Not What It Seems

by Silver Hoof

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Luna, Pinkie Pie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad
Length: 2562

Pinkie discovers a secret about the world, and about Princess Luna.

Pinkie's life is a normal one... At least, as normal as it could be for a Party Pony. But lately, she has been noticing... things... Strange things that are hard to explain. Ponies that don't seem to be there when she looks directly at them, buildings that were there just yesterday, but don't exist today. And then Princess Luna makes a startling revelation to the Pink mare that explains- as well as shatters- everything that she knows about the world.

Published 2012-11-01 03:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-23 23:19:43 UTC

That's Strange...

The pink party mare sat at the pristine, polished marble counter, observing her tiny, tasty treats. She counted them all mentally as she put them into the carrying case. One, two, three, some cupcakes for me, four, five, six, I made these for kicks, seven, eight, nine, these will taste divine, ten, and eleven, these cupcakes will send you... to... heaven? The confectioner scratched her head. No, that won't do. I already used a heavenly rhyme. Wait a moment. Eleven? I could have sworn that I made twelve. Now where did that other cupcake go? Pinkie searched the counter, she searched the entire kitchen, both high and low, both left and right, and even through the fourth wall, but to no avail. Sighing in defeat, Pinkie went back to the counter only to discover the treat was in the box the whole time. "Huh?" She cried. "How did that get in there?" Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Oh well. I guess it doesn't matter." She picked up the box and threw it into her saddlebag. At that moment, Mr. Cake trotted into the room.

"Oh, hi Pinkie. Whatcha got there?" He asked.

"It's just a box of cupcakes for me and my friends. You see, Apple Bloom finally got her Cutie Mark, and me and the girls are going to celebrate with a cupcake party! It's gonna be so super-spectacular, awesome, amazingly super-duper, fun and-" Mr. Cake seemed to twitch. "Um, are you okay?"

"Oh, hi Pinkie. Whatcha got there?" He repeated.

"Um... Mr. Cake, I just told you."

"No you didn't. I think that I would remember an explanation from you, Pinkie." He said.

"Okay...." Wow. This is just... weird. The pink-maned pony thought. She explained everything to the confused Cake once again, and then she trotted out of Sugar Cube Corner to go meet her friends. Trotting through the town of Ponyville, Pinkie occasionally said hello to the ponies she knew. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch were having a musical contest, just a bit of friendly competition really. Pinkie knew that they were secretly the best of friends, and possibly even more than that. She giggled at both of their confident smiles. They were the best of the best in their respective genres, and together, the music was entrancing and enticing. And sitting on a bench over by one of the markets was Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon. They were giggling and staring into each others eyes. Pinkie smiled, noting how perfect everything was in Equestria. Spike had recently stopped chasing Rarity, and she saw him trailing after Sweetie Belle. The two of them ran in circles around the fountain in the center of the town. And right over there, by the Carousel Boutique, the TARDIS appeared , and out stepped the Doctor and Derpy. The yellow-eyed mare was leaning on the Time Lord pony, whispering something into his ear, and he chuckled. Things couldn't possibly better in the wide, wide world of Equestria. She thought with a grin. And then she saw something strange. As she trotted past Lyra and Bon Bon, the two ponies seemed to be transparent. It couldn't be. Pinkie did a double take. "Phew!" She sighed in relief. The lovers were just as solid as ever.

The party mare pushed on through the town of Ponyville, making her way to Sweet Apple Acres, which was where the party was being held for Apple Bloom. She started to bounce, bubbling with anticipation of the fiesta that was soon to come. "Oh, this is going to be a blast!" The pink mare shouted. As she bounded her way through the entrance of the Apple Family Farm, she was greeted with a group hug from all of her friends.

"What took ya so long?" Applejack cried.

"I was making these." Pinkie said, pulling the purple box of delectable treats out of her saddlebag. She lifted the lid to reveal the heavenly delights to her friends.

"Oh, Pinkie!" Twilight gasped. "Those look amazing!"

"Well, they should! I mean, I spent all day making them!" The confectioner was obviously proud of her work.

"Well, dear, anything made by your hooves will taste simply divine! I just know it!" Said Rarity.

Tears of joy found their way into Pinkie's eyes. "Aww! Thank you!" Suddenly, a pair of butter-cream colored hooves wrapped around her neck.

Fluttershy whispered something to her, probably the same thing that Derpy had whispered to the Doctor, for it brought the same kind of chuckle from Pinkie's lips. They had been marefriends for a couple months now, and Pinkie loved her Flutters dearly. She couldn't imagine a life without her, or any of her friends at that. They all meant so much to her. Pinkie looked at her friends. "You girls didn't start the party without me, did you?" She asked, her tone very serious.

Rainbow Dash laughed. "Of course not Pinks!" She said. "How could it even be called a party without you?" Pinkie giggled.

"You're right Dashie! How could it be called a party without me?" She launched ten feet into the air off of pure joy alone before continuing. "Let's go!" On the pink mare's command, they all dashed for the barn where the guest of honor waited with her friends, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Spike. Pinkie Pie practically buck-kicked the door open and cheered. "Let's get this party started!" As if on cue, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia were by her side with their respective instruments of musical creation.

"What's the occasion?" Vinyl asked.

"Yes, do tell us." Octy added.

Pinkie was brimming with excitement. "Little Apple Bloom finally got her Cutie Mark!" She squealed.

"That is reason to celebrate!" The DJ exclaimed.

"I concur." Tavi agreed.

"Ah'm not little!" The filly for whom this party was for cried.

"Oh!" Pinkie gasped. "Of course you aren't! You're a big mare now that you have your Cutie Mark."

"Yep!" Apple Bloom said. "An' do ya know what it represents?" The pink pony observed the symbol of a clockwork gear underneath a hammer and nail.

"Is it......." Pinkie pondered. "Oh, I know! It's tools! Tools and construction!"

"That's right!" Apple Bloom cried. "So when's this party gonna start anyway?"

Pinkie Pie looked at everypony. "Right.......... Now!"

Luna's Message (The Party's Over)

That party was hard-core! Pinkie thought as she stumbled out of the barn. She almost ran into a tree on the way out of Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe a little too hard-core. She giggled to herself as she reminisced on the totally amazing, super-spectacular, absolutarificly awesome party. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia had played the most beautiful music at the party, alternating between wubs and strings. At one point, Vinyl had somehow broken a window, and Octavia had, for reasons unknown to everypony else there, found her way into the barn attic and tied a rope to one of the rafters so that she could, quote, unquote, 'fly like a pegasus'. AJ and Dash were caught making out behind a table by Apple Bloom, which made for funny entertainment for the rest of them. "Woo!" Pinkie breathed. "I can't wait for the next party!" She looked up into the sky at the mystifying moon. Princess Luna had done a wonderful job on this night. She had to remember to thank her later. And to top it off, things seemed to be back to normal.

As Pinkie trotted home, however, the strange things started to happen again. Entire buildings that were there just moments ago had vanished. Late-night stragglers trotting home appeared transparent, as Lyra and Bon Bon had before. Some of them even temporarily flickered out of existence. Pinkie Pie was quickly getting more and more nervous. This is getting scary. The pink mare thought. And then, as she was trotting along, she actually passed through one of the ponies! As she did so, she shrieked. "What is going on?" She cried. "Am I going crazy?" What was happening to the world that she knew and loved? Ponies disappearing before her very eyes, buildings vanishing behind her, it was all just too much. Tears welled up in the party mare's eyes, and she ran as fast as she could, going nowhere in particular, just wanting to run away from this strange, bad world, sobbing all the while. When the tears dried up and her vision cleared, she realized where she was going. Pinkie smiled slightly when she recognized the path to Fluttershy's cottage. But her eyes widened in horror when she saw that neither the cottage, nor the butter-cream pegasus were there. They, too, had vanished. Pinkie's face visibly sunk. Her mane became razor-sharp and framed her face like a picture. The tears found their way back into her eyes, and she openly cried. If Flutters is gone, then nothing matters anymore. Pinkamina told herself. She realized that she was hyperventilating. She looked quickly around at her surroundings. Other things were flickering in and out of existence. She couldn't take this. Pinkamina began to rapidly shake her head. "N- no.... No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO!" She fell onto the cold, cruel, uncaring ground beneath her and let loose a throat-ripping scream into the harsh night air. Her hysterics only got worse. The pink mare clenched her eyes shut and began to shudder in the freezing indifference of the air around her, still screaming to the night.

Suddenly, she heard a voice. "Oh my- Pinkie!" Is that... It can't be.... But lo and behold, there she was in all her splendid glory, Princess Luna of the Night. The Alicorn landed next to her and wrapped her forelegs around the heartbroken mare. "I'm so, so sorry Pinkie." She whispered. "I- I should have told you sooner." Pinkamina wiped away the tears in her eyes and stared quizzically at the dark blue pony holding her. Is she real? Pinkamina thought. She must be if I can still see and feel her.

"T- told me what?" The pink mare stammered. This was confusing enough as it was without a sudden confession from the Night Princess. Luna sighed.

"The truth, Pinkie, about you, and about the world that you live in." A tear slipped down Princess Luna's face. "The truth is, Pinkie, that the world you live in is a lie. It is nothing but an illusion. An illusion created by me."

"Wh- what?" Pinkamina cried incredulously.

"Every twenty-five years, this happens. You start to see the world for what it really is." The Princess explained. "And every twenty-five years, I have to come back and start everything over."

"B- but I'm twenty-eight!" Pinkamina exclaimed.

"I know. This time around, your belief in the illusion lasted longer than it normally did. I thought that it might last forever this time. But I was wrong. Today, the illusion started to crack, and I was late in coming for you. For that, I am deeply sorry."

"I- I don't get it. What do you mean by illusion?" Luna placed a hoof on the distraught mare's shoulder.

"Let me explain further. About five-thousand years ago, I was banished to the moon."

"Five-thousand years?" Luna held up a hoof, silencing the mare.

"Yes. Now, what my sister didn't recognize, all those ages ago, was that the sister she had so foolishly sent to the moon was the bearer of three of the six Elements of Harmony. Without me, Equestria was defenseless. The three elements that I held were Laughter, Kindness, and the most powerful, Magic. About three-thousand years ago, Discord broke free once more, and he murdered my sister. After that, the entire planet began to crumble. It is a dead world now. You see, Pinkie, we two are still stuck here on the moon." The terrain began to take on moon-like qualities around them.

"But... How am I here with you? What does any of this have to do with me?" Pinkamina's voice rose an octave with each question she posed.

"That was the other point that I intended to make." She whispered. "There was another thing that my sister was unaware of when I was banished. On the day that I was sent to the moon, I had just learned a surprising, scary fact about myself. On that day, I learned that I was pregnant."

"Wh- So... That means..." Pinkamina was unable to finish. Luna nodded anyway.

"You, Pinkamina Diane Pie, are my daughter."

"But I'm an Earth Pony." She cried.

"Are you sure?" Luna quipped. "Look again." Pinkamina gazed at her back, and just as the Princess had suggested, there were pegasus wings. She harbored no doubt, now, that if she reached up and felt her forehead, she would find a unicorn horn. "It was all part of the illusion." She said. "When I first turned the moon into a virtual Equestria, you had asked to be an Earth Pony because they were your favorite. And you got to chose each of the ponies you met along the way. I must say, you were very creative. Especially with the Twilight Sparkle character." Luna offered a sad smile. "But every once in a while, the spell I cast falters, and I have to start it up again. Occasionally, you add new ponies, but every time that we've done this, you never took any away."

"F- Fluttershy... She was... She was..." Pinkamina was finding it difficult to speak. "I loved her." She whispered. Princess Luna took Pinkamina's hoof.

"I know. And you can have her back. All you have to do is ask me to restart the spell, and you can go through all the magic of meeting your friends in, maybe in a different way than last time. You can be with Fluttershy again."

"Why?" The pink mare said darkly. "Why did you do it? Why did you dangle such a beautiful, wonderful thing in front of my face, only to take it away and start from scratch?" The Princess was taken aback by this recent development. Pinkie has never reacted like this before. Luna thought. Pinkamina continued. "This is wrong! It's torture! I loved Fluttershy! I loved my friends! I-" She stopped herself and began to cry once more.

"Pinkie. I'm sorry. But this is what you wanted. You asked me to do this for you. Now can't we get this over with so that you can be happy?"

"O- okay." She said weakly. I guess it's better than being on the moon. She told herself.

"Now Pinkie, before I do this, I need to know something. Do you want any new ponies this time around?"

Her mane started to regain it's cotton-candy quality as she nodded. "I want to meet this Discord. And I think Twilight should have a brother. And could he marry a princess?" Luna smiled and bowed her head, her horn starting to glow.

"It is done." She said.

Epilogue + A/N

Later that morning, Pinkie Pie awoke with no memories of the previous night, in the body of a filly once again. Twenty-two years later, whilst wandering through the town of Ponyville, she came across a purple-and-green dragon and a violet unicorn. She leaped into the air, gasping. I must throw this new pony a party!........

Basically, this is my idea of how the show we all know and love, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, got started. Thanks for reading.