Twilight's Terrifying Traps

by Graglithan The Greater

Rating: everyone
Tags: Comedy, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6
Length: 12727

When Twilight's friends all snuck through the portal to confront their counterparts, she decided to lay some traps for her friends when they got back.

When Twilight’s friends had gone through the portal to ‘talk’ with their counterparts, things ended up going in a direction that was not quite what they had intended. Okay, it went mostly the way some of them had expected, but there were exceptions in a few cases.

They thought that it was all planned out perfectly. Twilight gets distracted by, as Rainbow put it, the super nerd project of the century. Then, they sneak over, teach them a lesson, and sneak back before she’s ever done having the time of her life, and they sit there as she says words that would fly entirely over their heads in her excitement. They even timed it so that it was during a time Twilight would be preoccupied with princess work and would want to jump into the project even more.

As they came back through one by one, however, her friend's all soon learned that they weren’t as sneaky going into the portal as the five thought they were.

This little story was written as a Sequel/Side Story to "Beating Yourself Up Over It," and originally intended only to be a single chapter. However, I found that putting all of them into just one section would make a massive info dump. Not wanting to intimidate anyone who likes to read casually, or dwarf the other side chapters I planned on writing, I decided to move them to a separate story entirely. I still plan on releasing that collection at a later date, and it will probably have a similar title to the original.

So please, enjoy the side of the story taking place on the other side of the portal, and this one as well.

And remember, comments usually fuel my writing.

5/24/18 Edit: I thought I finally escaped you Feature Box... but no, you have claimed yet another story of mine.

Published 2018-05-08 18:40:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-05-27 04:22:22 UTC

A Dashing Decoration

Twilight was having a beautiful day. She got to spend some free time down at the local Hayburger, the weather was perfect the entire time, and she even got the last of her recent batch of paperwork done in record time! Sure, over the past few weeks, Rainbow Dash had been rather persistent in looking at a particular interdimensional portal that was located in her study, but Twilight had made sure there were several contingency plans to keep her out. One of which, a replica of the mirror, she’d gotten a replacement for on her way back, as the fast-flying pegasus had already crashed through the first replica, thanks to some clever wordplay on her part.

Such a positive chain of events that in no way shape or form could foretell disaster made her want to talk to her friends and see how their days were going. She would be bothering Starlight instead, as she usually was in the same building as her, but the poor mare was down with the flu and needed the rest. So, she thought a walk through the town would let her see if any of her friends were free to chat.

That was before she’d spent the past half hour looking around the town for her friends, only to be surprised when she couldn’t find them all anywhere.

“I wonder where everypony went. This is really strange, even for Ponyville.” Trotting into her castle and heading upstairs for her study, Twilight noticed little things that were off. A decoration askew here, a carpet tilted there, but nothing overly significant to concern her at first. It was likely that it was just Spike cleaning up the long hallway.

She could have sworn she finally caved to Celestia telling her to hire a few maids and give Spike a break. It indeed threw her research schedules for a loop that’s for sure, and her cut of the sovereign funds more than paid for it.

So why did she feel like something was amiss in her home?

When she entered her study, she soon figured out that very reason. On the far side of the room, was the crystal mirror portal to the human world and her friend Sunset Shimmer. On the pedestal, just in case Sunset ever decided to come home for any reason, or she needed assistance over there, sat the journal Twilight used as both a means of communication and as a key to open the gateway.

The portal being on at all and her having not traveled through said portal clued Twilight in rather heavily on what just transpired in her home. The small collection of cyan feathers and the assorted colors of hairs also helped.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me. I stepped away for half an hour!” Levitating a fake portal to rest against the wall, the lavender princess stared at the real one and rubbed her head. Twilight’s mind was abuzz with what she possibly would have to do to clean up what possible messes would arise from her friend being so bull-headed. She pulled the journal off of its pedestal for a split second, transcribing the spell to an additional book to make what she planned possible. It was a jerry-rigged patchwork of magecraft, yes, but she was both stressed in a way only someone that dealt with insanity every week for over a year could be, and just needed to send a few messages at most, hopefully. With the original back where it was, the portal reopened, and with the copy, she could write to Sunset freely as she waited for her friend to get back.

It was only a few minutes before she got her wish, as Rainbow started to come back through the portal and stumbled slightly. The prismatic mare thought she was safe at first. To her, Twilight was just writing something down in a random journal, the portal was undisturbed, and the lavender mare had her back to her, apparently unaware of how awesomely she slipped back through.

Those thoughts ended the moment Twilight closed the journal. “Welcome back, Rainbow.”

A block of ice landed in Rainbow’s stomach as the Princess of Friendship turned around in her seat. “Uh... hehe, heya Twilight.” The prismatic mare was sweating and grinning nervously as the alicorn sat in front of her friend completely unamused, and an irritated frown on her face. “Just, uh, thought I’d make sure the portal was working and all that. Just a quick in and out, no time on the other side at all. I know how much this thing means to you and we wouldn’t want Sunset getting trapped on the other side again!”

“Rainbow.” Twilight’s tone was deathly calm as she stood “I have been staring at this portal, for fifteen minutes. Something I started doing, the moment I learned you had traveled through it. Something I expressly forbid absolutely anypony from doing, unless given royal approval beforehoof. Something you’ve been trying to do so often, that the replica I made is now completely destroyed from your projectile launch at it when Spike activated the lights on it.” Her eyes narrowed as she walked forward and raised an eyebrow. “That being said, care to explain why Sunset just wrote to me about how her world’s Rainbow Dash now has a large bruise from the kick you delivered to her?”

The cyan mare turned a lovely shade of sky blue as she chuckled uneasily. “What? Wow, that sounds, uh, horrible. Is that a cloud? Oh, I just rememberedit’ssupposedtobeasunnydaybye-!”

Rainbow made it to the window before she found her tail caught in a rosy pink aura. “Oh, no you don’t.” Twilight’s still calm voice was betrayed by the sight of smoke trailing up from the tips of her mane and wings. “Please, explain.” Rainbow’s eyes darted this way and that, trying to find some escape from the wrath of Twilight as she was pulled closer to the growing inferno hidden in that lavender shell. The weather mare thought her saving grace had come when the door opened.

Only for Spike to walk in, munching on some fire rubies. “Hey Rainbow. Are the other’s back yet?”

Rainbow could only stare in mute horror as Twilight’s head could be heard by anyone in the room; creaking when she turned to look at Spike. “What?”

Spike looked between the two mares for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “Uh... bad time?”

“One second Spike.” Twilight zapped Rainbow with her magic and set her down. Try as she might, Rainbow soon found herself completely immobilized from the neck down, and unable to flee the purple princess’s wrath. At that moment, Spike hid his remaining fire rubies in a nearby flower pot. The princess herself walked up to Spike and looked at him with a smile. “Spike, what do you mean by, Rainbow and the others?”

Spike just shrugged. “The girls all came over and said you’d given them the okay to use the portal, so I turned it on for ‘em.”

Twilight blinked, taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it before looking at the frozen flier again. “Rainbow, how many of our friends crossed over?”

Sweating bullets, Rainbow tried to laugh it off. “Heh heh. About that. Uh. Well uh, I-I don’t know exactly how many. But-”

“How. Many. Rainbow.” Twilight walked forward, each step punctuating one of her words until she was looming over her friend.

In her credit, the prismatic mare made an impressive impression of her pet tortoise when it came to pulling her head into her immobilized body to hide from the impending doom she faced. “A-all of them?”

A small flame danced at the tips of Twilight’s mane. It didn’t seem to climb up the strands of hair, but it still was dangerously close to her fur. The princess did nothing to either of them, as she slowly walked back to her desk, and opened the journal.

Still frozen, Rainbow tried to shuffle her weight with her neck to scoot herself to the door. “Well, it’s been fun Twilight, but I really need to g-”

A hair popped out of place from Twilight’s mane, a second flame dancing upon it. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere.” Twilight finished her message turned sharply to her friend and smiled. “Once everypony is back, we’re all having a very long conversation about why you don’t abuse interdimensional travel.” Trotting away from her friend, Twilight opened a supply closet that was filled with a surprising assortment of items. “But first, I need to vent all of this stress I suddenly seem to have had productively piled on my shoulders by my wonderful friends!”

Unable to flee, Rainbow was forced to watch as Twilight began constructing what could possibly be the most vengeful set of traps possible.

It was going to be a long day for all of them.

Adequately and Appropriately Applying Apples

The sheer amount of efficiency at which Twilight worked, was a wonder of the world in and of itself. Some days, it rivaled Celestia’s ability to make overly complicated millennia extended plans that eventually get seen and written down as prophecies. Others, it made Luna’s stars pale in the absolute brilliance in which every piece fell into place with the most minute accuracy.

For Rainbow, it was like gazing into Tartarus as she stood seconds away from getting pushed in by a demonic lavender alicorn. Twilight at least showed some form of mercy by turning her away to face the corner as she got about halfway through the setup, but it only served to leave her unable to know just how much her friends had in store. The moments when the room was utterly silent scared Dash almost as much as when Twilight was joyfully humming.

The scent of burning hair also flowed through the room when the lavender mare was present. “Come on Twilight! I said I was sorry! Can’t you unfreeze me already? I promise I won’t do it again!”

“Rainbow, you know I can’t do that just yet.” Twilight continued setting up the last details of her complicatedly contrived contraptions. “But don’t worry; once the others are back, we can all take a few minutes for you five to explain yourselves as a whole.” A merry giggle sent shivers down Rainbow’s spine. “Besides, I can’t move you from that spot just yet. I need you there as bait.”

The sound of hooves trotting away was all the prismatic pegasus could hear as she tried to look over her shoulders. “Huh? Wait, what do you mean by that? Twilight? Twilight!?” The echo of a door shutting was all she received as an answer. Before that moment, Rainbow never really considered how terrifying staring at a corner could be.

Now she knows.

Minutes passed before the chime of the portal whirring to life behind her got Rainbow’s ears to perk up, and quickly hone in on the sound of somepony landing with a thud. “Ow... Never gonna get the hang of all these fancy magic doohickies Twilight ends up with.”

Rainbow strained her head as much as she could to look behind her and instantly perked up at the sight of a particular familiar orange pony. She leaned over and started to talk in a hissed whisper. “AJ! Quick! I need your help! We need to get out of here!”

Applejack shook her head as she stood back up, and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. Taking a quick look around the room, it looked just like it did when they all headed off to the other world. Raising an eyebrow, the farm mare looked at her cyan colored friend. “Uh, Rainbow. What are y'all talking about? And why are ya standing in the corner whispering like Tirek’s leaning over your shoulder?”

Beads of nervous sweat trickled down Rainbow’s face. During the entire time Twilight was setting up her plan, she was never gone this long. “It’s Twilight! She found out! You gotta help get me outta here before she gets back!”

Silence reigned for a split second before Applejack started laughing loudly and adjusting her hat. “Alright, ya got me Rainbow. That was a good one.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped as she felt an eye twitch. “Twilight froze me in place because she caught me when I came back through! What part of this makes you think I’m joking!?”

Still chuckling as she fanned herself with her hat, Applejack rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s what ya get for being careless while coming back. Though I gotta admit, seeing ya like this is pretty funny.”

If Rainbow could bash her head against the wall right then, she would have. Instead, she decided to forego caution and just shout. “For Celestia’s sake AJ! Get me out of here!”

Still laughing at her friend’s plight, the farm mare finally relented and started walking over. “Alright, alright, let’s get g-” Applejack paused as she felt something under her hoof. Looking down, she saw she’s stepped on a small line of rope that was painted the same color as the floor.

The sound of a latch flicking open made her look up, and watch as a parade of apples rolled down a series of chutes, tumbling back and forth down the wall. “What in tarnation?”

She followed the apples as they moved down one extended chute, before they funneled into a small cannon, also painted. One apple landed inside, the second knocked it over, pointing it at the far wall, and the last apple fell on the button on top and fired the fruity artillery. The apple flew out the window and hit a bullseye that was just outside the castle.

In that moment, the farm mare learned how quickly it felt to be in one of those dunk booths, watching as the target gets hit with a perfect bullseye. Only instead of going down into a fish tank, the farmer was launched out the window herself by the springboard under her hooves.

Screaming in surprise and fear, Applejack flailed through the air until she found herself landing in one of her harvest baskets, attached to a rail by a set of metal bars. Shaking her head as she sat upright, she looked over the edge and found herself and her basket farther in the air than she would have liked. The basket began to roll down the rail, now loaded with enough weight to start it’s momentum downward.

Faster and faster, the basket circled the castle with each pass, forcing Applejack to hold onto her hat as she descended. Getting closer to the ground, the orange farmer learned where her ride would soon end, however, as a hay baler was positioned at the end of the rail. “Oh, Sweet Apples!”

The basket hit the stopper at the end of the rail and Applejack was sent zooming forward, straight into the chute leading into the baler. The machine sputtered and spurred as it worked, and shortly after flying in, a series of hay bales fell out.

The top bale had applejack’s hat sticking out of it until her head popped out in its place. She was dazed for a moment before the bail was hefted off the top of the pile and onto somepony’s back. She shook her head and looked down, only for her blink in surprise. “BIG MAC!?”

“Eeyup.” Sure enough, the red stallion was carrying the freshly baled Applejack inside, where a patiently waiting Twilight sat on her throne, and her mane just a bit damp. “Here ya go Twilight.”

Smiling politely, The princess trotted over and took Applejack off of her brother’s back in her magic. “Thank you for letting me borrow your family baler, Big Mac. I promise to return it once everything’s settled.”

“Not a problem at all, Twilight.” Mac nodded with a smirk, much to his sister’s indignation. “Just let my sister come home in one piece when yer’ done with her.”

“I’m still surprised you had the hay baler foal-proofed at all.” Twilight looked at the machine in slight amusement. “What event would even lead to that?”

Applejack slowly frowned and shook her head as Big Mac's smile grew. “Don’t do it Mac. Don’t you dare. That’s a family secret and you swore you wouldn’t tell a soul.”

The red farmer just kept grinning, looking at Twilight, and nodding his head at Applejack before facing his sister once more. “Ah think she can piece together why just fine, AJ.”

Twilight snickered a bit as she held a hoof to her mouth. “Seriously?” Mac nodded his head, and the princess was having a hard time not laughing, much to Applejack’s embarrassment. The two shared a quick nod before Twilight started carrying Applejack upstairs and Big Mac headed home. “Well, he never told a soul.”

“Don’t you start using semantics on me.”

“Oh, but Applejack,” The farmer felt a chill run up her spine as Twilight smiled at her. “Why shouldn't I? I mean, it’s not like you and everypony else broke into my home and abused an artifact of significant magical power or anything, right?”

Suddenly, Applejack understood precisely why Rainbow was scared earlier. “Uh... Ah, need an adult.”

Twilight carried her up to another room of the castle and set the hay bale down. “I am an adult.” With a flash of her horn, Rainbow was teleported into the room as well, blinking as the spots filled her eyes. “Now, both of you wait right here. Wouldn’t want to miss the show, now would we?”

Once Twilight was out of the room, Rainbow stared at Applejack entirely unamused. “We both could have been free as birds right now, but you had to laugh it up, didn’t you?”

“Ah shut up.”

Author's Note

YOU THOUGHT I COULDN'T DO THIS WITHOUT USING ROPE SNARES!?
I HAVE SHOWN YOU MY HONOR, ANSWER ME!

But on a serious note, this one was fun to write. Got heavy flashbacks to watching Scooby Doo the whole time. Especially the Jeepers Creepers episode for reasons obvious to anyone who's watched the old Scooby shows.

ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Edit: If ya got some weird notifications about this chapter, Fim's doing something screwy with it. Not sure what.

Retroactive Ramifications

With Rainbow and Applejack caught, Twilight worked on the far side of the room, adjusting portions of her plans to be in just the right location. As she did, Applejack leaned over as much as she could from inside her hay bale. “What do ya think she’s got planned?”

Rainbow squinted as she watched Twilight cast a few spells on a painter’s canvas and hung it on the far wall, making sure it was perfectly straight. “Don’t know. Whatever it is, I think that canvas is the end game.” A confused frown grew on her face as she hummed. “How’s she going to trap anypony with a blank picture though?”

“No idea.” The apple farmer glanced at Twilight again and gulped as lines of vapor were rising off of her coat. “Also, is Twilight uh, steaming? Or am ah just seeing things?”

The prismatic flier stiffly nodded. “Yeah... Twilight was literally on fire when I got back. I think she took a quick shower or something to put it before she caught you.”

Applejack paled as her eyes darted towards some kind of metal collar Twilight pulled out of a bag and started remembering a specific incident at Froggy Bottom Bog. “We talkin' little flame or inferno?”

“She looked like a volcano about to blow.”

The orange mare stared at her friend in silent shock before glancing back to the Princess of Friendship. “Celestia have mercy on our souls.”

Twilight either didn’t hear the conversation or purposefully was ignoring them. Instead, the princess looked around the room and smiled calmly, before lighting up her horn and teleporting to her study to await whoever came out of the portal next.

She needed to make sure they fell into the right trap after all.

Moving behind the portal, she stalked in waiting for the next of her friends to come back through. Eventually, Spike showed up and had a nervous look on his face as he approached the alicorn. “Um... Twilight? I’m not in trouble, am I?”

Twilight paused her movement as she looked over at the baby dragon and sighed. “I would be lying if I said no.” At that, Spike’s head fell a bit as he looked at his feet. “But, depending on why you let them in, I might go easier on you. I thought I told you to, under no circumstances, let them through.”

“Well, I didn’t believe them at first, and then they handed me this.” The young dragon rubbed the back of his head as he handed her a scroll, that when unraveled in her magic, showed some documentation stating her permission.

The lavender alicorn squinted at the writing, before frowning. “This is Rarity’s horn-writing. She made it remarkably like my own, but this is definitely hers.” Sighing, Twilight rolled the scroll back up and put it in the desk drawer. “Spike, you’re still in trouble, but I think that since they tricked you, it will only be a small slap on the wrist at worst.” She gave her assistant a hug, making the small drake smile. “Think you can help Merryweather clean up the castle tomorrow?”

Spike’s smile vanished as he groaned. “Alright, I guess I kinda earned that.” Giving the drake one last hug, Twilight shooed him out of the room and went back to hiding behind the portal. She’d made extra sure that each of her friend’s traps wouldn’t interfere with each other. The princess didn’t have time to dwell on her thoughts for long, however, as the next of her prey had arrived.

The exit from the portal made her stumble slightly, but Rarity was soon on her hooves and brushing herself off. “Alright, back in Equestria. Now, I just need to get back to my boutique as quickly as possible.” She took a quick look around the room, not noticing Twilight hiding behind the portal.

With a quick cast, the lavender mare placed a much more subtle version of her Want it Need it spell on one of the doors. Specifically, the one leading to a broom closet. Twilight didn’t want her friend to be slovenly in love with her door, but it did look like the most opportune exit now.

Trotting unsuspectingly over to the enchanted door, Rarity paused as she heard a faint click. Looking around, nothing overt stuck out as being different from how it was a moment ago and shrugged. Had she looked down, she would have noticed the floor below her had sunk down half an inch. Instead, she pulled on the door’s handle with her magic, and then pulled again, and again. Frowning she looked at the door and grumbled.

“Locked? I guess Twilight finally started to lock up certain rooms. Now if only she’d chosen a more opportune time to do so.” She turned around, glancing at the other doors as she started to walk away, not noticing the floor sliding under the door as she tried to leave. “I guess I’ll need to find another way-”

Rarity didn’t finish her sentence, as it fell just like her down the hole in the floor and into a scream. Both her screaming and the fall were short-lived, as the unicorn landed in something white, sticky, and only slightly viscous. Sputtering as she got her head free, she scraped the substance off her eyes and looked around herself. “Ugh, my mane! What is this!? It’s disgusting! It’s... it’s...?”

She paused as the smell became familiar, and she licked a dab off her hoof. “Whipped cream?”

One side of the pit opened up a small hatch, and before Rarity could move, a large, ugly metal collar was snapped around her neck, and an accompanying harness around her barrel. Wires were sticking out of the contraption at various spots and on the side were a pair of lights; one red, one green. The fashionista tried to pull the brace off, but it wouldn’t budge to her panicked struggling. “Get off of me you, you blasted contraption!”

The green light flickered on, and Rarity found herself pressed against the wall of the pit, slowly sliding up until she was under a second green light that popped out of a small panel. “Wh-what!?”

The sound of somepony clearing their throat made Rarity look up. From above, Twilight looked down on Rarity, as she clung to her collar. “T-Twilight!?”

Smiling calmly, the lavender princess laid down next to the hole and leaned in slightly. “Hello Rarity, it’s good to see you. I was hoping you’d be the next one back.”

Rarity somehow got a shade paler. “W-what? You mean you knew we--!”

Twilight let a hoof wave lazily as she looked to the side, a small flame dancing once more on her mane. “Not at first, but you certainly did a wonderful job of counterfeiting my horn-writing. Which is why I’m glad you’re here right now.” The flame grew, engulfing the lower half of her mane. “Care to explain why you thought it’d be a good idea to trick Spike like that, even when you know how he feels about you?”

The white unicorn was starting to sweat, whether from exertion or nerves, as she looked up and tried to think of a way out of her doom. “W-well you see, Twilight, I-I-I was, um...”

Twilight’s soft, violet eyes closed as she tilted her head with a smile. “You manipulated the young dragon that I hatched and raised since I was a filly, and see as part of my family.” The princess’s ruby red eyes glared harshly down at Rarity when they opened. “I don’t take kindly to that, Rarity.”

Slowly, the adjacent wall of the pit opened up and the cream covered mare could only stare in horror as all manner of filth was on display. Mud, leaves, garbage bags, and some form of green slime all filled the passage, and more lights could be seen lining the hall. “T-Twilight please, I-I’m sorry! I admit that I’ve made a horrible mistake, but please don’t-!

The flames of Twilight’s mane only served to add genuinely ominous lighting to the scene as the princess levitated a small remote over to herself. “Have fun~.”

Rarity’s eyes shrank to pinpricks as the light on the wall above her flickered off, the lights in the hall turned on, and Rarity’s harness shot her forward through the muck. She skid through the mud, got coated in leaves, bounced off of the garbage, and was thoroughly covered by the slime. The hall turned, and Rarity’s harness followed. Much to her dismay and moderate joy, there was soap and water down this hall.

If only it weren’t an automated nightmare.

The fashionista found herself being scrubbed and soaked in a most undignified and rough fashion. Large rotating scrubbers, waterjets, and billowing fans removed most of the gunk but also ruined her mane and fur’s luster. By the time the harness stopped moving her down the hall, the white unicorn had become the fluffiest thing in existence. So fluffy, that the harness was lost within the depths of her fur, and none could see her legs.

Without giving her the time to think, the harness shot upwards and through a hole in the ceiling, putting Rarity in a new room. Down below, she could see Rainbow Dash and Applejack. That was all she could make out before the harness beeped again, leaned back for a moment, and flung her at the far wall where the canvas Twilight had hung earlier was resting. Seeing her imminent doom, Rarity braced herself for impact, covering her face with the hooves that only barely poked out of her fluff.

Imagine her and her observer’s surprise, when she sunk into the canvas and the surface rippled closed afterward.

From within the canvas, Rarity’s sat up and shook her head, before looking at the white void she found herself in. The only thing to keep her interest was the square hole in the air that led to the room she had just been in. The fashionista galloped her fluffy butt back to the hole, only to find herself unable to push through. Her hooves only felt canvas as they struggled against the image within the square. “Hello? Twilight? Anypony!? Let me out of here!”

“Huh, didn’t think Twilight was gonna do that with it.”

“Me neither. Ah thought it was gonna be something along the lines of flypaper.”

Rarity blinked and moved to the edge of the canvas, looking to her left to see who was talking. “Darlings! Are you two alright?”

Applejack deadpanned at her friend, as she raised an eyebrow. “Ah’m trapped in a hay bale, and Rainbow’s practically been petrified. Does that sound alright?”

The fashion mare opened her mouth to comment, but quickly closed it instead, and thought of a better thing to say. “Fair point.”

Rainbow looked uneasy as she glanced at the hole in the floor, as the harness slowly sank back down. “I really hope Twilight goes easy on Fluttershy and Pinkie. I only got zapped cause she thought it was just me at the time.”

The three shared a look of worry, wondering just what their deranged lavender friend had in store for the least violent two of their group.

Feather Filled Follies

Twilight stalked around the portal, a few hairs out of place and a twitch to her eyes. To anyone who would watch without interrupting, she would look more like a ravenous predator than a pony. The lavender mare was so focused on the portal, that she failed to notice the incredibly irritated unicorn staring at her from the doorway. The unicorn mare, who had bags under her eyes, a red nose, and a pale complexion to her usually pink fur, that was continually having her sleep disturbed by screaming and pleas for mercy.

If Starlight were still a teenager or megalomaniac, they probably would have pulled her to sleep. Right now, they were both worrisome for whom it concerned and annoying for her attempts to get some rest.

“Twilight,” the pink unicorn rubbed her head and levitated some tissues behind her as she walked in, “what are you doing?”

The alicorn’s head whipped around and looked at her student, eyes slightly out of focus and smile starting to become unhinged. “Starlight! It’s so good to see you!”

Starlight recoiled at the sight of the princess and nervously walked closer. “Uh... yeah, good to see you too.” Clearing her throat, she waved a hoof at the mirror and raised an eyebrow. “So why are you stalking the portal?”

The laugh with which Twilight started her response did nothing to ease Starlight’s thoughts.

“Oh, it’s nothing really.” The lavender alicorn started pacing back and forth. “It’s not like five of my friends did the one thing I told them not to do for the past several weeks, and snuck across the mirror portal to confront their counterparts!”

Sighing and rubbing the bridge of her nose, the sick unicorn’s eyes followed her teacher’s movements. “Twilight, I doubt it’s as bad as you’re making it out to be-”

“Sunset wrote to me that Rainbow attacked her counterpart.” Twilight’s mane was slightly singed, but a small flame was still dancing on the ends of her hair. “What’s more, I have absolutely no idea if the others did so or not. I have been making Ruby Goldenberg style traps for the past few hours just to vent the frustration and be productive in making sure none of them can’t run off before I can give them all the lecture of a lifetime in the proper and safe usage of ancient artifacts and interdimensional travel.”

Hesitating, Starlight smiled nervously. “Okay, maybe it’s a little bad, but you really need to calm down. So, Rainbow did something, er, questionable. I doubt that the others did anything too extreme. I mean, from the screams I’ve had keep me awake all day, I’m pretty sure you’ve got a few of them, right?”

Twilight’s face was thankfully, but slowly becoming less deranged as she went on. “Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity. The only two friends I’ve been unable to account for are Fluttershy and Pinkie.”

“Twilight, ask yourself this.” Starlight put a hoof on the alicorn’s shoulder and started to lead her out of the study and away from the portal, but had to take a moment to cough during the trip. “Would Fluttershy or Pinkie do anything that would warrant... this?”

“Well, Fluttershy I... don’t actually see going too far with this. Maybe a quiet argument at worst?” Twilight’s ears started to droop as they walked. “I’m completely unsure about Pinkie though. She didn’t seem too upset with her counterpart when I told them all what happened. But there was also that time when Applejack broke a Pinkie Promise, and she became absolutely infuriated!”

“But would they hurt them?” The pink unicorn pushed the question, trying to help calm down the lavender alicorn.

“I.. um...” Twilight stopped in the middle of the hall and sat down, the flame in her hair extinguishing completely. “I went too far with the traps... didn’t I?”

Looking over and seeing the filthy hallway, Starlight deadpanned at her mentor. “Yeah, ya kinda did.” Walking up to the frowning alicorn, Starlight put on a small smile. “Why don’t we go and pull your friends out of wherever you got them stuck, and ask them what they did?”

Twilight chuckled nervously and started down the hallway. “I um... actually have them all in the same spot at the moment. They’re all a few rooms away from the study.”

The duo headed down the hallway and upon entering the room, found Applejack had hopped her hay bale over towards Rarity and was trying to nudge the portrait off the wall. “Just a little more Rares. Yer almost off the wall!”

Rarity was lazily leaning against the side of the picture frame, looking like an utterly bored puffball. “Darling, I doubt knocking the picture off its perch is going to get me out.”

Rainbow called from her spot in the corner, still unable to move. “Hey, it worked in Daring Do and the Pistachio Painting, it’ll work here!”

The fashion mare’s eyes locked on Rainbow as she glared. “Rainbow do I look like an ancient artifact to you!?”

The flyer shrugged as much as her frozen form allowed, a smug grin on her face. “Nah, you look more like a picture of a cotton ball.”

The force of Rarity’s screams was enough to shake the picture and make the white fluff appear red around her face. “WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, YOU ARE GETTING PUT INTO SO MANY DRESSES I’LL HAVE SEVEN NEW SEASONAL LINES READY!”

Clearing her throat, Starlight got the trio’s attention and had them all frozen in place when they also caught sight of Twilight. Applejack immediately sank down in her hay bale as much as she could and grinned nervously. “Heh, Heya there Twilight.”

Chuckling nervously, Twilight trotted into the room and was blushing. “Um... hey.” She could only hold the smile for so long before she deflated with a sigh and looked at the floor. “Girls... I’m sorry.”

Rainbow’s face scrunched in confusion as she stared at Twilight. “Huh?”

Applejack’s reaction was quite similar, with the addition of a raised eyebrow. “Pardon?”

Scuffing her hoof on the floor, Twilight glanced at Starlight and at the sight of the sick unicorn’s unamused face, the princess continued. “When I found the portal open, I knew somepony had gotten through, so I wrote to Sunset to see if she had seen any of you.” She pointedly frowned as she looked at Rainbow, before softening her gaze again. “When I got a message back that Rainbow assaulted her counterpart, I assumed the worst of all of you.” Her ears fell back as she looked at the three still in binds. “For that, I’m sorry, and I’ll do whatever I can to make up for doing all of this to you, and I promise to let you all out.”

Starlight nodded in approval and smiled. “Good to see your head’s back on straight Twilight.” She chuckled a bit. “I mean, it’s not like Rarity or Applejack beat up their counterparts like Rainbow did.”

The three were silent for a time, sharing a glance with each other before Applejack looked directly at Twilight. “Uh, about that.”

Both Starlight and Twilight froze and looked directly at them. “What?”

Applejack’s face scrunched up as she looked this way and that. “Ah uh... might have gotten into a bit of a tussle with my counterpart.” As Twilight’s eye started to twitch again, a bead of sweat rolled down Applejack’s face. “But for the record, she threw the first punch.”

The sick pink unicorn face-hoofed and groaned. “Are you serious?” Noticing Rarity clearing her throat, her jaw dropped. “You too!?”

Rarity looked away as she batted her mane from her face floof. “Our conversation started civilly. We merely had a... disagreement on the topic of her fashion choices.”

Rainbow looked over with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you said the two of you had a full-on catfight?” Rarity shot her an incredulous stare. “What!? You did!”

“You both did WHAT!?” Twilight pulled at her mane as she stared at the abashed faces.

“Twilight!” Starlight coughed a bit as she rubbed her throat. “Oh, I need to stop yelling. Look, it doesn’t matter right now what they did or didn’t do. You went overboard with the traps, apologized, and we're going to help take them all down, right?”

Rainbow looked up in thought. “Well... I don’t know about Fluttershy, but Pinkie looked prepared for w-” The glare she got from Starlight made her clench her jaws shut. “Right. Hoof in the mouth. Shutting up.”

The princess looked to Starlight in surprise as she waved a hoof at her friends. “See! I--” A pink hoof stuck in her mouth silenced her.

“Twilight, there is no guarantee that Fluttershy,” she glared at Rainbow again for good measure, “or Pinkie is going to follow in the same vein as these three. So let’s get the traps disabled before anypony--” A pit filled with feathers opened in the floor next to her, and she jumped back. “Gah!”

Twilight’s eyes shrank as she stared at the pit. “Oh no. If that’s activated, that means somepony fell into one of the traps! But Who!?”

The portal buzzed for a moment as Fluttershy stepped back through. Once she was back on all fours, she sighed in relief and stretched. “Maybe I shouldn't have threatened to have Discord visit their world. Oh, I hope I wasn’t too hard on her. Me? Hmmm...”

Looking about the empty study, she was surprised to see the details that were added since she left. With the small, slanted ledges painted to match the crystal, and the hole in the floor making one of the doors inaccessible, worry started to flood her mind. “What happened?”

The shy pegasus decided to investigate as much as she could, and started examining the room in closer detail. She leaned over and looked down the pit, seeing the white cream that swirled slightly at the bottom, and got a faint blush on her cheeks from the smell. “Maybe... not that way.”

Stepping away from the hole, Fluttershy looked over the shelves, finding the faint scent of apples hung in the air. She pondered what could have happened for a moment, before continuing her search at Twilight’s desk.

Standing in front of the desk, Fluttershy noticed that a cute little doll of panda bear with a bow was sitting on a throw rug that wasn’t there before. It was curiosity that lead her to walk over and pick up the plush bear, looking it over. A small alarm went off as she picked up the bear, and Fluttershy’s wings snapped to her sides as she hugged the teddy in fear. She started looking around to find where her possible doom may have been coming from.

A second later, the net hidden under the throw rug went taut and trampolined Fluttershy into the air.

The poor mare flailed her hind legs, still clutching the teddy bear for dear life, as a padded paddle swung out from the ceiling and batted her out the door and into the hallway, landing her on a second padded panel. The second paddle launched her to the side and unfortunately made her lose her grip on the stuffed panda.

Fluttershy flipped through the air for a moment, before landing on a small platform that had been rigged up with wheels, sending her careening forward, until a tripwire caught it and forced her to fly into the air.

The pegasus tried to stop herself with her wings but felt something tingle across her body as she started to weightlessly float down the hall. No matter how she flapped, she couldn’t change her direction or speed. She stared down the hallway, spotting a chair lazily float ahead of her, seconds before it floated to the ceiling and pressed itself into place.

A gulp was all the time Fluttershy spared herself before desperately trying to fly the other way. Her effort was futile, as she eventually found herself sprawling across the ceiling. Trying to stand upright, Fluttershy felt the chair sliding behind her and under her rump, before flying down the hallway, flipping back to the ground as it moved. The chair ran fast enough that the poor mare couldn’t escape before it burst through a set of doors and dumped her forward into a pit filled with feathers.

The same room that the five other mares were in.

Twilight looked down into the pit, panic across her face. “Fluttershy! Are you alright!?”

She laid at the bottom of the pit in confusion for a moment, before she felt something slide back and forth across one of her rear hooves. She started to giggle at the feeling when she felt another between her wings, then a third on her nose. Before she knew it, all the feathers were dancing in place, and she was struggling to contain her laughter.

Rainbow’s eyebrows knitted together as she looked at the pit. “Uh... is she giggling?”

Rarity squinted from her painting and frowned. “Twilight, what did you do to those feathers?”

A bead of sweat dripped down the princess’s brow. “Hehe, funny story about that. I uh... might have originally planned this trap for Pinkie, and wanted to use the very element she represented to trap her ironically?”

The nervous smile Twilight wore did nothing to relive the deadpan glares she was getting.

Fluttershy’s head suddenly burst out of the pit of feathers, tears streaming down her cheeks as she laughed uncontrollably. “T-Twilight! Please! Make it Stop! I can’t take it!” The laugh only grew as she weakly flailed within the downy tomb she laid in, bordering on becoming a full cackle.

Thankfully, Starlight had mercy on the poor mare and helped pull her out of the feathers. The red-faced Fluttershy laid on the ground, a dopey smile on her face and the occasional giggle escaping her as she panted. "Why is it that the sick mare is the one doing all the," she paused to cough into her frog, "work?"

Rainbow looked at her longtime friend in worry. “You okay there Flutters?”

A silly giggle was her response.

“Yeah, she’s gonna be fine.”

Author's Note

Unlike when I was writing the last chapter, the words simply wouldn't stop, and now we have a 2000+ word chapter.

Go figure right?

Also, you all thought I forgot that Starlight was on this side of the shenanigans, didn't you? But guess what! I know how it can be when you have ROOMMATES.

Preparations in Pink

Twilight’s horn was glowing brightly as she pulled on Rarity’s hooves, getting another inch out of the canvas painting. “I didn’t think,” the princess grunted as she pulled harder, “that this spell would be so stubborn!”

Rarity’s rear hooves were flailing inside the painting, entirely out of sight from everyone. The mass of fluffy fur made even the canvas hard to spot. “Twilight, pull harder! I’m almost out!”

A snickering Rainbow Dash, finally free to fly as she wished, watched the spectacle from the air with a hoof to her mouth. “I don’t think the spell’s what’s keeping her in.” The fashionista hissed at her airborne friend, spooking her into falling to one of the seats in the room.

Applejack chuckled as she brushed some hay off of her shoulders, bale left destroyed in the corner of the room. “Ah think ya struck a nerve there Dash.” The pegasus blew a raspberry at the farmer, to which Applejack only rolled her eyes and headed out the door.

Starlight shook her head at the scene, blowing her nose before looking at the last occupant of the room. “Twilight, how long do these spells last?” Fluttershy was still a giggling mess, even the slightest touch sending her into new fits, and was laid out on the couch.

One final pull got Rarity out of the painting, and the lavender princess lowered the fluffy mare to the ground before addressing the question. “Well, the Into the Art World spell on the canvas is pretty much indefinite if I create a source of magic for it to draw from. There were a few siphons I placed behind it to keep the spell active for a more extended period of time so nothing would happen to Rarity, so it should last for another two days.

“As for the Eternal Tickle spell, that should last a few more hours... I think.” The alicorn blushed as she looked into the feather filled hole. “I may have forgotten how many feathers I enchanted while filling the pit.” At everyone’s stares, she grew a bit more rosy-cheeked. “I wasn’t thinking about it at the time!”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and landed next to her fellow pegasus and being careful not to touch her. “Geez Twilight, I know we got you mad, but that’s a little harsh. Considering this was for Pinks, that’d be torture for her.”

A dejected sigh escaped the princess as her ears fell flat on her head. “I know, but what’s done is done and I can’t just magic away the charm. If I tried, it would only last longer.” The alicorn sat with a dejected sigh. “We’ll just need to wait for it to wear off gradually.”

Applejack grunted as she hauled a spring-loaded catapult down the hallway, stopping at the doorway long enough to poke her head in. “Can Y'all just focus on getting these traps all put away for now?”

Twilight shook her head and looked at her gathered friends as she stood back up. “Right, we should head to the portal and make sure Pinkie doesn't trigger anything.”

Before they all could charge ahead, Rarity tapped Twilight on the shoulder and cleared her throat. “Darling, wouldn’t it be easier to just go through and bring her back yourself?”

The group collectively paused before Twilight slapped a hoof to her face. “Okay, you have a point there. I probably could have avoided all of this if I’d just gone over myself to help catch you. But I’m the one who planted all the traps and know where they all are. I should stay and help.”

With a smile that was barely visible under her fur, Rarity gently pushed her friend towards the door. “Darling, we’ll be just fine. From what we could tell, you made sure with absolute certainty that these traps would not harm anyone intentionally. Even if we fall in one, I’m sure the rest of our friends could pull us out of them before anything bad happens.”

“Well,” Twilight looked amongst the group and bit her lip, before shaking her head and sighing, “alright, but if anything happens and one of you get stuck you better write to me through the journal!” She brought a scroll over with her magic before hastily writing something down. “Here’s a list of all the traps I made, and which ones were and weren’t triggered.”

Starlight nodded as she picked up both the scroll and the temp journal in her magic. “You can count on us.” Without further prompting, Twilight dived through the portal and rushed off to the school’s entrance the moment she got her bearings, desperate to get inside and find her pink friend and prevent a possible reality ending scenario.

In Equestria, however, Starlight turned around and had to grab Rainbow Dash to keep her from running out of the castle. “REALLY!?” The unicorn promptly started to have a coughing fit again.

Rainbow struggled to fly forward and out of the magic grabbing her. “Are you kidding? She petrified me for over an hour! I’m out of here!”

Applejack facehoofed as she looked at her flying friend. “Look Rainbow, we all screwed up a bit here. Runnin off like a chicken with a timberwolf on its tail won’t make that better right now.”

The flier’s face turned a shade of red before she got as close as she could with a glare. “Who are you calling chicken!?”

“Girls, can we please just get to work taking some of this stuff down before it actually does hurt somepony?” Rarity called from next to a trap door she found under the rug, pulling out what looked like some form of ray gun with a sticker of some kind of alien in an outfit that looked like metal plates done into a skirt and one of the royal guard’s helmets. “I mean it, some of these things are making me very worried about the prior state of Twilight’s sanity.”

Starlight’s jaw dropped as she stared at the ray gun. “Who was that even for!?”

“Pinkie most likely.” Rarity turned over the device a bit and looked down the hole again. “There’s a rather large number of cupcakes at the bottom, sitting on a bullseye. We should probably check some of the other rooms too.”

“Right, right.” As they walked, the pink unicorn was looking over the list Twilight had given them all, noting the number of items on it. “Ugh, why did Twilight make so many traps?”

Rainbow’s eyebrows knitted together as she looked at Applejack. “Wait, I thought she already set up a trap for Pinkie and caught Fluttershy instead?”

The apple farmer raised an eyebrow and frowned. “Would you trust only one trap to work on Pinkie?”

The cyan pegasus started to prepare a comeback before she just paused and landed back on the ground and followed the group on hoof. “Alright, got me there.”

Starlight rubbed her still feverish head and groaned. “Let’s... just get started. The sooner we get this stuff down, the better.” The unicorn started to pull apart some kind of a cross between a gazebo and a floor net that she found the next room over.

Only for Rarity to step in and take over the task. “Darling, we can handle this. You, however, look like you’re about to collapse from that flu you’re still fighting.” She gently pushed the sicker unicorn back out of the room and smiled. “Go get some rest, you need it.”

“But--!” Another push silenced her as she started walking out of the room. “Alright, fine...”

Applejack chuckled and put a hoof on the passing unicorn’s shoulder. “Now don’t you worry none sugar cube. Once all this is said and done, yer not the one who’s gotta explain themselves to an angry alicorn.” The apple farmer shuddered at the thought. “Never thought I’d possibly be on this end of a rainbow laser. Usually, we're the one's firin' it.”

Rainbow hopped back into the air, giving a cocky puff of her chest as she rubbed a hoof against it. “Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Three sets of eyes trained on Rainbow as they stared in disbelief, but only the orange farmer found her words. “You just had to say that, didn’t ya Dash?”

“Ooo! I know! Pick me!” Pinkie popped out from behind a potted plant that was nearby Rarity, making her jump in surprise.

The poor mare tried to get her footing, only for the floor to roll out from under her and send her falling into yet another pit. “Not again!”

There was a splash from below, and Pinkie leaned her head down over the edge to look into the pit. “Hey, what’s that sticky white stuff down there?”

Rarity’s head slowly rose from the depths, her formerly poofy fur now matted down over her entirely unamused glare. “.... Ice cream. Melted, ice cream.”

Rainbow and Applejack shared a look before staring at their pink party pal. “When did you get back!?”

“Couple minutes ago when Twilight jumped through the portal and ran into the school going ‘Aaaah my friends all are in danger!’ and Starlight was busy holding onto Rainbow’s tail like ‘you’re not getting away coward!’ and Rainbow was going ‘I can’t let Twilight make me a statue again!’ and Applejack said ‘stop being silly get down here’ and then--.” A hoof in her mouth silenced her as she smiled with her eyes at Starlight, owner of the said hoof.

“Pinkie, I’m too sick to deal with this. Help them take down the traps. I’m going to get a nap.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” With that, Pinkie began to pronk her way about the room, helping remove various doodads and gizmos.

Applejack, in the meantime, had lowered a rope down to help Rarity get out of the ice cream pit. “You okay there, sugar cube?”

The dripping white unicorn glared at everyone and everything. “Twilight owes me several hundred princess grade spa visits. Several. Hundred.”

Author's Note

Alrighty, another chapter up for all of you lovely readers to do what you do. Now, I would like to apologize first and foremost for the delay on this one. Things on my end of life were rather busy in the world of flesh and physics, and I was dealing with the problems that are brought upon one by moving from where I currently live into a new apartment, and the bills that come as consequence. Because of that, I've had little time to focus on writing, but still had enough to at least crank out a few hundred words occasionally.

That being said, let me know what you think of the chapter down below, and I'll try to wrap this up in the next chapter and start on the next story to invade my brain.

Solar Surprises

All around the room, various different bits and bobs were heaped into piles depending on an inferior method of organizing by ‘how dangerous does this look to you?’ With how many were scattered about in the ‘Please do not touch’ pile, anyone would have assumed that they had gotten a fair way down the list Twilight had given them.

They would be wrong.

Regardless, Applejack looked around the room and tried to spot any more traps hidden about. “Okay everypony, Twilight should be back any minute now. Did we get all the traps?”

Rarity, who took a moment to at least dunk herself in the castle’s baths before she started helping, wasn’t having much more luck, but her attention to detail was undoubtedly helping find any possible ones. “I think? It’s honestly hard to tell. There’s just so many of them!” The fashionista sighed and shook her head. “How angry did we all make Twilight for her to go to this extreme?”

Rainbow and the others all deadpanned at the white unicorn. “She was literally on fire.”

The fashion mare at least had the decency to blush in embarrassment at that. “Oh yes, right. I can’t believe I forgot that.”

Shrugging, the high flier looked to the side for a moment. “You were dunked in ice cream a moment ago. It’s a bit distracting.” Frowning, Rainbow pulled an oversized slingshot over to the ‘maybe less dangerous’ pile. “Seriously though, Twilight went a bit overboard with some of these. This is like, the tenth slingshot I’ve found!”

Applejack rubbed her head a bit and sighed. “Well, it’s not like we can blame Twilight for everything right now.” They all collectively sighed at the thought. The farmer rubbed the back of her head as she looked at one of the piles. “We did kinda cause a lot of trouble in the first place to earn it, what with our jumping to conclusions and all.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes and waved a hoof as she started climbing up one of the walls. “Pfft, I already learned my lesson about jumping to conclusions during the MMM Mystery!”

Rarity and Rainbow both blushed some and looked away. “Please don’t remind us of that fiasco... I can’t believe we acted so stupidly that day.”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head a bit and licked her lips. “It was a good cake though.”

Rarity face-hoofed. “Not the point, Rainbow. Not the point.”

It was a few minutes after they got back to work that Rainbow noticed a certain Pink mare was missing. “Hey, where’s Pinkie?”

A blur shot overhead.“Weeeeeeeeee!” Swinging overhead by a rope tied around her sides, the pink party planner soared like Supermare.

In their shock, her three friends stared up at her with jaws open. “P-Pinkie what are you doing!?” Rarity’s mane frazzled slightly as she screamed at her friend. Such an act was an absolute hazard to the pink mare’s safety!

The party planner disagreed and continued swinging while smiling down at them. “Well, some of the readers were complaining that I didn’t get caught in a trap the last chapter, and boy was some of them really going at it! So I thought I’d fix that and have some fun while doing it!”

Rainbow blinked in confusion before shaking her head for a moment. “Wait... what?”

Slipping out of the rope’s noose, somehow, Pinkie landed with a solid score of ten, next to a few levers that were on the wall. There were a few notes on them that said if you pulled them both, you’d get cuddles from cute puppies. “I also found Beary downstairs waiting at the bottom of the slide, and he said he’d catch me when I got down there. He also said something about Fluttershy being the one supposed to fly down the chute, but I’m pretty rusty on my Bearspeak and probably got it wrong. I’ll have to get Fluttershy to clarify that one for me later.”

Pinkie shot her forehoof into a nearby doorway and pulled Spike into the room, who looked around in confusion. “Wha?”

The Pink Menace put on a silly hat full of feathers before standing dramatically. “Pull the lever, Spike!”

The dazed dragon just shrugged and grabbed the lever on the right. “Uh... okay?”

With a pull of the lever, the floor next to Rarity fell down, and the mare almost lost her balance and fell in. “I am not falling for that a third time!”

Pinkie frowned and looked at the hole with a sigh. “Wrong-” Spike pulled the other lever and made the floor drop out from under Pinkie. “-Leveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!”

Rainbow face-hoofed this time as she rushed over to the hole and looked down, before glancing at the others. “Why would she willingly jump into a trap!?”

In the meantime, the pink mare slid down a winding chute, giggling and cheering as she went faster and faster. Occasionally, a small paper spider or bat would hang lazily from the ceiling of the tube, and the high speeds would make it look real, along with the added bonus of a spooky noise playing when they did. At the end of the ride, Pinkie was shot into the arms of Berry, who gave her a crushingly tight bear hug. “Again!”

Instead of doing as she asked, Berry started to carry her off, much to indignation. “Hey, the ride’s that way!” When he got to the other side of the room, there was a hole in the wall in which the bear placed her gently.

The elevator Pinkie found herself in only gave her enough time to blink before it shot up and into the room above. It then ejected her into a pet carrier and left her trapped inside next to Fluttershy’s giggling form. “Huh, so that’s what she had in mind.” Slipping her tongue through the bars, Pinkie undid the latch and crawled out easily. “There you go, Readers! I hope you enjoyed!” She gave a wave before picking up the still giggling Fluttershy, getting a fresh batch of squeals out of it, and pronking out of the room, back to the Mirror.

In the other room during all of this, however, Applejack sighed and rubbed her face. “Oh for the love of-- where’s the journal? Ah need to let Twilight know about this and ask why she even has that lever.”

Rainbow tapped the applebucker on the shoulder and pointed at the mirror. “Hey look, the Portal’s turning on!”

Rarity walked up to the others, taking note that Pinkie was behind them with a grin on her face and Fluttershy on her back. “Well, that works too I suppose.”

Twilight stepped back through and caught herself easily from falling onto her face. When her friends all ran up to her and started trying to make sure she wasn’t still upset though, she raised a hoof and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Stop. Just.... just stop.” The group collectively stopped and took a step back, allowing the alicorn to continue. “Firstly, I want to reiterate my apology from earlier. You all are my friends. And despite the fact that you all broke into a section of the castle I had to deem restricted due to the number of potentially volatile magical artifacts contained within, mirror excluded, I still shouldn’t have made my castle into a giant boobytrap to catch all of you.”

The resident wonderbolt blinked a bit and raised an eyebrow. “Wait, there are restricted parts of the castle?”

The princess looked directly into Rainbow’s eyes and gave her a narrow glare. “Yes, because despite me telling you repeatedly not to mess with the mirror, you specifically Rainbow, continued to try and cross through multiple times, and nearly broke five of the previously mentioned artifacts. When word got out that you were doing that, I had to make it where you needed my permission or presence to be inside certain rooms to keep the nobility from breathing down my neck about potential dangers to try and fail, at getting me removed from the throne.”

The flier once more had the decency to blush and rub the back of her head. “Oh uh... hehe, my bad?”

Applejack looked over in concern and confusion. “Wait, what makes ya say the nobles would have tried that at all?”

Twilight had to fight not to roll her eyes at the thought of Canterlot’s nobility. “Because despite how many centuries have passed, they still think that they hold so much ‘power’ amongst the government that they can get away with whatever they want half the time. And while they could ultimately petition Parliament in regards to the matter, the decision would finally fall on Celestia and Luna as they hold jurisdiction on such issues. I just didn’t want to deal with the paperwork and headaches it would cause, and picked the smaller pile that was adding restrictions to public access.”

Her friends all looked amongst each other before the farmer nodded. “Ah guess that makes sense.”

“That being said, my trip through the mirror just now helped me remember exactly why I reacted the way I did, as I got to see the fruits of all your labors in person, and talked with all your counterparts.” The princess took a deep breath and rubbed the sides of her head in an attempt to stop an oncoming headache. “I have to ask, why did you all think that breaking into a restricted section of the castle, disobeying a royal decree, yes, my decree is still considered royal even if I don't like being called princess all the time and hate making decrees, forging a royal document to do so, and almost causing an interdimensional incident, something I don’t even have a law for and will potentially have to write myself just because of this incident, was a good idea!?”

At the cowed looks her friends started to share, she moved her hoof to rub under her horn instead and freed the other one to point. “Alright then, let me elaborate the damages then, to give you all a clear idea of what you did.” She pointed her hoof at the prismatic pegasus first. “Rainbow’s counterpart is going to have a bruise on her stomach that will keep her benched for at least a week because of that kick you gave her.”

“Benched for a week!?” Rainbow’s eyes shrank to pinpricks as she stared in horror at the thought. “Geez, I knew I kicked her hard, but I didn’t think she’d go down that easy! She’s me for pony’s sake!”

“She’s also NOT A PEGASUS! She doesn’t exactly have the damage resistance that let you survive half your crashes.” Twilight added as she got her friend to lean back in shame and embarrassment, before turning to the apple farmer. “Applejack’s fight with herself destroyed the library of the school, and also left rope burns on both of her counterpart’s wrists and ankles.”

Applejack pulled her hat over her eyes and coughed into a hoof. “Ah uh... didn’t mean to? We kinda got so lost in the brawl I didn’t think about the damage to the room, and Ah guess ah might have made the rope a tad tighter than I should have.”

“Again. Damage, resistance!” The princess turned to the next pony in the row. “Rarity and her counterpart got into a catfight and nearly destroyed each other’s clothes and almost left each other nude in public. Something, I might add, that is a social taboo on that side, as nudists are far less common or acceptable.”

The fashionable mare paled, something quite impressive considering her coat. “I... Oh dear. Is it?” She put a hoof to her lips for a moment before grimacing at her reflection in the mirror. “We go without clothing so much I didn’t think about that at all. Maybe I should make something as an apology?”

Twilight let out a tired sigh and rubbed her head. “She would probably appreciate it, but please, don’t run off, I’m not done yet.” Looking at Fluttershy, the lavender alicorn frowned as another bout of giggles escaped the poor mare. “Fluttershy... didn’t do anything physical, actually, but when she stops giggling, I’m going to have to talk to her about threatening to send chaos gods across dimensional borders and the implications that can hold.”

The reactions to that made five pairs of eyes lock onto Twilight.

“Wait, what!?”

“Woah nelly...”

“Did she really!?”

“My goodness!”

“Fluttershy’s scary when she’s mad.”

Twilight ignored it for now and got to the last pony in line. “And both Pinkies just pranked Sunset. Her counterpart explained that to me as I was leaving, and the extent of ‘injury’ would be to her hair and the amounts of cake batter she’ll need to wash out. It was done in a rather intricate way, which was rather impressive, but portals to other dimensions are NOT to be used for pranks. and heavy artillery, even the less dangerous ones like your party cannon, are not allowed on school grounds in either world.”

The pink mare giggled along with Fluttershy as she put a hoof to her mouth. “It was pretty funny seeing Sunny’s face like that though. She was all,” Pinkie made a face of mock horror, somehow not knocking the butterscotch mare off her back, “and then she was all,” Fluttershy was plopped onto Rarity’s fainting couch as Pinkie dramatically leaned against it looking exasperated, “and when I was back from the other side I saw--”

Twilight stuck a hoof into the party planner’s mouth, deadpanning. “Pinkie, I’ll ask more on that later. I want to get this off my mind first.” Taking a deep breath as she stepped back, Twilight sat down and rubbed her head, disappointment in her eyes. “I just... I need to know why you all did this, and are forcing my hoof in punishing all of you. And don’t just say because you were mad at them, because I know you all wouldn’t do something this stupid without reason!”

Three of the four mares looked at each other, Pinkie being the exception before they could look back at their friend. “Well, it’s just, you see, um...”

Rainbow sighed and shook her head. “Oh for the love of- It’s because we did the same thing to you that they did to Sunset!”

Twilight blinked in surprise as she leaned back. “Huh?”

Ears folded, the rainbow mare stepped forward and had her head lowered. “Remember your brother’s wedding? How we all just ditched you because you were acting like a crazy mare, even when you were right all along?” Twilight gave a hesitant nod, which Rainbow took as a sign to continue. “I told myself if I ever abandoned a friend like that again I’d kick my own butt. Sunset didn’t even do anything but try to be a good friend and enjoy a slumber party, and then they left her for the Timberwolves on the flimsiest evidence I’d ever heard! When you told me about what happened, I was furious and frustrated and disappointed at me, er, her, whatever! She might be me from another dimension, but that still counts to what I said earlier!”

The proud pegasus finished her declaration with a stomp of her hoof, before pausing and looking at the others. “It does count, right?”

Chuckling a bit, Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ah think that one was might of a stretch there, sugar cube.” The farmer’s smirk fell quickly as she thought back on what she did and sighed. “But believe me, feeling’s mutual, even if Ah disagree about the wedding being similar. We at least had the excuse that Twilight freaks out when stressed and thought that’s what had happened. It don’t matter if she’s me from another dimension, that other me and Sunset were friends, and she deserved the benefit of the doubt.” The farm mare put a hoof to her chest and looked sternly at her reflection in the mirror, looking not at it but what it meant at that moment. “An Apple’s an Apple and Apples stick with their family and friends.”

She lowered her hoof as a thought popped up that made her blush and rub her cheek. “Though, uh... maybe Ah shoulda left it to her Granny to sort things out instead. That other me has a mean right hook.”

Rarity rubbed one of her hooves on her foreleg, looking down. “Our conversation did start out rather peacefully. I’m rather ashamed of myself for getting worked up about my attire, again. Destroying each other's outfits was so terribly uncouth of both of us. I acted incredibly unladylike.”

Pinkie glanced at her back, before noticing that Fluttershy was missing. Looking at the far door, she could see the pegasus trying to walk away on shaky legs. “Girls, Fluttershy trying to get out of the room!” She squinted as the wobbling of the mare’s legs started to grow worse. “I think she’s about to... yep she fainted. Wow, that’s a lot of tickling. ”

The Princess of Friendship smirked a bit at Pinkie’s antics as she shook her head. “As long as you all learned your lessons,” she paused as she looked at Pinkie as she poked and prodded the fallen pegasus, “I think?” Twilight looked at her friends one at a time as she headed to her desk, and started pulling out various files and documents. “I still have to figure out a proper punishment for all of you that would still be acceptable after all this happened as well, and thank Starlight for helping get my head on straight again while I’m at it.” She glanced at her friends and nodded to the door. “You’re going to be detained in the guestroom a few doors down until further notice, and again, I’m really sorry about all of this girls.”

Applejack adjusted her hat again as she headed to the door, pausing to give her friend a quick hug. “It ain’t like we got room to complain here.”

Rarity nodded as she followed behind. “Agreed.”

Rainbow gave a wave as she flew after them. “We’ll be waiting for you, Twilight.” Twilight was about to start when a gasp drew her attention to the far wall.

Pinkie was busy trying to drag the ordinarily weak and timid Fluttershy away from the levers on the wall. “Ack! Fluttershy stop! The puppies aren’t down there! T’was but a lie! A Lie!”

A chuckle escaped her throat as she lit her horn and teleported the two into the next room, before looking at the documents tiredly. “I’m going to need some help with this one.” She started to fill some details out, ones that wouldn’t affect the punishment itself, when an idea struck her. “Maybe I can write to Celestia about this and see what she thinks would be best? Another opinion would be-”

The portal whirled to life again, making the poor mare jump out of her skin as she turned around. Twilight’s jaw soon met the floor as Celestia walked through, and had her hooves pulled out from under her by the snare that her friends had failed to notice. The solar princess blinked in confusion for a moment before spotting the gobsmacked princess and smiling. “Oh, hello Twilight. How was your day?”

It took a moment before Twilight could find her voice. “C-Celestia!? What are you doing on the other side of the mirror!?”

Seemingly unfazed by the situation, Celestia continued as if it were a normal conversation. “Just checking on my little Sunshine. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, I was starting to get worried. Especially after hearing back from the principal about that rather ridiculous scandal that happened.”

Twilight’s brain could only take so much, and she was very near her limit. “You and the principal talk to each other!?”

Looking at the rope around her hooves, Celestia hummed as she looked it over. “Rather simple trap you have here though. I would have expected more after all the times we worked on Ruby Goldenberg machines together.”

The lavender alicorn blushed as she looked over her shoulder. “W-well, um... about that.”

Closing her eyes and nodding, the princess of the sun smiled thoughtfully. “Still, I guess it worked regardless, seeing as you’ve caught me. I’ll have to let Luna know you’re part of our little contest!”

Twilight’s brain froze for a moment and had to reboot before she could respond. “Wait, WHAT!?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let you know the rules of our little game before either of us target you specifically.” Celestia’s horn glowed before she was released from the rope and landed on her hooves gracefully. “Before I go, may I ask a favor of you, Twilight?” Whether Twilight was standing still out of acknowledgment or bafflement could have been anyone’s guess. “Could you not tell Sunset I was over there? I was posing as my counterpart for the duration of my visit so she wouldn’t know.”

“S-Sure...” The lavender mare could only say that one word as she started staring blankly from the shock.

“Thank you, Twilight, truly.” The solar princess trotted over to the window and spread her wings. “Have a good day, Twilight!”

As Celestia flew off, she never noticed Twilight start twitching violently and falling over.