Aye-Aye's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3: Summer Boogaloo

Chapters

Twilight's Bizarrre Happenstances
Its a Mad Pink World
The Rich World of Apple Farming
Crazy, Muddy, Mad World
An Insanely Gorgeous, Generous World
A Mad, Paper filled World
Harmonious Training, Hellish Twists
Tumultuous Training
Facing Clockwork Orange
Alice of Oz

Twilight's Bizarrre Happenstances

"Okay, lets see...Where to start with?", the mulberry unicorn asked herself, as if pondering over the strange set of events that happened.

"First, when I got up this morning, and tried to use the wash basin, I heard this...Constant dripping noise. As if there was a source of water in the room I couldn't determine the location of."

"Second, Moondancer was acting...oddly distant to me, when I contacted her via spellbottle. Moondancer's usually more vibrant, but, today? She was acting like...well, old me."

"Thirdly, Princess Celestia completely wrote me off about the mare in the moon, suggesting I make new friends...I don't know a teacher who pushes their student to give up their old friends, just to make new ones."

"Spike? Things are getting...Bizarre," the unicorn murmured, as they rode in the chariot being pulled by the two pegasi guards.

"Tell me about it, Aye-Aye...", Spike murmured.

"..." The mulberry unicorn looked at the baby dragon, as if he had grown an extra head. "'Aye-Aye?' Spike, that's a weird name-"

"Its what your mom told me to call you, if things ever came...To this."

She only stared at him with confusion. "'Aye-Aye'?" She repeated.

"Its grammar...Its phonetics...the language it is cannot be deciphered, unless spoken by those who speak it, it is-"

"Neighlish," she answered, murmuring. "Aye-Aye...OH! Is this about the Book Club my mom told me she had?"

"...Yes. But, also, no. You see, Twili-"

"Its the Illuminati."

"...Seriously? You think its the- HA! Twilight Sparkle. You know just as well as I do, your mom's book club is more than-"

"No.", she simply replied to him.

"...But, I wasn't done expositing in an unnat-"

"Spike, you're acting like we're in a manga, or some dumb shit like that. Stop it."

"..." He simply stared at her.

"...Of course, I was the one expositing about how peculiar things were," she admitted with some degree of reluctance. "And, I suppose I might be the main character of this- ...Whatever it is," she admitted, also with reluctance. "Still...Aye-Aye? Really?"

"It makes sense with context."

"...It doe-?"

"You're an innately social disoriented person, Twilight..."

"...And, that has to do with the fact I have two 'i's in my-? Okay, no, yeah, I see your point..."

"Glad someone finally does..."

"What?"

"Nothing...Its almost as if other ponies have been altered...By an enemy stand," he finished dramatically.

"...An enemy what now?"

"...You know how your mom used to read tea leaves?"

"I- ...Yeah, with strange accuracy, but, I don't see how-"

"It wasn't accuracy, Twilight...It was her stand. Her innate, Aye-Aye lineage given power, that allowed her to activate it...Of course, its not unique to the Aye-Aye line," he admitted.

"...Wha-"

"There are people who are not 'Aye-Ayes' who have the power, Twilight."

"...To read Tea Lea-"

"No," he insisted. "The- The Power of Stands! Seriously, I don't wanna explain your mom's stand, but-"

"Then don't. Seriously, Spike, I'm fine without whatever-"

"Shhhhhhhh. Their spell is breaking, Twilight."

"Wha-?" It was then she noticed the two pegasi upfront eyeing her...Without hitting anything.

"Something wrong, Miss Sparkle?" one of them asked, sounding oddly suspicious.

"N-no, of course not! Spike was just telling me about how his comic books~" She assured them.

"I see...Well, you should probably head straight to the library when you get there, Miss Spa-"

The other suddenly roughy slammed into him.

"Ow! What was that fo-?!"

"She's Celestia's Student...You can't just order her to go straight to the library."

"I-I mean, you're right, but-"

"She has to make friends, doesn't she...~?"

"...What? What are you-?"

"Nothing. Miss Sparkle, we'll be arriving in Ponyville in less than an hour."

"..." The mulberry unicorn nodded with some hesitance. "Understood."

"See, Twilight?", Spike murmurs. "It begins..."

Author's Note

It begins indeed...

Its a Mad Pink World

"Okay...", Twilight began, once the two pegasi and their chariot had...left. "Did you find that odd too, Spi-?"

"You mind asking something not so damn obvious, Twilight...?"

...Twilight's eye twitched. She wasn't used to her assistant being this bizarrely negatively...Sardonic? Sarcastic? Cynical? He was being weird, and negative.

"Anyway, so, first, we have to- ...Go to...Okay, who the hell names their kids after drink names?"

"Ironic," Spike murmured

Before Twilight could even question him on what that even meant-

A Pink Pony trotted up to them, seemingly at random.

...She gasped, eyes widening like plates, her hooves left the ground, as if trapped in some anti-gravity solution, and-

"Stop," Twilight told her, in a commanding voice, while her horn was glowing.

"Okay." ...The pink Pony suddenly went back to standing on the ground, staring at her with a bored expression.

"..." Twilight blinked. How had that just worked? "Your-?" ...Nope. She had to remind herself to have to her horn glowing, if only to test what just happened. "Please tell me your real name."

"...You can't handle my real name," the pink pony suddenly told her, eyes on fire, an annoyed look on her face.

"..." Twilight started backing up, murmuring something about how she was not ready to handle this. Her lips started moving.

"Twilight, don't say the thing," Spike warned, as if Twilight was supposed to know what he meant.

"I-I wish-" Her horn was glowing.

"Twilight, stop!"

"I-I- wish-"

"TWILIGHT, DON'T YOU DARE-!"

"I WISH MY MOM WAS HERE!"

...Her hon was still glowing. This could only end sooooooo we-

"Hi, sweetie~", the pink pony told her, suddenly smiling brightly, and waving at her.

"..." Twilight's eyes widened. "I- Wha?" She had legitimate shock and concern on her face.

"I warned you not to say it!" Spike hissed. "Some Aye-Aye family secrets...Are best left buried."

The pink pony rolled her eyes. "Well, I nominate us for a treasure hunt then, because we have a looooottttttt of them! Don't we, sweetie~?"

"..." Twilight's eye twitched. She actually looked like she was going to try and communicate with the entity, and-

"Don't, it's just some form of-"

"There is nothing that mimicky about what I'm doing, Spike...Unless this is also happening in some alternate universe, or plane of existence," the pink pony murmured. "Also-" She suddenly turned back to Twilight with a big, genuine grin on her face. "I'm Pinkie Pie~ ...No. Ponkie Pie," she murmured. ...Then- "Just call me Pinkie, or Pinkamena Diane~ Now, my dearest Sparkle Warkle...Please recount your day for me. And, don't worry...I'VE LONG LOST MY TEA LEAF ABILITY~!" There was glaring at Spike, for some reason.

"...I have no idea what she's talking about," Spike murmured, sweating a bit.

"That's a story for another part," Pinkie murmured...spitting out three silver coins at the ground, for some reason.

"..." Twilight shook her head, before sighing. "Okay, it started when I got up this morning, the wash bas- ...No, it happened before the wash basin. I normally wake up on the right side of my bed, but, this morning-"

"For the record, different people may have different ideas abut what things like 'left' and 'right' are, so, feel free to just tell me you woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Pinkie pointed out.

"..." Twilight huffed. "Yes, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. ...Also, my horn was-"

"Buh buh buh, not even sure we count flopple here...", Pinkie murmured. "Also-"

"SHE'S GOT A KNIFE!" a random blue pegasus overhead yelled.

"...This is a pen, Dashie," the pink pony patiently told her. Also, at some point, the pink pony had transitioned from not having clothes on, to having a tan business suit on, complete with black tie, rectangular business glasses, and, her hair was a bit extra frizzy.

"ANYTHING POINTY CAN BECOME A KNIFE TO HER!", Dash points out.

"...This is normally why I just gasp and run off," Pinkie murmured. "Excuse me."

There was a whoosh-

...The business suit, the glasses, and a pink extra frizzy toupee, are hovering in midair.

"...So, her stand's just slightly beyond my understanding," Spike murmured. "Alright, lets go. Shouldn't keep AJ waiting."

"...YOU SAID THAT WITH FAMILIARITY! SPIKE! IS THIS GROUNDHOG DAY?! ARE WE DOiNG-?!"

"OH! BELIEVE ME, TWILIGHT, I WISH I KNEW IF IT WAS THAT SIMPLE OR NOT!"

He grabbed her hoof, and started dragging her with a surprising amount of strength.

"...Note to self, Spike has gained freakish strength somehow," she murmured. "Just another bizarre thing to add to this- ...Mystery Day."

She suddenly realized something.

She was seeing two big earth stallions, who had the same frame and body types-

...But she could swear, she was seeing them as the two pegasi guards from earlier.

Just what was even going on...?

Author's Note

The mystery intensifies~

The Rich World of Apple Farming

Oh, Apples! What an extraordinary delicacy~ The rich, juicy flavor, the beautiful sweet taste when baked! Surely, Apple is one of the greatest fruits we who are mortal have been blessed with~

...Now if only we could get rid of those heretics, who suggest we shouldn't actually keep the apples inside the pie-

OW!

WHO SHOCKED ME?!

...Nevermind.

So, normally, in some other universe, certainly in at least one continuity, Twilight would have arrived at the exact time she was supposed to, and had a normal, heartwarming, if slightly odd meeting with the Apple Family~

...As it was, this time, as the two arrived at Sweet Apple Acres-

"WELL, AH STLL SAY IT'S VINEGAR!" the tiny green horse with red hair screamed at her older sister.

"Well...Ah'm tellin' ya'll, wit' all the politeness Ah kin even muster at the moment, Apple Bloom...The recipe calls for Risotto.", the orange mare calmly told her younger sister.

"...Ya'll wouldn't be arguin wit' me, if it was Doppio Vinegar."

"WHAT THA HAY EVEN IS DOPPIO VINEGAR?!"

"..." Spike stopped, suddenly curling in the fetal position, and murmurnig, 'Not the bees, not the bees, not the bees...' ...There was something disturbing about the way he was doing that.

"Not Pinio Vinegar...", the green filly murmured, as if hearing him properly.

"YA'LL AREN'T EVEN SAYIN' WORDS RIGHT!", Applejack suddenly screamed. "What is doppio-?!"

"You catch more flies with honey, my friend..." Twilight murmured, not even knowing what she was thinking while saying that.

"...The weird creamy syrup?", Applejack wanted to clarify with Apple Bloom.

"Kinda. Tha Nilla tastin' stuff," Bloom told her.

"...Ohhhhhhhh. Heh, I see what you're gettin' at now," Applejack grumbled. "And, I'm telling you, if Granny catches that stuff in her soup-"

"...She'll what? Cry about how much she likes Risotto instead?"

"...Ya'll piss me off sometimes, Bloom. Mah lil sister, an' she has ta sabotage me at-"

"HEY!" A yellowish mare, with red curly bun hair, amber eyes, and a green neckerchief exclaimed. "Leave Bloom alone, AJ. Its not like you got this stuff right on your first go either."

"...Ah don't know what ya'll are talkin' about, Apple Bumpkin." AJ went over toward her, her coat pattern starting to change. "But, Ah-"

"HEY!" Twilight yelled, horn glowing. "...Whatever this is can wait. Applejack, right? I'm here to organize for- ...Why is your coat still changing?"

Oddly enough, AJ was gaining cream covered spots.

"NONONONO!" The frantic orange mare quickly ran inside the main barnhouse, slamming the door shut behind her.

"...Well, that...Happened?" Twilight murmured. "I should have-"

"...Something's affecting her," Spike murmured. "Something's affecting all of us..."

Author's Note

Spot the references, spot the stand users.

Crazy, Muddy, Mad World

"-I keep telling you, Spike...There's nothing going on with AJ."

"...And, I can't believe how many times I have to say this, there is. ...Wonder if the barn-"

"Spike, the BARN IS NOT-"

...But, suddenly, she was crashed into by a certain blue pegasus, with a rainbow mane and tail.

Mad world indeed.

"What the hell hit me...?" Rainbow Dash grunted.

"Some stands even I cannot comment on," Spike murmured.

"...A what?" The pegasus asked incredulously.

Twilight Sparkle just sighed. "Nothing, just ignore him."

"...But, he's right there," Rainbow murmured. "That'd be kinda rude."

"..." Spike didn't seem to know whether to feel relieved, or somewhat nervous. "Okay, listen to me, Twilight, she's obviously-"

"I'm obviously what? I'm right here...Honestly, kind of annoying how ponies are getting pissed at me for no good reason. Not only am I this town's honest to Celestia best chance of ever getting noticed by the Wonderbolts, I'm also-"

Spike just groaned, for some odd reason.

"...Okay, little dragon man, I don't know what your deal is, but-"

"Your mouth is my deal," he murmured.

"...Surprise, can you believe the nerve of this guy?"

"YEAH!" Wait, where the hell did that white coated, yellow-maned, purple-eyed pegasus come from. "The noive!"

"I know, right?! This is practically my town! I'm the one who has to lead all you goofballs in organizing the weather. ...Except, somehow, Spitfire only seems to notice me and others in emergencies."

"..." Twilight realized something. "I'm sorry, are you Rainbow Dash? I think Spike has something he wants to-"

"HOW COULD IT EVEN HAVE AFFECTED HER?! THE STUPID THING DIDN'T EVEN WORK WITH M- ..."

"...Spike, I know you just realized something! If we're in a time loop- ...Spike?"

How the heck had he just vanished like that?

"Who you talking to?" Rainbow Dash murmured. "There's no one here but us three."

"..." Twilight suddenly glared at the Blue Pegasus.

"W-what are you doing that to me for?! Its Surprise you should-! ...Surprise?"

The white pegasus was suddenly gone too.

"THIS MAKES NO SENSE!", they both screamed in unison...Before staring at each other. "QUIT COPYING ME! YOU'RE THE ONE WHOSE COPYING ME!"

Rainbow shook her head. "Whatever, I just-"

"Stop." Twilight's horn was glowing again. "...What's your stand?"

"..." Rainbow was starting to sweat buckets. "I-I mean, its a bit of a, uh- In its current state, I don't think I should really show you, I mean, clearly-"

"Clearly what?!"

"...You can't even see your own yet, can you?"

"..." Twilight started sweating. "T-they're things you have to-?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna take you to Rarity, you were probably going to talk to her anyway. ...N-not that I could have known that-~"

Twilight narrowed her eyes, horn glowing. "What does your stand do?"

"Glad you asked..ish. Its a space stand...possibly a time one, I don't know. I call its current act 'Never Gonna Give You Up', but, thats just a placeholder, until I decide what I reaaallllyyyy want to call it~"

"...Uh huh." Twilight didn't seem to believe her.

Rainbow Dash...A boisterous, yet mysterious mare. Just what sort of secrets were those burning magenta orbs of hers' hiding?

An Insanely Gorgeous, Generous World

"Where is my Spikey Wikey, Twilight?" The white marshmallow of a unicorn, with purple mane and tale, and blue eyes, asked the mulberry unicorn, actually looking rather angry.

"..." Twilight grinned nervously. "O-okay, ummm...Rainbow Dash told me some things about stands on the way here, and-"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Yes, Twilight, your stand is called 'Reading Rainbow', and, it does have power, but-"

"I think I did something wrong."

"..." The other unicorn blinked, before sighing, and calmly asking, "What did you do, Twilight?"

"I think I might have...used 'Reading Rainbow' to wish for something, and-"

"What was it this time? Books? Quills? Ink? Tomes? Cheeseless Quesadi-"

"N-no, no, sadly, nothing like that...I used it...To wish for my mom to be here."

"..." Rarity looked like she was in shock.

"It was Pinkie, wasn't it?", Rainbow guessed.

Twilight just kind of stared at her, not sure what to reply back to Rainbow's correct guess. "How did you?"

"Puh-lease, Twilight! We all know about that stupid spelling based name theme a million times over by now", Rainbow murmured...Chuckling nervously, as she got a glare from Rarity.

"...My family naming theme? How-"

"It's a long story," Rarity muttered, sounding rather annoyed. "Basically, Rainbow Dash and I used to be one of your mother's...acquaintances...Before-"

"Wait, acquaintance? Singular?"

Rainbow groooaaaannneeeeddd. "Please don't ask about that...Rarity actually used to be part of your family, before-"

"THE OLD FAMILY THEME WAS VOWELS!", Rarity hissed. "While 'Aye-Aye' was the main one, it used to be vowels...Before your mother was brought in."

...Wait, I'm confused, are we doing a pony equivalent of Stardust Crusaders, or Jojolion?

"Both," a certain voice brought up nearby.

Ah! ...Thank you.

"Don't mention it."

"Did anyone just black out for a few seconds?", Twilight asked.

"Ignore it," Rainbow Dash told her.

"I know I most certainly do...But, either way...Not completely Twilight's fault, dearie."

"..." Rainbow grimaced. "Okay, how, and-"

"Your ridiculous stand- That certain aspect of it only works if someone...paid something. And, I now you know better than to-"

"I DON'T! ...I mean, it doesn't! If she's in Pinkie's body, then-!"

"Then we must proceed to begin plan Theta. Fluttershy?"

"Present." WOAH! Where did that super kawaii yellow pegasus mare with pink hair, and cerulean green eyes, come from?!

"Ah! Perfect~ ...So, whose going into Sugarcube Corn-?"

"NOT ME! ...I mean-" Rainbow chuckled. "Pinkie has...a certain effect on me. Especially when I use my stand, one of her special ones activates. Mcgee-"

"WOAH, BACK UP!" Twilight exclaimed. "Pinkie has more than one stand?!"

"...Yeah, thats what I was saying slash implying. Anyway, Mcgee's Wonderland...Nothing good happens what that one's activated. If this were one of Twilight's PG-13 fan movies, it'd become 'R' in a blink of an eye."

"...Did you remind her about the knife thing?", Rarity asked Rainbow rather testily.

"N-n- ...Yes," Rainbow admitted.

"Well, then...Its up to our dear friend, Lyra Heartstrings, to help us out then~"

Twilight blinked. So much of this was unclear...First off, Mcgee's Wonderland. What did that do? ...Something she probably didn't want to find out about. Then, there were the others. "...Pardon me," she told them, her horn glowing, "But, what do your-"

"My stand," Rarity started up, not letting her complete that question. "Allows me to look into people's eyes...and see their inner selves. Now, normally, this can actually be an easy process, but, if someone has something to hide- ...I can only imagine what Pinkie- No. We must remain optimistic."

"My stand," the yellow pegasus known as Fluttershy started, "Allows me to feel and affect other ponies' feelings. It can get kind of crazy at times, though, especially if I'm trying to work them toward confusion, and other helpless emotional states. I try not to use them too much, but...TGR-"

"She can't use the full name...People insist she change it to something else, but, it just doesn't work the same with the altered name," Rainbow told her.

"As for Lyra's," Rarity began, "Humanness...Can affect a pony's very life and memories. And, with your help, we can let live her life properly. ...But-" She looked at her sternly. "There are rules you must-"

Suddenly, Rainbow sighed. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news...But, we reallllllyyy don't have time to figure out the Pies! Perhaps it might have slipped your minds...But, I think we all know whats happening tonight."

...There was silence in the room. For at least half a minute, the ponies looked at each other with horror as they realized.

Rarity's eyes were suddenly bloodshot. "You're right! The night's tonight! We don't even- ...Huh. We don't need him for this, but, he might need us soon. Anyway...Applejack. Without her-"

"We can fly," Rainbow reminded Rarity, narrowing her eyes.

"Right! Right, yes, of course we can. ...But, that doesn't mean we won't need her."

"...I have an idea," Both Rainbow and Twilight said at the same time.

Fluttershy merely cocked her head at this, while Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Well? Go on," The latter told them.

Hoity merely trots in for a second...Before vanishing before their eyes.

A Mad, Paper filled World

45 minutes later, as they trotted through town-

"So...Pinkie's sadly not at Sugarcube Corner anymore," Rarity murmured, obvious concern in her eyes. "And, if she's not at Sugarcube Corner, and she's not galavanting around town, then I don't know where might be!"

"..." Rainbow just sighed. "Rarity? I know this may not be too obvious for you, but- She's probably at the library, especially if she has Velvet in her this time."

"...You're right, that should have been obvious. Of course, I don't know what that wish actually did. If Velvet has somehow been merged into Pinkie's consciousness- ...OHhhhhhh dear."

"What? What's wrong?!" Twilight asked, her voice suddenly sounding both urgently terrified and concerned.

"W-well, I don't think Pinkie would hurt her, but...You can never be too certain. Perhaps, my dears-" She was avoiding using the word 'darlings', for some reason... "-we should simply head to the library. We don't seem to have much choice in the matter."

Rainbow raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean by tha-? Oh." She saw the posters Pinkie had put up for 'NEW LIBRARIAN SPECIAL SURPRISE PARTY AT LIBRARY', and her voice had become deadpan. "I should have realized that was still going to happen...Well, guess we don't need to get AJ, then."

Twilight just sighed, tempted to roll her eyes at how run of the mill they were acting like some of this stuff was to them- ...But, then, she wondered something. "Hmmmmm...Does what your stand will be like have to do with your cutie marks?"

"For ponies...Kind of," Rarity admitted. "But, for other living entities, its difficult to say. I suppose if you look at a certain way, my ability to see inside other ponies...is not exactly all that different from sniffing out other gems."

"Ponies and other creatures often use butterflies as a metaphor for various sorts of feelings," Fluttershy said with a nod.

"And...Clouds are kind of obviously a space sort of deal," Rainbow admitted with a grunt. "Also, I guess since you're a bookworm, with lots of magical talent- ...Wait a minute." She suddenly stared right at Twilight. "Are you basically controlling us like metafictional characters when you do that?" she asked with suspicion.

"...I-I guess? Huh...I guess it is a bit of a powerful ability...Not that it seems to work all the time."

"Stands do have their limits," Rarity admitted. "You can't expect them to be perfect all the time. ...By the way, we should probably teach Twilight how to fully summon her stand, as well as teach her more about stands."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Fiiiiiiineee." Getting in a pose that looked like she was very slightly exerting herself, Rainbow-

...Made Surprise appear again. Said Pegasus, looking much friendlier than before, smiled and waved at Twilight. "Hello~!"

"..." Twilight raised her eyebrow. "Rainbow's Stand is Surpri-?"

Rarity sighed heavily and shook her head. "No, sadly...It seems to take the form of various pegasi ancestors of hers'. ...Though, if Surprise was out last time, not only does it explain why Spike's missing, but why Rainbow forgot about this aspect of her stand in the first place."

"I didn't forget! ...Wait, explains what?"

"When Surprise appears, it often means that there's a twist that there may or may not have been befo- ...Rainbow? Unsummon her."

Rainbow grunted. "I-I can't for some reason!"

"...Joy." Rarity sighed. "There appears to be an enemy stand somewhere around here. ...This can only be the work, of Derpy's dreaded 'Wall Eyes'."

Twilight blinked. "Wha-?"

"She crosses her eyes, and suddenly various stand users lose the ability to bring their stands back," Rainbow explains. "Not a permanent effect. ...Although, this is Surprise-"

Rarity groaned. "Okay, remember, be careful! When Wall Eyes is actually summoned, its no piece of cake, no matter how it might look."

"DON'T PUN!", Rainbow warned her. "With Surprise around- ...Wall eyes could be even more dangerous than before."

"Is Surprise's real ability just plot twists?", Twilight asked all of a sudden.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Basically, yes."

"...I cannot deny this," Rainbow murmured.

Twilight blinked a bit, looking around and- "...Is it just eyes she can stick on walls?"

All three of the others sort of jolted into straight standing poses, and began looking around themselves.

"Yeah," Rainbow admitted. "...Also, its not just stand summoning, Wall Eyes' general ability is to cause confusion. And, in a place like this version of Ponyville, that can...be dangerous."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Rarity sighed. "Well, first, Wall Eyes cause loss of Depth Perception, and- OW!" Rarity into something.

There was a whimpering sound that sounded like Fluttershy's. "I-it's even scarier than before! I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!"

Rainbow grumbled. "You girls are lucky, I have these weird lightning bolt shaped filters in my eyes now."

"...Really? I can see just fine," Twilight told them.

"! ..." The other three looked hopeful...But, then-

"Twilight, what does the nearest sign read?", Rarity asked.

"Heh, that's easy. 'Safos & Slliuq', why do you- ...Oh." Suddenly, Twilight was feeling a bit nervous.

"THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS ONES OF ALL!", Rainbow told them. "...Well, I mean, the most annoying, at least. ...But, now? I realize something. Twilight? Boop the nearest wall eye."

Twilight blinked. "Boo-? ...Okay." She went over to a red brick wall, and..gently booped the ey-?

"OWSIES!"

Suddenly, all the eyes disappeared.

Sighing with relief, Rainbow quickly unsummoned her stand, before looking around, and spotting a nearby gray pegasus sniffling.

"I-I just wanted to know when they were going to get the new Quesadillas in!" Sniffle sniffle, her right eye bloodshot. "You're all meanies!" She bawled, and quickly flew away.

"...Well, lets hope we don't have to worry about that too much in the future," Rarity told the others with a sigh. "Come on, Girls, to the library."

Ten minutes of walking later...

"So...Besides Rainbow Dash, what do the other two look like?" Twilight asked, seeming curious again

Rarity grinned. "I'm glad you asked, Darling~" She proceeded to summon forth a- ...Honestly, in comparison to Rainbow's-which had appeared as Surprise both times she saw it, so, eh?-this one looked a bit more alien. The stand looked like a white, purple and green mare...But, with odd yellow eyes, that seemed to have these odd vertical black lines in them. She was covered in gem encrusted ribbons, and, instead of a regular mane and tail, she had these odd, thin ribbons in their places, covered in full on gems. Oh, and, she was a unicorn, of course. "Twilight, this is my stand, Truly Outrageous~!"

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Darling~!", Truly exclaimed

...Rainbow walked toward the nearest wall, and-

"NO!", Rarity yelled. "Bad Rainbow! Stop having that reaction to that word!"

"ITS HARD! IT REMINDS ME OF BETTER TIMES!"

"...Better for you, maybe," Rarity mumbled. "Anyway, um, Fluttershy? You want to show off yours', or-?"

"A-alright..." The yellow pegasus sighed, but summoned forth what was- ...Huh. So this was the typical look for stands. A yellow, orange, and green mare, wearing an intricate light brown cloak, practically covered in symbols and icons indicative of Romany(i) heritage, floated in the air. Huh. Truly Outrageous was also floating. And, Fluttershy's stand didn't seem to have wings either. Was this how most stands were...? And, yet, while the texture of the stand's body didn't seem to the same as a normal pony's, the eyes were normal, yet purple. "H-hey, uh...Mind introducing yourself to Twilight?"

"..." The stand grumbled slightly, before sighing, her eyes changing to look more friendly. "Greetings, Twilight Sparkle, I am The Gypsy Rover~ ...Its just a name, really. I'm probably not going to say it again too much after this."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at first...But then sighed. "Yeah, I get it...I'll just call you TGR for now. So, what does Lyra's look like?"

"...Its bizarre," Rarity mumbled. "Apparently, 'Humanness' is actually so human-like, that its a humanoid stand. N-not that thats a bad thing, its simply...odd. Anyway...We'll simply have to hope Lyra's at the party as well. Otherwise, Pinkie might kidnap us herself, and- ...There is utterly no telling how that will turn out." She was shuddering for some reason. "Neon green with Neon Strawberry...The horror."

"BY MYSELF?!", Twilight exclaimed as they reached the door. "Are you crazy?! There's no telling what'll happen if I go in there by myself!"

"This is what we get for telling her too much...", Rainbow mumbled.

Rarity sighed, before smiling. "Relax, Twilight~ If your mother is truly in there somehow, Pinkie has no reason to hurt you~! ...Infact, it'll be like old days all over again, but better~ Just...Just trust me on this."

Twilight sighed, but proceeded to enter the tree building...Alone.

"...Sure is dark in here," She mumbled. Infact, she could barely see anything. Its like the room was designed, so light was only shining on people and ponies dead center in the middle of the room. "Where the heck's the ligh-?"

"SURPRISE!" Suddenly, for some reason, the lights turned on, and inside the main library room, there were lots of multicolored ponies, and party decorations! ...And books, but, they were blocked by all the various ponies in the room.

"...Huh. Honestly, was expecting thi-"

"I KNOW YOU WERE, AYE-AYE! I ALSO KNEW YOU THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE YOUR MOTHER, TWILIGHT VELVET, AT THE HELM, BUT IT WAS REALLY I, PINKAMIO, THIS WHOLE TIME~!" ...Pinkie was wearing a ridiculous gold and black suit, with a green headband that had a heart on it, and talking in a dramatic, boisterous voice. ...She also had a spiky golden wig ontop of her head. "AND, NOW, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! FIESTA WARUDO!"

...The room dramatically changed from a normal party room, to a fiesta party room. As the mariachi band played, 'Pinkamio' grinned in triumph!

...But Twilight was kind of just staring at her.

Pinkamio sweated. "W-what? What's the problem? COME ON, AYE-AYE, IN ORDER TO TELL ME YOUR GRIEVANCES, YOU HAVE TO GET CLOSER TO ME~!"

...The pink Earth Pony was levitating five, multicolored sporks in the air.

"...S-seriously, Aye-Aye, pull out your stand!"

"I-I'm not sure how to!"

"And, yet, you can use that thing's powers without directly summoning it out?! ...I mean, not completely unusual, but, still- BRING IT OUT, AYE-AYE SPARKLE WARKLE! OR THESE PONIES GET IT!"

"...You're going to kill everypony in the room, with five multicolored sporks?"

"...Touche, Aye-Aye. You have called my bluff. But-"

Suddenly, Spike's right next to Pinkamio. As he looked around, he grunted, and- "...T-twilight! Y-you shouldn't be here! Run!"

"IT IS TOO LATE FOR THAT, SPI-IKE! SHE IS NOW IN A ROOM, NOT ONLY FILLED WITH STAND USERS...BUT CLONES OF STAND USERS! Seriously, there's at least two Lyras."

"Twilight, seriously, get out of here! Your mom's gone!"

"Gone? Gone? HA! I don't believe that for a minute~" ...Twilight was speaking oddly confidently. "You think you may have already won, Pinkamio, but, my new friends and I will stop you! AS WILL READING RAINBOW!"

"HA! YOU THINK I'M AFRAID OF YOUR BOOK STAND, AYE-AYE?! I digest book information for breakfast...IT IS ONE OF THE MANY THINGS I DO NOW, WITH YOUR MOTHER IN MY HEAD!"

"AH! BUT YOU FORGET, Pinkamio! Your name has two 'I's in it as well~"

"...THAT THEME'S STUPID! ITS NEVER GOING TO STOP BEING STUPID! YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET YOUR OWN STUPID THEME, AYE-AYE!"

"Ah, correction...You will regret facing me in a crowded room, Pinkamio~"

"..." The pink earth pony grinned nervously. "W-what are you implying, Aye-Ay-?"

Twilight's horn glowed. "ATTACK PINKAMIO!"

"..." 'Pinkamio' squeaked. "BAD PLAN!" As she dodged a reflective eye laser, that had come Blossomforth, and deflected from one of Wall Eyes'- ...Eyes, she started screaming. "BAD PLAAAAAAAANNNNNN!" She began running straight out of the library, various other ponies behind her, leaving only Twilight and Spike.

"...Well, that was impressive," Spike admitted via mumble, scratching a fin on his head. "How did you-?"

"I don't know...Just seemed kind of obvious, honestly. But, its more likely that she'll either send assassins one by one next time, or, simply try to, um...Poison me." Twilight's eyes got wide as plates at that realization.

"...Yeah, with your mom in her, don't think you've got to worry about the latter. Also...Not sure if that strategy's going to work all the time. Clearly, you had time to rest it, but, I predict we'll both need naps before the thing later."

"...What are you talking abou-?" Annndddd, that's when Twilight fell onto the floor, unconscious.

"..." Spike merely sighed, moving to grab her, and haul her to the nearest bed with his freakish strength. "Well, this isn't exactly what I expected...Still, not all bad," he admitted with a smile.

Harmonious Training, Hellish Twists

...Twilight gasped rather loudly, as, one hour later, Spike promptly tossed water into her face. "Spike! What the hell was that fo-?!"

"Shhhhhh..." he put one clawed hand to her muzzle, and gently pinched it. "We're not out of the woods yet, I'm afraid...There's no telling what the hell is even gonna happen next. We need to get ya prepared for that sort of thing. And, to that end-" His claws started glowing a sort of yellow color...And, yet, it almost looked like his hand was covered in some odd, yellowish, greasy substance. "We must teach you the valued skill, of Hamon...", he murmured.

"...What the heck is Ham-?"

"SHHHHHHH! Not so loud! I mean...You got rid of the assassins for now, but, Pinkamio- ...Pinkie's only more likely to send more assassins after you. The sad thing is, Twilight, her interest is dangerous."

"...WHY IS HER INTEREST DANGE-?!"

"BECAUSE, SHE'S-! ...Twilight. You remember various games? Including Undertale...?"

"...Yeah, you made me play that, like-"

"PERFECT! Pinkie-! ...Is that one weirdo dragon, you have to...'accidentally' find."

"WHAT?! YOU MEAN-!"

"Twilight, seriously, stop it, this is a very teenesque situation, and, we don't want more teenagers going to- ...That place."

"...Fu-?"

"NO! Twilight, think more rationally about what you say..."

"...Hell?"

"!" His eyes twitched, but- "YES, TWILIGHT! HELL! YOU DON'T WANT THEM GOING TO HELL, BECAUSE-!"

"But, Spike, I already have one of tho-"

"Yes, Twilight, you've showed me your- ...Twilight." He suddenly had a grave look on his face. "Are you the reason Fluttershy can't-?"

"NO! ...I mean...Maybe?" Twilight's eyes twitched, as if she was suddenly getting new information about herself. "Okay, Spike, what is-?"

"My stand's details- ...Should remain a mystery, for the near future, at least... All you need to know, is its what you need to get through this."

She raised an eyebrow. "So, how do we-?"

"..." Spike realized something. He moved to grab a book with a river on the cover. "Just say...With your horn glowing, 'WOW, THAT SURE IS REAL!'"

Twilight got ready, and-

"...While looking at the book. While focusing."

"..." Twilight rolled her eyes, looking at book cover, and-

"WHILE BEING EXTREMELY EXCITED!"

"..." Twilight got in her happy place, thinking about how the book would make her happy, and- "WOW!" Her horn started glowing. "THAT SURE IS REAL!"

...Suddenly, they were in...A strange dimension. They could see the library outside, but- Yeah, it was literally outside. They were now in the scene, in the book, and-

"Aslan is not here," Spike told her, as if afraid she'd think about another book series, and do something stupid.

"..." Twilight just sighed. "I mean- ..." HER EYES WIDENED LIKE PLATES AT A REALIZATION. "YOU MEAN-?!"

"FOCUS, TWILIGHT! ...Now, think about 'Alice through the looking glass', 'Journey to the West', and 'Celestia's Word', and then go, 'Spike, you look great!', with your horn glowing. ...Actually, not that last part. Think about...Ancient pony mythology! YEP! THAT, THINK ABOUT THAT, INSTEAD OF-!"

"WOW, SPIKE, YOU LOOK GREAT!", she told him.

"SI, SENORITA! I AM PLEASED YOU THINK SO AS WELL~!" ...Where the hell did he get that...White suit and diamond checkered hat?

AND WHY WAS HE SUDDENLY PUNCHING HER-?! ...Okay, poking her in the gut, with his index claw?

"OOF! ...Ack-? KAk?" Suddenly, there was no more air in Twilight's body. ...But, ten seconds later- "SPIKE!", she yelled, looking furious. "YOU BROKE MY-!" ...All of a sudden, her midsection started glowing...specifically, the part hanging below. "What just happen-?"

"Most people just call it 'Hamon', never ran into a person that called it 'Ripple' religiously. ...For the most part, anyway. Also, we're going to watch Konosuba at some point, and you're going to like it."

"...O-okay, but, why did you-?"

"I just woke you up, Twilight," The dragon said with a smirk. "Now you don't need Reading Rainbow all the time~ ...But-" His eyes suddenly turned to shadows, in an anime like effect. "Now this means I have to teach you hoof to hoof combat."

"...Spike, I can't-"

"STAND PROUD, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!", he told her...While holding a glowing index claw up.

"..." Twilight stared at first, but- ...Then she unconsciously realized, she was standing on her back hooves and legs...Alone. And, oddly, not feeling pain while doing it.

"There we go. Now, mimic my pose, Twilight Sparkle." Spike held out his right palm, with it open, horizontally flat. His other arm was held up, palm facing toward her.

...Twilight blinked, but attempted to do so. However, without palms-

"Just mimic the hand locations," He told her...

...She managed to do so.

He proceeded to open the gap between his legs a bit. ...For Balance's sake, you fucking pervs.

She did the same with her back legs. "H-how am I even-?"

"Shhhhh, Hamon allows the body to contort in many strange ways. ...But, that's for another time."

"...If you say so. So, what n-?"

"DODGE!"

SMACK! ...He slapped her on the face. She was oddly still standing, but, as she realized something, she started to-

"NO! Never make yourself open to Pinkie like that, unless you're sure its wise..."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, sense-"

"NO! Don't call me that either...It doesn't fit right now. Mr. Spikipelli works for now~"

She stared at him.

"...No, I don't have what Pinkie has, trust me. Anyway, come at me!"

The now balanced mare rushed at him, and-!

SMACK!

...She was on the ground.

"...Thought I told you not to do that, Twi. Seriously, if you just focus the hamon in your legs-"

"Spike...What's the point of this?"

"...The point? The point is, to not use your stand all the time. You may think using your stand in such situations, such as when others have their stands out, is wise to do every single time- ...But, you'd be mistaken, especially in certain cases?"

"Like Wall Eyes?"

"! ...Y-yeah, like Wall Eyes...Miss Doo's stand. Don't know why it manifests like that, but-"

"...It feels like its evolved, actually."

"Wonderful, peachy. Now, focus the hamon in your legs."

"...Spike, come o-"

"I SAID 'FOCUS', TWILIGHT!"

He suddenly moved for a kick to her head

And, so the training from Hell commenced...

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO STAND ON A WALL OF WATER, USING MY HOOVES, CLINGING TO IT, WITHOUT MOVING, FOR FOUR HOURS?!" The mulberry mare screamed.

"Concentration, mostly, Twilight...Focus. Hamon is oddly good when it comes to liquids and other fluids."

"...What sort of-"

"GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER, TWILIGHT! ...All of them. Well..." He squinted a bit. "Most normal ones. Still not sure if Ink is normal, though-"

"It is. ...I think." She stared a bit at the ceiling, as she clinged to the pillar that had come out of the river, using her hooves, that were glowing with hamon energy. ...She still wasn't sure how he did that, though.

"Well...Either way, you'll be like that for at least three hours, and forty-five minutes. Listen, I'm gonna exit the book, and I'll check on you soon."

"...How are you going to- SPIKE?!"

He vanished! How the hell-?!

She sighed. "Well, this is just great..."

Three hours and 45 minutes later...

Spike was back. "Twilight, glad to see you're still holding u-"

"MY LEGS ARE NUMB! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I'M STILL DOING THIS!"

"...Well, that should be enough for now. Nightmares aren't that tough at this stage."

"YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS LIKE ITS A GA- ...Wait, what? What do you mean 'Nightmares'?"

"...Don't you remember? Earlier? When you looked in Predictions and Prophecies...That the mare in the moon was coming back."

"Oh! Right...With all this craziness involving stands today, I nearly forgot. ...By the way, I really do need to find out what was going on earlier. With the dripping water."

"Ehhhhhh...Who knows? Hamon users and Stand users have all sorts of crazy things going on. HELL, there's even this one thing calle-"

"Don't tell me, Spike, please."

"...Spin."

"Wait, what? ...What's it like?"

"It involves tossing spheres at other people-ARTIFICIAL ONES-and using the rotational powers to supernatural effect."

"Hmmmm...So, could I learn tha-?"

"Maybe...But, learning both Hamon and Spin can be a bit...tasking," he admitted. "Certainly taken its toll on me."

"...But, Spike, you're just a baby dra-"

"UH-UH! You even suggested earlier that it was a Groundhog type day, and, I admitted it! ...I mean...Groundhog-ish."

"...What do you mean 'Groundhogish'?"

He sighed. "Lets just say, its much longer, and more complicated, than one regular Equestria rotation spin."

"...But, I thought the day and nigh-"

"TWILIGHT! NOT EVERYTHING THE PRINCESS TEACHES YOU APPLIES ALL THE TIME! ...Though, maybe redemption is something you should at least try more, sometimes..." ...He murmured something about 'the statues'.

"...What does that even-?"

"FOCUS! Now...Detach yourself."

She rolled her eyes, but did as he said, slowly sliding down toward the river below, and-

"Not like that...All at once."

"...SPIKE, THAT IS A TEN METER DROP! I-"

"Have survived worse, trust me..."

"..." She just sighed, did her trust fall, and- Wow, Spike actually caught her.

"See? Now we don't even have to waste any time with it~ ...Still need to work on your martial arts, but, eh, I guess they can wait. Besides...I think its time anyway. Wow, I'm good at my timing."

"Ehhhhhh...That's tomorrow."

"W-wait, what?! ...Man, I must be bad at time sometimes."

"I thought you just said-?"

"Eh, I don't know anymore...So, about the elements-"

"...That could be complicated, especially with whatever Pinkie's under."

"Yeaaahhhhh...Well, like I said, should help you face any Nightmares that pop up tonight. Pinkie, though? ...Yeah, I'm still not sure."

"...Right." She sighed. "Well, we better hope we can figure out what's actually going on tonight."

As the two arrived in Town Hall, Twilight looked around a bit. "...What's going on? Shouldn't the mayor be here, or something?"

"...I've got a bad feeling about thi-"

"Oh, Twilight!" A certain white unicorn ran over to the two. "And- ...Spike, why are you wearing that ridiculous get up? Your fin's sticking right out the back of your ha-"

"I-it's fine, Rarity, don't worry about it..." The baby dragon was blushing.

"Well...If you say so...Oh! AJ!" Rarity waved at a certain orange earth pony in the room. "AJ, OVER HERE!"

The orange earth mare begrudgingly trotted over. "Morning, Rarity. ...Twilight." The mare seemed to be begrudgingly acknowledging her for some reason.

"H-hey, Applejack! ...So, what happened at your place earlier. What was-?"

"Oh, that? Nothin'." ...AJ, while managing to do her best deadpan expression could not fully hide that there was something going on with her.

"...Listen, I'm only just learning about stands, but-"

"Skip it, Twi...I don't expect this summer'll be any different."

"Bullshit...", Rarity murmured.

"...'Scuse me, Rariteh?", AJ asked

"I took the liberty of making sure various things would be different this year...Darling~" With that, Rarity trotted off.

"..." AJ had a freaked out look on her face. "S-she- Real kidder, huh, that Rarity~? Listen, Miss Sparkle, lets-"

"Stop it..." Twilight told her, a stern frown on her face. "I know things can't keep going on...At least, not the way they are now. Stop pretending, AJ."

"...Okay, ya'll want me ta stop pretendin', Twilight? Let me get one thing through yer thick skull. Yer family an' mine ain't- Well, we ain't-"

"We have no similarities, yes. ...I am aware, AJ."

"...G-good." For some reason, AJ just looked more panicked than ever. "S-so, uh, stop comin' round our-"

"Fine...I hope Apple Bloom brings you all the joy in the world."

"! ...OKAY, NOW THAT JUST AIN'T FAIR!" AJ gritted her teeth. "You have some nerve-!"

"Claiming you edited the photoes...?"

"T-THAT WASN'T ME! THAT WASN'T- N-no no no no!" The cream spots started returning on AJ...But, she simply started to take calming breaths, doing her best to ignore it, and-

"That can't work all the time, AJ...And, while its happening, you- ...Do tho-?"

"Yeaaaahhh, ma freckles stay...all the time..." she grumbled.

"That's not a bad thing."

"IS SO!" AJ's eyes had a fury in them. "A-ah'm so fuckin' done wit' whatever tha hell this is, Ah jus' wanna git on wit' mah life, and-"

"You can't always rush away from your problems, AJ...", Twilight told her, staying at her a bit.

"Well...Better than beatin' people up, an' vengin' against them all tha time, like Pinkie's coltfriend does."

"...H-her coltfriend?" Wellllllll, this was certainly the first time Twilight was hearing about this...At least, in this universe.

"Yeah, kinda obnoxious, wears a shirt that says 'jerk', goes around beatin' and prankin' ponies, an- Ahhhhh swear, I wanna grab him by his stupid neck, and-"

"...And then what? How do we-?"

"We don't, Twilight. ...Until he runs outta mojo."

"The boyfri-?"

"Him too maybe, but...That's not what I mean...I've got a naggin' fear...an', I ain't a fan o' puppeteers."

"...!" Twilight suddenly started looking around. "I-is someone pulling at the strings?!"

"Potentially two someones...someponies? Nah, someones works better for now...But, one of them is jus' a stand."

"! B-back up, what?! There's someone-!"

"Not yet, Twilight...Mebbe not at all, least fer us. ...Two many o' 'those' kinda stands around 'ere, anyway."

"...What do you mean, 'those' kind of stands?"

"Come on, Twi! You may not have seem 'em wit' or as stands! But- ...Feels like we're all gettin' crushed beneath this pressure. Heh, P-possibly juiced even~"

"A-AJ, you can't-"

"Shut it, Twi...Just enjoy the celebration...Probably jus' gonna- THAT'S CAD-! RAINBOW!" The orange mare was hissing at Rainbow Dash...who had Surprise out. "ONE TIME MEANS BAD LUCK! TWO TIMES MEANS- ...Something. BUT THREE TIMES?! THREE TIMES, ACCORDIN' TA BLOOM?!"

"H-hey, don't look at me! She wasn't supposed to-!"

"Greetings, subjects of Equestria...", the pink alicorn on the balcony said, voice sounding somewhat monotonous. "As you know, my Aunt Celestia still keeps this thing going, in the hopes that we'll find a way to truly bring Equestria to its finest glory...Well...I have news for you!" Cadence suddenly hissed. "THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" Suddenly, Cadence's body started erupting into light.

"! She's-!" AJ's eyes wide as plates, she started backing up a bit. "H-how did she-?! ...Green Fairy," she mumbled, eyes filled with both anger and depression.

Twilight looked at AJ, blinking. "W-what? What does it-?"

"Its simple, Twi...", Spike murmured. "Green Fairy, can- ! W-what's going on?! I can't-!"

"MONOLOGUE MY POWERS TO YOUR FRIEND?!", Cadence-or whoever she was now-screeched. "OF COURSE NOT! WHY WOULD I BE STUPID ENOUGH TO LET THAT HAPPEN?! NOW, PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR-!"

...She stopped, as suddenly, a glass of wine was splashed onto her. Still, some of her aura was still there, causing her to growl.

"I hope you're not too mad, Cadence..." There was a glint in Twilight's eyes. "I can't let you make a fool of yourself this time. You're going to say, 'WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, I-?!'"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, I-?! ...?!?! HOW DID YOU-!"

"I can read you like a book, Cadence~ I know you wouldn't do something like this yourself, unless someone...WAS FORCING YOU! THE FORCE BEHIND GREEN FAIRY, FOR EXAMPLE! Well...I'M GOING TO LIBERATE YOU!" Her hooves glowed with hamon energy, her magic glowed with magic energy-!

...Then suddenly, an odd, paper-like, rainbow-colored, flutter(butterfly)-winged mare, with glowing pink eyes, and a brilliant dress, that looked like it was made of paper, erupted from Twilight, who actually looked kind of shocked.

"READING RAINBOW, AT YOUR SERVICE, MISS SPARKLE!" It flew right at Cadence.

"HA! YOU THINK YOUR READING RAINBOW CAN-! ...C-can-"

She stopped, once she noticed RR's hooves glowing a certain way. She started to freak out.

"N-no! NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU WON'T! I-!"

Reading Rainbow started punching her, all the while yelling, "KAERU KAERU KAERU KAERU, KAERU KAERU, KAERUUU-!"

She grabbed Cadence's wings, causing the pink alicorn to flinch.

"N-no, you wouldn't dare! You wouldn't-!"

She just yanked on them real hard to the sides, causing Cadence to turn into a giant book for a few seconds-!

...And then two certain other mares were ejected, at the same time. One, a certain dark-coated, cat-eyed, bat-winged alicorn, with deep cerulean eyes, and a purple mist like mane, plus that armor she wore.

The second? Well...She was *the* changeling queen basically.

Yep...Reading Rainbow had somehow gotten them both out of Cadence. ...Although-

Nightmare stood up, glaring right at Chrysalis. "'Lets both put our new origins in Cadence', you said! 'Nothing will go wrong', you said!"

"G-green Fairy can't stabilize, unless the event does! ...Especially-" Queen Chrysalis got shifty eyes. "If this was Rainbow's do- OH MY TIAMAT!" She pointed an accusatory hoof at Surprise, growling. "HOW MANY TIMES HAS SHE BEEN OUT?!"

"I DON'T KNOW! I KEEP TELLING PONIES, I DON'T ALWAYS HAVE CONTROL OVER WHO-!"

"Well, boss...", Surprise murmured, "Maybe you should start honing yer skills again, huh...?"

"..." The blue pegasus just grumbled. "People need to stop blaming for this shit..."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Well, for whatever reason, this happened, so, Nightmare, its your turn to-" ...Her eyes widened, as Nightmare Moon's mane started pulling in one of Chrysalis' holed legs. "W-what are you-?"

"Shut up, I wanna test something...'Oh, my beloved subjects, its been so long since I-' ..." She stopped, suddenly glaring at the Changeling Queen. "Is that why I...Don't sound as attractive or seductive anymore? Because, some mmmmmmbitch of an mmmmmmbug, stole away allll of my sultriness?!"

"W-well, I would have argued I improved it...At first. Whatever occured after that, I take no responsibility for. I am a changeling after all, and I-" Her eyes went wide as plates, her mouth dry as hell, the center of her eyes taking on more of a dark greenish hue. Terror entered her, as Nightmare Moon's mane, turned mawed. "N-no! NO, YOU WOULDN'T! YOU-!"

The rest of her words went unsaid, as the mist-like mane easily slurped her up...Nightmare Moon even made a belching sound. "AHhhhh, that hit the spot~ Well, Chryssy, looks like 'Nightmare Night' enjoys you just fine~ ...Who knows, maybe Green Fairy can even make my projections a bit more...real~"

"...We're boned," Rainbow Dash told them with a murmur. "Just remember the old code words...'This is just a dream...only a nightmare.' She can't-"

...Suddenly, Pinkie came into the foreview, without clothes on. "Well...I CERTAINLY CAN'T HAVE THESE TWO DARK QUEENLY MISCREANTS, TRESPASSING UPON MINE DOMAIN! PINKAMIO CERTAINLY CANNOT EITHER! HAVE AT THEE! RASHOMON ROSHOMON!" ...Pinkie started discodancing.

Nightmare stared...Until she realized, that the disco ball had fully appeared. "NO!" Her eyes went fully wide. "IT WAS EMBARRASSING LAST TIME! PLEASE, DO NOT-!"

...Suddenly, it seemed like different versions of the night were happening.

One? ...Zecora told everyone else, a spooky story, as they waited for the royal sisters.

Two? The Luna there turned out to be Queen Chrysalis.

Three? ...Nightmare Moon was part changeling.

Four, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis had teamed up!

...But, as they got to five-

It reverted back.

"N-no, no, no! RASHOMON! COME ON, RASHOMON, ROSHOMON!", Pinkie screamed up at the Disco Ball. "You can do it! I have faith in you! I-"

There was a large, loud thud next to Pinkie. Nightmare stared at her, with a grin.

"Well, guess I'll- URCK!" Suddenly, Reading Rainbow fell upon her with hooves.

"KAERU, KAERU...KAERUKAERUKAERUKAERUKAERU! KAAAAEEEEEEEEEE-" She slammed her hoof down upon Nightmare's horn. "RUUUUUUUUU!"

"AUGH! YOU INSIPID LITTLE-!" The mane moved after Reading Rainbow, but- ...Twilight's stand was simply too fast. The mane couldn't get there, at the same time RR was there. "...That Brat's imbued her with Hamon energy! Damnit! If this keeps up, I'll-! ...Suddenly, I'm forgetting NN's other power." She grinned. "Right~ Time to- ...Can I-" She tried turning to mist, but- "CHRYSALIS! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GO ON A DIET?! YOU DON'T NEED THIS MUCH LOVE! RRRRGGGHHHHHH! ...Oh, well." She looked around, grinning. "Bingo~"

"EVERYONE VACATE THE PREMIS-! ...-es." Sadly, before Pinkie could finish that word, Nightmare had gotten Derpy next.

"Mmmmmmm...My personality feels so odd like this...But-" She grinned. "Lets see here~ BEGINNING NIGHTMARIFICATION~!" Her mane started changing and growing.

"NOT SO FAST!" Reading Rainbow moved at her again. "KAE-! OOF!"

Suddenly, the rainbow-colored stand got slammed into, by a black shape, with light cyan eyes, and light, translucent green membrane wings.

"HA! You think only stands can hurt other stands these days~? ...Maybe. Or maybe you're full of it," the changeling drone said, narrowing their eyes down at Reading Rainbow. "Either way, Green Hunger never abandons it Queen...Even if that Queen is technically going to be Nightmare Moon now," the drone said, with a begrudging respect.

"Heh, that's right, my new subject~ And, all will be welcome under my night sky~ I only use my nightmares, because I have to...Because, fear is the best way to get control~" Her mane continued to grow. "Aha! My newest children are almost ready! I feel like a proud mother already~ Now, how to- OOF!" She grunted, a tooth flying from her maw, as a certain clawed hand, punched he across the face.

"Leave. Them. Alone..." Spike told her, with intimidating tone...Sadly, his knees were shaking.

"...You're adorable, Spike." The Dark Alicorn merely nuzzled him back, grinning. "I'm not even going to be mad about the tooth~ I'm sure somepony can just make me a new one~ ...Orrrr-" She sighed, a portion of her tail disappearing, and a new tooth regrowing. "There we go~"

"S-she's way too OP this time...", Rainbow murmured, eyes wide. "I-I better unsummon Surpri-"

"NO!" Twilight went, eyes suddenly glinting again. "I've got this...YOU!" She pointed at the changeling drone, her horn glowing. "Explain to me the power of Green Hunger-! ...While not hurting anyone here, as you do so!"

...The drone blinked, before turning around. "Very well. Green Hunger-"

"IDIOT!", Nightmare yelled, sounding more like Chrysalis. "DON'T TELL HER YOUR POWERS!"

"...B-but, my queen," The drone's went dry. "I-I mean, this power! How do you expect me to-! ...Huh. VERY WELL! I FULLY SUBMIT, MY MIND, BODY, AND SOU-"

...Twilight fainted.

"! ...How did you know that would work?", Nightmare Moon asked

"Simple: I didn't hurt her...I simply caused her to faint...And, now, since she's unconscious, I will tell everyone how- ...N-NO!" The drone was quaking. "IT WAS A FEINT! IT WAS A NECESSARY FEINT! HOW IS SHE-?!"

Twilight barely stood up, groaning. Her horn sparked, but- "...Do it. But, I just want your explanation, not the other things."

"TWILIGHT!", Rarity shrieked. "YOU IDIOT! YOU COULD HAVE JUST RELEASED HIM! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE-?!"

"Gladly~" The drone told Twilight, marching up to her. "First of our powers...We absorb emotions from other ponies. Secondly, we can shapeshift, make ourselves look like anyone, or anything else. Thirdly..." He grinned. "We make holes in reality~ Not 'Oh lets end all existence holes', just...Focused, intentional continuity holes in history, that our queen can fill in~"

"...Good, now-"

Twilight didn't get much farther, before he suddenly bit into her right front leg.

"!" She screamed! And, it was not only bonechilling, it was-! IT WAS HORRIFYING! S-she- She-!

"Enough," Nightmare told him. "You've kept her busy long enough..." Her mane spat out both Chrysalis and Derpy, Nightmarifying both. Derpy wore golden armor, had sharper wings, and bat eyes, and Chrysalis had green armor, and her eyes looked somewhat more buglike...At least slightly. "Now...Green Fairy."

"!" Chrysalis stood to her hooves. "Y-yes, my queen?"

"...Fill in whatever your little...Locust fool took away."

Chrysalis blinked, but nodded, and-

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Rarity screamed, moving forward, and-!

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, before suddenly her horn glowed, and multiple beams hit other ponies(Except for the mane six).

"...W-wha-?", Rarity barely got out, before the various ponies suddenly turned into changelings.

"Theeeerrrreeeee we go~ Don't worry...I'm sure Queen Moon will-"

"KAERU KAERU KAERU KAERU, KAERU!", RR screamed...While only punching affected ponies with her left hoof.

"DO IT FASTER, CHRYSALIS!"

"F-fine..." Chrysalis trotted over to Twilight.

Rarity summoned Truly Outrageous-

...Only for NMM to suddenly be in her way, Nightmare Night splitting from her head, and changing into a fiery blue kirin like being. "Go on...I dare you."

Chrysalis reached Twilight, put a hoof on her head-Twilight was oddly not moving, for some reason-and- "...Ah, its just all the images of her mother. My Queen, what should we-?"

"Replace images of Velvet with my own...Hopefully, reality will fill it in well enough."

"As you command...Now-" Her horn started glowing. "Lets-"

"FIESTA WARUDO!"

...Nightmare Moon looked annoyed as the mariachi band started playing, while Chrysalis looked scared.

"M-my queen, we should really-"

"No...Just put Velvet back in," She commanded. "But...I'm not sure thats only hole you can fill in~ After all, this is...Ponyville. You can change her history up, however you-" Suddenly, she was screaming loudly, as five sporks were in her noggin. Oddly enough, she was not bleeding. "PINKAMIO, YOU UTTER FOA- GAH!" And, now she had them in her left front leg as well. "...Heh. Hehehehehhe~ Do you really think those two are the only ones I've captured? You're missing poor little Lulu as well~"

"IT DOESN'T-! ...I-I mean, Luna matters, of course, but- Twilight- ...Just put the pictures of her mother back."

"OH! YOU THINK WE REMEMBER VELVET THAT WELL?!", Chrysalis asked, loudly, before cackling. "I'm sorry, all those blows to my head from her 'Tea Reading' stand, must be making me forget...No. Maybe if you get lucky, she'll leave here, and find out for herself. But, for now? I'm afraid..." She grinned. "You're her mother, Pinkie Pie~"

"...N-no no no! That's too weird!"

"OH! SO, YOU'LL LET HER FADE THEN~"

"F-FADE?! B-but, I-"

"Twilight Sparkle has never truly embraced friendship, Pinkie Pie...Maybe she's realized lessons at times, but, how sure are you that she can be changed at this time? No...You're the one so happy to see her. You're the one so 'aware' at times. Do it~ Tell me to do it, or I let her fade."

"...Fine, do it...Probably won't make sense, when we-"

"Pinkie...As long as Dash keeps summoning your...Ancient lookalike, you can't be exactly sure how anything will go anymore~ Anyway-" She beams Twilight. "Done. Sure will be interesting...To see if it can fix her...your true stand. I mean...Am I really supposed to believe, that Rashomon Roshomon is just a disco ball~?"

"...I-I-"

"Goodbye, Pinkie Pie. Come on, my Queen, lets go!"

Nightmare growled. "FINE! Lets go, Ditzy Doo..." The three of them proceeded to exit the town hall.

"...Ohhhhhh boy," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Sure hope- ..." She stared, as the ponies who had been turned into changelings, started exiting the library. "...Wow, they really were not up for a full fight tonight, were they?"

"Is anyone ever up for a fight, with Green Fairy, and Green Hunger, Rainbow Dash...?", Rarity asked in a murmur. "We're lucky they didn't try to drain us dry...Could be Derpy- I mean, Ditzy's good natured personality, that prevented such a thing."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and, I keep telling you, Green Hunger cannot-"

"Save it, Rainbow Dash...Twilight, are you-?"

"Better than ever...", Twilight mumbled

"..." Spike kind of stared, looking a bit guilty. "T-twilight, Velvet, I-"

"I know the name...I remember what she was like to a degree...Its just...I can't imagine her fully anymore..."

"..." Rarity sighed. "Pinkie...Until we have the three of them under control, I assume you'll try not to cause too much trouble?"

"I-I'm probably just gonna be focusing on healing Twilight..." Pinkie mumbled to her.

"...For what reasons?", Rarity asked.

"C-cause I feel guilty...?"

"...Why? It was Twilight's naivete that-"

"BECAUSE, I JUST DO, RARITY!", The pink pony screamed back, eyes all wet, Pinkie making sobbing noises. "I-if I had helped before Cadence could have started monologueing, I- ...!" She twitched a bit, as a taller pink pony put her hoof on Pinkie's shoulder blade.

"Don't worry, Pinkie..." Cadence murmured. "We'll get her back fully...With Ruby Ray and I on the team, you can count on it."

"...FOR THE LOVE OF TIAMAT, SURPRISE!" Wow, Rainbow had only just then managed to unsummon her stand...

Tumultuous Training

"Okay, Spike, come on!", The blue pegasus grumbled, as she stood infront of the river near Spike. "I know my own Hamon training is kind of rusty, but-"

"'But' nothing, Rainbow Dash," Spike growled. "Twilight was injured, and, if you could summon a version of your stand other than 'Surprise'-"

"I KEEP TELLING YOU, 'Never Gonna Give You Up' is broken!"

"...The stand, or the pony?"

Rainbow blinked. "I-I don't-"

"Yeah, I bet you don't." He sighed. "Look, we're lucky she hasn't started up 'Project Eternal Night' yet, but, thats only because she still fears Pinkie Pie...And, with 'Party World', or whatever its called, she's likely not going to make a direct move anytime soon...Thankfully, that gives us time. You know, people have told me 'Oh, Spike, Hamon isn't connected to stands! You must be confused~' Yeah? Well, then someone explain Reading Rainbow."

"...I-I mean, its a pretty powerful stand-"

"Not what I'm talking about...She increased its normal maximum output, by at least three degrees, if not more."

"But, we haven't even seen Reading Rainbow befo-!"

"Haven't we? ...Rarity admitted to me earlier, that she somehow knew the stand's name, but, couldn't remember its form. Not sure I completely buy it...But, I'm not going to needle her about it too much yet. Either way, I don't know if Reading Rainbow is that powerful, without the Hamon imbuement."

"...It was kinda cool, how it just- ...Turned Cadence into a book, then ejected out Nightmare and Chrysalis."

"Right...But, Twilight's currently at novice level. She somehow knew to eject two different foreign entities-was probably obvious to her, should have been obvious to us-but...She didn't think to refill them. I have a bad feeling its only a matter of time until Cadence turns on us."

"...W-wait, you're saying-"

"She may gotten out the main parts of the entities...But, it can't be guaranteed that Cadence won't still turn. Twilight might have just halted the transformation at best. ...But, I can only imagine what'll happen, with parts of both still in her. They may not even realize she's still vulnerable."

"...Good." She sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll get to training my Hamon."

"Glad to hear it~ ...But, we're gonna be doing something a bit different with yours'."

"..." She blinked a bit. "W-what do you mean?"

"Rainbow, you may have fooled everyone into thinking you can only summon pegasi ancestors- ...But, I know better now. I remember better now. You've only been using Surprise...Because, you think she's the only one who can alter fate."

"T-THAT'S-! ...Look, I may have a subconscious thing with Twilight going on, but-"

"But nothing. Rainbow...Levitate the water."

"...H-heh, you're not serious, right?"

Spike's eyes were just kind of unimpressed looking. "Rainbow, what's weather?"

"! ...I-I mean, clouds, sun, lightni-"

"No, thats what a meteorologist defines as weather. Keep in mind, though, they also have to keep track of things like pollen counts."

"...Why *do* they call it meteorology? Shouldn't they call i-?"

"Focus, Rainbow. Now...Levitate the water. It can be however you want...As long as it involves your wings, and Hamon."

"...Heh. Alright, then, Spike-" She grinned at this, her wings flaring up with the odd energy, as she looked at the river. "PREPARE TO EAT RAIN!" Jumping up, she glided straight over the river, dipping her wings into the river at times, before landing on the other bank, turning around and grinning. "HA! You all wet under the ears, Spi-~? ...Woah." The parts of the river she had touched, had risen into one foot tall walls of water...And, were kind of mostly staying in position, with the parts above slowly starting to trickle back down into drops. "How di-?"

"Heh, cool, right~? Honestly, not surprised this is the first form it took...I mean...Pegasus magic does seem to include stabilizing weather elements, sooo...Yeah. This is actually a pretty good start~ Now...You just need to put your hooves on water, and-"

"Nuh uh, that is a air only trick, and you know it, Spike...Earth Ponies, and Unicorns, would not be happy if they sa-"

"Stop paying attention to the neighsayers, Rainbow. Unicorns would probably just turn it into a case study-...with potentially disastrous results, unless kept in check-and, Earth Ponies? ...Ehhhhh."

"'Ehhhhh'? What do you mean, 'Ehhhhh''? Spike-!"

"Rainbow...Earth Pony magic is based around nature. If any one of them were as brave and smart as you, they would have figured out this connection by now."

"...I-I mean, that's mostly plant-based."

"Yes, and, current pony society, is mostly a triarchal species..."

"...I think I get it, but, I'm not sure I follo-"

"Rrrrgghhhhh...Okay, Pegasi control the weather, Earth Ponies control nature, and, Unicorns-for the most part-control 'direct' magic. They keep each other in check, as do Celestia and Luna each other, with the Sun and Moon. ...Sometimes. Anyways, think about-"

"What's Dragon Magic like?"

"..." He just grumbled at that. "Its complicated sometimes...Not sure I want to remind you about it too much."

"...And, hierarch-?"

"...Dragon Lord. Torch. That's his name, Torch."

"Pfft- ..."

"You thought better about-"

"I don't know, Spike...Do Rainbows Da-?"

"YOU'RE RIGHT, ENOUGH TALKING ABOUT NAMES AND MAGIC, LETS GET TA TRAINING!"

"Remember, be calm, Applejack. Fluttershy and I are both here for you."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Ya'll know Ah'm probably one o' tha most talented hamon users in Equestria, right?"

"...Yes?" Rarity's momentary look of uncertainty, actually seemed to imply that she didn't know exactly how skilled AJ was at the moment.

"Ah mean, Ah used ta be considered tha strongest damn pony in all o' Equestria, by those who really knew me~"

"...Yeeeesssss, Applejack, but, Pinkie seemed to think her sister Maud was stronger than you."

"...Ah'll admit," AJ grumbled, "Maud's strange approach to hamon gathering, does seem...kinda effective at times."

Rarity snorted incredulously. "Only 'kinda', huh?"

"Well...Thing is, doesn't seem like she has a whole lot of reason to use it most o' the time."

"Well, Applejack, Maud's different like that...She takes her time, forming her own thoughts, rarely letting reality effect her much-"

"If Maud was there, we wouldn't even be having this problem...", Fluttershy spoke up, looking concerned for Twilight's well being.

"Yeah...Ah know, Twilight's kinda messed up, we really need ta-"

"Applejack," Rarity spoke up, "You shouldn't-"

"Don' tell me what ta do, Rarity..."

"...Oh. I see how it is." The unicorn had a genuinely hurt look on her face...which was slowly being replaced by a silent anger and disappointment. "Very well, I'll leave your Hamon training to Fluttershy."

"! ...N-now, see here, Rarity, A-ah wasn't that mad, ya'll kin-"

"No, Applejack, its fine, Fluttershy's one of the best."

"A-ah know that! ..." The Earth pony looked a bit distressed, as cream-colored spots started appearing on her again. "A-ah'm just sayin', h-her trainin' style ain't realleh my thi-"

"Do you have something you wish to say to me, Applejack?", Rarity asked, a silent venomous, yet warning tone to her voice. Clearly, the unicorn was angry about something more than what had just happened.

"...M-maybe." Applejack calmly looked in the direction of the barn...Her barn. The Apple Family barn. So many secrets that had happened inside this barn in particular. "C-can ya'll at least-?'

"Another time..." Rarity started trotting away, head held high. It was almost as if she was daring Applejack to judge her a certain way.

"...Fine," Applejack grumbled, sighing heavily. "Fluttershy, lets get this trainin' goi- ...Are ya'll tryin' ta emotion jam me already?"

"N-noooo...?", Fluttershy told her, in an unconvincing manner, sweating somewhat...Buttttt, that was indeed TGR out at the moment.

"Fluttershy, seriously? ..." She sighed, her cream spots starting to disappear again. "Fine, lets git this goin'..."

The yellow pegasus nodded. "Alright, first, summon out 'Golden Delicious Friday'."

"...R-really? That one? Ah thought-"

"I mean...Its one of your more unorthodox ones, but-"

"..." She sighed. "Right...If I can get her under control, what can't Ah do? Alright, then..." She concentrated the hamon energy in her hooves, before suddenly a Golden colored earth mare shot out of her body, levitating. Said Earth Mare stand, was slightly chubby looking, but also had rings around her body, like she was part carrot. Also, she had odd roundish, hair...that was also golden. Her eyes, though, were a bright orange...Although, there were also these odd markings on her, that looked kind of brownish, but, with cinnamon swirls. "GDR, how ya feel-?"

"I'M GREAT! DOING GREAT, REAL GREAT! INFACT, I'M SOOOOOOOO GREAT, THAT I DON'T WANT TO MURDER YOUR SISTER FOR CONSTANTLY CHANGING OUR RECIPES!" ...Something was off. Her tone suggested she was furious, but, it was also hard to tell if she was being completely serious, or facetious.

"...Riiiiigghhhhtttt. Listen, Ah jus' need ya'll to-"

"WHAT FOR?! EVERYONE LOOOOOVEEESSS PINKIE'S 'RASHOMON ROSHOMON'!"

"...Okay, ya'll calm down, jus- ...Fluttershy, what exactly do ya'll-?"

"Use your combined spirit to start healing each other," Fluttershy told her.

"...Why?"

"Applejack...She's part of your will. You can't just keep neglecting her like this."

"...Then, explain why ya'll don't just-"

"That's my problem, Applejack...Not yours'."

The Earth Mare just sighed again, for the umpteenth time. "Fine...Alright, GDF, lets get to wor-"

"Not just yet." Fluttershy giggled. "Your brother and I will be setting up the obstacle course first~" The pegasus adorably trotted off to go find a certain, big, red strong stallion.

"...Well, this can only end well," AJ murmured.

As Rarity walked along the road through Ponyville, she couldn't help but sigh. "...Maybe I shouldn't have been so rough on her. I can only imagine the tough time she's having of it right now." She chuckled slightly. "Then again, with the type of training Fluttershy and Big Mac likely have in store for her, maybe it 'll be good for her...As long as they take it easy. If it were me, I likely would have made her face all her problems then and there..."

"I'm sure you would have, Rarity...", a somewhat snobbish male voice from nearby said.

"?! WHOSE THERE?! I'm not afraid to-! ...Oh. Its just you, Hoity."

The fancy gray unicon stallion merely lowered his purple-lensed, gold-rimmed glasses with his hoof, somehow ever so gently, and glared at her. "Now, is that any sort of respect you're showing for a former teacher...?"

"HA! I would hardly call you a teacher! Listen, Hoity, you may be a good judge of clothing, but-"

"I'm a terrible stand user...Is that what really you want to say to m-?"

"...You're a terrible person. Your stand is...Complex."

"And, yet, my mastery of the ability makes things so much more simple...You, on the other hand, are not an officially trained psychologist, as far as I am aware."

"Well, you're not a physics teacher either!"

He merely smirked. "Aren't I~? Listen, Rarity, you and your friends wanted to put Ponyville on the map, right...? So, you should be grateful, because I put it on the map~"

"WE WERE ALREADY ON THE MAP!"

"Yes...And, how often are smaller towns forgotten by time, Rarity...?"

"! ...I-I don't know what you mean..."

"Your defeat of Nightmare Moon was one thing...And, an impressive accomplishment, to be sure. But...She was likely only meant to be a harbinger, whatever did originally happen."

"A MERE HARBINGER?! YOU ARE-"

"Yes, go on, say it..."

"...You're not the devil, but, neither is she."

"Exactly. And, now, Luna won't have to worry about being stuck in the moon for a thousand years more~"

"...And, how is Manehatten doing?"

"You need not concern yourself with that for the moment...But-" He turned around, and flashed her a Dio-esque glare, mouth shut. "If you ever do find the mysterious 'equestrian' known as 'Time Turner'...Well, I would pay you handsomely~"

"I...I do not know his current whereabouts. His stand-"

"Right...Blue Chameleon...Still, I have this odd feeling even if you did know, you wouldn't tell me. Ah, well, I'll find him one day~"

"You can't keep blaming him for that! Your little manuever in Manehatten attracted creatures even I could barely comprehend!"

"The Daleks? Merely tin pot tyrants, literally~ All I would have had to do, would be make them see into the abyss...But, noooooooo." He snarled. "That blasted tourist had to destroy them himself, and take all their parts with him! ...Not that I care all that much~ Either way...You and your friends are training, aren't you?"

"H-how did you-?"

"I have my methods...Perhaps you would enjoy some training against 'Putting on the Ritz'~?"

"No thank you...You're a real beast when it comes to stand combat, and, I couldn't put Truly through that sort of thing again."

"Well-" He shrugged. "I tried...Don't come to Manehattan, Rarity. You're unwanted by the local fashion community..." He started to walk away.

"...And, you've let your stand's powers corrupt you," She murmured in response, with his back turned. "Unwanted by the fashion community indeed...You've changed, Hoity," she said, a sadness creeping into her voice. "You used to be so optimistic for the future."

The other stopped. "...Necessity is the mother of invention, Rarity. You should know this better than anyone, Rarity..." He continued on.

"...You know, I wouldn't mind some Hamon refreshers myself. Its odd that you yourself seem to know the techniques, but...I may need what you know." She could barely believe what she was saying. Her, saying this to Hoity Toity of all ponies...What was even happening? Was Surprise out again, or-?

"...Well, I think we could both use certain refreshers," he told her, before turning around, walking up to her, standing on both back legs- ...And leaving his midsection open. "Go for it, Rarity. ...Just keep in mind-" There was a dangerous glint in his eyes. "I have friends in this town..."

Facing Clockwork Orange

"Ah tip mah hat ta ya, govna~" The odd AU version of AJ laughed, grinning as she approached Hoity Toity, her alternate stand, Clockwork Orange, having awakened, right in the middle of Manehattan. She was wearing an odd bowler hat, combined with what someone in england would consider a hoodlum outfit. "It ain't everyone who kin draw me out, but, ya somethin' special alright~"

Clockwork Orange floated right near the alternate AJ...it was odd, in that's entire torso, was basically a giant watch, with the legs, neck, and tail attached. It had no mouth, its eyes were blue, with strange horizontal stripes. It was a strange, golden color. Its gender was unidentifiable...

"So, Mistah Toity, before I go 'head an' knock ya blocks off, please, tell me...How did this city become so gravitay based?"

"..." The stallion sighed. "Stands are so much more complicated than you know...You put willpower in a single source, and, its almost like it has a mind of its own."

ClockworkJack snickered. "Yeah, thats what willpowah does, ya bloodeh twat. Hope ya ain' been slackin' off on ya self defence~"

"...Miss Applejack, would you please-? !" He yelped a bit, as he felt a pain in one of his back legs...the upperback of his left hind leg to be specific.

"Come 'gain? ...Ahhhhhh, Ah git it now." She grinned. "Were ya hopin' ta find tha source o' 'Tha World'? Gotta say, I don' even recall how mah fine 'quaintance, tha dear Pinkay Pie, managed to screw up her job so bad, that Ah o' all people was actually brought here. ...Unless-" She grinned. "The Author gettin' desperate? Or, is he merely stallin' for time~?"

"..." Hoity growled a bit, merely standing straight now. "I do enjoy it when people come here, but, thanks to various events, I don't know quite what to do now."

"Well-" She chuckles. "I kin definitely do some...Interestin' things wit' time~" Suddenly, Clockwork Orange started...to put pressure on the time in that specific area, in a five meter radius. "DOOOOO YAAAA GIIIIITTTTTTT IIIIITTTTTTTTT NOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW~?" She asked, voice sounding deep, before the effect stopped. "Now...What ta do wit' ya'll? ...AH KNOW~!" She grinned, as a piece of energy started to form around Clockwork Orange's front left hoof, glowing iridescently...Before it tossed the ball right at Hoity's legs.

"!" He gasped. "Y-you- How did you-?"

"Shove it...jus' summon ya goshdang stand already."

"..." He narrowed his eyes. "Very well..." Concentrating his will energies, via his mind, Putting on the Ritz appeared above him, coming out through his back. It was an odd one...For one, it seemed to be mostly made of clothes, supposedly, at least appearance-wise. Top hat, arrow collar, high class pinstripe, odd yellow-rimmed steampunk goggles with orange lenses, and, of course, a cane with a diamond on top...Usually stands didn't have canes.

"...Hmmmmmm. Very unusual...A pony stand with that kinda appearance? Why, Mista Toity...Ya really do know how ta be fashionable, even in a situation like this~"

He narrowed his eyes a bit. "I know the move you'll try this time...You can't beat me that way this fight..."

"HA! We'll see~" She had her stand prepare the same move, and- "...A space stand," She realized, humming a bit. "Or a graviteh one...considerin' how many people git drawn ta ya stand's pressure, ah'm surprised ya'll aren't completely magnetized."

He just grinned a bit. "Its mostly toward...other pressure stands~"

"...Ah'll be. Course, its more of a time pressure stand...Or somethin'." She grumbled a bit. "Clockwork? Undo the bubble. ...Clockwork, don't ya'll dare play du-" She grunted, as she suddenly got kicked right in one of the legs, then-

"Do it," Hoity commanded. PotR pointed the tip of its cane right at Clockwork Orange, and proceeded to fire a gravity ball at one of its arrows.

"!" CO started to resist a bit, but, all of a sudden, it went limp.

"...My own stand startin' ta turn independant," CW!AJ muttered. "How even...?"

"I'd suggest Kaeru type stand magic might be afoot...", Hoity murmured. "That, or something else is going on."

"...How's ya AJ doin'?" She asked, actually sounding concerned.

He just sighed. "Racist Barn..."

"...That bad?"

"Maybe...?"

"...Hmmmm. Honestly, I'd o' thunk Puttin' on tha Ritz woulda been one o' those shiny ass metallic lookin' stands, but- Huh. Well...Toity. How's 'bout we uncovah tha secrets o' those...well, tin can people? Tha knights, not tha daleks."

He just grinned. "Not without Reading Rainbow, I think~"

She sighed. "Fine...Ya'll better be able ta stabilize Clockwork Orange, if needed."

"Shouldn't be too hard. ...Your stand would probably git bored on its own, you know."

"...Ah'm not too sure 'bout that, but- Then 'gain, probably woulda figured a way ta become Tha World wit' this pow- ...Really? Thats the direction we're go-?"

"Possibly...Do you even realize its power at times?"

"...Ya right. Fine, then. Now...How in Tartarus did ya even git 'ere so fast?"

He grinned. "I walked, with a little extra pep in my step~"

"...A hop, skip, and a jump?", she asked. "But, only Pinkie kin-"

"You'd be surprised..." He snickered a bit.

"..Rrrgghh, fine! Lets do it..."

"Hmmm...As long as you keep Clockwork Orange out."

She grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Fine. ...Shit, now yer makin' me wond-"

"Cockn-"

"Its Trotneigh, ya bloodeh- Ah mean...fair nuff." She rolled her eyes, using hamon pressure in her hooves to force Clockwork Orange to cease the pressure bubble on Hoity's legs.

...It only took an hour to reach Ponyville, between their two stands.

Alice of Oz

"..." Twilight sighed. "Pinkie? How is a Bunny Rabbit like a Lion?"

Pinkie grumbled a bit...before snickering. "Well, ya see, Twilight, if the lion's cowardly-~"

"...THOSE TWO?! TOGETHER?! That's impossible...The protagonists-"

"Wear practically similar dresses, Twi...One's Trottish, the other is- ...Twistish?"

"...How the hell will memorizing both make me a better-?"

"Noooooo, Twi~ Its about enjoying life again~ ...But, seriously, haven't you ever wanted to be a filly again?"

"...I-It would be nice to have friends..."

"Perfect~! Now...You're running late, for a very important date, but, suddenly, you get a prediction that there will be a disaster! What do you do?!"

"W-well, I-"

"Prepare for the inevitable...Just kidding~ But, seriously, Twi, what do you- ..." She blinked, as Twi was already making sure there was space for both of them in the bathroom. "...Huh. Good instincts. ...Yeah, right, we both know that Velvet woulda-~"

"Pinkie? You're not my-"

"I COULD BE! Ever think o' that?"

"..." She sniffled, a tear going down her face. "Y-you're right, I should've-"

"Naaahhhhhh, don't worry~ ...Now. For a rather complicated manuever. Twilight? What does Science define a miracle as?"

"...Well, the more pessimistic sort will tell you, you can't make something out of nothing, so-"

"HA! Science, who needs it~?"

"...I'm not sure I foll-"

"Twi...As long as energy exists, you can produce more of it."

"...But, doesn't that defy-?"

"Ahahah! None of that. Now...Twi? Have you ever thought it possibly to perceive books as...minds? Other realities?"

"...! WHERE IS HE?! WHERE-?!"

"Twilight? No. ...Though, that would explain some things...", she murmurs. "If Styg- ...Nah. We're not even close to ready for that yet~ NOW! What to do... Hmmm. Okay, so...I might be forced to do it this time. BOOK WARUDO!" She hums, somehow...standing up on two legs in a ballerina position. Somehow, she pulls out both 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', and places them both on the floor. Then, as Pinkie channels her hamon energy through her lower legs, Twilight is suddenly lifted up by a small emerald tornado, that pulls her into the middle...

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP, FLUTTERJACK!"

"...What the-? W-wait, my name isn't-"

"Silly Flutterjack, there's no time for that~" ...The odd white lion cub, with bunny ears, wearing a red coat, with a yellow buttoned coatshirt, a golden monocle on his left eye, hums a bit, as he pulls out a golden watch. "We need to make it! To the coronation!"

"THE CORONATION?! B-but, I'm not nearly ready! Besides, even if I was- ...I'm sorry, I don't-"

"Kimb- ..." It was like he was suddenly stuck right in place. ...Then- "...Sorry about that! The chap who usually-"

TWILIGHT IS SPONTANEOUSLY EJECTED! She oofs as she crashes on her back. "Pinkie, what the-?!"

"I FORGOT ABOUT THE KIMBA AND SANS GLITCH!"

"...THE WHAT?!"

"I-it's nothing, Twi~ ...Seriously, Twi, you're better off not knowing. ..." She started murmuring something about 'How does he keep finding where people are...? Damn Megalovania...'

"...Pinkie, are you-?"

"Nevermind! We...need to start with...Oz? ...Grrrrrr," It felt hard to do this...Maybe it was paranoia on her part, but, still- "...Hmmmmmm. There once was a Patchwork girl so fair, a beautiful light blue was her hair-"

Suddenly, Angel bunny came in through the door!

"...Somethin' ya need, Angel?", Pinkie asked, trying not to sound too annoyed. Also, the twister was gone. ...For the moment.

...HOW WAS A RABBIT SWEATING BUCKETS?!

"...Lucifer's Angel? At a time like this? Geez...Is Dash still summoning Surprise? Where is Fluttershy?! Don't tell me the others are-!"

Angel just shrugged, still looking nervous as heck.

"..." Pinkie sighed. "Well...Apparently, Book world has activated a new plot twist...One I can't even blame on Surprise. ..." She stared right at Angel Bunny. "Don't tell me...Cadence? Your stand only activates, when someone's going through some pretty extreme turmoil...Or, at least, that one usually only activates in that type of instance."

Angel said nothing...being a bunny, and all.

"...Damnit, Fluttershy. Alright, Twi...Let me handle this. I'll likely need Rashomon. ...Buuutttt, then again, if this is about Prismia, then- ...That'll be complicated."

"...Piiiiiinkie, what are you not-?"

"S-she may or may not be...Part changeling. Prismia, that is."

"...So, Chrys-?"

"Don't wanna talk about it. If need be, I'll use the power of The World...Or just Fiesta World."

"...Is there much of a difference?"

"One can make party stuff."

"Ah. Yeah, that explains the difference."

"Right. ...Well, I guess I should-"

Suddenly, AJ-or some sort of lookalike?-appeared infront of them...her attire made her look like a trottinghamish hoodlum. "Oi, ya still havin' problems around 'ere?"

Twilight blinked. "...AJ? How did you get in here?"

"No time ta talk, an enemy stand's on tha loose, right? We saw tha carnage on our way 'ere."

Hoity was outside, panting a bit. "W-who even has a stand like that?!"

"..." Pinkie just shakes her head, sighing. "Does it really matter? We've got to figure out a way to take that thing out."

"Take it out?" Hoity looked incredulous. "How?! Bonded with her, think of the damage its doing!"

"I already am...Twilight? I know you've been through so much recently, but- Can you help with this, please...?"

"..." Twilight just sort of sighed. "Guess I could give it my all..."