It was another late night at the office as Moonlight looked over the reports and statistics of the month prior. While there haven't been any monster attacks, the weather reports have shown the temperature of the island was slowly getting lower. While she always believed the tale of Hearth's Warming Eve and the Windigoes to be poppycock, she knew better than to be skeptical about these things when the supposed Guardians of Harmony have not only confronted a chaotic spirit but had allegedly tamed him. And despite the wonders Turnip had done for the island's economy, his rabble-rouser ways and insistence on keeping non-ponies off the island had divided the populace. Not that his rival in the upcoming election was any better. While Harriet had promised more affordable health care, her decree of splitting the island off from the rest of Equestria had definitely ruffled some feathers, with many accusing her of trying to impose a heretical idea of harmony onto the populace and being no different from that cult leader Princess Twilight Sparkle had allegedly rehabilitated a while back. Moonlight lumped back in her chair and sighed as she looked at the framed picture of her departed husband.

"What would you do?" Moonlight asked the picture.

"Perhaps he would want you to find a way to unite these people," a mysterious voice replied.

Moonlight looked around, trying to find where that voice was coming from. Right behind her, in the corner of the room, was a unicorn wearing a wooden mask and a black cloak.

"And not just in ideas and opinions," the unicorn continued, "But in mind and soul."

Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie stood on each side of Turnip Wolf, with Pinkie loading her party cannon in case something was to happen. All three kept a close watch as Turnip prepared to take his place at the podium. Across from him stood his rival, Harriet, a poised and confident puppet who oozed charisma. The tension in the air was electric as the debate stadium buzzed with activity. Twilight knew that she was in dangerous waters with these puppets. This problem wasn't as easy as blasting a monster with the Elements of Harmony nor talking down an unstable unicorn into giving friendship another chance. Even the division she caused by publishing the Friendship Journals wasn't as extreme as this, though the different opinions the puppets had of the journals certainly made this problem more difficult than it could have been. She was torn as to which of the two candidates before her should be allowed to win. She didn't even know if she should allow any of them to win because, regardless of which side won, the other side would be angry and might even accuse her of doing nothing. Should she abolish the government on this island and force it under Equestrian law so that everypony would get along? Could she? And would it even work since half of the island's population wanted to secede from Equestria for reasons she couldn't quite understand? It was times like this that she wondered if Starlight had the right idea that true harmony came from sameness. Not that she would ever say it to her face because it would undo all the work she did on her and she worried that Starlight would relapse into the unstable pony she once was if Twilight were to ever say the words "you were right" to her. Luckily, the sound of hoofsteps upon the podium, followed by the scraping of Pinkie's party cannon against the floor, cut off her stressful train of thought.

"Hold it right there, buster!" Pinkie shouted.

"It's me, darling!" Rarity exclaimed, "You should know what I look like by now."

Rarity's presence reminded Twilight that she and her friends still had a 'murder mystery' to solve. While the mystery was irrelevent at this point since she knew from the start that the Friendship Problem was the divided puppet society and they were all controlled by an unseen force that she had yet to decipher the identity of, she hoped that by solving the mystery, she and her friends could have a chance at solving the Friendship Problem.

"Did you find anything?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Rarity replied, "This fabulous dre-"

"She meant about the murder!" Applejack interrupted.

Rarity sighed in an exagerrated manner, "Well, if you must know, it was politically motivated. Or at least Velvet's death was. And I imagine Marine couldn't live on without her dear husband."

"You do remember us being being told the wife died first, right?" Applejack asked dryly.

"Yes but we were only told that by a soulless rag who never knew matters of the heart," Rarity replied, "What about you? What have you found?"

"There's a secret society under this here island that our PM candidate's in cahoots with," Applejack replied, "But they had no idea about this whole 'wake the baby' thing that detective puppet was babbling about."

Rarity turned to face Pinkie Pie, "And you, Pinkie?"

"You ever been invited to a puppet surprise party?" Pinkie replied, "Don't. Eat. The cake."

Rarity gasped, "Did they poison you?"

Pinkie shook her head, "Nope. But felt cake is not as nice as real cake. Blech!"

Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie shared a light chuckle before Twilight turned around to face them.

"Could you please take this seriously for one second?" Twilight asked irately, "We were summoned her to solve a Friendship Problem, not play murder-mystery with whatever's controlling these puppets. Speaking of which, that's good knowing the murder was politically-motivated. We are in a political rally. That means the culprit will be amongst the puppets in the crowd."

A pang of guilt creeped up in the back of Twilight's mind. She really shouldn't have snapped at them like that. They were just having fun with the absurd task at hoof. Before she could turn around and apologize for getting annoyed with them, the podium shook.

"And now, my fellow ponies," Turnip announced, "let me present the pinnacle of our technological achievements: the Sahelanthropony Mk-1!"

The crowd gasped as the towering wooden and metallic contraption emerged, its massive form gleaming under the stage lights. Before anyone could react, five massive tentacles slithered from the shadows, grabbing the machine’s controls. The Sahelanthropony lurched forward, its movements jerky and unnatural, as if manipulated by an unseen force.

"Vote for me!" Turnip bellowed, "And I'll guarantee this and other dandy contraptions shall protect all of you from the non-pony men-"

Before Turnip could finish his sentence, he was crushed by one of the giant hooves of the Sahelanthropony. And when the Sahelanthropony lifted its hoof off Turnip, it took the puppet with it, exposing the tentacle that had been controlling Turnip. It did not take long for Twilight to teleport to the tentacle and wrap all four of her hooves around it.

"Grab on!" Twilight shouted.

Before they could comply, the tentacle swiftly pulled Twilight underneath the island and beneath the ocean's surface. As she was pulled deeper and deeper, Twilight caught a glimpse of Fluttershy and Banner standing in a glass structure within the murky depths. She quickly teleported herself out of the tentacle's grasp and into the dry chamber where Fluttershy and Banner stood.

"Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight spluttered, "I'm fine. But I would like some answers."

Banner sighed, "I was kinda hoping to keep this between myself and Fluttershy but I suppose you need to know too."

Twilight waited for Banner's explanation.

"How much do you know about psychology?" Banner asked.

"I've read a few books," Twilight replied, "Why?"

"You familiar with multiple personalities?" Banner continued asking, "And the difference between multiple personality syndrome and Nightmare Syndrome."

"Uh..." Twilight stammered, "There are still a few things we don't know yet about multiple personalities but I do know the difference between that and Nightmare Syndrome."

Banner nodded his head, "Good."

"Is this part of your investigation?" Twilight asked.

"There is no investigation," Banner replied, "I'm actually a shrink trying to cure my patient."

Banner pointed to the glass, where there were three octopi, each of which had a hundred tentacles. The smallest of the three was staring into space as its tentacles jittered and spasmed a little while one of the bigger ones stroked its head. It was an unusual sight but Twilight had seen weirder at this point.

"The other doctors before me said he was really lonely and created these puppets and this world they live in to escape that lonelinesss," Banner explained, "Sounds normal enough. Lots of children play with toys and imaginary friends. But then you have the gaps in his memory, detachment from reality, and him no longer responding to his name. Just whichever puppet he's using at the moment."

Twilight looked at Banner incredulously. While her knowledge on multiple personalities is just as limited as nearly everypony else that has studied psychology, perhaps even less since she had less of an interest in psychology when compared to magic, she found it very unlikely that a pony or any other sapient being who has more than one personality in their head would use puppets to communicate. But she was willing to hear Banner out.

"They tried playing with him and going along with his fantasies but that didn't work," Banner continued, "So I tried a more radical approach. I dressed up as a detective and, under the pretense of doing an investigation, I asked each and every one of them questions about their lives. Maybe seeing if they remember anything that happened while the patient was really young that the patient would wanna forget. Some of them said they had a nightmare or two of being a giant baby octopus but they never really went into more detail than that. And that's when I decided to do this whole murder-mystery thing."

"So...your idea of helping him is to murder different aspects of himself?" Twilight asked.

"Not murder, per se," Banner replied, "Because they are different uh...characters, for lack of better words, with their own names, memories, likes, dislikes et cetera, they still live on in the patient's head. So I use a bit of mnemomancy to remove them."

Twilight shuddered at Banner's detached explanation of his treatment. While she would not have hesitated to mess with another living being's mind if it was in the name of harmony, apart from that time under Celestia's tutelage that she was not proud of, even she knew where to draw the line. She looked over to Banner's side and saw she wasn't the only one that was disturbed by Banner's methods.

"Re...moved them?" Fluttershy asked shakily.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, I might as well have been driving an ice pick through his brain," Banner replied, "But I didn't know how else to intergrate them and Celestia knows how many ponies before me tried and got nowhere so...I had to do what I had to do."

Twilight glanced at Banner, then back at the octopus beyond the glass. The smallest one, the one Banner had identified as the "patient," was curling into itself, its tentacles twitching erratically. She couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the creature. This wasn't just about curing it; it was about helping it find peace within itself.

"Banner," Twilight said cautiously, "I understand you're trying to help, but this approach seems... invasive. Forcing these personalities to disappear? It's like erasing parts of his identity. Harmony isn't about destruction, it's about integration."

Banner frowned. "What would you suggest, then? Let him continue like this? Trapped in a fragmented state, unable to even remember his true self?"

"No," Twilight replied "But let me try something. I think I can get them to work together."

Banner raised an eyebrow, "I'm not too sure about that. No offence, Princess, but you're not a trained professional with a mnemomancy license."

"Maybe not," Twilight sternly replied, "But as the Princess of Friendship, it is my duty to make sure there is peace and harmony in Equestria. Even if it's just peace and harmony inside a non-pony's head."

Turnip woke up in a dark void. He looked down at his hooves and saw they were all glowy and wavy. There wasn't any ground beneath. He could feel himself floating around.

"What the hay?" Turnip asked himself.

"I believe I might have some answers," Moonlight replied.

Turnip glared at Moonlight, "You better start talking because if I find out your machine turned me into a pile of gelatin, I'm gonna kick your a-"

"Ah, about that," Moonlight spoke, "It was not meant to be operational. The pilot wasn't even inside. Speaking of which, where is the young stallion?"

"What makes you think he's here?" Turnip asked.

Moonlight tapped his shoulder and pointed behind him. When Turnip turned around, he saw ghostly apparitions of nearly every single inhabitant on this island.

"I'm not sure why we're here," Moonlight spoke, "But if my contact was to be believed, this will be the start of the unification."

"The uni-what?" Turnip asked.

"Everypony here will become one and we will have true harmony," Moonlight explained.

"Well, nuts to that!" Turnip exclaimed, "I'm my own self-made pony! And with Celestia by my side, I don't have to be one with anything!"

"Except you do," a familiar voice spoke.

Turnip and Moonlight turned around to find Twilight floating behind them.

"I don't know what happened to fracture you but you are all part of the same being," Twilight spoke sternly but compassionately," You don't have to be divided by your differences. My friends and I are different too and we work together to bring harmony to Equestria. You can work together as a system, putting differences aside and sharing in the things you have in common. If you have any bad memories, share them with yourselves and talk them out. If there are things that you like, then talk about them and make it a consensus that everypony here likes that thing."

Turnip scoffed, "I know you mean well, Princess, but thing is we were already united. It's just one half of this island is made up of secessionists and heretics. Speaking of which, do you really think Celestia would want us to give up our individuality for the sake of friendship and harmony. She argues with her own sister from time to time and you don't see her merging with Luna to become some weird Celestiluna thing. And even we were meant to be one being, we're not. We got our own lives. Our own opinions. Our own Celestia-darn personalities! And, yeah, we'll fight. That's just what any living feeling thing will do. And if you don't like it, then you can go bu-"

Before Turnip could finish, he was spontaneously turned into a puddle of gelatinous goop. Moonlight looked down at what used to be Turnip before looking back up at Twilight, whose eyes and horn were now glowing.

Twilight sighed, "As much as I hate to admit it, you did have a point. But the map summoned me and my friends here for a Friendship Problem. And I will solve that problem."

"So let me get this straight," Rainbow asked as she and her friends sat aroud the map in the castle, "There was a big octopus under the island?"

"Technically, he was a hecatonopus but yes," Twilight replied.

"How come I didn't see any tentacles under the puppets?" Rainbow continued asking.

"Much like their eight-tentacled cousins, hecatonopi are very good at camoflauge," Twilight explained, "Although he shouldn't be that good given his size.

Rainbow stretched back in her chair, "Well, I'm glad that's over. That island was giving me the creeps."

"And as much as I enjoyed playing detective," Rarity added on, "If I had to spend any longer on that island, I would be digging sand out of my hooves for weeks."

"And I'd have to eat more felt cakes!" Pinkie exclaimed.

As her friends laughed, Twilight only gave a half-hearted chuckle. They didn't know what she did and for the sake of her friendships, she hoped they would never find out. Still, as necessary as it was, the thought of what she did still haunted her. This wasn't the same as Starlight convincing the changelings to share their love. There was half of an entire civilisation in that hecatonopus' head and they had very different and heated opinions about the other half. She couldn't even get a herd of normal ponies to stop arguing about the Friendship Journals. How was she going to convince an entire island full of the broken pieces of the hecatonopus' mind to put aside their differences and form a system? But it still resulted in harmony. The hecatonopus was happy. His parents were happy. Even Banner was impressed. So it all worked out in the end.

Right?

Author's Note

While it was tempting to write a happier ending, I could not find a way to make it work since A. Integration of DID alters is a long process that cannot be done with one speech about friendship and unity and all that jazz. And B. Turnip and any other puppets with heated opinions and emotions suddenly backing down and agreeing to work as a collective unit would just be very weak writing. Alters or not, that's just not how people work.