"Ah!" Yelled Pinkie as she bounced on a trampoline, "I! Can't! Believe! The! Grand! Galloping! Gala! Is! Tonight!" All eight of us were outside Carousel Boutique, preparing for the big night in our own ways. Twilight was helping me prepare some transport (I really didn't want to fly everypony to Canterlot, Cloudsdale was bad enough) by telekinetically levitating some rocks into a pile in front of me while I carved some runes into a stone tablet.

Rarity had been getting my suit and the dresses ready for us, but it seemed she was finished since she'd come outside to scold Pinkie for getting sweaty. The others were talking amongst themselves.

"So, Twilight," I started as I finished another rune, "why is everypony else so excited?" Twilight looked up from her rock-levitating.

"Don't you remember? We were all talking about about a week after the Summer Sun Celebration."

"I was busy dying in a hospital. Care to remind me?"

"Oh, yes, you weren't there." She shifted another rock before continuing. "Well, I want to spend some personal time with Princess Celestia, Applejack wants to sell her products to try and spread business, Fluttershy wants to see the exotic animals, Rainbow Dash wants to meet the Wonderbolts, Rarity wants to meet a prince, Pinkie Pie wants to be a part of a high-class party and Spike... Uh... I don't actually know why Spike wants to go." She thought to herself for a moment before going back to moving rocks.

"Why'd you wanna go, Cloud?" Asked Rainbow as she flew over to us.

"To find out who I am," I answered simply. "I still have no clue what any of my past is, but Celestia said she'd try to find out about my past and the Arcane Circles."

"You don't think you just have a normal life?"

"Well, on day one I beat God-Horse II, so I doubt I was an ordinary citizen."

"Oh, right... I keep forgetting about that. So... Who do you think you are?"

"I have no idea. I can easily control ancient magic and I'm stupidly powerful, so there would be some sort of commotion if somepony like me went missing."

"That's a good point. You don't even know how old you are."

"Actually, I sent a letter to Celestia about that."

"What did she say?"

"She asked for some DNA, and a day later I received a letter from her saying that her most trusted doctor had done tests and found out that I'm roughly twenty five."

"Twenty five, huh?"

"Yep. I would've thought twenty seven, but hey, I was close."

"I thought you seemed about twenty three."

"I guess we were both close then." I chuckled.

"Yeah. What are you doing?"

"Preparing transport. And..." I made the last marking on the final rune. "Done! Stand back." I motioned for Twilight to stop moving rocks and summoned a Support Circle, willing it to boost my power. I readied my stance, focused my concentration onto the pile and blasted it with pulses of magic, transmuting it into something similar to a small train car. I refocused onto the tablet, filled it with magic, levitated it onto the roof of the train car and welded it on with magic. A few rocks remained spare, so I quickly transmuted them into a small chair and magic welded it to the roof next to the tablet. Finally, I cast a colour-change spell on the car, making it appear gold plated.

I dismissed the Support Circle and began panting. I grinned at my success as the girls and Spike stared slack-jawed at my creation.

"What is that?" Asked Spike.

"I call it the KGBNRB," I replied.

"The what?"

"The Kinda-Gold-But-Not-Really Bus!" I teleported the both of us to the roof of it. "You sit here," I motioned to the seat on top, "and control its movements with the tablet. Try it!" Spike sat in the chair.

"What do I do?"

"Place your claw against the top rune." When he did, the KGBNRB burst to life, zooming forward. I pressed a hoof against the center rune and stopped it dead.

"The runes move it?! How?!"

"The runes activate different spells." Spike waited for a few seconds, expecting me to continue.

"And...?"

"That's it. It's pretty simple, just tiring. You should probably practice driving while the girls and I get ready." I patted him on the back and teleported back down. I turned to the girls (who were still slack jawed). "Shall we get dressed, then?"

Once again, I was back in my awesome suit. It was already starting to get dark outside, so I went to see how well Spike could control the KGBNRB. He already had really great control over moving it however he wanted. The girls soon joined us and, after getting comfortable, we made our way towards Canterlot.

We had finally arrived. It was finally time to find out who I was. We all climbed out of the KGBNRB and Spike jumped off of its roof.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed, "you all look amazing!" Suddenly, music started playing from somewhere.

"I can't believe we're finally here," started Twilight. "With all that we've imagined, the reality of this night is sure to make this... The best night ever!" She started to sing to the random music. "At the Gala..."

"At the Gala!" Sang random ponies around us.

"At the Gala," sang Fluttershy, "in the gardens, I'm going to see them all, all the creatures, I'll befriend them at the Gala!"

"At the Gala!"

"All the birdies, and the critters, they will love me big and small, we'll become good friends forever, right here at the Gala!"

"All our dreams will come true, right here at the Gala! At the Gala!"

"At th' Gala," sang Applejack.

"It's amazing!"

"Ah will sell them,"

"Better hurry!"

"All mah appletahstic treats,"

"Yummy yummy!"

"Hungry ponies,"

"They'll be snacking!"

"They'll buy them,"

"Bring your money!"

"Caramel apples, apple sweets,"

"Gimme some!"

"And Ah'll earn a lot of money, for the Apple family!"

"All our dreams and our hopes from now until hereafter, all that we've been wishing for will happen at the Gala! At the Gala!"

"At the Gala," sang Rarity, "all the royals, they will meet fair Rarity, they will see I'm just as regal at the Gala!"

"At the Gala!"

"I will find him, my Prince Charming, and how gallant he will be, he will treat me like a lady, tonight at the Gala!"

"This is what we've waited for to have the best night ever, each of us will live our dreams, tonight at the Gala! At the Gala!" The random music suddenly broke into rock.

"Been dreamin', I've been waitin'," sang Rainbow, "to fly with those great ponies, the Wonderbolts, their daring tricks, spinning round and having kicks, perform for crowds of thousands, they'll shower us with diamonds, the Wonderbolts will see me right here at the Gala!" The music went back to whatever it was before.

"All we've longed for, all we've dreamed, our happy ever after, finally will all come true, right here at the Grand Gala! At the Gala!"

"I am here at the Grand Gala!" Sang Pinkie, "for it is the best party! But the one thing it was missing was a pony named Pinkie! For I am the best at parties! All the ponies will agree! Ponies playing, ponies dancing, with me at the Grand Gala!"

"Happiness and laughter at the Gala! At the Gala!"

"At the Gala," sang Twilight.

"At the Gala!"

"With the Princess,"

"With the Princess!"

"Is where I'm going to be,"

"She will be!"

"We will talk all about magic and what I've learned and seen,"

"She will see!"

"It is going to be so special, as she takes time just for me!"

"This will be the best night ever! Into the Gala we must go, we're ready now, we're all aglow! Into the Gala, let's go in and have the best night ever! Into the Gala, now's the time! We're ready and we look divine!" Everypony looked at me expectantly.

"No," I stated bluntly. I walked into the castle. It was a lot less impressive than I had expected, decorated with lots of whites and golds. A dark coated, blue maned pegasus marched up to me.

"Cloud Calculation?" He asked emotionlessly.

"Yes?" I replied.

"I've been asked to escort you to Princess Celestia. Follow me."

"Okay." I followed him.

We had been walking for about ten minutes when we finally reached a door that looked fancier than others we'd passed. The stallion knocked on the door, receiving some muffled speech from the other side of the door. He pushed it open and motioned for me to enter. Inside, Celestia sat next to a pile of scrolls.

"Cloud Calculation," greeted Celestia, "it's been a while. Nice suit."

"Thanks," I replied.

"Take a seat." I sat in a chair opposite her.

"So... The Gala seems nice."

"It's crap. As always."

"Oh."

"Hopefully my niece's shapeshifting will be enough to trick anypony who wishes to speak to me."

"So what did you find out?" Celestia let out a strange sigh.

"Your past is stranger than any of us expected. I have a lot to tell you." She levitated a scroll off of the tower next to her and unfurled it. "According to the tests I've had done, you didn't exist prior to the eve of the summer solstice." What? "There was no trace of you anywhere on Magi until you ended up in the field."

"Wait-wait-wait, how did I end up in the field in the first place?!"

"I created a Time Window to see for myself."

"A Time Window?"

"Yes, it's a way to look into the past without having to actually travel there. There's no way to alter anything so it's great for investigating. Unfortunatly, it's an incredibly complex spell. I had to study it for decades before-"

"What did you see?!"

"Huh? Oh, right. Well... I think you should see for yourself." Celestia cast a thought-projection spell, showing the field, empty. "This is a projection of what I saw through the Time Window. You'll make your... Entrance... In about thirty seconds." Why did she hesitate? Twenty snail-paced seconds passed by, but the field looked the same as ever.

Suddenly, a hole tore open from what looked like the fabric of the universe itself. Inside, there was pure nothingness. Just looking at it was sickening. A gut wrenching scream pierced my ears. A body of a pony was fired out of the universe tear, smashing against the ground. The body was mine. I wasn't moving. Slowly, the tear closed itself, making the scream quieter and quieter until it could be heard no more and I lay there alone. The spell ended.

The silence was almost painful.

"So... Whaddya think?"

"I- The- What?" Celestia sighed.

"Yeah, that was my reaction at first. So, obviously you're from a different universe. The question is, which one?"

"A-A different universe?! Seriously?!"

"Yup, a different universe."

"How can you say that so simply?!"

"It's not the first time I've encountered another universe; it's more common than you'd think. From the way you were acting, you were definitely a pony in that universe, too."

"WHAT?!"

After half an hour of trying, Celestia managed to calm me down and explain more about her experiences with the multiverse.

One universe had been known for centuries and was parallel to this one, but was a government secret due to the disturbing nature of its residents. It had been dubbed as 'Equestria Gamma'. Another was one known as 'The Breezyverse' and was publicly known. Celestia wouldn't tell me about the residents of either universe. The two universes were accessible through portals that activated after certain amounts of time.

"...So now that that's out of the way," continued Celestia, "we can move onto the next matter at hoof. There is an ancient prophecy..."

"...And those doubtful twats formed 'The Cult Of Disharmony' to bring back Discord."

"But how did I stop a prophecy supposedly set in stone?"

"There are two possibilities. The first of which is that since you're from a different universe, the prophecy never predicted you. The second possibility is that you didn't and that you are the final harmony, a metaphor for ultimate peace."

"Woah... But wait, the girls never wielded any power, so it can't be the second one, right?"

"Oh yeah... I guess it's the first one then."

"I guess so. What are we gonna do now though?"

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't it gonna be hard keeping the world safe without peace reining?"

"Nah, we'll be fine. Peace is boring anyway. Let's go see how the girls are doing."

Author's Notes:

Finally some plot progress is made!
Celestia explained it roughly the same way as Key Chain, so I cut it out.

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'Equestria Gamma'. The EG 'verse.

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I improved the tie!