Pinkie Pie 4th Wall Break VarietyShow Recover Pt 3

The camera turned back on as Pinkie Pie put in a new set of batteries.

As the vision from the What-If machine faded, Twilight Sparkle looked like she was going to be sick, but Queen Twilight wore a too-familiar know-it-all smile.  "So what you're saying is, we could have made a terrible mistake... if we hadn't taken over Equestria!  The Princesses were powerful, but they cared too much about not hurting ponies' feelings, and not enough about keeping those ponies safe.  Thanks to our Applejack, we unmasked and eliminated a dozen Changelings in just our first week."

"But Ah ain't a mad mare like you!" Queen Applejack added.  "Ah've got my friends to tell me when Ah've gone too far."

Queen Pinkie Pie bounced in place.  "Ooh!  Like the time you burned somepony's house down for telling a fib!"

"Do y'all *have* to keep bringing that one up?"

Queen Twilight summoned her crown in a burst of violet light and floated it down onto her head.  "It's time we finished this.  Formation, girls!"  The rest of their elements appeared in rapid succession.  "With any luck, we can settle this argument *and* Nightmare Mirror in one shot!"

Nightmare Mirror looked angry, then coldly furious.  She spread her wings, all of the green eyes opening, and darkness seemed to pour out from her, chilling the whole studio.  "Y'all ain't learned a thing, have you?  Fine, then.  See just how cruel the Truth can be!!"

And the Harmony Queens cried out all at once, their eyes glazing over.

Queen Rarity saw Filthy Rich and his servants huddled together with sad faces.  His maid and butler had worked for his family for years, and with most of his bits confiscated, he couldn't afford to employ them anymore.

Queen Fluttershy watched as she and her friends erased Fluttercruel all over again.

Queen Rainbow Dash heard Princess Luna name her a traitor to Equestria, saw all the Wonderbolts staring with angry, disappointed eyes, then turning their backs as Luna cast the spell to banish her to the moon forever.

Queen Applejack saw Bon-Bon sobbing, as she forced her to remember that her sister was a fake, just another Changeling imposter.  They'd rounded them up, both the spies and the ones who swore they'd left the hive to start a new life, and locked them away beneath Canterlot, unaware that left alone, they would starve to death.

Queen Pinkie Pie saw ponies forcing themselves to cheer and smile as the Harmony Queens rode past in their carriages, and how not a single smile remained when the carriages passed out of sight.

And Queen Twilight Sparkle saw her discorded self looking down on her with pity.  "Friendship isn't real," said Twilight Tragedy.  "None of it's real.  Nobody likes you... you *made* them like you with your magic jewelry.  When's the last time you even gave somepony a chance to choose to like you?"


"Enough!" the other Twilight Sparkle demanded.  "Look, I know we had a deal... but I can't watch you do this, not even to them."

-

"And the whole 'no sell the Elements' things is totally Mary Sue unless you're an Alicorn," Mirror looked at Pinkie Pie with a 'ya kiddin' me?' look, "I mean a NOT-NIGHTMARE Alicorn!"

"Deals should be honored. That is truth. NOW that the deal Spike and Trixie made isn't to yer liking, yer callin' it wrong? Ya play with fire, ya should expecta get burned." She looked at Spike and Trixie, "Ya knew the risks of askin' a buckin' NIGHTMARE fer help!"

"But . . . but . . Filthy's butler and Shiny Star would have been paid an equal amount of bits as him! That didn't make sense!" Queen Rarity rambled to herself.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Fluttercruel flew in front Queen Fluttershy, blocking the sight of Nightmare Mirror, the Harmony Queen whimpered and backed away from the demi-draconequus.

Fluttercruel looked Nightmare Mirror in the eye, grimaced, and spoke, "I was terrified at what you did to your Fluttercruel, I was scared to death of losing everything I learned and who I've grown into, forgetting all the friends I've made . . . . But who I was when I was born . . . isn't a pony I was proud of . . . she was a pony who DESERVED to disappear . . . and my mother, she DID make her disappear, she made her slowly fade away, by showing her love no matter what I tried to do. We had our arguments, we've had our fighting, but I'm not the monster what Discord made me anymore. And . . . I envy Flutternice!"

Everypony gasped.

Cruelty said her voice in pain, "I envy her! She gets her own foalhood! She gets to learn and experience the world from the ground up and develop her own personality and dreams from scratch like ponies are supposed to! Her destiny isn't bound to die when her mother does, but having a heart too intertwined to ever be apart ever again. She gets to experience the wonder of learn about the basics of the world, of learning how to fly, her first day at school, making friends her own age and growing up with me! A part of me wishes my mother did what you did when I was born!"

Fluttershy took control for one moment and gasped.

Cruelty continued. "If she did, she wouldn't have had to become Nightmare Whisper! Half the town wouldn't have worshipped her while the other half hated her! I wouldn't have caused her all that pain! That it all turned out alright and that she grew from it is no excuse! I don't want to turn back time and lose everything I've gotten! But everything your Flutternice was when she was born? It deserved to be erased! I've become something new too! And . . . I know nothing we promise each other or say here matters because it doesn't exist outside of this building. But . . . promise Flutternice is free to chose her own destiny, like a mother should."

" . . . Flutternice is free to grow up into whoever she wants to be, same as her friends Pound and Pumpkin. I swear. Whatever cutie mark she gains, I'll never abandon her."

Fluttercruel hugged the harmony queen.

Nightmare Mirror said, "If Ah keep this up, Ah'll be fightin' two sets of harmony at once. And Ah ain't stupid. Big Nightmare Mirror made that mistake and got herself zapped. No thanks. Then Ah won't be spreadin' any truth and burnin' away any lies." She folded her wings, and the jewel eyes on her wings and mirror like armor mostly closed. "Ah may be a filthy Nightmare, who loves truth more than her own flesh and blood, but Ah ain't Nightmare 'So Self-Deluded It's Painful' Eclipse."

"Was she really that self deluded?" Trixie heard herself asked.

Nightmare Mirror opened one of her wings, the reflection showing the history of an alternate universe.

"YOU'VE BECOME AN EVIL CRAZY BEOTCH!" Another Nightmare Mirror shouted.

"Oh AJ! I'm the evil that destroys the greater evil, I'm crazy like a fox, and you gotta be a beotch if you want remake the whole universe for the better."

"Yes. She was." Nightmare Mirror said.
-

Nightmare Mirror said, "You know something, Harmony Queens? Not all of the Changelings were loyal to Chrysalis. There were a few who had left the hive and didn't want to cause any harm. They just wanted to coexist with ponies. But ya didn't even bother to check! As for yer belief that ya got each other to let ya know if one of ya is going too far, that means absolutely nothing when all six of ya went too far a long time ago!"

Queen Twilight Sparkle said, "We brought order and security to our Equestria! Our counterparts, however, have been too busy treating things the same as before to do anything meaningful after they defeated this world's Discord!"

Nightmare Mirror said, "Yer words are absurd. This world's Elements of Harmony have been helping other ponies recover from what Discord did to them. As for yer order and security? It came at the cost of freedom for other ponies. No matter how ya try to justify it, that's simply not worth it!"

Queen Applejack snarled, "AND WITH THAT order and security, we made an Equestria where no mare will ever lose her little sister, because of some damn zombies hiddin' in Everfree."

Total silence.

Nightmare Mirror sigh and said emotionlessly. "Fine. Ya win."

"Wow! Reference full circle!" Pinkie Pie gasped.

Queen Fluttershy said, "Uh, Twilight, I think it's time to feed Flutternice and she'll be cranky if I'm not there."

"And I've got a couple party I need to attend in a minute,"  Queen Pinkie Pie said.

"And I promise Coco I'd see how she was doing," Queen Rarity said.

"Fine. I think Applejack has made our point." Queen Twilight said irritably.

"HEY! YOU GUYS CAN'T! . . . CAN'T JUST! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE!" Rainbow Dash snarled.

"Oh Dashie, of course we can. We have to. Don't be serious." Queen Pinkie Pie said as she hopped through the portal.

With gritted teeth, Nightmare Mirror left as well.
-
The Mane Six plus Trixie looked at each other, shuddering.

"Well, okay," Applejack said. "Ah ain't eager ta see anything like that ever again. Anypony got any ideas for what we ought ta do next?"

"Throw a 'Let's be Glad we're not Evil Crazy Tyrants' Party?" Pinkie suggested, in a rather tired voice.

"Check on our little sisters and make sure they know how much we love them," Rarity said, "And that if they ever see us doing something really and truly wrong, to make sure to tell us?"

"Take a rest?" Rainbow Dash said, looking ready to collapse from being emotionally drained.

"Work on a list of how we might go wrong in the future, just to plan against it in advance?" Twilight suggested. The mares looked halfway convinced until Fluttershy spoke up.

"Umm, I know we're not really happy about that machine right now," she sad, giving the What-If machine a shudder-filled glance, "But maybe we could try and rewire it to show us a nice world for once? Or to see how those other Element Bearers are doing in the world they made out of Discord's Future? I mean, THEIR world has gotten better right?" When her friends looked at her, she ducked her head and hid behind her long mane. "I mean, if nopony has any better ideas."

They looked at each other and nodded uneasily.

Pinkie hopped over to the machine and took out from nowhere a collection of tools, some of which couldn't be completely seen in three-dimensional space, and started working on the What-If Machine. It hissed and clanked and groaned. The mares backed away a few hoofsteps, unwilling to get too close to the cantankerous device. The machine looked like it was running down. Pinkie gave it a whack.

"Come on, work! You work just fine when you're showing us all sorts of horrible stuff!"

The screen flickered and glowed and the mares gasped at what they saw.
-
Queen Applejack asked Nightmare Mirror, "What are ya doin' here? Nothin' ya can do matters! This here is all 'non-canon' as Pinkie says!"

"That's the truth. Now here's a question, Ma, Pa, ya think they'd be proud of ya? Fer this Equestria ya made? Just askin'. See ya sister." Nightmare Mirror stepped through the gate back to her own reality.

Something heavy nudged Applejack's flank.  She turned her head to see... and stared.  "What."

There was the white wolf pup again... and another white wolf pup... and great hulking grown up wolf, bigger than her biggest apple cart!  And then the big wolf talked!  "Queens, Princesses, or Nightmare?"

Applejack twitched.  "What."

"Which do you have?"

"Er... Princesses?"

One of the pups smirked and cuffed the other.  "I told you this one was mine."

The other pup sulked and snapped at the first.  "Well, how could anyone reasonably tell, after someone left a portal open for hours?"

The big wolf gave them a withering glare.  "You, get your tail home."  He nodded at the first pup.  "You.  Nightmare blood.  Mop it up, every last drop.  And you, mortal..."

Applejack's teeth chattered.

"We were never here."  He lifted a paw big enough to flatten a pony, touched a claw to her forehead, and gave her a tiny, delicate nick.

Twilight noticed one of her friends staring off instead of watching the What-If Machine.  "Applejack?  Are you alright?"

The farm pony grinned.  "Eeeyup!  Never better!  Hey, you got it working?  What'd Ah miss..."

-

A pegasus by the name of Coffee Swirl suddenly entered the studio, pulling a cart laden with snacks and drinks. "Okay, dig in, a few of you likely need it after everything that'd happened."
-

While the girls were having coffee, Applejack said, "Twilight, ya know all sorts of magical stuff. Have ya ever heard of somepony, hypothetically, suddenly looking like they've got a bunch of locks over their soul?"

Twilight thought for a moment. "You know, I do seem to recall reading about something like that."

Pinkie Pie said, "Ooh, exposition time!"

Twilight said, "There aren't many ponies who can see them, but if somepony is hiding a secret, those who can see it will probably see what are called Psyche-Locks. A series of red locks, numbering anywhere from one to five. The more locks there are, the more they're trying to hide the secret. But if you have some evidence that contradicts the story they told to hide their secret, you can break those Psyche-Locks and force them to reveal their secret."

Applejack said, "Ah see. But are there other types of these Psyche-Locks? Maybe black ones that would seem to carry a feeling of deep sadness?"

Twilight said, "Black Psyche-Locks...those are representative of a secret that even the pony who has them isn't aware of. They're much more difficult to break, and if you use too much force to break them, it could cause permanent psychological damage to whoever has them."

Applejack nodded. "Ah see. So if'n these black Psyche-Locks got shattered into dust somehow, that would probably be too forceful, right?"

Twilight said, "That would be way too forceful! If they're broken like that, it's a pretty safe bet that the bearer of those Psyche-Locks would be driven insane, and it's possible that the secret their Psyche-Locks hid would be lost forever as well!"
-
Coffee Swirl turned to look at Twilight. "So I saw those tabloids about you and your brother..."

Twilight looked at him, confused. "What tab- Oh, right. THOSE." She spat the last word out with barely concealed anger.

Coffee Swirl smiled. "Come on now, Twilight. Nopony ever actually believes that stuff anyway. And besides, you know it's not true, and so do all those close to you. That should be enough, shouldn't it?"

Twilight's expression softened. "Yeah, I guess you're right... It really shouldn't bother me."

Pinkie Pie looked at the camera. "Wow, I had almost completely forgotten about that." She looked at the shadow list, which told her who had submitted entries to the show thus far. "Huh, it's the same shadow who brought it up in the first place... Go figure."
-

"Twilight."

"Yes Pinkie Pie?"

"If our universe ever just, ya know, STOPS, goes poof, I just want you to know that it was wonderful to be with all of you."

"Uh. Okay."

"And Mr. Coffee Swirl! You're not a royal guard, you didn't help save the world, you're not super-bad-ass and you're not a gifted pegasus, and you don't have a funny personality, and you could likely trade notes with Yankee Doodle Donkey on making my job difficult. .  . . And I wish you'd stop being so grumpy all the time only one who decides that you're a minor character is you! And I know you DID take part in Hurricane Fluttershy,because you were LEGALLY OBLIGATED to take part. You're way too much of an 'on the ground' pegasus to be registered as a citizen of Cloudsdale. That means you were help in this universe to get Fluttershy her love back from Ponyville for being FLUTTERSHY, not Princess Gaia and not hate for being Nightmare Whisper. Besides . . . . a down to earth pegasus who isn't all that good at flying and has esteem issues . . . you two are made for each other!"

Pinkie Pie pushed the two pegasi close together.

"I won't say 'now kiss' cause that's your decision not mine, but-. Rainbow Dash, I loved having you as a best friend, I'm just sorry I couldn't make friends with Gilda. Rarity, even if I don't always get what you find fun, you do, and that's what counts. Applejack . . . I can't spoil things, but I'll say I'm happy that you already consider me honorary family. Spike, you're the bravest, most noble, most useful dragon I know. Trixie, you're NOT just a 'villain of the week' or exist just to be a foil to Twilight, you have your own personality and your own heart. Be proud." Pinkie looked a the camera. "And if our world does go poof, I just want to say, I've loved being able to entertain all of you guys too."
-
Coffe Swirl blinked a few times, momentarily stunned by the pinke pony's change in mood. He then sighed and went back to his normal, depressive, self.

"Pinke, I fell in love with Fluttercruel, not Fluttershy. Bit of a difference there."

"Yeah, we-" Fluttershy had started to speak, only for Fluttercruel to interrupt her by switching their places.

"Wait a bucking minute! Did you just say 'love'?"

Swirl blinked a few times, realizing he actually HAD said the word. "I... uh... I... that is... oh buck my life!"
-

The What-If machine's screen began to flicker as the ponies looked back at it. "Uh-oh," Rainbow Dash said, "what're we gonna see THIS time? Hopefuly not more pony bad guys!"

The screen cleared and showed the a familiar scene. Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, the barn. What was odd about it was that it was filled with the town stallions, all of them gazing adoringly at something like a small dais. And on that dais...

The girls stared.

"Okay," Applejack said, "now who, I mean what, in the hay is that?"

'That' was a biped, like a Diamond Dog, provided one ignored its being furless beyond a long ebon mane that spilled down to its waist. She smiled hungrily at the assembled stallions, who stared back at her with the same mindlessly adoring look in their eyes the whole town had back when Twilight cast her 'Want-It Need-It' spell. She wore a dress that seemed to cling to her curves.

"My dear pets," she almost purred out in a voice that made the mares all want to strangle her at once, "It is so good of you to come at my call. It's been so long since I've seen such," her mouth twisted as on some foul taste, "handsome stallions." Several of the ponies in front of the line, Filthy Rich and Big Mac and Silver Axe, held their heads high at her words. She reached out and ran her long nails along their heads and necks. They leaned into her caress, whickering in glee. "Now then, are you ready to give me what I need in exchange for what you desire?"

"Okay," Dash said. "I think I'm gettin' sick. An' I dunno what bugs me worse, her or the stallions acting so dopey. Who the hay is she, and what's goin' on?"

"Somnambula!" Twilight and Pinkie Pie both said the name at once. They looked at each other in confusion.

"Who's 'Somnambula'?" Fluttershy asked, and Applejack added with a dangerous snort, "An' WHY are ma big brother an' all those other stallions makin' cow eyes at her?"

"Somnambula was a villain from, from a long time ago," Twilight said, wondering how much she dared to reveal. Pinkie just nodded as she said, "She used to drain life from males to keep herself young, and once she tried to do it to the stallions who wandered outside of Dream Valley. The ponies of that time stopped her, but I guess in that world..." Her voice trailed off. "Who could believe a villain from so far back could return now?"

"Uh, yeah," Pinkie said as she quickly shoved a script labeled 'Season 4 Twilight's Kingdom' under a nearby chair. "Who'd ever believe that?"

The mares turned their attention back to the screen as the barn doors opened, revealing a furious looking Rarity. She shrieked only one word: "YOU!"

She began forcing her way forward through the herd of stallions, using her magic to pick them up and set them aside. Behind her stood Applejack and the rest of her friends, following her. They showed no reaction beyond keeping their gazes locked on the witch. She in turn just smiled a small cold smile at the furious Rarity as she stood before her. "Something I can do for you, deary?"

"Yes," Rarity snorted. "You can free Ponyville's stallions and other males," she glanced to the side where an oblivious Spike stood, gazing at Somnambula as mindlessly as all the rest, "and then you can leave! It's hard enough getting a date in this town, I don't need competition from some bipedal succubus!" Twilight coughed and Applejack cleared her throat. Rarity quickly added, "Oh, and the mares whose family members are currently bedazzled by you would appreciate their return."

"Really?" Somnambula purred down at her. She reached out and tickled the mare's ear. She made a gesture with her other hand, and the stallions began to gather around the mares, their gaze turning from adoring to furious. Rarity jerked back with a snort as she said, "Tell me, my dear little mare," they all heard the emphasis on the word 'little', "You and what army, exactly?"
-

"THIS army, you floozy!" Somnambula recoiled as another pair of mares came charging up through the herd, a silvery-gray one and a pink one with a white-striped purple mane. They looked more mature than the Mane Six, with the slightly heavy builds of mares who'd borne foals, but they were still earth ponies, and muscles worked under their coats.

Somnambula made a quick gesture, and the two new mares stopped as Filthy Rich and Silver Axe stepped between them and her.

"Darling!" The gray mare, Silver Platter, said as she walked up to Axe. "What has that hairless hussy done to you? I'm your wife, speak to me!" Confusion passed over his face. It vanished and he gave her a stern look.

"Filthy!" Golden Tiara stomped up to her husband. He flinched back as she glared at him. "Shiny Star was one thing, I could forgive that, but this?" She pointed her hoof at the indignant sorceress. "She's not even our species! This violates the laws of nature, alicorns, and Equestria!" She looked around the room at the stallions. "You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

"Oh now I remember you," Somnambula said with a sneer. "My two pets," she pointed at the stallions, "told me all about you. The old baggage who fears losing the looks she never had, and the lunatic who tried throttling her own daughter -- not that she would be a loss." The two mares glared at her, snorting, as she said, "No wonder they fell so willingly under my influence."

"'Willingly'?" Golden Tiara snapped, "You mind controlled them, you scrawny witch!"

"Scrawny?!?" The sorceress put her hands on her hips and jeered down at the pony. "I'm not taking any abuse from anything that's going to have a funeral in a glue factory!" The two married mares and the human witch went right on arguing, while the stallions looked from one to the others in confusion.

The Mane Six just looked at each other.

"Uh, so, Twi," Rainbow Dash said. "Are we gonna, y'know, do something here or just wait for them to get tired?"
-
"Technically Twilight, you got some details wrong." Pinkie Pie said through a piece of recursive fanfiction, "Somnambula stole youth from ALL ponies, male or female, she just trapped them in happy illusions as she drained their youth and magic until they died of old age on their hooves."

"How did you know that?"

"Just some research. I . . . well, it's the kind of history that got my attention."

"Trixie finds his entire display just plain weird. If she is an illusionist, Trixie would at least like to see her in action, maybe she could pick up some things."

"And where does Filthy Rich's wife get off saying that two different species can't love each other? Donkeys mate with ponies. And Hippogriffs and Kirins, and whatever hybrid zebra are called are all accepted in Equestria," Spike complained.

"Kirins?" Rarity asked.

"Those are what pony/dragon hybrids are called," Spike said smiling.
-

"Why, Spike, how knowledgeable!" Rarity looked a little creeped out as Spike grinned at her. "Not to mention a little disturbing. But what could that creature and a pony, er, create together?"Her jaws snapped shut as soon as that particular temptation aimed at fate left her mouth. But it was too late.

"Hmm..." Pinkie said, looking through a collection of pictures in a file labeled 'Rule 34' for some strange reason. "Gee, I guess something like this!" And she held up a picture of a red-skinned, minotaur-horned, hairy creature with black eyes and a white mane and a human-like torso rising from where the neck and head of a pony ought to be.

And he held a smiling Celestia in his arms.

The response of the mares was unanimous.

"GAHHHHH!  WE HAVE TO STOP THIS!"

Meanwhile, on the screen, the Mane Six gasped to see what was happening not just to the stallions, but to Golden Tiara and Silver Platter as well.  They were withering, shriveling as though aging to dust in moments. Finely kept coats turned dull and mangy; manes and tails hung limp and ragged, and their skins began to sag over the bodies.

"Oh, my darling prince," Golden Tiara creaked out, gazing lovingly at Somnambula, who looked younger and more vital than ever, "you say you understand what I almost did to Diamond and forgive me? And she does too? Darling, that makes me so happy!" Meanwhile nearby Filthy Rich tried to keep his head raised to watch the witch as he sank to his knees.

"Oh, husband," Silver Platter said, looking as aged as Granny Smith, trying to nuzzle Somnambula as the witch pulled back in disgust, "you say you don't mind me being just a little old? In fact, you want to grow old together with me? Why, that sounds wonderful!" She fell to her belly as her husband snored nearby, too old and tired to stay awake, smiling as he dreamed of meeting this enchanting sorceress instead of that old bat he''d married.

"Big Mac!" Applejack ran over to her brother, who looked like her grandfather in his last few months before... "Ya gotta listen ta me an' stop looking at that witch, or you're gonna end up a pile o' dust!" She broke off as the stallion pushed her aside to get her out from in between his gaze and Somnambula. The witch laughed coldly.

"Hah! See?" She indicated the stallions and two mares. "I and my crystal are giving them what they want, what makes them happy. I'm all that matters to them," and she turned her gaze on the Mane Six, "and to you as well!" And her gaze seemed to expand to fill the room as the mares found themselves falling into their perfect dream worlds.

Applejack smiled to see her son and daughter playing, with the new expanded Sweet Apple Acres behind them. She'd finally made enough bits to take care of everything and ensure their future; and how wonderful that the stallion she'd married had eyes for no mare but her! Such utterly magnetic eyes...

Fluttershy watched over her animals, watching as her friends' foals played innocently with them. Fluttercruel stood beside them, freed from her mother and given a new form by Twilight's magic, her husband Iron Will beside her. Odd how his eyes seemed to glisten...

Pinkie Pie hopped for joy to see everypony coming again and again to visit her amusement park. It was so great that she'd been able to convince that big meany-pants (well, he didn't really wear pants, but you get the idea) Discord to help with the place! A crowd of ponies and griffins and dragons and even changelings (wait, she thought, did we do that arc yet?) watched and laughed for sheer joy as he pulled an alicorn out of a hat, and how his eyes shone!...

Rainbow Dash found herself flying with the Wonderbolts, leading the group after former commander Spitfire came and begged her to take her position. Oh, and Gilda flew beside her; and wasn't it a gas that she'd been allowed to knock down her old flight school with a whirlwind?

Rarity looked around and smiled to see her friends taking the time to visit her at the mansion she'd been able to build behind the Boutique. Her business had taken off so wonderfully! And it'd taken only a little convincing to get Dash and Applejack to embrace their more refined sides! It was such a dream...

Twilight alone fought against what pressed against her mind, visions of Celestia and Luna sharing secrets of magic with her that no pony since Starswirl the Bearded knew, of Shiny and Cadence and her little niece, of Spike taking that perpetual youth treatment so he'd never grow up and leave her... She groaned as she knocked her horned head against the barn wall, fighting the seductive visions Somnambula's illusions were feedng to her.

"That's right, you unprocessed tubs of glue," the witch cackled, "Accept all the illusions I have to offer! And give me your lives --- OW!"

The mares blinked to see a small filly who had leaped down from the hayloft onto Somnambula's head. She covered the witch's eyes with her hooves and her striped mane hung around the witch's face as she bit onto one ear and hung on for dear life. They saw the stallions and other mares shake themselves, their features turning young again as the witch lost control of the illusionary world she set them in. Somnambula shrieked and snatched after the filly.

"Get off of me, you little brat!"

"You leave my mom and dad alone, you bipedal weirdo!"

They all stared, but only Applejack was able to say the name: "Diamond Tiara?!?"
-
"buzz off brat." Somnambula said waving her hand trapping Diamond tiara in an illusion of being a fly with the head of a pony. but before she could restarted she heard someone going "Ahem."

"what... oh..." Somnambula stopped as she saw it was celestia

"You know, when i decided to visit twilight i was hoping for a peaceful time with my favorite student, instead i'm dealing with a mediocre villain."

"M-mediocre!"

"Yes, mediocre, compare to Scorpan brother, Hydia, Lavan or even Bray. you are mediocre."

"Scorpan had a brother?" Pinkie said confused.

"How dare you!" Somnambula shouted she was about to use her crystal but celestia just used her magic to lift them up and destroyed most of them.

"No!" Somnambula shouted as she could feel herself getting older.

"I'm giving you a choice, return to Tartarus peacefully or i let them decide your fate, and after the stunt you pull i doubt they be merciful."

"... alright dangit, i'll go back to Tartarus." Somnambula growled.

In the studio Coffee Swirl muttered, "Well, that was sure anti-climatic."
-
"It certainly was convenient, though," mused Rarity.

"Maybe a little too convenient," said Twilight.  "Maybe it's just as well that the Princesses live a good long train ride away from here.  How would we learn to solve our own problems, or learn lessons about friendship if Princess Celestia just swooped in and solved all of our problems for us?"

"Ah, Twilight, sugar..."  Applejack tapped a hoof against yet another soapbox.

"I know, I know..."  Twilight stumbled getting down and bumped into the What-If Machine, which promptly started up again...
~

An aged unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony filly with matching lavender coats stood in a circle, a mixture of confusion and concern on their faces.

"How could this have happened?" said the pegasus.  "Mom checked and rechecked those calculations!"

The unicorn grimaced.  "I suppose you could call this... a rounding error?"

"Hey!" cried the earth pony.  "Don't call her an error, like she's some kind of mistake or something!  .. Can we keep her?"

The unicorn closed her eyes, horn glowing softly.  "I'm afraid not.  She's mortal like Shining, and bound to this world."

"But we have to have to do something!" the earth pony insisted.  "She's just a baby.  Who's going to tell her stories before bedtime?  And give her ice cream on her birthdays?  And..."

The pegasus laughed warmly, nuzzling the filly.  "All right, all right.  Don't you worry.  I have an idea..."
~

"Who... who is it?" asked Fluttershy timidly, answering the knock at her door.  But there wasn't anypony out there, just a basket on her porch.  "Oh my..."  She shifted the blanket inside.  A newborn unicorn filly yawned, then opened lavender eyes and burbled happily.  "Oh my!"

Then she found the note and read it aloud.  "Please take good care of little Half-Light Midnight."

Fluttershy half-fainted before Fluttercruel took over.  "Are you kidding me?  Mom?  Mom, hold it together.  I'm sure not going to be the one changing her!"
-
"I . . . I think I might have to take of her . . . maybe . . .?" Pinkie Pie paled, not in a joking mood. Everypony looked at her. "Well, she's not technically 'canon' so she can really only exist in relation to this place . . . so . . . uh, and since I own the lease on the studio, I kinda . Â . . Â I guess that makes her . . . my uh, tennis?"

"That's tenant." Twilight corrected.

"Right! So uh . . . I don't think this is something we'll be sweeping under the rug any time soon so uh . . . can somepony help be build a nusery and go looking for baby supplies? I don't want to explain to Mr. and Mrs. Cake why I need them when it's not t look after Pound and Pumpkin . . . well, I'm sure they'll like her."

"She's not a something Pinkie Pie," AJ said.

"Trixie has enough family at the moment." Trixie said.

"I'm not changing diapers until I've had my first kirin with Rarity."

"Spike you're far too young to think of such thing." Rarity said very quickly.

"I kinda have my hooves full with Scootaloo!" RD said waving her hooves.
-

The Blank Wolf Pup sniffed at the basket and the small unicorn filly, not knowing what to make of her.

"A-hem!"  Pinkie Pie made sure the Pup had a good view of her supersonic cream pie launcher.  "Don't even think about it, mister."

"Don't think about what? Pinkie Pie don't point . . . whatever that is at her!" Twilight said thinking Pinkie Pie was aiming it at the filly.

"Oh! Uh, thought I saw a big ugly harry spider, don't worry!"

"Have't Ah see ya before?" AJ leaned in close to the wolf pup.

"AJ what are YOU looking at?" Twilight tilted her head.

"Don't you see..." From the looks on their faces, none of them, except Pinkie Pie did. AJ sadly wasn't a good liar, at all. "Sorry Twilight, feeling kinda confused." And that wasn't a lie, AJ could SWEAR she had seen the wolf pup before.
-
Coffee Swirl stepped up next to Applejack, the stallion having been mostly avoiding the child discussion for personal reasons. "If it means anything to you, I know what you're talking about. I can't see it, but I know it's there."
-
"Okay," Spike said as he looked down at the little unicorn foal, who in return looked at him with innocent trust, "so what do we DO with her?" He looked around at the mares. "Maybe somepony can adopt her?"

"Like who?" Rainbow Dash snorted. She looked at Twiilight, her eyes going wide. "Hay, maybe Cadence and Shining Armor?"

"No," Applejack said, looking at the wolf pup as she did. It shook itself and growled, and she repeated. "No, for some reason, Ah don't think that'd work."

"Okay, then who?" Dash carefully nuzzled the little foal. She gave a high-pitched whinny and nuzzled her back. "I mean, we can't give her ta one of the bad guys we've hadda deal with. Can we?"

Pinkie Pie's eyes went wide and she began fiddling with the What-If Machine, yanking wires and pulling various parts that seemed to exist in several alternate dimensions at once. She yanked out a wraith-like image of a sadistically grinning Rainbow Dash in a bloody business suit.

"Ugh? Where did this come from? Get out of here, you!" It landed by the foal and leered down at her. Applejack heard the little wolf growl, and with a snap of its jaws the horrid specter was gone. Pinkie kept looking around inside the device, and finally slammed the cover shut. "All done!"

She flipped it on and a greenish-black and vaguely insect-like image on the screen began to enlarge, becoming more solid-looking. The mares and Spike backed away in horror.

"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled, "What did you do with that crazy thing?"

"I just re-wired it so it can pull the things we see in other worlds here, instead of just showing them to us!" Pinkie said cheerily.

"You WHAT?" Her friends all said as one. And as they did with a wild burst of sparks a figure stood before them. One with a green-and-black carapace instead of equine hair, slit-pupil eyes, a teal mane and tail, and long wings like a fly's. And more oddly still, a hoof-sewn apron embroidered wth a heart.

"Tell me that is NOT who Ah think it is!" Applejack groaned. Rarity snorted beside her, her eyes blazing, as the palomino said, "Ain't we had enough troubles with her? And are ya CRAZY, thinkin' about handing a little filly over ta THAT?"

"No, no," Pinkie said. "This is the nice version of her!... I think." She bounced up to the rather calm-looking Changeling Queen before them. "Hiya, Chrys -- er, I guess it's 'Reversalis'?"

Reversalis looked at Pinkie and then the other mares. They all looked back at her, noticing her well-fed and non-rotted appearance in comparison to the corpse-like Chrysalis they remembered (though at the same time they wondered if they'd ever met her). More, her face held a gentle look that would have seemed utterly alien on the face of 'their' Chrysalis.

And the biggest shock of all -- around her neck she wore an Element of Harmony, a green heart.

She reared up, her wings buzzing, and to their confusion gathered them all in and gave them the biggest hug they could ever remember getting.

"Oh, my sweet and dear little ponies," she said in a voice so sickly-sweet even Fluttershy shuddered, "It's so good to see you aren't evil in this world!" Her horn glowed and a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn appeared along with a bushel of apples, held in the glow of her magic as the Mane Six struggled to escape. "You poor dears, you look half-starved! And has anyone bothered to make you anything to keep you warm? Oh, and who's this adorable little one here?" She brought the foal up to her eyes, smiling at her as the little unicorn uttered little whickers of joy.

"Say, Twi?" Dash choekd out where she and the others were held in a hug that would have left a minotaur begging for mercy. "If this is the 'good' Changeling Queen -- is it too late to get the other one back?"
-

"Urrgh -- GAH!" Twilight fought her way free of Reversalis' "hug", feeling like she'd been embraced by a python. "My ribs... Now, then!" She looked at the Changeling Queen, who still held her friends tightly. Twilight wasn't sure, but she thought that Dash looked to be turning several different colors at once. Reversalis, for her part, just looked sadly at her. "Okay, what makes you think you can be trusted with a little foal?"

"Oh, poor Twilight, I'm so sorry," the other-universe Changeling Queen said. "Did I do something to displease you?"

"Not... lettin' go... would kinda displease me right 'bout now!" Applejack managed to choke out. Reluctantly, Reversalis released her and the others. They dropped to the ground, gasping and choking for oxygen.

"I ain't sure," Dash managed to wheeze out, "But I think she collapsed one of my lungs!" She might have said more, but Reversalis pounced on her.

"Oh, no! Did I hurt you, precious?" Worry filled her eyes and her horn glowed as what looked like a storm of bandages and medicine appeared around Rainbow Dash. The pegasus yelled once and when she reappeared, she was wrapped head to tail in bandages. Only her eyes could move, and they seethed with fury. Twilight wasn't sure, but she thought she saw an IV in the background. Reversalis shook a yard-long thermometer and held it towards Dash. "Now then, dear, let mother take your temperature."

Dash rolled her eyes but managed to open her mouth. Somehow.

"What? Oh, no, no!" Reversalis smiled gently at her. "It's not THAT kind of thermometer!"

Dash's eyes went wide with terror. Her friends all recoiled, all save Twilight who dove for the What-If Machine and changed the channel. Reversalis managed one last, "Oh, DO take care!" and vanished.

The mares looked at each other, shuddering in horror.

"Okay," Twilight said, "Maybe I better be the one to look for our next candidate?"
-
"With all the trouble these 'alternate universes' are causing us, Trixie votes we added 'no alternate universes to the list of ponies who can't visit!"

"Ah second it!" AJ stamped her hoof.

"I, uh, abstain?" Fluttershy said. Then her face hardened. "Well I don't! I think we have enough troubles without inviting other world's troubles in!"

Spike said, "I dunno, what if we find the universe where me and Rarity are married? I want to ask him for dating tips."

Rarity said hearing Spike's words, "I vote we destroy the what if machine while we're at it."  

"It would be a terrible waste of knowledge to do that! But I do agree that we need a more controlled environment after what happened last time." Twilight said.

"Hey! I pay the rent on this place! And I . . . borrowed the what-if machine, and I say it stays." Pinkie Pie said.

"It is getting kinda a little crazy Pinkie," RD said, "I mean, we used to come to this place TO HAVE FUN! And now we have evil versions of us knocking on our door step, annoyingly good versions of our enemies next, and foals being dropped at our front door! We don't need extra guests! Plus I think it cuts down on chances of Gilda visiting again."

Coffee Swirl said, "Am I the only one to remember you still have an orphan baby unicorn here? And that the weird voices said that she belonged to this world now?"

Fluttershy shook her head, "We haven't forgotten Swirl, we just  . . . are thinking of the solution, it feels cold to just give her to an orphanage."

RD said, "Yeah, I wouldn't want . . . a foal I cared about to just be given to mares whose JOB it is to look after them instead of it being because they love them."

Fluttershy said, "Maybe you could take care of her Coffee Swirl?"

"WHAT?! No way! No how! Dream on! Not happening! I am NOT father material."

"You're not?" Fluttershy asked looking sad.

"Uh, that is-"

Rarity said and marched up to the what-if machine. "I know we're going to regret this somehow, but might as well get it over with . . .  What If Machine! Show us the solution to our problem."

The machine fizzled.

'No Quick Fix Solutions' scrolled across the screen.

"Should have know that wouldn't work. Fine. Show us a decent and loving mother, who knows when to be strict, knows when to be kind, treats her child tenderly, and will never abandon them, and will encourage them to be the best they can be!"

The machine flickered to show a rock farm, it didn't look like the Pies.

The imagine became that of a dirty white unicorn mare, her mane a beautiful shining violet. It wasn't well combed, but the mane was done in a beautiful if practical braid. She was wearing a brownish yellow work shirt over the front half of her body. A farm hat made of the same material hung on the back of her neck on a string. Her cutie mark was a rock with blue, red, and green crystals growing from it.

Her stunning blue eyes eyes focused on the cubby toddler and extremely cute baby dragon on her back, his teeth having not quite grown in yet. Her telekinesis was lifting half of a small a geode into the dragon's little claws. She looked tired, but her smile couldn't have held more love.

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Rarity gasped at the sight, remembering the vision she had seen of her fencer self.

Spike's jaw hung open in confusion. Pinkie Pie tilted her head. AJ looked at the unicorn on the screen and at Rarity, and back at the unicorn, her brain threatening to shut down as the conflicting and completely illogical imagine. Evil Queen Rarity had been less jarring. RD wanted to laugh, but found he couldn't at the sight. Fluttershy felt her heart flutter at the imagine. Twilight felt a tad possessive and moved Spike closer to herself.

The what if machine's teleportation function still active, engaged.

In a moment the Rarity that had been on the screen materialized, with the baby Spike still on her back.

She looked around confused, she didn't have a farmer's accent, but she also lacked Rarity's elegant 'upper class' tone.

"Uh . . . why is there another me here? Why is Spike bigger? Why is the stallion from the coffee shop here, and why is the fraud here? And why do you girls suddenly have different cutie marks?"


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-
Before anyone could even begin to explain, a thin wail made every set of ears in the room perk up.  The Rarity from the other world moved even quicker than Fluttershy, trotting over to the crying filly.  "Is this your child?" she asked Twilight.  "She looks hungry.  How long has it been since you fed her?"

Twilight blinked.  "Why would you think..."

Baby Half-Light started crying harder, and her tiny horn suddenly flared with blinding purple light.  Both Rarities and Twilight shared a panicked look.  "Magic surge!"  They dove for cover.

Applejack managed to get out "What the hay?" before a bolt of magic struck her and Pinkie Pie.  In a flash, her hair poofed up into wild curls, and Pinkie's tied itself in a neat ponytail.

Studio props and party supplies got caught up in a magical whirlwind, flying around the studio.  Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the air, trying to evade them, but another bolt of magic blasted the ceiling, engulfing them in a powdery crackling cloud.  "Oh my, I cannot fly!" said Fluttershy's voice, strangely accented, before a *zebra* fell from the cloud.  Rainbow Dash tumbled out of the cloud as a rainbow griffon, and quickly swooped to catch her friend.

Spike laughed, pointing.  "You girls look ridiculous.. urk!"  Yet another magical blast made the little dragon quadruple in size, sprouting longer horns and talons and sweeping wings before he fell forward, forelegs thumping on the floor.

Twilight peeked out from behind one of Rarity's couches.  "There's something familiar about... yikes!"  She ducked a flying potted plant.  "No time for that now...  Hey, Pinkie!  Do you have milk in your party supplies?"

"Well, duh!" said Pinkie, in between snapping pictures of herself and Applejack, with Applejack squirming and trying to escape all the while.  "How could I serve delicious cake and cookies without milk?"

"And a baby bottle?"

"New moms deserve parties too!"

"Right!"  Twilight scanned the flying party supplies, then snatched what she needed with her telekinesis.  "Oh no, I still need to warm the milk!"

"Flash heating spell?" said the other Rarity.  "I know that one.  Though usually I cast it for Spikey-wikey's lava baths, so I just need to tone it down a bit..."  The milk in the bottle boiled, then cooled.  "Perfect!"

They popped the bottle into Half-Light Midnight's mouth, and like magic, the filly began suckling happily, and the arcane storm died down.

Fluttershy stumbled to her hooves and stared at her cutie mark, now rendered as butterflies on a tribal shield, worked into the pattern of her stripes.  "This is interesting to be sure, but I don't know if I... can long endure.  Oh my... must I rhyme every time?"

The young adult dragon loomed over their Rarity, making her gasp and cower back slightly.  "Spike WANT... to invite you on an enchanting, romantic evening, Miss Rarity Belle."  He bowed, sweeping his new wings like a cape.

Twilight glanced up at Rainbow Dash the griffon, who was still flying in circles around the ceiling and occasionally shouting "Woohoo!" "Okay... three reversal spells, coming right up."

"Now, now, let's not be hasty," said their Rarity, looking up at the new Spike with sparkling eyes.

Rock Rarity picked her son where she had safely deposited him during the chaos of the filly's magic surge, and looked outright disgusted at an adult form of her adopted son charming a version of herself.

Coffee Swirl and Trixie came out from under the pile of junk they had hidden themselves under, looking no worse for wear.

"Your DEFINITELY need a mama for that filly!" Coffee Swirl declared.

"Trixie agrees . . . "

"Too bad you DIDN'T get zapped too eh?" Farmer Ponytailed Pinkie Pie smiled.

Trixie said, "This mishmash is a chaotic mess enough! I am surprised we haven't released Discord! Twilight, Trixie is . . . going out for a while, Trixie panicked and . . . needs time to think."

"Alright Trixie." Twilight nuzzled her friend and Trixie left.

"I better go for resupplies, not all of us can magically carry extra stuff wherever we go."

"Be back soon . .. ugh, your presence is a boon!" The zebrafieid Fluttershy said.

"Let's see Gilda say I'm a flip-flop now!" Rainbow Dash said.  

"Hey Twilight, have of them magic reversal things ready for me a Pinkie too!" AJ shouted, not liking her hair looking like cotton candy. She may not have cared about her looks but even she had her pride.

Rock farm Rarity, holding baby Spike asked, "Can somepony please explain what is going on here now? And if you're going to have a unicorn foal you should be prepared for magic surges."

Pinkie Pie said, "Sure! Let me just get the projector and the slides!"
-
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Okay, this has gotten out of hoof. We need to do something about this!)

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): I'm afraid that as long as the Blank Wolf is here in the studio, there really isn't much we can do.)

(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): Ain't that what's called a Catch-22 Dilemma? We can't do anything because our Blank Wolf is right there, but if something ain't done, our sister's gonna get taken to a different world, where that world's Blank Wolf will get her. How are we gonna resolve this?)

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): We might not be able to intervene directly, but if we stay separate from the world and just give advice, we should be safe.)
-

Twilight took a deep breath, preparing the reversal spell.  “Okay girls, line up.  One!”

Flutterzebra reverted back to a pony with a pop and a flash.  “Testing, one, two…  I didn’t rhyme!  Oh, thank you so much, Twilight!”  She actually did a little dance, before she realized she was dancing in front of everyone.

“Two!”  Applejack and Pinkie Pie switched back to their proper hairstyles.  “Three!”  Spike shrank into a baby dragon again.

“Ah, man,” grumbled Spike.

“There, there, darling,” said Rarity Belle, comforting him.  “You were too big to fit through the studio door anyway.”

Spike grinned and flexed a puny forearm.  “Like that would have stopped me.”

“Four!”  The flying griffon dodged Twilight’s spell.  “Rainbow Dash, hold still!”

Rainbow Dash zipped by, grinning.  “You can turn me back if you can hit me!”

“Ugh!”  Twilight gave chase, firing several more spells.  “Get back here.  This isn’t a game!”

“Come on, Twilight!  I haven’t even given this body a real flight test yet.”

“You…”  Zap!  “could have…”  Zap!  Twilight paused, panting.  “fooled me!”

Meanwhile, Pinkie moved in a blur, putting on a mortarboard, setting up her slide projector and screen, then putting a chair in front of the projector screen, and Rarity Stone with her napping infant Spike in the chair.  “A long, long time ago,” she started, clicking through the slides, “like a couple whole entire years ago, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were in a race, and Rainbow did a Sonic Rainboom, or she didn’t!”

Applejack yawned.  She knew the story well, at least until Pinkie started talking about some crazy other world where that Sonic Rainboom never happened.  She wondered how Pinkie could have possibly gotten photographs of Twilight’s magic exam, or Rarity finding her first gemstones, but she knew better than to ask.

(Look, over there.)

Applejack found her attention wandering away from the slideshow, over to the white wolf pup.  The wolf wasn’t watching the slideshow either… it was watching *them*, her and her friends.  Why?

(Isn’t it funny how you keep forgetting he’s there?)

Applejack frowned.  “Why can’t Ah remember where Ah saw that wolf before?”  She blinked, tensed.  “Did you make me forget?  You!  How long have you been messing with our heads!?”  Ignoring the odd looks from her friends, Applejack focused on the Truth and locked eyes with the white wolf...

... who looked right back at her, golden eyes growing wide with alarm.  “No, you must not!”

The farm pony gasped.  “You can talk!”  She charged at the wolf.  “No more playin’ dumb!  Tell me…  What the HAY?”  The whole studio turned all cold and dark and washed out, like one of Granny Smith’s old black and white photographs.  She whirled around, ready to shout to her friends for help, but they were watching the slideshow like nothing had changed.  Pinkie was still narrating and tapping the screen with a pointer… her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

“We need to talk,” said the wolf pup.





“Is Applejack gonna be okay?” said a worried Half-Light Dawn.



“We’re taking a big risk here,” said Noon.



“It would have happened soon anyway,” said Dusk, trying to be reassuring.  “Have some faith in our friend and focus on helping our sister.  Now, while the Blank Wolf is distracted…”

-

Rarity stone stared astounded at just how different the lives of her and her six friends were here. And that here, Twilight had raised Spike, not her, and Spike either hatched at a later date or grown at a different rate.

"And . . . I'm here because?"

Her other self, who was so prime and proper it made Rarity Stone's head spin. "Well, darling, that's really my fault I wanted us to be shown a stern but loving mother figure and . . .Pinkie Pie's contraption brought you here."

"Because somepony left a unicorn foal at your doorstep?"

"Well technically this is just a studio we use for recreation and is 'non-canon' whatever that means, but yes, she was." She pointed at the sleeping unicorn baby.

Rartiy did a full recount on what was shown on what if machine before it shut off.

"But . . . are you ask me to take her to MY world? Can't any of YOU take care of her? Did those strange ponies say she belongs in THIS world? Or WILL belong?"  Rarity Stone asked.

"COMING THROUGH!" Rainbow Dash for some reason had decided NOT to leave the studio. She was enjoying this form, but last time she had left the studio with something off effecting her, she had apparently regressed to a past life.

"GOT YOU!" Twilight said grabbing RD with her telekinesis. She cast the reversal spell, or would have if RD's griffin form didn't shimmer and slip through the magic. "Did you . . . did you just VIBRATE through my telekinesis?!"

"Cool huh? HA! Missed again!"

Twilight stamped her hooves agitated.

"Uh, Twilight, maybe you could just let Rainbow stay a griffin for a little while?" Fluttershy asked. "What's the harm?"
-
“Ah’m listening…” said Applejack, trying to sound more confident than she felt.  If that strange little wolf could snatch her away from all her friends and put her into a place like this, wherever this was...  What could she do against something like that?  The only thing she could think of was that it didn’t like her looking it in the eyes with her Truth.  Maybe she had a chance...

The wolf pup paced back and forth, claws clicking on the floor.  “You need to forget that you saw me.  Leave well enough alone.”

“And why should Ah do that?”

It stopped and turned, glaring at her.  “Because you’re better off not knowing.  The only reason you ponies can sleep decently at night is that you do not know what I do, what I protect you against.”

Applejack hesitated.  Had she heard that right?  The wolf pup… protected ponies?

“Have I lied, Bearer of Honesty?”

Part of her wanted to agree with whatever the wolf wanted, say whatever he wanted to hear that would get her out of this hopeless, grey place and back to the real world.  Sometimes, being the Element of Honesty could be a pain in the flank.  “You believe everything you told me... but how do Ah know it’s okay for me to not know something when Ah don’t even know what it is Ah’m not supposed to know?  Am Ah making any sense here?”

The wolf growled faintly.  “I could just take your memories again, for your own good.”

Applejack crouched lower, scuffing a hoof on the floor.  “Oh yeah?  And Ah could just buck you in the face if you try it!”

For a long moment, Applejack thought she was going to have to make good on her threat, then hit him with the Truth and hope for the best, but all of a sudden, the wolf seemed to reconsider.  “Tell me.  Have you ever gathered with your friends or family and just... told each other stories?”

“What has that got to do with anything?”  But she had, and even as she remembered, mist began to flow up from the cold grey floor and take familiar shapes, as if her memories were coming to life before her eyes.

There was herself as a cute lil’ filly, and a littler Big Mac... so many Apples, even Orange kinfolk she hadn’t thought of in years, all gathered around a campfire... every colt and filly that’d come to that big Apple family roundup years ago.  “Suddenly, an evil witch came out of the cave!” one of the colts was saying.  “You’ll never get past me, Princess Honeygold, unless you can... um... answer my riddles!”

The next filly giggled and said, “But the princess was so smart, she knew the answer to every single one.  Then the witch said, curse you, you answered my riddles but you won’t defeat my cave troll!”

And the next said, “But her brave knights galloped to her rescue, drawing their swords!”

Then cousin Sour Grapes, who’d been complaining that the story was stupid from the start, said, “And then a hundred dragons flew in and burned up the princess and the witch and the whole kingdom, the end.”

“Nope!” said Mac, putting his hoof down.

“That didn’t happen!” said young Applejack.

The misty shapes grew quiet and still again, dispersing when the wolf stepped through them.  “Stories need tending, nuturing... weeding.  This world is *your* story.  Not just the story of you and your friends... it is everyone’s story.  Does the name Prince Stud Muffin mean anything to you?”

Applejack shook herself out of the warm daze of the campfire story, wondering what the wolf was getting at.  If ‘Stud Muffin’ was some pet name Blueblood’s mare friends had for him, she didn’t want to know.  The farm pony stiffened.  No... That thing... that creepy fake alicorn that made them all crazy in love for no reason at all, and then... what had happened to him?

“Here’s another,” said the wolf.  “Do you remember the time your friend Twilight grew so obsessed with discovering the scientific basis of the Pinkie Sense, that she locked Pinkie in the library basement and…”

Applejack suddenly found herself shouting, “Stop!  DON’T SAY ANY MORE!”

“Why are you so frightened?” said the wolf, pouncing on her terror.  “That never happened.”

Her eyes widened.  “Because... of you?”

“Because of me,” the wolf echoed.  “I am the Blank Wolf, reborn.  When things come into your story that don’t belong there, perversions of your very selves, cancers upon your world... I make them ‘didn’t happen.’”  He rested a forepaw on her shoulder in an oddly comforting gesture.  “If you had looked into my eyes with your Truth and seen all the horrors I have erased over the course of hundreds, no, thousands of years...”

Applejack gulped and nodded, trying to keep her hooves from shaking.  

The Blank Wolf padded away, pacing once again.  “As I thought, this truth is too much for you.  I trust you are satisifed.  I shall relieve you of these memories now.  You will not see me again, I promise.”

“Wait!” cried Applejack.  The wolf paused in mid-stride, puzzled.  “That sounds like a pretty thankless job.  At least those rude Canterlot nobles pay me for rush orders, even if Ah don’t get any gratitute, but you...   It sounds like you work hard for everypony... everybody, and then not only does nobody thank you, they don’t even know you did anything in the first place.  Ah... Ah want to remember, cause somepony ought to!”

“You...”  The wolf looked at her with open astonishment, before his eyes narrowed.  “I see.  You still do not trust me.”

Applejack flinched.  “Well, not one hundred percent... but Ah meant everything Ah said!”

The wolf growled mildly.  “As you wish.  When you change your mind...”

“If!” Applejack insisted.

“If you change your mind, do not wait for contradictions and fear to drive you mad.  Surely, I do not need to remind you why that would be disastrous.  Call, and I will come.”

She was going to make it out of here in one piece.  She should have left well enough alone, she really should have, but...  “Can Ah call you when it’s not an emergency?”  The Blank Wolf frowned.  “You know, just to chat.”  A snarl.  “When you’re not too busy!”

The wolf pup stood quietly for a long time.  “It’s true, then,” he said disdainfully.  “You ponies will try and make friends with anything.”  But his tail was wagging as the black and grey world finally melted away into the blessed warmth and color of the television studio.
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