One-Horse Town: A My Little Pony Story

by AndYouLoveTheGame

Rating: everyone
Tags: Thriller, Drama, Original Character, Rarity, Adventure, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 15545

Ponyville is under a secret siege. Can three seemingly unimportant ponies stop it?

Ponyville is under a secret siege. Ponyville residents Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush each notice some strange things occurring around town. Brought together by their common concerns, they stumble upon a situation that might be out of their depth. It's up to them to stop the threats facing Ponyville before it's too late.

Published 2024-09-20 17:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-09-20 17:20:00 UTC

Prologue

Pinkie Pie opened the door to her house with a happy smile on her face. A pony in a black hooded cloak was waiting outside.

“Hi, stranger!” she greeted the strange pony on her doorstep.

“Hi, Pinkie Pie,” the strange pony lifted a letter in his hoof. “I have a letter here for you from a…” he squinted at the name written on the front of the letter. “Chorus.”

Pinkie jumped with excitement. “Chorus! I always love to hear from a good friend. You know, there’s nothing better than a good friend. I’ve had many good friends throughout my-”

“Can you just take the letter, Pinkie,” the strange pony insisted.

Pinkie smiled and grabbed the letter. She opened it and began to recite it aloud.

“Hi, Pinkie! I’m just writing to see how-” Pinkie paused. “Wait, have we met before? How did you know my name? You’re not the usual mailpony. And what’s with the spooky dark cloa-”

Pinkie was interrupted by a cloud of sparkling dust that erupted from the horn of the pony on her doorstep. Her eyes fluttered shut as her legs gave way, and she tumbled to the ground. The strange pony picked up Chorus’s letter between his teeth and set it on a table inside before dragging Pinkie Pie’s limp body away with him.

Chapter 7: Wake-Up Call

“I saw the smoke coming from this way,” an unknown voice floated through the trees.

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush wearily opened their tired eyes to the sound of the mysterious voice.

“Did you guys hear that too?” Chorus whispered to the group.

A loud rustling and clamoring sounded out concerningly close to their clearing. The three ponies all shared a worried look as they quietly stood up from their sleeping positions.

“What do you think ponies are doing out this deep in the Everfree forest?” the voice asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s probably Twilight’s spies. They’re hiding from me,” a second voice responded.

The second voice was unfortunately quite familiar to the ponies. It was the Dollkeeper.

“Should we run?” Chorus mouthed to Ginger and Prose.

Prose raised a hoof, indicating that they should wait. She wanted to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. The sound of leaves crackling and twigs snapping continued to grow louder and louder. The ponies stayed statue-still, careful not to make a sound. Suddenly, a voice spoke out from behind them, clear as day.

“You thought you could hide from me in my own territory? Tsk tsk,” the Dollkeeper taunted. “I thought Twilight’s spies would be smarter than that. Well, this makes my job easier.”

The ponies whipped around to face the Dollkeeper (and one of his trusty clones) as a cloud of glittering red dust erupted from his horn.

“RUN!” Chorus shouted.

Chorus Prose and Ginger Blush all began to sprint away from the red cloud. The Dollkeeper pushed his magic further, expanding the cloud to extreme proportions. The ponies weaved and maneuvered through the thick trees, eventually getting separated by the winding paths and spooky forestry. Chorus turned around after a few long minutes of running to discover that he had lost the red cloud and the Dollkeeper. Unfortunately, he had also lost his friends in the process.

“Prose!” he called out. “Ginger Blush!”

Chorus wandered around the woods, hopelessly lost. That was when he caught a glimpse of some bright sunlight and some bright green grass. It looked like he was near the edge of the Everfree forest. He bolted towards the light, and burst out into the meadow outside of the forest. He could see Ponyville in the distance.

A faint rustling sound caught Chorus’s attention. He turned around to find Prose stumbling out of the woods a short distance away.

“Prose! Over here!” Chorus called.

Prose turned her head into Chorus’s direction. She immediately recognized her friend and trotted over to meet him.

“You made it out okay! That was a close one,” Prose celebrated.

There was a pause. Something – somepony – was missing.

“Where’s Ginger Blush?” Chorus and Prose spoke in unison.

Chapter 1: Chorus

Chorus awoke to the sound of music emitting from his own horn. The pleasant jingly melody indicated to him that the alarm spell that he cast the night before had indeed worked. Chorus climbed out of bed and stepped towards his mirror. He grabbed his brush and began to groom his pink mane until it was perfectly coiffed. He shook off whatever remaining sleepiness he had, and gave himself a big smile.

“Good morning, me!” Chorus said to himself.

Chorus trotted over to his window and gazed outside. The sky was clear, and the sun shone brightly. The pegasi must’ve cleared the skies early that morning. It was sure to be another lovely day in Ponyville. The warm sun on Chorus’s spotty pink fur made him feel rejuvenated and ready to start the day. He stepped down the stairs of his humble house and breezed out of the door, eager to spread his music with the ponies of his town, as he did every day.

He searched for a perfect spot to play his music, and he settled on a grassy meadow on the outskirts of town. He concentrated on the new song he was preparing, and let the arrangement sound out of his horn, covering the surrounding vicinity with a calming melody. He let the music play for a couple measures longer before beginning the lyrics:

The sun shines so bright today
The grass sways in the breeze
I look outside my window
And there’s nothing more I need

I see so many smiling faces
And that’s why I sing this song
I love it here in Ponyville
Where everypony belongs

Several passing ponies stopped to clap their hooves as Chorus finished his song. Some tossed coins in his direction.

“Thank you, everypony!” Chorus bowed for them.

He sang and played his music in the meadow all day, occasionally taking breaks to rest and eat. He loved to play music for other ponies. His cutie mark was a music note, after all. He didn’t have many friends, but his music kept him good enough company. The cheers and admiration from the ponies in town also helped. When he was done serenading the town, he bowed for the final time and maneuvered through the streets of Ponyville to get back to his house.

When he arrived back at his place, there was a letter waiting for him in front of his door. It was from Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie was one of Chorus’s childhood friends. They hadn’t spoken in a while, since Pinkie had become kind of a major presence in Ponyville. Nevertheless, Chorus sent her a letter to check up on her, because he did miss her. He figured this letter must be her response. He brought the letter inside.

He sat down at the pink table in his bedroom and opened the letter.

Hi, Chorus! I’m doing well, thank you for asking.

Love, Pinkie

Chorus squinted in confusion at the letter. He flipped it over to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. He searched every corner of the letter, and there was nothing. That was really all she wrote. Chorus didn’t know Pinkie was even capable of saying that little. This was too strange to ignore. Chorus set the letter down and left his house once more.

Chorus quickly arrived at Pinkie’s house as the sun was setting in the sky. He knocked on the door and waited for Pinkie to open it. He heard Pinkie’s hooves clomp toward the door.

“Who is it?” Pinkie asked from behind the door.

“Um, it’s Chorus,” Chorus replied.

“Oh,” Pinkie opened the door to face Chorus. “Hi, Chorus. Did you get my letter?”

“Yes. That’s actually why I’m here. Are you sure everything’s going well? I don’t know, it just felt like that letter wasn’t really… you.”

Pinkie blankly stared at Chorus. She had the slightest hint of nervousness behind her blue eyes.

“Oh, I guess I’ll be sure to make my next letter more me! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some baking to do. It was good to see you, Coral!” Pinkie laughed. Pinkie waved goodbye and closed the door in Chorus’s face.

Coral? Did Pinkie forget his name? They hadn’t seen each other in a while, but how could she forget his name? A memory suddenly resurfaced in Chorus’s mind. The last time Pinkie acted this strange was when Ponyville was overrun with Pinkie clones after an unfortunate duplication experiment that Pinkie had conducted. Chorus had been personally visited by one of the Pinkie clones, and it was a strange experience. The clone was more fidgety than usual, she kept misremembering some pretty basic things, and something about her seemed off. It felt similar to the interaction that just took place at Pinkie’s house. Was it possible Pinkie had duplicated herself again?

Chorus tried to remember how exactly Pinkie created all those clones of herself. Deep in thought, another memory resurfaced of a childhood playdate at Nana Pinkie’s house where Nana Pinkie told Chorus and Pinkie Pie “The Legend of the Mirror Pool”. The legend tells of a way for one pony to become two. Chorus remembered the whole situation. What was confusing, though, was that Chorus remembered hearing that Twilight Sparkle had sealed the entrance to the Mirror Pool. Was the entrance open again? Chorus needed to figure this all out.

He stepped away from Pinkie’s house and set out for the Everfree Forest just as the sun had set in the sky.

The darkness of the night made the Everfree Forest seem even scarier than it already was. Chorus swallowed his fear and charged into the trees. He recited the directions to the Mirror Pool as he searched for it.

“Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find, a pond beyond the most twisted of vines,” As soon as Chorus finished repeating the directions, he stumbled upon a mess of brambles and vines forming a wall in front of him. This seemed like the right spot. Chorus pushed through the greenery in an attempt to reach the other side. The plants pushed and pulled at him, making it difficult to traverse through them, but eventually Chorus popped out on the other side. He stumbled around, disoriented from the vines, and fell to the ground. His head landed inches away from a deep hole in the ground. A hole that was, contrary to popular belief, completely open. What was even stranger, though, was that Chorus was not alone.

Chorus looked up from the ground to see two ponies on the other side of the hole. What could other ponies possibly be doing at the entrance to the Mirror Pool?

Chapter 2: Prose

Prose awoke to the sunlight pouring through her window, illuminating her entire room. She climbed out of bed and walked up to one of her bookshelves to pick a book to read for the day. She scanned every shelf lining her wall, but no book particularly piqued her interest. This meant she would have to venture out into town in order to find a book for the day. She couldn’t just skip reading. Her cutie mark was a book, after all. She prepared to go out into town. She stood in front of her mirror and attempted to brush her poofy coral mane, but it remained in the exact same state as it was. She shrugged, put on her saddle bag, and headed for the door.

She decided to visit Twilight Sparkle’s castle in search of a book. If anyone had an interesting book to read, it was Twilight Sparkle. Prose didn’t know her all that well, but their shared interest in reading had caused them to cross paths from time to time. She knew Twilight would be open to sharing her collection with a fellow bookworm. Prose hoped one day to become friends with her, but she figured that her princess status might make her too busy to spend time together. She didn’t need many friends anyway, her books kept her company.

Prose trotted through Ponyville, admiring the beautiful weather. The sun warmed her dark purple fur. She heard somepony singing a song, but she couldn’t see who. The sky and the ambience combined made this environment perfect for lying under a tree to read. She smiled at that thought as she arrived at Twilight’s abode. She knocked on the door and awaited Twilight’s arrival.

“Coming!” Twilight called from inside.

Twilight swung open the door.

“Prose! What brings you here?” Twilight inquired.

“Hi, Twilight. Could I possibly borrow one of your books to read?” Prose asked.

“Of course! I would never deny anypony the gift of knowledge. Feel free to browse my collection.”

Twilight stepped aside, allowing Prose to enter her home. Prose stepped into the doorway and began to browse Twilight’s vast stock of books. She searched for a couple of minutes before she landed on Transmutation and Disguise for Beginners, which sounded like an interesting read.

“Transmutation and Disguise for Beginners! An interesting read,” Twilight commented. “It’s also one of only two copies in existence! There are a lot of rare books in my library if you ever need to come back for more.”

“That’s so nice of you Twilight, thank you. I’ll be sure to take you up on that offer,” Prose thanked. She tossed the book into her saddle bag and turned to leave, but something strange caught her eye. On a different shelf, there was an empty space. Every other shelf was perfectly organized and properly filled. An empty space looked wrong.

“Hey, why is there an empty space on that shelf over there?” Prose pointed a hoof towards the shelf.

Twilight looked at the empty space. “Oh, that book went missing a couple weeks ago. I don’t know where it went. If you find it, though, I would appreciate it if it was returned.”

“What book was it?” Prose asked.

“The Legend of the Mirror Pool. It came in handy that one time Pinkie Pie made all those clones of herself, but I don’t think it should be in the hooves of just anypony,” Twilight explained.

“Hm. Well, I’ll let you know if I see it anywhere,” Prose said. “Thank you again for the book!”

Prose turned towards the door to leave.

“No problem! Enjoy your reading!” Twilight bid farewell to Prose.

Prose walked out of the door and searched Ponyville for a perfect tree to read under. She picked a nice and shady one, and sat down underneath it. She read for hours, learning about magic she could never cast herself. It wasn’t necessarily about practical application for her. She just loved to learn. Whether it would be useful or not in the future, she prided herself on her pursuit of knowledge.

The sun began to set, which was dimming her crucial reading light. She decided to take that as a sign to pack it up for the day. She tucked the book into her saddle bag, thankful for Twilight’s generosity. She felt a little bit guilty for not offering Twilight anything in return, but what could she possibly offer Princess Twilight Sparkle? There was one thing she knew she could do for her. She was going to find her missing book.

Why would somepony steal a book about the Mirror Pool? Didn’t Twilight close the entrance to that after the whole Pinkie Pie incident? Well, one thing’s for sure. Nopony is stealing a book about the Mirror Pool without intent to use that knowledge in some way. So, maybe she would find some sort of evidence at the cursed pond.

She charted her course to the home of all things cursed: the Everfree Forest. She didn’t know the exact location of the pond, but she was determined to find it. The sun had set, so navigation was already difficult in the forest. It didn’t help that there were so many natural obstacles in her way.

She wandered around, searching behind every rock and tree, completely unsuccessful in her search. As she was searching, she felt something wrap around her hoof. A stray vine had caught her in its trap. She tugged and pulled at it, but she was stuck. As she struggled, she found herself tangled more and more in the vines. She became trapped amidst a mess of brambles and vines. She fought back against the vines to no avail, until suddenly she popped out on the other side of them.

She struggled to find her footing, but when she gained stability, she was able to see the deep hole in front of her. This had to be the entrance to the Mirror Pool. But, it wasn’t covered like it used to be. Not only that, but there was another pony standing a few feet away from it. She turned to speak to her.

“Who-” Prose was interrupted by the sound of another pony crashing through the vines.

A pink pony fell out of the vines and stumbled to the ground. Prose looked back and forth between the two ponies. What could other ponies possibly be doing at the entrance to the Mirror Pool?

Chapter 3: Ginger Blush

Ginger Blush awoke to the anxious thought about being late for work. She sat up in bed and headed towards her mirror to prepare for the day. She grabbed her brush and brushed her ginger mane until it perfectly fell into place. She opened her makeup box and pampered her face to perfection. She smiled at her hard work in the mirror. She loved doing her makeup every morning; it was an art to her. Makeup was her cutie mark after all. She packed up her makeup and brushes and headed for her door.

She was about to open the door to leave, but a small cat walked in front of her, seeking attention. She reached down to pet him. Maple was her best friend and, well, her only friend. She didn’t need many friends. Her salon job kept her busy, and Maple kept her company.

“I’ll be home right after work, Maple. Don’t worry,” Ginger assured her pet.

She ushered Maple out of her way, and stepped out into the warm sun. The weather was beautiful. Ginger Blush enjoyed the subtle breeze as she trotted to the salon. As she approached her place of work, she could hear somepony singing a lovely song, but she couldn’t pinpoint where. Everything seemed to be lining up for a pleasant day in Ponyville. She opened up the glass salon door and stepped inside. The welcome bell jingled behind her as she stepped up to her station and set up her supplies. Once she had everything ready, she sat to wait for her first client. After a couple of minutes, a familiar face appeared at the door. It wasn’t somepony Ginger was expecting to see.

“Hi, Rarity!” Ginger Blush quietly called out. “What brings you here?”

Rarity looked slightly puzzled at the question. “I just need you to touch up my mane. Can you do that?”

Ginger Blush knew Rarity from brief interactions within the beauty world, but she’d never come into the salon before.

“Don’t you usually do your own mane?” Ginger asked.

Rarity paused. “Well… yes, but today it’s putting up a particularly difficult fight.”

Rarity walked up to Ginger’s station and sat herself down. Ginger ran her brush through Rarity’s mane, which was indeed rather tangled and messy. She brushed and styled the mane until it was almost back to its original silky, shiny state. She grabbed a pair of scissors and lightly trimmed off some mane that looked out of place. After that, Rarity’s mane was restored.

“Do you like it?” Ginger Blush asked, waiting for approval.

“Oh, yes, dear. It’s simply marvelous. Now, if you’ll excuse me I must be on my way,” Rarity left a couple of coins at Ginger’s station and briskly walked out of the salon.

The interaction was strange enough for Ginger to be suspicious of something, but when she went to clean up the mess she made, she knew for sure that something was wrong. The clips of mane that she had cut off of Rarity laid strewn across the floor. But they weren’t her classic purple color, they were a deep, dark red. Ginger had never seen mane just change color like that before. She grabbed a few clumps of the mane and headed to the back of the salon. While she analyzed the red locks in her hooves, she could overhear a hushed conversation between her coworker, Lucky Lashes, and a client.

“The Dollkeeper wants us all back at the Mirror Pool tonight. He says we need to go over our roles again,” Lucky started.

“Again?” the client complained. “I feel like we’ve gone over our roles a million times.”

“I know, I know. He just wants everything to happen perfectly. We all do,” Lucky clarified.

Dollkeeper? Mirror Pool? Ginger had heard plenty of strange salon conversations throughout her beautician years, but this one sounded more mysterious and sinister than any she’d ever heard. She recalled the last time she’d heard about the Mirror Pool. It was that one time a horde of Pinkie Pies terrorized the town. What else could anypony be doing with it now? And the last she’d heard, the Mirror Pool had been closed off by Twilight Sparkle. All of this was too confusing and troubling for Ginger to ignore.

As soon as she finished the makeup on her last client of the day, Ginger Blush quickly packed up her supplies and set a course for the Everfree Forest. The setting sun fell beyond the horizon as she reached the edge of the trees. The dark forest loomed over her menacingly. She felt almost too scared to go in. But, if she wasn’t the one to uncover this mystery, she didn’t know who else would. She pushed past her fears and carefully tiptoed into the spooky woods.

The branches of the gangly trees reached out above her like arms trying to snatch her up. With each turn she took, the scarier her environment became. All kinds of dangers lurked in the Everfree Forest, but she knew the Mirror Pool was in there somewhere, so she trudged ahead. After about half an hour of searching, she stumbled upon the stump of a dark, thick tree. Her gaze traveled from the base of the tree to what looked like a giant evil face embedded within the bark.

“AAAHHH!” Ginger screamed.

In her fright, she stumbled backwards, ensnaring herself in a tangle of vines and brambles. She tripped and toppled and tumbled through the foliage until she slipped out onto the other side of it. She glanced around at her surroundings and immediately noticed the sizable hole in the ground. She had heard that the Mirror Pool was underground, but she had also heard the entrance was closed off. So, the only way to know if the hole led to the pond was to go in and find out.

Before she could set hoof in the hole, she heard a rustling coming from the vines and brambles. She watched as a dark indigo pony stumbled out, brambles still caught in her coral mane. The pony turned to her and opened her mouth to say something.

“Who-” she never finished her question, because suddenly there was another rustling within the vines. Ginger watched as another pony popped out, but this one was monochromatically pink. The pink pony fell to the ground and looked up at Ginger and the other pony. Ginger almost asked herself: What could other ponies possibly be doing at the entrance to the Mirror Pool?, but she remembered there was apparently supposed to be a meeting there that very night.

Chapter 4: Master Plan

Chorus steadily picked himself up from the ground and looked back and forth between the two other ponies.

“What are you two doing here?”

Prose looked at Ginger Blush and Chorus, and Ginger Blush looked at Prose and Chorus.

“Well, I’m trying to find something for my friend Twilight,” Prose explained.

“Twilight? Like, Princess Twilight Sparkle?” Chorus asked.

“Yes, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Prose elaborated.

Ginger Blush chimed in. “So, you guys aren’t here for whatever suspicious meeting is supposed to be happening at the Mirror Pool tonight?”

Chorus and Prose both looked at her with puzzled expressions.

“There’s supposed to be a meeting here tonight?” Prose questioned.

“Well, yes. That’s why I’m here actually,” Ginger spoke. “Not to attend the meeting, I mean. I actually don’t even know what the meeting is for. This is the Mirror Pool, right?”

“This is definitely the Mirror Pool. The rhymes never lie,” Chorus clarified.

Ginger Blush and Prose stared at Chorus, wondering if what he just said was supposed to make sense.

“Just trust me, this is the right place,” Chorus clarified again.

“So… are we just supposed to jump in this ominous dark hole?” Prose prodded the edge of the hole with her hoof.

Chorus gazed down the hole, unable to see the bottom of it. “I’m sure it’s perfectly safe. My friend Pinkie did it once and she’s totally fine!”

All three of them shared a moment of remembering the Pinkie Pie clone incident.

“She was mostly fine!” Chorus corrected.

The three of them gazed down into the deep dark hole.

“You know, I might just sit this one ou-” Ginger Blush was interrupted by the sound of rustling vines and ponies conversing.

“I wish we didn’t have to go through all of these vines every time we came here,” an unknown voice complained.

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush all exchanged frightened looks. Chorus closed his eyes and took a leap of faith into the sinister hole, hoping to avoid meeting any more ponies that night. Prose watched as Chorus disappeared into the darkness and hesitantly jumped in after him. Ginger Blush weighed her options, anxiously pacing around the edges of the hole. As the voices neared, she backed away from the sound. She took one step too far back, slipped, and fell backwards into the entrance to the Mirror Pool.

The ponies tumbled and twisted through the dark underground tunnel. Chorus was the first to come out of the other side. Prose followed soon after, crashing into Chorus and knocking them both over. Ginger rolled out of the tunnel a short moment after that, and landed right next to Chorus and Prose. All three of them stood up to face the Mirror Pool. They didn’t know what they expected the Mirror Pool to look like, but it wasn’t this.

The magic pond was there, of course, in all of its watery glory. It was what was surrounding it that was surprising. Firstly, it seemed like half of the ponies in Ponyville were there. The ambient bioluminescence revealed so many familiar faces among the numerous ponies gathered in the echoing cave. Chorus gasped at the sight of Pinkie Pie amidst the crowd. Ginger Blush shuddered after catching a glimpse of Rarity's freshly done mane somewhere in the mess of ponies. Prose sighed in relief that Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be seen.

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush had never been to the Mirror Pool, but none of them had imagined it would look this… busy. There were tents set up all around, tables strewn about, and it looked like some sort of amateur construction crew had come through and renovated the place. There was a stone stage area carved out of one of the cave walls. There were entrances to several crude tunnels in several different places around the cave. It was plainly evident that some covert operation was happening down there.

The sound of more ponies crashing down the entrance tunnel suddenly became audible to Prose, Chorus, and Ginger.

“What do we do?” Prose panicked.

Prose scanned the environment of the cavern. She spotted an area crowded with stalagmites, devoid of any bioluminescent plants. It was dark and obscure. It was a perfect place to hide. Prose turned to her new accomplices.

“Follow me,” she advised.

Chorus and Ginger did indeed follow her. The three ponies tiptoed stealthily through the dark. Prose guided them to their hiding spot, and each pony picked a rock to hide behind. Their new secret vantage point allowed for further investigation of their surroundings. Ginger Blush noticed something strange about all of the tools and appliances she noticed on the tables and in the tents around the cave. She turned to whisper her findings to Chorus and Prose.

“Hey guys,” she called. “I’m noticing that all these tools that these ponies are using are cosmetic.”

“What do you mean?” Chorus whispered.

“I mean, I could probably find everything they’re using back in my salon. It’s like they’re doing makeovers or something down here.”

Prose thought about what Ginger said before something very specific caught her eye. She spied a very special book on the table closest to their hiding spot.

“I think they might be doing a little more than makeovers down here…” Prose ominously proposed.

She reached into her saddle bag and pulled out the book she had taken from Twilight’s castle earlier. She raised it up to her line of sight, comparing it to the book on the table. It was unmistakably the same book. Prose recalled something Twilight told her earlier that day: ‘Transmutation and Disguise for Beginners! An interesting read. It’s also one of only two copies in existence!’ It seemed like Prose had just found the second copy. It was stacked on top of one other book. The Legend of the Mirror Pool, Prose presumed.

“Guys, I think something really shady is happening. I think we should get out of here. Like now,” Prose warned.

“What? What’s happening?” Chorus fearfully asked. “Guys, what is going on?”

Suddenly, the entire cave fell nearly silent. The conversations between ponies had stopped, and everypony had gathered around the stone stage. A unicorn with deep maroon fur stood alone in front of the crowd.

“Hello, everypony,” his voice boomed and echoed across the cavern.

“Hello, Dollkeeper,” the crowd responded in eerie unison.

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush watched from their hiding spots, deeply concerned by the events that were currently unfolding.

“I know we’re all probably tired of reviewing all of this, but these steps are necessary for the smoothest transition possible. We can’t risk anypony becoming suspicious before the plan is complete. I’m sure we all understand that.”

Everypony murmured in calm agreement.

“Now, as long as we’re all on the same page about that, I thought I would create a few more Dolls tonight, to be introduced into town tomorrow.”

The dark crimson pony stepped down from the stage, parting the crowd with ease. He crossed the cavern to its center, where the Mirror Pool patiently waited. The Dollkeeper set hoof into the pool, submerging himself beneath the surface. As he remerged, two Dollkeepers stood side by side. He had cloned himself.

The three hiding ponies shared a terrified look. They watched as the Dollkeeper’s horn began to glow with a red aura of magic. A string of red light streamed out of his horn and wrapped around his clone’s body. The light swirled and glowed as it cloaked the pony. As the magic dissipated, it was clear what the book on the table was for. The pony emerging out of the magic was no longer a clone of the Dollkeeper. He had transformed into a completely different pony. One that looked vaguely familiar to Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush. It was an innocent Ponyville civilian. Just another one of their neighbors, perfectly replicated in seconds. The Dollkeeper turned to address the group once more.

“I’ll head into town early tomorrow and obtain the Originals as quickly as possible. I want these Dolls out there by tomorrow evening. I expect you all to brief and prep them by then. Am I understood?”

Everypony obediently nodded in agreement.

“Great. A perfect Ponyville is just a few Dolls away. A perfect Equestria is within our reach,” the Dollkeeper propagandized.

The Dollkeeper stepped towards the pond again, presumably to make more clones of himself. Chorus backed away from his rock.

“You’re right, we should get out of here,” he spoke to Prose. “Something really weird is happening here. We need to get help.”

Prose’s eyes darted around the cavern, searching for an exit. Her gaze landed on one of the crude tunnels that was closest to them.

“There,” she pointed. “That has to lead somewhere.”

She carefully, quietly moved towards the tunnel entrance with Prose and Ginger in tow. They sneaked in the dark and slipped into the tunnel completely unseen. They immediately wished they hadn’t. The bioluminescent plants illuminated a spacious tunnel, stretching out into an unknown darkness. Lined all along the walls of the tunnel were unconscious, sleeping, unmoving ponies. Chorus immediately noticed a dormant Pinkie Pie lying near the entrance. He kneeled by her side and shook her motionless body.

“Pinkie, wake up! I can get you out of here. It’s me! It’s Chorus! Pinkie!” It was no use. She was out cold.

Ginger Blush gazed down the tunnel at the infinite darkness that laid beyond.

“I don’t think this is an exit,” she guessed.

Prose tried quickly to think of a plan.

“You’re a unicorn, right?” she spoke to Chorus. “Can you teleport us out of here?”

“Well, teleportation magic is really complex, and my speciality is in music magic. So, the short answer is no; I definitely can’t do that,” Chorus responded.

“Magic is magic. I’ve read dozens of books on this stuff. There are shared properties across all magic. You figure out a way to teleport us out of here. I need to go grab something,” Prose darted out of the tunnel, back into the main chamber of the cave.

Ginger Blush and Chorus shared a lost glance at each other.

“What does she mean that all magic has shared properties? What, am I supposed to sing a song that magically teleports us out of here?” Chorus asked.

Ginger blinked in realization. “I think that’s exactly what you should do.”

“What?” Chorus looked confused.

“You could create a song that channels whatever magic you need to teleport us out of here! That makes sense, right?” Ginger explained.

“No, it doesn’t. I’ve never even tried that before,” Chorus refuted.

“Well, now is as good a time as ever to try,” Ginger encouraged.

Chorus scoffed at the idea. But, it seemed there was no other viable escape plan at the time.

“Fine, okay. But don’t judge of if the lyrics are bad. I’m being put on the spot here,” Chorus pleaded.

“This is a judgment-free zone, okay? Take your time.” Ginger took a seat, preparing for the performance.

Chorus focused on his music magic as his horn began to glow. A clunky melody streamed out of his horn as he thought of some lyrics that would somehow constitute a teleportation spell. He closed his eyes and began to sing:

I’m trapped in here, and I can’t leave
It’s scary here, and hard to breathe
I wish I were back above the ground
Where singing birds are the only sound

Chorus opened his eyes and watched his magic fizzle out. The spell did not work.

“It’s not working,” he whined.

“Try it again. You can do it,” Ginger assured him.

Chorus closed his eyes and initiated his music magic once again.

I’m in a place I don’t belong
And all I feel is fear
So I sing this magic song
To teleport us out of here
His magic fizzled out once again as he opened his eyes.

“This is hopeless. There has to be another exit,” Chorus conceded.

As he finished that sentence, Prose rushed back into the tunnel, tucking a book into her saddle bag.

“How’s the teleportation coming along?” Prose asked.

“It’s not,” Chorus replied.

“Hm. Okay, well no rush, but I think somepony out there saw me, and there’s a slight possibility they’re following me right now.”

Chorus and Ginger stared at Prose.

“We should probably start running,” she advised.

Suddenly, one of the ponies from the main chamber appeared at the entrance to the tunnel. He didn’t look happy. The three ponies took the hint, and began to run in the opposite direction.

“Now would be a really good time for a teleportation spell!” Prose shouted as they ran.

“I tried! I couldn’t do it!” Chorus confirmed.

Ginger turned to face Chorus as they ran.

“Try it one more time. We don’t really have many other options here,” she suggested.

Chorus sighed and concentrated on his music magic one final time. He closed his eyes and the magic sparked and shined from his horn. He focused all of his energy into his song. A bubbly, swirly melody erupted from his horn as he began to sing his lyrics.

Desperate times call for desperate measures
Now’s the time for something clever
As I run right into total darkness
This is my last ditch effort

I don’t know any fancy spells
So I’ll call upon this song
Save us from this prison cell
Take us back where we belong

A pink glow of magic burst out of Chorus’s horn and engulfed Prose, Ginger, and himself. The ponies disappeared from the tunnels of the Mirror Pool, and reappeared out onto the streets of Ponyville. The moon shone in the sky, illuminating the dark city. The ponies looked around, realizing the song spell had worked. They were back in Ponyville.

“I did it!” Chorus exclaimed.

Chapter 5: Help

The ponies stood dumbfounded in the middle of the street. They had actually successfully escaped.

“I knew you could do it,” Prose stated. “Now, we have to visit Twilight.”

“Like Princess Twi-” Chorus started.

“Yes, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Prose finished. “She was the one who solved the Mirror Pool debacle last time. Surely, she will know what to do. Also, I have something to return to her.”

Prose pulled The Legend of the Mirror Pool out of her saddle bag.

Prose led the group through the streets of Ponyville. The darkness of night made it slightly hard to navigate, but Twilight’s castle was rather hard to miss. Prose raised her hoof and firmly knocked on the door to the castle. It took a minute, but there was some audible rustling and hoofsteps coming from inside. A groggy Twilight opened the door to face the three ponies.

“Prose? What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night. And who are these ponies?” Twilight glanced at Ginger then at Chorus.

“Well,” Prose raised The Legend of the Mirror Pool into Twilight’s line of sight. “I found your book.”

Chorus made a subtle coughing sound, indicating he was ready to be introduced.

“Oh, right,” Prose gestured towards the ponies behind her. “This is…”

It had just occurred to her that they never introduced themselves.

“Chorus,” Chorus interjected.

“Ginger Blush,” Ginger followed.

“Why don’t you ponies come inside,” Twilight offered. “And you can tell me how you found my book.”

The ponies stepped through the door and into Twilight's castle. Twilight sat down at a table, and the other ponies took up the rest of the unoccupied seats.

“See, it’s a funny story actually,” Prose explained. “I don’t know if I can explain it concisely, but something super nefarious is going on. That’s why we came to you actually. We need your help.”

Twilight was struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Do you think I could help you in the morning? You all can sleep here and we’ll put an end to this ‘nefarious’ situation at the crack of dawn,” Twilight yawned.

“Well, I think it might actually be rather time sensitive-” Prose watched as Twilight almost completely dozed off. “Eh… sure, I guess we can tackle it in the morning.”

“Great! You all make yourselves at home, and I will see you three first thing in the morning.”

Twilight wandered back to her sleeping quarters.

“What if by morning is already too late?” Ginger Blush worried out loud.

“We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it,” Chorus assured her.

The ponies searched the castle for some empty beds, and swiftly dozed into a long-awaited rest.

“Good morning, everypony!” Twilight called to her house guests.

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush all opened their eyes to the sound of Twilight’s wake-up call. Twilight stood near their beds with the brightness in her eyes clearly replenished.

“I’m ready to hear about that nefarious plot you were going to tell me about last night,” Twilight announced.

The three waking ponies climbed out of bed and followed Twilight back to the table that they all sat at the night before.

Prose slid The Legend of the Mirror Pool across the table towards Twilight. “We found this at the Mirror Pool last night.”

“The Mirror Pool? Isn’t that closed off?” Twilight asked.

“That’s just the thing,” Chorus interrupted. “It’s completely open. And there’s a whole operation running down there! There’s tents and tables and tools and like half of the ponies of Ponyville down there and-”

“I think he’s plotting to take over Ponyville or something,” Ginger Blush added.

Twilight stared in shock at the three ponies.

“You mean somepony’s staging a coup?” Twilight asked.

“It seems more intricate than that. I think this might’ve been going on for a while. From what we saw last night…” Prose began. “It looks like this pony, the ‘Dollkeeper’, is replacing the ponies of Ponyville with his own clones.”

Twilight shuddered at the thought. “How could I not notice this? How many ponies out there are just this ‘Dollkeeper’ at this point?”

“Too many,” Chorus clarified.

“That’s why we came to you, though. You were the one who fixed the issue with the Mirror Pool the last time,” Prose stated. “Can you do it again?”

Twilight’s expression turned to one of uncertainty and doubt.

“Well, last time, I just had to figure out who the real Pinkie Pie was. This time, there’s no telling who’s real and who’s a duplicate. I can’t risk sending an innocent pony into the Mirror Pool.”

“There’s a comprehensive catalog of who’s been replaced, actually. All of the replaced ponies are being kept comatose in the Mirror Pool cavern,” Prose explained.

“Who’s to say nopony is going to try to stop us when we go to check?” Twilight asked.

“It looked like they all follow their original version as their leader. If we can somehow stop the leader, it would be easier for us to stop the rest of them, probably,” Ginger figured.

“Yes! And yesterday, the Dollkeeper said he would be out on the town this morning. So, we could do a stakeout at the Mirror Pool, and catch him when he comes back!” Chorus devised.

“Spike, can you clear my calendar for the rest of the day?” Twilight called out to Spike, who was probably somewhere else in the castle. “All right ponies, let’s stake out the Mirror Pool.”

It didn’t take long for the ponies to find the Mirror Pool again; they had all now been there once before. Twilight, Ginger, Chorus, and Prose all struggled and fought through its surrounding vines as they inched nearer to the entrance.

“We should seriously consider pruning these or something,” Chorus half-joked.

One by one they came out on the other side, met by the entrance to the pond.

“Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked the group.

All of them nodded their heads to Twilight.

“I’ll see you all down below,” Twilight said before she took a graceful leap down into the hole.

Chorus jumped in next, Prose following shortly after. Ginger paced the hole a couple times, trying to quickly move past her anxiety. Once again, she misstepped, slipped, and fell into the hole.

One by one, the ponies tumbled out of the entrance tunnel and into the dark cavern. Nopony else was there. It was a jarring sight to see the place so empty, even though nopony was technically supposed to be down there at all. Twilight held her hoof in front of her mouth, indicating that they should all still be quiet. She didn’t know who else might be lurking around here. She motioned for the ponies to follow her as she investigated the area. They walked around and got to see a closer look at all of the things that they’d only seen from a distance.

The tents and tables were lined and stocked to the brim with lists, blueprints, and plans. Every part of the Dollkeeper’s plan was laid out in excruciating detail. Ginger Blush took a close look at one of the blueprints. At the top of the paper, in bold letters, it read: Operation Dollhouse. She set down the blueprint and caught up with the rest of the group.

Twilight investigated the rest of the cave, peeking her head in and out of the tunnels on its outer walls. She peeked her head into one in particular and turned around with slightly widened eyes. She lifted her hoof, motioning for the other ponies to stay behind as she entered the tunnel. She disappeared into the entrance. Chorus, Ginger, and Prose each peeked their heads around the corner to watch Twilight work her magic. This tunnel seemed to be the base of operations, almost like the Dollkeeper’s office. The same blueprints and notes from outside lined the walls of this smaller chamber. A large stone desk lied in the middle of the room. A chair was placed at the desk, facing away from the entrance of the chamber. Sitting in the chair was a unicorn with an unmistakable maroon fur.

Twilight inched closer to the chair, careful to be as quiet as possible. As she neared the chair, she sparked some magic in her horn. The ponies outside watched as glowing pink magic shot out of her horn and flew towards the unicorn in the chair. The magic solidified into luminous pink chains and wrapped tightly around the surprised unicorn. Twilight used her magic to twist the chair around and see him face to face. The sitting unicorn’s mouth had twisted into a menacing, mischievous smile. Although the ponies outside couldn’t see Twilight’s face, they were sure they all shared the same confused expression.

“Why is he smiling? He’s been caught,” Prose questioned.

A faceless voice echoed through the small chamber. “A good leader always has a fall guy,” it remarked.

A cloud of sparkling red dust flooded the room. The ponies watched as their fearless leader, Princess Twilight Sparkle, toppled, unconscious, to the ground. As the mist cleared, the Dollkeeper appeared standing above the unconscious alicorn.

“Don’t think I didn’t know about those little spies you sent here yesterday. I’ll catch them eventually. But, I’d like to thank you for wandering so carelessly into my office. It’ll make my takeover so much easier,” The Dollkeeper laughed.

The ponies stepped away from the tunnel entrance. A horrified look was exchanged between them, which was immediately followed by an urgent run towards the entrance tunnel. The ponies scurried up the twisting tunnel, pushing and fighting the dirt walls, fighting to see the light of day. As soon as daylight was visible, the ponies clamored up the nearly vertical tunnel walls, bursting out at the top and onto damp forest ground.

As they caught their breaths, the realization set in that their best hope of saving Ponyville was now completely at the mercy of the Dollkeeper.

Chapter 6: What To Do

“Did we just lead Princess Twilight Sparkle straight to her demise?” Chorus asked the group.

Nopony wanted to answer that question.

“Where do we go now? What are we supposed to do?” Ginger wondered aloud.

“Well, we can’t go back to Ponyville. The Dollkeeper would surely find us there,” Prose warned.

“Are you suggesting we stay here?” Chorus asked.

Prose raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t actually, but that seems like our safest option. We’d have to stay far away from the Mirror Pool, but the forest is probably the safest place we could hide.”

A loud screeching noise from an unknown animal echoed throughout the forest.

“Safest from the Dollkeeper, that is.”

The ponies searched the Everfree forest for a safe clearing to rest, careful to avoid Poison Joke and Swamp Fever. Growling, screeching, and crackling haunted the ambience of the forest, striking fear into the hearts of Chorus, Ginger, and Prose. They trudged deep through the trees, until they came across a clearing that was just big enough to barely house the three of them.

“How long are we going to be staying here?” Ginger Blush questioned.

“Until we somehow come up with a way to save all of Ponyville, and possibly all of Equestria,” Prose stated.

“Well, it’s a good thing I know how to make a fire, then,” Chorus said as he began to collect leaves and twigs from the surrounding ground.

Ginger and Prose took a seat on the ground, awkwardly silent.

“So… what do you like to do?” Prose asked her.

“Oh,” Ginger looked down at her cutie mark. “I like makeup. Or, actually, I like beauty. I like the comfort there is in bringing out the beauty in somepony, or in myself.”

“That’s… really sweet actually,” Prose complimented.

Ginger smiled. “Thank you.” She looked down at Prose’s cutie mark. “Your cutie mark is a book. Do you like to read?”

“‘Like’ is an understatement,” Prose started. “I read every day. There’s so much to uncover about Equestria. So many stories, so much knowledge. I know I’ll never know everything, but it’s my goal to try.”

“That’s impressive,” Ginger complimented. “I like to read too, sometimes.”

Chorus set down all of his sticks and leaves into a pile in the middle of the clearing.

“Everypony stand back, I’m about to light this place up,” Chorus warned.

He picked up one of the sticks from the pile in between his hooves. He positioned it onto one of the thicker branches in the mix and began to twist it very quickly back and forth. After a minute or so, smoke began to rise from the sticks. A small flame ignited at the site of friction. Chorus grabbed some dry leaves and placed them over the flame, allowing them to catch fire. And just like that, the ponies had a campfire. Chorus sat down next to the fire, joining Prose and Ginger Blush.

“What were you ponies chatting about?” Chorus asked.

“We were just making small talk,” Prose explained. “Ginger likes makeup. Well, she likes beauty.”

“Prose likes to read. Like a lot,” Ginger added.

“What is your thing, Chorus?” Prose asked.

“Well, as you may know from my teleportation spell yesterday, my specialty is music. I’ve always loved music. It’s like the one thing that keeps me grounded. I actually sing in Ponyville a lot. I like to play my music out in the streets for all the ponies who like to hear it. I sang out there yesterday morning, actually,” Chorus explained.

A memory resurfaced in the minds of Prose and Ginger Blush.

“Hey, I think I heard you yesterday! I didn’t know that was you,” Prose shared.

“I heard it too! You sounded really good,” Ginger commended.

“Thank you guys! I try,” Chorus thanked. “I was just thinking, there are so many unique ponies in Ponyville. Everypony’s got their thing. There’s something different we all bring. If the Dollkeeper succeeds with his plan, everypony will be the exact same. Like, literally the same pony.”

Prose shuddered at the thought. “That’s why we have to stop him. We might be the only ponies in Ponyville who even know this is going on.”

That thought quickly killed the mood.

“Sorry to kill the mood,” Prose apologized. “I think I have some hay snacks in my saddle bag if anypony is hungry.”

Prose dug into her saddle bag and handed out some hay snacks to Chorus and Ginger Blush. They each began to munch on their snacks and eventually returned to their friendly small talk. They sat around the campfire, passing the time in each other’s company. It was a drastic, but welcome change from their usual days in solitary. None of them expected to find friendship under the circumstances of a total town invasion, but it was nice. The hours flew by as they discussed music, books, beauty, and anything else that came up. By the time the conversation was starting to somewhat die down, the sun had begun to set in the sky.

“Guys look, the sun is already setting,” Chorus pointed out.

“Time really flew by,” Ginger commented.

“Yea, it did.” Prose agreed. “You know, after all of this Operation Dollhouse stuff is figured out, we should,” she paused. “I don’t know… get together or something.”

“That sounds amazing!” Chorus cheered.

“I would definitely do that,” Ginger laughed.

The ponies all smiled at each other, grateful for each other’s company in this daunting situation.

“We should probably get some sleep,” Ginger said. “I’m up way past my bedtime.”

Chorus and Prose looked at her in confusion.

“The sun literally just set,” Chorus laughed.

Ginger looked slightly embarrassed. “Yea, I guess I just tired pretty quickly. Especially after a day like today.”

“All right, well you know what we have to do before sleeping,” Chorus started.

Prose and Ginger looked at him, unaware of what they had to do.

“We have to sing a campfire song! I mean, come on, it was pretty obvious.”

Prose and Ginger exchanged a glance at each other. It was not pretty obvious.

“Serenade us, Chorus,” Prose instructed.

The ponies got as comfortable as possible on the forest ground as Chorus began to sing an improvised campfire song:

Celestia’s sun sets
As Luna’s moon rises
This day has been filled with
All sorts of surprises

Here around the campfire
Making friends to keep

With this sweet melody
I send us off to sleep
Chorus ended the song with a long yawn. And with that, the ponies shut their eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 8: Hostile Takeover

Prose and Chorus waited outside of the forest for Ginger Blush to emerge.

“You don’t think…” Chorus started.

“No, I’m sure she just got turned around somewhere,” Prose assured.

They walked the outskirts of the forest, calling out for their missing friend. They felt like they’d circled the entire forest twice before it felt like Ginger might not be coming out of it.

“She’s probably just hiding. That’s it! She found somewhere else to hide, and that’s why she’s not coming out of the forest right now,” Chorus concluded.

“That’s… certainly a possibility,” Prose declared.

They stood in an uncertain silence for a moment.

“We definitely can’t go back into the forest. I’m surprised we survived as long as we did in there. It’s time to face the threat in Ponyville,” Prose devised.

Chorus grimaced. “I don’t think we’re the best ponies for that job, Prose.”

“We’re the only ponies for the job,” Prose stated.

A vision of Twilight Sparkle’s unconscious body flashed across Chorus’s mind.

“I guess that’s true,” Chorus admitted. “Ginger will surely catch up with us eventually.”

Prose’s eyebrows slanted with doubt.

“Surely, she will,” Chorus repeated.

Prose and Chorus followed the long path back to Ponyville, concocting a plan as they walked.

“The only viable way to reverse all of this magic is with a strong enough opposing magic,” Prose thought aloud.

Chorus sighed. “I told you, I do music magic. I can’t reverse everything the Dollkeeper has done. His magic is one of the strongest I’ve ever seen. I wonder what his specialty even is.”

“It didn’t seem like your music specialty was holding you back when you successfully teleported us out of the Mirror Pool,” Prose clarified.

“That was different! I was only focusing on one type of spell, and it had a clear outcome. In order to fix this mess, I’d have to somehow wake up everypony down in the Mirror Pool cave, erase every clone out of Ponyville, and somehow stop the Dollkeeper from just doing it all again. Also, the teleportation spell was done with high stakes and under high pressure!” Chorus explained.

“Is this situation not high stakes and high pressure?” Prose asked.

Chorus gave that some thought.

“I guess it might be,” Chorus conceded. “Still, I’m not Twilight Sparkle. I’ve never practiced magic that intense. The first time I’ve done anything remotely impressive was literally yesterday. To stop an evil mastermind the day after seems like a big leap.”

The ponies had reached Ponyville. Ponies still roamed the streets and went about business as usual. They were either clones blending in, or oblivious ponies, blissfully unaware of the danger they were facing.

“I think I know something that could help,” Prose vaguely suggested as she began to lead Chorus through the streets of Ponyville.

They arrived at the door to Twilight’s castle, and Prose knocked her hoof on the door. The door swung open, open and unlocked. Clearly, Twilight wasn’t home, but it was possible somepony else was. She would have to move quickly. Prose entered the castle, scanning her surroundings for unexpected visitors. Once she confirmed the coast was clear, she walked up to an oh-so-familiar table and grabbed The Legend of the Mirror Pool off of it, exactly where they had left it earlier. Prose silently slipped back out of the door, closing it behind her. She handed the book to Chorus.

“The spell to stop the clones is in this book. That should help, right?”

“Ideally, yea. But, once again, I do muuuuuuuusic magic!” Chorus insisted.

“I don’t want to have to go over this again, but I will. Magic is magic. I’ve seen you push the capabilities of what your magic can do. I know you are capable of more than you think you are. All you have to do is believe it too. And, no pressure, but the fate of Equestria kinda hangs in the balance,” Prose illustrated.

Chorus glanced down at the book in his hands. “I guess…” he started. “I guess I could give it a try.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Prose cheered. “Now, let’s find somewhere safe that we can-”

Prose was interrupted by a subtle, yet noticeable rumbling that was coming from the ground. After a few seconds, the rumbling had increased in volume, and small pebbles and dust began to vibrate and bounce off of the ground. It looked like all the clear warning signs of either an earthquake or a-

“STAMPEDE!” a Ponyville civilian shouted.

Chorus and Prose each walked to peer around opposite sides of Twilight’s castle. A horde of ponies was storming through the streets, frightening anypony who was simply minding their business.

“Should we run?” Chorus turned to Prose.

Prose turned to Chorus. “Yea.”

Chorus and Prose began to run from the horde, which was quickly gaining on them. Their hooves pounded the ground as they desperately tried to outrun the stampede. Chorus and Prose’s hectic past couple days had unfortunately hindered their running abilities, and the crowd eventually caught up with them. They were tossed and pushed through the running ponies, unable to find their footing.

Chorus was filtered through the ponies and thrown out of the side of the crowd, crashing onto the street. Prose was caught in between a tightly knit group of ponies, unable to free herself from her trap. The ponies dragged her along until they had crossed the boundaries of Ponyville, entering the clean grasslands outside of town. The town began to look so small as the stampeding ponies started to slow to a halt.

“This seems far enough…” “This should be good…” Prose heard murmurs throughout the crowd.

Far enough from what? she wondered.

Chorus picked himself up from the ground and dusted himself off. The remaining ponies in town looked just as confused as he was. Chorus looked around for something that could possibly warrant running from. In his search, his eyes landed on a figure standing on the balcony of Twilight’s castle. A glimpse of red fur caught his eye, and suddenly Chorus had an inkling of what was about to happen. He set his legs into hyperdrive as he darted towards his house.

As he crossed the town, he passed a plethora of concerned ponies, unaware of the danger they were in.

“Run!” he shouted as he passed.

Much to his dismay, his warnings only confused the ponies more. Chorus arrived at his house and threw himself through the doorway. He closed his door tightly behind him, and stationed himself at his window. He watched as a beam of red light shot towards the sky, birthing a colossal red cloud. The dusty mass grew and grew as it began to lower towards Ponyville. Chorus watched as the sparkling cloud descended into town, clouding the streets. The fog climbed up his window, blocking his view.

Prose watched from the fields beyond Ponyville as a blanket of red clouds coated the town. She stared in horror as the Dollkeeper literally painted the town red. She knew the ponies of Ponyville were probably collapsing in the streets, succumbing to their eternal sleeps. She fell to her knees, realizing Chorus was not dragged out of there with her.

Chorus slammed The Legend of the Mirror Pool down onto his pinkly-painted wooden table. He flipped through the pages until he landed on the reversal spell. This was Equestria’s last hope. He had never conducted a spell of this capacity, but he was surely going to try.

Chapter 9: A Normal Day in Ponyville

Ginger Blush awoke to the anxious thought about being late for work. She sat up in bed and headed towards her mirror to prepare for the day. She grabbed her brush and brushed her ginger mane until it perfectly fell into place. She opened her makeup box and pampered her face to perfection. She smiled at her hard work in the mirror. She loved doing her makeup every morning; it was an art to her. Makeup was her cutie mark after all. She packed up her makeup and brushes and headed for her door.

She paused at the door. Something should’ve been interrupting her, she felt.

She ignored the strange thought, and stepped out into the warm sun. The weather was beautiful. Ginger Blush enjoyed the subtle breeze as she trotted to the salon. Everything seemed to be lining up for a pleasant day in Ponyville. She opened up the glass salon door and stepped inside. The welcome bell jingled behind her as she stepped up to her station and set up her supplies. Once she had everything ready, she sat to wait for her first client. She waited for a long time.

She watched as the sun rose higher into the sky, indicating the passage of time. Ginger wondered why nopony was showing up. She had never had a salon day this slow. Wondering why nopony was showing up quickly turned into wondering why nopony was in the salon at all. None of her coworkers had shown up to the salon yet.

“Is anypony here?” Ginger Blush called out to the empty salon.

She stood up from her station and wandered around the salon. She checked every backroom and storage closet, but nopony was there. She abandoned her supplies and busted out of the salon door. Ponyville was cloaked in a chilling silence. The usually lively streets were completely barren, devoid of any sign of life.

“Hello? Is anypony there?” Ginger shouted into the empty town.

Maple, she thought. She bolted towards her house at full speed. When she arrived, she flung open the door and stepped inside.

“Maple! Maple, are you here? Please, please be here, Maple,” she panicked.

She came across Maple’s food and water bowls, both completely full and untouched. She fell to the floor and began to quietly weep into her hooves. Where did everypony go? Ginger lifted her hooves from her eyes as a fuzzy memory began to surface in her mind. She heard voices and saw blurry images.

“You thought you could hide from me in my own territory? Tsk tsk,” she heard.

“RUN!” immediately followed.

She saw flashes of familiar ponies, but she couldn’t quite make out who they were. She saw pink fur accompanied by a pink mane. She saw an indigo-furred pony with a crazy coral mane. She saw a burgundy colored unicorn and felt a shiver down her spine. Her thoughts began to become more clear. She remembered running, running away from something. She remembered a red fog clouding her senses. She remembered the red unicorn standing above her as she became very, very sleepy. The Dollkeeper.

Everything came flooding back to her. She was running away from the Dollkeeper with her friends. She’d been caught. Ginger Blush fell into a cold, cold sweat. If her friends were also caught, Equestria was doomed.

“Chorus and Prose, wherever you are, I hope you made it out,” she spoke to nopony.

There was a sudden movement outside of the window. Ginger caught a glimpse of dark maroon fur. She rushed to the window and gazed outside. A small unicorn, a foal, stood in the middle of the street. There was a lost look on his face. His eyes held a deep sadness.

Ginger slowly opened her door and walked outside to greet him.

“Hello!” she gently greeted. “Are you lost?”

The maroon unicorn began to tremble before Ginger. Tears began to form in his eyes as he turned away from her and ran away. Ginger quickly ran after him, but he was quite fast. The ponies twisted and turned through the streets of Ponyville before arriving at the steps of the Ponyville Town Hall. The unicorn rushed through the giant doors and they slammed behind him.

Ginger pounded on the doors, hoping to be let in. She turned around in defeat when the doors wouldn’t budge. As she began to walk away, she heard a faint creaking sound. She turned around to see the doors had opened wide. The town hall interior was completely dark except for a single spotlight illuminating the stage inside. Ginger walked into the dark building, warily scanning the place for any sight of the little unicorn.

“Hello? Are you in here little guy?” she called out.

Static sounded out of hidden speakers as if somepony had just turned them on.

“Please have a seat,” an adorable adolescent voice sounded through the speakers.

Ginger promptly followed directions and took a seat on the floor in front of the stage. A small stand was propped up on the stage. A sign reading ‘Puppet Show!’ adorned the top of the stand. Red velvet curtains hung from the sign, slowly being pulled back to reveal a handmade backdrop made to resemble Ponyville. Ginger anticipated the mysterious show with bated breath. A small puppet descended from the top of the set, uncannily representing the small maroon unicorn.

“Hello, everypony!” an unseen voice boomed.

Ginger looked all around her to confirm she was indeed the only pony there.

“Welcome to my very special, one-night-only, super spectacular show!” the voice introduced.

“But it’s daytime,” Ginger pointed out.

“Shhhhhh,” the voice shushed. “Now, let the story begin.”

Chapter 10: Star Power

Shining Star awoke one sunny morning to the sound of his mother waking him up for the day.

“Star, honey, it’s time to get ready for school,” she beckoned.

Star hopped out of his bed and stepped carefully around his room, careful to avoid the dolls, puppets, and various musical instruments strewn about. He positioned himself in front of his mirror and practiced smiling big and looking friendly and presentable. He grabbed a comb from a side table and pulled it through his dark red mane, combing it until it was performance ready. He was about to impress his classmates at the school that day by showing off his many talents. He would act, dance, and perform for them, and then finally they would all want to be his friends. He was sure he was a great performer, otherwise his cutie mark wouldn’t have been a bright, shining star.

He had tried to make friends at school before, but it had proven a more difficult task than he thought. All the other ponies had already formed solid friendships by the first day. Shining Star found that talking to other ponies was really hard. He tried to strike up a conversation with another red-furred pony one time, but it didn’t go well.

“Hi!” he greeted. “Uh… red fur, am I right? It’s like… so… red. And we both have it, haha. I’m Shining Star by the way.”

The other pony gave him a weird look. “Okay… Shining Star. Maybe I’ll see you at the Red Fur Convention one day,” he joked.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” Star laughed. “THAT’S A GOOD ONE!” Shining Star wanted to make sure the pony knew his joke was very funny to him.

The other pony’s eyes widened, a little frightened by Star’s manic laughter.

“Okay, then… I think I will just be…” his eyes scanned the school’s courtyard for an empty space. “Riiiight over there.” He gave Star a consoling smile and briskly walked away from him, leaving him alone once more.

“O-okay! I’ll be riiiight here!” he laughed. He felt a familiar pain in his chest. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to him. It seemed like every time he tried to make a friend, all he made was another pony that was freaked out by him. Today would be different, though. He had been preparing a number that was sure to wow all of the ponies at school. He would finally make some friends, or at least one friend, he was sure of it.

He packed up his puppets and a couple of instruments in a saddle bag and headed out of his room, where his mother was patiently waiting for him.

“Hi, mommy! I’m ready for school!” he shouted with a big smile.

“Okay, Star,” she saw the equipment peeking out of Star’s saddle bag. “Are you sure you want to bring all of that to school?”

“Yes mama, I’m going to make so many friends today! Just wait and see,” he remarked as he strutted out the door.

His mother accompanied him on the walk to school, affectionately watching the excitement in her child. She worried for him. She only ever wanted him to be himself, but she was scared of how the other ponies would react to his rather… zany personality. As they arrived at the school, she waved goodbye to her son, who excitedly waved goodbye back. She watched as he proudly stormed into the courtyard.

Shining Star set down his saddle bag into the grass and unpacked everything in front of him. He ran through what he was going to do in his head, going over his dance steps, his rehearsed jokes, and his full one-pony show. He looked out at all of the ponies playing with each other, laughing, and having fun.

“If I could have everypony’s attention,” he called out.

Nopony acknowledged his presence.

“IF I COULD HAVE EVERYPONY’S ATTENTION,” he repeated, this time louder.

Everypony turned to look at him, awaiting whatever strange thing he had planned for them.

“I would like to present to you, Shining Star’s Mega Epic Schoolyard Spectacular!” he held for applause.

There was no applause.

“Haha, all right! Let the show begin! I’m going to start by performing a dramatic monologue that was written by yours truly. It’s really good, I promise,” he assured the crowd.

Shining Star began to enact his entire one-pony performance for his classmates. There were theatrics, choreographed numbers, and an entire stand-up comedy portion. Star put his entire soul into his show, baring his soul to his classmates, aching for appreciation and approval. The other ponies all watched as he passionately danced in front of them. He ended the show with a dance number, sans music. With his final spin, he struck his final pose, completely out of breath. He smiled as he looked into the crowd of his peers.

A small snicker escaped the mouth of a pony near the front. A mumbling laughter followed, which then erupted into a hefty collective guffaw from the entire audience.

“The stand-up section was two acts ago guys, you don’t have to laugh now,” Star clarified with a hint of a small fake laugh.

The crowd continued to laugh and laugh at Star. It became increasingly clear to him that they were not laughing with him. They were laughing at him. Tears began to well in Star’s eyes.

“Did anypony like my show? Does anypony… want to be my friend now?” he desperately asked the crowd. They were too busy laughing to respond to him.

The tears welling in his eyes began to stream down his face. He abandoned his performance supplies in the grass and stormed out of the courtyard, sobbing as he found his way home. He busted the door open to find his mother cleaning inside.

“Star? Why are you home so early?” she noticed the tears. “Why are you crying? Come here, sweetie, it’s okay.”

Shining Star ran into his mother’s arms.

“Nopony likes me, Mommy,” he sobbed. “Nopony.”

“I like you, sweetheart,” his mother consoled him.

“That doesn’t count; you have to like me,” Star protested.

“That may be true, but it doesn’t change that you have me on your side,” she assured him.

“I know, Mama. I just… I wish my side was more than just one pony. I wish the ponies at school liked me. I wish anypony liked me,” he cried.

Star’s mother hugged her son tight. “Well, I was going to save this for after school, but I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise? What is it?” Star sniffled.

His mom reached into a drawer and pulled out several dolls, all in different assorted colors. Some were beautifully shiny, and some glittered brightly in the sunlight.

“I know how much you like your dolls, and I know you’ve been having a rough time at school, so I stopped in town yesterday and picked these up for you. I thought you would like them,” she explained.

Shining Star’s eyes widened in total amazement. They were the most beautiful and perfect dolls he had ever seen. Each pony was unique and different and amazing. They looked like the kinds of ponies Star would want to be friends with. That sparked an idea in him.

“Thank you so much, mommy. I’m going to take these to my room,” he said.

“Okay, honey. Have fun,” she smiled.

Shining Star wrapped the ponies in his arms and brought them to his room. He grabbed a couple more dolls and set them in front of his homemade dollhouse. He picked up his favorite red pony and had him walk in front of the house, happily minding his business. He picked up one of the sparkling ponies, a blue one, and walked it up to the red pony.

“Hey, you’re Shining Star right? I think you’re really super cool, and I would love it if we could be friends,” he made the sparkly pony speak.

“Oh, you’re too kind,” his mini-me responded. “I would love to be friends with you! You’re so cool too! Do you want to see super cool thing I can do?”

“I’ll watch anything if you’re the pony doing it!” the blue pony encouraged.

Shining Star bobbed the red pony up and down, and side to side, mimicking a dance routine.

“That was so good!” the blue pony responded.

Star grabbed a shiny purple pony and walked it up to his red pony.

“That dance you did just now was so cool! All of my friends said they want to hang out with you sometime. We could learn a dance together, if you want!” the purple pony spoke to him.

“I would love nothing more!” the red pony responded.

Shining Star let a small smile form across his lips. It felt good to have friends for once, even if they were just dolls. He set the dolls down, and grabbed a journal out from his side table. He grabbed a quill and ink and began to scribble notes onto the pages.

In big letters, at the top of the very first page, he wrote: Operation Dollhouse.

He detailed a plan in which he would figure out a way to bring his dolls to life. He would create a population of ponies who had to like him. He was going to make friends, even if he had to make them.

Ginger Blush watched as the curtains closed on the puppet show. A single tear dropped from her eye and rolled down her cheek. She understood everything now. And, more importantly, she understood how to fix it all.

Chapter 11: Last Hope

Chorus thoroughly studied the reversal spell in the book. All he had to do was make sure he didn’t send any non-clones back into the pond. That wouldn’t be difficult, considering every non-clone was incapacitated at this point. But, he also had to wake up the incapacitated ponies. If he didn’t want to draw the Dollkeeper straight to him, it would be wise to do both of those as quickly as possible, or at the same time. Chorus brainstormed how he could possibly make this work.

He knew it had to be in a song. That was the only reason his teleportation spell had worked. He just had to come up with a song that perfectly encapsulated the essence of what he was trying to express. It was impossible. Chorus pulled at his mane in frustration. He was way out of his depth. Just a couple days ago he had been singing innocent songs in the streets of Ponyville, and now he was expected to save the entire town. Chorus recalled what Prose had said to him before she was unfortunately whisked away.

I know you are capable of more than you think you are. All you have to do is believe it too. Those words echoed in Chorus’s mind. He remembered all he had done in the past few days. He had uncovered a villainous plot to take over Ponyville, He had successfully evaded evil forces several times. He used his music magic to cast a complex spell. He survived a night in the Everfree Forest. He made friends.

Casting a single spell to save Ponyville might have been impossible, but Chorus had accomplished the impossible before. He could do it again. He concentrated hard on his magic, allowing the instrumentation in his mind to manifest out of his horn. A catchy melody streamed out with the magic. Strings and percussion harmoniously collided to create an accompaniment worthy of a battle song. Chorus dreamed up lyrics about his ultimate goal. He thought about the clones slowly taking over the lives of his neighbors. He thought about the ponies lying comatose in an underground tunnel. He thought about Pinkie Pie. He thought about Prose. He thought about Ginger Blush. He took a deep breath and recited his final hope aloud:

I know things may seem quite bleak
The damage seems beyond repair
But searching in the dark for hope
I find there’s something there

Cheap copies roam my town
Like they’ve been here all along
I wish them all away
Send them back where they belong

There’s an evil setting traps
My friends are stuck in slumber
Let them all wake once again

Save them from the spell they’re under

I miss the ponies of my town
And that’s why I sing this song
I love it here in Ponyville
Where everypony belongs

Chorus blasted music magic out of his horn, blending the melodious noise into a satisfying outro. He reigned the song in for one final measure, and released the spell once and for all. A blinding light exploded out of his horn, phasing past the walls of his home, expanding all over the city. Chorus struggled to keep his footing as the force of his magic pushed him backwards. He locked his hooves in place and let the magic flow out of his horn until it was completely finished. When the light finally left his horn, he fell to his knees, exhausted and completely drained. With the last of his energy, he picked himself up and stormed towards Twilight Sparkle’s castle, ready to face the Dollkeeper.

Prose watched from outside of Ponyville as an extraordinary pink light encapsulated the town and spread towards her and the crowd of clones. She watched as one by one, the ponies around her collapsed into sparkling dust clouds and floated away, straight towards the Everfree Forest.

“He did it,” she uttered in impressed disbelief. “He really did it.”

Prose set her sights on Ponyville, and ran as fast as she could. She was ready to face the Dollkeeper.

Ginger Blush yawned as her eyes fluttered open. She listened as a multitude of ponies around her began to shuffle about as they woke up. She felt a familiar dirt ground, and she knew she was back in the Mirror Pool cavern. She threw herself up onto her hooves and sprinted past the Mirror Pool, towards the exit tunnel. She was ready to face the Dollkeeper.

Chapter 12: Standoff

Chorus’s hooves skidded to a halt in front of Twilight’s palace. He gazed up at the balcony at the Dollkeeper. The Dollkeeper’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he fumed with anger.

“YOU!” he shouted down at the pink unicorn. “You’ve ruined EVERYTHING!”

Chorus struggled to stay standing. That spell had really taken everything he had.

“Why?...” Chorus breathed. “Why did you do it? Why go through all of this?”

“WHY?!? You ponies think you’ve created some sort of utopia here, don’t you? You think Twilight Sparkle and her friends have made this place some sort of haven of friendship? You know nothing about Ponyville. You have no idea what it’s like to be isolated beyond hope, to be laughed at like your entire existence is some sort of joke.” The Dollkeeper began to glow with red magic. He levitated from the balcony and into the air. “Don’t think you’ve stopped me. You’ve just hindered my progress. I’ll just have to start over. I’ll put everypony back to sleep… starting with you.”

The Dollkeeper pointed his horn towards Chorus, charging it with energy. Chorus braced for impact, unable to run any longer.

“Wait! Stop!” a purplish pony appeared behind Chorus, running towards the castle.

The Dollkeeper stopped his magic, sizing up his new opponent.

“Have you come to stop me too? It didn’t work out too well for the pink one,” he motioned to Chorus.

Prose stopped next to Chorus and caught her breath. “The ponies of Ponyville are innocent! Nopony is perfect, but they deserve to live their lives! Think about the futures you’re taking away!”

The Dollkeeper looked away from the ponies, a tinge of guilt hiding behind his eyes. The guilt was quickly replaced with a vengeful rage.

“NONE of these ponies seemed to care about my future when I was the one that needed help. I’m simply showing them how it feels,” The Dollkeeper justified.

His red magic aura grew around him as he levitated higher into the air. His eyes began to glow and spark with a sinister red light.

“How what feels?” Prose desperately shouted. “Why are you doing this!?”

“I am SICK and TIRED of all of these questions. You better say goodbye to your pink little friend there. You two are going to sleep for a long, long time,” he threatened. “And to think, all I’ve ever wanted was the approval of ponies just like you. And now, you all hate me more than ever. I created an entire army of friends just to feel seen, and here I am again. Once again, I’m all alone. And once again, NOPONY LIKES ME!”
“I like you,” a voice called out from somewhere nearby.

“I’M GOING TO- wh-what?” The Dollkeeper stuttered. “Who said that? Show yourself!”

Ginger Blush walked out from behind a building and stepped into visibility.

“I like you, Shining Star,” she repeated.

Chorus and Prose looked at each other in confusion. Who is Shining Star?
The magic around Shining Star grew around him until he was nearly consumed by its haunting glow.

“LIAR! YOU’RE LYING!” he screamed.

“I’m not lying,” Ginger confirmed. She stepped closer to him, standing beside Chorus and Prose. She was terrified, but she knew she couldn’t let it show. “Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re putting yourself back in the same trap you were in all of those years ago.”

Shining Star fumed. “NO, I’M NOT. MY PLAN WAS WORKING! I HAD FRIENDS! EVERYPONY LIKED ME!”

Ginger met Star’s eyes from the ground. “You actually don’t see it, do you? You put yourself exactly back where you started. You created clones, Star. Not friends. You’ve chased companionship this entire time, but after all you’ve done, the only companionship you got was your own. You’ve stayed at the starting line this whole race, and you haven’t even realized it.”

“I-... I-” Star stammered. “AT LEAST I-... at least I finally had somepony on my side.”

“I’m on your side, Shining Star. I want to be your friend,” Ginger started. “I think it’s horrible how those ponies treated you. You never deserved that. What you’re doing right now, though, is not right. I think you know that. Call this off now, Star. Let Ponyville return to the way it was, and I’ll be your friend. We all will.” Ginger looked over at Chorus and Prose, who looked back at her with intense confusion. Shining Star’s glowing eyes began to fade back to normalcy. His magic partially dimmed around him.

“Y-you’re lying. Those two don’t like me. They were yelling at me just a few seconds ago. They- they hate me,” he protested.

Ginger sternly glanced over at her friends. “You don’t hate him,” she strongly hinted. She looked back up to Shining Star. “In fact, they’d probably love to see one of your shows sometime! I’m sure you’ve got some killer material after all these years you’ve had to practice.”

Star scoffed and tried to hide his blushing. The magic around him slowly dimmed some more.

“I guess I… I guess I do have some tricks I could show you guys, if you really want to see,” he shyly offered.

“I- I- uh…” Prose stuttered. Ginger stared straight into her eyes and nodded slowly, urging her to continue. “I would love to see them,” Prose finished.

Chorus hoarsely joined in. “Me too. I always love a good-” he paused to catch his breath. “show.”

Shining Star’s hooves touched the floor of Twilight’s balcony. The swirling magic around him slowed around him, until it completely faded away. A vision of his mother appeared in his mind. He remembered her calming touch and her grounding words. All he’d ever needed was more love like hers. He collapsed to the balcony floor and began a slew of heaving sobs. Ginger quickly ran into Twilight’s castle, heading for the balcony. Prose followed after her with an exhausted Chorus in tow. The three of them eventually arrived on the balcony, right behind a crying Shining Star.

“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Hey, hey,” Ginger placed a hoof on his back. “You put an end to it all. It’s all over now. You never have to stoop to that level again.”

Star spoke into the floor, ashamed to look up. “I’ve been evil. I’ve been a villain.”

Ginger winced, not wanting to hide the truth. “To be honest, yea. You have done evil things. But that doesn’t have to define you forever.”

Prose joined the conversation, offering her support. “It’ll take a while to earn back the trust of everypony. It’ll be hard, but it’s not impossible.”

Chorus chimed in. “And trust us, we know a thing or two about impossible.”

Shining Star looked up from his position, revealing his red, puffy eyes.

“I really appreciate you guys, and I’ll never forget what you did for me, but I can’t stay here. I can’t face these ponies. Not after all I’ve put them through. I have to move somewhere new; I have to start over. I hear Maretania is beautiful this time of year,” he weakly chuckled. “Maybe this time I can make some friends without becoming an evil overlord.”

The ponies suddenly heard the sound of hooves clamoring about downstairs, followed by the emergence of Princess Twilight Sparkle up the stairs. She rushed towards the ponies, surprised to see they were completely unharmed. Prose stepped in front of Twilight, blocking her from the balcony.

“Don’t worry Twilight, we’ve got everything under control,” Prose clarified.

“Are you sure you’re not clones that are being told to tell me everything’s under control?” Twilight warily asked.

“Yes, Twilight. It’s me, Prose. And my-” she looked back at the ponies on the balcony and smiled. “My friends,” she finished.

Chapter 13: The End

Chapter 13: The End

“Good morning, me!” Chorus said to himself in his mirror. It was a beautiful morning in Ponyville, a few weeks after the whole Operation Dollhouse debacle. Chorus was just heading out for the day, on his way to, once again, serenade his Ponyville neighbors with some morning tunes. He searched the town for his designated spot and eventually arrived at his new favorite hang-out meadow.

Ginger Blush roamed the grasses, searching for flowers to wrap into beautiful bouquets.

“Oh,” she noticed Chorus’s arrival. “Good morning, Chorus! It feels like I’ve been waiting to hear your new song for ages!”

Under a nearby shady tree, Prose looked up from her book to see her friends.

“Chorus! Just the pony I wanted to see,” she greeted. “I have something I want us all to see.”

Prose pulled a letter out her saddle bag. “It’s from Shining Star. I haven’t opened it yet. I wanted us all to read it together.”

Chorus and Ginger rushed over to Prose’s tree. Prose carefully opened the letter and flattened it out for everypony to see. Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush all began to read the letter from their long-distance ex-nemesis.

Ginger Blush, Prose, and Chorus,
I’ve adjusted nicely to life here in Maretania. The ponies here are so nice! And, get this: they have a THEATRE TROUPE! They said I could join them for their next show! I’ll be sure to update you about how that goes. I’ve found ponies here that listen to me, and who appreciate me for who I am. I wish my mom could see me now. She would be disappointed in me for my time as the Dollkeeper for sure, but she would be proud of who I am now. None of this would be possible without you guys. Once again, I’m so sorry for terrorizing your home, and once again, I’m so thankful that you guys stopped me. I hope I’ll see you ponies again one day.
Only the best,
Shining Star
After the ponies finished reading, Prose folded the letter back into its original state.

“So, what I’m hearing is: we make a pretty amazing team,” Chorus boasted.

“Yea, that’s basically what he said,” Prose humorously agreed. “I’m glad he’s doing well. We don’t want a sequel to Operation Dollhouse.”

Ginger Blush laughed. “So true,” she remarked. She looked over at Chorus. “Are you ready to debut that special song now?”

“Yes, I am,” Chorus confirmed. “Shining Star would’ve liked this one. Maybe I’ll play it for him when we see him again.”

Chorus took his stance in the grass, beginning to concentrate on his music magic. A familiar melody began to flow out of his horn, catching the attention of passing ponies. Chorus let the music flow out for a couple of measures before starting with his lyrics. He opened his mouth to sing, and sang from the heart:

The sun shines so bright today
The grass sways in the breeze
I look outside my window
And there’s nothing more I need

Everypony here is real
And everypony’s awake

Our troubles are all long gone
Leaving friendship in their wake

I see so many smiling faces
And that’s why I sing this song
I love it here in Ponyville
Where everypony belongs
Prose and Ginger Blush applauded Chorus’s song, and several passersby left some coins on the ground.

“Thank you, everypony! I’ll be here all week!” Chorus shouted.

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush enjoyed each other’s company for the rest of that beautiful day, anticipating many more beautiful days to come. Who would’ve guessed that all it takes to make some friends is to be roped into foiling an evil scheme to completely take over your entire hometown?

The End.