Origins

Havoc: Origins

It was a dark and stormy night in the town of Hoofington, and in the local orphanage, all of the little fillies and colts were cowering in the middle of the living room, surrounding their matron as she told them stories, using the ambiance of the storm to enhance the drama of her tales in an attempt to spook her little ones.

        “...and then, the great dragon swooped down upon the group of ponies,  and with a great breath, he let forth a blast of flame!” The matron said.

        As if on cue, a large bolt of lightning arced through the sky, followed by a clap of thunder. All of the little ponies in the room screamed in unison, huddling together at the well timed celestial event.

        “Oh my, well, that was eerily on cue.” The older pony said, giggling lightly as she thought of the chances of it all.

        “M-Miss Summer Song? That never really happened, did it?” Asked a small pink pony.

        “Of course it didn’t, stupid! It’s just a story!” Came the words of a small azure colored unicorn.

“Hey! I’m not stupid!” The pink pony said, turning to the other filly with an angry glare.

“Says you!” The other pony replied, pressing her head up against her rival in a challenging headbutt.

As the two fillies pushed against one another, giving out high pitched growls, Summer Song could only laugh at the adorable sight.

As her laughter died down, she started to speak to them both directly, but calmly, in an attempt to settle the matter, “Pinkamena, Trixie, calm yourselves. Trixie, you shouldn’t have called Pinkamena stupid, and Pinkamena, you shouldn’t have yelled at Trixie. Both of you, apologize or you’ll be sleeping on opposite sides of the room again tonight.” She threatened gently.

The two ponies looked to their matron in the firelight, and then back to one another. They both gave a huff and sat down on the floor, back to back, and crossed their hooves in defiance.

“...I’m sorry, Pinks.” Trixie said in a huff.

“I’m sorry too, Trix.” Pinkamena replied.

After a few moments of the two still acting huffy, they soon broke out in to a fit of giggles and turned to hug one another, causing most everypony to let out a long, drawn out, “Awwww...”

Despite the near constant fighting, Pinkamena and Trixie were inseparable ever since they had met in the orphanage a year before, now, at the ages of six and seven respectively, the two had become great friends. They constantly ribbed on one another, trying to anger the other and start a fight, but no matter how bad it got, they always apologized, and in the end, they remained friends.

“Alright, all you little fillies and colts, it’s time for bed. I think Trixie and Pinkamena’s display has probably countered the scary story I told you, so none of you should have any nightmares.”

A collective groan of dismay came from the small group of little ponies, all complaining one way or another about having to go to bed.

“Ah, I’ll have none of that now! You need your sleep, or you’ll never grow big and strong and become stallions or mares. Off to bed! I’ll have a nice big breakfast for you in the morning, so don’t waste it by being sleepy when I wake you all up.” Summer Song said, smiling to her group.

The little ponies all gave their grumbles of consent and slowly made their way to the beds. There were only seven beds for the the eight fillies and colts, but Pinkamena and Trixie were more than happy to volunteer to share a bed. Despite having eight other ponies around, each of them still missed their parents dearly, at least, those that knew theirs, and they all felt a small degree of loneliness from that. Sharing the bed helped to ease that a little, and make life a little happier for the two.

Sharing the bed also allowed for sneaky plans to be made extra special quietly.

Once under the covers, the two quickly hid under the blankets and whispered amongst themselves, giggling mischievously as they planned to hatch some scheme or another.

“So, what do you think we should do tonight?” Pinkamena asked.

“I dunno... floof up that straight hair of yours?” Trixie responded, quickly bounding on to her friend in an attempt to mess up her mane.

The pink pony let out a shrill squeal as she entered into a wrestling match with the azure filly, trying her best to keep quiet and not disturb the others in the room. Minutes later, the two had finally exhausted themselves for the time being, and both of their manes looked a little worse for wear.

“Hmph... not straight anymore, but not all the way poofy.” Trix said, huffing lightly at failing her task.

“Well, yours is poofy!” Pinks said, giggling lightly as she pointed a hoof towards her friend’s wayward mane.

“Ah! How dare you!” The azure pony replied before starting to fix her hair.

Pinkamena merely giggled and plopped down under the bed while under the covers, sighing deeply, “I’m not tired... but there’s nothing fun to do! I’m bored...”

“Hmm... well, we could always go outside. The rain sounds like it stopped.”

“What? Outside? Are you loco in the coco? We wouldn’t be able to see a thing, and we’re too short to get the lamps!”

“Well, feast your eyes on something I’ve been working on!”

The pink pony tilted her head in curiosity, watching as her friend clenched her eyes and began to grunt on focus. Soon enough, her eyes light up as the rest of their space under the blankets lit up thanks to the light that now radiated from Trixie’s horn.

“Wooow! How’d you do that? You’re still so young! I thought unicorns didn’t get to learn stuff like that until they were, like, eight or nine!” Pinks exclaimed in excitement.

“Well, I am pretty great, aren’t I?”

Pinkamena rolled her eyes and giggled, “Oh yes, you are the Great and Powerful Trixie! Come on, let’s get outside! I think we can get out of the window from here.” She said, getting out from under the covers and heading to one of the windows.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie... I kinda like that. Oh! Hey! Wait for me!” Trixie replied, clambering out from under the covers, dousing her horn light to avoid waking the others.

“Hmm... I can almost reach from this bed...”

“Careful...”

“I am... give me a boost!”

Trix grumbled under her breath as she hopped up onto the bed, making sure not to disturb the colt sleeping in it already, and used her head to push against Pinks’ back legs. It took a little effort, but the pink pony soon rose into the air, and managed to get her hooves on to the windowsill and pull herself up and on to it. Her balance was shaky, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t fall.

“Okay! Let me get the window and I’ll pull you up.” She said, before playing around with the window’s lock.

Luckily, the window was barred only with a small latch, to keep it closed during windy days, and it was a simple matter to quickly flick it open. A light breeze started to flow in, the air fresh thanks to the rain, though with a touch of ozone thanks to the nearby lightning. The windows were open now, and it was just a matter of hauling up the other pony before they could both make their daring escape.

“How are you going to pull me up there, anyway?” Trix asked.

“Hmm... oh! I know! Turn around and lift your tail, I’ll pull you up with that!”

“But that’ll hurt!”

“Oh, suck it up, you big foal.” She said, sticking out her tongue.

With a huff, the azure pony turned and lifted her tail up to the windowsill for her friend to grab on. She clenched her eyes shut in preparation for the sting, and propped her legs against the wall in anticipation for the sudden climb.

With a quick snap, Pinkamena clamped down on to her friend’s tail, causing Trixie to wince slightly and whimper, before pulling back with all of her might, trying to lift up her friend. For a short moment, it looked like it was going to work, but suddenly, she slipped and lost her footing, falling right out of the window and taking the other filly with her.

With a sudden scream, Trixie was lifted up and over the windowsill, and down in to a bush along with her friend, the two now scrambling on top of one another in the dark, trying to get upright and avoid getting all scratched up by the branches.

“Get off!”

“No, you!”

“You’re on my tail!”

“You’re on my horn!”

The two continued their quiet shouting match, passing instructions back and forth to one another in their own ways, and soon, in the dark of night, the two had managed to untangle themselves and sit on plain old grass, panting heavily from the exertion. As they started to catch their breath, they began to converse once more.

“Can... can you do that thing with the light, again?” Pinks asked.

“I don’t know... let me... catch my breath another minute.”

Pinkamena blew a raspberry at the thought of having to wait, but, she figured she could use the bit of rest as well. Soon, Trixie had regained her strength, and her focused face returned as she conjured up a simple light on the tip of her horn, “Hah! I can still do it! Also... you look ridiculous!” She said, giggling madly as she looked to her friend who have leaves and sticks sticking out of her hair.

“You don’t so good yourself!” The pink filly replied, bursting out into a fit of giggles.

The azure pony seemed to be in a similar state, leaves and sticks sticking out at odd angles from her mane and tail. She was about to huff, but she couldn’t help it, and joined in to the giggling, the two of them eventually bursting into full laughter.

As they laughed, the sleepy voice of one of the fillies in the room called out, “Pinkamena... Trixie! Keep it down and go to sleep...”

Both of the friends quickly clamped their hooves around their mouths, hoping that whoever that was didn’t catch the fact that they were now outside. With some shifty eyes, Pinkamena quickly looked around to assess the situation and whispered, “Let’s get out of here!”

With a quick nod, Trixie began to run off in the direction of the nearby hills that the two liked to play on during the day, and Pinkamena followed along. Together, the two of them made for the hills, Trix’s light guiding the way the entire time.

Once they were on top of the hill, they began to dance around and play, bounding this way and that, wrestling or getting in to play fights, and generally being little friends having a wonderful time together. Still, as they played, the time went on, and the wild energy that came to all little ponies was soon replaced with tired exhaustion.

Pinks collapsed onto the grass once she had felt all played out, and rested her head on her hooves as she turned her gaze to the stars, “The sky is really pretty tonight...”

Soon, Trix plopped down next to her and leaned against her for support and warmth, “Hmm... yeah, it is really nice out...” She said before letting out a loud yawn, “But why do I haveta be too tired to enjoy it?”

“I know what you mean... silly night, being around when we’re all tired... we should stay up late every night like this, get used to it, and then we can watch the night sky together more often.” The pink pony replied.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Pinks!” The azure filly said excitedly.

“Totally... it’ll be really... Oh! Wow! Lookit!” She said suddenly, pointing a pink hoof up into the sky.

Trixie quickly looked up to see what her friend was talking about, and it was there that she saw it. A shooting star, streaking across the sky in a brilliant light.

“Quick! Let’s make a wish!”

“What should we wish for?”

“Hmm... oh, how about...” Trix said, leaning over to whisper in her friend’s ear.

After listening in, she gave a nod, and in unison, they spoke, “We wish that we could be friends forever and ever!”

The two broke out into small giggles as they made their wish and the star vanished in to the oblivion of space. With their wish completed, the two got closer, too tired to walk all the way back to the orphanage, and snuggled up for warmth.

Pinks smiled sleepily as she leaned over and nuzzled Trix’s head lightly. Her friend gave a smile and draped a hoof over Pinkamena, leaning over to make her mane in to a comfy pillow.

And like that, the two fillies fell asleep, kept safe from the chill of night by the warmth of their friendship.

The two friends had gotten into a lot of trouble the next day due to not being in their beds in the morning, though this was nothing new for either of them. After they had been found sleeping on the hills, well past their normal wake up time, the two of them had been scolded and sent in to time out, but it couldn’t really hold them for long.

Pinkamena and Trixie had escaped from their time out prison rather quickly the very moment their matron had gone to deal with the other children, and the two went off to create all kinds of chaos in the town, all in the name of playful fun. Neither of them ever caused any real damage, only a nuisance on the worst of days, and an amusing distraction on the best of them, making the friends rather infamous around Hoofington.

They continued their playing and fighting interchangeably, but their friendship always remained, getting stronger and stronger with each passing day. In the nights that followed their little outing under the stars, they kept managing to sneak out to enjoy the fresh air, despite the efforts of their matron. No locks could hold the two of them, no time outs could keep them penned up, nothing could stop them. They were both tiny forces of playful nature, and could not be contained.

Nearly a week after their first outing, the two of them now found themselves having snuck out of the orphanage once again, already making their way for the hills, quiet giggles filling the air as they had a great time feeling like they were being bad.

“I’m winning, Trix!”

“No you aren’t, Pinks!”

The two of them were racing to the hills, trying to be the first one to reach the highest point of the tallest hill. Trixie usually had the advantage, as she was their light source, and every time Pinkamena got too far ahead, she’d lose most of her light and start to trip up. Though, this was becoming less and less of a problem, as the azure pony’s magical light grew a little brighter each night.

Tonight, however, fortune was in the pink pony’s favour, and she reached the top of the hill first, “I did it! Hee!” She said, giggling happily and dancing on the spot.

Her victory was short lived, however, as a streak of blue suddenly careened in to her, Trixie being a bit of a sore loser. A wrestling match began as the two tackled and tickled and grappled each other in an attempt to claim another victory under their metaphorical belts. They had long ago lost count of just who had most wins between them, but they didn’t care. The competition was always a way for them to have fun and for them to strengthen their bonds.

Despite her winning the race, or perhaps, because she wore herself out by winning, Pinkamena was now pinned by a grinning Trixie, “I win this one, Pinks!”

The pink pony blew a raspberry up at her friend, her face contorting into a pout, “Yeah well... only cause I let you win!”

Trix gasped, “I won fair and square, for I am Great and Powerful.”

Pinks rolled her eyes at that, “You aren’t going to give that up, are you?”

“Nope!”

The two friends began to laugh as the azure pony let her friend go and plopped onto the hill, ready to begin stargazing. They would probably fall asleep out here again; they had gotten used to sleeping out under the stars, using each other for warmth and comfort. Neither minded, as it was always a nice and fun experience, letting the two spend time together in the peace and quiet of the of the night.

Pinkamena laid down on top of Trixie’s back, using her as a pillow tonight, “My turn for the comfy seat!”

“Aww...”

Pinks giggled lightly as she got comfortable, her gaze turning towards the sky. The night was ever beautiful, with the stars in the sky twinkling for the two gleeful ponies to enjoy. As they spent their time star gazing, they suddenly saw that a star seemed to be moving quite erratically.

“Hey, what’s wrong with that star?” Trixie asked.

“I’m not sure...”

They watched the star in curiosity, and from the looks of it, it seemed to be flying towards them in a chaotic flight pattern. A small worry began to grow as the light began to grow bigger and bigger, and soon, the light wasn’t just a light at all, it was a very far away pony. At least, they thought it to be a pony.

As it drew closer, they began to grow frightened, stumbling up and off one another in an attempt to get standing, just in case they had to run. However, their gazes simply couldn’t leave the sight of the incoming pony. They watched as the light grew bigger, and they began to see just who, or what, was approaching them.

They had seen pictures of Princess Celestia before. They knew that she was an alicorn, made up of all the pony races, a goddess with the power to control the celestial bodies. This was why when they saw the incoming pony, they knew that she, or it, too, was an alicorn, one that held untold power.

It’s mane, in fact, it’s entire body, was an amalgam of everything and nothing, shifting from all of the colors of the spectrum, showing images of things long forgotten or of events to come, creating random objects one moment and then destroying them the next. The very image of this pony could only be described by one word: Chaos.

With neither of them realizing it, the pony had approached them, or rather, their town, and now hovered a short distance away, its eyes scanning the area. The figure then broke into a large, malicious smile as it looked out to the town.

An intense power began to gather around it, its image one of pure chaos shrinking and focusing into a coherent ball. The strange forces that surrounded it before now all focused into the sphere, leaving the two fillies with an idea of what it, or rather, she, looked like. Her coat was the color of pure white light, every single color mixed into one perfect shade that reflected all light that touched it.

The two fillies seemed to become slowly mesmerized by what they were witnessing, their eyes glazing over at the majesty of the alicorn floating above them, as well as the beauty of the sphere she was creating.

All of a sudden, after minutes of gathering her chaos in to the sphere, the alicorn spoke.

“Beware Celestia... for I shall see burn all that you love.”

Upon her face grew a psychotic, malicious smile that sent a chill down the spines of the two friends, causing Trixie to let out a squeak of terror, the first sound either ponies had made since the arrival of the alicorn.

Her gaze suddenly shifted from the town down to the sound, down to the two fillies below her. Her grin widened as she began to fly downwards and down towards the ground slightly, “Wouldn’t be right to leave them homeless...” She said to herself with a sadistic grin.

Now, the two fillies were positioned between her and Hoofington, allowing her to get them as well. Slowly, her eyes closed, and for the briefest of moments, she looked calm, almost serene.

And then her eyes shot open, her horn glowed brightly, her face bore a look of pure insanity, and she released her sphere of chaos.

The orb flew towards the two fillies, their eyes wide in shock.

Trixie didn’t know what to do, save for cower beside her friend.

Pinkamena, on the other hand, decided to act.

Even at such a young age, she would gladly give herself up to protect her best friend; she wouldn’t let a thing happen to her.

She didn’t know if it would work, but she had to try it.

She ran forward, towards the blast, and jumped.

Chaos is a strange thing. It is a force of nature that determines the concept of chance in everything, the energy that flows through all things in existence that causes things to act in opposition to order. It fills everypony and everything alongside order. It is the possibility for anything and everything to happen at any given moment. Chaos cannot behave along any sort of pattern, for to follow a pattern would be to give it order. Chaos is the unpredictable, the random, the unexpected.

This is why, when Pinkamena threw herself in front of the orb, instead of obliterating her as the alicorn intended, something unexpected happened.

The energy seemed to flow directly into the pink pony, the chaos of the blast shifting and changing as it all slowly merged with the filly. All of the powers of chaos that the alicorn had focused into the orb, that she had expected to get back after her mayhem had been complete, was now fusing with Pinkamena.

The alicorn had had several millennia to focus her power, to make some form of sense of it and learn to both control it, and be it.

Pinkamena was only six.

In an instant, the entire universe was at her beck and call, all of the information of the past, present, and future became known to her all at once.

It was too much.

And she screamed.

She landed upon the ground in a violently writhing heap, her hooves clenched to the side of her head as she let out a wail so loud and terrible, everypony in the entire town was suddenly awakened in a cold sweat. Every window shattered violently as the sound permeated through Hoofington, into every crevice of every pony mind around.

Ponies from all over the town began to get out of bed, rushing around in a panic at the sound of the voice, unknowing exactly what they should do about it. some fled the area, some tried to hide, and a brave few made their way towards the source, hoping to put a stop to whatever was going on.

Trixie watched on in horror as her best friend, her friend that she realized had intended to sacrifice herself for her sake, and had essentially succeeded, flop around on the ground in the greatest torment she had ever seen. She watched as Pinkamena spasmed violently, writhing around as she screamed, screamed because she had taken the blow that was meant for them all.

She tried to get close to her friend, wanting to try and ease her pain, but no matter how hard she tried, the erratic forces that were barely contained within the pink pony flicked her away at every attempt. Again and again she tried to come to her friend’s aid. Even after she was deafened from the screams and bruised from being thrown back, she still pressed on.

Minutes passed, and battered and bruised, Trixie found herself unable to move any longer, unable to go and help her dearest friend. She felt powerless, she felt helpless. She didn’t know what to do.

And so, she cried.

Up above, the alicorn watch the scene unfold below, waiting patiently for her power to return to so that she may continue her task. But as time passed, a look of frustration appeared on her face as Pinkamena refused to let the energy go, refused to be obliterated, refused to die and release her power. It was rightfully hers, and she refused to let an Equestrian take her greatest gift away from her.

The furious pony began to nose dive, straight towards the writhing pony on the ground. Despite lacking her greatest gift, she was still an alicorn, and still wielded some of her god-like powers. She understood chaos, and in understanding, she could pierce through the forces around the pink pony and end her in order to get her powers back.

But mere feet from her target, she suddenly froze in place, eyes wide in fear, for in the dead of night, the light of the sun shined brightly across the land, and in it was the silhouette of her most hated foe.

Celestia.

Normally she would never outright fear the Princess, her gift of chaos making her an essential force of nature. Her death would banish chaos, and in turn, banish order, for all things must have its opposite to exist. With neither force, the world would tear itself apart and be destroyed. She needed to exist for their entire world to exist.

But at this very moment, she was no longer the bearer of chaos. The very thing that ensured her life was not in her possession. She was vulnerable.

A single thought screamed through her mind.

Run.

The alicorn turned tail and flew, her magic gathering in her horn as she prepared a spell.

She felt heat at her tail, she knew what was behind her.

In an instant, she felt her tail burned away, her flanks scarred by fire.

And she teleported, vanishing back to her far away land, her mission failed.

Celestia frowned deeply, her concentrated solar flare having failed to end one of her great enemies in her time of vulnerability, the time in which she was no longer necessary to the universe. She had sensed the presence of another alicorn on her lands, and acted as fast as she could. Her enemies rarely made it past the Equestrian border without her knowledge, and every time they did, she was always able to repel them either with her soldiers, or her own powers. This had been the farthest they had gotten in years, and it worried her greatly.

But, there were other matters to attend to now.

With the light of day in the middle of the night, the ponies of Hoofington were becoming braver by the moment, and soon began to move towards the sounding of the horrid wailing. None of them knew what was happening, and those that saw the pink pony writhing in unimaginable pain upon the ground didn’t know what to do. None of them tried anything, especially after seeing the battered Trixie crying nearby, save for one certain pony.

“Pinkamena!” Cried Summer Song.

She ran forth to try and help her young ward, unknowing of the true dangers that may hold, only wanting to try and save one of her little ones. However, she was stopped dead in her tracks when a beautiful white wing unfurled in front of her, clouding her vision and stopping her in her tracks.

“Don’t get any closer! I’m already amazed the power hasn’t obliterated her already. But, fear not, she’s held on this long, and if she can hold on a little longer, I can help her.” The Princess said.

With tears in her eyes, the matron quickly lowered her head in a bow, “Thank you so much, Princess. Please, save her!”

“I will do what I can, but not here.”

“What?”

Without another word, Celestia walked forward towards the still screaming pink filly, a calm look on her face even as the chaotic forces smashed against her magics. She couldn’t do what she needed to do here, there was too much risk to the town, she had to move. Her horn glowed brightly for a moment, and with a strong burst of magic, she sent the the screaming filly away, teleporting her to a safe location in the middle of nowhere.

The sound of the wailing died down, and a peace reigned over the town, despite the shattered windows and half asleep ponies gathered around. Quickly, she turned back to the town and its ponies. With another spell, all of the glass that was scattered around suddenly floated itself up and went back to it’s rightful place, every window fixing itself, and any trace of the writhing filly had been removed.

Her next action was one she despised above all else, but in order to maintain their happiness, she had to.

“Everypony! Please, look at the light!” She commanded.

Obediently, her subjects looked up towards her horn, which was now glowing brightly as she began to cast her spell. This was a hard and draining spell on her, and one she loathed, but one that she felt was necessary as times. Her ponies gave out an awe as they watched her, as they watched the spell that was being cast upon them all.

And then, her horn let out a flash, leaving everypony around, save herself, with a dazed look on her face.

“Everypony, thank you all for coming out here in the middle of the night to help me with my new solar patterns. However, I think I will stick to the normal day and night cycle. I apologize to all you ponies who were looking forward to what I had in store, but, sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. You can all go back to your homes now and catch up on your sleep. Sorry to have been such a bother.” She said in her voice reserved for speeches.

The ponies in the crowd looked around dazedly and confused as they heard Celestia’s words, but soon, some began to snap out of it, starting to cheer to their Princess and letting her know that it wasn’t any trouble and they were happy to help.

It pained her to do it, but she had to. She had to make them forget, or rather, suppress their memories of the night that had just passed, the memories of the other alicorn and the pink pony who now bore such power. To keep the war a secret, and to keep them happy, she had to make them forget.

Ignorance was bliss, after all.

All of a sudden, she heard a light sniffling coming from nearby, and as she turned her head, she finally spotted the little azure filly, curled up on the ground, nearly out of sight thanks to a crevice in the hills, battered and bruised. She knew her spell had even affected her, but she was still hurt, and as far as the filly knew, she had no idea why.

Pity welled up inside of the Princess. She had to make this right as well before she made her leave. With her magic, she lifted the pony out of the crevice and onto the grass, and with a quick healing spell, removed all of her bruises and scrapes. Slowly, Trixie stood up, finding herself physically able all of a sudden, her gaze fixated on the majestic pony in front of her.

“There you go, little one. I’ve fixed all your wounds so nothing should be hurting, you don’t have to cry anymore. Now, I must be off. Run back home and take care of yourself.” The Princess said before taking to the skies, flying off towards where she had sent the forgotten pink pony.

Trixie watched as the Princess flew off, and shot up a hoof as if trying to catch her, “Wait! But... but it still hurts...” She said, placing a hoof right over her heart, “It still hurts right here...”

Tears fell down her face as she felt the pain welling up inside of her, gathering up in the hole she now had in her heart.

Celestia flew through the skies, away from Hoofington and in to parts unknown. At least, unknown to most ponies. The Princess knew every square inch of land that was in Equestria, she knew every secret the land held, even if she didn’t know every secret its ponies held. It was in this remote area that she had sent that poor filly, the one she was now flying towards in order to help.

She was flying at the moment so that she could think of ways that she could help. She had domain over the celestial bodies, not chaos. While her power was formidable in general, there was a limit to what she could do with another alicorn’s domain. She had to be incredibly delicate if she wished to save the life of the filly and the chaos itself, for without it, she knew they were all doomed.

For nearly a minute of her flight she had also contemplated something that made her sick because she had considered it for so long, and because she had even considered it at all. Some part of mind had told her that she could simply leave the filly as is, put a containment spell of sorts around her to keep her from destroying herself, and using her as nothing but a vessel for the chaos to inhabit, leaving her enemies weak. But the thought of that poor filly, screaming in horrid agony for the rest of her life, was something she simply couldn’t allow.

Soon, she touched down, and in all her thinking, she still had no solution to the problem. Before her, the filly that needed her so very much right now was still letting out her never ending scream, a supernatural shriek that lasted as long as her pain, but most likely only told a tenth of her torment. The sight broke her heart, and she cursed herself for having taken as long as she had to have come to her aid.

Unable to wait any longer, and with only a shred of a plan, she leaned forward and placed her horn upon Pinkamena’s head.

With a small glow of magic, she entered into the chaotic landscape of the filly’s mind.

The inside of her mind was unbelievable. Information on a universal scale danced around her to and fro, some of it moving fast, and some of it moving slow. It was almost enough to completely overwhelm the Princess, and if simply looking at it was nearly enough to overwhelm a centuries old entity, she could only imagine what it must be like for the six year old experiencing it now.

First things first, she had to try and find what was left of the pony’s own mind, if there was even anything left. From there, she could take measures to make this easier on her, maybe even fix her completely. The sights and sounds assaulting her from all direction distracted her to no end, everything at once keeping her from finding any shred of Pinkamena left in this place. But thankfully, she knew something that could help her.

Every alicorn had a small measure of power over each other’s domains, depending on how focused the domain owner was at the time, and while she had little power over the forces of order and chaos, she still had some. She focused her magical powers, while not a match for the essence of chaos as a whole, she was still able to dampen it slightly with what meager control she had over the force of order. She just hoped she went unnoticed, or she might get cut off, and then she would be in trouble.

As she focused hard to force order upon the landscape around her, the chaotic images and sensations around her began to recede, retreating to the far corners of the pony’s mind, but it wouldn’t last long.

That was when she heard it. As the chaotic sounds subsided, she was able to hear the sounds of somepony sobbing off in the distance of the mind scape. At first, she thought nothing of it, but as the sound persisted she grew suspicious. Chaos was all about change, and for something to last this long was highly improbable, but, she had to be cautious, for literally anything could happen here.

Soon, as she approached the sound, she broke into a full gallop as she saw what she had been looking for this entire time. In a small, untouched patch of her mind, Pinkamena sat there, crying deeply as the chaos swarmed around her.

“Hello, little one.” Said the princess.

Instantly, the pink pony’s gaze shot up towards the alicorn in her mind. She knew this pony, she remembered this pony somehow, she knew that this pony could help her. Somehow, she knew.

Celestia almost reeled back as she saw the pink pony dash forward, but when she felt the little one wrap around her leg for dear life, she calmed somewhat.

“P-Please... help me... make the hurting stop!” Pinkamena pleaded.

At those words, the Princess’ heart nearly broke, and she vowed to try at least something.

“Don’t worry my little pony, I will do whatever I can to help you.”

“Thank you... t-thank you.” The pink pony said, sobbing between her words.

Slowly, the alicorn raised her head, looking out towards the mindscape for some sort of idea as to what she could possibly do to help. As she watched the chaos around her, she began to notice it pushing against the walls of the pink pony’s mind, as if all of it was trying to get out in one massive burst that threatened to obliterate the filly that was containing it. It was then that an idea came to her, one that might just work.

She had to release the pressure.

With the thought in mind, she began to focus her magic on to a single point nearby, aiming to make this as precise and painless as possible, “I’m sorry, little one, but this is going to hurt a little. But all of this should be over soon.”

The filly around her leg only continued to cry, and her resolve to heal this pony seemed to strengthen greatly. In the best case scenario, Pinkamena would be free of the chaos. In the worst case scenario... she wouldn’t have to feel the pain for much longer.

Suddenly, her horn glowed brightly, and with a grunt of effort, she let loose a small, concentrated blast of magical energy, one that collided with the walls containing the chaos. She kept her focus, putting all that she could into making sure the place stayed in tact, keeping her concentration on keeping the tiny hole she had made from getting any bigger.

Pinkamena’s eyes immediately widened as she felt a sudden rush of relief after a sharp, stinging sensation. She looked around in awe as all the tremendous force that was once tormenting her suddenly rushed out of the small hole that the Princess had created. The intense pressure she had been feeling was vanishing rapidly as it was released.

 Celestia, on the other hand, was struggling. While the little one was safe and sound in her own mind, unable to leave it without the aid of a certain few spells, none of which she had cast, the Princess herself wasn’t so grounded. The energies that were flowing past her rapidly were sucking her in to the hole she had made like a vacuum. She felt her footing begin to slip,  and despite her efforts to flap her wings, the pull was simply too strong for her in this place.

And so, along with the force of chaos, she was ejected from the pink pony’s mind.

Celestia gave a scream as she was suddenly returned to the real world, flying backwards away from where she had originally been standing, and smashing hard into a tree. Thankfully, the tree broke before her back did, but she knew it was going to leave a mark for a few hours.

She picked herself up as gracefully as she could manage while covered in branches and leaves, “Well, that was... violent. Are you alright, little one?” She called out, turning her head towards the little filly.

Her eyes widened at the sight she saw.

Right next to the filly was a scar in the earth, which she had expected due to the escaping chaos. However, what she wasn’t expecting was what happened to the one she was trying to help.

Pinkamena was no longer writhing on the ground in pain, instead, she now stood on all fours, crackling energy sparking off of her body, striking the ground around her. Her hair was still as straight as ever, though almost eerily so, as she didn’t have a single hair out of place, despite all of her flailing around earlier. But the most striking thing, her face, sent a cold chill down the alicorn’s spine.

Never, in all of her centuries of existence, had she ever been made witness to a look of hellish hate and fury.

Cautiously, she began to approach the seething filly. She knew she could most likely handle her, but there was still a great risk when dealing with somepony who looked like that.

“...Little one? Are you alright?” The Princess asked.

“...where...” The pink pony replied.

“Excuse me?”

“Where!”

Celestia was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but she pressed on, “Where? Where is what?”

“WHERE IS SHE!” Pinkamena shouted, the ground around her shaking.

“Where is who?” The Princess tentatively asked.

“Where is the one who did this to me?” She asked in reply, her voice suddenly growing cold and icy.

“Why do you want to know? And why do you want to do what I think you’re going to do?” She asked, wanting to get the full story before she made any dangerous decisions.

“Why? Why? WHY! I want to make her suffer, I want to make her pay in full for what she did! I will not stop until I end her! And why do I want to do this? You know! I know that you do! But let me put it in scope for you... The chaos didn’t want to get out of me. No. It liked it in my head. Even if it got bored and wanted to leave, for a split second, it wanted to stay, and that was enough. I couldn’t process all that it was and all that it meant, it knew that, and so, it sped me up. I don’t know by how many times, but it sped up my mind so that I could process it in its entirety, so that I could learn it, gain the experience I needed to handle it.

“It felt like years, even decades, the torment never ending as I was assaulted over and over and over again as it tried to force me to experience it! The pain was endless, never before had I ever experienced anything even remotely similar. And the worst part? By the time I began to understand it, just a little... that was when it got bored! That was when my pain changed. My mind slowed down again and I was forced to experience at its normal, blindingly fast pace; all while it was trying to destroy me from the inside.

“Over and over I saw the ever changing chaos in its whole, no breaks, just moment after moment of pain. Each second I spent in there was agonizing, my only relief being that, for every second of agonizing torture that came, I forgot the last. If it wasn’t for you, I would have experienced that hellish nightmare until I died... BUT! When you finally did fix me, the extra space in my head was now suddenly with the memories the chaos had been pushing aside to make room for itself. I can’t remember all of it, that’s impossible, but I remember the pain it made me feel for the entire time. All. Because. Of HER!” Pinkamena screamed out, the rage upon her face intensifying to heights that made Celestia back away, scared for her safety for the first time in centuries.

“I know you want her dead as much as I do, Princess. I don’t remember much besides the pain, but I do remember some of the glimpses of the past that I was shown, some maybe even of the future. I know about your feud... maybe not the extent, but I know that you hate her, that you’ve tried to kill her in the past. I will do it! With or without you, I will do this. For what she did to me... I will make her PAY!”

A frigid chill went up the Princess’ spine, never having heard such strong conviction to hate in all of her years. This pony wanted cold blooded revenge, and she was sure if she stood in her way, she’d be attacked as well. She had to help quell this pony’s rage somehow, and fast. As she thought on it, she remembered that she did indeed have some way to help this, a much more reliable way than the half-baked plan she had come up with earlier.

“I have a proposition for you, little one.”

“...What is it?” Pinkamena asked in reply.

“I’m offering you three things. The first is a way for which you can ease your pain, to block it from your mind so that you don’t have to remember what she did to you all the time. The second is training and time. While I can block the memories, I can’t remove them, and, in fact, I can bring them back. I can bring them back so that you can remember why you are on this quest for vengeance, and remember how to control what power I still feel coming from you. The third thing I offer you is a fresh start in my employ. At times, you will be able to forget all about this, and others, you will remember, and I will take you directly to her lands, so that you can enact whatever vengeance you desire.”

Pinkamena grew quiet as she heard this. One one hoof, it was stalling her from her goals. But on the other, it was a plan to make her stronger... and to help her forget the pain.

“You helped me. You saved my life... and I owe you more than anything. If you can make me stronger, and make me forget then... I will do as you ask on one condition.”

“And that is?”

“I only want to forget the pain, nothing else. I don’t want to forget about anything else! It feels like I’ve forgotten things already thanks to all of this, and I want to hold on to everything I have left, except for the pain.”

“Hmm... you do realize that some of the things I tell you must be kept a secret, yes?”

“I know. I owe you more than you can imagine... I will keep everything you tell me a secret. I swear to you. So please... help me forget this, but don’t let me forget what she did to me..”

Celestia gave the pink filly a nod, understand what she was saying, “Very well. I’ll take us to my palace, and there, I will do everything in my power to help you. Come, let us go.”

The filly didn’t even respond, only waiting expectantly for the Princess to make her move.

The alicorn closed her eyes, her horn began to glow, and in a flash of light, the two were gone, teleported away to the city of Canterlot.

“Are you certain you want to do this yourself, your majesty?” A unicorn wearing a lab coat asked as she scribbled some notes on to a floating clipboard.

“I am, Sterling. I want to have as much of a hoof in this as I can. I do want to help her, but at the same time, our goals are the same at the moment, for the most part. In order to get her to come here, I agreed to help her out, and she agreed to enter my employ, in time. She has the makings of one of the elite, and I wish to gain as much of her loyalty as I can before placing her in that position.”

Sterling’s eyes widened, the clipboard he had been levitating dropping to the ground with a clatter, “Are... are you certain, Princess? Her? But she can’t be more than six or seven years old, and already, you’re considering her for the elites?”

“I am. There is something about her that will make her perfect for it for it. She has... oh, look, a demonstration, albeit a small one.” She said, nodding towards the one way glass in front of them.

The unicorn turned his gaze towards where Celestia had indicated, and he grew curious. Behind the one way glass, in a perfectly flat, white room, stood Pinkamena. Her furious look from before returning after a calm lull in her emotions, and with her rage, came her power. Small flecks of energy spilled off of her with every angry twitch, though it was much more subdued than it had been before, as she wasn’t causing damage this time.

“How is that even possible? She isn’t a unicorn, she should be able to use any kind of magic!”

“She’s not wielding magic, Sterling. What she has is something beyond magic, even though it is in a small dose. She has a fraction of a domain.”

Sterling’s mouth hung open as he contemplated this. This filly held a fraction of a domain, a domain that normally only alicorns could possibly have access too. Even at a fraction, that still granted her power beyond that which anypony of the three major races could ever wield. It was utterly fascinating, and as far as he knew, impossible.

“How... how is that even possible? Nopony, except maybe rare and powerful unicorns, should be able to have even a fraction of an alicorn’s domain.” He asked breathlessly.

“Normally this is true, exceptionally powerful unicorns can influence what we do in very slight amounts, but when it comes to chaos... anything can happen. From what I’ve judged, she still somehow holds a tenth of the energy she had originally contained that nearly destroyed her earlier. She explained to me what she experienced during those short minutes, and it sounded like the chaos was trying to make her its new mistress by force. She was just starting to learn when it changed its mind, though. I managed to have a large portion of it leave, back to its original mistress, but for some reason, some stayed behind... I have no exact idea why or how, just a few theories, some of which I just told you.

“But... right now, she’s still a little unstable, and it will take a few years before she can gain the experience and practice required to even so much as vaguely wield her new found powers. She wants to do it, though. she wants to go through with it. But she also wants to stop hurting, stop the painful memories, and I want that for her as well.”

“I... I see, Princess. Very well then, I will take the notes, and keep a guard on standby just in case.”

“Thank you, Sterling. wish me luck.” She said as she made her way towards the white room.

“Good luck, Princess.” He replied before waving over a gold plated unicorn guard to be on standby.

As Celestia entered the room, Pinkamena slowly turned her head, turned it much farther than she should have been able. The Princess winced at the sight, “Little one... do you think you could turn the rest of yourself around as well?”

“Very well.” The pink pony replied before turning her body around to face the alicorn, “Pinkamena.”

“Excuse me?”

“You keep calling me little one. My name is Pinkamena, Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

Celestia nodded, “Very well, Pinkamena.”

“What are you going to do to me to make me forget?”

“Well... I can’t actually make you forget, but I can lock it away, simply remove it from the forefront of your mind, forcing it away whenever you may recall it. Only a certain phrase will allow those memories to resurface once again, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes. However, it will be something I keep a secret from you, so that you don’t say it accidentally.” She said.

“You also want it as a fail-safe, so that I don’t try to turn against you.”

Celestia seemed shocked at the words, stepping back slightly, “What do you mean?”

“It’s still here... I can still see things sometimes. Maybe not now, but... I saw myself returning from... somewhere... and you were... not scared, but worried.”

“I... I see... I will have to keep that in mind, then. How does that make you feel?”

“I have experienced the worst torment imaginable. Not being trusted by you is nothing compared to that.”

“I understand.”

“Now can you please get on with this? I’m doing all I can to stay civilized with you right now, and I would appreciate it if you hurried.”

“Right, of course. Please, stare at the pendulum.”

With a quick shimmering of her horn, a pendulum appeared in mid air, and obediently, Pinkamena began to watch as it swung back and forth. She was going to try something she had learned centuries ago as a means to help her ponies forget the war.

“Stare at the pendulum, Pinkamena Diane Pie. Let its hypnotic flow wash over you.”

As the pink pony watched the pendulum rock back and forth, the magically enhanced hypnotism began to take its effect as her eyes glazed over.

“Good... let your eyelids go heavy... let the magic enter your mind and do its work...” Celestia said in a monotone.

“Yes...” Pinkamena replied, almost sleepily.

“As my magic takes hold of you, it will feel as if you’re forgetting, as if the thoughts that plague you will be moved aside. You may choose anything to take its place, but only after I give you the word. Do you understand?”

“Yes...”

The Princess nodded, continuing with process, “You have expressed your want to help me against the one who has harmed you, if only to get your revenge. From this point onwards, you are now in my employ, and will be treated as such, and reap the benefits that come with it, though at times, you will be called into duty, which you seem more than eager to do. You will only work for me in your state of rage. I hereby bestow upon you the codename Havoc, to be used at any time you are like this. Do you understand, and do you agree?”

“Yes... and yes...”

“You will only be referred to by your codename while you are in this state, and will answer to nothing else. Do you understand, Pinkamena?”

The pink pony gave no response.

“Do you understand, Havoc?”

“Yes...”

“Good. After I have placed the block, and any time when you are not Havoc... then you can be whoever you want to be. Be the pony you’ve always wanted to be without anything holding you back. Please...” She said, her voice cracking slightly, “When you are not Havoc, I just want for you to be whatever you want to be. Do you understand, Havoc?” She asked, her voice returning to its monotone.

“Yes...”

“Very well then. The process of blocking your memories shall begin... First, bring up the memories if you have not already. Bring them to the forefront of your mind. When you have done so, throw them into a chest. I then want you to lock the chest and bury it beneath the ground, and unless I deem it so, you are to never retrieve the chest, nor are you ever to open it without my permission. Do you understand, Havoc?”

“Y... yes...”

Havoc began to twitch slightly, the memories angering her and wrestling against the hold of the magical hypnotism. But, soon, she began to visibly calm, her eyes closing and her head lowering itself towards the ground, her body following along as she slowly laid herself on to the ground. Celestia started to smile as she realized that it was working, her ancient methods putting this pony at ease.

Curiously, the filly’s coat began to change slightly in shade. While she had always been a mix of two shades of pink for her pelt and hair respectively, they seemed to be brighter now, almost happier to have had the weight lifted from it.

The Princess gave a small smile, and she slowly leaned down to nudge the filly with her head, “You can wake up now, Pinkamena.”

Slowly, the now bright pink pony stirred awake, her eyes blinking blearily for a moment before letting out a long, loud yawn. All of a sudden, a look of wonder and curiosity filled her face as she began to look around the room, and herself, rapidly, her eyes darting every which way. It was a huge step up from the fury Celestia had witnessed before, at least.

Suddenly, an immense smile spread across her face as she looked towards the alicorn, her eyes glistening in the light, “You did it! You did it! Thank you sooooo much!” She said, her fore-legs suddenly stretching out to wrap the Princess in a hug.

What shocked Celestia the most was not the sudden burst of joy or the hug, but the fact that Pinkamena’s legs had stretched to several feet in length in order to start it, “Pinkamena, are you okay?”

“I feel amazing! I have never ever felt so super duper fantabulous in my whole life! This is great! I can’t thank you enough! Oooo... chocolate!”

The alicorn looked to the pink pony curiously, wondering just what she was talking about, but after following her gaze to the one way glass, she began to suspect something. With a flick of her horn, the spell that helped keep the glass one way suddenly vanished, and on the other side, she saw that her special guard apparently got hungry and was now munching on a chocolate bar, freezing as he found himself caught.

She frowned disapprovingly, making a note to have a word with him about that, but all of it was forgotten a moment later when something terribly unexpected occurred.

Someway, somehow, Pinkamena seemed to have popped out of the ceiling, and was now dangling upside down as she reached for the chocolate.

Celestia quickly turned to where she knew the filly had been sitting mere moments before, only to find that she was simply no longer there. When she returned her gaze to the chocolate eating guard, she found him clutching his chest in fright with the pink pony and his chocolate now missing, this was most curious.

“Mmm... chocolate-y goooodness.”

The Princess nearly jumped as she heard the voice coming from behind her, and with a quick turn of her head, she saw that Pinkamena was now sitting on her back, devouring the chocolate at a rate that would put any speed eater to shame.

With this new revelation, the alicorn began to piece things together, and figured that the remaining chaos within the filly was acting based on her whims, allowing her to do incredible things.

Now she wondered just how much of it the pink pony could control.

“Ms. Pie... do you know how you did that?” She asked.

“Did what?”

“Manage to get outside of this room in order to pilfer that chocolate?”

“Hmm... I dunno! It was just too good to pass up. I haven’t had chocolate in forever! And it made me sooo sad not having it! So, now, I have it! Or I did, but I ate it all. Hey, you got any more?” She asked excitedly.

Well, that gave her a few hints towards some of her questions, but it didn’t answer them completely. In time, she was sure she could figure out just what this pony was capable of in her happy and enraged states. For now, though, she was content with her accomplishments thus far; she had been fearing that the little filly would have never been able to feel happiness again after what had happened to her.

A smile graced her face as she began to speak, “Well, Pinkamena, you seem to be in high spirits. Is there anything you’d like to do?” She offered, wanting her to be as happy as can be on this day.

“Hmm... I’m not sure! I don’t remember a whole lotta stuff that I might want to do. Ooo! How about exploring? Yeah! I’d love to explore around... wherever this is.”

“Hmm... well, I can’t have you exploring around this place, but, I do know someplace with a lot of good sights to see. Would you like one of my guards to give you a tour?”

“That sounds great! Let’s do it.”

“Very well then.”

If not for the fact that she wanted some privacy with Sterling, she would have done the tour herself, but as it stood, she had to use a guard for the job, “You. You can make up for eating on the job by being the one to show this little one around. Show her around the whole palace, but try to avoid the kitchen, please.”

“Why avoid the kitchen?”

“Because... it’s messy.” She replied, lying as a precaution. Having witnessed the filly inhaling that chocolate bar made her worried that something was allowing her a greater than normal appetite. She’d test it out later, when the palace stores weren’t at risk.

Moments later, the gold plated pony came over to the two and helped to get the pink pony literally off of Celestia back, “I’ll see to it that she gets an amazing tour, ma’am.”

“See to it that you do. Take care now, Pinkamena.”

“Thank you, Princess! You have a good time too!” The pink filly replied before walking off with the guard for her tour of the palace.

Once the two were out of sight, Celestia made her way over to Sterling and took a look at his clipboard, “What did you observe?” She asked.

“Well, it took a bit of extra effort, but my spell worked. I was able to see all of the internal changes that were going on inside of her before, during, and after you altered her mind. Her body was barely solid before you began, most likely a result of the chaotic energies. Once you started the process, her energy output started to dive considerably, but nothing to note besides that. Once you finished, her chaotic output was tremendously low compared to before. It seems that when you locked away her memories, you also locked away a large portion of her power. She still has some, however, demonstrated with the stretching and the instant teleportation, but I have no idea how much of it she controls. But that should come in time.” He explained.

“Then I did the right thing in dividing her. She’ll now have her happy state where she has little power, and the state in which we can work towards a common goal. Thank you for your report, Sterling. You can head back to the laboratory now. Oh, and before I go, could I get an informal report on the progress of your project?” Asked Celestia.

“Oh, yes, of course. Things are progressing nicely, the shock absorbing spring component is needing some work in terms of durability and speed, but we should have that finished in a short time.”

“Good. Let me know as soon as you are past the prototype stage. I have a few candidates for initial use.”

“Already? Very well. Be safe, Princess.” Sterling said, bowing to her before making his leave.

“I will, Sterling. Now, to find out where Pinkamena is, she shouldn’t have been able to get far...”

When she returned to the aboveground portion of her palace, she made her way through the halls, making note of the crooked paintings and wrinkled carpets that were strewn about. It seemed that Pinkamena had been through here, and was acting more energetic than she had anticipated. It wasn’t hard to follow the trail of disorder in order to find the pink pony, but what amazed her was the ground she had managed to cover.

Upon finding the filly, however, she wasn’t sure what to make of the expression on her face. At the moment, she seemed to be sitting down in the middle of the hall, staring wide eyed at a brightly lit room for some reason. Behind her, the gold plated guard was sitting down, panting heavily, looking like he was glad to be able to have a break. Curious, Celestia approached.

“Pinkamena, what’s the matter?” She asked.

“What... is that?” Pinkamena replied, pointing a hoof towards the room.

Celestia tilted her head slightly, leaning over in order to get a look in to the room. Inside, a small gathering of ponies were chatting amongst themselves, some dancing to some quiet music, while others were eating sweets and drinking punch. Balloons and streamers lined the room, and a big banner that read ‘Happy Birthday Daisy Petal’ was stuck to one of the walls.

“Oh, that’s right, I had given them permission to use this room to celebrate the birthday of one of the palace servants, I almost forgot about it. Well, you see, this is a party, Pinkamena. A joyous celebration meant to make somepony feel appreciated, or to make all manner of ponies happy.”

“It’s... beautifuuuuuul!” The pink pony said before suddenly rushing into the room.

The Princess giggled lightly at Pinkamena’s antics, her own spirits being lifted by the other pony’s excitable nature. She thought for a moment, and upon finding that she couldn’t recall any appointments for the next few hours, decided to head into the festivities, if only to keep an eye on the little filly.

Her entrance made all of the ponies in the room stop what they were doing and greet her, bowing before their Princess, “Please, everypony. This is a celebration for Daisy Petal, just pretend like I’m not here.”

Although nopony actually did that, for they could never forget the presence of their Princess, they did go back to conversing amongst themselves, giving Celestia the occasional glance and a smile.

Suddenly, Pinkamena appeared in front of Celestia, her eyes widen in barely contained awe. The alicorn smiled down to her, “So, are you enjoying the party, Pinkamena?”

“It’s... it’s... It’s AMAZING!” She replied, throwing her hooves into the air as her mane and tail suddenly inflated, becoming a poofy, curly mess compared to the straight hair it had been before, “Parties are so amazing! They’re all I’ve ever wanted my whole life even though I only found out about them today, it’s like something that makes me feel soooo happy! I want to spread these things to the whole entire world!”

The filly’s enthusiasm brought a smile to the Princess’ face. However, moments later, she noticed something out of place, “Oh my... Pinkamena, look at your flank.”

“Huh? Why?” The pink pony asked. She did as she was told, however, and her face exploded with joy at the sight, “My cutie mark! I got my cutie mark! Oh, those balloons are so cute! This is the best day of my life!” She shouted as she began dancing on the spot.

“It is certainly looking that way... you enjoy this, Pinkamena... Enjoy it while you can.” She whispered, knowing just what she’ll be getting the filly to do in the future.

With a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she turned and left the pink pony behind, letting her enjoy the party while she went to go and think about the sacrifices she had made to protect her Kingdom and its ponies.

Eight Years Later

“Pinkamena, front and center.” Celestia said as she stood in the top secret palace bunker.

“Yes ma’am!” The filly said.

Pinkamena was nearly a mare now, only a few months away until she could be considered a true young mare, but for now, she was just an older filly. She had a great big smile on her face as she presented herself at attention to the Princess. Soon, however, she grew bored of it and her eyes began to wander. The room was the same debriefing room she had been in before; it was drab and boring, covered in maps and documents filled with who knows what.

The thing of note in the room were two other fillies her age, one was a rather serious looking earth pony with an orange coat and creepy looking cutie mark, and the other was a pegasus, more laid back, and had the most strangely colored mane and tail she had ever seen, and it looked great! Though, for the time being, neither of them spoke to her, and since Celestia seemed serious, she’d rather not chance it.

“I have another mission for you, but this one will have a little extra to it. As an elite---” She was suddenly cut off by somepony in the room yelling aloud.

“WHAT! She’s an elite? You told me they were supposed to be the best of the baddest ponies in all of Equestria! She’s just some party girl” The laid back pony suddenly exclaimed.

“Boom, do not interrupt me.” The Princess scolded, “And she is, even if she might not look it at the moment. And she will be the one to take you out on your test.”

Boom crossed her fore-legs and began to grumble to herself, though she did as the Princess asked to avoid her wrath.

“Now, as I was saying. Pinkamena, you’ll be going on a mission, but taking these two with you. I will be trusting you to keep an eye on them. They have both been strongly considered for joining the elite. They both have my recommendations, but first, I need an elite like you to see what they are capable of and judge them accordingly. Report back to me after the mission is over. Bucker will be in charge of your code phrase this time around, as I trust her completely. Is that understood?”

“Yes, ma’am! Clear as punch. Ooo! That’s what this place needs, some punch! And some balloons and streamers... Can I---”

“No, Pinkamena. I’ve told you before, no parties in the debriefing room.”

“Aww...” Pinkamena said, lowering her head.

“Princess Celestia?” Came the voice of Bucker.

“Yes, Bucker?” Celestia replied.

“You mentioned this code phrase before, but what’s it for.”

“You’ll have to wait and see, Bucker. But hold on to that paper that I gave you, read it when you get across the border and you’ll understand.”

Once she was sure the spy was placated, Celestia turned back to Pinkamena, “Well, now that you understand, let me give you your mission.” She said as she levitated a parchment in the air, “You will all be heading across the border into Barlea in order to demolish an armor factory that they have. Intelligence says that they’re near completion, and if it gets up and running, they’ll have enough armor for their ponies to break past the border, which you all know is something that simply can’t happen. Bucker will cover Pinkamena, and Boom will provide back up, scouting, and supply explosives necessary to take the building down without harming any of you three.

“There will be a chariot waiting outside of the palace shortly that will take you to the border, from there, you are on your own. You’ve all done missions for me of various degrees of difficulty, but this one shouldn’t prove to be too hard, especially with all three of you. I wish you all the best of luck, and expect you all to return with positive results. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The three teenage fillies said with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

“Then move out!”

The flight was long and boring, much to Pinkamena’s dismay. She had tried to start conversations with both Bucker and Boom, but neither seemed to want to talk to her. Bucker seemed way too focused on her work, and Boom was being just plain rude, which wasn’t very nice. Thankfully, the flight didn’t last all that long, and soon, the three of them were at the Equestrian border.

After bidding the two chariot pulling pegasi farewell, the three looked out to the border, and began to walk.

“Pinkamena, when should I use the code phrase?” Bucker asked.

“Celestia didn’t tell you? How silly of her! What if we got ambushed or something and you didn’t know to do that? That would just be sooo bad!” She said, her face becoming intensely sad for the briefest of moments, before snapping back into a smile, “You should use it when we start to see some of those bad Barlean ponies. Not sooner though, I really don’t like it. Ah, the things I do for revenge.”

The last sentence seemed to startle the other two ponies, especially when she started to hum happily and bounce as she walked, as if what she said didn’t even matter. Neither thought that this pony was all there in the head, so they cautiously walked with her, letting her lead, just in case.

As they traveled through a small forest, Pinkamena continued to bounce around, looking every which way, both to find something fun, and looking out for danger.

“Alright, we’re nearly in range of the detection spell. We should be fast from here on out. The longer we cause trouble here, the more chances we’ll attract unwanted attention.” Bucker said as she looked at a map.

“Don’t worry! I mess up that spell when I’m around, especially when... well, you’ll see!” The pink pony said with cheer.

“What? How in the hay do you pull that off?” Boom asked.

“It’s a seeeecret! For now, anyway. I wanna surprise you two! The looks on your faces will be sooo funny! And when I remember to laugh, I will!” Pinkamena replied as she began to giggle.

The other two teenage fillies shared worried glances, wondering just what the Princess has gotten them in to with this pony.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the edge of the forest that separated their nations. They had taken the long way so that they could have as much cover as possible for when they arrived at their destination. Now, there was only open ground, consisting of a quarry and a factory, a dirt road its only connection to inner Barlea. It was hard to see, but there were definitely moving ponies, which meant they would have to get their hooves dirty.

“Well... here we are. Do you want to make the battle plan, or should I?” Bucker asked, willing to defer to her superior.

“Hmm... well, normally I’d just go in myself and do all the work, but this is a test for you two! So, let’s see... Boom! The Princess said you were good at scouting so... do that! Find out stuff about them over there.” Pinkamena said, pointing a hoof towards the factory.

Boom replied with a grumble, but being outvoted, she decided it was best to just obey. With that, she spread out her wings and took to the skies, flying fast and high so as to blend in with the sky and avoid detection.

“Woooow! She’s really fast!” The pink pony said in awe.

“That she is. Well, I see some Barlean ponies now, does that mean...?”

“Hmm... nope! Let’s wait until she gets back. Then you’ll back me up while we go in, and I’ll try to watch you a couple of times, so that I can see what you can do too! But so far, you’re doing good!”

“But... I haven’t done anything yet.”

“I know! I just wanted to put a smile on your face. You are so boring! I’m throwing you a party when we make it back.” Pinkamena said, looking quite adamant about this.

“Err.. right... well...” Bucker said, unsure of what to say to that.

Luckily, the orange pony had no need to respond, as Boom suddenly returned, “Alright, I checked out all I could without getting caught.”

“Wow! That was super-duper fast! How’d you do it? Oh, and what did you find?” Pinkamena asked excitedly.

“I managed to do it because I have never met a pony faster than I am! And I didn’t find much. The quarry had about two dozen earth ponies, a few pegasi, and a unicorn or two, probably for the trickier stuff I guess. The factory had mostly unicorns in it, I counted a dozen, but I couldn’t see in every window without getting spotted. There were also a few pegasi and earth ponies in there too. The tally came to around sixty of them. I don’t think I’ve fought that many at once before... Think I should lay out some artillery fire?” Boom asked.

“Nah, I like to get my hooves dirty when I do stuff like this. If you want, though, you can go after the quarry and Bucker and I can head to the factory. It’s always fun seeing what kind of neat things they make in there, so I wanna see it before you blow it up.” Pinkamena said, still looking as happy as ever.

“Right... well, I’ll wait for you two to start, then I guess I’ll deal with the quarry before swinging around with the explosive charges for the factory.”

“Okie dokie lokie! Okay, Bucker. I think it’s about time now. You can use the code phrase now. Just wait until I get all relaxed and close my eyes. Works better that way.” She explained.

“Alright then...” Bucker replied.

Boom and Bucker watched as Pinkamena seemed to calm herself, closing her eyes in order to focus. The brash pegasus decided to stay around just to see if the pink pony could back up her talk, while the spy was waiting for her cue; though she too was curious as to whether or not their Princess was telling the truth or not. Once the elite of the group was ready, the blonde haired pony began.

“Let’s see...” She said as she took out the piece of paper she needed. “Okay... just need to say the top line to start, and the bottom line to end it... seems simple enough. Ahem...

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, by order of Princess Celestia, the party has ended, and the fight has begun. Cry Havoc and let slip the pony of war!”

“What kind of code phrase is... what... the hay?” Boom began, her voice trailing off in shock.

As the words reached Pinkamena’s ears, her eyes suddenly opened wide, an expression of fear crossing her face. However, that didn’t last long as her face transformed in to a look of unspeakable fury. Her pelt and hair grew a little darker, a little duller, and her mane and tail seemed to deflate, becoming thin and straight. A fraction of a moment later, jolts of visible energy began to form around her, striking the ground and scorching it beyond recognition. The sight nearly made the others flee in terror, that is, if their fear would even allow them movement.

“All of them... all of her servants... I will make them PAY!”

Havoc’s yell reached the skies, shook the trees, and made her two companion fall on to their flanks and scramble backwards. In the blink of an eye, her head faced the factory, the building filled with the servants of the one she hated so very much. In an instant, she leaped in the direction of the building, jumping a mere ten feet, but upon landing, she sunk into the ground like a shadow, vanishing from sight.

“...what in the hay was that!” Boom shrieked, her voice cracking as she attempted to regain her cool.

“...I have absolutely no idea.” Bucker replied before shaking her head. “Come on, we should hurry up.”

The brash pegasus watched as the spy started to make her way towards the factory, which was where she was certain that psychotic pony had gone, “Are you insane? She’ll probably kill you if you go there!”

“If she was going to kill us, she would have while we were sitting on our flanks in a stupor. Get your act together, Boom. We have a job to do.”

The brash pony grumbled under her breath, cursing this turn of events. As she watched her companion head towards the factory, she briefly contemplated turning tail and abandoning this place, but deep down, something prevented her from doing so.

“Aww horseapples...” She said before flying off towards the quarry, as she had been told to do.

She had to make them pay. Each and every last one of them. She had to make them pay for what their mistress did to her.

They would suffer as she did. She would not stop until they were no more.

There is one. It will pay. It will die!

A factory worker who was currently outside, enjoying a daffodil and celery sandwich, barely registered the fact that a pink earth pony suddenly jumped out of the ground and tackled him. However, neither pony hit the wall of the factory, or the ground beneath their feat. All that either could see was unending darkness, and only Havoc came back to see the light.

One down, and many more to go. Slowly, she turned her head towards the factory, visions of the ponies inside filling her mind, amongst other things. She walked forward, straight towards the wall, and with a small burst of controlled chaos, the wall became like air to her, and she passed through it with ease. Unfortunately for her, she ended up stepping in to the security room, immediately alerting the unicorns that were in the room with her.

She quickly threw out her hoof, pointing it towards one of the unicorns, a female. Her leg instantly stretched out, startling the mare and allowing her only one last second of precious life before it collided with her neck, snapping it instantly. Havoc held her hoof there for a moment before letting the limp form of her enemy fall to the ground.

The other unicorn in the room had a few extra seconds to think and act thanks to this, however. With a quick burst of magic, his horn lit up, and the bell worker was alerted. Sadly for him, Havoc knew exactly what he did. Her gaze turned to a quill on a nearby table. Suddenly, the quill burst into flames, and shot forth towards the stallion like a rocket. The moment the burning projectile touched him, his world became fire as he was smashed into the wall. However, instead of a pony body colliding with a thud, a pile of soot smacked into the wall instead, a black stain the only evidence he had even existed.

Moments later, the signal reached its destination, and the bells signaling the enemy began to ring across the factory. Everypony in the place began to either evacuate or go to grab some sort of weapon with which to defend the place with.

Havoc knew what the bells meant, and she didn’t care in the least; it just meant they would be coming to her and she wouldn’t have to waste the time hunting them down.

As she walked out of the room, she saw the inside of the factory. Forges, conveyor belts, and hammers pressing metals of all kinds, making all sorts of weapons and armor for the Barlean soldiers to use. It was also a perfect area for her to work her power. As she entered the main factory floor, the Barleans began to finally notice her presence, and started to show different levels of fear. Those that knew her were terrified, and those that didn’t would soon learn their mistakes.

As she looked to the ones brave enough to charge at her, she found that there were too many to do things her usual way. Instead, she had to change her tactics a little, pulling out what may very well be her most powerful weapon; alteration of probability.

Her gaze, normally so filled with fury, suddenly grew cold and emotionless as she focused on the area around her. With all of the tools around her, it was almost hard to choose which she was going to use to end these servants of the one she despised so very much. They were getting close, but thankfully, she was ready to act.

The door of a nearby forge closed, the heat inside building up far more rapidly than it should have.

A single bolt that helped to hold it together came loose, and under the influence of the building pressures, launched forward.

An earth pony fell to the ground as it struck her in the head.

More bolts soon followed, clipping more of the ponies that were charging after her, and weakening the structure of the forge.

The pressure became too much, and with a lack of bolts to hold it in place, the entire front end of the forge burst off, slamming into some of them, while molten iron washed across the ground, burning even more. Those that fell instead of getting away didn’t last long.

A single fleck of red hot metal flew into the air and struck a piece of rope that was transporting some beams of iron for further processing.

The rope melted almost instantly, and the beams fells to the ground, crushing the main gear box for a conveyor belt, sending shards of metal flying every which way.

Event by event, Havoc forced a near impossible chain reaction to occur within the factory. Object after object falling into place, destroying one thing after another. But the objects weren’t what she was after. She was after the ponies caught in the crossfire. While not as direct or satisfying, it still got the job done. She watched, her cold fury never abating for a moment as she watched the death and destruction that she was causing.

Soon enough, ponies began to flee from the area, terrified by the horrible loss on their comrades to this strange pink pony. However, this only served to give a cue to her, letting her know that she had thinned the herd enough to start getting her hooves dirty. She always preferred getting up close and personal with her acts of revenge, but she knew her limits, and until they were smaller in number, she never risked getting too close. Now, however, she felt she had nothing to fear.

Havoc began to run through the pandemonium she had caused, and despite all of the debris and fire scattered about, not a single piece of dirt or lick of flame touched her for even an instant. As she ran towards the fleeing ponies, she caught sight of a knife that had been left on the ground, a knife that was meant for her. It felt like poetic justice to her as she picked up the knife on the ground, holding it between her teeth with an vice-like grip. It was going to be the perfect tool for dealing with the rest of them.

All of the ponies that were running from her became easy targets. The moment any of them blinked, she’d be there in front of them by the time they opened their eyes. With a quick swing of her head, she slashed them all, one by one. Some reacted quicker than others, but although she was normally reliant on her chaotic powers to fight, she was no slouch with a weapon, and she managed to use her surprise to fend them off easily enough in order to deliver the killing blow.

Pony after pony fell to her might, her rage pushing her forward to reap as much pain and destruction upon the Barleans. As the minutes passed, the floor was littered with the bodies of her enemies, and she grew more and more consumed with the fight, if one could call it that. Even as only a few of them remained, her fury didn’t abate in the least, only mounting with each life she took, unsatisfied with only this.

However, this eventually made her careless. She normally never faced this many ponies all on her lonesome, so she rarely reached this state of mind, and was usually never in any danger because of it.

This time was different.

As she was dealing with one pony, she didn’t register the fact that there was another behind her, one that had been hiding in terror. However, this Barlean, a pegasus mare, was trained to fight, and knew an opening when she saw it.

Havoc barely felt the tip of the knife enter her side, but as it sunk in deep, pain coursed through her body, causing her to cry out in pain. She felt it, bit by bit, as the blade traveled straight towards her heart. Endless possibilities passed in front of her eyes, but as her time dwindled, so too were her options to save herself.

Just as she felt her life beginning to flash before her eyes, the cold steel nearly piercing her heart, she heard a crunching sound, followed by a dull thud.

“Are you alright?” Came a voice.

Havoc turned suddenly towards the voice, but calmed somewhat when she saw that it was Bucker, standing over a fallen Barlean.

Her companion stepped back slightly at her gaze, but she ignored it, having realized long ago how terrifying she looked at times like these. Right now, though, wasn’t the time for talking. She had a knife embedded in to her, and she had to deal with it. Off to the side, she noticed a piece of red hot metal sticking out of one of the broken furnaces. A moment later, she turned her head in order to grab on to the knife, and with a hard tug, she managed to pull it in one quick motion. But she still had to stop the bleeding.

With a few steps and a thrust of her side, a horrible hissing sound filled the air as she cauterized her wound on the red hot metal.

“...This will do until we reach Canterlot. Everypony in here is either dead or gone now. Has Boom done her job?” Havoc asked, her voice calm and icy.

“Uhh... Y-yeah... she collapsed the tunnel, trapping most of them inside. A few got away though.” Bucker replied.

“Hmph... they’ll tell their leaders about this attack. Celestia will want to know.”

“I know. It’ll be in my report.”

“Good... I don’t want to feel like this anymore. Ending them eased the painful memories somewhat, but they are starting to return in full. Say the ending phrase. Now!” She shouted.

The spy began to stumble, her fear of the pink pony evident, and she quickly fished for the note. After getting it out, she placed it on a safe spot on the ground and held it open with her hooves before reading it aloud.

“Havoc, by order of Princess Celestia, the war has ended and the party has begun. Let joy fill your every fiber once more.”

As the phrase began, Havoc’s eyes closed automatically from the post-hypnotic suggestion. As the words filled her mind, the process she had performed of locking up her painful memories in a box and burying it replayed in her mind at a rapid pace. Once the final word was spoken, the pink pony found herself lying on the floor, a yawn escaping from her mouth as she felt like she had just woken up.

“Mmmmph... ahh...” She said as she stretched, “Well, that’s one way to get exercise! Well, looks like a job well done! Woohoo!” She cheered, dancing on her hind legs for a moment as her hair suddenly inflated in to its previously curly style.

“Havoc? Are you... alright now?” Bucker asked.

“I’m not Havoc anymore, silly! I’m Pinkamena, like before! I just got real mad for a little while, but now I’m back to normal!” She said, cheering now that she was happy once again.

“Alright then... but what about your wound?”

“Hmm? This thing? Psh, no problemo, sister. I’ll just go and see the nice doctor in Canterlot and be right as rain in no time at all. Ooo, I can’t wait! She gives me the best lollipops!” Pinkamena said, drooling at the thought.

“O...kay then. I suppose we should get Boom in here, then, to level this place.”

“Oh, right! Almost forgot. I hope it’s like fireworks! I haven’t seen fireworks in a long time, not since one of Celestia’s parade’s, but that was soooo long ago, like, three weeks! Come on, let’s go and find her so that I can watch! Also, so that I can get out of here, it stinks, too much iron in the air.” She said as she made for the exit of the factory.

“I don’t think the smell will go away...” Bucker said, knowing that the smell was coming from the red stains on the pink pony’s pelt.

The rest of the mission went smoothly, as it was only a matter of letting Boom do her work unimpeded.  Despite the state of the inside of the factory, enough of it was still standing that it could be re-built easily, which meant that it was best to simply level it. With a few well placed charges, the place blew sky high, and the detonation gave a grand display of color and sound, to which Pinkamena cheered gleefully.

When the trio returned, the pink filly was sent to the doctor for a sponge bath and some salve for her wound to make it heal. She eventually did give the two passing grades, and threw them both a party once Celestia had officially welcomed them into the elites, and to her joy, sent them both to where she was being stationed on her downtime; Ponyville.

Four Years Later

Pinkie Pie pranced through Ponyville, a large smile on her face as she greeted everypony she laid her eyes on, spreading the exceptionally good mood she was in that day. She didn’t know exactly why she felt so happy; maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t had a mission in a while? Or was it just an amazing day for no particular reason?

In any case, she didn’t care, simply happy to enjoy herself in her downtime. Though Ponyville was meant to be her home so that she could lead a happy, normal, and relaxing life, thanks to the friends she had made, she ended up going on all sorts of adventures all the time, though these ones were a lot more fun than her trips to Barlea.

As she walked through the two, she noticed that a lot of ponies were all of a sudden heading towards the town square, and as she listened to the buzz, she heard something about a show being put on. Well, this was turning out to be a better day than she thought; she loved shows, usually no matter what the subject! They were always incredibly entertaining, and almost every one of them gave her new ideas for different kinds of parties to throw. With that in mind, she followed along, excited to see whatever was going on.

When she arrived, she saw that everypony was surrounding this strange cart sitting in front of town hall, all of them staring at it curiously. As she spotted her friends at the front of the crowd, she managed to push and wiggle her way to the front to meet with them. However, before she even had a chance to greet them, a voice suddenly rang out through the crowd.

“Come one! Come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful, Trrrrrixie!”

Those words echoed in her mind over and over and over again, her jaw dropping slightly as she started at the unfolding cart with wide eyes. Those words seemed to very familiar, and as her mind tried to process it, she simply stood there with a dumb look on her face.

Once the cart was unfolded, a boastful azure unicorn appeared in a puff of smoke, wearing a purple wizard hat and cape; Trixie, she assumed. It didn’t take long for this to be confirmed, as this pony continued to announce herself in the third person nearly endlessly throughout the show.

Despite the fact that this unicorn was making a fool of her friends, she found that she could only stand there, watching the show as it progressed from beginning to end. Even after the crowd began to disperse, she simply stood there, at least, until Fluttershy spoke up.

“Umm... Pinkie Pie? Are you okay?”

“Huh?” She let out before shaking her head, “Oh umm... of course! I just... need to go and think for a little while, our little secret, okay?” She asked, putting on her best smile.

“Oh... okay then, I’ll leave you be then. I think Angel Bunny might need me anyway.”

The pink pony gave her pegasus friend a wave goodbye, watching her fly away for a moment before retreating back into herself. It was true what she said, though, she needed to think about this, about why Trixie struck a chord within her.

Once she had found herself a quiet place in her room to simply sit and think, she replayed the event in her mind over and over again, remembering the words that were spoken, specifically the part about her being Great and Powerful. The unicorn’s look also passed through her mind, and for the life of her, she simply couldn’t put a memory to the face and name. Try as she might, her current memory simply wasn’t cutting it, but deep down, she knew that Trixie was tied to her somehow.

“If I can’t remember her now... maybe...”

She closed her eyes and began to focus, remembering today as it had just happened, only backwards. From there, she kept going backwards, day by day, week by week, rethinking on her entire life in search of this elusive pony.

Hours went by as she did this, even as she played things in fast-motion. She had gone through nearly her entire memory, right to the day where she first stole that chocolate bar from Celestia’s guard. But... there didn’t seem to be anything before that, absolutely nothing at all. It was as if before the event with the Princess, she never even existed, but deep down, she knew it to be false, and so, she tried to press on, tried to go further back, back in to the memories she had long forgotten.

All of a sudden, a thunderous roar shook the very foundations of Ponyville, a sound that sent a chill of fear down her spine. Immediately she made for the window to look outside, wondering if she could find the source.

It didn’t take her very long to notice the the gigantic bear with a pelt made of the night sky stomping around Ponyville. This wasn’t going to be good.

With the thoughts of helping in her mind, she quickly made her way down to where the bear was, and saw that nearly everypony in town was there, including Trixie. Once again, her eyes simply couldn’t leave the azure mare, her thoughts focusing on her once again.

She was so lost in her staring she didn’t even see Twilight Sparkle’s amazing display of magic, rendering the Ursa Minor completely harmless, and saving the town. Pinkie pie remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, completely engrossed with the unicorn, and the longer she stared, the harder something at the back of her mind pushed to be freed.

She could feel it building up, something long forgotten, buried beneath the pain and suffering she had endured, the pain she had hypnotically locked away more often than not these days. The more she looked, the more the pressure built up, the more something deep down inside of her wanted to come out, and the more she felt it, the more she wanted to know just what it was.

Things began to grow hazy as she stood there in the crowd, a fog surrounding her mind as she tried to think about what this pony meant to her.

But then, some words from the azure pony split through the fog.

“...but you will never have the amazing, show stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The floodgates opened, memories of her childhood came rushing back to her, but more specifically, she remembered Trix.

All of the old memories flooding her mind was nearly overwhelming, things she had forgotten because of what she went through, because of that vile alicorn who attacked Hoofington so very long ago.

That was when she finally noticed that Trixie had run off towards the nearby forest. She had finally remembered her past, and now it was running away from her.

She couldn’t let that happen.

Pinkie Pie quickly ducked behind somepony, and while her abilities in her hypnotized state seemed to work at random most of the time, she had gained some control over it over the years, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

When she reappeared, she checked around herself, making sure that she was in the right place, and the sound of quiet sobbing letting her know she had made it. At least, she hoped it did. As she turned towards the sound, she caught sight of Trixie sitting in the middle of a patch of grass, crying to herself. The sight broke her heart, and unable to stand it any longer, she made her way out towards the azure unicorn.

“Hello there...” She said tentatively.

“Who--- Who are you? Are you here to make fun of me... I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie as well? Here to shame me farther away from town? Ruin my career some more!” Trixie yelled, her pain obvious in her voice.

Pinkie flinched at the words, but she took it in stride, knowing that the unicorn was in pain, “No... I’m not. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“...Why would you even care about Trixie? No one in your stupid little village does! Y-You’re just trying to play mind games with Trixie, and it’s not going to work... Go away! Leave me... alone!” She shouted, her voice cracking on the final word.

Pinkie Pie may be bubbly and random most of the time, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t perceptive. She immediately caught the cracking of her voice, and suddenly, she understood. She had to do something, and she had to be careful about it.

“Well, if you want to make me leave, you’re going to have to make me.” She said as an idea came to mind.

“What? Y-You would dare to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie? I’ll show you... I’ll show you I’m not to be pushed around! Not anymore...” Trixie replied, her face turning to anger, despite the tears still streaming down her face.

The pink pony didn’t reply to this with words, instead, she walked towards the unicorn, a light smile on her face.

“S-Stay back! I’m warning you!”

But Pinkie Pie didn’t relent, and instead of moving back, she walked up to the emotionally shaken mare and leaned forward. A pink forehead met a blue one as she started to push against the distraught Trixie, gently at first, but increasing in force to antagonize her in to pushing back.

The azure pony was dumbfounded by the sudden pushing against her head, wondering why it felt oddly familiar. Still, it was nonetheless a challenge, and after her embarrassing defeat mere minutes ago, she had something to prove; and so, she pushed back, hard.

“Oh wow, you’ve sure gotten strong... heh. Grrr...” Pinkie Pie said, growling playfully as she did what she could to match the enraged strength.

For a few moments, Trixie simply pushed as hard as she could in order to win this, but soon, the words her opponent said suddenly began to sink in. Her pushing became light, and in turn, so too did the pink pony’s, but neither relented all the way.

“What... what are you talking about? Trixie has never seen you before, so why do you say such things?”

Pinkie could see something in the unicorn’s eyes that told her something had gotten through. It was time to step it up a notch, deciding to take a physical route once again instead of words, fearing that speaking might be too much too soon. A gentle hoof was needed here.

At least, metaphorically, as now was the time for what she remembered to be their favorite game; wrestling.

The pink pony sidestepped Trixie, who was still pushing against, causing her to stumble forward a little. With the opening, she leaped forward and tackled the azure pony to the ground, rolling with her in order to soften the hit; they were not little fillies anymore, so she had to be a bit careful about how she threw her weight around.

“H-How dare you? You have the nerve to attack the Great and Powerful Trixie like this? Have at you!”

A sudden burst of anger surged through Trixie as she started to fight back against the pink pony, the serene smile her opponent was wearing irritating her to no end. She pushed against Pinkie’s chest with her hind legs, tossing her in order to regain her footing. When she saw the other pony picking herself up off the ground, she took her chance, and returned the tackle she received, with a little extra interest. Whoever this was, there was no way she was going to lose to her, not now.

The two rolled around on the ground in their conflict, one playing, the other trying her hardest to be serious about it, but simply not finding the will to fight to the best of her ability. Her embarrassment and sorrow from earlier began to fade as she fought, faint feelings of joy and play starting to take the place of her fleeting negative emotions.

As Pinkie Pie enjoyed the activity, the happy memories of their time together floated around in her mind, each second revealing to her more intricate details of her childhood, and of her best friend. She could tell from the look in her eyes, and the lack of intensity in her wrestling from she first started, that she was starting to get through to the azure pony, she just had to keep it up.

With that in mind, she took a dive.

The boastful mare looked down at the pink pony she now had pinned beneath her hooves, her breath heavy as she panted from the effort, “I... I win... I win this one, P... P... What is that name? There’s a name at the tip of my tongue... who are you?” She asked, looking bewildered at the pony she had pinned.

Pinkie Pie’s smile widened slightly as heard those words, the quote finishing itself in her memories. She wiggled out from under the pin, using Trixie’s dumbfounded state to get away easily, but she didn’t break contact for very long. She quickly stood up, ignoring the dust she was now covered in, and embraced the azure unicorn in a gently hug.

“Come on, you can remember me. Despite what happened, I know our friendship is still in you somewhere. You can remember, can’t you, Trix?”

The words tore through Trixie’s mind, breaking down the walls of the memory suppressant spell she had been affected with so long, the hole in her heart that she had forgotten about long ago filling up once again.

“P-Pinks? Is... is that you?” She asked, tears threatening to pour down her face.

Pinkie gave out a choked sob, “Yeah... it’s me, Trix. Years ago... I know you forgot, I did too, thanks to all that happened...”

Suddenly, the years she had spent feeling so very alone made sense; It wasn’t that she was really alone, it was that she was missing somepony very dear to her.

When she realized this, her tears burst forth, and she clenched on to her old friend as if she’d be gone if she didn’t.

“By Luna... oh Pinks... I remember it now... Celestia did something and... I don’t think she realized exactly what she made me forget. F-For years I felt like a hollow shell without you... my best friend in the world. The only thing I remembered... was the Great and Powerful thing...”

Pinkie returned the embrace in full, clutching Trixie for dear life. She knew what her friend had been through, and while she herself had been through worse, she couldn’t bear the thought of her childhood friend in any sort of pain, “I guess... I guess at least something got through, huh? You even made it your job to be Great and Powerful...”

“Mm... that’s right, I did... I... until now, that was the only thing that I knew that tied to the mysterious hole in my heart. I clung to it for so long... but when it started to fade, I didn’t know what to do... so I started to call myself the Great and Powerful Trixie. For a while, it made me feel better, like somepony else was calling me that... eventually, it just became who I was... I was such a foal! If only... if only I had done more to look, to try and find you, then maybe---”

Trixie was suddenly cut off thanks to a pink hoof over her lips, Pinkie Pie leaned back a little and looked in to the azure unicorn’s eyes, “Don’t worry, Trix... By the same logic, I should have looked too... but we both forgot, circumstances years ago having torn us apart. But now... we’re together again, and never again will we forget each other.”

“No... not again. Oh Pinks... I missed you so much... And I owe you so much more. You... you almost died for me!” She exclaimed, that particular memory resurfacing.

“Of course I did, Trix... you were my best friend, and if I had to die to save your life, I would have, and like you said, almost did...”

“You were screaming... the pain you must have felt!” The unicorn said, started to look worried for the earth pony, looking her over for injury, as if it had only just happened.

“Don’t worry about it! I... it was really bad, but... Celestia helped me. She helped me forget how bad it was, she... helped me to do things that I don’t think you want to know about and... things she made me promise not to tell anypony.”

“I... I understand, I think. I thank her for what she did for you and... none of that stuff you can’t say matters right now. After so long, I remember, and I have you here with me... I never want to let you go ever again, Pinks.” She said, her voice beginning to choke up again.

“Me too, Trix, me too... But we’re going to have to let go eventually... I have to stay here, and you... there’s places out there you still need to see, a life you still need to lead... and as much I’d love to have you here with me until the end of time, it’s just too dangerous for you to stay.” She said.

“But... no! No! I only just got to see you again! I don’t care about any dangers, I only care---”

“---about you.” Pinkie interrupted, finishing the sentence, “This is where we’re going to butt heads again, Trixie... I care much too much about you to put you in danger... Here.”

When she finished speaking, she turned her head and bit on to a piece of her mane. With some quick grinding of her teeth, she severed a lock of hair from her head, and held it it in her mouth for a moment. Gently, she placed it on her friend’s nose, giving a little smile behind her tears.

“Take this, Trix... if you have this, no matter where you are in Equestria, I’ll know, and I’ll be able to come visit you... and I promise I will every night, even some days! Don’t ask how I can, just... trust me when I say I can. Do you believe me?”

Trixie stared at the shred of hair on her nose, and with the magic of her horn, she levitated it up to take a closer look at it, “Just... just this? If I keep this safe, you’ll come see me?”

“Yes... you won’t have to be alone anymore, Trix. We’ve found each other again, and while it’s going to be a little rough for awhile, I promise you, one day, I’ll come to you... I’ll come to you and tell you that I will never leave you again, that we will never have to be apart for an instant ever again. Just... for now, just believe me, and promise me you’ll wait for me. Because... no matter what, I’ll make my promise come true.”

The azure pony looked to be lost in thought for a moment before throwing her forelegs around her childhood friend, embracing her once more, “I... okay, for you Pinks, I’ll do it. I promise... I’ll wait for you. Just... come and visit me, like you said you would. I don’t want to feel alone anymore...”

“You won’t have to anymore, Trix... you won’t have to anymore.”

Together, the two ponies held on to one another, sharing the joy of being reunited, sharing the sorrow of having to still be apart, and sharing the tears that came with both.

Though they had to part for now, what mattered most was that this time, was that they wouldn’t forget.