Our Inner Ponies 2: A Race Against Time

I felt as if my eyes were Krazy Glued shut. They were burning nonstop and my body was still cold to the bone. Using the best of my energy, I pried my eyes open and willed myself to take in a nice, long breath. I was staring at a white ceiling that had a golden chandelier connected to it. Around me, voices were spitting out questions.

"She made it! Hooray!"

"Do you think she's okay? She still looks a bit dazed."

"I hope she had an enjoyable trip, 'cause the next one won't be so fun..."

"Shh! Everypony! She's waking up!"

"Are her eyes supposed to be the way?"

I blinked hard and let out a startled scream when my vision was clear. Five eyes were staring down at me. Wait a minute...

I covered my mouth, but couldn't hide my humongous smile.

"Oh, my God! Long time no see!" I cried, happy tears dancing in my eyes. "I missed you all so much!"

"Huh?! What?" A startled voice screamed. I looked over my shoulder. Oh crap. I didn't even see Zaria lying on the floor! I laughed.

"Zaria, we're back!" I cheered, smiling so wide my cheeks were killing my face.

"Wait, what?" My friend asked, baffled.

"Hey now! Less talking, more hugging!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly.

And so me and Zaria did just that. We hugged two ponies at a time, laughing cheerily. Zaria just patted Spike's little head, but I squeezed him in a super-tight hug to make up for that one missed hug—and because I just couldn't resist his pudgy, little face! After the Hug Celebration, Zaria and I stretched our legs, and we both kinda jumped when we heard a voice say:

"Ah, so my spell worked. Hope I didn't frighten you girls too much." I smiled as we both turned around.

"Princess Celestia, hi!" I said, bowing my head. Zaria did the same. "I'm so glad to see you again!"

"As am I," the princess responded. "Though I didn't contact you girls to socialize. I contacted you so you both could save us." Zaria and I looked at each other.

"Save you how?" Zaria asked. Celestia nodded her head toward a long hallway.

"Come with me."

Hesitantly, we all followed the princess down the hall, which never seemed to end. As we walked, we listened to the princess's words.

"I'm not sure what's happening, but a great threat has greeted Ponyville," she explained sternly. "I've been researching quite a bit, and it turns out that the fabrics of time are being shredded every few minutes between Equestria and your world, girls."

I glanced a worried look at Zaria, who looked back at me flatly. I could tell she was frightened, too by the look in her eyes.

"For some unknown reason, my magic cannot prevent this situation from turning from bad to worse," the princess continued. "So, I used all of my energy and magic to send a portal to your world, girls."

"So, time is being shredded, and we're the only ones to save everyone?" Zaria tried to clear up. "Is that why our time stopped? You made it freeze so no one would get curious?" Celestia looked confused.

"I never stopped your time. I just delivered a portal," she replied. My heart jumped.

"You never stopped our time?" I cried. Celestia shook her head.

"Uh oh," Zaria said, turning to face me. "I guess that must mean our world is experiencing the shredding of time already." I covered my mouth with a hand.

"This is bad!" I screamed. "What should we do, Princess?"

"Well, until I ponder up a successful plan, you girls will have to adjust to Ponyville while it's still in one piece," Celestia answered.

"WOO!" Zaria suddenly exclaimed. Oddly enough, Pinkie said the same thing, which made me and Zaria laugh together.

"Princess Celestia? I think you're leaving out an important detail," Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Oh? And what's that, Rainbow Dash?"

"Well, these two can't just go waltzing out in the neighborhood looking like that! No offense."

"None taken," Zaria and I said at the same time.

"Hmm. Good point," Celestia agreed. She was silent for a moment, tapping her hoof on her chin. Then her face suddenly grew dead serious.

"Alright, here's what we'll do," she began. "I know that Maya and Zaria did get merged with Twilight and Fluttershy's bodies, but this time we'll need to perform the process again. One of you must volunteer yourself to be merged with these two ladies, and I'll perform a very difficult spell." The whole room was silent again, which was getting flippin' creepy! Finally, two ponies raised their hooves: Pinkie and Applejack.

I didn't have time to smile or even thank them; Celestia got right to work. I immediately chose Pinkie, and Zaria (obviously) chose Applejack. After that, the princess's horn began glowing a bright, goldish yellow. Like last time, I felt like I was flying through something solid. About five or seven seconds later, I opened my eyes again and looked down to find that I had a bright pink body and fluffy pink hair.

"Awesome! The spell worked, Zaria!" I cried in my Andrea Libman Pinkie Pie voice.

"Sweet," Zaria, who now had the unmistakable Applejack accent, said, looking me up and down. I grinned in reply.

"Thank you so much, Princess Celestia!" I cried excitedly, smiling widely at my new high-pitched voice. The princess nodded and smiled.

"You're very welcome, Maya," she called back, returning my smile with a small one. "I'll send you all a letter once I've thought of a plan." We all made our way toward the exiting doors. I turned around and waved at Celestia. She slowly waved back.

"Goodbye everypony! And good luck girls!"