This time, as I start the game, I find my character already awake, and standing in what I recognize as Ponyville's main street. This can only mean that I’ve opened a dream sequence, and the game has started my character in it.

I start to enter the command for my character to look around at his surroundings, when I hear Pinkie Pie’s voice, or at least what sounds like her to me, saying, “So, are you bored with him yet?”

Automatically my character turns to the source of the voice to show me, through his eyes, three different versions of Pinkie Pie: the one I’m familiar with; one with a dress apparently made from pieces of pony hides (specifically the hip, considering the evident cutie marks) and half a dozen pegasus wings of different colors, and a necklace of half a dozen unicorn horns strung together at their base; and an evident alicorn version of the pink party pony, with her own horn and pair of wings.

The Pinkie Pie I'm most familiar with is responding, “I could never get bored with my Mormy. Why do you have to be such a mean-meanie-pants when you talk about him?”

As it turns out, she’s talking with the version of herself based on the Cupcakes fan fiction, as that version retorts, “Oh, come on! You know as well as I do he just plots along. And, he thinks he’s better than you.”

Pinkie Pie growls back, “He does not. He freely admits he isn’t perfect, and I know for a fact he isn’t boring. And, best of all, he wants me to be the best I can be.”

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie growls for a second or two before saying, “You’re as blind as you are stupid.”

At this remark, Pinkie Pie closes her eyes, smiles, and says, “Well, thank you,” then opens them again and grunts in uncertainty before adding, “strange pony.”

Now, the Cupcakes Pinkie Pie starts marching toward my Pinkie Pie as she says, “That wasn’t a compliment.” The two touch noses, but the Cupcakes Pinkie Pie continues her march.

Evidently uncomfortable, Pinkie Pie stumbles backward, trying to keep away from the intruding version of herself.

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie, keeping up with her, continues, “How could you let a creature that isn’t even a pony rule over you?”

Pinkie’s mane and tail seem to melt, and she grimaces as she continues to back away from her Cupcakes version. She says, “He doesn’t rule over me, he’s a friend.” Then, she stumbles into the wall behind her and, sitting in something of a begging position, adds, “A-and, I’d r-rather have h-his g-guidance than y-yours.”

Then, the Cupcakes Pinkie Pie rears up and, almost roaring now, slams her front hooves down toward Pinkie Pie.

The pink earth pony manages to jump out of the way before her Cupcakes version can catch her, and perhaps injure her. Then, looking past her Cupcakes version and seeing my character, she says, “M-mormon, I could use s-some h-help.”

The Cupcakes version of Pinkie Pie turns and looks at my character, then says, “Oh, so you’re here.”

One thing I observe, I’ve been observing up to this point, is that the alicorn version of Pinkie Pie hasn’t moved, and hasn’t said anything. And, she remains immobile, and silent.

In the mean time, the Cupcakes Pinkie Pie turns to my friend Pinkie Pie and asks, “And, what’s wrong with me being your guide? What, you don’t like the dress, the cutie marks, the wings, the necklace of horns? You don’t want all the control I have over pegasus flight and unicorn magic?”

At this point, I decide to have my character step forward; and I say, “Pinkie Pie, you’ve been able to tap into my previous playthrough of this game, the one I lost. Tell me, what did you learn about cutie marks from that playthrough?”

Pinkie Pie spends a few seconds looking up at my character, then back at her Cupcakes version, then back up at my character again. Finally, she says, “I-I-I … I’ve learned that cutie marks disappear when they’re separated from their owners.” She then turns back to her Cupcakes version and, more confidently, continues, “I could never have a dress like yours. The cutie marks just wouldn’t stay long enough.”

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie grunts derisively, then asks, “And, what about my control of pegasus flight with these wings, and my control of unicorn magic with these horns?”

Again Pinkie Pie looks up at my character, but I decide to say nothing this time. After a few seconds of not getting any suggestions from me, Pinkie Pie turns to her Cupcakes version and asks, “If a pony’s cutie mark, which is part of their identity, disappears when removed from the pony, how can I expect that wings separated from a pegasus are going to work? And, what about a horn separated from a unicorn?” Now, Pinkie starts pushing her Cupcakes version back as she continues, “Pegasus wings and unicorn horns are like plants. For that matter, so are cutie marks. When they’re separated from their life source, they die. There’s no way I’d get any use out of them. I’d just end up with dead friends if I were to follow your plan. Hay, I’d die, I’d be killed, and rightly so, if I were to follow your plan.”

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie, still backing away from my Pinkie, says, “You don’t know that for sure.”

At this point, Pinkie’s mane and tail inflate again; and she responds, “Yes, I do. I know because Mormon played this game already, and lost on purpose. And, because of that, I know, from two sources, that pegasus wings stop working when their owner dies, or when they’re separated from their owner.”

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie then stops moving and says, “You could get the wings grafted into your back.” And, she stops in the position where she’d started, or at least where I'd first seen her.

In response, Pinkie Pie stops pushing her backward, but circles to the opposite side of her Cupcakes version from my character. She then grabs one of the wings in her mouth and starts pulling on it.

In response, the dress remains attached to the wing, following it, and apparently abandoning the pony wearing it.

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie, turning and seeing that Pinkie is pulling her dress off of her, shouts, “Hey, stop doing that!”

Presently, Pinkie Pie lets go of the wing. As her Cupcakes version starts moving the dress back onto her back, Pinkie Pie says, “Those wings are attached to the dress, not to you. And besides, who would I get to attach wings to my back that wouldn’t ask where I got them?”

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie answers, “I could lead you to a pony or two. I have more servants than you know about. And, I’m guessing you don’t want the horns, either?”

Pinkie Pie shudders for a moment, then answers, “No. I prefer to earn my own. And, my sister Diane can earn her wings. That way, together we’ll be an alicorn.”

The Cupcakes Pinkie Pie very loudly grunts, then says, “You have no idea what you’re giving up by not letting me rule over you.” And, with that, the Cupcakes version of the pink earth pony turns away from her and starts strolling away.

In response, Pinkie Pie approaches my character and says, “Actually, I do know what I’m giving up. I know because of Mormon’s previous playthrough.”

As my character watches the Cupcakes version of Pinkie Pie disappear into the distance, I hear Pinkie Pie’s voice behind him, over his shoulder, say, “Well done. Pinkie Pie has been struggling with that evil voice in her head for a long time now. And, thanks to you, she’s finally rid of it.”

My character turns to show me, through his eyes, the alicorn version of the pink earth pony; and based on her position, I’m guessing her head is over his shoulder.

I reply, “I’m happy I could help.”

The alicorn Pinkie Pie continues, “Now, Pinkamena and I will wake up. We’ll be arriving in Ponyville soon.” And, with that, the alicorn Pinkie Pie disappears.

While my character looks down to his other side, he shows me, through his eyes, that Pinkie has also disappeared. Since the alicorn version of Pinkie Pie said that she and Pinkamena were going to wake up, that indicates to me that the alicorn was a manifestation of Diane. Clearly, Pinkamena really looks up to her twin.

In the mean time, since the versions of Pinkie Pie have disappeared, I’m left to wonder, why has the dream not ended for my character? Why have I not received a request to close and save the game?

Then, the answer comes when Princess Luna shows up at the closest intersection, and canters toward my character. After a few steps, she stops and says, “Let us also thank you, Mormon, for helping us help Pinkie Pie with her inner conflict. What you’ve seen has been troubling her for a long time now.”

I respond, “Like I said to Diane, I guess that was, I was happy to help.”

Princess Luna nods and smiles, then says, “I want you to continue to help Pinkie Pie. She’s taken a step in the right direction, one of many, but it’s still just one more step. She still has a ways to go; and I sense that, even if she does earn her wings and horn, that won’t be the end of her story. She has much more to do than that.”

At this point, I say, “Perhaps the most important message she needs to hear is that her problems will only have as much power over her as she will give them.” Then, a thought occurs to me; and I add, “And, that would be a good thing for you to remember, as well.”

At my last statement, Princess Luna seems surprised. In an attempt to hide her surprise, she turns away from my character and says, “We know not of what thou speakest.”

I state, “You haven’t forgiven yourself for becoming Nightmare Moon, nor what you did as her, have you?”

Now, as the nighttime alicorn turns to my character, I can see, through his eyes, tears well up in hers. She says, “Thou knowest not what we did as Nightmare Moon. We did much evil, caused much destruction. How can we trust ourselves after that?”

I answer, “You must learn to do just that, or you’ll destroy yourself.” I then watch the nighttime princess turn away again before I ask, “Have you read the story of Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni?”

Princess Luna answers, “We have not.”

I state, “You may want to have a look into that story. They may provide you with some examples of what you can do to forgive yourself. Their story is in the Book of Alma. And, it leads to my favorite story in the Book of Mormon. If you’ll look in the index for the name Ammon, that should point you in the right direction.”

Princess Luna turns completely away from my character, then slowly says, “I … will … try.” And, she disappears.

Now, the scene fades to black, and a message box appears, with the question, “Do you want to save and quit now?”

As I click on the answer “Yes,” I’d just like to mention that in dream sequences like this, there is no scripture reading. And, neither is there a need for a letter to the princesses. And, whether my advice to Princess Luna will have any impact on the game or not, it was what I had to offer her. And so, this concludes the dream sequence as the game automatically closes.

Author's Notes:

The next chapter is based on the episode, "A Bird in the Hoof." Mormon makes it clear to Fluttershy that he doesn't intend to be part of her plan to take care of Princess Celestia's pet phoenix, Philomena. But, that doesn't mean he can stay completely out of the way.

This and more in Chapter 26, "One Way to View Resurrection."

The reading will be Mosiah chapter 3.