Three girls sat at a lunch table in the Canterlot High cafeteria. One, with a partial sphere of curly blue hair, was hunched over a notebook, scribbling furiously. The other two were engaged in a card game.

"So," said Blue Oyster, "what are we doing for the Musical Showcase?"

"Play Raid Bombardment," said Raspberry Fluff, whose hair lived up to her name. She turned to Blue. "And since when are we doing something for the Showcase? I don't even play an instrument."

"I... sort of do," said Ditzy Doo. "You attacking with the Spitfires, Razz?"

"Yup. That's lethal with all the triggers."

"No, it's two. Fog. I go to nine life."

Raspberry groaned. "Of course. Your turn."

"Come on, you two!" Blue slammed her hands on the table and rose to her feet. "This is my chance to give the greatest, most noble of all instruments the recognition it deserves!"

Ditzy quirked an eyebrow. "You have an unhealthy obsession with cowbells. You do know that, right?"

"It's not an obsession!"

"It is," said Raspberry. "It'd probably be your thing if you were a Harmonist."

Ditzy cleared her throat and gave a sharp shake of her head.

"Sorry."

Ditzy took a deep breath and said, "Play a Golgari Guildgate and an Expedition Map. Your go."

"Seriously, I think we could really wow them," said Blue. "A cowbell and a musical saw? No other band's going to have that. We'll be original. Avante-garde, even!"

"And where do I factor into this?" said Raspberry. She drew a card and beamed. "Ha! Play Short Fuse herself to go with her Spitfires! Plus one to your face!"

"A triangle."

Raspberry paused in midbounce. Both she and Ditzy turned to Blue. "Excuse me?"

"You can play a triangle," Blue repeated. She crossed her arms and nodded to herself. "Simple to learn, and it's another instrument the Showcase will be lacking. Plus, we'll probably be able to bum one from the band room. Ditzy, you've still got that in with the weird girl, right?"

"She has a name," said Ditzy. "Lyra Heartstrings."

"Yeah, and she also begged the statue out front to take her to Horseland for a week."

"Equestria."

Blue shrugged. "Whatever."

"Hey, Ditzy?" said Raspberry. "Attacking you with Spitfires for the win. Got a response?"

"Oh. Putrefy one before combat. I take..."

"One from Short Fuse, four from the Spitfire since it was too powerful for Bombardment to trigger. You're at four," Blue rattled off. "So, can you get that triangle?"

"I can try," said Ditzy. "No guarantees. You do know that this is a half-baked idea, right?"

Blue beamed. "That's it!"

Her friends looked at one another, then back at her. "What is?" asked Raspberry.

"That's what we'll call ourselves! Half-Baked!"

Ditzy made a face like she'd just stepped in something. "That's a terrible name."

"It worked for Osmium Airship," said Blue.

Ditzy shook her head. "It sounds like we're stoners."

"And most people wouldn't come up with a cowbell, triangle, and musical saw trio without chemical assistance," said Raspberry.

"Come on," said Blue, "we can even use a muffin-quaver for the logo!"

Raspberry tilted her head. "We have a logo now?"

"Razz, my turn?"

"Yeah."

Blue crossed her arms. "Well, we'll need a logo."

"End of your turn, use the Map for Selesnya Guildgate."

Raspberry scratched her head. "What's a quaver, anyway?"

Blue rolled her eyes. "An eighth note, duh."

Raspberry didn't look any more enlightened. Ditzy said, "The one with the dealie on the end opposite the dot."

"Oh..." Raspberry nodded, then considered the game. "Crap, you're gonna win."

Ditzy nodded. "Yup. My turn, untap, upkeep, draw, play Selenya Guildgate."

"Maze's End for Orzhov Guildgate," Raspberry sighed.

"Complete the Implicit Maze, become master of Ravnica, and, as you noted, win the game." Ditzy grinned. Both girls gaped at her. She looked from one to the other. "What? It's a Maze's End deck. You've both played against it before."

Raspberry shook in her seat. "Y-yeah, but you don't usually doesn't become a horse-angel when you win."

"Huh?" Ditzy felt along the top of her head. Ears. She looked behind her. Wings and hair long enough to touch the floor. "Who put that scrunchie there?"

"I think it showed up with the extra hair," said Blue, her eyes darting about the changes.

"This..." Ditzy bolted up. "Guys, I don't know what to do."

Blue cleared her throat. "Well, first, you may want to land."

"Huh?" Ditzy looked down. Sure enough, she was hovering a few inches above her seat. "Ah!" Some reflex she didn't remember having flew her higher. "AH!"

Her scream was matched by one from the head of the Gardening Club, who was pointing at her. "The mutations are contagious!"

The cafeteria seemed to erupt at that:

"Wait, they're contagious? I want wings."

"Mutations don't work that way!"

"Derpy Shoes is airborne? Duck and cover!"

"The ears are actually kind of cute."

"This is going to get so many views."

"I really like her hair!"

"Everyone!" The hubbub died and all eyes turned to Sunset Shimmer, who was standing in front of Ditzy, her arms spread. "Magic is not contagious! You're all safe!"

"Oh, sure!" someone shouted. "You don't get wings, so neither do the rest of us!"

"What?" Sunset blinked. "That's not—"

Ditzy hovered above Sunset. "Hey, back off! She—" Her extra features chose that moment to vanish. "Oh poop." She dropped, but Sunset was able to lean back and catch her. However, that sent Sunset tumbling backwards, though Raspberry Fluff was able to support her.

Once the girls had collected themselves, Sunset nodded to Raspberry. "Thanks."

The other girl looked away. "Oh. Um. Well, thanks for catching Ditzy."

"Yeah, way to go, Queen Bitch."

"Blue!" Ditzy scowled at her.

Sunset looked away. "It's fine. Honestly, I deserve worse."

Blue nodded. "Yes. Yes, you do."

"Blue!" Ditzy cried. "Come on!"

"What? She doesn't mind!"

Sunset rubbed an elbow with her opposite hand. "Ditzy, you may want to come to Practice Room B after school. You're not the only one who does this." She looked from Ditzy's smile to Raspberry's averted eyes to Blue's scowl. "I should go."

Ditzy frowned as Sunset went back to her own table. "What the crap was that, Blue Oyster?"

"You don't seriously expect me to believe she turned over a new leaf fast enough to set it on fire, do you?"

"When a giant friendship rainbow is involved?" Ditzy threw her arms up. "Yes! Yes, I do!"

Blue shrugged. "I was sick that whole week, remember?"

"That doesn't change the giant friendship rainbow!"

"And that doesn't change everything Shimmer did before that."

"Well, I'm going to get some answers," said Ditzy. "And I think you should apologize."

"I'll apologize when she does," Blue huffed.

"Um, she has," said Raspberry.

Ditzy nodded. "Publicly and repeatedly!"

"After the Showcase, then."

Raspberry and Ditzy shared a stunned look. The former said, "You're serious about that?"

"Cowbells are serious business. Ditzy can go and plumb the mysteries of the universe. I'll plan how we'll take the musical world by storm. We'll see which of us can finish her seemingly impossible task first."

Ditzy couldn't help but smile. "You've got yourself a deal. But I think I have an edge. After all, why would Sunset invite me if they didn't know all about this?"

"What do you mean you don't know all about this!?" Ditzy blinked. "Wow, I really set myself up for that one."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Who cares why it happens? It's awesome."

"Who cares?" Ditzy echoed. "I care! And I thought you girls would, because you're violating the conservation of energy every time you play music!"

"Ah figger it's a case o' not lookin' a gift horse in th' mouth," said Applejack.

Pinkie, still at her drums, provided a rimshot.

Applejack winced. "Ah suppose it's too late t' say 'no pun intended'?"

"Way too late," Pinkie said with a smile.

"It's all well and good to ask these questions," said Rarity, "but where would we find any answers?"

Ditzy rolled her eyes. "Gee, I don't know. How about the magical unicorn?" She stuck both arms at Sunset Shimmer as though presenting a game show prize.

"Ex-magical unicorn," noted the ex-magical unicorn from her seat on a piano bench, head hung low.

Ditzy shrugged. "It's a land-of-the-blind situation. You're still the best authority we have on the matter."

"I haven't exactly had a chance to keep up with the latest developments in thaumatology," said Sunset.

"Again, land of the blind. You're the one-eyed woman. Which may make you a graeae in this context, especially given the pegasi." Ditzy shook her head. "The point is, some input would be appreciated."

"I, um..." All eyes turned to Fluttershy (though one was listing a bit to the left.) "Could you calm down just a little?"

Dash nodded. "Yeah, this doesn't need to be a big deal."

Ditzy sighed. "Look, I can understand if the novelty's worn off for all of you, but this was my first time growing additional limbs. I'm still kind of worked up over this, and I want to understand it." She looked about the room, taking in the various looks of concern and, in a few cases, a bit of fright. "Though I suppose I should tone it down a little."

"It'd be nice." Sunset sighed and rose. "I admit, I have been thinking about this. Bear in mind that this is all hypothetical."

"I will beat that idiom into the ground if I have to," said Ditzy.

"So you're—"

"No, Pinkie, I'm not beating a dead horse." Ditzy frowned. "And I'm pretty sure that's racially insensitive somehow."

"Anyway..." Sunset began to pace. "When you all helped Princess Twilight channel the power of Harmony, it likely infused you with some vestigial magic. The mundane harmony of music would then temporarily activate it."

"Wait, wait, wait." Dash held up her hands. "You're telling me Harmonism's a thing in Ponyland?"

"Equestria," said Sunset. "Ponyland was destroyed ages ago, if it ever existed. And no, not exactly. I still don't understand the religion here. No one seems to talk about it."

This produced six flavors of awkwardness, from "hand rubbing back of neck" to "avoiding eye contact" to "nervous chuckle."

"It's... personal," said Fluttershy.

Sunset shrugged. "Anyway, Harmony is a fundamental magical concept in Equestria. My whole plan hinged on using one of its major foci, powerful enough to function even here." She slumped. "You all know how that went."

Pinkie popped up behind Sunset and gave her a hug. "Don't feel bad, Shim-Sham! We rainbowed you in the face and now you're one of the nicest people I know!"

"Please don't ever call me 'Shim-Sham' again."

"You see? The old you would've never said 'please'!"

"So," said Ditzy, hand on her chin, "it's the whole sympathetic magic thing. Little to big, like to like, and apparently pop rock to ears and wings."

"I guess. Maybe." Sunset sagged in Pinkie's arms. "It's barely a hypothesis, and I don't have any way of testing it."

"Aw, cheer up!" Pinkie raised her arms and shook, jolting Sunset out of her funk.

Ditzy smiled. "It's a lot more to go on than I had before."

Sunset's gaze sank to the floor. "But it does nothing to explain you."

The smile became a smirk. "Not on its own, no. But what if we take my cool pegasus self into account?"

"Well, that could fit the pattern of exposure to magic if—" Sunset blinked. "'Cool pegasus self'? She was a pegasus?"

Ditzy nodded. "That's what she said."

Dash scowled. "You got a problem with that?"

Sunset shook her head. "Dash, I'm not being tribalist."

"Triba-what now?"

Sunset started to pace again. "Prejudice against other kinds of ponies. Not the point. The point is that pegasus magic is mostly innate. Flight, walking on clouds, crash resistance, that sort of thing. Even their actively applied magic is mostly focused on weather manipulation. Pegasi don't create force fields or communicate telepathically. They don't cast magic that manipulates other magic. They can't do any of that; their thaumic systems aren't designed to do any of that, no more than mine was designed for flight.

"You all have to understand, I was one of the five most powerful unicorns in Equestria when I left, and without the Element of Magic, I haven't been able to produce a single spark of magic in this world. I had thought she was a unicorn with some trick or magical item I lacked. Even when I saw Ditzy's wings at lunch today, I thought, 'Okay, she said something about alternate universes. Maybe that Ditzy was a unicorn.' But if she described herself as a pegasus—" Sunset rushed up to Ditzy and grabbed her by the shoulders. "This isn't possible! Your duplicate isn't possible!"

"Sunset?" Applejack put a hand on Sunset's left shoulder. "Y' may want t' calm down."

"Yeah, take it down a couple notches," Dash said from her other side.

"We can figure this out, Sunset." Ditzy's calm words belied her wide eyes and plastered smile. "Just relax. And maybe let go of me."

"Sorry." Sunset relaxed her grip and stepped back. "Sorry. I'm cool." The others gave her some space. "It's just... Ditzy, your pony version violated everything I thought I knew about magic while she was here, and she did it all over again just now."

"Hmm..." Ditzy rubbed her chin, eyes slowly drifting ever more out of alignment. "I think I know why. You said music triggers pony magic because both are harmonic, right?"

Sunset gave a slow nod. "By two very different definitions of the word, yes. But that's just a hypothesis."

"And I'm building on it. So, if the Rainbooms playing music activates their magic, what does it say when me winning a card game activates mine?"

Sunset blinked, then shook her head. "You can't possibly be serious."

"It's only logical. Like I said, sympathetic magic. Symbols and such."

Rarity tilted her head. "Is anyone else lost?"

Fluttershy just nodded.

Applejack shrugged. "Ah figgered we should sit back an' let 'em jaw at each other fer a while. They'll get back t' plain speakin' once they got it puzzled out."

"I'm following every word," said Pinkie.

"Why ain't Ah surprised?"

"Because you're not my great-grandma."

"I think," said Ditzy, "that my cool pony self was a planeswalker."

"That's absurd," said Sunset.

"As absurd as a rampaging she-demon crushing the front of the school with the power of her mind?" Ditzy paused. "Um, no offense."

Sunset rolled her eyes, grumbling, "None taken."

"No, seriously, no offense intended. Looking back, that was actually really cool."

"It was," said Dash. "Like, 'heavy metal album cover' cool."

"The point is, if we go by the same logic, that's the conclusion we come to. You've talked a lot about all the things the game gets wrong based on what you know about magic. Well, the other me doesn't seem to follow magic as you know it, so..." Ditzy trailed off, prompting Sunset with a spread hand.

"I understand the logic, but..." Sunset shook her head. "If some game company can extrapolate a valid alternate model of thaumology, that has some worrisome implications about pretty much all fiction."

"Okay," said Dash, "I'm sure that this has some really deep meaning or whatever, but we're forgetting one very important question."

Rarity quirked an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

"Ditzy, are you gonna be using this in the Musical Showcase? 'Cause if you are, we're really gonna need to step it up. The whole 'ears and wings' thing was gonna be our thing."

Ditzy opened her mouth, but said nothing for a decent stretch. Finally, she shut it and shook her head.

Extrapolate 1U
Sorcery
Draw a card, then discard a card.
Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn.)
"Now, what can we conclude from this?"

Author's Notes:

I have a Rainbow Rocks snippet in the works, so in the spirit of the movie, I thought I'd lead up to it with a short featuring one of the human characters sprouting ears. Of course, when your residual magic is from associating with your planeswalking alternate self rather than powering the Rainbow Beam of Fix Everything™, Single-Element Edition®, the formula's going to change a little.

The mix of actual names and altered ones is pretty much a collection of spur-of-the-moment decisions. (Basically, I just didn't want to come up with new names for Magic setting pieces, but "Chandra Nalaar" probably isn't a name that this universe is going to come up with.)