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What had I done? The sky was turning black as night. Thick smoke hung in the air. This wasn't just changing the future of some random pony, this was changing the future of all of Equestria. The pink mare was unconscious at my table, having been put under the influence of my spell.

That damn spell. Why had I continued to use it? It doesn't help me and only brings pain to others. I admit that while their pain was enjoyable, I had always felt guilt hang around me like an iron chain when I used this spell. My carelessness has brought darkness and despair to this land. I had to stop the spell.

I spent several minutes searching throughout my ancient books on a way to counteract the spell, but it was all for naught. The spell was a burden to use. Once started, it cannot be stopped. Not only can it not be stopped, it can only be used on a pony once. After it is used, it cannot rewrite their life again.

I had to find a way to stop it. The entire world around me was shifting. I stared out the window and watched as perfectly fine ponies turned into empty husks, just to return to normal, dazed and confused. I once again rummaged through my spell books.

"This spell has been used throughout history! There has to be a way to stop it!" I yelled out in frustration. Time was not on my side for this. The spell takes only an hour to finish it's process, even though in the mind of the pony it may take takes months. I was about to give up my search until I saw one of my oldest scriptures.

"Delving into the subconscious: Spells to affect the mind." The title stated. I thought that I could use a spell to transcend into her mind and help her reverse the effects. I quickly flipped through the pages until I found what I wanted.

"'Transcending into the mind'. This sounds promising." I read through the necessary steps to preform the spell. "To enter the mind of a pony, first you must have a physical representation of their memories. Most preferably a crystal ball."

I stared over to the transparent orb sitting on the table next to the pink pony. I quickly created a link between it and Pinkie. Her memories flashed blurry in the glass confines of the sphere.

"What's next? Let's see. 'Next, you must find a being within the subject's memories of strong magical capabilities.'.......... Damn!" All of the unicorns of this rewritten history have been drained of their powers. There wouldn't be any strong enough to use this spell.

No, there had to be one. I fed energy into the crystal ball to rely not only her current memories, but also of the ones before the spell began. Hopefully if both were together, I could find a being not hindered by this horrible reality.

There was only one. It was strange, for this being was not a unicorn. In fact, she wasn't even a pony. This creature was a zebra living in the isolation of the Everfree forest. She appeared to have a vast knowledge of ancient magic.

"Once the determined pony has been located, project your own subconscious entity of power into the mind of the subject. Find the pony and possess their astral being, replacing their subconscious with your own."

I stared into the orb at the zebra. For once, I was going to stop the spell. I was going to do good. I stared out into the shifting sky as it flickered from daylight to darkness. I gave a heavy sigh knowing what would become of me of I happened to succeed. I lowered my head towards the pink mare as my horn lit up.

"I didn't want this to happen, but I'm going to make it right." I felt as my body grew limp and fell to the floor. I looked down at it as my projection of energy hovered above it. I looked back at Pinkie, and with a heavy sigh, phased into her mind ready to save her from what I have done.

"Pinkie! Shut the doors and windows! Turn off all the lights and hide!" Pinkie turned around dumbfounded to see Mr. Cake frantically running around slamming windows down tight.

"What's going on Mr. Cake? Is this some kind of surprise party?" Pinkie asked with excitement. Mr. Cake opened his mouth to talk but was cut short with Pinkie's chatter. "Ohhhh, it IS a surprise party! Why else would we make everything dark? Who are we throwing the party for? Mrs. Cake?" She bounced around happily while shutting the windows.

"But wait! Where are all of the decorations? We can't have a party without decorations! Oooh, and cake! We can't have a party without cake either!" Mr. Cake was desperately trying to calm the pink pony down. "Not to worry Mr. Cake! I have just the thing!" Pinkie said as she pulled out a colorful cannon out of the cupboard.

"This is my party cannon! I've been working on it for a while. It can decorate a whole room in a matter of seconds!" She pulled the rope on the device, causing it to shoot out several cakes and desserts which precisely landed on a nearby table.

"Pinkie, we're not throwing any parties today!" Mr. Cake yelled out in frustration. "I forgot that your newer here and don't know about our 'visitor'." Pinkie slowly pushed her confectionary cannon back into the cupboard.

"A visitor? What kind of visitor?" She asked with intrigue. Mr. Cake gave a heavy sigh.

"Her name is Zecora. She's a strange pony who comes into town every so often. The only thing she does is dig at the ground and wanders back to her home in the Everfree forest." He explained as the last window was shut tight.

"We never approach her. The ponies of this town believe that she has mystical powers of an evil enchantress." Pinkie looked at him with worry.

"Is she really an evil enchantress?" She asked. Mr. Cake stopped in his tracks to think.

"No, I can't say she has these powers. But I don't really want to find out. We just lock ourselves away. We don't bother her, she doesn't bother us." Pinkie looked back at the orange stallion with sadness.

"But what if she's nice? What if she feels out of place by being different?" Mr. Cake gave a tired sigh.

"Pinkie, if the entire town fears the sight of her, I don't think she would be a good pony." He stared out of the window towards the forest. "I'm just going to listen to the town folk and stay away from her. You should too. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."

"But you've never talked to her! You don't know that she would do bad things! She could be-" Pinkie was quickly interrupted by the baker.

"Pinkie, just listen to me. Stay away from Zecora. Whenever you see her, just close the shop and wait for her to leave." Pinkie looked back at Mr. Cake with shock. She nodded her head in submission. He turned to make sure the door was firmly shut right as he heard a loud knocking come from it.

"Mr. Cake? Mrs. Cake? Pinkie? It's Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Can you let us in?" Mr. Cake peeked through the window to see the yellow and cyan pegasi standing at the door. He unlocked the door to let them in, then firmly shut it again.

"Me and Fluttershy were out clearing the sky when we saw Zecora roam around town. Most of the other pegasi hid in the smoke while we came here to check on you." Rainbow Dash stated as she walked into the bakery shop.

"W-we know that you haven't been in Ponyville long enough to know Zecora, s-so we wanted to make sure you knew." Came Fluttershy with a scared voice.

"Ah, don't worry about me! Mr. Cake filled me in on that enchantress." Pinkie stated as she walked to her two friends. "You've seen Zecora, right? Does she really have evil magical powers? Can she talk with ghosts or turn ponies into pumpkins?"

"Well.... We never really seen Zecora do anything like that." Rainbow Dash said hesitantly.

"Darn, I've always wondered what it would be like to be a pumpkin." Pinkie said in disappointment. "I would possibly make the sweetest pumpkin pie ever!" The two pegasus ponies looked at each other dumbfounded towards Pinkie's enthusiasm.

They heard a scream coming from outside the bakery. Rainbow Dash looked out the window and watched the remaining ponies quickly scurry to their homes. She was here. A few moments after everypony had piled into their homes, a cloaked figure slowly walked down the road. She stopped every few feet to dig at the ground.

She stared at the ground disappointed. After a few minutes of walking around town, she turned to leave. After she had left town, the ponies started to come out of their houses. Pinkie only looked toward the outskirts of town in sorrow.

"What if she isn't bad?" Pinkie asked. "You've never seen her do anything. What makes you think she would?" Mr. Cake and the two pegasi only looked back at her with perturbation.

"There's just something about her that's..... different." Replied Rainbow Dash. "She's not like us. She doesn't act normal. She lives in the Everfree Forest for pony's sake!" Pinkie stared back at her blankly.

"Just trust us Pinkie. Zecora is bad news. Stay away from her whenever you can." Rainbow Dash looked over at Fluttershy. "Come on Fluttershy, we need to get back to work." With that, the two pegasi left the bakery shop and flew back up into the black smoke that looked above the village.

Mr. Cake walked around opening the windows back up. He looked at Pinkie sympathetically. "Lets get back to work." He said as he trotted into the kitchen. Pinkie gave a small sigh and joined him. Zecora couldn't really be bad, could she?

I slowly woke up in a haze. I wasn't used to preforming that spell. I haven't used it in years. I got up and looked at my surroundings. There were many trees and bushes around me. It gave off an odd feeling, as if something was watching me.

I was in the Everfree Forest. If I remembered right, she lived somewhere within these woods. I started to walk down the dirt path ahead of me. It didn't take too long to find her home. The spell usually puts you near the target being.

I looked through the window to see if she was here. To my relief, she was. I decided to just walk through the front door, seeing no harm in the matter. As I did, I felt a strong pressure push me towards the ground. I looked up to see a strange rock hung from the door. The relic was to protect the inhabitant from wandering spirits. I guess I was in the form of a spirit at the time.

"My my, what do we have here?" I heard the voice of the zebra as she walked towards me. "A wandering spirit I fear." I tried to stand up, but the energy of the relic kept me in place.

"Now tell me spirit, you invade my dwelling. What is it that you persist in telling?" I gave a small chuckle.

"I'm not sure why I'm stuck like this. I'm pretty sure that mask over there meant 'welcome', right?" I gave a nervous smile. "Tell me Zecora, what happened after you left your land?" I saw a look of confusion in her eyes, then that of animosity.

"Pony of evil, magic forbidden. Why come here, unprotected and unhidden?" She narrowed her eyes at me in pure hate. "After your magic had changed my fate, I was forced here with a clean slate."

I gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I apologize for that. Didn't really expect them to kick you out. Oh well, just water under the bridge right?" She only stared back at me with anger in her eyes. "Guess not."

"For what you have done, I will not forgive. Tell me now, why should I let you live?" I tried to stand up the best I could to get face to face with her, only to be force back to the ground.

"Well, the thing is... I need your help." She looked back at me with disgust.

"You hurt others, that is what you do. Why would I want to help you?" She asked as she lowered the relic on the door, causing the pressure to increase.

"The truth is, I messed up. I'm not saying I feel bad for what I've done and I'm trying to make amends, I mean that I really messed up this time." It became harder to breath with the relic forcing me down. "You see the sky outside? Notice how it has not change from night for months, and how it is covered in smoke? I caused this. And if I don't stop it, Equestria will permanently stay like this."

She looked out of her window into the dark sky. "I need to find a mare named Pinkie Pie and help her change this world back to the way it was. The only way I can do that is if I take your body." I looked up to Zecora. She stared down at me pondering my position.

"If you don't let me, then Equestria will stay like this forever. Soon enough the unicorns will die out from exhausting their magic. The pegasi will become too weary to clear the sky and the smoke will start to suffocate everypony." I looked up at her waiting for a response. After a moment, she gave a slow nod.

"I care not for you now, but to help everypony, I shall." She threw the relic across her home into the corner. I stood up relived to be free. "If anything is to happen to me, you will face my animosity."

I walked over to her and with a nod, put my horn on her head. Upon doing so, my being began to shift. My subconscious state was combining with Zecora's. After a few moments, I opened my eyes and looked around. I took a quick look at my hoof. Black stripes came across my foreleg. I had taken over her body. But there was one problem.

"The transformation is done, now I must find the pink one." I said to myself. A realization had hit me. I had just rhymed. "No, I cannot rhyme. I surly do not have the time." It seemed as though that wasn't really a gimmick she did, but was stuck with her naturally.

It didn't feel forced, but the words I gave out were horribly rhymed. It was as if I said it just to rhyme something. How she put up with it, I would never understand. I would just have to stick with it until I could figure out a way to help Pinkie get her old life back.

Now, all I had to do was walk into Ponyville and find Pinkie. It wouldn't be too hard to find her. The hard part would be to change the past in this reality. I only knew of one being that could do so, and he wouldn't be too fond of seeing me.

"I just don't know Gummy. My friends say she's bad, but I'm not sure if she is." Pinkie was sitting on her bed relaying her thoughts to her pet alligator, who sat beside her chewing on her pillow. "They say that I should stay away from her. I guess they know what they're talking about. What do you think Gummy?"

The little alligator looked up a moment with his misaligned eyes, then continued to chew on the pillow. Pinkie gave a small smile and looked out the window. She sat there for a few minutes gazing out of the glass until she heard a voice come from the kitchen under her room.

"Pinkie! She's coming again. Make sure the doors and windows are shut tight!" Came the worried voice of Mr. Cake. Pinkie awoke from her trance and quickly trotted downstairs. She came to the sight of Mr. Cake once again shutting the windows and locking them.

"Where's Mrs. Cake?" Pinkie asked as Mr. Cake ran past her.

"She's still out getting more supplies. I'm going to try and find her before Zecora gets here." He explained as he shut the last window in the kitchen.

"That sounds dangerous. Do you want me to come?" Pinkie asked with worry, and a hint of excitement for having a chance to see Zecora. Mr. Cake sped past her towards the door.

"No thanks Pinkie. I need you to stay and watch the store. Make sure everything is locked tight. We don't need that witch coming in here." Mr. Cake firmly shut the door as he left the bakery to find his wife. Pinkie stood there alone, looking out the window as Mr. Cake raced down the road to the grocery stands.

The pink mare sat at one of the dining room tables and stared out the window, waiting to see Zecora walk into town. Most of the ponies in town had once again bars axed themselves into their homes, hoping to hide from the enchantress.

It was about that point, that I did. I knew how the villagers reacted to Zecora. I had seen Pinkie's memories of how the towns ponies feared her.

I decided to just stay out of everypony's way, since I had no need to be near them. This place had been through hard times. I remember coming to the village when I was younger. It wasn't nearly this bad. It was my fault that the village was going through these hard times, but still.

I had no time to worry about the condition of the town. I was here to fix it. I just needed to find Pinkie and help her get her real life back. I was halfway down the road before I spotted a strange, ginger-bread like building. To my knowledge, that was Sugarcube corner.

That place sure had good business. When I visited it when I was younger, it was nothing more than a stand with a plateful of cookies and cupcakes. Now, it was a full bakery. I neared the front door as I heard movement within the edifice. No doubt, Pinkie trying to find a place to hide from Zecora.

This was not a random guess. My mind has been linked to Pinkie's memories, letting me see whatever I needed to see at the moment. She headed towards the kitchen and opened a silverware drawer. Seeing her previous memories, I knew what was to happen next. In a reality bending phenomenon, she managed to somehow fit her entire being into the small drawer and close it up.

I hastily walked to the front door. I tried the handle until I remembered that they had locked the door. Knowing that this world was nothing more than a fabricated realm that should not have existed anyways, I turned my back to the door and gave a swift buck. Zecora must have been stronger than I had thought, for the door easily busted off it's hinges.

I walked over the splinters left over from the door. My attention was brought to the kitchen where Pinkie was hiding. No, she wasn't being there anymore. She was now in the cupboard in the dining room. I would never understand how she could play with physics like that.

I decided that instead of bursting into the cupboard, I would call out to her. "Come out Pinkie, you need not to fear. Wanting to hurt you is not why I'm here." Damn rhymes. They annoyed me but I was stuck with them. I heard a shuffle come from the cupboard. She had moved again.

Pinkie was now in her closet upstairs. I could see her getting into the cupboard from the kitchen, but from one floor to the next undetected? You would think she was trained by ghosts. It seemed as asking her wouldn't work. Maybe something else. It was then that I felt something nibble at my leg.

I looked down to see a small baby alligator teething at my foreleg. I was about to swat the thing away until I had remembered something. This annoying reptile was Pinkie's dear pet. Maybe she would come out if she new I had him. I picked him up and started my way upstairs.

"I need to talk and nothing more. My patience is growing very sore." I said loudly so she would hear me. "So you don't want to talk just yet, what if I said I hold your pet?" I heard a loud crash from her room. She slowly walked out of her room holding onto a broom stick in defense.

"Y-y-you better n-not do anything to m-my Gummy y-you wicked E-Enchantress." Pinkie said to me as she held out the broom stick. I gave a small laugh.

"No harm will befall him, if you agree. I need a moment of your time, to warn you, you see." She tightened her grip on the broom and walked towards me.

"W-warn me of what?" She stuttered, her eyes filled with worry and confusion. I loosened my grip on the small alligator.

"This dark world is not what you think. It's only an image, made with clear ink." I explained to her. "Your real existence, I can give. Your friend Twilight, she still lives." Pinkie looked at me with a sudden sadness in her eyes.

"Twilight?" She asked. "How do you know about her?" I slowly put the baby reptile onto the ground.

"This world was made by an ancient spell. I cast it upon you, and made this hell." I stood solemnly in front of her. "I saw your joy, and in a fit of anger, used my spell to put you in slumber. You lay still, your life slowly fading. Replacing it with despair, fear and hating."

She looked at me with fear, her grip on the broom growing weaker. I took a step closer to her, just for her to take a step back. I was about to speak back up until an image flashed across my mind. A colt was standing in front of the bakery. He stared at the broken door in fear, and then anger, As if he had something he wanted to protect inside.

He wasn't alone. Some of the braver ponies of the village had gathered around him. They knew I was inside, and they didn't take too kind to that. I couldn't be distracted by them. I needed to convince Pinkie. I regretfully put the images aside. I opened my mouth to talk to her, but was quickly silenced by her scream of help.

The other ponies began to pile into the bakery. I couldn't do anything. I was no longer a unicorn, so I had no access to my powers. Zecora had some talent, but could only use large amounts by using special mixtures and potions. I had neglected to bring any.

The towns ponies quickly surrounded me. I was out of options. I needed to be able to help Pinkie, so I couldn't do anything else to anger them. All I could do was surrender and go with them. I just hoped that I would still have a chance to fix all of this.

Things would get harder from here. They had decided to not give me any punishment of their law. Instead, they nearly restricted me from ever returning to Ponyville. I could no longer go to Pinkie. The only other possible outcome was to have her come to me.

This would prove difficult as my appearance to her came off in a bad way. She was afraid of me. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best thing to tell her that I had made all of this happen in the first place. As the mayor gave the order to have me evacuated from the village, she asked me if there was anything I wanted to say.

I stared out into the crowd. I looked at Pinkie, standing in the middle of the crowd surrounded by her friends Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. I gave a small sigh and stated my confirmation.

"This world will become worse, it will die from the plague of a curse." I said to the villagers. They shouted in uproar. I was then being forced out of the town square. In one last attempt, I broke free and ran through the crowd. I stopped near Pinkie. I stared directly at her, and with a soft but serious voice I said, "If you wish to see this world safe, you must do what I say with haste. Track me down through the forest groove, the fate of Equestria lies solely on you."

Two of the villages stronger stallions rushed towards me, then continued to drag me out of the town. We reached the outskirts of the village where they swiftly threw me out. They stood there in case I made any attempt in entering the village again. I knew better.

I slowly began my walk back to Zecora's hut in the forest. I could only hope that Pinkie would heed my warning. If she doesn't, then Equestria could very well end. I stared out into the dark forest. I gave a heavy sigh of defeat.

I had some waiting to do.