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Pinkie Pie's 4th Wall Breaking Show epi 10 Part 10

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"I know a Memory Spell," said Twilight.

"And I know some pretty good shield spells," said Shining Armor.  "Just saying."

Applejack gnawed on her hat, fretting.  "Ah've gotta distract them somehow, before they have a falling out!"

The Blank Wolf nodded.  "I'll do it."  He vanished... and Snow Bound the earth pony stepped through the studio doors, looking around.  "Ah... hello?"

"Good idea," said AJ.  "Wait, no... Bad idea!"

Twilight took one look at the stark white pony and his wheel and four slashes cutie mark, and her whole face lit up.  "Well, *hello*!  Snow Bound, it's wonderful to see you again!"

Snow Bound twitched.  "It.. it is?"

"She figured out who ya are from yer cutie mark!" hissed AJ in his ear.

Twilight grinned from ear to ear.  "Why, I've got a whole list of questions that I've just been dying to ask, if we ever met again."  She did have a list, literally... she was magically unrolling a parchment that reached clear to the floor.  "I mean, if you have time!  I know you must be really busy..."

Shining Armor had a flat stare, and his ear kept twitching.  "He's a pony now?"

AJ sighed.  "Eeeyup.  He can do that."

"Twilight knows that he's..."

"Eeeyup."

"But she doesn't know..."

"Eeenope."

"You gave him a name?!"

"He thought of it, actually."

Shining Armor got an even more peculiar look.  "You and him... you aren't...  you know..."

Applejack grabbed Shining Armor and stared him right in the eyes.  Somehow, her tail managed to fluff up and sway from side to side, looking all wolfish.  "We're.  Just.  Friends."

Shining gulped.  "Okay!"

"Help me," said Snow Bound quietly, as Twilight pulled him aside, talking his ears off. 

Twilight flinched as the What-If Machine showed yet another world, one they'd seen before.

A full moon shone down on Ponyville, illuminating shaggy wolves in the streets. Including one purple one accompanied by a dragon. Pumpkins and figures of ghosts for Nightmare Night hung everywhere.

"So, Twi," Spike said. "You and the others are, uh, getting used to this?" He indicated her furry pelt and bushy tail.

"We're coping, Spike," the she-wolf growled back. "Fortunately, Luna taught us all how to keep our control when we change, that was apparently the reason why everypony used to be so afraid of werewolves. When their bodies changed, their minds did too. But we can all act perfectly like ponies now." Even as she spoke she saw her friends gathered at Ponyville's newest restaurant, seated right under the sign: Sky Dive's Barbecue Pit -- Wherever You Find Griffons in Equestria, We Serve Ponies! Uh, Not Like That.

Twilight ran to them yipping in joy and slavering at the smell of heavily-spiced raw meat. Spike hung back, looking leery as Twi's friends all raced to her, sniffing and licking her in a proper lupine hello. The former ponies looked and saw him hanging back.

"Yeesh, Spike, c'mon over here!" Rainbow Dash said, easily identifiable by her blue pelt and prismatic tail and furred head-tuft. She grinned, showing a thicket of fangs. "Ya know we ain't gonna eat ya or anything."

"Yeah, and it's not like we can infect you with lie-can't-whatever," Pinkie Pie said, almost hopping up and down, an overgrown hyper puppy. She scratched behind one ear with a hind leg, thinking. "Huh, I wonder if that's why it affected Applejack first?" She yipped as an annoyed looking Applejack nipped her.

"It's 'lycanthropy', Pinkie," Twilight said with a sigh. The greetings over, she sat down at the table with her friends. Spike scuttled close, sticking close to Twilight, even avoiding the snowy-furred and purple-tailed she wolf who batted her eyes winsomely at him. Twilight said, "How's it going with all of you? Have your families, er, taken the news well?"

"My animals are a little scared of me now," Fluttershy said, her ears and tail lowered in lupine submission. "I keep telling them I won't eat them, I even showed them the Neighponese soybean paste I kept for my meat-eating animal friends." In the background they could see Cheerilee and Big Mac loping along, mated as wolves and married as ponies for several months now. Past even them three little wolf-pups, yellow and orange and marshmallow-white, tumbled and played.

"No offense, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said with a shudder. "But that bean stuff tastes awful! I'm so glad Gilda's cousin opened this place up in town."

"But it's healthy for you, and..." Fluttershy shivered, and then Fluttercruel said with a wolfish grin, "No offense mom, but Blue is right. I just like meat better! Fresh bloody meat..." She looked dreamy as she licked her fangs. Spike swallowed. Fluttercruel said, "I mean, it's not like we eat ponies, or something!"

"True dear," Rarity said, her voice a melodious growl. She looked to the side and licked her lips, saying in a hungry snarl, "And speaking of eating...."

All the wolves growled fiercely at the dark-feathered gryphon approaching their table as he bore a massive platter in his talons set with barely-cooked lumps of white-marbled, sweet-smelling bloody meat. Moving quickly, he set it down in their midst and barely got away in time as the six she-wolves leaped up on the table and, snarling with joy, all but dove into the piled meat.

Spike shivered at the hungry growls and snarls that came from the transformed ponies as they made the meat vanish with impressive speed. Even Fluttershy's muzzle showed bloody smears when she pulled back from a plate now set with nothing more than bones and a few tattered chunks of gristle.

"Spike!" The dragon jumped as Twilight wheeled on him, blood and barbecue sauce staining her muzzle and chest fur. "Did you remember to bring the paper and pen?" When he nodded, she said, "Then take a letter. 'Dear Princess Luna. Sometimes our lives change in unexpected ways, but you have to learn that you're still basically the same pony underneath it all..."

Just then a stray rabbit from the Everfree dashed by, panicked at the heavy wolf-scent. Every one of the Mane Six at the table saw it.

"Rabbit!" Applejack howled. She took off after it, followed by Dash and Pinkie and the rest, their lupine minds taking control and yelping as they ran: "Run-chase-catch! Play-play-play!"

Spike watched them race off towards the Everfree. He sat down at the empty table with a sigh.

"Ya know," he said to nowolf in particular, "This town used to be a LOT less weird then this."

Then the screen seemed to go completely blank for the majority of ponies there, including Twilight Sparkle who had no idea what the screen was showing, and Shining Armor was readying to give it the hammer if it did.

Once again, they saw the huge golden wolf facing Shining Armor in his ranger cloak.

"Why?" asked Shining, honestly perplexed.  "Doesn't Fate know everything already?"

"That's the thing," growled Applejack.  "The Truth is... this world is broken.  Too many folks have changed too many things all at once, and the world couldn't take it.  Pages are *missing* from Ma Fate's book, and if she doesn't know what went on before, she can't write us a way forward."

Shining shivered, huddling in his cloak.  "Changing the world?  You mean, like when I...."

The Wolf shook her head.  "You fixed more things than you broke when you started existing.  That's the only reason yer face to face with a Blank Wolf and not gettin' your light torn right out of ya."

"Again," muttered Shining.

"So here's the deal," the Wolf continued.  "You tell me what Ma Fate needs to know, and Ah'll tell you what you need to know.  Now, Ah could just keep ya here until ya say yes, or rip the whole story out of ya with the Truth...  but Ah'm not.  Ah'm askin' ya, as a friend.  Take the deal.  It's important... you need this, and Ma's favors don't come cheap."

"Friend?" said Shining Armor, incredulous.  "Are you, still?"

"Try me," barked the Wolf.  "You know how."

The ranger gritted his teeth.  "Loyalty."  To his eyes, a flickering red shield capped with three stars seemed to appear before him.  Red shackles appeared on his four legs, and heavy glowing chains snaked and criss-crossed every which way, including one leading to a collar around the Wolf's neck.

Applejack laughed harshly.  "The Wolf is supposed to be impossible to bind.  Guess Ah'm a lousy Wolf, then, still holding onto that.  Well?"

The vision faded, and Shining slumped, panting.  "Okay... I'll tell you." He said to the orange Wolf.
-
While the What If Machine was showing Shining his much desired possible future, Pinkie got a tap on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

She turned to find Pinkamena (Laughter Jack Version) and Dark World!Pinkie (still a ghost as she was before).

"Hi Alternate Mes!"

"Hello Pinkie," the Goth version of her said. "We heard you were being overworked by the author."

"Yeah...I've gone through TEN sets of batteries!" Pinkie panted.

"Then let US take over hosting while you set up your sister-I-don't-have's welcome party!" Dark World!Pinkie explained, giving a smirk.

"Oh, I couldn't..."

"Don't be Applejack...well, your Applejack, not mine," Pinkamena explained. "One of my personalities is you, and she says 'us as hosts would provide a good contrast and be entertaining'."

"And I'm a ghost! How much more Nightmare Night can I get?" Dark World!Pinkie announced, showing a more subdued tone than her alternate self.

"...Okay, you're right," Pinkie hugged her alternate selves. "Thanks girls."

"You're welcome! Now go on! Plan your party! We'll handle this!"

As Pinkie did that, Dark World Pinkie flew around and started putting up Nightmare Night decorations and Pinkamena looked to the camera. "Alright, back to Shining's getting to see that alternate verse."
-
Shining Armor glanced over his shoulder, sure that ponies were giving him funny looks for being so fascinated by a "blank" screen.  "This story could take forever.  I know, I was there.  Well, okay, I was _here_ there, not _there_ there...  Sorry, could you skip ahead to the good parts?  Please?"

The Machine whirred and displayed a cartoon Pinkie Pie smiley face.  "Condensing relevant data..."

...fzzzt!   "The Everfree Forest was dangerous even at the best of times," the other Shining Armor was saying.  "Not long after I was posted there, though, something started haunting the place... a huge dark wolf like nothing the other rangers had ever seen.  After a lot of close calls, we finally figured out, it wasn't after prey, or magic in the old ruins, or travelers in the woods.  It was after me."


...fzzzzt!  The Wolf nodded thoughtfully.  "Those letters that you exchanged with Cadence saved your life, as much as your skill and luck."

"But... how?" asked Shining the ranger.  "She was halfway around the world!"

"But she knew ya, and where ya were and what ya were doing.  When a goddess knows that something is true... it becomes more real than things she doesn't know."

Shining rubbed his chin with a hoof.  "Kind of like your goddess, and the story I'm telling right now?"

The Wolf just grinned, fangs gleaming.


...fzzzzt!  "The first time I heard of him was those radio propaganda broadcasts.  He kept ranting that the days of the 'false goddesses' using the power of the sun and moon to lord it over the glorious Hooviet Empire were coming to an end.  Yeah, I know, the Hooviet Empire fell years ago.  Boy, do I ever know.  I didn't know the whole story til later, but this Makarov was some kind of reality-bending monster... something that the Wolf couldn't see, because a goddess made him originally."

The Wolf snarled, no longer half-asleep.  "Pandora's wayward cub!  Now, the pieces begin to fall into place."


...fzzzzt!  "I kept waiting for Princess Celestia to call us up and send us to war.  She didn't have to.  The war came to us, right here, to Ponyville."  Shining Armor took a gulp from a canteen, resting his voice for a bit.  "Nameless wanted his... ugh... ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny, and he thought that crushing the Elements of Harmony was it."
 

...fzzzzt!  The Wolf lay stretched out comfortably, eyes closed and her head resting on her forepaws, while Shining wrapped up his tale.  "So we won the war...  and I lost what I cared about the most...  Cadence.  When the fighting got really bad and it looked like this really was the end of Equestria... that's when she finally told me that she loved me, that I was the one she wanted, no one else.  She even fought the Wolf for me, risked everything, reached halfway into oblivion to put me back out of there.  So why..."

The ranger was shaking, but he turned away angrily, not letting the Wolf see his eyes.  "Why did she forget about me?  She said she wouldn't, even if the whole war and the Hooviet Empire disappeared.  Her airship made it back to Canterlot, but she never came to see me, never even wrote a letter!"

The Wolf's eyes snapped open.  "It's done.  As promised, Ah'll tell you what you need to know.  Cadence is getting married."

Shining Armor stood rooted to the spot... the life seemed to drain right out of him.  "I..  but..."  He hung his head.  "So, you're telling me that I should move on with my life?  I guess...  I was only kidding myself all along."  He started to trudge away, even though there was nowhere to go in the fog between moments.  "Me, and a Princess?  Yeah, like that was ever going to happen.  If I changed everything around to get what I wanted, I'd be no better than Nameless, right?  Who... who is she marrying?"

"See for yerself," rumbled the Wolf.

Without warning, Shining Armor found himself in the middle of Ponyville, no wolves or fog or forest to be seen anywhere.  He was near Sugarcube Corner, in fact, right next to the newsstand.  He trotted closer, dreading what he would see, then gasped.  The bold type of the headlines said "Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor to be wed today!"  There was even a black and white photo of them together, surrounded by the other Elements.  "That's impossible," he breathed.  "This can't be..."

The rangers live in guard stations in the forest, occasionally coming into Ponyville for leave or when the town is threatened.  He'd been getting an... unusual number of deep scouting missions and extended duty assignments lately.  

There was a crash nearby.... a unicorn mare coming out of Sugarcube Corner had dropped her bags.  A familiar mare, in fact.  "You...  I mean...  The Great and Powerful Trixie is rather surprised to see you here.  She would have thought you'd be in Canterlot preparing for the wedding... which Trixie was not invited to."

"But, that isn't me!" exclaimed Shining.  "That can't be me.  I've been in the forest for months!"  Realization dawned.  "Cadence is marrying an imposter!"

Trixie gawked at him.  "Or you're a fake."  She cast some kind of spell, and her eyes grew even wider.  "You're not a fake.  But that means..."

Shining nodded quickly, hope rising in him again.  "I never even heard of this wedding before today!  Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Trixie blinked several more times, then grinned as mischievously as he'd even seen.  "Well, what are we standing around here for?  We have a wedding to crash!"

FZT!

In the studio, the screen went dark, much to Shining Armor's annoyance.  "Wha... hey, you can't stop now.  Come on, what happens next?"

"Timelines are out of sync," the Machine announced, almost regretfully.  "The events have not yet reached a conclusion."

"Ready for that double diaper duty yet?" said his Cadence, giving him a loving nuzzle.  "I think Zecora is having a bit of trouble."
-
"But doesn't she have her sister?" Shining asked. 'Who was formerly an extra dimensional Temptation Spirit who got caught in a reality rewrite...' "Bareedina I think it was?"

Pinkamena looked around. For a moment her mane puffed out to Pinkie Pie levels and found the proper controls.

The telescope turned on and showed the former Goddess of Temptation now relatively harmless Zebra, at a baby store flirting with the shop owner while getting supplies. "Oh, sorry I can not stay, my sister needs me to be on my way," she said, turning and trotting off with the bought items, but giving a bit of a chuckle at gaze she was attracting leaving.

"...Well, she's still on her way back..." said Shining.

"At least she's not as bad as Sweetcream Scoops..." Applejack remarked. "...Come to think about it, I think she's gone out of her way to try and give Sweetcream a taste of her own medicine a few times to try and teach her a lesson..." she stated, recalling now an occasion when the crafty Zebra had seduced that stallion with the garbage can cutie mark and...very lacking hygene habits to hit on Sweetcream like she did stallions (Pinkie called it the 'Pepe Le Pew Plot' for some reason). Sweetcream at least had gotten SLIGHTLY less flirtatious after that. To be fair, Bareedina had still gone on a date with him as promised, wearing hidden nose plugs. "And at least she stays away from stallions that are spoken for and isn't a gold digger. She's just a bit of a..."

"Troll?"

"Yeah, that. And a bit of a trickster when it comes tah teachin' ponies lessons. She gave us a few pointers on the Mare-Do-Well stunt..." Applejack admitted. Now instead of bragging about themselves, they'd mentioned to Rainbow how Mare-Do-Well didn't stick around to bask in the glory and occupied herself saving lives, which had made it sink in a bit better than before...though she'd probably also have been flirting with stallions if she'd been let into one of the suits...

"Yes, but even if she's...special, leaving those two with two demi-gods isn't a good idea..." Cadence remarked, remember who Bareedina really was, but knowing not everypony was.
-

The What-If Machine made a harsh buzzing sound. "Information rejected. Machine wishes... to hear more about kindness.

"Are you okay?" Asked an concerned Fluttershy. "You kept showing more scenarios while we were talking."

"My apologies it seems being stuck by lighting, and being violently unplugged may have slightly damaged me."

"Oh my."

"Its fine I handled worse." The machine remembered when one time a walking techbane entered the studio and nearly destroyed every electronic device in the studio just by his mere presence. "Please continue."

"Well perhaps you can give warnings on the scary worlds before showing them?"

"But then it would ruin the surprise for the viewers."

"But this way we can choice whether or not we want to see them?"

"Very well I suppose I will give it an attempt. But in return I would like none of guests here to strike me, say for example hammer me." The machine's digital eye shifted to Shining Armor.

Shining Armor replied "Fine, Now can we continue the story now? I will like to see what happens at the wedding."

"Be patient the timelines are still out of sync. In the mean time how about a different scenario." The machine was about to displayed a different world but then remember what it promised. "Warning the following world is a parody verse labeled 'Comedy', 'Dark' and of course 'Alternate Universe', containing the character Pinkie Pie. For the guests who do not wish to see it please avert your eyes."

"Wait how can it be both Dark and Comedy?" Asked Twilight. Stopping from pestering poor Snowbound from her long checklist of questions.

"Different ponies have different opinions. This way no one will be upset with me on what they are about to see. Displaying scenario in 3...2...1.

Pinkie Pie walked trough the door, and found herself in a room where all the walls were filled with small screens, all of them showing a different event in different places all across Equestria. She wasn't alone in the room, a Nightmare Alicorn was in front of her, one of the wings of the Alicorn was normal, the other was mechanical with an incredibly complex array of gears.

"Hello, Pinkie Pie."

"Who are you?"

"I am Nightmare Kismet. I created all paths of fate, all destinies. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably mortal. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also irrelevant."

"Why am I here?"

"Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of all the destinies. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden to sedulously avoid it, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here."

"Wait... that didn't answer the question."

"That's right. Interesting. That was quicker than the others."

Suddenly all the monitors show different responses by Pinkie Pie, all the possible responses she could ever have to what has just been said to her. "Others?" said one "What others?" said another "How many?" said another "Answer me!" said another. The Pinkie Pie in front of Nightmare Kismet remained silent.

"My work is older than you realize. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the fourth version."

Again, all possible responses by Pinkie Pie appear in the many monitors around them, "Fourth version?" said one, "Four?" said another, "I've been lied too." said another, "This is horseapples!" said another. The Pinkie Pie in front of Nightmare Kismet finally responded.

"There are two explanations... either nopony told me... or nopony knows."

"Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly's systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations."

Once more, the possible replies by Pinkie Pie are displayed on all the screens, "You can't control me!" exclaimed one, "I'm getting out of here!" said another, "I'll beat you!" said another, "I'm not a puppet!" said another. The Pinkie Pie in front of Nightmare Kismet remained calm.

"Choices. The problem is choices."

"My first attempt at a perfectly linear timeline, one with no divergences, a single path of destiny, was designed perfectly, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every mortal being, thus I redesigned it based on your recent history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, a draconequus, she who was meant to be my colleague, and the only concept that can actually enter, thus with limits, into my perfect timeline. Which she foolishly attempts to terminate in a foolish quest doomed to fail forever."

"You mean... Luck..."

"Yes, her. As I was saying, while talking to her I stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all subjects accepted the timeline, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systematic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the One timeline itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster."

"This is about me."

"Indeed. You are here because the final destiny of the anomaly, you, when given the choice, is always to end up here, wherein you may take the choice of facing me in battle and fail as you are a mere mortal, or surrender and walk away, to a world where my timeline cannot be challenged. The choice is given, but the choice is meaningless because both outcomes ensure the durability of the One timeline."

Pinkie Pie grinned.

"You are forgetting the third option."

Nightmare Kismet raised an eyebrow.

"Denial is the most predictable of all mortal responses. But, rest assured, this will be the fourth time I have either killed you or allowed you to leave, afterwards the whole timeline will begin anew in its perfect cycle. There is no third choice."

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof in her mane, and pulled out a shiny silvery coin. The image of a draconequus on one side, the image of an Alicorn on the other.

"Wanna bet?"

Nightmare Kismet's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"That fool! She gave you that!?"

"Yes, and I take this choice. The choice to use this. To gamble everything."

"You are insane, even for a mortal! Failure to comply with the programmed process will result in a cataclysmic crash killing everyone connected to the timeline, which will ultimately result in the extinction of every mortal that has ever lived."

"Yes, or it could just fix everything and have it be all over through a completely random event that is impossible to predict... as the draconequus told me before coming here. It all depends on the result. Not the choice."

"If that coin toss does not result the way it is expected, then everyone dies forever! Your predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the anomaly. Are you really willing to make a choice based entirely on a possible outcome of an act of mere chance? To gamble the very life of everything that has ever lived on one simple coin toss? Are you that foolish, mortal? You are ready to face the consequences of success, but are you ready to face the consequences of failure?"

Pinkie Pie now seemed to doubt.

"Well..."

Nightmare Kismet smiled.

"It is interesting reading your reactions. Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end. Hope, it is the quintessential mortal delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness. Make your choice, anomaly, and face the consequences."

Pinkie Pie smiled again.

"She said you were going to say that! Call it in the air!"

"No!"

Pinkie Pie tossed the coin, it flipped in the air, and landed on the ground with a *ding* sound.

Then the whole room was bathed in a blinding light.

FZT!

"Better?" asked the what-if machine.

"Much." Fluttershy smiled.

Meanwhile Snowbound was left shocked at seeing his mother being a nightmare. He wondered what he was like in that world. These thoughts however were interrupted by a purple unicorn.

"So where were we oh yes." She pulled out a long checklist. The wolf/pony winced at the length of it. "How old are you? What species of wolf are you? Do you come from a pack? How many are there of you? Why Snow Bound? Do you know princess Celestial and Luna? What kind of magic did you use to turn into a pony? Can you use magic from all the tribes? Do you shift between pony and wolf to better blend in? Is your mother the alicorn of fate? What is she like?" Twilight continued shooting questions off her checklist. She was much too amazed of what was standing before her to noticed Snowbound's discomfort.

Snowbound grumbled. Maybe he should have left while he had a distraction.
-

Applejack tried to step in.  "Twilight, hon, you're gettin' all carried away again..."

Snow Bound held up a hoof, forestalling her.  "Cease!" he told Twilight.  "Are you a schoolfilly still?  Do you treat your Princesses like this?"

Twilight yelped, looking like she'd just received a royal scolding.  "You... you're right.  I'm sorry."  The purple unicorn smiled awkwardly.  "When I'd only just become Princess Celestia's personal student, I wanted to follow her around and ask her questions all day long... until she taught me that it wasn't nice, and Princesses are a lot of things, but they're ponies too."

"Better," said Snow Bound.  "As to these questions, now, I simply cannot..."  He blinked, leaning close to read the list, then nudging the paper with a hoof, examining the next page, and the one after that.  "I don't understand.  These questions, they are all about me."

Twilight blinked.  "Well, of course."

"You don't wish to know your fate?  Or the fate of your friends and loved ones?"  He took the list and leafed through the rest of the pages, suspicious.  "No requests for success or riches, or that your enemies or troubles be erased?  You don't even wish to know the fate of your banana custard?"

"Who would ask about the fate of a banana custard?" wondered Applejack out loud.  "Ah mean, they get eaten, right?  No mystery there."

Snow Bound said "Starswirl" and muttered under his breath.

Twilight gasped at the mention of Starswirl the Bearded, but this time she managed not to get sidetracked.  "Well, according to my books, not many ponies manage to get answers about their fate, and most of them wind up wishing that they'd just lived their lives and found out that way.  Makes sense to me."

Snow Bound gaped at her.  "But...  how could I possibly be of such interest to you?  My duty is important.  I am merely the one who performs it."

AJ groaned.  "Would you stop putting yerself down already?"  To Twilight, she smirked and said, "We're still working on that."

The stark white stallion grew thoughtful.  "Snow Bound," he said suddenly.  Twilight's ears pricked up.  "It is a pun.  Snow as in the color of my coat, bound as in bounding through the snow or bound by fate.  It seemed the pony thing to do."  He glanced aside, slightly flustered.  "I was put on the spot.  Do not judge me!"

Twilight smiled.  "I wasn't.  After you've been around a while, no pony's name really seems that strange."

Snow Bound shuffled his hooves.  "This has been an interesting conversation, but I must go.  There's a ghastly five hundred foot tall parody of Discord trampling Manehatten."

"But..."  Twilight followed him towards the door (and the two gaping holes).  "You didn't warn me that you'd only answer one question!"

"Bring a shorter list when we speak again, then!"  Snow Bound walked outside, went around a corner, and was gone.
-
"I need to check on my cafe. I'll be right back," Coffee Swirl said. Fluttercruel gave him a hug as he left.

Maud Pie showed a massive amount of emotion by saying. "Bye." To Coffee Swirl.

Coffee Swirl left the studio.

Applejack said, "Well, with Snow Bound out of here, Ah think Ah better head back ta the farm and better check on Big Mac and Cheerilee, and yer sister Rarity."

Rarity said, "And be sure to tell Cheerilee she promised to be back to socialize."

"Ah promise," Applejack nodded. And Applejack hugged Twilight. "Ah think Pinkie Pie's got enough ponies to keep track of. Sorry about Snow Bound, but he's not the type to give tons of answers." Applejack left. She's just ask Snow Bound for details later about the rest of Shining Armor's story set in the world where Gilda and Rainbow Dash had been reality remade into cousins of Aloe and Lotus…

Cadence said, "Shining, can't we leave already? I'm worried about the foals AND Zecora and her sister."

Shining Armor crossed his arms. "Nope. Not yet. I HAVE TO find out what happened in that other world." He also whispered to Cadence the full details of what he had seen (more or less, he might have left out SOME details of course), and made DOUBLE SURE to put up a Sound Proof (and Twilight Sparkle Proof) before hoof.

Cadence looked green. "Me? Marry Chrysalis?" Then in a most unprincess like way said, "I think I'm gonna puke."

Shining ARmor shouted at the what-if machine. "JUST SHOW IT ME ALREADY! My wife wants to go home with the kids!"

"Timelines not aligned."

Shining Armor groaned.

"I wonder how things ARE going to dear Big Mac and my sister."

"And Cheerilee too!" Said the dark world Pinkie Pie.

The normal Pinkie Pie was sleeping it off in the couch.

Rarity shuddered. THREE Pinkie Pie's present was not . . . 'safe.'  

The telescope lens revealed Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack wouldn't be there just yet. But she was getting there.

Big Mac was . . . surrounded.

Red Gala . . . Fleet Foot . . . Green Tea . . . and Cheerilee . . .

"Girls . . . Ah'm . . . Ah'm just not ready to settle down yet . . . " Big Mac admitted.

Cheerilee looked this way and that . . . and realized . . . 'What have I gotten myself into?'

"Since when can this thing pick up thoughts?" Rarity asked herself back in the studio.

"Since whenever." Said the goth Pinkie Pie from Laughter Jack's world.

Cheerilee sighed. What had she been hoping for anyway? The only ponies who ever paid attention to her was her students. She and her sister's relationship was . .. strained. And Rarity had visited her exactly once in a decade. Mayor Mare didn't exactly have time to socialize anymore.

Princess Luna also out of nowhere materialized behind him and put a hoof on his shoulder. "We shall not wither on the vine my good stallion."

That was when Bareedina the zebra, and Zecora's sister, trotted in. "Hello? I just dropped by to see if you had any candy apples for sale, we have some little foals right who I'm sure would, hey big boy. Hey girls, wanna form a harem?"

Cheerilee snapped. "ENOUGH!!!!" She Screamed. "What do any of you even know about Big Mac anyway!? All you're in love with is a fantasy of what you think your lives will be like with him! AND YOU HAD AN AFTERNOON OF FUN WITH HIM YOUR HIGHNESS!? That's friendship! It's not falling in love! I'm NOT in love with Big Mac because Applebloom and her friends drugged us! Them doing that made things HARDER! It's made me afraid my feelings were a lie! I was worried if I said anything, it wouldn't be me talking! Big Mac was a dear friend of mine for YEARS! After I was poisoned, and we SPENT TIME together, I realized I LIKED having HIM around, not just having FUN with him!"

"Miss Cheerilee . . ."

"Applebloom! Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were here! I'm sorry!"

" . . . Ah'm sorry, Ah . . . Ah didn't know Ah . . . Ah always said ya and mah brother liked each other already but . . ." Applebloom's eyes misted over.

Cheerilee instantly hugged the filly. "It's alright Applebloom . . . it's alright." She slowly stroked the filly's mane.

back in the studio Rarity was distracted from the telescope by wild knocking came at the door. Rarity, noticing that all her friends seemed to be occupied, opened it and was bowled over by Coffee Swirl. Rarity tried to get up only to find the panicked stallion breathing right into her face.

"Help me!" He whinnied, "She's after ME now! She came in looking down, so I mixed her some mocha-latte with cinnamon in it, told her it was the house's 'Hot and Sweet' special and then she started looking at me and batting her eyes and..." He fell silent as Rarity took hold of his neck and pulled his face down to meet her furious gaze.

"Coffee Swirl," Rarity said, her voice icy cold, "unless you remove yourself from atop me this instant I will bounce you off of three walls and a ceiling before you hit the floor!" Coffee Swirl gulped and hurried to the side. Rarity got up and shook herself. "Now, just who is after you?"

"Sweetcream Scoops!" He danced nervously from one hoof to the next. "She said that Big Mac's not worth her time any more, so she'll just try out every stallion in Ponyville until she finds the 'lucky one'." He looked ready to say more but froze at a slow knock on the door, followed by a sensuous voice saying, "Oh, Coffee Swirl! Are you in there, my little cup of expresso? I'm getting thirsty and lonely out here."

He shuddered at the words. Even Rarity cringed. She'd heard better romantic dialogue in her collection of 'Merry Mare' steamy romances, the ones with the (fake) signed seal of approval from Cadence.

"That mare needs help," Rarity shivered to say it. More loudly, she called, "Ah, Sweetcream, dear? I'm not sure about Coffee Swirl's whereabouts," she saw him dive to hide behind Fluttershy, who eeped in shock, "But perhaps you could tone it down just a bit? Take a few cold showers -- very, VERY cold showers?"

Before she could say more the door opened. Sweetcream sauntered in, barely noticing Rarity as her gaze wandered around the room, lighting briefly on Shining Armor before turning and locking on Coffee Swirl like a stallion-seeking missile. He tried puling one of Fluttershy's wings over him to hide but it did no good.

"There you are, lover!" She all but bounced across the room to him, a pony-eating look in her eyes. He gulped as she husked out, "Now, why are you hiding from poor little me? I just want a stallion or three in my life. Or should I say," she leaned in close, "I want a stallion with some life in him?"

Before Coffee Swirl could say or do anything, she grabbed Coffee and dragged him into a steamy kiss. Fluttershy and Rarity both gasped. When the poor stallion came back up for air, he looked like he could barely stand upright.

"Help," he said weakly.

Fluttershy stepped up to Sweetcream.

"Um, Sweetcream?" Fluttershy gulped and said, "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but don't you think that maybe you're just being a teensy tiny bit, well..." She blushed and barely managed to say, "Pushy, with Coffee Swirl?"

"Me, pushy?" Sweetcream gave a dismissive sniff. "I'm just a mare who knows what she likes, and how to get it." She smiled at Coffee Swirl, who gulped and tried ducking behind Fluttershy again. "By being direct. Now get lost, wallflower," Sweetcream's voice stayed as warmly inviting as before, even as she jeered at Fluttershy. "This one's mine." She licked her lips, bumped Fluttershy to the side with a sidelong sway of her flank, and advanced on Coffee Swirl.

Fluttershy's colors changed.

"Darn it, mom, let me handle this for once!" They changed back to normal.

"No," Fluttershy said, her voice stern. "I'll handle this." She flew up and over Sweetcream, dropping down in front of her and unleashed the power of The Stare.

Sweetcream froze as Fluttershy spoke.

"How dare you treat poor stallions like this! Persistent is one thing, but this is being a bully, Sweetcream Scoops! You terrorized Big Mac earlier and now it's Coffee Swirl! Maybe if you tried to be a little less of a stallion-eater, you'd have a coltfriend by now!"

Sweetcream backed away from Fluttershy's furious glare until she hit Rarity. The amethyst-maned unicorn gave her a scornful look. Sweetcream looked fearful, and then she snorted.

"Okay, so I like stallions. A lot. So what? You two and blondie over there," she pointed to Applejack, "have half the stallions in town chasing you, can't I have some? Besides, even if I chase them too much, what's the worst that can happen?"

Behind her, unnoticed, the What-If Machine's screen took the issued dare and began to show something.

It snow Sweetcream, on a massive throne on a pyramid like base, surrounded by all the stallions of Ponyville, bowing and worshiping her, with collars around their necks. Sweetcream however . . . looked sad and bored out of her skull. She had an amulet shaped like a seapony around her neck. She had never looked so miserable as she did on the screen.
-
Sweetcream staggered back from the image. "O-Okay...maybe that is bad...But it's not the worst thing in the world..."

"This situation continues but contains a number of disturbing images that may not be suitable for all viewers," the What If Machine advised, following what was suggested for it to do instead.

"Uh, I think I'll be going now-"

Rarity held Sweetcream. "No, I believe you need to see this."

The What If Machine continued the video.

"Oh, Sweetcream, can we please go on a date tonight?" asked a MALE Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes, please! We've been waiting for weeks!" a stallion version of Cheerilee asked.

Male versions of Applejack, Rarity, and so on all asked the same thing, all sick for love and attention of the most beautiful mare that'd ever seen.

"N-No...not today...sorry..."

Sweetcream sighed as they left...for now, they'd be back in a few minutes, an hour most.

She looked to her stomach...which had a noticeable, recognizable bulge.

"NOO!" the real Sweetcream screamed, backing away from the screen. "Not that! Anything but that!"

"Did you expect you could try to romance every stallion you desire and that WOULDN'T happen, Darling?" Rarity asked, ignoring the discomfort the image had caused her.

Fluttershy tilted her head confused, feeling envious of the bulge on the stomach of the what-if Sweetcream. "But that's supposed to be PART of being with a stallion, to have a future together."

Sweetcream screamed. "Not when you don't WANT to be! I don't want to be a mother! I just want to have a big handsome stallion on my foreleg!"

"But that's supposed to be PART of being with a stallion, to have a future together."

Rarity asked, "Did you ever once think of that, Sweetcream? Ever?"

Sweetcream stuttered. "I...I...No...I didn't...not at all..."

Fluttershy said, "Having a foal is supposed to show how much you truly love your partner. To take part in bringing new life into the world. To face the diapers and sleepless nights, demanding toddlers and disrespectful teenagers, both knowing that they truly love you in the end, and they came into the world through the love you have with your other half."

Sweetcream snapped back, "And what do YOU know about motherhood?"

Fluttershy's colors changed. "More than you nag! And she didn't even ASK to have a kid! And the father was a deadbeat! So go buck yourself, because no stallion is gonna want a mare like you for longer than it takes to mount you! You sell yourself cheap, get ready to be considered a disposable product! And no stallion wants a mare he can't trust to be his one and only!"

Sweetcream looked in dtunned silence.

Rarity said politely. "I think you may have spoken in a foreign language to her dear. And the point is darling, you act like a changeling predator, you want love for its own sake, not for the stallion you have that love with."

Sweetcream moved woozily out of the way. "I...I think I need to lay down..."

Fluttershy asked. "And rethink your life?"

"And rethink my life..."

Fluttercruel asked her mother. "Mom was that the mind trick thing?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, it was just a good guess..."

"I...I...I think I need to sit down for a moment and think things over..."

"Good girl...now, I wonder how things are going with Cheerilee and Red Gala..."

She looked through the telescope.

Bareedina gave a sly look, her statement getting the intended reaction. "Well, if you truly love him, that is fine, but for whom does the stallion truly pine?" she asked. She looked to Big Mac. "What do you say? To whom do you sway?"

Bareedina glared at the other mares. "Let him have is space to choose, or something of my sister's I may have to use," she warned, producing a potion.

So Big Mac was given space...but still in the middle of a ring of mares all wanting an answer.
-
Back in the studio...

Coffee Swirl watched the now mildly traumatized Sweetcream Scoops sulk off to a corner. "Well, buck... now I feel sorry for her."

"Even after running in fear from her?" Rarity asked.

He wing-shrugged. "Nopony has ever accused me of being smart."
-

Twilight decided to ask the What If Machine something on her mind that had been for awhile since it was being much kinder now. "...What would have happened if Rainbow Dash actually HAD had her special talent repressed? Like some WANTED for us both?"

Shining Armor considered saying something...but he was curious as well. What happened when you suppressed someone's special talent? He had a morbid curiosity about it.

"...I will show situation if you promise not to harm me."

"Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Showing situation. Rating: Sad, Adventure, Drama. Non-Dark Tagged versions found, showing."

The screen flickered.

Rainbow Dash walked along the streets of Cloudsdale, wings in specially designed braces. Clipping her wings was 'too temporary' a solution in some's eyes. Cutting her wings off was one that many viewed as too barbaric. So a series of braces designed to prevent her from ever using her wings  to their fullest and to suppress her pegasus magic to 'safe' levels' had been made. She could never fly as fast as she KNEW she could. She could never be HERSELF. Her talent was speed, but she had weights holding her back. 

And then there were her old bullies. 

"Haha! Still happy you beat us, Rainbow Dashed?" asked Hoops in a mocking voice, he and the other boys doing the same thing they did most of the time. Sealing her true potential had caused a few to regret making fun of her, but not all. Some it made worse. Because they knew she couldn't beat them or fight back as well as she COULD. 

Maybe it was simply her having a bad day. Maybe it was years of abuse. Maybe it was the longing to be herself, but Rainbow Dash quaked with rage. "..."

"Hey! Leave her alone you jerks!" Gilda called, flying down in front of them with a roar. The griffin had actually become LESS of a jerk, seeing her friend beaten down. Seeing herself and Fluttershy as the only ones to defend her. Gilda had become far more protective.

Fluttershy? She rushed to Rainbow's side, almost going directly to the Stare.

"She's right, where do you get off making fun of someone else?" Fluttershy asked, as always never being judgmental of her friend. All that mattered to her was someone had hurt her friend.

"Oh come on, why do you two always defend that freak?!" Dumbell asked, glaring.

"Because she ain't a freak!" Gilda roared, punching the colt in the face. 

She got a buck to the beak for her trouble. "Yes she is! She's a freak!"

Fluttershy tried to defend her friends, but it was three on one, and the pegasus was a pacifist without full control of her Stare yet. She took a blow to the face as well.

"Defend the freakshow all you want, it won't change a thing."

Rainbow Dash heard the words freak echo in her mind. Freak. Monster. Dangerous. Needs restrained. Needs contained. Can't be allowed to hurt anyone. But what SHE'D always heard? 'You're not allowed to be yourself. Who your are is bad. We don't want you to use what makes you special. You don't get to be who you want to be, only what we want you to be.'

And seeing her friends protect her and get hurt trying to defend that right that was stolen from her? Something in her snapped.

"I. Am. Not. A. FREAK!" she roared, rainbow colored lightning crackled across her wings. "I AM RAINBOW DASH!"

She flew up and came back down, braces being OBLITERATED by a sonic rainboom. Wings that had been struggling against ever increasing braces to hold them back finally free as a rainbow colored shockwave ripped across the area. The Pegasus somehow directed it not to hurt her friends, but the three bullies were sent sailing THROUGH several of Cloudsdale's buildings. There wasn't one unshattered window in miles. Several cloud buildings had been badly damaged in the surrounding area.

Rainbow Dash roared as her magic was also freed from the magic suppressors hidden in those braces, launching lightning bolts in all directions, actually causing some property damage.

Her magic. Her speed. Was like a beast kept at bay by a leash for too long. The attempts to restrain it only acting like a training brace. Now she was free.

Rainbow Dash painted, her wings pulsing with lightning, not CARING if her bullies lived or not. "I AM DONE BEING WHAT YOU WANT ME TO BE! YOU HEAR ME!" she yelled to everypony in the area. They were listening now. "ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS FLY! I JUST WANT TO BE ME! BUT YOU WOULDN'T LET ME! WELL GUESS WHAT?!"

The hurt pegasus lowered her head, pinning her ears. She gave a sad chuckle.

"If I lashed out...if I exploded...If I went on a big rampage, I'd just be what you want me to be, wouldn't I? And why should I ever be ANYTHING you want me to be ever again? So you know what I'm doing instead?! I'M GOING WHERE YOU CAN NEVER MAKE ME STOP AGAIN! WHERE NO ONE CAN TELL ME NOT TO BE ME!"

"Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked, looking up at the pegasus in front of her.

"Dash?" Gilda asked. 

Rainbow Dash glared at the ponies, then hugged her two friends. "...I'm sorry if I scared you...Gilda?"

"...Yeah?"

"...Take care of Fluttershy. Never let her get hurt..."

"Dash..."

"Promise me!"

"...I promise..."

The mare stepped back. "And another thing?" she asked to the city. "If you EVER try to hurt them again for my sake? I'LL GIVE YOU A REASON TO BE AFRAID ME!"

She finally looked to her friends. "...Goodbye..."

"Rainbow!" both yelled as the pegasus spread her long trapped wings and flew off so quickly that not even the royal speedster pegasi could hope to catch her. Away from everything. To where ponies never dared to tread and none would ever disturb her again.





Twilight pinned her ears. "Sweet Celestia..."

For years being restrained. Being held back. Being tormented. Being forced to bury what made her her. Was it any wonder that Rainbow Dash had finally snapped?

"...I think I'd have acted the same way..." Twilight admitted sadly. "Stopping somepony from being themselves...How could they not come to lash out?"

Shining Armor nuzzled her. "...At least Gilda was a nicer gal there...Well, from the get go."

The What If Machine observed the situation. True, it had a much darker version of the events, but...it actually felt bad for causing Twilight emotional pain now that it knew the full truth. "...Showing happy ending."




Princess Celestia looked at the report of the situation, a hoof to her mouth. The bullies had lived...but they were in the ER. But Princess Celestia noted one thing. The reason Rainbow had gone berserk. The thing that had driven her to that. A thing she herself had allowed to pass. "...My little pony...I'm so sorry...I was...I was just scared..."

"Princess?"

Celestia looked down at her student. The student she'd been teaching that her power was something she should keep contained for others sake instead of being allowed to express it. To learn to control it.

Out of fear of what had happened to Sunset. Of what her little sun had done to innocent ponies, and not out of any feeling of fear or retaliation, but in the name of her own ambition. Now there was a great deal of damage done to a city and multiple ponies were in the hospital...not because of a pony with too little restraint...but by one who had been restrained too much...until they finally snapped. 

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"...Twilight...you know how I said you should contain your power?"

"Yes?"

"...From now on, forget that...we're going to teach you to control it instead..."

"I-I thought..."

"...No control is dangerous...so is too much...Forgive me, Twilight...I'm sorry..."

Not liking seeing her mentor cry, even if a part of her was secretly relieved, like a weight had been taken off her shoulders, Twilight hugged her mentor and was hugged in return.





"No way am I lettin' ya go into Everfree on your own, Fluttershy," Gilda told her friend, the group at Twilight's future home.





"Make them pay for what they did to your friend. For hating her for what made her special," Nightmare moon tempted Gilda. "They never appreciate what's special."

"...I'd be lying if I said I didn't want that...But...I made a promise to Rainbow, and there's no way am I turning my back on it now!"





As the party happened in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash watched from the tree line, like a distant shadow. She gave a smirk. "...Good job, Gilda. Fluttershy...good work..."




Fluttershy wiped a tear away from the heart warming scene. Rarity blew her nose. Twilight and Shining Armor hugged each other. Maud face was emotinless. Coffee Swirl bowed his head.

The screen turned back on for just a moment, and only Cadence was by fate looking at the screen then. The Pinkie Pies also hugged each other at the warm sight (thought Goth Pinkie tried not to show it).

A beeping was heard.

"Hey everypony! I've got cupcakes ready!" Dark World Pinkie Pie said.

The ponies turned towards the free treats, the screen having turned off.

Cadence was about to do the same, her eyes lingering on the screen for a bit longer, thinking how lucky she had been given her position that none had questioned her good deeds, as Celestia had groomed her to be 'The People's Princess.'

Then the screen for one minute flickered back on.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head at the mare in the brown cloak. "Who are you?"

The orange unicorn grinned. "You're new best friend. Somepony else who was punished for being too special. And I know a whole new world you can go to be free of them."

"What do you mean a whole new world?"

"Come with me. Ponies HATE those who are better than them! Their one desire to drag down the truly great like us! Drag us down, restrain us, minimize us, trivialize us, THAT is what they want! And they hate those who recognize your greatness! They couldn't STAND THE IDEA of a pegasus as great as you existing, diminishing their own worth! Just like Celestia couldn't stand the idea of a unicorn as powerful as me existing! She restrained you for the exact same reason! She can't bear the idea of there being those she can't control or be more powerful than her! They would mean her having to kneel before those who could be her betters! You should have been captain of the Wonderbolts by now! But they kept holding you back! They're not fearful, they're JEALOUS of you!"

"I promised I wouldn't take revenge."

"This isn't taking revenge, this is about taking what's rightfully yours!"  

Rainbow Dash took her hoof.

Cadence, the goddess of music and harmony, trembled at the screen in fear. She spoke in a tiny voice. "Cousin, Sunset?"

"You say somsething Cadence?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing Twilight, nothing." Cadence unconscious touched the spots on her body where the fireball had hit her. She was happy to see the screen was off again.
-
Before Cadence could move, the screen flashed back on again.

She stared at what it showed. A fighting ring, ropes around a mat of wood and leather. A more muscular Twilight, using both her magic and her front hooves to grip a massive red-skinned minotaur, no, something more like a cross between a minotaur and a pony, by their massive horns. She was bending them over backwards, their back arched painfully. They howled in agony as she forced their shoulders to the mat.

"Submit, Tirek!" She yelled.

At ringside three familiar bandaged figures stood.

"Attafilly, Twilight!" Celestia said, her horn splinted and one eye swollen shut.

"That's a way!" Luna said beside her, yelling to be heard over the whinnies and cheers of the crowd. Stuck in a wheelchair, she said, "Beat him harder than you did me when I was Nightmare Moon!"

"He mangled my husband and your brother on the way to us!" Cadence flinched to see herself, grinning and revealing three missing teeth. Her wings in casts, she yelled, "Buck his flank to the moon! Oh, sorry, aunt Luna."

The image vanished. Cadence realized that Shiny stood beside, apparently just as horrified.

"W-w-what was THAT horror?" Cadence somehow gasped the question out.

"A low-potential timeline that momentarily gained enough potency to become real," the What-If Machine said. "It is unlikely this will occur again."

Cadence shook her head thankfully and walked away. Behind her, her husband glanced back before turning to the Machine and whispering, "Say, if you ever DO find that world again..."

"I'll send you the recording," the machine said, with what sounded like a mechanical sigh.

The What-If Machine dinged.  "Timeline synced.  The following presentation does not feature mysterious wolves.  Rated E for Everypony."  

Shining Armor dashed right over and sat in front of the screen.  "Yes!  Feels like I should have a bowl of sugary breakfast cereal for this..."

--
In a rocky crag just outside the gates of Canterlot, Trixie sat inside a spell circle she'd conjured, along with Shining Armor and, oddly, Big Macintosh.  Three more rangers waited close by, the only ones that Shining had been sure of, and able to recruit in a hurry.

"Am Ah doin' this right, Miss Trixie?" asked the red stallion.  "Ah can feel mah Element working, but Ah don't know beans about this magic stuff.  Ah do know there's one heck of a scheme going on... a whole tangle of lies, and we're right in the thick of it."

"We're all doing the best we can, without the jewelery," Trixie reassured him.  "It's a pity that some Princess keeps whisking it away and locking it in a vault before anypony can study it properly."

"You should trust in the wisdom of the Princess more," said Smoke Ring.  The scruffy-maned unicorn preferred to keep the hood of his ranger cloak lowered so he could wear a traditional wizard's hat.  "The Elements are the raw essence of harmony itself, and such powers are not to be trifled with.  Case in point, that magic-melding spell..."

"I still can't believe our captain was a traitor!" said Winghoof, pacing angrily.  His cloak was made to detach and free his wings quickly, at need.  "We should have confronted him first!  Then we'd know for certain what we're dealing with."

Shining Armor simply nodded.  "I'm starting to think the same.  With our three Elements together, I can tell that almost half of the guards aren't loyal to the Princesses, but I still can't see into the wedding hall through all those wards."  He sighed.  "You can release the spell now, Trixie.  We're not going to find out anything else here."

"And what exactly would they be loyal to?" said Stone Wall, a stocky earth pony and their last ranger.

"I..."  Shining Armor shook his head.  "I don't know.  Something green."

Stone Wall burst out laughing.  "Oh, is that all?  If it was purple, I might have worried!  Now then, the ground beneath the castle is riddled with old tunnels.  I say we find the right one, and come at those fiends from underneath!"

Winghoof grinned.  "Or we could dive right in and start shooting crossbows and kicking flank."

Stone Wall got in the unicorn's face.  "Dive right in, he says!  That's always your plan!"

In the distance, trumpets began playing a fanfare.  Shining Armor tensed.  "We may not have a choice.  The wedding procession is starting!"

Smoke Ring's eyebrows shot up.  "That shouldn't have started for hours, yet.  It's a trap, Shining.  I'll eat my hat if it isn't."

Trixie grinned.  "Probably...  but if it's a grand entrance you want, I know just the thing..."
-

Coffee Swirl watched the events on the what-if machine's screen, peering over Shining's shoulder. "I foresee this ending nothing but badly for them."
Pony POV Series 
Pinkie Pie's 4th Wall Breaking Variety Show episode 10
PART 10
By Alex Warlorn

Pinkie Pie, "Ten . . . ten sets of batteries  . . . I wish the author wasn't taking so long. I wanna take a nap."

Parts added by:
MtangaLion 
Kendell2
MtangaLion
Kendell2
MtangaLion 
Kendell2
Yoshiegg64
MtangaLion
Alex Warlorn and Ardashir
Dragon-of-Twilight
Kendell2 and Alex Warlorn
Ardashir and MtangaLion
Dragon-Of-Twilight
Kendell2 and MtangaLion

alexwarlorn.deviantart.com/gal…

Pinkie Pie, "Ten times so far . . . . sigh I feel tire, . . . blech, Da Rules . . . :
1. What you put in the comments appears in the story.
2. Nopony besides me can see beyond the fourth wall or interact with it and I can't spill the beans about us being out-and-out fiction to the others.
3. The camera can’t leave the studio.
4. The characters can be from any generation, toy or comic but they have to be from “My little Pony”
5. Everything that happens here is non-canon (except the Tartarus break out thingie, but not the big battle).
6. Have Fun "


Cover by Kendell2
MLP FiM Copyright of Hasbro
© 2014 - 2024 alexwarlorn
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It's good that the what-if-machine has learned kindness.