Break & Meld

The cake batter slowly rose in the pan, warmly lit by the oven’s internal light. Pinkie bounced her body up and down as she remained crouched to watch the event. Her smile grew. The chime above the bakery’s front door rang. Pinkie shot up in an instant, her head twisted to view the new visitor and her body followed behind a moment after. Pinkie’s momentary confusion was replaced again by a smile as she recognized one of Ponyville’s most recognizable residents.

“Heya, Spike.” Pinkie said in her usual peppy tone.

Spike’s demeanor did not change from how it had been for the last hour.

With a blank stare he looked up to Pinkie and gave a simple, “Hey.”

Pinkie tilted her head. It had been a while since she’d seen Spike this obviously upset.

“What’s got you all downy frowny?” Pinkie said in a sing-songy way.

The familiar visage of the town’s resident party pony, ever so vigilantly full of cheer, struck a chord of disharmony against the background noise of Twilight’s demeanor of unblemished nervousness that played on loop in his thoughts. Spike felt like a single line of muscle that stretched from his head to his toes had all at once spasmed and remained still. He stood, staring at Pinkie for a moment.

“Twilight told me this morning that she woke up with the memories of a totally different life,” he finally replied, his tone letting out a few bars of the same uneasy music from within his crackling mind.

With a deep breath, he turned his head to the side and continued in a softer voice, “And I’m starting to believe her.”

“New memories? Different life?” Pinkie’s head tilted back and forth. Her expression violently morphed into a playful terror. Before Spike could react, Pinkie had grabbed his shoulders with her forehooves and began shaking him.

“Does Twilight not remember us anymore!?” she exclaimed before suddenly ceasing her movements.

She stared into him, nervously awaiting his response.

Spike shook his head in an attempt to undo the rattling he was just given. He looked at Pinkie, a snarled tooth escaped from his lower lip.

“Twilight still remembers us, Pinkie. She said she still remembers everything, it’s just that she has new memories on top of that now.”

Spike placed a claw upon his chin, the truly sufficient explanation for this scenario eluded his thoughts.

“I guess it’s like if somepony else was also in Twilight’s mind now? No, not really, she said it’s not like that…”

Spike continued to mumble to himself, scratching at his chin and thumping a clawed foot against the wood floors.

Pinkie’s head slowly rose up, until she was looking straight ahead into the horizon. Her eyes glazed over. She was completely unmoving. Spike looked up again at the mare, and raised a brow. Pinkie remained frozen in place.

With a sigh and a shrug, Spike opened his bag and brought out a small book.

“Anyway, here’s that book on baking with vanilla, don’t know why you need an entire book for that, but whatever.”

Spike held the book up towards Pinkie. She did not move. Spike waved the book in front of Pinkie’s face, with no results.

“Weird. Okay, I’m just gonna put this over here on the counter for you then.”

Spike clambered up a barstool to reach the counter.

“Wait! I need to throw a ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party!” Pinkie suddenly burst out at max volume.

Spike tumbled to the ground, thrown off by the noise. His fall had been, surprisingly, caught by his bag of books as he landed on top of them. The front door to the bakery chimed. As Spike recovered, he checked that the bag’s contents were unharmed. With a quick scan, he determined all was well. Spike looked back up to see that Pinkie was already long gone.

Spike closed his eyes as a new wave of nervousness overtook him. The oven’s alarm rang out suddenly. A gust of wind blew past him and Spike opened his eyes in shock to find Pinkie pulling a cake pan out of the oven.

“Whoopsie, I almost forgot about this,” she said with a grin.

Pinkie turned to spike, and a frosting tool was shoved into his claws.

“Could you frost this real quick for me, but be sure to wait until it’s cooled. I’ll be back later, ok thanks bye!” Pinkie’s words came out at the speed of light.

“Wait, Pinkie!” but as the words left Spike’s mouth, Pinkie was already out the door.

Twilight had told Spike that she needed some time alone, but Spike could already tell that Pinkie was now well on her way to disturbing that peace.

Welp, this’ll end well.

***

Fluttershy had seen Rainbow Dash perform enough times to know that her oldest friend was currently having an amazing time in the sky. Fluttershy stood in a field just outside her cottage, which was just the right distance away from Ponyville for her liking. Today, being so far out made it feel like Rainbow Dash and herself were the only two ponies in the world.

Fluttershy cheered on—quietly—as Rainbow Dash practiced a routine for herself and Tank, her pet tortoise. Seeing a tortoise fly about with his enchanted helicopter extension had slowly become normal for Fluttershy over the year or so Rainbow had cherished Tank. Fluttershy’s eyes tracked the quick movements, darting left, right, up, and down as the two fliers moved about at speed.

Fluttershy never partook in acts of daring and athleticism like Rainbow Dash did, but she’d learned a fair amount about the field over the years. Sure, she wasn’t as knowledgeable or experienced as Rainbow, but after quietly listening to your friend ramble on and on about the subject for over ten years, you pick up a thing or two. If it weren’t for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy wouldn’t know even a tenth as much as she does now about the Wonderbolts, or how to properly angle your wings to come out of a dive depending on how fast you’re going, and so on. Because of this, Fluttershy had a deeper appreciation for the stunts that Rainbow regularly pulled outside of them just looking cool to the untrained eye. Knowing how difficult these maneuvers were made Fluttershy all the more proud of Rainbow for accomplishing them.

Ultimately she never focused on retaining the information that Rainbow Dash imparted on her that much, that wasn’t really what made Rainbow happy to talk to her for hours at a time, instead Fluttershy was just a really good listener. And Fluttershy loved listening to Rainbow Dash. She also liked watching her in her zone, up in the sky. Watching Rainbow do some new, or even old, maneuver always put a smile on Fluttershy’s face. Really, all that mattered to her was knowing that Rainbow Dash was happy doing her thing.

Rainbow was Fluttershy’s oldest, and for a long time only, friend. Even when she became fast friends with Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Twilight she still couldn’t help but gravitate towards Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy’s smile grew a little wider as she thought about just how much Rainbow had been a part of her life.

“Heya, Fluttershy. What’s up?” Pinkie’s face beamed as she appeared unexpectedly right next to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy jumped as her body locked up in fright. Her heartbeat quickened, but she couldn’t move an inch. Slowly Pinkie walked her way into Fluttershy’s vision. Fluttershy relaxed her muscles, and exhaled, her face quickly returned to a soft smile.

“Oh, you startled me, Pinkie,” Fluttershy finally responded, a tinge of nervousness still evident in her tone.

“Rainbow Dash is practicing a routine for her and Tank,” she quickly added.

Pinkie turned her head up to watch the performance. Her mouth went agape as she watched Rainbow Dash and Tank soar past each other, exchanging a small flag in the process.

“Woohoo! Go Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie loudly cheered.

Rainbow swerved violently, tumbling in the air, as she tried to desperately avoid hitting Tank as they made another pass. Tank’s altitude dropped and he quickly stumbled into the ground. Pinkie cringed, and Fluttershy covered her face in horror as they watched the disaster unfold. Seconds after Tank hit the ground, both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had bolted over to check on him. Rainbow Dash reached Tank first, and was furiously looking everywhere to make sure not a scratch was on him. Rainbow’s frantic nervousness was dispelled by a loud sigh when she found nothing out of the ordinary. She looked deeply into Tank’s eyes, as she slowly let him go. Tank, for his part, looked to Dash with a genuine determined smile. Her head locked onto Pinkie, who was slowly walking over to the group with a sheepish grin. Rainbow gritted her teeth, her gaze turning cold as she thought about how close Pinkie came to hurting her pet.

Relax, everything’s fine. You can’t get mad at Pinkie for being Pinkie.

With a deep sigh, Rainbow forced herself to calm down. Her steely anger turned to a tense appeasement.

“You startled us, Pinkie. What’s up?” Rainbow’s terse speech did little to hide her unamused character.

Pinkie couldn’t help but shy away from Rainbow Dash’s words.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, I thought you usually liked being cheered on.” Pinkie desperately tried not to frown.

Rainbow Dash sighed, “You did nothing wrong, Pinkie. It’s okay.”

Rainbow’s mood slowly lifted as she thought on her own words. She really believed what she’d said.

“So, what’s up?” Rainbow gave her best genuine attempt at a friendly tone.

Fluttershy looked up from Tank, having also concluded that the creature was well. Her gaze joined in with Rainbow’s, looking towards Pinkie expectantly. Pinkie’s body language immediately shifted back to her usual joyfulness.

“I came by to see if you two’d be available for Twilight’s ‘Welcome to Equestria Again’ party later today!”

Pinkie flourished the announcement of the party with the wave of a hoof as she threw a small collection of streamers into the air. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shared a glance. From just that brief exchange of body language the two picked up that the other was available, but confused. Rainbow looked back to Pinkie wearing her confusion on her sleeve.

“Uh sure, we’d be available, but why does Twilight need to be welcomed to Equestria? I don’t remember hearing about her going on any sort of trip recently,” said Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie’s eyes closed, and her hoof came up to cover her snout as she giggled. A snort escaped Pinkie’s muzzle as she finally contained her amusement, looking back up at Rainbow Dash.

“That’s because she didn’t go on any trip, silly. We’re welcoming a new half of Twilight to Equestria!” Pinkie animatedly gestured along with her explanation.

“Does three in the afternoon at Twilight’s place sound good?” Pinkie leaned forward, expectantly awaiting their answer.

Rainbow glanced over to Fluttershy again, looking to see if she was okay with this. Rainbow was surprised to see her relatively calm about the request, though she knew there was still her usual pensiveness towards social gatherings mixed in there.

Rainbow turned back to Pinkie and answered with a shrug, “Sure, we’ll be there.”

Pinkie perked up, her smile widening as she bounced in place.

“Okie dokie lokie, I’ll see you both at the party!” Pinkie finished as she quickly turned and bounced away.

Rainbow looked back to Fluttershy and once again shrugged.

“Eh, Pinkie, am I right? I’m sure it’ll be a fun time,” Rainbow said with a smirk.

Fluttershy simply nodded with a smile.

***

The silence inside of the Carousel Boutique was only occasionally interrupted by the turning of a page as Rarity read her latest obsession outside of work. Rarity had long ago picked up the habit of reading fiction. She liked to impress on others the value that opening the mind to new worlds gave any artist. She always thought that the appreciation of art in all its forms opened the psyche to imagination and creativity. Recently however, Rarity found herself more and more gravitated to fiction which focused on romance. Once a week she allowed herself to have a full day to focus on activities other than work, and she had been looking forward to these days more and more as she dove further into her love of stories of blooming relationships.

Rarity leaned forward into the book floating before her in her magic, as she stumbled over the words—lost in the excitement of what was to come. Sentence by sentence the two mares in the story came closer to sharing their first kiss. Rarity’s heart skipped a beat.

The ring of the doorbell violated Rarity’s ears. She fell back into her chair as the beautiful scene she was enjoying dissipated from her mind in a puff of smoke. She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the world which had slighted her. She set the book aside, taking in a deep breath. With a sigh, Rarity opened her eyes again and jumped out of her chair.

“Coming, darling!” She announced to whoever was at the front door.

She opened the door to find Pinkie staring at her with an excited grin.

“Hi Rarity! I’m throwing a ‘Welcome to Equestria Again’ party for Twilight at her place at three pm. Care to join?” Pinkie announced at a quick pace.

Rarity, while well knowing Pinkie’s antics by now, found herself having to stand there and process Pinkie’s words for a second. Pinkie watched as Rarity’s expression turned from a smile to a smirk of confusion.

“Of course, Pinkie, I’d be happy to. Just, um, why does Twilight need to be welcomed to Equestria?” Rarity asked.

Pinkie chuckled. “Because we’re welcoming Twilight’s new half!”

Rarity met Pinkie’s enthusiasm with stunned silence.

New half? Like, a partner?

Rarity didn’t suspect Twilight of being the kind of mare to be in any sort of relationship, at least not at the moment. The more she thought about it, the less likely it seemed. If Twilight was in a relationship, she was sure her friends would know by now.

Perhaps that’s what the party is for? To announce this coupling…

If they had to be welcomed to Equestria then that would mean a long distance relationship. Rarity found it plausible that Twilight had been writing to some special somepony.

Perhaps a penpal of hers turned romantic?

The very idea sparked Rarity’s imagination. Twilight in her study, with only a single candle to light her as the hours grew late, reading her secret lover’s newest missive as she wrote her own response. Twilight shifted in the chair as her thoughts had led her marehood to quiver in anticipation for attention.

Rarity shook her head clear of those thoughts, though the journey down that path had left her face stained a bright red. Rarity forced a cordial smile.

“I see…well, I’ll be happy to congratulate Twilight then,” Rarity finally spoke after the brief silence.

Pinkie didn’t react an iota to Rarity’s behavior.

“Okie, dokie, lokie! I’ll see you there!” Pinkie ended with a wave goodbye, and bounced away.

***

The hum of the engine came to a stop, the sound of the midday birds replaced it as the noise that dominated Applejack’s ears. With a grunt, she pushed the door to her truck open and hopped out onto the dirt road just out front of Sweet Apple Acres. The sky was clear, and the sun was high. Applejack’s Stetson shielded her face from the beating heat. With a sigh, she slammed the truck door shut and made her way to the back. She dropped down the door to the truck bed, and jumped back when she saw Pinkie laying amongst the cargo.

Just as quickly as confusion had stricken her, relief washed over in its place with a chuckle.

“Well, howdy, Pinkie,” Applejack greeted the friend—and very distant relative—with a smile.

Applejack’s brow suddenly raised as she stared at the sack Pinkie sat upon.

“You, uh, may not want to be sitting on the pig food there, Pinkie,” Applejack added.

With the tilt of her head Pinkie leaned down to give the sack she sat on a sniff. The concentrated stench of rotting fruit and old mushy meals assaulted her nose. With wide eyes, Pinkie leaped down from the truck bed.

“Heh, oopsie,” Pinkie said, looking at Applejack with a sheepish grin.

Pinkie couldn’t help but giggle, and just like that all her worries were gone even before they arrived. Pinkie’s smile contagiously spread to Applejack, but was soon followed by a grimace as she put a hoof up to cover her nose.

“Yeah, you might wanna wash up sometime,” Applejack chuckled.

“Shoot, if you’re smelling like that you might as well help me with moving this stuff and then clean up after,” she added.

Pinkie’s eyes widened and her smile grew.

“I’d love to!”

Pinkie’s mouth went agape, as she realized why she’d even come here.

“But I won’t have time, because I’ll be so busy getting Twilight’s ‘Welcome to Equestria Again’ party ready!”

Pinkie’s eyes grew even wider as she stared at Applejack.

“And you’re invited! It’s today at three at Twilight’s place. Will you come? Will you? Will you?”

Applejack raised a hoof to her chin, furrowing her brow. After a second she looked back to Pinkie with a smirk.

“Sure, I’ll be there. But, what’re we welcoming Twilight to Equestria for?” Applejack raised a brow.

Pinkie rolled her eyes with another round of giggling.

“Everypony’s asked me that same question. It’s because she’s got a new half that needs welcoming!”

Applejack’s brow only raised further, but before a sound could escape her lips, Pinkie continued.

“Anyway, I really should get busy getting the party ready. I’ve spent so much of my time just inviting everypony!”

Pinkie spun around, and bounded away to Ponyville.

“Bye Applejack, I’ll see you at the party!” she exclaimed, having already made it over the crest of a hill.

Applejack rolled her eyes.

Just Pinkie being Pinkie.

***

The town of Ponyville hadn’t changed. Spike’s day of uneventful chores had given him little comfort against the backdrop of the morning’s revelations. The weight of books he once carried now was lessened, and only partly replaced by a few bits received from book loan payments or even just the odd donation. Spike looked up at the Golden Oaks. A pit of unease buried into his stomach. Twilight was inside, and knowing that gave the location an ominous aura. Every step he made up to the front door felt like it should be his last, that he should turn away instead. His face tensed as he opened the door.

Books were scattered everywhere, parchment was dangling from the shelves and scrawled across the table and the floor, and more of everything was stacked in messy piles. Spike sighed, and raised a brow. There had been a sense within him that he'd come in here to find everything different from how it should be, a sense that Twilight had changed. That feeling dissipated, instead replaced by the nervous optimism that Twilight was overreacting exactly as she normally would. That didn’t mean he still didn’t approve of Twilight's usual antics, but that concern mixed around with his newfound relief in an odd way. Spike wasn’t sure if he liked the feeling, the feeling like something was bubbling in his chest.

It bubbled up into his lungs, and an exasperated laugh was pushed out from his chest. A smile spread readily to his face.

“Well, Twilight is ‘Twilighting’,” he said to the empty room.

With a huff, he walked further in. His eyes scanned the various writings that covered every surface.

Lots of stuff that begins with ‘Musings on’.

Spike took a moment to fully read out a particular piece that caught his eye. A bulleted list of items which had numerous pieces of parchment tacked on to create a massive scrolling piece of paper. It was a list of things Twilight liked and disliked. Spike’s visage slowly fell as he read it over. Very little on the list was exactly the same as how he knew Twilight. There were so many inclusions that gave him pause. It felt like somepony other than Twilight wrote it.

Spike froze, his eyes locked onto the page as he read ‘I like meat’.

Spike felt the shadow of the monster quickly curling up the walls behind him. Red eyes and a snarling mouth crouched in the dark void. Spike spun around violently, his heart pounding, ready to flee the horrors that had snuck up on him. His eyes darted around. The room was empty. The monster wasn’t there, Twilight wasn’t there. He focused his thoughts inward. Repeating assurances echoed in his mind telling him that Twilight would never eat him, that Twilight would never eat her friends. Spike shook his head.

I’ve met a Griffon before, and I wasn’t afraid that she’d eat me, this is no different…right?

Spike’s breathing slowed down over time. Spike glanced back at the parchment which had started this whole thing. The thought of reading anymore made him want to throw up. With quick strides, Spike made his way up to the second floor to deposit the day’s earnings, and take a rest.

***

The door to the Golden Oaks burst open and Pinkie rushed into the room, dragging her party cannon behind her.

“Surprise!” she announced as she struck a match and lit the fuse on the cannon.

Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all filed in and were greeted by the sight of mounds of scrolls and books strewn about.

Pinkie looked up and her face instantly morphed into worry.

“Uh oh!” she belted out as she rushed to pull the lit chord out of her cannon, and stomped on it violently. The fire was put out. Pinkie turned her vision round and round looking all about the messy foyer.

“Aw, party cannon won’t work right with all this stuff in the way,” Pinkie said dejectedly.

Applejack’s chest tightened, her face turning to a worried scowl as she looked around the room.

“Forget the cannon, Pinkie. Where’s Twi?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie continued to look around the room, her head tilted back and forth as her mind processed the situation.

“And what’s with this mess? I’d expect Twilight to be more organized,” said Rarity with a playful disdain painted on her muzzle.

The group spread out through the room, each had their heads on a swivel, looking from item to item with morbid curiosity. Not a word was shared for a long moment. Rainbow hovered over to the top of a bookshelf, and interrupted the silence with a grunt.

“I know Twilight gets all weird sometimes, but this is messy, even for her,” Rainbow said tugging at a scroll which hung from the top of the shelf before her.

The paper came loose and tumbled limply to the ground. Fluttershy carefully picked up the scroll and, against her better judgment, began reading. She had no clue what a ‘firearm’ was, but the wording made it seem very serious, even mentioning that it was important for the safety of all of Equestria.

“What made Twilight so scared?” her thoughts escaped out from her.

Her friends all crowded around her, their interest in the paper she held suddenly piqued.

“What’d you find, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know, but it sounds serious,” Fluttershy said as she hoofed the scroll over to Applejack.

Applejack wasn’t dumb but the first sentence floored her, as she got caught on word after word. Applejack looked over at Rarity and hoofed it over to her. Rarity read over the piece with a scowl, her eyes darting across the page as she absorbed the information. The writing wasn’t long, and so she finished it quickly. Rarity looked up to her friends with a slight frown.

“It sounds like Twilight is making plans to potentially get into weapons design.”

Everypony looked confused at that.

“She mentions some ‘Mary’ who has knowledge of it, and it sounds like she believes there’s a real potential Equestria could go to war in the near future.”

“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It doesn’t say,” Rarity responded.

She pointed to the bottom of the page.

“It’s scratched out, but it seems she’s…passionate about this fear.”

Applejack turned away from the group, her eyes looking over the mass of other writings.

“Well, the reason’s gotta be somewhere in this mess. Let’s look.”

Everypony spread out, scouring through the available material. Applejack stopped as a smell, the smell of a kind of desperation she knew well, intruded her nostrils. Her head whipped over to the source of the offending sensation. A collection of pillows lay bundled on the floor sitting just before a full length mirror. A frown overtook Applejack’s face as she stared deeply into the pillows. She found a collection of stains, and her suspicions were confirmed. She grimaced as the image of her friend pleasuring herself on that spot flashed into her mind.

Applejack heard hoof steps approaching, and turned to see Rarity was now beside her. Rarity’s gaze was also fixed on the pillows Applejack had been investigating, her muzzle sporting confusion in contrast to Applejack’s growing anger.

“This here…” Applejack spoke in a low tone.

“I’d expect Twi to know better than to leave something like this out.” Disappointment oozed from every word Applejack spoke.

Rarity looked to Applejack with a raised brow. Her attention turned back to the pillows. She leaned in, squinting her vision, as she peered over the details. Suddenly her eyes went wide.

“Oh. I…” Rarity chuckled.

“I didn’t actually expect Twilight to be one to partake in that kind of entertainment,” she said with a nervous smile.

“Not to be rude, but she always seemed a little preoccupied with her studies,” Rarity continued, her smile bolstering ever more proud of her attempt to lighten the mood.

Applejack stared at Rarity with a deadpan look. Rarity shied away from her, that once growing spirit flushed away.

“Yeah, well, I don’t care what Twi does in her spare time, but it shouldn’t be left out here for all to see,” Applejack struggled to keep her voice down.

Rarity brought a hoof up to cover her mouth as she coughed.

“Yes, well, it is rather uncouth,” she softly acquiesced.

Applejack turned to stare once again at the pillows. Rarity’s stomach churned. It felt like her whole body became heavier, as she watched Applejack stew in her anger. Rarity wished to Celestia she could make Applejack happy again. Her eyes flicked down to Applejack’s hooves. With a twitch, Rarity wrapped a forehoof around one of Applejack’s and lightly tugged. Applejack looked over to her, that same frown still occupying her lips.

“Darling, shouldn’t we figure out what happened? Perhaps there’s a good reason for all this,” Rarity said with a forced smile.

Applejack’s face softened as she stared into Rarity’s pleading eyes. The swelling, buzzing, anger which had been coursing through her was scrubbed away. It felt like a sponge rubbed her clean, leaving only a small pit of distress laid still in her core. Applejack nodded, and the pair walked away.

Pinkie zipped over to take Applejack and Rarity’s place as they left. She craned her head down to the collection of pillows, her brow raised and her lips slightly frowned in a display of playful interrogation. She took a sniff of the air, and her playful mood evaporated in an instant. Her eyes widened as she stared at the stain in the pillows.

Pinkie’s nose twitched, then her eyes blinked twice.

My Pinkie sense is telling me to lick it…

Pinkie’s eyes darted about the room. Nopony was looking her way. Now was her chance. Quickly she lowered her head down, and licked the stain. Her tongue was coated in the uncomfortable taste of fabric. Pinkie strained herself not to visibly recoil. The aftertaste arrived. It was familiar, yet so new. It certainly didn’t taste sweet, but that didn’t mean it tasted bad. It definitely didn’t taste good, yet it filled her with a buzz, a kick, which definitely was good. The taste fizzled away. Pinkie quickly shuffled away from the scene of the crime. Her eyes couldn’t focus on anything as her mind turned into a cacophony of competing questions. She had never gotten that close to tasting or touching the special parts of anypony.

Why did my Pinkie sense tell me to do that?

Pinkie opened a nearby door, and walked her way down the stairs just beyond. Her eyes unfocused, looking at the ground as she went. She thought and thought and thought. Again and again and again all she could think of was the moment she had licked that stain. It was as if her mind wanted her to go back and continue, or even travel back in time to the cause of those stains. Her heart fluttered in her chest, her tail flicked. She didn’t need her Pinkie sense to tell her what that meant.

Pinkie’s eyes shot wide open. She’d made her way to the basement. Twilight was just before her, singing, her eyes closed as she was fully immersed in her song. She wore a simple yellow dress, and her mane was in an unkempt ponytail. Her face was full of longing. Pinkie stood in awe as she listened. Twilight’s voice was, frankly, silly, and that was good. Twilight was being silly in the way Pinkie knew best, being unashamed in your love and excitement and freely showing it. It was a genuine showing of happiness.

For her part, Pinkie couldn’t keep her attention on what the song was actually about, something about a ‘bad boy’ and love, it sounded like a pop-song. Pinkie’s heart filled as she enjoyed this small snippet of her own private performance, staring deeply into Twilight’s expressive face. Twilight danced, her form was terrible, but that was never the point. Her eyes fluttered open as she finished part of the song. She jumped, her eyes wide as she looked at Pinkie who was right in front of her.

“Pinkie?!” Twilight said, alarmed.

Twilight felt her face grow warm at the sudden close proximity of Pinkie, just inches away. A wide smile slowly overtook Pinkie’s face.

“Welcome to Equestria, new Twilight!” Pinkie wrapped her forehooves around her.

Pinkie’s coat was incredibly soft, as if she’d just taken a shower. Twilight’s hooves glided along Pinkie’s back as she shakily brought her forehooves to return the hug. Twilight’s heart beat rapidly increased, her breathing grew heavy. She felt a hot mess of emotions swirl inside her. The feeling softened her heart. She tightened her grip around Pinkie, wanting to keep this sense of fragile elation for as long as she could. Pinkie giggled as she pushed away from the hug.

“Surprise!” Pinkie’s face beamed with joy.

“There y’are, sugarcube,” Applejack announced from atop the stairs.

Twilight and Pinkie looked up to see Applejack and Rarity already making their way down.

“Hello darling, it’s good to see you’re well,” said Rarity.

Rainbow flew through the door a second later, her gaze quickly locking on to Twilight.

“There you are, egghead!”

Fluttershy followed along soon after, and before Twilight could comprehend it, all of her friends stood before her. Pinkie had a big grin on her face, while the others all waited for whatever was next. Pinkie came to Twilight’s side to address the group.

“Okay, everypony! Today we’re here to welcome the new Twilight to Equestria! I’ve got decorations and food and games all planned out!” Pinkie’s smile grew awkward as she turned to Twilight.

“Just, uh, the room upstairs needs to be cleaned for my party cannon to work,” Pinkie sheepishly rubbed a hoof against the back of her head.

Twilight stood stunned.

“The new Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, darling, I’m confused. I thought you said we were here to welcome Twilight’s ‘new half’, as it were,” Rarity added.

Applejack stepped forward.

“Pinkie, do you know what’s going on? Is this related to all that stuff we found upstairs?”

The whole gang looked at Pinkie and Twilight with confused and worried glares.

Pinkie giggled, “I think Twilight will be better at explaining it then I could.”

Pinkie looked over at Twilight expectantly. Twilight’s eyes darted between Pinkie and the others, her jaw fell as her scrambled brain looked for words.

“I, uh,” Twilight gulped.

“Well, gosh, I wasn’t really ready to explain this to you all yet.” Her gaze turned down to the floor.

She needed a way out of this situation.

“Let’s get the party set up first, and then I can explain. It’s, uh, a bit complicated.”

Twilight sheepishly grinned, giving one final look towards the group. They all looked at her with suspicion. Twilight closed her eyes and focused on the top of the stairs. In a flash, she teleported up, and quickly left the basement.

“Wait!” Twilight shouted out from upstairs.

Twilight teleported back down to the basement, and grabbed a cup of coffee in her magic.

“Not done with you,” she addressed the mug.

Her head swiveled over to view her friends. “Did you all know I actually like coffee? Isn’t that crazy?”

Twilight took a sip of the drink, her shoulders visibly relaxing. She chuckled, looking again at the mug floating before her.

“I mean, it’s just bean water, this stuff is awful.” Her smile grew a little as she took another sip, and teleported it with her back upstairs.

The remaining group exchanged looks of confusion. Pinkie was already bouncing her way up the stairs, when a flash engulfed the foyer, the light of it pouring out through the open door. Everypony made their way up to find the room completely clean. Twilight turned to face the group, her gaze traveling over to Pinkie.

“Okay, what next?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie’s head tilted as she looked around the room.

“Well, I would say I use my party cannon, but I don’t know where it went!” she responded with worry.

Twilight looked confused for a moment before realization struck her.

“Oh, uh, let me go get that.” She chuckled nervously, putting her coffee down on the center table, as she made her way upstairs.

Her journey was halted as she saw Spike heading down. Spike’s tired face emanated waves of disdain. He looked up at Twilight.

“Hey, I was taking a nap, it’s a thing I do, and then there’s a pile of scrolls, books, and a party cannon all around me, what’s up?” Spike said.

Twilight’s faint smile degraded by the second.

“Sorry, Spike. I, uh, was just trying to clean up for our guests. And uh, I actually gotta go get that cannon real quick,” Twilight rambled as she passed Spike by.

Spike’s eyes turned over to the group of friends. He sighed in contempt of the whole situation.

“Pinkie Pie party?” He asked.

He was met with a chorus of affirmations from everypony. Spike continued his way downstairs. Twilight followed soon behind, party cannon in tow. Pinkie bounded up to meet Twilight half way and took the party cannon. Quickly it was set up, lit, and in seconds the room exploded with decorations.

White, light blue, and dark blue streamers ran from wall to wall, confetti of the same colors fell, a small colorful box labeled ‘games’ now sat in the corner, and the room suddenly smelled of lavender. At the center of it all, a banner stretched across the ceiling. It read ‘Welcome to Equestria Twilight!’, and had a depiction of her cutie mark on one side and a question mark on the other. Pinkie brought in her party wagon, which had been patiently waiting outside. The wagon was loaded with all sorts of baked goods, which quickly added their scent to the room. With a pep in her step, Pinkie came beside Twilight and looked at her with a wide smile.

“Alrighty, the party's all set up!” Pinkie bounced, looking at Twilight expectantly.

Twilight’s mouth was agape as her eyes wandered over the scene. She’d been to maybe hundreds of Pinkie’s parties, but then again she’d also never partied with Pinkie. Twilight’s heart beat heavily in her chest, her eyes fluttered as her vision blurred from welling tears. Her friends looked at her with a mix of confusion and worry, Twilight didn’t see it.

She looked to Pinkie, opening and closing her mouth, words failing to appear on her tongue, words that could express even an ounce of what she felt.

“Pinkie…”

The mare she addressed only continued to wear her ever bright smile, and as Twilight stared into Pinkie’s eyes her chest relaxed.

“It’s like this is my first Pinkie Pie party all over again, but now I’m ready for it, or at least now I want it.”

Twilight turned to address the group.

“It’s like I’m experiencing being friends with all of you for the first time as well. But now…I have an even greater appreciation for what that means,” Twilight’s speech grew uncertain.

Twilight gulped. Her eyes scanned the reactions of her friends. Applejack and Rainbow Dash wore the most concerning expressions out of the bunch, but most looked to her with growing curiosity and cautious optimism. Twilight gulped again.

“What I mean is…” Twilight tapped a hoof against the floor.

“Last night, I woke up to find that…well, I’d gained the memories of another life.” She could see the growing look of disbelief spreading across most of her friends' faces.

“I…It’s like I’ve lived two lives. Twenty three years as Twilight and Twenty five years as Mary.” Twilight took in a deep breath.

“Gosh, where do I even start?” Twilight’s eyes darted around the floor, no longer wanting to deal with how her friends were reacting.

“There’s so much I could say, it’s so complicated, and I don’t know why it happened,” Twilight’s face started to hurt with how much she was frowning.

“I…I feel like I’m only half of the friend you all know and love.”

No pony moved an inch, not a noise was made as all listened intently to Twilight’s softening speech.

“I just hope we can all still be friends.”

Twilight closed her eyes, her head, and whole body, drooping down. She felt that same smooth fur from before press into her and wrap her in comforting forehooves. She opened her eyes to see Pinkie hugging her. She could only see the side of her face in her peripheral vision. Pinkie’s small smile bore the weight of a tender compassion so rarely seen.

“I’ll always be your friend, Twilight,” Pinkie softly spoke into her ear.

Twilight shivered at the feeling of Pinkie’s breaths flowing into her. Fluttershy approached her. Her face held a soft and genuine smile. Twilight’s heart grew warm, staring into Fluttershy’s eyes.

“I don’t exactly understand, but I’ll still be your friend, Twilight,” Fluttershy affirmed, and quickly joined in to hug her.

Rainbow Dash trotted over with a look of determination.

“Hey, you say you still remember being Twilight, so that makes you still my friend in my book,” Rainbow said, joining in on the group hug.

Applejack came up next, her hat carried in a forehoof to cover her chest. Her solemn face held a small smirk.

“I can tell you’re being honest, Twi. You can count on me to stay by your side.” And so she joined in the hug.

Rarity came up last, her eyes teary, her lips couldn’t decide whether to frown or smile.

“Darling, if there’s ever anything I can do to make you feel welcomed, you let me know.”

And so with Rarity joining in, the group hug was—almost—complete. Spike stood and watched the six cuddle up. The anger in his face had long since burned away, and all that was left was a tired longing. With a deep breath, Spike clenched his jaw and came forward. Twilight noticed him, and her growing smile faded somewhat as she saw her second oldest friend, her little brother, before her looking so distraught. Spike opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out. His eyes darted away. He searched for fears to guide him away, he searched for anywhere else he could go. His gaze returned to stare Twilight deeply in her eyes. He found where he needed to be.

Carefully Spike came up to Twilight, and hugged her. Like wringing water from a stone, Twilight’s core leached out a wellspring of hidden grief. The warmth of the hug pulsed against the growing tide of cold fear that bubbled up and submerged her whole body. She vibrated intensely, and it all came out, her eyes poured out everything that had bottled up inside her. Twilight couldn’t help but let out small moaning cries. The pressing of her friends grew tighter, and her voice died down. Her cheeks hurt from smiling.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Thank you all so much. I don’t…” she sniffled.

She chuckled, as her smile grew more unsure.

“I don’t feel like I deserve any of you.”

Twilight felt the weight shift as somepony pulled away.

“Darling, look at me.”

She looked up to see Rarity before her. The emotions on Rarity’s face were indescribable, but immediately Twilight was filled with confidence just from peering into those eyes.

“Everypony deserves to be loved.”

All of her friends gave firm affirmations, and one by one they pulled away from the hug. Spike was the last to end the experience, and that was only after sharing a glance towards Twilight, his face shone so much brighter than it had that entire day. Not a drop of grief was left in Twilight as she looked around at her friends, her smile only grew and grew. Twilight took in a deep breath and recomposed herself.

“Yay! Oh we need sitting spots!” Pinkie said before quickly making her way upstairs.

Rainbow Dash came close to Twilight, her gaze traveled up, inspecting Twilight in detail. Her eyes focused on Twilight’s, as she gave a lighthearted snort.

“Mary huh? Is that what all that writing was about?” Rainbow ended with a chuckle.

“That’s a super Twilight way to react to something like this.”

Fluttershy came forward, her gaze moving from Rainbow over to Twilight. Her brow furrowed in worry.

“What was all that writing about? It sounded kind of scary. Is everything okay?”

Rarity joined in, “Yes darling, your ‘On Firearms’ piece has me worried. Are we in danger?”

An uncharismatic grin grew on Twilight’s muzzle.

“Oh, no we’re fine…really, we are. I just, uh, have a bit more of an appreciation for precaution, you could say.”

“Twi, you’ve always been like that,” Applejack said flatly.

Twilight’s eyes searched around for the right words.

“Yes but, well, this is all a bit unnerving. I just want to make sure everything's okay.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, speaking of things I wrote, Spike, now that you’re here I need you to send a couple messages for me.”

Twilight was making her way upstairs as she finished her statement, but was stopped by Pinkie mid way up.

“Oh no no no, Twilight! The party is on, enjoy it!” Pinkie took Twilight’s hoof in her own as she pulled her back downstairs and got her seated in a pillow she’d brought down.

Twilight’s eyes darted between Pinkie and the stairs.

“But—”

“No buts. You’re the party pony, and you gotta be at the party to party, duh,” Pinkie said with a smug look.

Spike came into Twilight’s view, grabbing her attention as he looked at her with a grin.

“I’ll go find them for you, Twi. What am I looking for?” He asked.

Twilight let out a sigh.

“Two letters to Celestia, that’s all.”

Spike nodded and headed upstairs to complete his job. Twilight’s thoughts moved to Canterlot, to Princess Celestia’s chambers. She still had no clue how she’d react, what she might do, how quickly it would happen.

Will we even get to finish this party?

The pillow Twilight sat on was scratchy. She shifted. Her back felt improperly arched. She straightened out and exhaled uncomfortably. Twilight blinked, her vision shifting to the cupcake that had been placed before her by Pinkie moments ago. It remained untouched.

“Twilight, are you alright?” Rarity pulled Twilight out of her malaise.

Twilight snapped her head up to look at Rarity. Rarity—really all of her friends—looked at her with some amount of worry. Twilight shook her head.

“Yeah, just…still getting used to all this I guess. It still doesn’t seem real.” Twilight lifted a hoof up, inspecting it.

Her eyes drifted back to her friends, all of them formed a circle on the floor with her, each having been given a pillow to rest on.

“There’s just so much to talk about. I don’t even know where to start.” Twilight’s face scrunched.

“Well, how about ‘what in the hay is going on’, because that’s been my question, like, this whole time,” Rainbow said with a hint of incredulity.

Applejack rolled her eyes with a snort.

Rarity broke into the conversation, “Well, sometimes when I get overwhelmed it can help to go through things one at a time from the beginning.”

“How about you start with telling us about today, and only today?” Rarity asked, looking towards Twilight.

Twilight gulped as she nodded along. Her eyes searched the corner of her vision, as she recalled the events.

“I woke up around four in the morning. It was like I woke up from a nightmare, but I can’t remember dreaming anything.”

Twilight’s expression fell somewhat.

“I…I kind of freaked out, really badly. It took me a while to even get out of bed.”

Her head twisted from side to side, reaching for the next thing to say.

“I don’t know how to describe it. I was two beings in one. I remembered going to bed last night as Twilight, but also as Mary. Everything was like it happened just yesterday. I…my body was both new and old and…”

Twilight searched her friends' faces. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity all held soft smiles of concern. Rainbow Dash, and Applejack looked more gruff, but there was no contempt. All of her friends cared to hear more and to help her. Twilight focused herself, as she pushed her emotions away, her face dimmed its expressiveness.

“I went to my study and tried to write down my observations and feelings. Eventually I came to a sort of fragile peace. That happened when I decided something important, I decided that my name would now be Twilight Mary Sparkle.”

“Why?” Fluttershy’s question was a calm and gentle invitation to expound.

Twilight smiled.

“Because, as Twilight, I never had a middle name, and Mary was, well, Mary’s first name, and her life was just as much a part of me as Twilight’s so…It just felt fitting. Both parts of me were represented in that name.”

Twilight chuckled.

“Actually, an important thing about this whole situation is the fact that Mary always wanted to be Twilight.”

Twilight quickly interjected before anypony else could begin worrying.

“And no, Mary is not the reason any of this happened. It’s just a coincidence.”

Twilight took a deep breath.

“But because of all that, I mostly just want to be Twilight still. I want to continue to live Twilight’s life, and I have no desire at all to undo this, because that might mean Mary having to go back to her life.”

Twilight softly smiled as she finally felt herself reaching a conclusion to all this.

“So, keeping my name mostly the same with Mary mixed in as a middle name felt right. Most ponies don’t even ever tell you their middle name if they even have one.”

Twilight’s smile faded into a cringe as she felt more and more like she was leaving an important part out.

“I don’t really want to get into it, but names were really important to Mary.”

Twilight shook the line of conversation away with a hoof.

“Anyway, point is, I was a little more confident when I decided on my name, so I went down to talk with Spike who had been making some pancakes for breakfast.”

Spike calmly interrupted as he came back downstairs, “When I saw Twilight crying this morning I thought maybe some sweet food would cheer her up.”

Spike was downstairs, which meant the letters were delivered, which meant Celestia could be reading them right now. Twilight pushed her worries about Celestia out of her head.

“The food really did help. At least, I think it did,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Yeah, but then you explained to me what had happened,” Spike’s voice fell as he trailed off as he took a seat.

The room was still, too still for Pinkie. Her eyes darted between Twilight and Spike, her usually cheery demeanor had corrupted, slowly festering with her growing worry. Pinkie felt like her hair was falling out. If there was another second of silence she was going to explode.

“I guess that didn’t go down well, did it?” Applejack punctured the bubble.

Spike huffed, “Not really.”

Twilight rubbed one of her forelegs with a hoof.

“It could have gone better,” Twilight admitted.

“I didn’t know what I was supposed to say,” Twilight hurriedly added.

“It’s fine now, don’t worry about it,” Spike said.

Twilight, simply, believed in Spike’s conveyance of acceptance of the situation. With a deep breath, she relaxed her body again.

“So, after that I asked Spike if he could take care of the day’s chores, as I wasn’t sure if I was quite ready to interact with anypony.”

Rainbow Dash snorted.

“Come on, not even us? We’re your friends!” Rainbow chided.

A sprinkling of annoyance touched Twilight’s brow as she looked at Rainbow Dash.

“To half of me you aren’t my friends,” Twilight grimaced as she finished her response.

“At least that’s what it felt like. I know you all are still my friends, and I want to be friends with all of you,” Twilight continued, her voice growing quieter.

“I’m sorry,” she almost whispered.

Pinkie’s growing frown hurriedly put on a mask of a smile.

“It’s okay, Twilight…that’s what the party is for, right?” Pinkie said, her smile quickly growing in sincerity as she worked to convince herself as much as Twilight.

“You should really try that cupcake. I made it extra-special for you!”

Pinkie pointed to the cupcake still untouched in front of Twilight. Twilight nodded as she brought the pink confection up to her in her magic. Before taking a bite, Twilight looked up.

“Oh, and after Spike left I basically just spent all day writing. You all saw the result of that.”

Twilight chomped down the small cupcake in one bite. She always liked it when cupcakes were bite-size. Twilight realized that preference came from Mary. The taste hit her buds surprisingly softly, it was so very unlike Pinkie’s usual cupcakes, but it was so calming. Twilight’s eyes grew wide.

How did Pinkie know to make the cupcake this way? I didn’t even know I’d like it this way!

Twilight’s gaze traveled up to the streamers. White was Mary’s favorite color, dark blue was Twilight’s favorite, and light blue was her new favorite. The cupcake she’d just eaten was Pink, her next favorite color. Twilight stared at Pinkie, who was staring right back at her with a wide grin. Twilight gulped down her food.

I swear, Pinkie being able to break the laws of the universe is going to take getting used to all over again.

“That was…excellent, Pinkie. That was really really good!”

Pinkie bounced up, and quickly procured another cupcake of the same ilk, presenting it to Twilight.

“There’s lots more where that came from. Here! Enjoy! Enjoy!”

Twilight did so, as she pushed away her worries of Pinkie’s improbable foresight. The cupcake’s smooth taste calmed her nerves, her shoulders slouching. Pinkie’s heart let her worries finally fly away as she watched Twilight’s mood improve.

“Twilight ate the first snack! Everypony grab something and dig in!” Pinkie almost yelled.

“Finally this is starting to feel like a party instead of a funeral,” Rainbow said with a smile as she flew over to the party wagon.

Fluttershy nervously grinned at the comment, while Rarity and Applejack looked to Rainbow with raised brows. All joined in to grab a bite to eat.

“Yepperoni! I’ve got plenty of games and other fun activity ideas to show Twilight a fun time.” Pinkie said excitedly.

Twilight looked up at Pinkie with hope in her eyes.

“Games? What kind of games?” She asked.

Pinkie leaned down, and pressed her face into Twilight’s. Twilight leaned back, but Pinkie continued her advance forward. Twilight ran out of space.

“What kind of game do you want to play?” Pinkie’s eyes fluttered rapidly.

Twilight’s mind broke. Words stopped wording. She stared into Pinkie’s eyes, the blue ocean within was all Twilight could think of. She wanted to be there. Her face grew warm. Twilight felt a shock travel through her.

Right, board games, focus!

Several games flew through her mind, some from Mary’s memories and some from Twilight’s. Each game went by too fast for her to inspect with any detail, only able to glance at generalities shared between each one. Then the thought of which would be good for this party came by. The party was about getting to know Twilight.

“Um…I’d enjoy something with strategy and of middling complexity, but I don’t know if that’d fit for this kind of party,” Twilight said as she averted her gaze from Pinkie’s stare.

Applejack looked up from her slice of pie, with a raised brow.

“Now hold on, Pinkie, I know this is Twi’s party and all, but I think we all still have questions we want answered,” Applejack said as if talking down to a younger sister.

Applejack sighed, her muzzle scrunched as she turned to Twilight.

“I’m sorry if that sounds bad, but I just want to make sure you’re alright, Twi.”

Pinkie didn’t lose an ounce of joy, as she turned to address Applejack.

“That’s okay, there’s plenty of fun conversation games we can all play.”

Pinkie bounced around the circle of friends as an idea hit her.

“How about ‘two truths and a lie’!?”

Applejack nervously chuckled, “Aw, shucks, I’m bad at that one.”

Everypony laughed, as they settled into their seats. Orange and blue, the colors of Twilight’s emotions of excitation and worry commingled. They got along surprisingly well, and their energy filled Twilight. A thought would take over of how terribly this could go, and in would come the counter thought of how amazingly fun it would be, all the opportunities to see the looks of surprise and acceptance.

“Since this is all about getting to know new Twilight we’re gonna play the game a little special,” Pinkie talked to the whole group.

“We’ll go back and forth between Twilight and one of us, starting with the pony on Twilight’s left and going clockwise! So Twilight will give two truths and a lie and the pony next in line has to guess which is the lie, if they get it wrong then they have to give two truths and a lie and Twilight has to guess which is true, otherwise they get to skip having to tell their truths and lie. No matter what Twilight answers, we’ll go on to the next pony. Sound fun?”

Pinkie’s speech was fast, but most seemed to pick up on the rules.

“Okie dokie! Twilight, for the purposes of the game, only give truths and lies about Mary’s life. I mean, duh, that’s like, the whole point of the game!.” Pinkie smiled at Twilight.

Twilight, nervously grinned as she took in and let out a deep breath.

“Okay…”

Where to start?

Twilight tapped a hoof against her chin.

Twilight began, “Okay…how about. I’ve been in three relationships, I have two sisters, and…uh…”

Twilight’s eyes darted around as she stared down. She tapped a hoof against the wood floor.

“I’m an alien,” she finally added.

Everypony’s eyebrows raised at that one. Pinkie’s eyes went wide with excitement.

“Oh, that one’s a doozy,” Pinkie said, as she looked at Fluttershy, who was first in line.

“Okay, Fluttershy, now you guess the lie,” Pinkie broke Fluttershy out of her stunned state.

“Oh, um…You’re not an alien?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight grew an almost ugly big smile.

“Nope! I only have one sister,” Twilight clapped her forehooves together.

“What?!” was the near universal response from everypony, except Spike and Pinkie.

Rainbow flew out of her chair, hovering near Twilight.

“What do you mean you’re an alien?”

Twilight recoiled from Rainbow’s derisive gaze. She straightened back up, to counter Rainbow’s attempt to arrest authority in the conversation.

“I mean, I’m not from this world, I’m probably not even from the same universe. Mary wasn’t a pony, she was a human.”

Pinkie rubbed her forehooves together, grinning widely.

“Yay! Conversation!”

“A ‘hue man’? Pardon my Prench darling, but what in Celestia’s name is that?” Rarity said before taking a sip of her punch.

Twilight looked towards rarity with an even face. Rainbow returned to her seat, though her look of suspicion remained.

“Mary is from a planet called ‘Earth’ where the only sapient race were humans,” Twilight said

She paused as her eyes focused upwards to recall, only occasionally flicking down to look at Rarity. Twilight’s posture straightened, and her grin vanished into an even thin line.

“We don’t have humans here on Equus, but we do share a lot of similar species. On Earth, humans are related to primates. So, think of a lanky and mostly hairless monkey that stands up straight like a minotaur and you’d be somewhat close to imagining a human. I say ‘mostly hairless’ because they still grow manes, males grow facial hair, and there’s still a light amount of body hair.”

Twilight chuckled as she looked down at her dress.

“That’s actually why I’m wearing this dress. Humans are never nude in public, so uh, I feel a little conflicted about doing so now. I know it’s totally normal, I mean none of you are wearing anything right now.”

“Except my hat,” Applejack added.

“Yes, but anyways.”

“Does it bother you that we aren’t wearing clothes?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but held it back. She found her initial response unsatisfactory.

“Well…not really. I am sort of used to it, but um, I wouldn’t be surprised if it caused…certain emotions in the future.” Twilight grew warm, and shook thoughts of bare mare pussy and stallion cock out of her head.

“Anyway, it’s something I’m going to have to get used to no matter what, so don’t worry about it.”

Twilight gave her best smile.

“While I’m on the topic of where I came from I might as well explain something important now.”

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“So, and I know this is going to sound crazy but…”

Twilight took another deep breath.

“You know how I said earlier that Mary knew of Twilight?”

Nopony moved an inch, the whole room intent to just stare her down.

“Where Mary came from, Twilight was a fictional character. All of you were fictional characters.”

It felt like the room was crushing Twilight’s wind out of her.

“Remember when we all fell into that enchanted comic, Spike?”

Twilight’s eyes pleaded for a reaction as she looked into Spike’s face. Spike nodded, as a smirk of understanding came over him.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Imagine if it was only you that was pulled in, you became your favorite character, but you now also had all the memories of that character.”

Twilight swept her vision across the whole group.

“That’s what it’s been like for me.”

The silence was deafening. Everypony looked at Twilight like she’d just grown a second pair of wings, all except Spike who at this point found the revelation almost banal, and Pinkie who just looked happy to be there.

“Hey Fluttershy, you wanna give your two truths and a lie now?” Pinkie said, her bright attitude clashing with the rest of the room.

Fluttershy jumped at the opportunity to evade the awkward air that had developed.

“Oh, yes, um,” she said, pondering her answer.

“I feed Angel three times a day, um, I take care of a family of weasvels, and uh.”

Fluttershy blushed as she shuffled in her seat.

“I once drank three glasses of cider in an hour,” she said exceptionally quietly.

Twilight’s view was drawn to Rainbow Dash as she struggled to contain a bout of chuckling. Twilight’s initial assumption was that the final of the three statements given was false. Everything about Rainbow’s demeanor screamed that there was a joke, a prank, or a surprise in waiting for her to spring.

“Well, I was going to say you’ve never drank that much cider so quickly, but now I’m starting to think it’s one of the other two,” Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash immediately looked disappointed.

“I guess I’ll say that you only feed Angel twice a day,” Twilight said.

“What!?” Rainbow Dash blurted.

“That one was easy! Everypony knows how much Fluttershy spoils Angel, and while she used to take care of some weasvels, they moved away,” Rainbow spoke as if these were the most obvious things in the world.

Rarity chimed in, “Maybe easy for you, Darling, you’re with Fluttershy more than the rest of us.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Sure, whatever.”

Pinkie excitedly bounced in her seat.

“My turn to guess Twilight’s lie!” she said as she stared at Twilight expectantly.

Twilight tapped her forehooves against the floor.

“Uh…”

Twilight’s face went blank.

“I’ve kissed a girl before,” she started

“What’s a girl?” Pinkie immediately interjected.

“Oh, um, it’s the human equivalent for filly, but I’m using it in the same way we’d use filly to refer to either a mare or a filly,” Twilight spoke clearly.

“For completion's sake, woman equals mare, man equals stallion, girl equals filly, and boy equals colt.”

Twilight looked around the group with a smile.

“I’m sure you all probably won’t remember that right away, so feel free to ask if you get confused.”

Twilight pulled back into a more lax state.

“So anyway, I’ve kissed a girl before, I’ve…”

Twilight’s head was empty. The statements she searched for were stuck at the top of a mountain that she strained herself to climb. So far this was her least favorite part of this whole affair.

“I have a college degree, and I can do a pretty good impression of a stallion’s voice.”

Pinkie hummed and hawed for a few seconds, before returning her gaze to Twilight with a determined face.

“You don’t have a college degree!” She answered proudly.

Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Correct. I got really close to a bachelor's degree, but I dropped out.”

Rarity had to stop herself from spitting out her drink.

“Wait, Twilight, are you really saying you can sound like a stallion?” She looked at Twilight with incredulity.

Twilight sheepishly smiled, her eyes avoiding Rarity’s gaze. She chuckled.

“Well, kind of. I used to be better at it when I was just Mary. It takes a lot of muscle training that I haven’t done in this body, so I’m not very good at it yet, but I do know how to do it.”

Twilight nervously chuckled again.

“It’s also a little more difficult because it’s kind of the opposite of what I trained to do as Mary. The same principles hold, but it’s just a little weird.”

Applejack looked towards Twilight with a soft smile.

“I’m more surprised you’d kissed a mare before. That’s not something I’d see Twi doing, so it’s a bit odd knowing that now you are the kind of Twi that would.”

Twilight’s face fell, her vision turning away from everypony. This was exactly what she was afraid of. The room felt so cold.

“Twi,” Applejack spun her out of her thoughts.

Twilight looked up to Applejack to see her face soft and caring. She stared into her comforting eyes.

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.”

Twilight’s lungs pushed out the growing air of despair, leaving still a lingering mist within her.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Twiiiliight,” Rarity playfully stretched out the name.

Twilight looked over to see Rarity giving her a mischievous smile.

“You’re not going to just tell us you can sound like a stallion and not give us a demonstration are you?”

The weight of everypony’s eyes on her suddenly felt heavier. The show must go on. Twilight pulled on the string of joyous memories of past times of showing off her vocal skills as Mary. Twilight smiled as she dramatically straightened her posture and brought a hoof up to tap her chest a few times.

“Ah, bah, bah, bah.”

Twilight’s voice lowered with each utterance. Her throat quickly grew scratchy, she pushed against the desire to stop. Her eyelids fell as she focused. Her voice traveled around, her range felt so limited, but she pushed her larynx to stay down, and focused her speech on being less rounded.

“Testing, testing, one, two, three.”

It was like an awkward teenage colt had said those words. Twilight coughed, and her body relaxed. It felt like she would fall forward. She allowed her throat to return to normal.

“That was really hard.”

Twilight laughed, which caused her to cough again. Pinkie energetically clopped her forehooves together.

“Wow! That was awesome, Twilight!” Pinkie wriggled in her seat.

“Haha! That sounded hilarious!” Spike managed to say through his growing bout of giggling.

Rarity and Applejack’s jaws had slacked, they both worked to pull themselves out of their shock. Rainbow Dash smirked.

“Yeah, that was pretty impressive, but I can totally tell it needs work,” Rainbow said almost dismissively.

“But yeah, good job,” She added.

“It kind of scared me, it was so good. It was almost like that one time that poison joke got me,” Fluttershy giggled.

“Yes, Darling, I dare say you may have a talent you can really work at there.” Rarity’s tone overflowed with respect.

Applejack looked to Twilight with a raised brow, her voice was breathy.

“How and why’d you even learn to do something like that?”

A brick wall of deadly conversation slammed into Twilight, knocking the wind out of her. Her lungs refused to move as she stared into Applejack’s eyes. Quickly she pulled her vision away. She wanted to run. She shuffled in her seat. The binds of social rules firmly held her in place.

Oh God, can I tell them I’m trans? What should I say?

Everypony was looking at her worriedly.

Oh fuck, I’m super obviously freaking out. I have to say something right fucking now.

“Th-that’s a long story,” Twilight fumbled over her words.

Twilight’s fidgeting didn’t escape her. Her right forehoof couldn’t stop tapping against the floor.

“Um, actually…um,”

What the fuck do I do?

Eyes, eyes were on her.

“I…I should tell you something. Um, something important about Mary.”

She could feel their hooves beating against her, it was all her mind could do to think about their reaction, the way they were reacting, the way they would react to her secret. Already she felt like this whole friendship deal with any of them was a sham. They were friends with Twilight, not her, and she couldn’t fix that with a rousing game of two truths and a lie. This whole party would never work. They’d learn of her secret and hate her. She had no choice. She had to tell them.

“I just…I don’t want you to hate me because of it,” she said, her voice shaky and low.

Twilight’s breathing was heavy. She closed her eyes and focused on slowing her breathing down. She counted the seconds as she inhaled, held, then exhaled. Her friends all looked at her with concern. She focused her face to show as serious and gruff as she could manage.

“I want all of you to Pinkie Promise that you will not share what I say to anypony outside of this room.”

Everypony joined in to recite the words and do the motions of a Pinkie promise, not one was left out. Pinkie Pie in particular ran through the promise with speed, as she showed her most focused face. They all waited patiently for Twilight to continue.

“Mary wasn’t born a girl, a filly. The terminology isn’t very well known in Equestria yet, but she was transgender.”

The words clawed against her chest as she pulled them out by their tails.

“She was born under a different name, and lived as a boy…a colt, until she was around twenty four.”

Twilight looked up into the ceiling. Everything poured out of her like she was a great fountain, just a deliverer of the message.

“She always wished she could be a girl. So many restless nights hoping she could be reborn. I hated it.”

Twilight’s gaze returned to her friends. She spoke softly and carefully.

“Her parents didn’t understand. They hated her for it. But she felt so much better, I felt so much better.”

Twilight pointed a hoof to herself.

“I felt so much better.”

Twilight gave a sharp exhale, her lips curling into a weak grin.

“It’s funny, in the time and place Mary grew up in, and through luck, she was actually able to live as a girl pretty easily.”

Twilight cast her gaze across the group, staring deeply into each of them.

“I want you all to understand that. Imagine that. If you met a mare and never ever found out that they used to be a stallion. That’s what Mary lived. She’d made it.”

Twilight shook her head.

“It cost her family though, and so she had to move away, never to see them again.”

Twilight took a deep breath.

“That’s it. That’s what I had to tell you. And so that’s why I know so much about how to change my voice, because Mary learned how to perfectly, and I mean perfectly, sound like a mare.”

Twilight softly smiled. She looked at Pinkie, who was currently staring back to her with the most intense look of sympathy she’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry if this ruined the good mood,” Twilight spoke softly.

“I really do think this party was a good idea. I couldn’t hide all my secrets forever, especially not if I ever want to call any of you my friends.”

Applejack stood up and walked over to Twilight without a word. Twilight dared not look towards her.

“Twilight,” Applejack said in a gruff voice.

Twilight felt her heart pounding in her chest, as Applejack sat down next to her. She kept her head away from Applejack.

“Twilight, look at me,” Applejack said firmly.

Twilight’s head strained against her neck to turn to face Applejack. Her eyes darted from the floor to Applejack’s eyes which were laser focused on Twilight. Twilight gulped, licked her lips, and forced herself to return Applejack’s eye contact.

“Listen sugarcube, as far as I understand it, you’re half Twilight and half Mary, right?” Applejack tilted her head forward.

Twilight gave a shaky nod.

“And you said that Mary wants to be Twilight?”

Twilight once again nodded.

“Well guess what body you’re in. You’re in Twilight’s body, you’ve got all of Twilight’s memories.”

Applejack looked towards the group.

“And I think I speak for all of us when I say you’ve still got Twilight’s friends.”

Everypony gave firm voices of agreement to that. Twilight looked across the group. Each and every one of her friends showed nothing but love and kindness to her.

“Well then, Twi.”

Twilight returned her attention to Applejack.

“You’re Twilight to us, don’t matter if half of you or even all of you used to be a stallion.”

A great dam of immeasurable love flowed in and out of Twilight. Her whole body tingled, her muscles both laxed and twitched from the excitement. Applejack stood and grabbed one of Twilight’s forehooves as she pulled her into a standing hug.

“Thank you.”

Applejack pulled away from the hug and looked to Twilight with a raised brow and a smirk.

“You are sure you still got Twilight’s memories right? Because I think you’re forgetting just how much we care for you. We’re not gonna hate you over something silly like that.”

Applejack left to return to her seat.

“Now come on and enjoy the game. We ain’t here to judge.”

Twilight sat down again, and contentment fell over her like a warm blanket.

“You’re right,” Twilight said.

“Yay! We love you Twilight!” Pinkie shouted alongside the bang of a party popper she had on hoof.

Smiles overtook the room. Twilight’s forehooves excitedly tapped against the floor, her tail shook back and forth as a great joy overtook her.

She giggled, “Yay!”

Rarity chuckled, “For how much you worry that you’ve changed, it’s so very you to worry about something like this.”

Rainbow Dash snorted.

“Yeah, not gonna lie though, the idea that half of you is really a stallion is pretty weird.”

Twilight felt like a vat of acid had just been poured on her growing comfort and happiness. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow, her head tilted.

“It’s not bad though, right?”

Rainbow Dash cringed, her eyes avoiding Fluttershy’s look.

“Yeah…I guess not.”

Applejack knocked Rainbow with an elbow.

“Hey, I’m not in love with the idea either, but it ain’t like Twi’s a bad pony ‘cus of it.,” Applejack said as she glared at Rainbow Dash.

Twilight’s vision unfocused, her face now completely flat, like the light of any semblance of life or emotion had been pulled away from her.

I knew it. I knew they wouldn’t see Mary as a real girl.

“More game!?” Pinkie asked, looking at Twilight.

The floor was a more inviting sight than the ponies around Twilight. Her insides felt like they were pushing against the walls of her body, trying in vain to move her away. Done and gone, was how she wanted all of this.

“No, Pinkie,” Twilight’s quiet response was just barely heard.

“I want to get something straight,” Twilight said as she focused her attention on Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Her head felt heavy and boiling hot. Her vision blurred.

“I’m not a stallion, I’m not half a stallion, I’m not even one percent of a stallion. I’m a mare,” she continued, her words growing sharper.

Twilight buried her head into her forehooves, as her chest groaned against the pressure within her. She couldn’t stop a flow of tears from leaking out.

“I’m sorry, just…I don’t.”

Her breathing grew heavy. She focused on not crying. Her chest grew hotter, and her muscles tensed as she thought about how stupid she was for becoming this upset. She banged her head against the floor.

“Twi, we don’t hate you for being any amount of stallion,” Applejack said.

The heated furry that was growing within Twilight suddenly redirected itself.

“I’m not a fucking stallion!”

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed.

“You watch your tone, missy!” Applejack’s words pierced Twilight.

Twilight’s face only buried further into her hooves. Her body writhed uncomfortably against her pillow. Her throat choked up, as she didn’t dare say another word to make things even worse.

I fucked it up, I fucked it all up.

Where she covered the floor, the place her body shadowed, was a pit and she felt herself falling into that pit, endlessly falling. There was supposed to be a spark within her, a light in this void, she frantically scanned up and down and found nothing. She thought again and again of memories of her friends, and they each and every one felt tainted, seen through a fogged glass. She’d lost them, she knew it, and so there was nothing, just the darkness, so she laid there.

Pinkie stared at Twilight. The growing voices of her friends around her echoed until they were indistinguishable. Her heartbeat was set to some indeterminable pace, not in the same timescale as everything around her. The taste of the pillow stain returned, it was only a memory, a visage of past sensations doubling over into the present, like an old friend returning from a long journey. Her fur stood on end as that past and this present came to the same place in Pinkie. There was a grand debate, the joining of the All Pinkies Congress on Twilight. Everypony filed in, their stances, their loves, their hates, all correlated into yellow stained folders of documents and written addresses and photographs they carried. A Pinkie took the stage and addressed the crowd, nopony remembers what was said, but a yell came out from the audience trying to raise a counterpoint, the assembly immediately fell into chaos. The floor was filled with clambering Pinkies, each heatedly raising her own voice, trying to argue over the growing din.

A Remembrance of a Longing Long Past came to the podium and spoke. She spoke of a feeling long ago lost which bore striking resemblance to the problems of today. The congress grew quiet at the remembrance of it. She spoke of honeyed words whispered quietly to herself alone in bed, words of hope and fear for somepony and herself. She spoke of the touch of a hoof. The specific pony these feelings were for didn’t matter anymore, she was a foal then, it was a foalish thing that had led to a foalish end. Yet she wasn’t a foal anymore, and yet these feelings returned for somepony new. The mistake of the past was to let go, never again, we will hold on to this pony! The room erupted in applause and cheer, and Pinkie was filled with a growing fire from her call to action.

Pinkie rose from her seat, and quickly took a position to shield Twilight from the others. Pinkie’s muzzle bore a smile no more as she glared at Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity.

“Hey! If she says she’s a mare then she’s a mare! Why shouldn’t we believe that?”

“Pinkie, I’m not saying she’s not a mare now,” Applejack said, her voice lowering amidst the wall Pinkie put up.

“Then stop it. Stop hurting your friend,” Pinkie pleaded.

Twilight dragged her head out of the pit she’d pulled it down to. Everything in that room seemed a different color than she remembered it being, like it was both drained and over filled with new coats of paint. She saw Pinkie towering over her, her haunch just to her front right. Twilight’s eyes scanned over Pinkie’s familiar cutie mark. Happiness was what Pinkie had come to be a representative of. Twilight realized how long the room had been silent.

“I know you didn’t mean it to be mean, but it hurt Twilight’s feelings,” Pinkie spoke with insurmountable authority.

“And that sounds pretty mean to me.”

Twilight looked up to Pinkie as she’d turned her head to look down at her. There were no words spoken, no internal dialogue, not a coherent thought, yet so much was communicated. Pinkie and Twilight shared their thoughts in that moment. Twilight was filled with buckets of relief, a wellspring of water in the desert. Pinkie knew she’d done right, and that this time she would keep this friend. Pinkie turned back to her friends, each of them bore distinctly their shame, a resolution was in order.

“This party is to welcome Twilight with fun and games, to let her know that she can be happy and not have to worry so much.”

A small smile returned to Pinkie’s muzzle as she spoke.

“We don’t have to learn everything about Twilight right away, we can do that later. Today, let’s just have fun.”

Pinkie’s gaze returned to Twilight, her head tilting to the side.

“Does that sound okay, Twilight?” Pinkie asked in a hushed tone.

Twilight felt like a new mare. Her worries were gone, like they were never there to begin with, and she had Pinkie to thank for it. Looking up at her friend filled her with a determination previously unknown. She nodded to Pinkie.

“Yes, I like that idea a lot,” She said with a smile.

“Something with strategy and of middling complexity?” Pinkie asked.

Her words were a precise copy of what Twilight had originally asked for. The unexpected exacting memory of Pinkie’s struck a chord in Twilight and she couldn’t help but laugh, her smile growing more passionate.

“Yes, that’d be fun.”