushed herself into Rainbow's face this time. She breathed heavily for a few seconds before she took a deep breath and looked back at Pinkie. "Anyway. As I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted!" She glared back at Rainbow. "There's still one more way we can fix this disaster."
"How, Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
"Science, of course!" Twilight giggled. "If we can get back to the castle, you might just be able to create a machine that can reverse transformations and turn us back into ponies."
"Great! Let's get going!" Pinkie was about to dash off, but Twilight tugged her back. She cancelled her charge and looked back at her.
"But. You're gonna have to listen to EVERYTHING I say, and not slack off. Science is very complex, and if there's one miscalculation, you could end up with more problems than solutions," her voice became stern as she addressed Pinkie. "It might be a lot to take in and I'll dumb it down if you can't understand it, but I need you to completely commit yourself to this project, otherwise we might just be balloons forever."
"I dunno, science is a pretty boring thing when you think about it..." Pinkie Pie scratched her chin with her hoof.
"Please, Pinkie. This is the only time I'll ask you to do this," Twilight begged. "I'll never ask you to be my test monkey again if you just do this one thing for us, OK?"
"Okie-Dokie-Lokie, Twilight! Let's go!" Pinkie's face lit up and she galloped out of the forest with great speed. "Hold on tight this time!"
"To what?" Fluttershy asked as she was once more jolted up and down with Pinkie's movements.
"Fair point," Pinkie said.
And so, Pinkie dashed through the forest, slaloming through the trees, ducking under branches, and leaping over overgrown tree roots as she scrambled to find the exit. It was a long run, and her friends were once more being thrown around the place as her hooves picked up more speed. She had had enough of her friends being balloons for one day.
When Pinkie eventually got out of the maze of trees, a massive gust of wind greeted her and blew her into the air. She tried to skid to a halt, but her friends were affected much more heavily by the winds and she ended up flying high into the air along with them. "Whoa!" she exclaimed as her feet left the ground.
"Hey! There's some pegasi! Maybe they can help us out!" Rainbow Dash motioned towards them. "C'mon, Pinkie. You can steer us, right?"
"Yeah. But it's really gonna be down to the wind to decide where we go." Pinkie shuffled her body to try and keep on course with the pegasus ponies flying off. "I'm just a big pink anchor that's keeping us from flying into space."
It was hard to control her momentum in the air, as Pinkie constantly had to regain control when the wind blowed her to one side, but she eventually managed to flow with the weather and catch up to the pegasi.
"Excuse me, pegasuseses!" Pinkie Pie waved with her right hoof. "What's with the wind?"
"Sorry about that, miss!" A yellow pony with a swirling blue mane came up to Pinkie. "Some idiot over at Cloudsdale created extra wind when we specifically asked for a light breeze!"
"If this is what that joker calls a light breeze, it's not funny." Rainbow Dash let out an exasperated huff.
"Yeah. Tell me about it. It's just not—" Another pony spoke, but their jaw dropped when they realized that Rainbow Dash wasn't a pegasus like them "—wait. Rainbow Dash? Why are you a balloon?"
"Trust me, sir. It's a really long story," said Rarity."
"Anyways, we're just gonna head back to Twilight's castle and try to turn them back into ponies." Pinkie pushed herself down with what little gravity she had and slowly guided herself towards the castle, high above the streets of Ponyville. "I'll see you later at the party tonight!"
"Alright! Take care, Pinkie Pie!" The first pony waved her and her friends goodbye before she and the others went off to deal with the winds.
"Now please be careful with how you fly, Pinkie. I'm not really feeling too good after you ran with us aga" —Rarity was cut off as Pinkie Pie dived down and left at the same time to avoid an incoming cloud— "aaagh! Pinkie! Be careful!"
"Sorry, Rarity!" Pinkie didn't look back at her friends as she was more focused on the area in front of her.
Pinkie Pie soared nimbly on the breeze, taking the time to perform the occasional trick every now and again as she got closer and closer towards the castle. When she got close enough, she performed a loop-de-loop and dive-bombed towards the ground. With the air rushing by her as she plummeted, As she got close to the ground, she swooped up and bolted through the castle doors like a cannonball. The wind stopped and she fell to the ground and rolled multiple times until she crashed against the wall.
"Ooh... Is that what it's like to be a pegasus?" Pinkie Pie asked as the world around her was still spinning, even after she had stood back up. "Because if it is, then I'm glad I'm an earth pony."
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash lurched towards Pinkie.
"What?" Pinkie shrugged at Rainbow Dash.
"Never mind. Let's just get this over with." Rainbow Dash sighed as Pinkie untied her and the others as she walked into another room.
The new room was full of scientific equipment which streaked across the walls, ceilings, and tables. There were liquids of all colours travelling through the pipes and into the different distillers so as to purify them. There was also a large number of bunsen burners, beakers, and test tubes neatly sitting next to the apparatus.
At the far end of the room, there was a large pile of mechanical parts and computer pieces sitting in an unorganized heap. It didn't look like much, but Pinkie and Twilight both looked at each other with a little smile on their faces as they walked forward to make the machine.
Creating the device to turn Pinkie's friends back into ponies was no easy task, and Pinkie often found herself sweating from how heavy each machine part was as she scraped it across the ground when she pushed it into place. Once she did get the part with the others, she gently slotted it into the little compartment where there was a gap large enough for it.
"Hey. This is easy!" Pinkie Pie put another piece in where it needed to go and secured it to the others. "It's like a massive jigsaw puzzle!"
"Yes. But one made of pure steel alloy and digital mainframes," Twilight reminded her. "Putting it together's the easy part. The hard part is creating the perfect genetic coding that will allow the machine's cognative functions to restore us to equine state. Or in more simple terms, it'll be hard to find the right code to turn us back to normal."
"Don't worry, Twilight." Pinkie Pie slipped on some goggled and picked up a welding torch. "As the pony who got you into this mess, I, Pinkamena Diane Pie, scientist assistant, will make sure that this machine works perfectly!" And she began to heat the metal panels, fusing them together with each other.
Pinkie Pie added the finishing touches to the machine's exterior, then began to wire the computer into the side. The many different wires were beguiling and alluring to her, and she often at times zoned out with what colour needed to go where and which ones should be connected to each other. Luckily for her, though, Twilight told her everything she needed to do, and she got the job done acceptably.
The electronic panel buzzed into life, and the screen read, "Insert Source Code."
"Hoo boy. This is where it gets tricky..." Twilight said as a little keyboard appeared on the screen just underneath the message. "Now, Pinkie. You're gonna have to repeat after me and type it in for this next part."
"Uhh... Okay, Twilight." Pinkie Pie looked on at the letters on the board.
The last part was undoubtedly the hardest for Pinkie. With all of the letters, numbers, and characters she had to type into the computer, her mane started to get all frizzy with how complex each line of coding was. Luckily for her, the machine allowed her to correct any mistakes she might have made, and Twilight was always on hand to let her know what she did wrong.
As she typed in the final line, she hit the word, "Enter." on the screen, and the panel glowed a radiant shade of green.
"Coding acquired. Transformation Nullification data downloaded. Please place hoof on the screen to confirm the proceedure." The machine said as it generated a hoof outline for Pinkie to lay hers on.
"We have a green light, girls!" Twilight cheered, causing the other girls to whoop and holler for both her and Pinkie. Once they all calmed down, Twilight hovered into the machine along with them. "Now, Pinkie. If you'd be so kind."
"Of course, Twilight." Pinkie Pie shut the doors and scanned her hoof on the machine.
A green light drove itself across Pinkie, and the screen now showed a green button that said, "Restore."
"I just hope this works..." Pinkie Pie bit her lower lip as she pressed the button. She thought it had been going well for the most part, but she wouldn't really know until the machine did its' work.
The light from inside the capsule glowed brighter and brighter, and a white noise increased in pitch at the same time. Electric pylons from the top of the machine sparked into life and generated a simple static chain between each other as the device's systems all began to activate. With a massive burst of green light, the machine died down and a massive burst of steam came from the door as it popped back open.
Pinkie Pie pushed the gas away to try and get a better look at her friends, and found herself coughing as it travelled into her mouth. When she could see through it, though, she saw outlines of five ponies. Her friends had been transformed again.
"Girls!" Pinkie Pie watched them step out, and she pulled them all into a massive hug. She squeezed as hard as she could, to the point where she was suffocating them all.
"Pinkie! Can't... breathe!" Twilight choked as she struggled for air.
"Oh. Sorry, girls." Pinkie let go of her friends and watched them all catch their breaths.
"We're back!" Rainbow Dash saw her hooves and wings had returned. She took flight around the room and hoof-pumped as she rose to the ceiling. "Aww yeah! Rainbow Dash is back!"
"You did it, Pinkie Pie!" Rarity walked up to her and returned the hug. "Thank you ever so much for that. I simply must do you something in return."
"It's fine, Rarity. No need to thank me." Pinkie Pie gave her a simple pat on the back. "If anything, I should totally be doing something for you girls after what you've all had to go through today."
"Well, that's a mighty fine gesture, Pinkie Pie." Applejack tipped her hat. "But Rarity's right. You've gone through a heck of a lot yourself, what with all them cacti and kids."
"Not to mention braving the Everfree Forest by yourself." Fluttershy smiled as she walked next to Applejack. "You were pretty brave back there for being a single pony."
"And hey, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, Pinks." Rainbow Dash flew down and patted her shoulders. "I was just a little anxious that I'd be a balloon for the rest of my life. Nothing personal or anything like that, y'know?"
"It's alright, Dashie. I forgive you." Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow her own hug and back pats. "And I'm sorry that I made you like that in the first place. I was just eager to invite you to the party that I barely had any time to stop and think about what I was doing."
"Apology accepted, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "And besides, it's like we said before. One little slip can't ruin a friendship. If we make mistakes, but learn to accept them and apologize for what we did, then we can forgive each other and move on. You turned us into balloons, but you managed to say sorry and fix the mess you made and that's all that matters."
"Thanks, girls." Pinkie Pie gave yet another group hug, but it wasn't as tight as the one before.
"So, what party were you so eager to invite us to?" Rainbow Dash flashed a grin.
"Why, the Friendship-aversary Party after all!" Pinkie Pie threw confetti from her hair and fired off her Party Cannon. "It's been over a year since we defeated Tirek, after all, so the whole town is throwing a massive party to celebrate. And tonight, the six of us are the guests of honour! So c'mon! Let's go!"
"That sounds wonderful, Pinkie!" Twilight followed her out of the lab with the rest of the girls following suit.
"I do hope it doesn't go to our heads, though. I think we've all been quite light-headed enough for today, thank you very much." Rarity shook her head as she followed the girls out of the castle, who were all sharing a fit of laughter as they walked outside and headed towards the celebration.
