Hey, Batter! Volume 3: Angel of Mirth

by A_Mormon Brony

Chapters

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Ponyville's Darkest Day, Ponyville's Brightest Night
• Chapter 2: When Magic Needs a Hand
• Chapter 3: Halloween, Equestria Style
• Chapter 4: Generosity's Sibling
• Chapter 5: Mud in Her Eye
• Chapter 6: Bowling Strike-out
• Chapter 7: The Many Images of Affliction
• Chapter 8: A Mascot for Loyalty
• Chapter 9: Of Loyalty and Humility

Introduction

I had intended to introduce this story by talking about the things that went into the “Angel of Mirth” expansion pack.  But, I’ve decided, instead, that it’s best to introduce my notes by completing the last day of the success playthrough.  After all, these notes are all about what went into this first expansion pack.  And, come to think of it, I suppose adding to the game makes this playthrough incomplete.  And, after all, I suppose that adds up to one more good reason why I should introduce the expanded game this way.

At any rate, I open my success game and find the group heading into the Everfree forest.

Just then, Pinkie Pie turns to my character and says, “You know, it seems to me that we’re forgetting something.”

I guess I can take this as my first clue that the expansion worked.  Which is to say, the last day from the unexpanded game can be completed now, at least.  I suppose I'll have to wait and see how successful the expansion is.

In the mean time, Lyra, who’s been strolling on ahead, stops, turns around, and approaches my character again.  Looking up at him, she asks, “So, are you and Pinkie going to bring your pets with you after all?”

At this point, Pinkie Pie gasps and slowly rises into the air for a second before dropping to the ground again, then says, “Lyra’s right.  We’ve forgotten about the pet play date.”  She then leaps over the fence and gallops to the front door, then turns to my character and says, “You’re lucky.  Scout’s here on the porch.  I need to go and find Gummy.”  Somewhat more calmly, she scratches her chin with a front hoof and asks, “Now, where could he be?”

I might mention, at this point, that, while Pinkie Pie was galloping to the front door, I saw her limping on a front limb.  I’m sure that’ll give her a clue as to where she could find her pet alligator.

While I have this thought in mind, I see her rubbing her opposite shoulder with the hoof she used to scratch her chin.  Then it clearly dawns on her, and she beams as she shouts, “Bathtub!” and zooms into the house.

Evidently, she did get the message.

A second later, she appears on the front porch again, this time with the toothless alligator on her back, takes a moment to close the front door, then gallops to the fence where the rest of the group is, leaps over it again, and comes to a stop just between my character and Lyra.  And, the pink party pony isn’t limping anymore.  She turns to me and asks, “Aren’t you gonna call for Scout?”

I nod and say, “Good idea.”  I then have my character turn to the front porch, only to see that it’s unoccupied.  My character automatically focuses on a large, dark-brown spot near the fence, which immediately jumps over it, barking once under its breath.  As my character focuses on the spot, which looks up at him, eyes glowing yellow, I say, “I’m guessing that means you’re looking forward to coming with us.”

As I see the timber wolf smile up at my character and bark three times in rapid succession, it almost seems to me that each bark sounds like he’s grunting, “Yeah.”

I can’t help chuckling a little as I say, “Well, in that case, let’s get going.”

The only response I get is that the group of six once again proceeds into the Everfree forest, on their way to Ponyville.

An uneventful half hour later, the group is in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, where she can be seen attending to her chickens, while her rabbit pet, Angel, is stamping a foot in impatience.

Pinkie Pie, on seeing her, waves to her, as much with her wings as with a front hoof, and calls out, “Hi, Fluttershy!”

The yellow pegasa starts at the evidently unexpected sound, then turns and sees the mixed group of ponies, dinosaur, human, alligator and timber wolf on the other side of the bridge.  She focuses on Pinkie Pie as she flies over the bridge and says, “Pinkie, you have wings now.”

As Fluttershy approached, Pinkie Pie folded her wings again.  After hearing what the yellow pegasa said, she looks behind her at her wings and says, “I know.  Aren’t they amazing?  Mormon helped me get ‘em.”

Fluttershy pauses for a moment, then turns to my character and says, “Wait.  You helped Pinkie Pie get wings?”

I nod once as I answer, “I did,”  before I continue, “Now, she just needs to learn how to use them.  Do you think you could help her with that?”

At my question, the timid yellow pegasa answers, “Oh, I don’t know.  I’m not that good of a flier.  Maybe she should ask Rainbow Dash.”

I have my character kneel on one knee in front of Fluttershy as I respond, “If you can teach her the basics of flight, that’ll be a good start for her.  Then, after you’ve taught her all you can, she can learn from other pegasi.  So, what do you say?”

Fluttershy slowly turns to an eager-looking Pinkie Pie, then back to my character, then says, “Well, if it means that much to Pinkie Pie, then, alright.  I just need to—”

Before she can say more, Pinkie Pie grabs her around the neck with her forelimbs and proceeds to dance around her, squeezing, as she says, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Fluttershy!”  Then, hearing the yellow pegasa strangling, she lets go of her and backs away a step or two and, with a nervous giggle, says, “Sorry about that.”

The representative of kindness smiles at the pink party pony and says, “That’s alright.  Learning how to fly is kind of exciting.”  She then turns back to my character and says, “As I was saying, I just need to take care of my critters here.”

I ask, “Is there anything we can do to help with that?”

Fluttershy shakes her head gently as she says, “Not really.”  She then stops shaking her head as she continues, “I just need to feed the chickens.  Then, after that, I’ll be happy to help Pinkie Pie learn to use her wings.”  And, with that, she flies off back to her chicken coop.

I ask, “So, shall we just wait here for you?”

In the mean time, I notice Angel closes his eyes and plants a front paw between them.

Fluttershy turns to my character and answers, “That depends.”  She then turns to the representative if laughter and asks, “Pinkie, do you want me to train you here?”

The pink party pony answers, “Actually, we’ve been hoping to go to the park for the pet play date.  You can teach me how to fly there.”

I think Fluttershy divides her attention between my character and Pinkie Pie as she says, “Well, in that case, you can go on ahead to the park.  Angel bunny and I will catch up with you there.”

I have my character focus on Pinkie Pie, who, focusing on my character, on me, in return, says, “Well, in that case, let’s get goin’, Mormy.”  And, with that, she turns toward Ponyville and starts galloping in that direction.

As Lyra gallops to keep up with the pink party pony, I have my character focus on the yellow pegasa; and I say, “Well, in that case, we'll see you there.”

Taking that as his signal, and while I hear Fluttershy say her own farewell to the group, my character turns to follow after the angel pony and the unicorn as they completely leave the Everfree forest, then head for, then into, Ponyville.

Not too far along the main street of the town, Pinkie Pie slows to a stop, then turns to my character and says, “You know what, I wonder if Twilight’s been invited to the pony pet play date. After all, she’s got a pet now, too.”

I allow my character to come to a stop next to her before I reply, “Well, if you want to go and see for sure, even invite her, then you’re welcome to do so.  We really have nothing to lose.”

Pinkie Pie says no more, just turns and gallops ahead of the rest of the group to the library, with everyone else running or galloping to keep up.  And, once she gets there, she tries to push the door open with a front hoof, only to find that the door won’t budge.  Noticing this, she turns to my character and grunts in curiosity before saying, “The library seems to be closed today.  I wonder if Twilight and Owlowiscious are at the park already.”

I shrug and say, “Well, there’s just one way to find out.”

Evidently I don’t need to say anymore, as Pinkie Pie nods and says, “Well, alrighty then, let’s go.”  And, she gallops off toward the park, again leaving the rest of the group to keep up with her.

A minute later, as the group arrives at the park, I can see, through my character’s eyes, Rarity already there with her Persian cat, Opalescence.  And, within talking distance, in fact evidently conversing with Rarity while waiting for everyone else, sure enough, is Twilight, with her pet owl on her back.

Not stopping until she reaches her two unicorn friends, Pinkie Pie calls out, “Rarity, Twilight, hi!”

I watch as, once Pinkie comes to a stop about an inch, I’d say, away from the purple unicorn, considering how she flinches, Rarity says, “Hello, Pinkie.  I see you're here with your pet lizard.  And, Mormon’s here with his pet timber wolf.  And, Lyra’s also here with Weed Whacker.”

By the time Rarity’s finished speaking, the group is reunited, although increased by two unicorns.

When she’s recovered her composure, Twilight notices something different about her pink friend.  Looking at her back, she says, “Pinkie Pie, are those wings I see on your back?”

Pinkie smiles as Rarity looks at her back as well and answers, “Yes, indeedy.”

The white unicorn then asks, “How ever did you get them?”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes while she smiles as she answers, “Mormon helped me get ‘em.”

The two unicorns look up at my character and tilt their heads in curiosity.

I add, “it’s something Pinkie and I have been working on for the time we’ve been together.  She got them sometime between last night and this morning.”

I can’t say for sure if the smiles are sincere or not.  All I know is that Twilight and Rarity smile at their pink friend as they congratulate her on her achievement.

And, it’s during this time that Fluttershy arrives on the scene, with her pet rabbit riding on her back.  It’s only when she’s a foot or so away from Pinkie Pie that she stops and says, “Pinkie Pie, as soon as you’re ready to learn, I’m ready to teach you how to use your wings.”

The rabbit hops off of Fluttershy’s back, then glares up at her and snorts, which, to me anyway, sounds more like a cute, controlled sneeze.

The yellow pegasa turns to the white rabbit and, while frowning with her eyes, smiles with her mouth as she says, “I’m sorry, Angel bunny.  I won’t be able to play with you this time.”  She then turns to the pale-green unicorn and asks, “Uh, Lyra, will you play with Angel bunny while I’m teaching Pinkie Pie to use her wings?”

Lyra looks at the rabbit, who turns away from her, closes his eyes, folds his forelimbs, and sticks his nose up in the air.  She then turns back to Fluttershy and, shrugging uncertainly, answers, “Uh, I don’t know.  What games do you play with him?”

At this question, Angel turns to the pale-green unicorn and fixes her with his most menacing glare.  Which, I might add, is surprisingly frightening for what one might expect from a rabbit.

Fluttershy grunts in sad uncertainty before answering, “I usually just watch him while he runs around on his own.”

In, I suppose, the most pleasant tone she can muster, Lyra snorts before saying, “Doesn’t sound too difficult.”  She then turns to the white rabbit and asks, “So, what do you say, Angel?”

The white rabbit continues to glare for a few more seconds at the pale-green unicorn, who smiles and chuckles nervously.  He then looks down at the ground in front of him for another second or two, then hops toward Lyra.  Evidently he’s decided that it’s better to play games with a willing unicorn than with no one at all, since Fluttershy’s going to be teaching Pinkie Pie how to fly.

Lyra sighs as she looks up at Fluttershy and says, “Well, I guess it’s settled, then.”  She then circles around Angel and, from behind him, gently nudges him away from the yellow pegasa.

The white rabbit demonstrates his distaste for that kind of attention by turning to Lyra and growling at her.

Let me go on record right now as saying that I’m having trouble taking the high-pitched sound coming from the rabbit seriously.

On the other hand, the sound is enough to make Lyra stop and take a step back away from Angel.

In the mean time, it seems that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have ambled a few paces away from the rest of the group.

Fluttershy turns to her pet rabbit and says, in a gently reproving tone, “Now, Angel, there’s no need to be mean.  This is just for one day.”

In response, Angel turns away from Lyra for a second or two, and once again folds his forelimbs and points his nose in the air.  Then, after another second or two, he looks back to be sure that Fluttershy isn’t paying attention.  On seeing that the coast is clear, sort of speak, he looks up and blows a raspberry at the pale-green unicorn, then turns ahead of him again and hops off.

And, it’s about this time that Applejack arrives on the scene, with her pet dog Winona.

The dog, seeing the rabbit running away, starts pursuing him, barking.

Applejack, seeing this, calls out, “Winona, you git back here now!”

Presently, the dog stops in place, apparently grimacing for a second, then turns and runs back to her owner.  Once in front of her, Winona sits human-style, allowing her front paws to hang in front of her, and pants and barks.

The orange earth mare smiles down at her dog, then produces the disc I gave her, then jumps and swings herself around, releasing the disc so that it flies off behind Winona.

Seeing her pony toss the disc, the little dog turns and runs off, evidently trying to get ahead of the flying object.

Just then, I notice a slight vibration; and my character looks down to show me, through his eyes, Scout smiling up at him.

At this point, I remember that my character has a disc to throw for him; so I have him produce it, then toss it past the timber wolf, who, like Winona, gallops off, trying to get ahead of the object.

And, while Scout’s occupied with the flying disc, I decide to have my character move to a position where I can hopefully best divide his attention between playing with Scout and watching Pinkie Pie take flying lessons from Fluttershy.  Actually, finding a position is the easy part.  Dividing my own attention between the two tasks is not so easy.

As soon as the two winged ponies are what they clearly hope is a sufficiently safe distance away, I hear Pinkie Pie tell her pegasa friend that she thinks flying may take a lot of her concentration, so much of it that she won’t be able to keep her mane and tail curly; and that, if her hair loses its curls, and her voice begins to sound emotionless, she shouldn’t worry about it.  Then, when Fluttershy nods uncertainly in agreement, I see Diane take over Pinkie Pie, as her mane and tail go straight, and her mane falls to one side of her face.

With Scout to remind me of when I need to throw the disc for him, I watch, through my character’s eyes, as Fluttershy starts off instructing Pinkie “Diane” Pie by example on how to extend her wings in preparation for flight, then how to flap her wings.

I find the most fascinating thing about watching the pink pony as she learns from the yellow pegasa is watching Diane as she patiently follows Fluttershy’s instructions, going so far as to match flapping speed with the yellow pegasa.  Then, when it comes to actually getting off the ground, well, it’s clear that the pegasa and the angel pony are just different enough that they don’t rise up off the ground at the same time.  And, when Diane does get up off the ground, she’s also the first to land again, with the slightest thud.

It doesn’t surprise me at all that she spends so little time in the air on her first try.  After all, Pinkie Pie has never had wings before.  On the other hand, what I do find surprising is that she doesn’t make a heavy thud when she lands on the ground.  In fact, she makes a very graceful landing on all four hooves.  And, she graciously accepts Fluttershy’s congratulations for her first flight.

From there on, Diane, using her wings, spends more and more time in the air, rises higher and higher each time, and manages to land quietly each time.

And, it seems that her last lesson for the day is displacement in the air.  Which is to say, not just hovering, but taking off from one spot and landing in another.

Again, Fluttershy leads by example, opening her wings and taking off, then moving her wings so that she moves more horizontally for maybe a few feet, then lands again.  And, once she’s landed, she turns to Pinkie “Diane” Pie and gestures for her to try it.

From what I can see, Diane has no problems getting off of the ground.  Her main problem is angling her wings so she can move horizontally instead of vertically.  She does manage to land maybe a few inches away from where she started; although, from what I see, she flies that distance backwards.  But, at least she’s flying now.

In the mean time, Fluttershy trots over to Diane and, taking a position next to, but perhaps a foot away from, her, opens her own wings and shows how she angles them so she can move forward in the air.

Diane patiently watches and follows along as Fluttershy demonstrates; then the pink angel pony makes a few more attempts to actually fly.  And, with her third or fourth attempt, she does manage to fly a few inches forward.

One thing I can respect about Fluttershy as a flight instructor, aside from her patience, is that she can tell when it’s time to end the lessons for the present time; as, from where my character is standing, I can see, through his eyes, that, when Fluttershy calls break time, Pinkie “Diane” Pie is showing signs of exhaustion.  With the yellow pegasa to lean on, the angel pony makes her way back to the main group, where she collapses on her side, panting.

It’s clear to me that, if the play date ends before Diane can recuperate enough, the group of at least six will have to stay a little longer.  The good news, from what I can see, is that at least Diane had her wings folded before she collapsed on one of them.

In the mean time, Gummy and Fluttershy are there to keep her company during her recovery.  And, they aren’t the only ones.

The rest of the ponies, as well as my character, get signals from their pets that it may be time to stop and make sure the newly-winged pink pony is alright, as they stop playing and join the alligator and the pegasa in keeping Pinkie “Diane" Pie company.

Even Angel stops playing hide-and-seek with Lyra and returns to Fluttershy’s side to check up on Diane.

After a few minutes, noticing the gathering around her, Diane lifts her head and looks around, then says, “Thank you.  I will be fine.”  Then, she struggles to get back up on her hooves.

My character offers his assistance, which the pink angel pony accepts; and soon she's back on her hooves.

Diane looks at my character, at me, and nods, then shakes herself out.  Since it’s clear, by now, that she’s gotten her breath back, she returns control to Pinkamena, as is indicated by her mane and tail curling again.

By this time, it’s evidently getting somewhat late in the afternoon.

Seeing this, it’s Twilight Sparkle who decides it’s time to call an end to the pet play date and get ready for the reading later in the afternoon.

So, with the agreement of all members of the group, the pet play date ends; and the group separates to return to their homes and make preparations for the reading at my character’s house.

On their walk through Ponyville, Lyra turns to the pink angel pony and asks, “Are you sure you’re alright to walk?”

Pinkie, who’s been holding her wings away from her body since the group started the trek back home, groans for a second before answering, “My wings feel like they’re on fire, but my legs are perfectly fine.  I don’t plan on flying again any time soon, not until my wings have cooled off.”

I state, “I suppose that makes sense.  You’re using muscles you’ve never even had before, and you’ve used them quite a lot today.  So, it’s only natural that they’d be really heated.  But, you’ve made quite a lot of headway.”

Pinkie smiles up at my character, at me, and says, “Thank you, Mormon.  I guess you’re right about that.”

Pinkie and Lyra continue talking about various things, not the least of which is how her wings are going to change how she works at Sugar Cube Corner.

I’m not sure how that’s going to matter all too much, although the new wings will likely help Pinkie keep up with Pound Cake.  Didn’t Mr. and Mrs. Cake say something yesterday about Pound starting to fly?  And, considering that Pinkie will likely start taking care of the two in a couple weeks, what about Carrot?  Has she started using her magic yet?  I wouldn’t be surprised if she has.

At any rate, it’s not until the group gets out of Ponyville and into the Everfree forest, past Fluttershy’s cottage, that I hear something from Pinkie Pie about her wings having cooled off enough so she doesn’t feel like she’s going to overheat by folding them against her body.

When my character looks down at her, I notice Gummy isn’t riding on her back.  He then looks to the other side, where I can see Scout; and I notice Gummy riding on his back.  My guess is the two must’ve agreed that Pinkie was tired enough learning from Fluttershy how to fly, and didn’t need the extra burden of a hatchling alligator on her back.

I have to wonder, though.  Considering Gummy is likely cold-blooded, wouldn’t having him on Pinkie’s back help her cool down?  On the other hand, Gummy might also be worried about getting too hot, or heating up too fast, based on what Pinkie had said about her wings, Diane’s wings, back in town.

My thoughts on the matter are interrupted by the sound of giggling from the pink angel pony.  As my character’s attention turns to her, she says, “Maybe I should go back to eating a lot of candy, you know, to keep up my energy for flight.”

I ask, “Do you think that’s really going to be necessary?”

Pinkie Pie looks up at my character and answers, “Who knows?  It might.  That, or maybe I should just eat more fruits and vegetables.  Or, just more of everything.”

I chuckle a little before stating, “I’m sure that sooner or later you’ll get good enough at flying that you’ll be able to fly without using up so much energy.  Hovering is just flying over one spot.  I’m sure you’ll learn, soon enough, to take off from one spot and fly over long distances.”

I even hear Pinkie smile as she says, “Thank you, Mormy.  I really appreciate that.”

When the group gets home, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Pinkie Pie and my character get to work harvesting fruits and vegetables from the vineyard, the vegetable garden, and the orchard.

As my character helps gather up the apples that Diane kicks out of the tree she chose, I hear Pinkamena ask, “Do you think Discord’s arrival tomorrow will cause any major changes?  After we turn him back to stone, I mean?”

I have to chuckle over Pinkie’s question.  Evidently either she or her sister Diane have been reading ahead in the programming.  Eventually, I answer, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few changes.  Whether they’ll be major or minor depends on who you ask.”

At my answer Pinkie groans, then says, “I’m just worried about Vinyl.  I can't help thinking she’s gonna be affected more than anypony else.”

Now, I have programmed the game so that, after Discord is turned back into stone, the impact he left on Ponyville will cause Vinyl Scratch’s friends to leave town for Canterlot.  Then, after the changeling invasion, they’ll leave Canterlot for the frigid north of Equestria.  From there, well, it’ll have to wait for the second expansion I’m working on while I’m not playing “Hey, Batter!”.  In the mean time, when Vinyl’s friends leave, it will have a major impact on her, an impact that I’ll take notes on when the time comes.

To respond to Pinkie Pie, I say, “You may be right.  We’ll just see what we’ll be able to do when the time comes.”  By this point, my character and Pinkie have gathered up all the apples; so, I conclude, “In the mean time, let’s get back to the house.  We still have some preparations to make for the reading.”

Pinkie Pie responds by sighing before she says, halfheartedly, “Okie dokie lokie.”  Then, she hops over the fence and ambles toward the house.

Again the preparation of the fruits and vegetables doesn’t take very long, and again it’s completed just in time as guests start arriving for the reading.

My character gets the TV tray to put the snack tray on, Pinkie Pie greets guests, and Lyra and Weed Whacker carry the snack tray out.

With my character out positioning the TV tray, he’s in the right position to hear when Rainbow Dash, noticing Pinkie’s new appendages, says, “Pinkie, you’ve got wings now.”

I again hear Pinkie smile as she says, “I know.  Mormon helped me earn ‘em, and Fluttershy’s been teaching me how to use ‘em.”

I don’t know if I should laugh or not when Rainbow Dash, the tone in her voice rising, says, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!  This is so—awesome!”  Still, hearing her, I’m finding it difficult to keep my composure.

In the mean time, Pinkie says, “I know!  Soon I’ll be able to fly with you!”

Just then, from behind my character, I hear Princess Celestia say, “Alright, you two, calm down. It is exciting that Pinkie Pie has earned her wings, but now it’s time for the reading.”

A somewhat humbled Rainbow Dash, still hovering in the air, looks down, sighs, and says, “You’re right, Princess.”  She then lands next to Pinkie and asks, under her breath, “So, when do you think you’ll be flying?”

I lose track of the conversation between the two after that.  it’s either that, or the conversation ends very quickly.  At any rate, the group gathers around the snack tray, once Lyra and Weed Whacker have placed it on the TV tray, then the individuals produce their books and turn to where the reading left off.

I have my character turn to the pale-green unicorn, and I ask, "Lyra, will you start the reading with the first verse of Mosiah chapter nine?"

The unicorn next to me answers by nodding, then looks down and reads, "And now, it came to pass that after Abinadi had spoken these words he stretched forth his hand and said: The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; when every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgments are just."

Next, I read, "And then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have cause to howl, and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth; and this because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord; therefore the Lord redeemeth them not."

Weed Whacker reads, "For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil."

Princess Luna reads, "Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state."

Princess Celestia reads, "But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him.  Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God."

Rainbow Dash reads. "And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ."

Spike reads, "He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death."

Rarity reads, "Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—"

Applejack reads, "If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation—"

Fluttershy reads, "Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent."

Lyra reads, "And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?"

I read, "Therefore, if ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come—"

Weed Whacker reads, "Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father.  Amen."

At this point, Princess Luna looks up and says, "I suppose I shall start chapter ten."  And, after seeing my character nod to her in agreement, she looks down and reads, "And now it came to pass that when Abinadi had finished these sayings, that the king commanded that the priests should take him and cause that he should be put to death."

Princess Celestia reads, "But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken, for he knew concerning the iniquity which Abinadi had testified against them; therefore he began to plead with the king that he would not be angry with Abinadi, but suffer that he might depart in peace."

Rainbow Dash reads, "But the king was more wroth, and caused that Alma should be cast out from among them, and sent his servants after him that they might slay him."  She then looks up and says, "That's kinda harsh, isn't it?  I mean, after all, he just asked king Noah to let Abinadi go.  And, after all, Abinadi wasn't a criminal."

I answer, "Well, that's how bad people are.  King Noah, for instance, didn't like Abinadi telling him that he needed to make changes to the way he was living.  People are lazy that way.  And then, when Alma came to Abinadi's defense, that was more of a threat to king Noah and his position.  So, he tried to kill Alma as well."

Pinkie Pie doesn't wait for my character to nod to her, but goes ahead and reads, "But he fled from before them and hid himself that they found him not.  And he being concealed for many days did write all the words which Abinadi had spoken."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And it came to pass that the king caused that his guards should surround Abinadi and take him; and they bound him and cast him into prison."

Spike reads, "And after three days, having counseled with his priests, he caused that he should again be brought before him."

Rarity reads, "And he said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death."

Applejack reads, "For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people."  She then looks up and says, "Now, Ah understand that king Noah didn't like what Abinadi'd been sayin'.  What Ah don't understand is how saying that their God was a-gonna pay 'em a visit was sayin' anythin' bad about him or his people."

I answer, "I don't blame you for thinking that way.  To tell you the truth, I don't understand it either.  My guess is that King Noah's thinking was so badly corrupted that he chose to see Abinadi's preaching that way.  Then again, Abinadi did warn king Noah and his people that they were doing bad things, and needed to make changes.  King Noah may have been thinking about that."  I then direct my character's attention to the yellow pegasa, and I say, "Fluttershy, you may go ahead and read."

The pink-haired pegasa nods, then looks down into her book and reads, "Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands."  She then looks up and tilts her head and grunts in confusion.

This time, it's Princess Celestia who answers, "Basically what Abinadi is saying is that he's not hiding anything.  He's come out to testify that king Noah and his people need to change their ways, and he's not going to negate that testimony by going into hiding."  Then, seeing that Fluttershy appears to understand, she nods to Lyra.

The pale-green unicorn nods back, then looks down into her book and reads, "Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you.  And if ye slay me ye will shed innocent blood, and this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day."

I read, "And now king Noah was about to release him, for he feared his word; for he feared that the judgments of God would come upon him."

Weed Whacker reads, "But the priests lifted up their voices against him, and began to accuse him, saying:  He has reviled the king.  Therefore the king was stirred up in anger against him, and he delivered him up that he might be slain."

At this point, I'm surprised to hear Pinkie Pie say, "You know, if it hadn't been for Mormon and his idea, I might have done something similar to what King Noah's priests did here."  As my character's attention turns to the pink angel pony, she sighs, then continues, "Back in Appleoosa, when the rest of us were helping Applejack deliver Bloomberg to her cousin Braeburn, the buffalo took him hostage and wanted to drive out the ponies living there.  If it hadn't been for Mormon, I would've gone with my idea of performing a musical number, which would've caused the buffalo to attack the settler ponies.  When the time came for the fight to begin, the bison calf, Little Strongheart, would've convinced her chief to not fight."  She sighs again before continuing, "And, knowing me, I would've started the musical number all over again just to celebrate, and ended up triggering the battle anyway."  She then aims a sad smile at my character, at me, and concludes, "But, thanks to you, Mormon, that didn't happen.  Thanks, Mormon."

Princess Luna smiles at Pinkie Pie, then looks down into her book and reads, "And it came to pass that they took him and bound him, and scourged his skin with faggots, yea, even unto death."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now when the flames began to scorch him, he cried unto them, saying:"

Rainbow Dash reads, "Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts."

Spike reads, "And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire."

Rarity reads, "Thus God executeth vengeance upon those that destroy his people.  O God, receive my soul."

Applejack reads, "And now, when Abinadi had said these words, he fell, having suffered death by fire; yea, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his death."

At this point, I say, "Here's another interesting point to bring up.  In subsequent chapters, we'll see that King Noah suffered death by immolation, just as Abinadi did.  And, he's not the only one.  Just as Abinadi said, others were cast into fire to be burned alive because they believed in the Christ and His coming.  But, like I said, that's for future chapters.  Right now, let's call an end to the reading so that those living in Ponyville or Canterlot can go to their homes."

The princesses offer their thanks to my character before disappearing.

The other five element bearers and Spike offer their thanks for another reading before being let out by Pinkie Pie and heading through the Everfree forest and back to their places of residence.

Now that it’s back to two ponies, one dinosaur and one human, the normal pattern of gathering fruits and vegetables and preparing and eating them for dinner takes place, after which the group disperses to their rooms.

Based on what I dictate to be written in my letter to the princesses, one might think that I might’ve forgotten about Pinkie Pie having earned her wings the game’s previous night.  But, the fact of the matter is I don’t record that information in the letter because, since they already know about it, I don’t feel the need.  Why write to them what they already know?  But, I do record, or have recorded, that Fluttershy gave Pinkie her first lesson in how to use her new wings, and that Pinkie did very well with her first lesson.  I imagine it’ll be interesting to see how a winged Pinkie Pie will influence things in the future.

After my character signs the letter and delivers it to Weed Whacker to send to the princesses, my character returns to his room and prepares for and goes to bed.

Since, at the end of this playthrough before expanding it, I helped Pinkie Pie earn her wings, I wonder if I should help Lyra work on earning earth pony abilities, or wings.  After all, from what I’ve observed, a unicorn isn’t exactly an earth pony with a horn.  The type of pony with a horn and earth pony abilities I’ve given the title of terra-corn.  And, a pony with wings and a horn, but minus earth pony abilities, I’ve given the title of alicorn second-class.  As I save and close the game for now, I’m left to wonder which Lyra would want to be, and if she’d want to progress toward being a full alicorn.  I suppose I’ll have to ask her about that at some point.  In the mean time, this concludes my introduction.  I expect the game’s tomorrow to be quite the adventure.

Chapter 1: Ponyville's Darkest Day, Ponyville's Brightest Night

As I resume the game this time, I find my character in a basement setting, in fact the same basement where, in the first game, Pinkie Pie killed some of her friends and a certain griffin, and baked their meat into cupcakes.  And, in the second game, the one I’m still playing, Pinkie Pie only killed that griffon, Gilda, and baked her meat into cupcakes, before I diverted her from that destructive course and onto the one that, so far, has lead to her earning her wings.  But, this time, it’s a different earth pony, and a familiar-looking pegasa.

The earth mare, somewhat dark, electric pink in color with curly mane and tail of slightyly-reddish-purple with white highlights, as well as a cutie mark of a screw and a baseball, I recognize as being identified as Screwball, or Topsy Turvy.  And the pegasa, gray with pale-yellow mane and tail and the familiar cutie mark of seven bubbles, I remember giving the nickname Ataahua; but she’s also known, from what I’ve seen and heard, as Derpy Hooves, Ditsy Doo, or Muffins.  For my purposes, though, I’ll continue to call the gray pegasa Ataahua.  And, the earth mare I’ll call Topsy Turvy.

At any rate, I can see that it’s Topsy Turvy who’s bound to the cement bed against the wall, while Ataahua is poking a front hoof at sharp blades on a medical table.  Somehow, I can tell that Ataahua is uncertain which of these blades she wants to use, or even if she wants to use any of them.

My character moves his focus to Topsy Turvy as I hear her say, “Hurry it up, Derpy.  We don’t have all night.”

My sense of Ataahua’s unwillingness is confirmed when she turns to Topsy Turvy and whimpers, “But, I don’t know if I even wanna do this.  After all, we’re friends.  How can I kill a friend?”

Topsy Turvy emits a groaning sigh, then says, “Look, Derpy.  You’ve already got me chained to the wall here.  There’s really no way for me to fight back, even if I wanted to.  And, you agreed to be the one to do this for me.”  After a momentary pause, the earth mare continues, “If I’m going to get my father out of that statue, I need somepony to sacrifice me, and you are the only one I can count on.  So, either choose a knife and use it on me, or I just starve to death here.”

Ataahua inhales deeply, then lets the breath out slowly, then fumbles for a moment with a knife with a long blade that tapers to a point at the end of it.  Putting the knife in her mouth, sharp blade outward, she turns away from the table before putting both front hooves on the ground.  She then takes a few steps before stumbling and falling, releasing the knife.  As it clatters to a stop almost directly under Topsy Turvy, Ataahua whimpers, “Uh, my bad.”

The chained earth mare groans, then says, “Hold the knife in your hooves, then use your wings to fly into me.”

Halfheartedly, Ataahua says, “Oh, right.  Why didn’t I think of that?”  And, after gathering the knife in her front hooves, she uses her wings to hover up to Topsy Turvy’s position.

At this point, my character’s perspective turns to a side view, where I can see, through his eyes, Topsy Turvy on the right, and Ataahua on the left.  And, the knife Ataahua is holding is too close to the chained earth mare to really cause much more than a small cut.

Topsy Turvy notices this, and says, “No, Derpy, you’re too close.  You need to back up to the other wall, then fly at me as fast as you can, holding the knife.  That should give you enough speed so you can kill me.”

For a moment Ataahua looks down at the knife she’s holding.  Then she looks back up at the chained earth mare and stammers, “B-b-but, …”

Before the gray pegasa can continue her protest, Topsy Turvy screams, “Just do it!”  And, afterward, she glares at Ataahua, growling under her breath, with each breath.

The gray pegasa sighs, then turns away from Topsy Turvy and slowly flies to the other wall.  When she gets there and turns around again, she whimpers, “I’m so sorry, Topsy,” then points the knife and flies as fast as she can toward the chained earth mare.

And, for those last few seconds before the dream ends, my character’s perspective suddenly shifts so that he’s in the path of the knife, most likely in the position of Topsy Turvy’s chest.

My character wakes up and immediately sits up in his bed.  And, a second or two later, I hear a knock at his bedroom door.

As was indicated by the title of the first sub-chapter, what I was seeing was just a dream sequence.

In the mean time, I hear Pinkie Pie’s voice call out, “Mormon, we need to get to that basement, now!”

I have my character rise from his bed and go to his bedroom door and open it, just in time to see Pinkie Pie stop backing away from it toward the kitchen as her front legs stop vibrating.

Seeing my character at the door, she frowns up at him and says, “You had the same dream I did, didn’t you?”

I ask, “The dream of Ataahua killing a pink earth pony with spiral eyes?”  Then, when Pinkie nods back, I answer, “Yes, I did.  And, you’re right.  We need to get to that factory and into that basement as soon as we can.”

Presently, Pinkie Pie jumps in place and makes a hundred-eighty-degree turn in mid-air.  When she lands, she turns back to my character and says, “Then, let’s get going.  If we hurry, we can make it there in an hour and hopefully stop Ataahua before she can kill Topsy Turvy.”

I nod and say, “Agreed.”  Then, as Pinkie makes her way to the kitchen, I ask, “So, do you think we need to take anything with us for on the way there?”

Pinkie turns to my character and shakes her head as she answers, “No, I don’t think so.”  She then stops shaking her head as she continues, “We just need to get over there as soon as possible.  As long as we’re there in time to stop Ataahua from committing murder, and Topsy Turvy from being murdered, that’s all we really need.”  She then turns to the kitchen, to the door connecting it to the front room, and says, “Enough chit chat.  Time to save a couple lives.”

And, my character, after leaving his room and closing the door behind him, follows after the pink angel pony as she makes her way to, then out, the front door.  And, he closes doors behind him and Pinkie Pie.  And, from there to and through the front gate, where my character closes it behind him, the human and the angel pony say no more as they make their way through the Everfree forest, then to and through Ponyville, and finally to the factory where Pinkie Pie had, in this game, only killed a griffon to offer to my character.

As the human and the earth pony make their way to the doorway of the basement in the factory, I hear Pinkie say, “I should’ve had this place buried or something, so it could never be used again.”

I respond, as my character opens the doorway, “I understand how you feel.  But, now isn’t the time for wishing for such things.  We can worry about that later.”

The pink earth pony sighs, then says, “You’re right.  Right now, we need to save some pony lives.”  And, she follows my character into the basement.

As my character opens the door, I see, as I saw in the dream sequence, Topsy Turvy chained to the cement bed against the wall, limbs spread outward, facing the doorway, with Ataahua sprawled out under her, evidently having tripped on her own hooves.

Seeing the evident intruders at the door, Topsy Turvy growls, “I can’t believe this!”  And, she slams the back of her head against the cement bed behind her as she speaks the last syllable of the word “believe,” adding extra emphasis to that word.

As I input the instructions, I say, “Pinkie Pie, you go get Topsy Turvy down from that cement slab.  I’ll take care of Ataahua.”

And, once I press Enter, my character proceeds to approach the gray pegasa and pushes the knife away from her, then picks her up and carries her to the door.

As my character picks her up, the gray pegasa grabs him, as much with her wings as with her forelimbs, and bawls out, “Oh, human, what was I gonna do?  I didn’t wanna do it!”

I then hear, as Ataahua continues sobbing, Topsy Turvy growl, “You keep away from me, you crazy horse!  Me and Derpy aren’t finished here yet!”

My character turns and focuses on the electric-pink earth mare, and, as Pinkie frees her, I respond, “Yes, you are.”

Topsy Turvy continues to protest, “But, Derpy hasn’t killed me yet!”

I add, “And, she’s not going to, either.”

Topsy Turvy, who by now is hanging by her right front hoof as Pinkie works to hold her and free that hoof at the same time, groans, “But, if somepony doesn’t kill me, then my daddy can’t be freed from his statue.”

I keep my character in front of the doorway as I state, “Trust me, your father, Discord, doesn’t need your help to free himself.”

The pink earth mare, at this point free from the chains, gasps and asks, “How do you know about him, and how do you know he won’t need my help?”

I answer, “You’ll have to trust me on the matter of Discord not needing your help.  And, as for me knowing about him, well, …”

Before I can finish my statement, Pinkie says, “Mormon has a good source for his information.”  She then holds on to Topsy Turvy as she adds, “Now, let’s get back to Mormon’s house.  We’ll figure out what to do about this basement when we get there.”

As Pinkie, with the help of Diane and her wings, carries Topsy Turvy out of the basement, my character, ahead of her, carries a still-sobbing Ataahua out.  Then, at the doorway, my character sets Ataahua down; Pinkie Pie restrains a still-battling Topsy Turvy; and my character then proceeds to close the door to the basement, then, after ascending the stairs again, the cellar door.

After that, seeing that her plans have evidently failed, Topsy Turvy stops fighting and emits a frustrated groan.  Shoving herself away from Pinkie Pie, she falls, then rises to a human-style sitting position, folds her forelimbs in front of her, and says, “Well, I hope you’re happy now, human.  Now my daddy’ll never be free from his statue.”  Then, she unfolds her forelimbs and stretches them out, collapses forward into a sphinx-style position, buries her face in between her forelimbs, and starts sobbing.

I have my character turn to Pinkie Pie, and I say, “Maybe I should carry Topsy Turvy home.  Do you think you’ll be alright with Ataahua?”

I hear the gray pegasa answer, “I’ll be fine.”  As my character turns to her, she continues, “I was only gonna kill Topsy because she wanted me to.  But, now that I don’t need to, now that I can’t, I’ll be fine to walk on my own.  Thank you, human, uh, Mormon?”

I have my character reach out and stroke the gray pegasa’s blonde mane, and I say, “I’m glad I could be of service.”  I then have my character move toward and pick up Topsy Turvy, and I conclude, “Now, let’s get out of here.  We have a long walk to get back to my home.”  And, in spite of the earth mare’s protests, as much in action as in word, my character still manages to easily pick her up and hold her in his arms.

By the time the group gets back to my character’s house, it’s half past two, at least according to the time indicator on the bottom left corner of the screen.  And, it seems that Topsy Turvy has fallen asleep in my character’s arms.

Pinkie Pie opens the gate for my character and Ataahua, who enter.  And, behind my character, the last to enter, Pinkie, closes the gate again.

My character then takes the lead to the porch and front door, which he opens to allow the ponies to enter before he follows them in and closes the door behind him.

And, it seems that the sound effect of the door closing wakes up Topsy Turvy, who looks around and asks, “Huh, what?  Where am I?”

I have my character walk to the couch closest to the kitchen, then put the pink earth mare down on it, before finding a place for himself next to her, about the middle of the couch.

Topsy Turvy, in the mean time, looks down at her hooves to see where she’s been placed, then looks up again and follows my character with her eyes to where he sits down.  When he’s settled down, she asks, “Why?  Why did you bring me here?”

I answer, “I figure I can keep a better eye on you and Ataahua here, where I live.”

Then, Pinkie asks, “So, now that they’re here, what’re we gonna do?”

A little more slowly, I answer, “Maybe we should let the princesses know what almost happened, and that these two are going to be staying with us for a while.”

Now, before I continue with this story, let me just say that I don’t need to be reminded of Topsy Turvy’s Archimedean-spiral eyes.  I can see them clearly as she focuses on me.  The fact of the matter is I’m finding them her most interesting feature.

In the mean time, the pink earth mare asks, “But, what about me being killed?  How am I gonna free my daddy?”

I answer, “Like I said, he won’t need you getting yourself killed in order for him to be free.”  I then have my character turn to Pinkie Pie, and I ask, “Will you go get Weed Whacker from Lyra’s room?”

The pink angel pony nods in agreement, then disappears behind the couch.  A moment later, I hear the kitchen door open and close.

In the mean time, Topsy Turvy says, “So, I’m your prisoner now?”

My character focuses on the pink earth mare, and I answer, “This isn’t a prison, it’s my home.”

Topsy Turvy folds her front hooves in front of her and groans, “And, I’m one of your pets, I suppose.”

I answer, “If you want me to adopt you, then I’d be honored.”

Topsy Turvy says, “I said pet, not daughter.  Besides, you’ve already got plenty to take care of already.  You don’t need me here.”  And, with that, she proceeds to position herself to attempt a jump off of the couch.

That is, until Ataahua positions herself where Topsy Turvy had evidently been preparing to land.  As soon as the pink earth mare shows her gray pegasa friend that her plan to leave has been foiled, Ataahua asks, “Now, why not stay?  You know I didn’t want to kill you, whether in that basement or anywhere else.  And, I don’t want anypony else to kill you either.”

At this statement from the gray pegasa, Topsy Turvy just sits there, human-style on the couch, and growls.

And, that’s when the door to the kitchen opens again, and I hear Pinkie Pie say, “I’ve got Weed Whacker here on my back.”

As my character turns to the angel pony, I can see, through his eyes, the herbivorous dinosaur sitting half-asleep on her back, clipboard and scroll in one hand, writing stick in the other.

Weed Whacker yawns and stretches, then says, “So, Mormon, what do you want?”

I answer, “I need to write a letter, and I need you to send it to the princesses as soon as possible.”

This causes the herbivorous dinosaur to wake up completely, or at least it appears that way, after which she hands my character the items, saying, “Well, alright.  Here’s what you need.  When we’re finished, can I go back to bed?”

As my character takes the items from her, I answer, “Sure, no problem.  Just give me a moment to write the letter, then you can send it off.”  I then dictate, as my character writes, “To Princesses Celestia and Luna,

“I just rescued two ponies, a pink earth mare named Topsy Turvy, and a gray pegasa named Derpy Hooves, from getting themselves in trouble.  Topsy Turvy was going to have Derpy Hooves kill her in order to free her father, Discord, from his statue.

“I would be honored to take care of the two of them, if you will agree to it.  I have plenty of room for the two of them.

“Signed, Mormon.”

Automatically, my character rolls up the scroll and hands it to Weed Whacker, who bites down on it to send it off.

The herbivorous dinosaur then falls off of Pinkie’s back, then stumbles through the kitchen door, evidently on her way back to the bedroom she and Lyra share.

In the mean time, I hear Ataahua say, “So, I guess that means Turvy and I are gonna be living here with you for a while?”

I answer, as my character’s attention turns to the gray pegasa, “If the princesses agree to it.”

A second later, there’s a sudden, loud sniffle from Topsy Turvy.  As my character turns his attention to her, the pink earth pony whimpers, “I just wanted my daddy to be free.  I just wanted to be with him again.  I always wanted that, since the princesses imprisoned him in that statue, until now!”  She sobs before continuing, “Now I’m gonna be stuck here in this house with a human.  I can’t face my father like this.  I don’t want him to see me here, this way.”  And, she continues to sob.

It’s approximately at three o’clock that I hear a knock at the front door, a sound that startles the still-sobbing Topsy Turvy.

Presently, Pinkie Pie makes her way to the door to open it.  And, as soon as she does, I can see that the two sister princesses, Celestia and Luna, are there.

I don’t have my character move from his seat; I just way, “Come on in, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna.”

The daytime princess, the first to enter, nods her head, as much in respect, I suppose, as to point her horn ahead of her so she can enter without hurting it.  And, as her sister follows her in, she says, “We got your letter.  You say you have Discord’s daughter here, and she was going to have Derpy Hooves kill her?”

I answer, “That’s right.”

Presently, Topsy Turvy, looking up and seeing the daytime princess, back-pedals over my character’s lap and says, “Keep away from me.  You’ve already got my daddy.  Don’t trap me away in a statue, too.”

The white alicorn looks at the alarmed earth pony, then at my character, and says, “You were able to keep Discord’s daughter from getting herself killed, so I see no reason why you shouldn’t have custody of her.”  She then turns to the gray pegasa, then back to my character again, as she adds, “And, as for Derpy Hooves, you kept her from killing another pony.  I see no reason why you shouldn’t take care of her as well.”  She then turns to the gray pegasa again and asks, “Is that alright with you?”

Ataahua looks down and says, “It’s because of Mormon that I didn’t kill anypony.  I suppose that means I owe him my freedom, at least.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pay him back for that, but I suppose I can try.”  She then looks up at Princess Celestia and says, “Because I owe so much to Mormon, yes, I’ll happily live with him.”

The white princess nods to Ataahua and says, “Good.”  She then turns to Topsy Turvy and says, “And, as for you, I can’t allow you to turn any of my little ponies into murderers.  And, since Mormon has volunteered to take care of you, and seeing how well he’s taken care of Pinkie Pie and Lyra, I see no better course of action than to deliver custody of you over to him.”  She then nods to Princess Luna as she concludes, “My sister and I will return to the castle to take care of the documentation.”

Then, the nighttime princess steps forward and asks, “Now, what’s this about Discord?”

I have my character grab and hold onto the pink earth mare as she struggles, and I answer, “Topsy Turvy, here, was going to get herself killed to free her father, Discord, from being a statue.  I was able to stop Derpy from Killing Topsy Turvy, but I suspect there’s still a good chance that he’s going to be freed.”  I then ask, “Uh, by the way, is there a field trip planned for foals for your garden in Canterlot today?”

Princess Luna answers, “There is.  Why do you ask?”

I answer, “You may want to keep an eye on the foals in that class, particularly Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.”

The two sisters turn and look at each other, then turn back to my character; and Princess Celestia asks, “Why?  Do you think they will cause problems?”

I answer, “I’m guessing they’re on the train to Canterlot right now.  And, if they are, and if they’ve been deprived of sleep, then they’re likely to be cranky when they arrive.”

Presently, the two sister alicorns turn to each other again.  If the expression I can see, through my character’s eyes, on Luna’s face, is any indication, then I don’t need to say anymore; they already know what I mean.

Finally, the two turn back to my character; and Princess Celestia says, “Very well  I will handle the records for you taking care of Derpy Hooves and Topsy Turvy, and Princess Luna will join forces with Cheerilee to take care of the foals from Ponyville.”

The daytime princess turns to leave, but the nighttime princess remains in her place.

I ask, “Is there anything else?”

Princess Luna nods, then asks, “How did you know that Topsy Turvy was going to make Derpy Hooves try to kill her?”

I answer, “I saw it in a dream.”

The nighttime princess rubs her chin with a front limb joint as she says, “That is strange.  I knew nothing of this, so I could not have sent you such a dream.”

Princess Celestia turns back to her and says, “We can explore the mystery later.  Right now, we need to return to Canterlot.”

Princess Luna turns and nods to her big sister and says, “Agreed.”  She then turns back to my character and says, “When we have time, we shall try to solve this mystery.  Until then, farewell.”  And, with that, the daytime princess nods her head and closes her eyes, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.  A second later, the two princesses disappear.

With the two sister alicorns gone, Topsy Turvy stops struggling in my character’s arms.  She looks up at my character and says, “Well, I hope you’re happy now.”  She then looks down and adds, “I just hope daddy doesn’t break out of his statue any time soon now.  I don’t want him to see me like this.”

Pinkie Pie, in the mean time, approaches the couch where my character and Topsy Turvy are.  After propping herself up on the arm of the couch, she says, “Well, now I don’t know who could’ve sent us that dream.”

I respond, “Yeah, I suppose we'll find out later today who sent us that dream.”

For the rest of the hour, Pinkie Pie volunteers and gives the new arrivals a tour of my character’s house, and even offers them each an empty room where they can stay.

Topsy Turvy agrees to occupy the room closest to the kitchen, the one first occupied by Octavia and Vinyl, then by Berry Punch and Carrot Top.

Ataahua occupies the room at the end of the hallway connected to the front room, the bedroom that Rarity occupied for one night.

With arrangements set up for the two ponies, they return to the couches, where my character and Topsy Turvy occupy the couch closest to the kitchen, and Pinkie Pie and Ataahua occupy the couch closest to the front door.

There, Ataahua turns to the pink angel pony and asks, “So, Pinkie, you have wings now?”

Diane stretches her wings out as Pinkamena smiles and answers, “That’s right.  Mormon helped me earn them.”

The gray pegasa hums eagerly, then asks, “Do you think he could help me earn my horn?”

Pinkie Pie responds first by humming as well, although uncertainly, then says, “You know, I think he would.”  She then turns to my character, to me, and asks, “So, Mormon, what do you think?  Do you want to help Der—uh, Ataahua, earn her horn?”

I shrug and smile and answer, “I’d be happy to help any way I can.  Although, there’s another pony in Ponyville that has wings and a horn.  The only thing he’s missing is earth pony powers.  And, he agreed to be known as an alicorn second-class.”  I then turn to the gray pegasa as I conclude, “And, Ataahua, that’s what you’d be if you earned your horn without earning earth pony abilities.”

Presently, Ataahua opens her wings and flaps them, rising above the couch and hovering approximately above Pinkie’s back in the air.

But, before the gray pegasa can say anything, Topsy Turvy asks, “So, what does this name, Ataahua, mean?”

I answer, “It’s a Maori word.  It means ‘beautiful.’”

Topsy Turvy looks up at the hovering gray pegasa, grunts with interest, then turns back to my character and says, “If you don’t pay attention to her eyes, you’re right, she is physically attractive.  It’s only her eyes that aren’t that way.”  She then tilts her head as she asks, “So, what about me?  My eyes are spiraled.  Do you think I look pretty if you don’t look at my eyes?”

I answer, “Well, to be completely honest with you, it’s your eyes I find most interesting.  And, it’s the same with Ataahua.  No other pony that I’ve seen has eyes like Ataahua has, eyes that don’t align normally.  Nor has there been another pony that I’ve seen that has spiral irises like yours.”

Just then, Pinkie draws my attention to the gray pegasa by saying, “Uh, Mormon, I think Ataahua has something she wants to say to you.”

As my character’s attention falls on Ataahua, she turns to Pinkie and says, “Thank you.”  She then turns back to my character and says, “It’s just that, well, I’ve wanted to be like the princesses all of my life.  I thought that, maybe if I got a horn, other ponies would respect me then.”

I smile and nod as I say, “It’s nice that you want to be respected.  Just as long as you realize that you might not get that respect just by having both wings and a horn.  I, for instance, have earned ponies’ respect, even though I don’t have wings or a horn.  I have, though, made a positive contribution, or so I hope, to the lives of ponies that I’ve met.  If you want to be respected, then I’m sure I can help you with that.  If you want to earn your horn, then I’m sure I can help you with that, too.  Just, be prepared for the possibility that being an alicorn and being respected may not be so closely associated in the minds of the ponies around you, alright?”

At my short speech, Ataahua settles back down on the couch, and folds her wings.  She then looks down at the coffee table, or so it appears from the perspective of my character, and says, “Oh, alright.”  She then looks up at my character and says, “I would like to be respected, like they are.  But, that's not why I want a horn.  I want a horn so I can show how much I respect them.  So, will you still help me?”

I answer, “I’d be happy to.”

Ataahua smiles, and I can see her eyes start to close, as she says, “Good.”  She then yawns before saying, “I need to get some sleep.  May I go to my room now?”

I smile as I say, “Sure, go on ahead.”

Ataahua’s only response after that is to jump, wings spread out to assist her, over Pinkie Pie, and land on the ground just past the arm of the couch, then fold her wings again and make her way through the hallway to one of the bedrooms at the end.

My character then looks down, after seeing the door to that bedroom close, and shows me that Topsy Turvy has fallen asleep in his lap.

As I focus my character’s attention on Pinkie Pie, I say, “Maybe I should put Topsy Turvy to bed as well, then we can go and gather fruit from the orchard for breakfast.”

Pinkie Pie nods and says, “Good idea.  We need to get an early start and be in Ponyville when Discord breaks out of his statue and starts causing chaos everywhere.”

I nod in agreement, then direct my character to carry the pink earth pony to the room she chose, putting her on the bed and covering her up.  I then direct him back out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him, then to the front door so he and Pinkie can head out to the orchard to gather fruits for breakfast.

Being that the pink angel pony and the human are the first ones out the door, it doesn’t surprise me to see Weed Whacker absent from the vegetable garden, and Lyra absent from the vineyard.

Pinkie harvests apples while my character harvests pears, peaches, and a few other fruits.

The human and pony then go back inside to clean and prepare the fruits for eating, as soon as Lyra and Weed Whacker are up and ready.  Speaking of which, …

Not long after the start of the new hour, in fact, while Pinkie and my character are drying the fruits they harvested, I hear the door to Lyra’s and Weed Whacker’s bedroom open.  Or so I gather, since Pinkie and my character are already awake.

A few seconds later, I hear Lyra say, “Oh, Mormon, Pinkie Pie, you’re awake already.”

As my character’s attention is drawn to the pale-green unicorn, I hear Weed Whacker add, “And, it looks like you’ve harvested fruits already, too.”

While my character searches for the herbivorous dinosaur, I respond, “Pinkie and I have already been out to the orchard.  You two just need to go out to the vineyard and vegetable garden.”

My character, unable to see Weed Whacker after searching for a few more seconds, turns his focus back to Lyra.

In the mean time, the pale-green unicorn tilts her head and asks, “So, why are you two up so early?”

Pinkie answers, “Mormon and I had to rescue a couple ponies that were in trouble.”

Lyra, hearing Pinkie’s answer, gasps, touches her chin with a front hoof, and straightens her head again, making it look like she’d used her hoof to straighten her head.  She then says, “Well, I hope they’re alright.”

I reply, “They’re just fine.”  Then, after a strategic pause, I add, “Oh, and that reminds me.  Lyra, Weed Whacker, you’re going to have to stay home this time.  I need you here to take care of a couple of new arrivals.”

Again Lyra tilts her head, then asks, “New arrivals?  What new arrivals?”

I answer, “One is in the room where Octavia and Vinyl stayed while they were here, and the other is in the room where Rarity spent the night after her failed fashion show.”

Pinkie Pie adds, “The pony in Vinyl and Octavia’s room is Topsy Turvy.  The pony in Rarity’s room is Derpy Hooves.”

Lyra uses the still-raised front hoof to scratch her chin as she says, “I’ve had visits from Derpy Hooves, but I’m not familiar with Topsy Turvy.”  She then puts the front hoof down again as she asks, “So, what happened?  Why are they here?”

I answer, “It’s kind of a long story.  Suffice it to say they’re going to be staying with me, with us, for a while; and for the time being, likely the first couple of days, they’re going to have to stay here.”

Encouragingly, Lyra adds, “And, that means, …”

I conclude,  "It means that today and tomorrow, you and Weed Whacker are going to have to stay here to help them acclimate to living here.  After that, well, we’ll see how things work out.”

The pale-green unicorn asks, “But, you’ll still be here for breakfast, isn’t that right?”

Pinkie answers, “We need to get to Ponyville as soon as possible.  We’ll have breakfast here, but we need to leave as soon as we can.  As long as we can get to Ponyville before the chocolate rain starts, we should be fine.”

Lyra demonstrates the increase in her confusion as she asks, “Uh, excuse me, but, chocolate rain?”

Just then, I hear Weed Whacker say, “Let’s just get to harvesting the rest of breakfast, Lyra.  We can figure out what Pinkie said later.”

At this point, my character demonstrates he can finally find the herbivorous dinosaur at the kitchen door, ready to open it for herself and Lyra so they can go out to the vegetable garden and the vineyard to harvest fruits and vegetables from there.

As my character and Pinkie Pie watch the unicorn and the dinosaur leave the room, I hear a sigh from the pink angel pony.

As my character focuses on her, she says, “They probably think it’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.”

I respond, “We can’t worry about that right now.  Let’s have our breakfast.  Then, after we clean up, we’ll head out to Ponyville.”

I notice that, for the moment, Pinkie Pie’s mane seems to melt slightly, and her color darkens just as slightly.  Then, the curliness in her mane returns, as does her color; and, smiling, she says, “You’re right, Mormon.  Let’s eat now.  My friends need me back in Ponyville.”

In agreement, the pony and the human eat their share of the fruits from the orchard; then, leaving the rest of the whole fruits for the three other ponies and the dinosaur living there, they clean up the parts of the fruits they didn’t eat, then start to head out from the kitchen to the front door.

On the way out of the house, the two run into Lyra and Weed Whacker, who are coming back in from harvesting in the vineyard and vegetable garden.

The four say their farewells, and my character and Pinkie Pie leave through the front gate, and head into the Everfree forest on their way to Ponyville.

As the human and the angel pony emerge from the Everfree forest, I have my character look up into the sky.  I find it fortunate that there appear to be no pink clouds drifting above town.  So, I say, “Well, we seem to be lucky so far.  No cotton candy clouds.”

I hear Pinkie Pie reply, “I guess you’re right.  Although, it’d be so cool to see pink clouds floating around, raining chocolate milk everywhere.”

At that announcement from the pink angel pony, my character’s attention focuses on her.

Presently, Pinkie Pie lowers her head, reminding me of Fluttershy, and giggles nervously and says, “Uh, sorry, Mormon.”  She then perks up again and says, “Let’s go to the library.  We need to let Twilight know what’s going to happen.”

As the pink party pony proceeds toward town, and my character follows her, I say, under my breath, “My thoughts exactly.”

A few minutes later, at the door of the library, Pinkie head-butts the door open, then steps inside, calling out, “Twily, are you in here?  We need your help!  There’s a disaster coming, and …”

At the same time Pinkie Pie trails off, I hear Twilight’s voice, from somewhere in the library, say, “I already know about it.  I just got a letter from Princess Celestia.”

At this announcement my character freezes.

I watch as Pinkie Pie backs out of the doorway of the library, lead, I suppose, by Twilight Sparkle marching and intruding on the pink angel pony’s personal space.

The purple unicorn looks up at my character and says, “Hi, Mormon.”

I greet her in return, then ask, “So, I hear you got word from Princess Celestia?”

Twilight answers, “I did, and I need your and Pinkie’s help to get everypony together.  We’ll meet at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack.”

Together, Pinkie and I say, “Agreed.”

Then, Pinkie asks, “So, who should I contact?”

Without hesitating, Twilight answers, “Fluttershy’s cottage is en route to Mormon’s house, so you go get her.  And, Pinkie, since you have wings now, you can go and get Rainbow Dash as well.  I’ll go get Rarity.”

Pinkie gives the purple unicorn a soldier’s salute and says, “Yes, sir.”  She then does a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in her place and starts her march out of Ponyville.

I have my character allow the pink angel pony to pass my character before allowing him to follow her, then I say, “So, I’m guessing the plan is to get Fluttershy first, and then Rainbow Dash?”

Presently, Pinkie stops her march and turns to my character.  When he stops not far behind her, she sighs and says, “Diane’s lesson with Fluttershy yesterday went well, but I’m not sure we’re ready for a flight up to Dashy’s house.  I think Fluttershy has a better chance of making it up there.”

I nod and say, “So, let’s go visit Fluttershy first.”

The pink angel pony only responds by nodding and saying, “Agreed,” before turning ahead of herself again and resuming her march out of Ponyville.

A few minutes later, the human and the angel pony are crossing the bridge, heading toward Fluttershy’s cottage.  And, a few seconds after that, Pinkie’s knocking at Fluttershy’s front door.

It takes just a second before the door opens, revealing Angel first and foremost.

Pinkie looks down at the white rabbit and asks, “Hi, Angel, where is Fluttershy?  We need her.”

The rabbit snorts, then waves to the two visitors to follow him.

As my character proceeds to close the door behind him, I hear Fluttershy’s voice, from in the kitchen, say, “Oh, Pinkie Pie, Mormon, I wasn’t expecting you here.”

As my character turns to follow the pink party pony into Fluttershy’s kitchen, I hear Pinkie say, “We came to get you.  We’re all needed at Sweet Apple Acres right now.”

As soon as my character enters the kitchen, and shows me, through his eyes, the yellow pegasa, I find myself surprised to see her wearing a robe.  And, a pink one with fuzzy, white borders at that.

Fluttershy asks, “Well, have you contacted Rainbow Dash yet?”

In a sheepish tone, which I find surprising, Pinkie Pie answers, “Well, I’m not sure I’m ready for that kind of flight yet.  I figured I could contact you, and then you’d contact Dashy.”

Judging from the contents of her bowl, I’m guessing Fluttershy was just starting her breakfast. But, she pushes the bowl aside as she focuses on her pink angel pony friend and says, “Well, let’s make this your next lesson.  We’ll fly up to Rainbow Dash’s house together and let her know what’s going on.”

I get the feeling that Pinkie Pie’s nervous as she simply nods in agreement.  And, in the mean time, my character is forced to back away from the doorway between the kitchen and the front room to allow Pinkie and Fluttershy to pass.

And, as she passes her staircase, Fluttershy removes her robe and tosses it on the banister.  As orderly as her house is, it’s evident to me that the yellow pegasa can tell when urgency takes precedence over tidiness.

Outside, the trio crosses the bridge before Fluttershy takes a position ahead of Pinkie Pie and opens her wings.  Turning to Pinkie Pie, she says, “Now, just do as I do, and we’ll be flying to Rainbow Dash’s house before you know it.”

I sense some uncertainty in the pink angel pony that lasts for only a few seconds.  Then, something, first in her posture, then in her voice, suggests to me resolution as she straightens up and says, “Yes, sir.”  And, she, that is Diane, opens her own wings.

Presently, Fluttershy jumps as high as she can, then starts flapping her wings, gaining altitude as she flaps.

Pinkie follows the yellow pegasa’s example, jumping into the air, then flapping her wings.  She seems to require at least twice the effort to keep in the air, but she manages to gain altitude.  But, before she decides to go any further, she turns to my character and asks, “But, what about Mormon?”

I call back, “You two go on ahead!  I’ll meet up with you at Sweet Apple Acres!”

Pinkie sighs and, I think, says under her breath, “Thanks, Mormon.”

The two ponies then wave goodbye to my character and fly off, Pinkie Pie evidently following Fluttershy, up to Rainbow Dash’s home.

With nothing else in the plans, my character proceeds back out of the Everfree forest, then on towards the Apples’ orchard.

It’s about the time I see, through my character’s eyes, a very orderly apple tree forest that I also notice a pink cloud dart past him.

The cloud then demonstrates an unusually high level of intelligence by stopping, turning to my character, and flying toward him.  Like a dog it sniffs at his shirt, then rises and drifts over his head, then proceeds to drip chocolate milk on him.

At this point, it’s clear to me that Discord is free from his statue.

My character continues his walk toward the gate of the Apples’ property, with the pink cloud still raining chocolate milk on him.

That is, until I hear Rainbow Dash’s voice say, “Oh, no you don’t.”

But, the intelligent pink cloud proves it can hear her, as it stops raining on my character and proceeds to fly off ahead of him, the rainbow-haired pegasa in hot pursuit behind it.

I call out after her, “You’d better be careful with this one!  It’s …”

But, it’s clear my warning comes too late, as the azure pegasa plunges into the cloud, and sticks to its insides.

Rainbow Dash, struggling to free herself from the menace, groans in disgust, “What is this?”  She manages to shake most of it off of her, then tastes a strand of it connecting one front leg to the corresponding back leg.  Then, in surprise, she asks, “Cotton candy?”

As more of the pink clouds dart in three-dimensional, zig-zagging paths around the pegasa and human, I decide to say, “It’s kind of a long story.  Right now, we need to meet up with Twilight and the rest of your friends.”

At first Rainbow Dash says, “Right.”  Then she lands and, approaching me, asks, “Just one question.  How do I get this cotton candy stuff off of me?”

Behind her, I see one of the pink clouds approaching.  I answer, “I think one of our friends may know.”

The azure pegasa grunts in curiosity and confusion as she turns around, just in time to see the pink cloud I saw take a position over her.  She then growls, threateningly, “You wouldn’t.”

But, in spite of her evident warning, the cloud proceeds to rain chocolate milk on her.

Rainbow Dash then looks at my character with an expression of mixed anger and defeat.  But, I have no doubt that her next two words are directed at the pink cloud raining chocolate milk on her:  “You did.”

The good news, on the other hand, is that the rain of chocolate milk is doing a good job of rinsing the cotton candy out of Rainbow Dash’s fur, mane, tail, and feathers.  All that’s left is the little spot of cotton candy on her nose, which she begrudgingly licks off.

With the azure pegasa at his side, my character continues his walk into Sweet Apple Acres, then to the corn field, where I see Applejack harvesting the cobs.

Presently, Rainbow Dash flies off again, heading toward a group of pink clouds, as she says, “Hold it right there!  I didn’t tell you to …!”  And, whatever she says after that is lost to me, as she chases after the clouds one-at-a-time.

But, her attempts prove completely futile, as the pink clouds team up and rain down on the orange earth mare.

Applejack glares up at the azure pegasa and calls out, “Rainbow Dash, what’s up with this here rain?  Ah mean, chocolate milk?  Ah mean, chocolate milk rain?”

Rainbow Dash answers, “I’d like to know that myself.  There’s crazy weather all over Equestria.”  Then, after a pause, she continues, “All I know is Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy came and got me outta bed so we could meet up with you, Twilight, and Rarity here at Sweet Apple Acres.  And, Mormon’s here, too.”

I can only think it must be coincidence that the kernels of corn start exploding from their cobs at the same time my character takes his first step into the corn field.

And, that’s when Applejack turns and sees him.  She waves to him and calls out, “Well, howdy, Mormon!”

I have my character wave back, and I reply, “Hi, Applejack.”  Then, as my character approaches her, I add, “So, I’m guessing the other four haven't gotten here yet.”

Behind my character, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Well, we’re here at least.”  As my character turns his focus on the pink angel pony, she asks, “So, where are Rarity and Twily?”

From my character’s left, not far behind Pinkie and Fluttershy, I hear Twilight answer, “We’re right over here!”

Then, before anyone else can say anything, I hear Rainbow Dash say, “Not to worry.  I’ll have this weather under control in a jiffy.”

Under my breath, I say, “Something tells me that’s gonna be easier said than done.”

Presently, again from behind my character, I hear Pinkie call out, “Why would you wanna stop this anyway?”  And, my character turns to see the pink angel pony swimming through the popped kernels, jumping over and diving back into the piles like a dolphin, and humming with delight as she chomps down on mouthfuls of chocolate-covered popcorn.

Then, Rarity approaches Applejack, who by now is buried up to her chin in the popcorn, and asks, “Is there anything I can do?  You know, as long as I don’t have to get wet.  Or, dirty.  Or, out from under my umbrella.”

It’s clear to me that Rarity was only asking to be polite, and really wasn’t planning on doing anything to help.  She’d be more subtle, and look better, in my opinion, if she didn’t add on those stipulations.

In the mean time, the apples in the trees enlarge, causing the trees to bend under their weight.

Then, various rodents climb the trees and start eating the apples.

After a warning from Applejack, Fluttershy, starting with her rabbit pet Angel, pleads with the creatures to leave the trees.  That is, until Angel’s legs grow until they remind me more of those of a giraffe.

A shocked Fluttershy, watching Angel and other rabbits running around on giraffe legs, says, “No, this isn’t possible.  I must be seeing things.”

I state, “Well, then, we’re all seeing the same things.”

I happen, at that point, to notice Twilight behind Fluttershy.

The purple unicorn says, evidently while reading a book, “Don’t worry, everypony.  I’ve learned a new spell that’ll fix everything.”  And, she lowers her head to concentrate, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.

I’m likely the only one that isn’t surprised when the beam the purple unicorn fires from her horn ends up doing nothing except creating a brilliant display.

A stunned Twilight stands there for a moment and says, “My fail-safe plan … failed.”  She then turns to Spike and asks, “What do we do?”

Spike suggests, “Uh, give up?”

Rarity approaches the purple unicorn and her assistant.  But, before she can say anything, Princess Luna appears directly in front of Twilight, startling both unicorns and the hatchling dragon.

The nighttime princess says, “Twilight, you and your friends are needed at the castle immediately.”

Twilight takes a moment to regain her composure before asking, “Princess Luna, do you and Princess Celestia know what’s going on?”

The nighttime alicorn answers, “Thanks to Mormon, yes we do.  But, we cannot discuss it here.  We need you at the castle as soon as possible.”

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, as well as my character, gather around Princess Luna as she closes her eyes and looks downward.  Her horn glows and sparkles for a second before the scene changes from the Sweet Apple Acres corn field to the main hall of the Canterlot castle.

Princess Luna then opens her eyes and, looking ahead of her, says, “Now, follow me.  I shall lead you to the throne room where my sister is.”

As soon as the door opens, and the daytime princess sees the party of eight, she says, “Thank you all for coming.  We have an emergency.”

Presently, Twilight asks, “Is it about the weather?  And the animals’ weird behavior?  What’s happening out there?  Why isn’t my magic working?  Is there …?”  Her rush of questions only ends when Princess Celestia raises a front hoof, signaling her to stop.

When Twilight has done so, the daytime princess lowers her front hoof again and says, “Follow me.”  And, she proceeds to lead the group out of the throne room and into the adjoining hallway.  Once all of them, save for Princess Luna, who has apparently decided to stay in the throne room, are in the hallway with her, Princess Celestia continues, “I’ve called you here on a matter of great importance.  It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned.  His name … is Discord.”

At this point, I speak up and say, “I know.  I have his daughter at my house right now.”

Presently, the daytime alicorn pauses and turns to my character before saying, “Yes, Mormon.  And, I think it’s time for you to tell us how you know about him.”

I take a moment to arrange my thoughts.  I decide not to say anything about having the “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic” series.  Instead, I say, “Last night, I had a dream about two ponies: one, an earth pony, chained to a wall, and the other, a pegasus, trying to kill the earth pony.  Something told me it was more than just a dream.

“I guess Pinkie must’ve had the same dream, because she was at my bedroom door before I could get out of bed.

“Well, long story short, we were in the place we saw in our dream, and we managed to keep the one pony from killing the other.  I have both ponies back at my house, and, when I left them, they were both asleep in separate bedrooms.

“The earth pony said she was sacrificing herself so she could get her father out of a statue.

“I seem to remember, on a previous visit, seeing the draconequus statue in the garden just outside the maze.  My guess is that statue isn’t there anymore.”

Princess Celestia closes her eyes and lowers her head as she says, “That’s correct.”  She then opens her eyes again and divides her attention among her audience of seven as she continues, “Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony.  Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness.  Luna and I saw how miserable life was for earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi alike.  So, after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers, and rose up against him, turning him to stone.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash hops into the air and, supporting herself above the ground by flapping her wings, cheers, “Alright, Princess!”

The daytime alicorn continues, “I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever, but, since Luna and I are no longer connected to the elements, the spell has been broken.”

Now, I say, “I’m guessing Princess Luna and Cheerilee weren’t able to keep the school foals from bickering around Discord’s statue?”

At this point, I hear a voice echo throughout the hallway, “Indeed, they could not.  And, thanks to those bickering foals, I am free to rule again.  And, thanks to you, my daughter is still alive, and is safe.  I’m glad you got my message.”

For the time the voice speaks, two things are clear.  First, it’s clear that I’m the only one who hears it, as no one around me responds to it.  Second, it’s clear that the echoing voice is the only one I hear, as I see Princess Celestia moving and talking, but I can’t hear her voice.

When the familiar, echoing voice stops talking, I hear Pinkie Pie’s voice ask, “Mormon, are you alright?”

My character automatically turns to the pink angel pony, and I answer, “I’m fine.  I think I just heard Discord talking to me.”

Pinkie looks like she’s about to say something more.  But, she just turns back to Princess Celestia as the princess says, “I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again, and stop Discord, before he throws all of Equestria into eternal chaos.”

At this point, Pinkie leans toward my character and asks, under her breath, “What did he say to you?”

I answer, also under my breath, “He thanked the bickering foals for freeing him, and me for getting his message and keeping his daughter safe.”

Pinkie then asks, “Does he know I also got your message?”

I answer, “If he hears us, if he’s listening to us, then, yes, he probably knows.”

At my answer, Pinkie simply looks down and sighs.

At this point, my character turns back to the rest of the ponies in time to hear Twilight say, “Princess Celestia, you can count on us.”

But, before she can say another word, Pinkie interrupts her and says, “Hold on a second!”  Not waiting to see who’s attention she captured, she continues, “Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys, chocolate rain!”

Twilight approaches Princess Celestia and, leaning toward her and grinning somewhat, says, “Don’t listen to her, Princess.”  She then shifts her weight equally on all her hooves as she continues, “We’d be honored to use the elements of harmony again.”

I must admit, I can’t help thinking that, if Discord is what Princess Celestia is suggesting he is, he might just discontinue the chocolate rain in order to avoid happiness in his realm of chaos.

At any rate, the daytime alicorn seems relieved as she approaches a door with no apparent handles and sticks her horn into what looks to me like a compass picture no doubt representing the sun.  Her horn glows as she pulls it out again, and the black outlines of the paintings on the door glow fluorescent blue.

Two-by-two, the six circles glow the same blue color, and the door opens, revealing a small, blue chest with gold outlines and a few jewels on the side I can see.

I hear Rarity coo admiringly at the chest and say, “Keep the elements.  I’ll take that case.”

Holding the chest in her magic, Princess Celestia concludes, “Have no fear, ponies.  I have total confidence that you’ll be able to defeat Discord, …” and she opens the box to the element bearers as she says, “with these.”

Unfortunately, the box is empty, which is evidently only made clear to Princess Celestia when the six ponies gasp in surprise.

Sensing that something is wrong, Princess Celestia turns the box toward her.  Seeing the chest is empty, she releases her magic hold on it, allowing it to fall to the floor.

For a few seconds, seven ponies and one human stare silently at the empty box.

Then, Pinkie Pie approaches my character and asks, “Mormon, you knew this’d happen, didn’t you?”

I open my mouth to answer, when the voice I heard earlier echoes in laughter around the hallway again.  But, this time, it’s clear that I’m not the only one that can hear it.

The laughter ends after a second or two, at which point the voice says, “I suppose you’re wondering what happened to your precious elements.”

Recognizing the voice, Princess Celestia and I together say, “Discord.”

Princess Celestia commands, “Show yourself!”

Again the voice laughs, then asks, “Did you miss me, Celestia?”

Then, my character’s attention focuses automatically on a stain-glass window depicting Discord hovering over three crosses, one connected to an earth pony, one to a pegasus, and one to a unicorn, by strings.  The image of Discord then comes to life and says, “I missed you,” before flying out of the depiction.  Before coming to rest in another stain-glass depiction, he continues, “It’s quite lonely being encased in stone.  But, you wouldn’t know that, would you, because I don’t turn ponies into stone.”

I suppose I could empathize with Discord.  After all, I suppose if I’d been stuck in a statue, I wouldn’t be too happy about it either.

In the mean time, Princess Celestia says, “Enough!  What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?”

The draconequus, after forming a circle and disappering into it, save for his head down to his arms, answers, “Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while.”  And, with a snap of his feline arm, the depiction of the Elements of Harmony directly under his circle disappears.

The daytime alicorn paws at the floor with a front hoof as she says, “You’ll never get away with this, Discord.”

Now, Discord appears on the platform where the depiction of the Elements had been and lazily says, “Ah, I’d forgotten how grim you can be, Celestia.  It’s really quite boring.”

Presently, Rainbow Dash flies toward the window and growls, “Hey, nopony insults the princess.”  And, she starts flying at the window.

As the azure pegasa flies into the window, I find two things fortunate: one, that she doesn’t get hurt; and two, that the window doesn’t break.

At any rate, as Rainbow Dash pulls herself away from the window, an enlarged depiction of Discord appears and says, “Oh, you must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty, the element of harmony you represent.”

The rainbow-haired pegasa agrees, “That’s right.  I’ll always be loyal to the princess.”

Presently, the image of Discord disappears from that window, and his voice says, “We’ll see about that.”

I then hear Rarity say, “I can’t believe we’re wasting our time talking to a tacky window.”

Presently, Discord’s depiction appears in the closest window to the white unicorn and says, “The beautiful Rarity, representing the element of generosity, if I’m not mistaken.”

Next, Applejack approaches and says, “So, you know who we are.  Big deal.”

Discord’s image grows as he replies, “Oh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack.”

I then hear Twilight say, “You seem to know our strengths, too.”

Discord’s depiction disappears from the window closest to Rarity and appears again on the window depicting each of the element bearers, then responds, “Yes, Twilight Sparkle.  And, yours is the most powerful and elusive element, magic.  Fluttershy’s is kindness, and Pinkie Pie’s is a personal favorite of mine, laughter.”  And, he starts cackling.

And, it seems that Pinkie Pie, in spite of Twilight’s warning, can’t help but giggle as well.

At this point, I speak up and say, “The subject will now address me, and ask who I’m referring to as the subject.”

Discord then turns to my character and says, “Oh, yes, and you, Mormon.  Uh, by the way, who is this ‘subject’ you’re referring to?”

Pinkie Pie now makes it clear she’s the first to understand who I’m referring to, as she bursts into full-blown laughter.

Then, one by one, the other six catch on and start laughing as well.

Finally, Discord understands who I was talking about.  His image disappears from the window and appears in front of my character.  Maintaining the two-dimensional quality of his depiction, he glares at my character, or so I’m assuming since I can’t see his eyes, and growls, “I hate it when someone has an advantage over me.”

Then, Princess Celestia snarls, “Alright, enough stalling, Discord.  Tell me, what have you done with the Elements of Harmony?”

Discord turns his glare on the daytime princess as he says, “Oh, alright, alright.  But, I’ll only tell you my way.”  He then disappears from in front of my character, then slithers among the windows as he continues, “To retrieve your missing elements, make sense of this change in events.  Twists and turns in my master plan.  Then find the missing elements back where you began.”

As Discord leaves with a final echoing laugh, Fluttershy suggests they go home.

In the mean time, Applejack asks, “Twists and turns?  Back where we started?  What do ya suppose he means by that?”

Twilight ambles toward the window looking out on the hedge maze and repeats a few times the words, “Twists and turns.”  She then turns back to the rest of the group and says, “That’s it!  I’ll bet he hid the elements in the palace labyrinth!”

Again Pinkie Pie approaches my character and says, under her breath, “You know the elements aren’t in there.”

I respond, “Yes, I know.  But, I also know that something of importance is going to happen in the maze.  We need to go through that first.”

As my character follows the element bearers out of the castle and to the palace maze, I once again hear Discord’s laughter.

Gasps are heard all around as the group of six ponies and one human arrive at the entrance to the maze.

As my character looks up at the top of the entrance, I say, “Pretty impressive.  Even taller than me.”

Fluttershy asks, “And, we have to go in there?”

A confident Rainbow Dash answers, “Nope.”  Flapping her wings, she continues, “Dopey Discord forgot about these babies.”  And, with that, she begins her flight over the maze of hedges, saying something about having the elements in no time.  That is, until her wings disappear, and she falls to the ground in front of Fluttershy again.  After that, she gasps in surprise and cries, “My wings!”

The wings on the backs of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie also disappear; and, while Fluttershy screams in shock much as Rainbow Dash did, Pinkie Pie smiles and says, “Well, I did have them for a day, at least.”

In the mean time, the horns of Twilight and Rarity also disappear, causing them to panic.

Before the ponies can fully adjust to the disappearance of their appendages, Discord appears and laughs and says, “You should see the looks on your faces.  Priceless!”  And, again he laughs.

Twilight takes a step forward, stomping a front hoof, and demands, “Give us our horns and wings back!”

Presently, the draconequus responds, “You’ll get them back in good time.”  He then disappears from the front of the group and appears over Applejack as he continues, nudging the orange earth mare, “I simply took them away to ensure there’s no cheating.  You see, this is the first rule of the game: no flying, and no magic.”

Rainbow Dash hesitates, “The first rule?”

Appearing on the arch of the entrance hedge, Discord continues, “The second rule is everypony has to play, or the game is over.”

At this point, I ask, “Every pony?  Does that mean I don’t have to play?”

Discord disappears from his position on the hedge and reappears next to my character.  He leans in so that his face is all I can see as he responds, “Oh, alright, if you really want to.  You don’t have any magic, and you can’t fly; so, I guess you already qualify by my first rule.”  He then disappears from behind my character and reappears in his position on the entrance hedge again, grumbling something about adding a special rule for the sake of the only human in the group.  Then, before he disappears one more time, he says, “Well, good luck, everypony.”

Pinkie Pie turns to my character and asks, “So, you do plan on playing along?”

I nod and answer, “The hedge maze does look fun.”

Then, Twilight says, “Well, girls, we have each other.”

Rainbow Dash adds, “Yeah, like Twilight said.  There’s nothing we can’t overcome, if we all stick together.”

As each member of the group takes their positions in the entrance, Twilight says, “Alright, girls, Mormon, let’s do this.”  And, the six ponies each put a front hoof forward.

And, that’s when hedge walls rise up among the ponies, separating and alarming each of them.  And, somehow, I’m not surprised to see a hedge wall separating me and Pinkie Pie.

After taking a moment to allow herself and  her friends to regain their composure, Twilight Sparkle calls out, “Stay calm, everyone!  Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can, and we’ll regroup there!”

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie calls out, “Mormon, are you still there?”

I answer, “Yeah, I’m still here!  I guess I find my own way in!  Just go on ahead without me, and I’ll catch up!”

Pinkie Pie nervously agrees, and I’m guessing she follows my instruction, as I hear nothing more from her.

Then, when all is quiet, I hear a wheezing pop behind my character, after which I hear the voice of Discord saying, “So, human, how did you get here?”

I ask in response, “What do you mean, here in Canterlot, or here in Equestria?”

Presently, Discord growls, “You know very well what I mean!  There aren’t supposed to be any humans anymore!”

This time, I answer, “Well, that’s a long story, and I don’t think you have the time to hear it all.”

The draconequus sighs in exasperation, then says, “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter that much anyway.”  He then asks, “So, now that you’re here, I guess you’re gonna help Pinkie Pie?”

I answer, “In a roundabout way, yes.”

Discord restates, “Which means, you’re going to interfere with my plans.”

I pause for a moment, then state, “And, I guess that scares you?”

The draconequus laughs and says, “Me, scared?”  And, he laughs some more.

I have my character lean against a maze wall, which, I might add, is more solid than I expected; and I say, “So, let’s make a deal.”

Instantly, the ears of all sorts of creatures appear all over Discord’s body before he says, “Alright, human.  I’m all ears.”

I have to take a moment to laugh at Discord’s literal interpretation of the old saying.  When I've regained my composure, I say, “Alright, here it is.  If you can turn each and every one of the element bearers without making any physical contact with even one of them, then I’ll return to my home; and you can do whatever you want.”

Save for the ones he first had, all the ears disappear; and the draconequus scratches his chin as he says, “Sounds easy enough.”  He then looks at my character and asks, “And, if I touch even one of them?”

I respond, “Then I earn the right to interfere in your plans any way I see fit.”

Immediately, Discord says, “It’s a deal.”  And, like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, all but his head disappears as he adds, “And, I'm going to have so much fun without you to annoy me.”  And, the last I see of him is his mouth as he disappears, laughing.

As it turns out, there is a path open to my character, one that allows him access to his own path through the hedge maze.  And, that’s the course my character follows, with my help.

It takes a few minutes, but I manage to catch up with Fluttershy; although I keep from being seen by her.  Actually, the fact of the matter is my path parallels hers, but keeps us visually separated.  She doesn’t see my character, and he doesn’t see her.  And, while I don’t allow her to hear my character, I do hear the timid yellow pegasa as she makes her way through the maze.

A few more minutes, and I hear the pegasa scream.  My guess is that Discord, in the form of a trio of butterflies, has caught up to her.  As I hear the receding hoof-falls, I know she's chasing the flying insects; so, I have my character follow the sound of her hoof-falls until they stop.

I then hear Discord say, pitching his voice an octave or two above normal, “Fluttershy, looks like you’ve been left behind by your so-called friends, huh?”

I then hear Fluttershy answer, “Oh, no.  I’m certain they’re doing their best to find me.”

I hear Discord continue, “Well, it must be so upsetting to know how weak and helpless they think you are.”

I have my character circle around so I’m out of the line of sight of the draconequus and yellow pegasa when I peek through a hedge to see the final action.  Still, I continue to listen as Fluttershy responds, “Not at all.  I am weak and helpless, and I appreciate their understanding.”

The first indication of impatience I hear from the draconequus is his voice momentarily returning to normal as he says, “Oh, yes, well, surely it burns you up."  And, his voice resumes its higher octave as he continues, "I mean, they’re always pointing out your flaws, right?”

The cheerful tone in Fluttershy’s voice doesn’t change as he answers, “Not really.  In fact, I think I’m awfully lucky to have friends that want me to be the best I can be.”

Confident, based on the angle of the voices, that my character won’t be seen, I open a few branches in one of the hedges, branches I prepared to be opened, to see the three butterflies combine and turn into the draconequus as he growls, “Oh, for goodness sake!”  He then pushes his finger into Fluttershy’s head as he continues, “You’ve been kind for far too long, my dear.  Time to be cruel!  Arrivederci!”  And, he leaves a dazed Fluttershy as he vanishes.

At this point, I have my character back away from the hedges, allowing them to close again, and I wait and listen for Twilight to add the yellow pegasa to her group.  Then, after hearing the two unicorns argue somewhat over the rock Rarity’s convinced is a jewel of some kind, then hearing them wander off, I wait for Discord to appear in the clearing where he and Fluttershy had their exchange.

As I listen to him grumble about Fluttershy’s humility, I have my character push his way through the hedge behind the draconequus; and I say, “I knew it!  I knew you had to touch at least one of them!”

In a low, rumbling voice, Discord growls, “And, how could you know that?”

I laugh, “Oh, Discord, you are so predictable!”

The draconequus sputters for a few seconds before roaring out, “What!?”

I continue, “You didn’t think I’d know you’d have to stick your finger in Fluttershy’s skull in order to turn her?”

At this point, it seems that all Discord can think to say is, “You ... human!”

I stop laughing as I respond, “That’s right.”  I then have my character point to himself as I say, “Me human,”  then to Discord as I conclude, “and, you draconequus.”

For a few seconds Discord trembles in fury, and his eyes glow red.  Then, he calms down and sighs in defeat before saying, “Alright, you’ve won this one.  However you want to interfere in my plans, you’ve won the right, fair and square.”

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as the draconequus turns his back to my character before I say, “Just one more thing before we part ways.”

Discord glares at my character again as he asks, “And, what is that?”

I answer, “The pony you touched will touch you in return some day.  You will be a statue again, but not for nearly as long as you were the first time.  And, when you are released again, the yellow pegasa, Fluttershy, will be your key to freedom and friendship.”

Discord drifts toward my character as he says, “Oh, we shall see about that.”  And, with that, he disappears.

Actually, my character spends much of this hour continuing through the maze, until I hear flapping above my character’s head; and he looks up to show me Rainbow Dash flying off; and storm clouds gathering overhead.

Then, the walls of the maze collapse, and the five ponies and my character are in clear view of each other.

Twilight, on seeing my character, calls out, “Mormon, there you are!  You saw Rainbow Dash fly away, didn’t you!”

I open my mouth to answer, but Discord is a step ahead of me.  I’m not surprised to hear his laughter before he appears to the remaining six and says, “Well, well, well, some pony broke the ‘no wings, no magic’ rule.”  He then snaps his fingers, and Twilight and Rarity each get their horn back, while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie each get their wings back.  He continues, “Game’s over, my little ponies.  You didn’t find your precious elements.  Looks like we might be in for a big old storm of chaos.”  And, he continues to laugh as lightning flashes and thunder rumbles around him, and for that matter, the reunited group of ponies and human.

Under my breath, I say, “Perhaps, but I’ll be there to make sure it’s incomplete.”

Twilight turns to my character and asks, “Mormon, what do you mean?”

I answer, “I made a deal with Discord.”

Now, Twilight marches toward my character, glaring, as she asks, “What kind of deal?”

I answer, “I promised Discord that if he could turn each of the element bearers without making physical contact with even one of them, then I’d go back to my home; and he could do whatever he wanted without my interference.  But, if he touched even one of the element bearers, then I’d have the right to interfere any way I saw fit.”

Twilight stops a few paces away from my character and, now tilting her head in curiosity and worry, asks, “And, did he touch anypony?”

Slowly, I nod and answer, “He touched Fluttershy.”

I hear a growl from Discord, and my character automatically focuses on him as he says, “You just had to tell, didn’t you?”  He then inhales and exhales noticeably, then says, “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway.  I’ve still turned five of the element bearers, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

I respond, “Maybe, but I still have the right to interfere in your plans any way I choose.”  I then have my character turn to the purple unicorn, and I say, “Since we couldn’t find the elements here in the hedge maze, maybe Fluttershy was right to suggest we go home.”

Twilight gives my character a worried, almost grieved, look as she asks, “You mean, give up?”

I answer, “No, it’s too early for that.  I’m just suggesting there’s something we can do at home that we couldn’t do here.”

Twilight asks, “Like what?”

I reply by asking, “Well, what did Discord say earlier, in the castle?”

I then hear a groan from the draconequus before he quickly recites, “To receive your missing elements, make sense of this change in events.  Twists and turns in my master plan.  Then find the missing elements back where you began.”  And, again he groans.

I have my character turn to the draconequus, and I say, “Thanks, Discord.”  I then have my character focus on Twilight again.

In the mean time, it seems that the purple unicorn was focused on my character while he was turning his attention to Discord.  At this point, she asks, “Well, what the hoof does that mean anyway?”  Then she pauses for a moment and says, “Wait a minute.”

I suggest, “Let’s go back into the castle.  Maybe Princess Celestia or Princess Luna could teleport us back to Ponyville.”

In a more lighthearted tone, Discord says, “In the mean time, I have some chaos to spread.”  And he disappears, leaving behind one last laugh.

As the pink clouds gather and rain chocolate milk on the five ponies and one human, Twilight points at my character and asks, “You don’t suppose Discord meant we should find the elements back in Ponyville, do you?”

I shrug and answer, “It wouldn’t hurt to look.”

The purple unicorn continues, “Come to think of it, my studies of friendship started when I moved to Ponyville, and moved into the library.  Maybe we should look there.”

I reply, “Sounds good to me.”

Twilight then turns to the four other element bearers present, Fluttershy tauntingly laughing at Pinkie Pie, who’s warning her to stop, and Applejack taunting Rarity by tapping on the rock she’s carrying, while Rarity warns her to leave the rock alone.  The purple unicorn then groans in exasperation and says, “Come on, girls.  Let’s go back to the castle so Princess Celestia or Princess Luna can take us home.”

But, it seems that the four are too occupied arguing among themselves to listen to her.

I input the instructions as I say to Twilight, “I’ll take Pinkie Pie and Applejack.  You can assist Rarity with her boulder.”  And, after entering the instructions, my character proceeds to grab and hold Pinkie Pie first, then Applejack.

In the mean time, Rarity growls, “This is no boulder!  It’s a jewel.  There’s a difference.”

As my character picks up Pinkie Pie, she protests, “Human, you put me down right now, or I’ll beat the hay outta ya with my wings!”

As my character approaches Applejack, I respond, “Not as long as I keep your wings trapped in my hold.”

Then, when my character grabs and holds onto the orange earth mare, she says, “Ya know Ah can’t do nothin’ ta hurt ya.”  And, my character looks down at her to show me she looks right and left with just her eyes.

If I had gotten a chance to say anything, I wouldn’t have anything to say.

But, still, I hear Twilight say, “Come on, everypony.  Let’s get back to the castle so one of the Princesses can get us back home.

As my character turns to the purple unicorn, Fluttershy approaches her and derisively asks, “Why?  Couldn’t you find your precious elements here in the labyrinth?”

I suggest, “Don’t worry about her.  She’ll follow us to the castle.”

In a second, the yellow pegasa is in my character’s face.  She teasingly growls, “How do you know?”

I answer, “That’s for me to know, and for you to find out.”  And, I have my character start his march back to the castle.

In the mean time, and for the whole way there, Fluttershy follows my character, asking, no, demanding, the meaning of what I said.

When the group gets back to the castle, which takes a few minutes, the princesses are there to meet the group in the main hall.

Before anyone can say anything, Princess Luna says, “I’ve been trying to teleport myself into Ponyville, but I’ve been unable.  The best I could do was a few yards outside of the border.”

I respond, “That’ll be just fine.  We can walk the rest of the way.”

Then, Princess Celestia says, “But, be careful.  While you’ve been coming back to the castle, Discord has already been making changes to Ponyville.”

Twilight asks, “What kind of changes?”

The daytime alicorn answers, “You’ll find out when you get there.”

I respond, “So, let’s get going.”

The last thing we hear before the scene changes is Princess Celestia saying, “Remember, be careful.”  Then, the group of seven instantly find themselves a few yards outside of Ponyville, on the road between there and Canterlot.

At first, as Princess Luna disappears again and my character puts Applejack and Pinkie Pie back down on their hooves on the ground, all the group can do is look and see the condition of their home, or at least the home of the element bearers.

Twilight asks, “What happened to Ponyville?”

With the changing of the hour, it’s suddenly dark as the sun drops down and the moon replaces it in a snap.

At the same time, a herd of giraffe-legged rabbits stampedes past.

Seeing the rabbits, which includes a white one, Fluttershy says, “Oh, good boy, Angel.  Momma’s so proud of you.”

At about the same time, Applejack says, “Oh, Ah can see so much better now.”  And, something in her voice has me convinced that she isn’t sincere in her statement.

Then, the road looses all traction as it turns into liquid soap.

Presently, Applejack slips and falls, then says, “Ah meant to do that.”

Twilight proves that Applejack isn’t the only one having problems staying on her feet, as the purple unicorn also slips and falls.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie skates over the surface saying, “This may look like fun, but it’s not.”

Then Discord appears, also skating on the road.  He says, “I hope you like what I’ve done with Ponyville so far.  Because, these are just the first changes I plan to make.”

My character turns his attention to the town, to show me that a few buildings are floating, some of them upside down; and the landscape has changed to checkered patterns of two shades of pink in some places, and two shades of pale blue in others.  Trees, while their roots are still hidden in dirt, are also floating, and pink clouds drift over the town, randomly raining chocolate milk.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear a groan from Twilight, who says, “Come on, everypony.  Let’s just get back to the library so we can just get this over with.”

In silent agreement, more or less, the group follows the purple unicorn to the library tree house, which, when the group arrives, remains grounded.

At the start of the hour, the moon goes down, and the sun rises in its place.

Fluttershy is the first to enter the library, but not before stomping on the flowers in the garden next to the doorway.  And, her color, which has already faded by this point, fades to a nearly-gray variation of her original colors.

Similar is Applejack, who, following the yellow pegasa, says that she refuses.

Then there’s Pinkie Pie, who says she hates libraries.

Rarity, in the mean time, refuses to enter the tree without her boulder, or as she calls it, her “gem.”

So, I decide to have my character approach her and proceed to reach out for the rock.

Seeing my character reach out for the boulder, she says, “If you lay one hoof on my gem, you’ll regret it.”

As my character grabs and hefts the boulder, I say, “Just as well, since I don’t have hooves.”  And, I order my character to proceed into the library, carrying Rarity’s rock in front of him.

As my character enters the library, I hear Twilight say, “Thanks, Mormon.”

At the same time, I hear Rarity growl.

Then, when my character puts the rock down again, I hear Twilight say, “Alright, now all we need to do is find my book on the Elements of Harmony.”

From one of the shelves, I hear Spike say, “I’m on it.”  And, my character turns automatically to show me the little dragon on the highest rung of the familiar ladder, grabbing a book from the top shelf.

But, he doesn’t realize, until it’s too late, that Fluttershy is right behind him.  As he turns around, holding the book in the hand he isn’t using to keep his position on the ladder, the pegasa grabs the book from him.

Twilight growls, “Fluttershy!”

Then, the pegasa calls, “Keep away,” and tosses the book away from her.

As the gray-shaded ponies toss the book to one another, I have my character take a position in front of the purple unicorn; and I call out, “Over here!  Over here!”

Pinkie Pie, who has the book at this point, tosses it to my character, while I hear Twilight growl, “Mormon, this is no time for games!”

Then, as soon as my character has the book, I have him pass it to the purple unicorn; and I say, “Here.  You start reading, and I’ll hold ‘em off.”

On receiving the book, Twilight says, “Oh.  Thanks, Mormon.”

Then, as my character turns back to the four gray-shaded ponies, Pinkie Pie calls, “Mormon, you traitor!”

Fluttershy tries to rise over my character with a bucket of water, but I have him push the bucket so its contents drop onto the yellow pegasa.

Surprised, Fluttershy gasps, shakes off as much of the water as she can, and says, “Mormon, how could you?”

It’s about this time when I hear Twilight say, “Aha!  The elements are right here!  They must’ve been here all along!”

Spike joins Twilight on the opposite side of the book from her and says, “This is great.  Now you can use the elements to defeat Discord.”

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if either Spike read the princess’ letter aloud to Twilight, or Twilight read it aloud for both of them.  Whatever the case was, it’s clear that Spike knows about the draconequus.

At any rate, Twilight cheers, “You see, girls?  We did it!  We found the Elements of Harmony! Together!”

But, the four gray-shaded ponies are evidently not as enthusiastic about the whole thing as Twilight is.

Seeing four of her friends parked around Rarity’s boulder, Twilight growls, “You don’t even care, do you?”

In unison, the four answer, “No.”

Now, Twilight sighs and says, “I never thought it would happen.  My friends … have turned into complete jerks!”

As I watch, through my character’s eyes, the purple unicorn approaching her friends, I can’t deny that the four of them aren’t the friendly lot they had been.  But, that’s only because they’ve been turned by the spirit of chaos.  I also know that, some time soon, Twilight’ll be able to recover them from Discord’s spell and eventually defeat the draconequus.  But, there’s one thing that must happen first.  Twilight must make an attempt while her friends, most of them, are inverted from their elements.  I know she’ll fail, and turn away from her own element.  But, I can also hope at in their darkest moment I'll be able to shed some light on the course they should take, and at least one of them'll be willing to follow it.  Whatever difficulties Twilight faces I know she’ll overcome.

In the mean time, Twilight uses her magic to distribute the necklaces to each of her friends, and places her tiara on her own head.  Then, galloping for the doorway, she growls, “Come on, everypony. Let’s go.”

Then, Spike catches up to her and asks, “But, Twilight, aren’t you missing somepony?”

The purple unicorn shakes her head and answers, “Nope.”  Then, indicating, in turn, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, she continues, “I’ve got the liar, the grump, the hoarder, and the brute.”  Finally, she concludes, “That just about covers it.”

Before the little dragon can say anything, I state, “I think Spike’s right.”  After he and Twilight turn to my character, I add, “You seem to be missing the traitor.”

Then Spike asks, “The traitor?  Well, what about Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight groans, then uses her magic to put the last necklace on her dragon assistant before saying, “Congratulations, Spike, you’re the new Rainbow Dash.”  She then gallops for the door to the library again as she shouts, “Now, let’s go!”

A puzzled and frightened Spike stands there, looking at the necklace, and asks, “Me!  B-b-but, what if she finds out I’ve been impersonating her?”

If I thought Pinkie Pie would appreciate it, I might say something like, “Don’t you mean im-pony-ating?”  But, seeing that as unlikely, I decide not to say anything.

In the mean time, Spike concludes, “Oh, that won’t be end well.”

Then, Twilight answers, “Too bad.  You’re Rainbow Dash.  Now, let’s go and defeat Discord so that we never have to talk to each other again!”

I have to wonder if it’s Twilight’s determination that’s keeping her from turning, as her friends have already done.  I have my character turn to the purple dragon, and I say, “Spike, this may be a good time for you to write to the princesses about what’s happening here.  Let them know that Twilight’s in trouble, and she needs their help.”

At my suggestion Spike inhales and exhales.  He then turns to my character and says, “Maybe you should write the letter.  I need to go help Twilight.  When I get back, I’ll send it.”  And, before I can answer, he and the four element bearers, except for Rainbow Dash, run off after Twilight.

I hadn’t thought of this possibility, but Spike may be right.  After all, I have earned the right, through my deal with Discord, to interfere with his plans in any way I see fit.  And, what better way to interfere than to take the first step in undoing the damage he’s done up to this point?  So, as the sun and the moon trade places, and the world goes dark again, I decide to order my character to take a quill, a container of ink, and some parchment from Twilight’s room, then write a letter to the princesses.

In the letter, I dictate, “Attention, Princesses,

“Twilight Sparkle is in a lot of trouble right now, and needs your help.

“By the time you receive this letter, she will have tried and failed to defeat Discord with friends of hers that he has turned.  Please send the letters she’s written to you.  They will be of greatest benefit to her.

“Signed, a friend of yours and of Twilight’s, Mormon.”

In the mean time, I hear, outside, the sounds of the battle I know Twilight and her friends are going to lose.  In fact, by the time my character signs and rolls up the letter, making it ready for Spike to send, I’m hearing Twilight say, “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Automatically, my character, still holding the scroll, walks to the window to show me, through his eyes, Twilight’s first attempt to return Discord to his statue form.

I can’t say for sure if Discord seeing me watching through the library window is what alarms him for a moment, or if it’s the possibility that this first attempt by the purple unicorn just might work.  All I know is he does seem to notice my character watching him.

In the mean time, although I can’t see it from my character’s perspective, I know that the lights shining from in front of five ponies and one dragon must be the elements of harmony beginning to activate.  Then, the element bearers rise above the ground.  Then, with a flash of light, the six descend to the ground again, leaving everything the way it was before the attempt was made.

The four gray-shaded ponies return to their bickering, while Spike removes Rainbow Dash’s necklace and offers to return to his duties.

That is, until Fluttershy trips him with her tail and says, “Oh, sorry, Rainbow Crash,” and laughs mockingly at him.

I have to respect the little dragon, though.  He treats being tripped that way as just a minor setback, stands up again, and proceeds back into the library.

Then, seeing me at the window, he asks, “So, do you have the letter ready?”

My character rolls up the letter and hands it to the little dragon, and I say, “Here it is.  But, before you send it, you may want to go upstairs.”

Confused and worried, Spike asks, “Uh, why?”

I answer, “I can only tell you that you’re going to go through a difficulty probably greater than anything you’ve ever faced before.  But, I’m sure you’ll make it through it.  And, it’ll help Twilight.”

Just then, I hear Twilight call out, “Fine, leave!  See if I care!  I don’t need you guys either!”  And, while her voice quiets down, I still hear her saying, “With friends like you, who needs … enemies?”

Spike, who has joined my character at the window, watches with him as the purple unicorn, starting with her tail and ending with her nose, turns gray.

My character then turns back to Spike, who, seeming to melt, looks down at the letter he accepted from my character, then back to Twilight, then back at the letter, and finally at my character again, and says, “Well, alright.  If it’ll help Twilight, then I’ll do it.”  And, with that, he heads up to his and Twilight’s room.  And, once up there, he inhales, then exhales a green flame that consumes the letter.

The puff of smoke leaves through an opening, evidently on its way to Canterlot.

As my character heads for the doorway, I say, “I’ll leave you for now, Spike.  But, I’ll be sure to catch up to Twilight and let her know that you need help.”

And, as my character exits through the door, I hear Spike say, “I hope you can help her.”

Just outside, I can’t help noticing something rather interesting: holes in the tree, from Rarity’s boulder being forced into it, are slowly, but visibly, closing.

I watch in fascination, that is until I hear Discord behind my character say, “So, it appears that I win.  Princess Celestia and her elements have failed.”  He then laughs before adding, “And, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

While my character turns to the draconequus, I chuckle a little as well before saying, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.  Remember, I have the right to interfere in your plans.”

Discord laughs even harder before saying, “But, you’ve lost, too!  Ponyville, no, all of Equestria, is mine!”  And, again he laughs.

I reply, “For now I may have.  But, you seem to be forgetting something.”

Presently the draconequus stops laughing and, flatly, asks, “And, what’s that?”

I answer, “We humans have a way of turning defeat around.”

Now, Discord glares at my character and says, “Well, not, I think, this time.  I’ve turned all of the element bearers.  They’re so far gone they’ve lost all their color.  How do you plan on turning that around?”

I answer, “Well, where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

The spirit of chaos snorts, then says, “Well, whatever.”  Then, pointing to the library, he asks, “Oh, and by the way, what was that puff of smoke I saw coming from here?”

I answer, “Just think of it as my first interference.”

And, just then, I see Topsy Turvy float past, followed by a trio of bison in tutus, dancing like ballerinas on the tips of their hind hooves.  Were it not for the pink earth pony preceding them, I might laugh at the three bison.  Instead, I call out, “Topsy Turvy, what are you doing here?”

Presently, the pink earth pony turns and sees my character, then floats toward him and says, “Mormon, nice to see you.”  She then turns to Discord and says, “Daddy, you’re alive!”

The draconequus glares at Topsy Turvy and says, “That’s right, Screwball.  And, the two of us, no, the three of us, have something we need to discuss.”  And, before anyone present can say anything more, the scene shifts from Discord’s version of Ponyville to the road in front of my character’s house.

The changing of another hour is marked by the sun and the moon trading places, and, along with it, the return of sunlight.

In the mean time, a trembling Topsy Turvy laughs nervously and says, “Uh, so, Daddy, i-it’s g-good to s-s-see you out of th-th-that s-s-statue again.”  And again she laughs nervously.

She then yelps in fear as Discord shouts, “Silence, child!”  Then, after a few seconds of quiet, save for Topsy Turvy’s whimpering, the draconequus asks his earth pony daughter, “Why, Screwball?  Why did you think you had to get yourself killed in order to free me?”

As she makes her way to the gate, Topsy Turvy whimpers, “What does it matter?  I’m still alive.”

Discord growls, “What you tried to do was unnecessary.  I had three sleep-deprived fillies to free me.  And besides, you were nowhere near close enough for your plan to be effective.  You would’ve died for nothing!”

By this point, Topsy Turvy has opened the gate, entered, and closed the gate behind her.  She turns to her draconequus father and tries to speak, but can only whimper.

Discord continues, “And, do you really think I would’ve wanted you to get yourself killed?”  He pauses for a moment to sigh, then continues, “Do you really think I would’ve considered it worth it to rule Equestria in chaos again if I didn’t have your support?  I never expected to hear myself say this, but I’m glad there was a human here, if for no other reason than to keep you safe.  And, now that you are safe, and in the care of this human, perhaps that’s best for you.  So, and I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Celestia on this, you’re staying here with this human.”  And, with that, he once again disappears.

Hearing sobbing from the pink earth pony, my character automatically turns to her, and shows me that she’s heading for the house.

Topsy Turvy turns to my character, once she’s on the front porch, and says, “I’m gong to my room now.”  After another loud sniffle, she adds, “I don’t feel like doing anything right now.”

As she turns to the front door, it opens, revealing Ataahua on the other side.

The gray pegasa, coming out and seeing the weeping pink earth pony pass her, turns back to my character and asks, “What’s wrong with Topsy Turvy?”

I answer, “Discord’s been turning Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world.  Topsy Turvy wanted to be with her father, but he had other ideas.  It seems that Discord wants his daughter alive so she can support him.”

I get the idea that the smile I see on Ataahua’s face is tempered with concern for her pink earth pony friend.  Still, she sounds cheerful as she says, “So, I won’t have to kill her again?”

I answer, “Not as long as Discord and I have anything to say about it.”

Ataahua sighs, “Well, that’s good to hear.”

I ask, “So, is Lyra here?”

The gray pegasa turns to the door, then back to my character, and answers, “Well, yes she is.”

I state, “Good.  I want you to go back inside and take care of Topsy Turvy.  And, in the mean time, I’m going to need Lyra to come with me.”

Ataahua turns one hundred eighty degrees to the door again, then looks back at my character and says, “I’ll go ahead and get her.  Are you going to need your dragon assistant, too?”

I know who the gray pegasa’s talking about.  I answer, “No, not this time, I think.  Just Lyra will do.”

Ataahua looks back to the doorway and says, “Alright then, I’ll go get her.”  And, on the way in, she trips over the threshold.  But, she quickly rises again and heads inside, closing the front door behind her.

While I wait for the pale-green unicorn to come out, I hear Pinkie Pie’s voice behind my character growl, “So, Mormon, why are you here?”  As my character turns to her, she continues, “Are you leaving so soon?”

I answer, “If I want you back to the way you were, and believe me I do, then I’m gonna have to leave again as soon as possible.  I’m just waiting for Lyra.”

The pink angel pony grunts derisively, then looks around and growls, “Wait, who just laughed?”

I answer, “I’m sure that was you.”

Then, before anything more can be said, the front door opens; and Lyra exits.

While the pale-green unicorn descends the stairs, Pinkie Pie enters through the still-open gate.

As the two pass each other, Pinkie growls at Lyra, “Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

Lyra looks at my character with a worried look on her face as she approaches the open gate.

I wait until Pinkie enters the house before I say, “It’s kind of a long story.  Let’s just say that Discord is on the loose, and is turning Ponyville into the chaos capital of Equestria.  I need your help to get back there as soon as possible, but I’m also going to need you to come with me to Ponyville in the mean time.”

The pale-green unicorn shakes herself out and says, “Well, if Pinkie’s any indication, 'mean’ is just the right word for it.”

I have my character close the gate behind the pale-green unicorn, as soon as she exits; and the human and the unicorn head through the Everfree forest, on their way back to Ponyville.

As the human and the unicorn exit the Everfree forest and approach Ponyville, the sun goes down; and the moon rises again; and night falls.

Still, enough of Discord’s handiwork is evident that Lyra, as she approaches, starts to tremble at what she sees.  She turns to my character and asks, “This is all Discord’s doing?  Are Twilight and her friends alright?”

I answer, “The answer to your first question is yes.  As for your second question, well, you’ve seen Pinkie Pie already.  The other element bearers aren’t doing any better, including Twilight.”

After a second or two, I hear a loud sniffle from Lyra.  My character turns to her to show me she’s starting to cry, and she’s looking at him.

She asks, “What happened?”

I answer, “We got together at Sweet Apple Acres, where Princess Luna took us to Canterlot.  There, Princess Celestia told us about Discord being freed from his statue, then tried to give the Elements of Harmony to Twilight and her friends.  But, it seems that Discord had taken them and hidden them elsewhere.

“Twilight’s first thought was that they’d be in the hedge maze in the garden, so we went there first.  There, Discord turned all the element bearers except for Twilight, and we found out the elements weren’t there after all.  And, by the way, Discord had to physically touch Fluttershy in order to turn her.

“At any rate, with Princess Luna’s help, we got back to Ponyville, only to find it very different from how we’d left it.

“Twilight managed to find all the elements in a book, but all except for Rainbow Dash had come back.  So, after distributing four of the necklaces to their rightful bearers, Twilight put Rainbow Dash’s necklace on Spike.  She tried to use the elements to stop Discord, but she failed.  After that, the four other element bearers dispersed, and, I guess, Twilight felt abandoned.  She’s also turned.”

At this news, the pale-green unicorn sniffles some more and starts sobbing.  Then, as my character picks her up and holds her, she asks, “Oh, Mormon, what’re we gonna do?”

As my character strokes Lyra’s back, I answer, “I made a deal with Discord, back in the hedge maze, that if he could turn each of the element bearers without touching any of them, then I’d go home and not interfere with his plans.”

Through her sobs and sniffles, Lyra manages to ask, “You—made—a—deal—with—Discord?”  Then she pushes away from my character as she adds, “You, you put Pinkie Pie in danger!”

I respond, “I knew Discord had to touch at least one of the element bearers in order to turn her.  That’s why part of my deal was that if he touched even one of the element bearers, I’d have the right to interfere in his plans any way I saw fit.”

Through my character’s eyes, I see Lyra rub a tear from one of hers before two things I said seem to dawn on her; and she says, “Wait, you said you’d have the right to interfere in Discord’s plans if he touched an element bearer.  And, he touched Fluttershy.”

I answer, “That’s right.  So, I can interfere with Discord’s plans any way I choose.  And, the first way I chose to interfere with his plans was to write a letter to the princesses, letting them know what was happening, and how they could help Twilight.”

Lyra asks, “And, that’s the only way you’re gonna interfere?”

I answer, “I have another plan in the works.  I just need to find Twilight and let her know that Spike needs her help.”

If my character hadn’t been supporting the pale-green unicorn the way he had, she would likely be falling backward right now.  But, he manages to catch her as she leans backward and asks, “Spike?  What did you do to Spike?  Why does he need Twilight’s help?”

I answer, “Part of what I wrote to the princesses was that the best way they could help Twilight would be to send back the letters she’d been writing to them.  And, I’m guessing that’s what they’ve been doing for at least the past hour.”

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as Lyra reasons, “So, we need to find Twilight and let her know Spike’s in trouble so she can help him.  And, in helping him, she’ll be helping herself, too.”

I reply, “Precisely my thoughts.”

At this point, the pale-green unicorn jumps out of my character’s arms and says, “Well, then, let’s get going.”  And, she gallops into town.

As my character follows her, I nod and say, “Excellent.”

Along the main street of Ponyville, I happen to see the gray-shaded Twilight Sparkle, head lowered, ambling her way, from what I can see, toward the Everfree forest.

Lyra, seeing her friend, gallops even faster toward her, until she’s maybe a yard or so away from the bearer of magic.  Then, she slows to a stop in front of her and asks, “Twilight, are you alright?”

As my character slows to a stop behind Lyra, Twilight says, “I’m not in the mood right now, Lyra.  Just go away.”

The pale-green unicorn turns to my character, and I can see through his eyes that she looks like she’s going to cry again.

As she turns back to her friend, I say, “Twilight, your assistant, Spike needs you.  You’ve got to go back to the library.”

As a bunch of pies fly upward, Twilight asks, “Why should it matter to you?  It’s over now!”  Then, she pauses for a moment before asking, “Well, what’s wrong with Spike?”

I answer, “You’ll understand when we get there.  In the mean time, just follow me.”  And, my character proceeds toward the library.

With my character’s back to the gray-shaded Twilight, I can only hear her groan in exasperation as she says, “Fine, whatever.”

I can also only hear Lyra whimper, “Oh, Twilight.”

I have my character focus on the pale-green unicorn, and I say, “It’ll be alright, Lyra.  You’ll see.  Once we get to the library, and Twilight sees Spike, she’ll understand.”

Perhaps within the block from the library, I see Twilight run ahead of my character, and I hear Lyra whimper, “I hope you’re right, Mormon.”

At the library, Twilight bursts through the door and calls out, “Spike are you alright?”

I have my character slow to a stop in front of the door, and bar the way to keep Lyra from entering.

Confused and angry, the pale-green unicorn glares up at my character and asks, “Mormon, what’re you doing?”

I have my character close the door to the library, and I answer, “This is for Twilight’s benefit. We can wait out here until Twilight’s ready to come out again.  And, by that time, she should be back to her old self.”

And, that’s when the ballet bison tiptoe past.

Then, Discord appears and, looking around for a moment, asks, “Uh, where’s Twilight?  I want to show her something.”

I answer, “She’s busy right now.”

Before anything more can be said, the scene suddenly changes to a different spot in Ponyville, where I see Berry Punch with a bottle, no doubt a pepper shaker, over her head.

Laughing, Discord says, “You’ve got to see this!”

Immediately, the shaker turns upside down and shakes over the red-purple earth mare, who sneezes.

As if on command, the buildings around her collapse as though they were two-dimensional props.

I have to admit, every time I see it in the episode, “Return of Harmony Part 2,” I laugh at it.  And, seeing it in this video game setting, it’s just as funny.  To me, anyway.

On the other hand, Lyra, seeing Berry Punch tortured that way, gallops to her and offers to escort her away from the scene.

In the mean time, the buildings rise again, taking on their three-dimensional qualities.

And, somehow, that’s even funnier to me.

Again the moon goes down, and the sun rises, returning light to the world.

In the mean time, my character turns to the library as I hear hoof-falls approaching him from behind.  Then, as per my command, my character turns back to Discord; and I say, “Well, as much fun as this has been, I’m thinking it’s time for it to come to an end.”

The draconequus turns to my character and, with a skeptical and suddenly serious look on his face, asks, “What do you mean by that?”  Then, waving his arms around, he adds, “This is Ponyville now.  And soon, the rest of Equestria will be just like this!”  And, again, he starts laughing.

The hoof-falls slow and stop next to my character as I answer, “But, this isn’t what Ponyville was intended to be.”

With a scoff, Discord turns his back to my character, then asks, “And, how do you know that?”

I answer, “This version of Ponyville, your version, is entertaining, but there’s no happiness here.  And, there was happiness here before you changed things.”

At this point, while Discord suggests that my logic works as long as I’m basing Ponyville’s proper condition on happiness levels, I hear Twilight say, “Mormon, I need your help to defeat Discord.”

My character automatically turns to the purple unicorn, and I say, “I’m willing and honored to help.  Where do you want to begin?”

Just then, I hear Lyra next to my character say, “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t leave Berry Punch there to be tortured any longer.  Is it alright if she comes with us?”

As my character’s attention shifts to the pale-green unicorn, Twilight says to her, “Lyra!  I’m glad to see you.”

Lyra looks at her purple friend for a second or two, then hugs her, crying, “Oh, Twilight, I’m so happy to see you back to normal!”

Twilight returns the hug as she says, “I’m happy to be back to normal.  But, right now, I need Mormon’s help.”

I then hear Discord groan in disgust and say, “I’m outta here.”  And, with a wheezing pop, he disappears.

After the two unicorns separate, a couple seconds after Discord vanishes, Twilight says, “Now Lyra, I’m probably going to need your help as much as Mormon’s.  Can you help me teleport us back to Mormon’s house?”

Lyra answers, “By myself I’ve teleported as many as four to Mormon’s house, including him.  But, with the combined effort of both of us, it’d just make the job easier.”

The purple unicorn smiles as she says, “Alright then.  We’ll discuss the plan more when we get to Mormon’s house.”

Lyra nods in agreement, and the two unicorns close their eyes and concentrate while their horns glow and sparkle.

One frame later, the group of four, including Berry Punch, are back at my character’s house.

My character opens the gate and allows the ponies to enter first, then follows them in, closing the gate behind him.

At this point, Twilight turns to my character and asks, “Now, where’s Pinkie Pie?”

I answer, “She’s most likely in the house, in her room.”

The purple unicorn nods as she says, “Good.”  she continues, pointing a front hoof at my character, “If you’ll get her and bring her out here, I have a spell I can use on her to return her to her normal self.”

I nod and say, “I’ll get her immediately.”

And, with that, my character goes through the house, opening and closing doors on his way, to Pinkie’s room.

There, he knocks on the gray-shaded angel pony’s door; and I ask, “Pinkie, may I come in?”

I can’t help but laugh when she growls back, “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!”  Even turned by Discord, she still makes me laugh.

I take a second to regain my composure, after which I say, “Well, too bad.  I’m coming in anyway.”

Now sounding scared, I hear Pinkie call out, “Wait!  I’m not dressed!”

I have my character open the door, showing me that she’s on all fours on her bed, and I say, “The only time I've seen you need to get dressed was for the Grand Galloping Gala.”

The glare she gives me right now reminds me of the glare she gave her friends a few days ago when they threw the surprise birthday party for her, and she’d thought they didn’t want to be her friends anymore; as she growls for a few seconds, then says, “If you’re here to laugh at me, then go away.”

In the mean time, I have my character approach her; and, when she’s finished talking, I say, “We’ve lived together for more than a month now.  And, you should know that I’m not here to laugh at you.  But, I am here to help you get back to the way you were; and your friend, Twilight, is just the one to help you with that.”

By this point, my character is right next to her.

I continue, while my character, under my instructions, kneels in front of her, “Now, Pinkamena, Diane, if you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to Twilight; and she’ll help you remember what you were before, and help you return to normal.”

I can see Pinkie’s hair go quickly from curly to straight to curly again, much more rapidly than I’ve seen it before, suggesting to me that Pinkamena and Diane are grappling for control over Pinkie, as she growls, “Oh, I remember what I was before.”

I have my character pick her up, literally sweeping her off her hooves, then walk her through the house again, as I say, “Good.  I know you were happy then, and I want that happy Pinkie Pie back. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Pinkamena and Diane continue their fight for control of Pinkie until they and my character are outside again.

Then, when Pinkie sees Twilight, Diane allows Pinkamena to have control.

Once my character is close enough to the purple unicorn, he puts the angel pony down between the two of them.

As Twilight’s horn starts to glow, a nervous Pinkie Pie backs away from her, until she backs into my leg.  Seeing that she has no evident escape, she closes her eyes and braces for impact.

Twilight then touches her head with her glowing horn; and Pinkie, starting with her tail and ending with where Twilight touched her, gets her pink coloring back again.

A second later, the pink angel pony starts giggling.

As Twilight backs away from Pinkie again, the purple unicorn turns to my character and asks, “Do you think she’s alright?”

I answer, as Pinkie punctuates her first fit of giggles with a snort, “She must be.  She’s laughing again.”

Then, through her giggles and snorts, Pinkie says, “You won’t believe the dream I just had.  I dreamed … that I didn’t like laughter!  I even got angry … when Fluttershy fake-laughed at me!  And then, … I turned gray!  Can you believe it?”  And, she laughs for a few more seconds before turning to me and saying, “And, Mormon, you were there the whole time to help me.”

I have my character reach down and stroke Pinkie’s mane, and I say, “It’s good to have you back, Pinkie.  Now, we need your help to get your other friends back to normal.”  I then have my character’s attention shift to Twilight, and I ask, “So, where to next?”

Without hesitation, Twilight answers, “Well, Fluttershy’s cottage is closest to here.”  She then turns to the pale-green unicorn and asks, “Lyra, do you want to help me teleport there?”

Lyra confirms, “You, Mormon, and Pinkie Pie?”  Then, seeing the purple unicorn nod, she answers, “Sure, I’d be honored.”

Then, I hear Berry Punch ask, “Is it alright if I stay here?”  As my character focuses on the red-purple earth mare, she continues, “I’m not ready to go back to Ponyville right now.”

My character focuses on her, and I answer, “Sure, no problem.”  And, before I can say anymore, the scene changes from the front of my character’s house to the front of Fluttershy’s cottage.  And, the group only consists of my character, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Lyra.

Then, Pinkie Pie knocks on the normally-timid pegasa’s door and calls out, “Fluttershy, are you in there?”  And, just then, her ears flap, then her eyes blink rapidly, and she rises up on her hind legs as her front legs seem to wiggle on their own.

Instantly, my character moves to catch the stumbling pink angel pony.

At about the same time, the top part of Fluttershy’s door opens, revealing the pegasa, still gray-shaded.  She growls, “What do you want?  I’m busy right now.”

Pinkie Pie, regaining her balance with my character’s help, answers, “We’re here to pay you a visit, and help you get back to normal.”

The pegasa almost sounds masculine when she growls, “You?  Wanna help me?  Get back to normal?  Well, ha, ha, ha!”

The pink angel pony giggles and snorts, then jumps through the open part of the door and tackles the pegasa, and says, “Oh, Fluttershy, I love you too.”

Twilight opens the bottom part of the door and leads the rest of the group in.

In the mean time, Fluttershy calls out, “Somepony get this crazy mare off of me!”

As my character, the last to enter, closes the door behind him, I hear Twilight say, “Fluttershy, this isn’t you.  You need to remember what you were before, what you mean to your friends, what your friends mean to you.  And, I’m here to help you with that.  All of us are.”

My character turns to the group of four mares just in time to hear Pinkie Pie call out, “I can’t hold her for too much longer!  Whatever you do, Twilight, you’d better do it now!”

I’m guessing that Pinkie is between my character and Twilight, as I only hear the purple unicorn say, “Right.”  And, as my character takes a step toward the pink angel pony, I hear Twilight call out, “Clear!”

At that point, Pinkie Pie hops off of the pegasa under her; and I can see Twilight touch Fluttershy with her glowing, sparkling horn.  Then, as Twilight backs away, this time starting with her head and flowing through the rest of her until it gets to the end of her tail, the color returns to Fluttershy.

As the once-again-yellow pegasa rolls onto her side and starts to rise again, she looks at each of her visitors and says, “Twilight!  Mormon!  Pinkie Pie!  Lyra?  Oh, I just had the worst dream.”

As my character moves to help Fluttershy to her hooves, I state, “It’s alright, Fluttershy.  it’s over now.”

And, once the yellow pegasa is on her hooves again, Twilight says, “Well, not quite.  We still have to help Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.”

Fluttershy continues, “Oh, but you don’t understand.  I was mean to all of my friends.”  She then turns to the pink angel pony and, taking a submissive stance, adds, “Especially you, Pinkie.  I’m so sorry.”

Pinkie Pie hugs her yellow pegasa friend and says, “Oh, it’s alright, Fluttershy.  I forgive you.”

Then, as Fluttershy starts to smile, Twilight approaches Lyra and says, “So, let’s go to Sweet Apple Acres now.  Applejack should be there.”

And, at the same time that Lyra agrees with the purple unicorn, Pinkie Pie tells Fluttershy, “On the way there, I’ll tell you the crazy dream I had.”  Then, the scene changes again from inside Fluttershy’s living room to the gateway to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Pinkie Pie to change her mind and say, “Or, maybe not.”

Just then, I hear Applejack say, “So, there y’all are, Twilight.  Where were ya when Ah was a-fightin’ Discord, huh?”

Just then, Big MacIntosh rises up into my character’s field of vision and licks him on the chin, or so I’m guessing, before disappearing once again.  If I’m not mistaken, he’s been burrowing underground like a mole, or something similar.  And, he’s gone back to that.

In the mean time, Twillight gallops toward and tackles Applejack.  Poised over the earth mare, she says, “Applejack, I don’t have time to explain, except to say that I know you’re not a liar.”  And, before Applejack can recover, the purple unicorn jumps off of the earth mare and touches her with her horn as it glows and sparkles.

Then, as Twiight moves away from her, like Fluttershy, Applejack regains her color, starting with her head, where Twilight had touched it, and ending with the end of her tail.  And, as he did with Fluttershy, my character moves to help the orange earth mare onto her hooves again.  But, Applejack groans and asks, “What happened?”  Looking at each of the restored ponies, she says, “Ah had this vision of all of us a-fightin’.  Ah couldn’t face the truth, so Ah started tellin’ lies.”  She then takes her hat off and covers her front with it as she asks, “Can y’all ever forgive me?”

Twilight gallops past her toward Lyra again, saying, “I already have.”

The once-again-orange earth mare puts her hat on her head again and starts to smile.

Then, Pinkie Pie says, “Let’s get in close to Twilight and Lyra.  We’re goin’ to Carousel Boutique now.”

Following the pink angel pony’s advice, Applejack, Fluttershy, and my character join in gathering around the two unicorns as their horns start to glow and sparkle.  And, the scene changes to the front of Carousel Boutique, which seems to be right-side-up and grounded again.

There, as she had at Fluttershy's cottage, Pinkie Pie knocks on the door, then calls out, “Rarity, are you in there?”

Rarity’s voice calls out, “Why, I’m guessing you still want a piece of Tom!  Well, you can’t have him!”

This time, my character reaches out and grabs the doorknob, then pushes the door open.  Then, as the other members of the growing group enter, I say, “I’m guessing you’re still open for business?”

The white unicorn, looking oddly aged with her gray mane and tail, rises onto her hind legs and, thrusting her front hooves forward like a human boxer, neighs, “Keep away from him!  You can’t have him!  He’s mine, all mine!”

Applejack approches my character and says, under her breath, “Rarity’s mighty possessive of a boulder.”

Rarity drops to all fours again and marches toward the orange earth mare, growling, “Tom is no boulder.  He’s a diamond, a bona fide diamond.  And, you can’t have him.”

At this point, I have my character grab the white unicorn and hold her down; then I say, “Twilight, now’s your chance.”

I hear the purple unicorn say, “Right,” and a set of hoof-falls approaches, and I watch as Applejack vanishes from my character’s view, and is replaced by Twilight.

My character holds the white unicorn on her back until I see the purple one’s horn start to glow and sparkle, at which point I have my character let go of the white one, and wait and watch as Twilight touches Rarity with her horn.  Then, after watching Rarity’s mane and tail turn purple again, I ask, “So, Rarity, how do you feel?”

The white unicorn rolls onto her front again and rises, then looks around at her friends and asks, “What’s going on?  Where am I?”  Then, she sees Tom and adds, “And, why is there a boulder in my boutique?”

Applejack, still with a skeptical tone to her voice, answers, pointing to the boulder, “That’s Tom.  You know, yer bona fide diamond?”

At this point, Rarity looks like she’s about ready to hyperventilate.  That, or do one of her dramatic faints.  But, she recovers after a second, then turns to my character and says, “Mormon, open the door.  I must get rid of this rock.”

Obediently, my character opens the door to allow the white unicorn to roll the boulder out of her boutique.  And, once she’s done so, with the two of them outside, she looks back in at the rest of the group and says, “Let us never speak of this again.”

Twilight’s the first to follow Rarity out, and my character is the last.  Then, after taking a moment to count the element bearers, the purple unicorn says, “Well, that’s most of us.  But, we’re still missing Rainbow Dash.”

Fluttershy approaches Twilight and says, “No problem.  I know where she lives.  It’s over the pathway between Ponyville and the Everfree forest.”

Twilight nods to her and says, “Good.  You go on ahead, and we’ll catch up to you.”

Fluttershy nods in agreement, then flies off in the direction of the pathway.

And, in the mean time, the rest of the group runs or gallops to the same trail.

The sun goes down, and the moon rises, setting the world in darkness again, as the group arrives at the pathway linking Ponyville and the Everfree forest.

And, Fluttershy is there to meet the rest of the group, and inform them, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find her anywhere.”

Worriedly, Twilight says, “Without Rainbow Dash, we can’t use the elements.”

Applejack adds, “Well, she could be anywhere by now.  We’re never gonna find her.”

In the mean time, I notice Pinkie Pie’s being distracted by something in the sky.  My character follows where she seems to be focused, and sees the last gray-shaded pegasa on a cloud.

I hear the pink angel pony shout, “Yeah, we will!  ‘Cause, she’s right there!”

I hear Twilight call out, “Rainbow Dash!”

The pegasa waves and answers, “Hey, guys.”

Twilight continues, “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

I suppose that’s only true in that Fluttershy was probably looking all over Rainbow Dash’s house for her.  And, based on what I’ve seen of the pegasa’s house, it couldn’t have been a lengthy search.

At any rate, Rainbow Dash responds, “That’s nice.”

Twilight adds, “Discord’s still on the loose!  We need you to help us defeat him with your element, loyalty!”

Rainbow Dash again waves a forelimb as she says, “Loyalty, schmoyalty.”  Then, rolling on to her front to get a look at her audience, she continues, “Have you guys seen Ponyville?  It’s a disaster!”  She then rolls back onto her back as she concludes, “I’m staying here in Cloudsdale where everything is awesome!”

I then hear Rarity ask, “How in Equestria can she thing that tiny patch of cloud is Cloudsdale?”

Applejack smugly answers, “The same way he got you to think that cheap rock’s a bona fide diamond.”

Before Rarity can say anything, or, more likely, while she’s warning Applejack not to bring up that subject again, I state, “If I’m not mistaken, Discord lead Rainbow Dash to believe that Cloudsdale needed her, that it was going to fall apart without her.”

Again, the gray-shaded pegasa rolls over, then shouts, “And, it did!”  Tapping the cloud, she starts to cry as she continues, “This is all that’s left of Cloudsdale!”  She then regains her composure as she rolls onto her back again and concludes, “And, I’m stayin’ here and defending the last little bit there is!”

That’s when I hear Applejack say, “That’s funny.  Ah thought Cloudsdale was a-gonna be over Appleoosa to produce a light rain shower.”

Then I hear Twilight say, “That’s right!  Cloudsdale’s still around, and it’s still in one piece!  It’s just not near Ponyville right now!”

But, the only response from Rainbow Dash is the sound of her snoring, a snort when she inhales, and a nicker when she exhales.

Twilight sighs as she says, “We don’t have time for this.  We need to get her right now.”  She then turns to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and says to them, “You two are gonna go up and get Rainbow Dash, but not before the rest of us get into my balloon.”  She then turns to Applejack and asks, “Can you get a rope so we can lasso Rainbow Dash?”

The orange earth mare answers, “Sure, no problem.”  And, with that, she gallops back to Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight then turns to my character and says, “Mormon, I’m gonna need your help, too.  Since Pinkie’s gonna be flying with Fluttershy, I’ll need you in the basket to help secure the rope we’re gonna lasso Rainbow Dash with.”

I nod and say, “Sure, I’d be honored to help.”

Twilight nods to my character and says, “Excellent.”  She then divides her attention among the group and says, “Alright, everypony.  We meet at the library and get ready to retrieve Rainbow Dash as soon as Applejack gets the rope.”

The other four ponies offer a soldier’s salute to the purple unicorn and say, “Yes, ma’am!”  And, with that, Applejack heads to Sweet Apple Acres to get the rope.

The remaining four ponies and one human head back into town, where they happen to see Vinyl’s friends somehow managing to make music with instruments made of different types of flowers. And, they don’t seem to be enjoying what they’re playing, either.

As I look at the trio of musicians, somehow, it reminds me of a familiar painting.

And, I’m not surprised to hear Pinkie Pie, when she sees the three performers, worriedly say, “Poor Drum Roll, Lotta Pipes, and Sweet Tones.”

I have my character focus on the pink angel pony, and I say, “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

Pinkie Pie turns back to my character, to me, and says, “True.  Discord won’t kill them.  He’s just making them really unhappy.  And, they’re not going to stay in a place where they won’t be happy.”

I understand what Pinkie Pie’s saying.  After all, this is the reason I have programmed that Vinyl’s trio of friends leaves Ponyville and moves to Canterlot.  Of course, after all that they’ll go through, it’s likely, if they were real, that they’d think they were cursed or hexed or something like that, destined to have trouble follow them everywhere they go.

In the mean time, the group of five make it to the library and go inside, where Spike is on the upper level, evidently asleep, with Owlowiscious evidently taking care of him.

As my character enters the library and stands to his full height, I get a clear view of the hatchling dragon, and the owl looking after him.

While I’m looking at the two creatures, I hear Twilight’s voice ask, “Mormon, you’re the one that wrote that letter to the princesses, telling them I needed help, weren’t you?”

My character instantly turns to the purple unicorn, and I answer, “That’s right.”

Twilight simply nods and, smiling, says, “Thanks, Mormon.”

Just then, I hear a gentle snort from the upper level of the library.  As my character looks up again and focuses on the little purple dragon, he says, “Oh, hi, Mormon.  You weren’t kidding when you said I’d be going through a time tougher than I’d ever gone through before.  But, it was worth it to get Twilight back.”

I reply, “I’m glad I could help.”

Spike turns from my character again and says, “Now, I’m goin’ back to sleep.  When I wake up again, …”

I conclude, “It’ll likely be time for the reading at my house.”

Spike waves a hand behind him and mumbles something as he goes back to sleep.

Presently, Fluttershy flies up to the upper level, to where the little dragon is sleeping, apparently studies him for a few seconds, then gasps, turns to my character and, with a worried look on her face, asks, “Mormon, what did you do to Spike?”

I answer, “Well, like Twilight said, I wrote a letter to the princesses, telling them that Twilight needed help.  This was after that first battle you had with Discord, your first attempt to stop him.  I knew you were going to fail, so I had a plan ready to put into action.  I wrote to the princesses, telling them to send the letters Twilight had been writing back to her.  I knew they’d remind her of what she was, and it’d be the first step toward a real victory against Discord.”

Just then, I hear another wheezing pop behind my character, followed by Discord asking, “What’s this about a victory against me?”

My character turns to the draconequus, and I say, “I’ve just been exercising my right to interfere with your plans, that’s all.”

Discord scoffs, then says, “Well, you’re still missing Rainbow Dash.  And, without her, there’s no way you can defeat me.  Not that you’d have a chance anyway.”

As the draconequus disappears again with a wheezing pop, I say, “Well, like I said before, we humans have a way of turning failures around.  This isn’t over yet.”

And, the last bit of evidence I get that Discord is still listening is hearing his voice say, “Yeah, whatever.”

Then, once again behind my character, I hear Fluttershy ask, “What’s this about you having the right to interfere with Discord’s plans?”

My character turns back to the yellow pegasa, and I answer, “I made a deal with him when you six were in the hedge maze.  The deal was that if he could turn each and every one of you without making physical contact with even one, then I’d go home and not interfere.  But, if he touched even one of you element bearers, then I’d have the right to interfere with his plans any way I saw fit.”

I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Discord surrounded me with balloons that laughed at me when I tripped and fell.  He didn’t touch me.”

As my character turns to the pink angel pony, I hear Twilight say, “I only turned when my friends abandoned me.”

I have my character focus on Fluttershy, who retreats a little before saying, “Discord said you made fun of me because I was weak.  But, I know you better than that.  Then, he stuck his finger into my head.”

The other three ponies gasp, then Twilight asks my character, “Mormon, did you know he was going to do that?”

My character turns to the purple unicorn, and I answer, “If you’re asking if I knew that Discord was going to have to physically touch Fluttershy in order to turn her, then the answer is yes.”

For a few minutes, until the knock on the door, there is only silence.

At the knock, Twilight starts, then recovers before answering the door.

Applejack, on the other side of the opening door, says, “Ah got the lasso right here.”  And, she indicates by lifting the rope, dangling behind her neck, with a front hoof.

Twilight then turns to the rest of the group and says, “Well, in that case, let’s get going.”

A few seconds after that, the group is in the basket of the balloon, save for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie; and, a minute or two later, is approaching the still-sleeping Rainbow Dash from behind.

On the way there, my character takes a moment to tie the non-looped end of the rope to the basket.

At any rate, once the balloon is in range, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy make their approach toward the gray-shaded pegasa.

Fluttershy, maybe an inch or two away from the sleeping pegasa, prepares to tap her on the backside.

Then, Pinkie Pie, noticing what the yellow pegasa is doing, zooms in front of her and says, under her breath, “No, Fluttershy.  We don’t have time for courtesy.”  Then, she opens the loop she’s holding until it can fit around both Rainbow Dash and the cloud she no doubt still thinks is Cloudsdale.  Then, after settling the rope around the pegasa’s midsection, she turns to Twilight and calls out, “Alright, she’s secure!”

I’m not surprised that Pinkie’s shout startles awake the sleeping pegasa.

After looking around and grunting in confusion, Rainbow Dash focuses on the pink angel pony, then says, “Pinkie!  What’re you doing here?”

Fluttershy, on Rainbow Dash’s other side, says, “We’re sorry, Rainbow Dash.  But, we’re gonna have to hold you against your will for a while.  I hope you understand.”

The gray-shaded pegasa’s only warning is a growl that lasts for maybe a second or two, then she flies off.  But, with the rope already around her midsection, she doesn’t get very far.

Twilight has already started to descend in her balloon, leaving Rainbow Dash to struggle in vain to escape.

Once the balloon safely lands on the ground, I have my character exit the balloon and pull the rope down, Rainbow Dash and all.  Then, when she’s close enough, my character grabs her just in front of her hind legs and pushes her toward the ground.

Angrily, the gray-shaded pegasa glares back at my character and says, “If you let me go now, I won’t mess all over ya.”

I respond, “You’ve had plenty of chances to relieve yourself already.  If you’d needed to, you would’ve defecated before now.”

Rainbow Dash retorts, “Then I’ll pee on you.  Just let me go!”

I restate, “You’ll pee on me if I let you go.”  I then add, “Maybe I’d better hold on to you.”

Just then, from in front of the pegasa my character is holding, I hear Twilight’s voice say, “It’s alright, Mormon.  You can let her go now.”

My character focuses on Twilight as she finishes speaking, then I nod as I have my character let Rainbow Dash go.

In the mean time, Twilight prepares her memory spell, as is indicated by her horn glowing and sparkling.  Then, as Rainbow Dash flinches, Twilight touches her with her horn; and I watch through my character’s eyes as the pegasa’s color returns, starting at her head where Twilight had touched her, and ending with the end of her tail, much like what I saw happen to Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity.

The once-again-azure pegasa looks around, disoriented, and asks, “What happened?”  She then comes to her senses and asks, “How’s Ponyville?”  She props herself against Pinkie’s front and asks, “Where are the elements?”  And, finally she tackles Applejack and asks, “Did we stop Discord?”  And, she seems to be surprised to find herself the center of a pony group hug, which, not surprisingly, includes Lyra.

Then, the trio of ballet bison pass by, prompting Twilight to say, “Uh, maybe it’s a little early for a group hug.”

As the seven ponies separate, Lyra says, “Yeah, you may be right about that, Twilight.”

Then, Twilight says, “Now, all we need to do is find Discord.  Any idea where he is?”

I answer, “Knowing him, he’s probably in the middle of his chaos capital.”

Presently, Twilight nods and says, “Town center, got it.”  She then turns to Lyra and asks, “You ready to teleport us there?”

The pale-green unicorn approaches her purple friend, nods, and says, “Ready when you are.”

As the other five ponies and the human gather around the two unicorns, they concentrate; and their horns glow and sparkle.

One frame later, the group is in front of a house of cards, where the trio of ballet bison pirouette into the central opening.

Behind my character, in fact behind the whole group, I hear Discord say, “Oh, so you’re here already.”

The group of eight turn around to face the draconequus, and I say, “And, it’s time for my final act of interference.”

I hear Pinkie say, “I hope you don’t mind, Twily.  I got these back at the library.”  And, my character turns to the pink angel pony to see her pulling necklaces, each with an element of harmony, out of her mane, ending with the tiara containing Twilight’s element of magic.

I then hear Discord melodramatically groan and say, “Just when I was enjoying all my chaos.”

My character turns back to the draconequus to show me, through his eyes, that he’s holding a glass of chocolate milk.

Discord then proceeds to drink the glass around the chocolate milk, then toss the milk behind him.

And, as soon as the chocolate milk hits the ground, it explodes not unlike gun powder.

Applejack, now wearing her necklace, steps forward and says, “That’s right.  Yuh couldn’t break apart our friendship for long.”

Discord proceeds to drag the orange earth mare to him by her element as he says, “Oh, Applejack, don’t lie to me.”  Then, when she’s close enough to him, he continues, “I’m the one who made you a liar.”  And, he proceeds to do the same with the other element bearers, the ones wearing necklaces, before asking, “Will you ever learn?”

Seeing her five friends in such a fix, Twilight uses her magic to teleport herself in among them, then produces a shield to envelop them, then floats them to a spot on the ground, not far from Lyra and my character, where the checkered surface turns to grass and flowers again.  She then says, “I’ll tell you what we’ve learned, Discord.  We’ve learned that friendship isn’t always easy.  But, there’s no doubt it’s worth fighting for.”

The draconequus groans loudly in disgust and says, “Gag.”  He then continues, “Fine, go ahead.  Try and use your little elements.  Friend me.  Just make it quick.”  He then disappears and reappears in his throne as he concludes, “I’m missing some excellent chaos here.”

Taking that as an invitation, Twilight says, “Alright, ladies.  Let’s show him what friendship can do.”

But, it’s clear there’s one missing.

I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Just a moment!”

My character turns to show me, through his eyes, the pink angel pony getting a drink of chocolate milk from a cotton-candy rain cloud.

I say, in a sing-song voice, “Pinkie, there’s no time for that.”

The pink party pony turns to my character, then back to the cloud, then to my character again, and says, “Oh, you’re right, Mormon.”  Then, trotting back to the group, she sings, “Sorry.”

With the group of six element bearers united, Twilight activates her element.

In the mean time, Discord yawns.  That is, until the elements start to shimmer, then fly out of their necklaces and around the draconequus.  Noticing this, he asks, confused, “What’s this?”

At this point, I say, “The subject will now return to stone.”

This clearly gets the draconequus’ attention.  Holding out his front limbs, he says, “Now, wait, wait, wait.  We can talk about this, can’t we?”

As a rainbow rises from the six element bearers, I say, “A little late for talking, don’t you think?”

Then, as the end of the rainbow descends onto Discord, he shouts, “No!”  And, starting with his tail, he starts to turn to stone.  Desperately he writhes to try to stop the process, but it seems to me he knows it’s in vain.  When it finally ends, and the literally petrified draconequus falls to the ground, he seems to resemble a W or maybe the capital Greek letter sigma.  Perhaps even an M depending on how one would choose to look at it.

At any rate, the rainbow stretches over Ponyville until it reaches the outer boundaries.  It then divides in two, and the two halves collapse, producing a half-sphere that eventually dissipates.  And, when the collapsing rainbows hit the ground, they vibrate with a loud thud.

Finally, the element bearers settle on the ground again, and look around to see Ponyville back to the way it was before Discord made changes to it.

Then Princess Luna appears and approaches the purple unicorn, saying, “Congratulations, Twilight.  We knew thou couldst defeat Discord.  Now, thou and thy friends are wanted back at the castle.”  And, before anyone can respond, the scene changes in one frame from the park in Ponyville to the front hall of Canterlot Castle.

For the last time, at least to mark the hour, the moon goes down and the sun rises, once again lighting the world.

In the mean time, there in the hallway to meet the party of eight is Princess Celestia, who says, “We’ve prepared a party in celebration of your victory over Discord.  Is there anything special you would like?”

I hear hoof-falls past my character, who looks down to show me that Pinkie Pie is ambling past him.

The pink angel pony pauses for a moment to look up at my character, at me, and shows me the expression of sadness and worry on her face.  She turns to the white alicorn again and continues her approach, stopping when she’s directly in front of Twilight.  Then, she says, “I-I-I … I have a request for you.”

I think I hear a note of worry in Princess Celestia’s voice as she asks, “Yes, Pinkie.  What is it?”

Pinkie looks down and sighs, then looks up at the daytime princess again and says, “I’ll have to show you first.”

Princess Celestia looks up, past the group of six ponies, and my character turns to show me what, or who, she’s looking at.  It’s about then that I realize she’s exchanging worried looks with her little sister, Princess Luna.  As my character focuses on the daytime princess again, she looks down at Pinkie once more and asks, “My little pony, what’s wrong?”

Pinkie turns to look behind her, in my character’s direction, showing me that tears have welled up in her eyes and are streaming down her cheeks.  She asks, “Princess Luna, c-c-could you … could you t-teleport us just outside of Ponyville?  All nine of us?”

The nighttime princess takes a step forward and asks, “On the trail heading toward the Everfree forest?”

Pinkie shakes her head and answers, “No.”  And, she stops shaking her head as she adds, “The opposite side.”

Princess Luna turns to her older sister for confirmation, then turns back to the pink angel pony and nods in agreement.  She then closes her eyes, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.

The next frame, the group of nine is in front of Ponyville, facing toward Canterlot.

Pinkie starts following a certain path, but looks up just long enough to focus on the daytime princess and say, “Now, if you’ll follow me and Mormon, we have … something you need to see.”

Taking that as an invitation, my character proceeds to catch up to the pink party pony.  Not difficult, considering she’s walking very slowly.

It takes a few minutes for the group of nine ponies and one human to reach the old industrial area, to a barely-standing shed where the familiar basement is.

Pinkie signals to my character by nodding, and he proceeds to open the cellar door leading down into the basement.  He then walks down the stairs and proceeds to open the basement door.

In the mean time, I hear Pinkie say, “More than a month ago, when Mormon first arrived, he told three stallions that he’d once eaten horse meat, although he didn’t know it at the time.  Then, when he helped Fluttershy guide a family of ducks through Ponyville, I thought the best way to thank him would be to serve him something with meat in it.  So, after … Gilda, Rainbow Dash’s friend, … left that party I threw for her at … Sugar Cube Corner, … I caught her, and … and I killed her here.”  She takes a moment to sob and sniffle before continuing, “Then, Mormon told me … he didn’t need me to get meat for him, … and … and I wasn’t acting like … like the Pinkie he … he knew and … loved.”

By the time Pinkie has told as much of her story as she could, my character has ascended the stairs again, and taken a position next to the pink angel pony.  As she falls forward and starts bawling, I have my character kneel on one knee next to her and start stroking her mane.  In the mean time, I add, “Last night, I had a dream that this basement was being used again.  And, I guess Pinkie had the same dream.  We came here and found Topsy Turvy, Discord’s daughter, about to be killed by Derpy Hooves.  I managed to stop Derpy before she could go through with killing Topsy Turvy, and brought them back to my home.  As far as I know, they’re still there.”

Princess Celestia approaches Pinkie and asks, “So, what do you want me to do?”

Pinkie, still sniffling, asks, “Could you … fill this basement with dirt or something … make it so nopony can use it again?”

As the daytime princess answers affirmatively, I happen to notice something through my character’s perspective.  Namely, as I look into the room, I notice something about the size of the basement compared to the shed, that the basement is larger, at least in one direction, than the shed is. Curious, I have my character rise from comforting Pinkie Pie and walk toward where the basement seems to stretch further than the shed.  And, then, I notice it—an old, wooden outhouse is maybe a foot away from the shed.  I have my character turn back to the daytime princess, and I ask, “Before you go ahead with filling this basement, I have something I want to look into first.”

Princess Celestia nods as she says, “You have a few minutes while I go outside and gather as much dirt as I need to fill this basement.”  And, she proceeds outside to follow her plan.

In the mean time, I simply nod in agreement, then direct my character down into the basement again.

And, while my character is walking down the stairs, I think it’s Rainbow Dash I hear saying, “I can see an outhouse just next door, and I really need to pee.”  And, as my character passes the doorway, I hear flapping above ground.

I have my character look up at the ceiling to certify my suspicions, that the hole I saw in the ceiling opposite the entrance indeed shows me the roof of the nearby outhouse.  And, just as I catch sight of that roof, the hole darkens; and I hear dripping, like a tap just barely running, coming form that hole.  I have my character back away from the hole and the sound, hoping that he doesn’t catch any of Rainbow Dash’s urine.  But, at least she helped me confirm my suspicions about this basement.  And, as my character returns to the entrance, I can’t help laughing.

As my character reaches the doorway of the basement, I hear Twilight ask, “Mormon, are you alright down there?”

I answer, “I’m just fine!  I just figured out what this basement was originally used for!”

I then hear a loud, wet fart, then a splatter, followed by Rainbow Dash asking, “Is somepony down there?”

I answer, “It’s just me!”

From the hole in the basement ceiling, I hear flapping, followed by the azure pegasa crying, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!  I’m so sorry, Mormon, I didn’t know you were down there!”

I reply, “It’s alright.  You just helped me confirm my suspicions about this basement.”

Rainbow Dash calms down enough to ask with genuine curiosity, “And, what’s that?”

I answer, “This basement was originally used as a septic tank for the outhouse where you just relieved yourself!”

At this point, Pinkie Pie groans as she restates, “So, a month ago, … I used a septic tank … as a butchering room.”  And, I’m guessing Pinkie’s the one I hear gag and belch.

I call out, “I’m coming back out now!”  And, my character immediately starts walking up the stairs again.

As my character rises more and more from the stairs, I notice ponies surrounding a certain spot, and my character has to climb further up for me to see worried looks on the faces I can see.  When my character finally reaches the top, I see, in the middle of the circle, Pinkie Pie, sitting canine style, evidently looking into a puddle of her vomit.  I ask, “Pinkie, are you alright?”

Pinkie opens her mouth, only to contribute a little more to her butterscotch puddle.  Then, after panting for a second or two, she looks up at my character and, butterscotch still dripping from her mouth, answers, “I guess I will be.  I just didn’t realize what I was getting into down there.  At least now, … some of what Gilda said … makes sense.”

I decide not to ask any more questions.  Which is just as well, since it looks like Pinkie is in no condition to answer anyway.  Instead, I have my character approach the pink angel pony, prompting the other ponies to move aside, then kneel on one knee next to her and rub her back.

In the mean time, I hear flapping from the doorway of the shed, followed by Rainbow Dash asking, “Is everything alright in here?”

My character turns to her, and I answer, “Everything’s fine.  I guess Pinkie Pie took my discovery a little differently than I took it.”

Then, I hear Applejack say, “Well, if’n ev’rypony were to use the outhouse the way Rainbow Dash jes did, it’d take maybe a month to fill ‘er up.”

I add, as my character turns to her, “And, the doorway would likely leak.  Which is most likely why this shed, the basement, and the outhouse were abandoned.”

As the orange earth mare nods in agreement, I hear Princess Celestia say, “Then, we’re agreed that the best plan of action, to insure this basement is never used again, is to fill it with dirt?”

My character instantly turns his attention to the daytime princess, and I simply nod and grunt in agreement.  And, I notice she’s supporting a large sphere of dirt in her magic.

As ponies move aside to allow Princess Celestia to approach the hole, she steps toward it, then uses her magic to siphon the dirt from the sphere into the basement, starting at the back and eventually ending at the doorway.  She then uses some of her magic to close the door, before asking, “Pinkie, shall I also cover the stairs with dirt?”

The angel pony looks up at the daytime alicorn, then simply nods.

Princess Celestia nods back, then proceeds to siphon the rest of the dirt onto the stairs until they’re covered.  Then, after that, she uses her magic to close the cellar door again.

Seeing the cellar door closed, Pinkie rises to all fours again and sighs, “Good.  I hope this room is never used again.”

Then, as Princess Luna’s horn glows and sparkles, I hear Rainbow Dash say, “Mormon, I really didn’t mean to pee and poop on you.”

And, the group appears in the front hallway of Canterlot Castle, in the midst of entering guests, just as Rainbow Dash mentions peeing and pooping on me.

As my character turns to the azure pegasa, I answer, “It’s alright.  I wasn’t close enough to even get splashed on.”  And, that’s when I realize the silence, in spite of all the ponies.  Whatever they heard, they probably weren’t expecting it.

Then, Princess Celestia says, “It’s alright, mares and gentle stallions.  Please, go back to what you were doing before.”  Then, as conversations evidently resume, the daytime princess turns back to the party of eight and says, “Perhaps you need some time to freshen up.  Luna will show you to the bathrooms.  And, when you’re finished using them, she will lead you to the throne room for the celebration.”

As Princess Celestia turns and walks away from the rest of the eight, I hear Twilight Sparkle say, “Thank you, princess.”

And, as designated, Princess Luna leads the group to the castle bathrooms, where the ponies enter one room, evidently designated for mares, and my character enters the other, designated for stallions.

A few minutes later, when all have used the facilities as needed, the group returns to the hallway, where Princess Luna leads them to the throne room.

At the doorway, Princess Luna directs the element bearers to enter first, in two rows of three, with my character following behind Pinkie Pie, who is in the middle of the second row.

In the front row is, in order, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash; while Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy make up the row behind them.

The procession, lead by the nighttime princess, takes a few seconds to get to Princess Celestia.  Just short of the steps, the six element bearers and the human and Lyra stop; and Princess Luna joins her sister on the stage.

To one side, I notice Spike and Weed Whacker.  And, I might add, Spike looks fully recovered from his ordeal.

On the other side, I notice Lyra joins Ataahua and Topsy Turvy.  And, to be honest, I didn’t expect to see the gray pegasa and the pink earth mare.

With the group of seven standing in front of the two princesses, Celestia says, “We are gathered here today to honor the heroism of these six friends, and Mormon who assisted them.”

Somehow, I’m really not surprised to hear cheering from the audience.  Lyra, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, Spike, and Weed Whacker are also cheering.

After a few minutes, when the cheers die down, Princess Celestia nods and says, “Now, Mormon, if you will step forward.”

The element bearers step aside, allowing my character to walk to the front.

Princess Celestia continues, “At the Grand Galloping Gala, you were promised to host a special reading here.  Unfortunately, circumstances didn’t allow for that.  So, in order to make it up to you, I request that we have a special reading here, now.”

My character nods, and I answer, “I’d be honored.  But, first, I’d like to make a request.”

The daytime alicorn smiles, but she sounds surprised as she says, “But, of course.  What is it?”

I answer, “Berry Punch is staying at my house right now.  She was tortured by Discord, and didn’t feel like returning to Ponyville so soon afterward.  Could she also be part of the reading, just this once?”

Princess Celestia continues to smile as she nods and answers, “I would be honored to grant your request.”  She then turns to her sister and nods, at which point the nighttime alicorn disappears.  And, when she reappears a few seconds later, the red-purple earth mare is with her.

With one more pony in the reading group, the daytime alicorn produces enough copies of the Book of Mormon for each of the ponies that don’t already have one.

Then, with Ataahua on my character’s right and Topsy Turvy on his left, as well as Berry Punch taking a position between Ataahua and Lyra, the rest of the members of the reading group take their positions.

Before the reading can begin, Topsy Turvy raises a front hoof and asks, “Uh, before we start, where is my daddy?”

Throughout the audience the word “daddy” is echoed in the form of a question.

After a few seconds, Princess Celestia sighs and rises to all fours.  She approaches a clear window, saying, “If you’ll follow me, Topsy Turvy, I’ll show you where we have your father.”

I decide to have my character rise as well, and walk alongside the clearly worried earth mare; and I say, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Discord back where he was at the beginning of this day.”

Topsy Turvy’s voice shakes as she says, “P-please, I just w-want to see h-him.”

Then, the human and the earth pony arrive at the window; and Topsy Turvy gets her first look at the Sigma-shaped draconequus.  I watch, through my character’s eyes, as the pink earth pony trembles for a second or two.  Then, she sniffles loudly and whimpers, “Oh, daddy, I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you!”  And, she starts sobbing.

I have my character start to stroke the earth mare’s back, and I ask, “Do you want to go out and see him?”

Topsy Turvy shakes her head, scattering her tears around her, and answers, “No, this is enough.”

During this time, the only ones making any sound are Topsy Turvy, Princess Celestia, and me.  My guess is no one knows how to respond.  On the one hand, a menace to Equestria is no longer a menace.  On the other hand, the father of an earth pony, albeit a rather unusual one, has been trapped in stone.

I have my character kneel on one knee, and I ask, “Do you want me to carry you back to the reading circle?”

Through her sobs, trembling, and sniffling, Topsy Turvy manages to answer, “I just need a sec.”

I decide to keep my character near her for a few more seconds, until she turns to him and says, “Alright, I’m ready for the reading now.”  And, she rises onto her hind legs, reminding me of a human child standing, especially when she stretches her forelimbs out to my character, inviting him to pick her up.

I allow him to do so, then have him return to his position in the circle, and place her between him and Weed Whacker.  After that, I focus my character’s attention on the gray pegasa, and I ask, “Ataahua, will you start reading in the Book of Mosiah, chapter eighteen?”

As the gray pegasa nods, then looks at her copy of the Book of Mormon, then opens it and starts flipping through the pages, Berry Punch asks, "Uh, excuse me, but who's Ataahua?"

The pegasa I'd just invited to start the reading looks up and answers, smiling, "That's me!  Mormon gave me the nickname because I didn't like the names others gave me."

The reddish purple earth mare continues, "Uh, yeah, and what does it mean?"

I open my mouth to answer, but Ataahua beats me to it, stating, "It comes from the language, ... uh ..." Then, she looks up at my character and asks, "What language is it?"

I have my character stroke the gray mare's mane as I answer, "It comes from the Maori language.  It means 'beautiful.'"

At this point, the gray pegasa nods her head vigorously and says, "That's right.  It's Maori, and it means 'beautiful.'"

Now, I ask, "So, shall we get back to the reading?"

Berry Punch smiles and nods and answers, "Sure, go ahead."

By this point, it's clear that all the others in the circle have also found their place in the book.

But, before Ataahua actually begins the reading, Princess Luna rises to all fours and gives an abbreviated overview of what has happened up to the point where the group will be reading.  And, she also informs Ataahua that each of the readers reads one verse, or one enumerated paragraph

After that, Ataahua nods to the nighttime princess before reading, "And now, it came to pass that Alma, who had fled from the servants of king Noah, repented of his sins and iniquities, and went about privately among the people, and began to teach the words of Abinadi—"

At this point, I'd like to state that Ataahua read surprisingly well for what I'd expect from a creature with misaligned eyes.  That's why I have my character stroke her mane while I read, "Yea, concerning that which was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and death of Christ, and his resurrection and ascension into heaven."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And as many as would hear his word he did teach.  And he taught them privately, that it might not come to the knowledge of the king.  And many did believe his words."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that as many as did believe him did go forth to a place which was called Mormon, having received its name from the king, being in the borders of the land having been infested, by times or at seasons, by wild beasts."

Princess Luna reads, "Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees, where he did hide himself in the daytime from the searches of the king."

Princess Celestia reads, "And it came to pass that as many as believed him went thither to hear his words."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And it came to pass after many days there were a goodly number gathered together at the place of Mormon, to hear the words of Alma.  Yea, all were gathered together that believed on his word, to hear him.  And he did teach them, and did preach unto them repentance, and redemption, and faith on the Lord."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;"

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—"

Spike reads, "Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?"  He then looks up and, tilting his head, asks, "Uh, what does it mean, being baptized?"

I answer, "To be baptized is to be immersed in water.  And, there is symbolism in this, beyond being one of the first steps in being included in the church of Jesus Christ.  When one is immersed in water, it symbolizes death and burial.  Then, when he or she comes back up out of the water, that symbolizes resurrection, or rebirth.  The process can also be compared to taking a bath: one goes into the water dirty, and comes out clean.  In this case, it's more of a spiritual process than a physical one, although the physical component is important as a symbol of what happens to the spirit."

The hatchling dragon listens, then says, "Thanks, Mormon.  That makes a lot of sense."

I then turn to the white unicorn, and I ask, "Rarity, will you continue reading?"

Rarity nods, then looks down and reads, "And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts."

Applejack reads, "And now it came to pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the first, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart."

Fluttershy reads, "And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world."

Lyra reads, "And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit."

Berry Punch reads, "And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury himself again in the water."

Ataahua reads, "And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God."

I read, "And they were called the church of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward.  And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And it came to pass that Alma, having authority from God, ordained priests; even one priest to every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to teach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."

Weed Whacker reads, "And he commanded them that they should teach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets."

Princess Luna reads, "Yea, even he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people."  She then looks up and says, "This must've been one of the reasons why God put so much importance on keeping Lehi and his family safe when He told him, after sending him into the wilderness to travel for a few days, to send his sons back.  Being a God that knows how things are going to turn out, He would've seen this coming, and planned for it."

Princess Celestia reads, "And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And thus he commanded them to preach.  And thus they became the children of God."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And he commanded them that they should observe the sabbath day, and keep it holy, and also every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God."  She then looks up and says, "That's one of the ten commandments, isn't it?"

Twilight Sparkle nods to the angel pony, then looks down into her own book and reads, "And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained should labor with their own hands for their support."

Spike reads, "And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to assemble themselves together."

Rarity reads, "And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God."

Applejack reads, "And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given."

Fluttershy reads, "And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy, naked soul."

Lyra reads, "And this he said unto them, having been commanded of God; and they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants."  She then grunts with interest before saying, "I guess it makes sense that God would care as much about our physical needs as our spiritual needs.  After all, we couldn't do a lot of good in this life if we couldn't live it for very long."

Berry Punch reads, "And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."

Ataahua reads, "And these things were done in the borders of the land, that they might not come to the knowledge of the king."

I read, "But behold, it came to pass that the king, having discovered a movement among the people, sent his servants to watch them.  Therefore on the day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord they were discovered unto the king."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And now the king said that Alma was stirring up the people to rebellion against him; therefore he sent his army to destroy them."  She then looks up and asks, "Does this King Noah have any evidence that Alma was plotting against him?"

Now, Princess Celestia answers, "No.  But, from his point of view, he doesn't need any evidence either.  All he knows is that changes are happening among his people; and, to him, that's trouble.  It doesn't matter to him if the changes being made are good or bad.  They're changes, and so they're a threat to him."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that Alma and the people of the Lord were apprised of the coming of the king’s army; therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the wilderness."

Princess Luna reads, "And they were in number about four hundred and fifty souls."

At this point, I rise and say, "And, I think that should be the end of the reading for now."  More to the audience beyond the readers than the readers themselves, I continue, "It's been an honor and a pleasure to host this reading for you this evening.  Those of you from Ponyville may already be aware of the readings that are being held there."  I then focus my character's attention on the daytime alicorn, and I ask, "Princess Celestia, do you host readings here?"

The daytime princess rises to all fours before answering, "As a matter of fact, I do.  They're generally among my sister and myself, as well as a few relatives and servants who want to join in."  She then turns to the audience and says, "Those of you who live here in Canterlot are also welcome to come and take part in the readings."  She then turns back to my character and asks, "If I send my sister with you, will you get, say, a hundred copies of the Book of Mormon, so I can offer them to those who want to join in the readings?"

I answer, "I'd be honored.  But, first, I'm thinking there's some business that needs to be completed here."

Princess Celestia nods to my character and says, “Of course, you’re right.”  She then turns to her audience again and says, “If you will look to your right, I will now open the curtain for you, and reveal the stain glass window which has been made to commemorate the victory of these seven friends over Discord.”

Indeed, all this time, there has been one window that’s been covered by a curtain.  And, as the attention of all in attendance turns to the covered window, the curtain parts, revealing a picture, in stain glass, of six ponies, each colored like one of the element bearers, surrounding a human figure, no doubt representing my character, and firing energy beams at the figure of the draconequus above them.

Again the crowd cheers at this commemoration of the element bearers’ victory over Discord.

On the other hand, Topsy Turvy turns a hundred eighty degrees so she’s facing away from it.

I decide to have my character pick her up and hold her until the cheering dies down, or until the pink earth mare has regained her composure.  And, for that time, I find it interesting how clearly I can make out both the sobbing of Topsy Turvy and the cheering of the other creatures.

When all have calmed down, Princess Celestia says to the audience, “Now, you are dismissed to the hallway.  We will have refreshments for you while Mormon and my sister get the copies of the book for you.”  Then, as the members start to filter out through the doorway, the daytime alicorn turns to my character and asks, “Now, will you put Topsy Turvy on her hooves on the floor?”

I answer, “Sure,” and my character proceeds to follow the white alicorn's request.

As Topsy Turvy, still sniffling a little and rubbing at her eyes, looks up at the daytime princess, Celestia says to her, “Now, I have a job for you, one that I’m sure you will be happy to accept.”

The pink earth mare asks, “Wh-what’s that, M-m-ma’am?”

Princess Celestia then proceeds to lower her head so she’s at eye level with Topsy Turvy, then asks, “Will you be your father’s keeper?”

Any lingering sadness in the pink earth mare is replaced by growing confusion, clearly indicated in the way she tilts her head, as well as her grunt.

Princess Celestia continues, “While he remains a statue in front of the labyrinth, he’s going to need to be cleaned on a regular basis.  Will you do that?”

Topsy Turvy turns and gallops to the window where the daytime princess had shown her the literally petrified form of Discord.  I don’t doubt that, for those few seconds, she’s looking at the statue of her father.  Finally, she takes a shaky breath, then, releasing it in the form of a sigh, pushes away from the window.  At first she’s looking down as her forelimbs land on the ground in front of her.  Then, she looks up at Princess Celestia, who has followed her, although at a slower pace, and answers, “I want to be with my daddy.  And, if the way I can do that is by being his keeper, then that’s what I’ll do.”

I can see the daytime alicorn, holding her wings up much like a swan would, smiling as she says, “Then, so it shall be.”  She looks up again and folds her wings to her sides as she says, “From this time forward, let it be known that Topsy Turvy shall be Discord’s keeper.  She will be provided with cleaning supplies and other things she needs.”  She then turns back to the pink earth mare and adds, “But, in return, you will not try to release you father from his stone prison.  I will request it of the element bearers if and when I consider it appropriate.”

Topsy Turvy simply nods and says, “Yes, Ma’am.”

Princess Celestia then approaches my character and says, “Now, Mormon, since you will be taking care of Topsy Turvy and Derpy Hooves, as well as Pinkie Pie and Lyra Heartstrings, it’ll be up to you to make sure Topsy Turvy is well cared for.  And, you will make sure she fulfills her duties as the keeper of Discord. Do you understand?”

My character nods automatically as I say, “Yes, princess.”

The daytime alicorn nods back, then says, “Well, in that case, do you wish to stay here, or to return to your home?”

I answer, “As much as I enjoy being here, I think I prefer to return to my home now.”

At this point, Princess Luna approaches my character and says, “Very well then.  If those with thee will gather around, then I shall return you to your home.”

The ponies and dinosaur approach as I call their names: Topsy Turvy, Ataahua, Pinkie Pie, Weed Whacker, Berry Punch.  Then, after they’ve gathered around my character and the nighttime princess, she closes her eyes and concentrates; and her horn starts to glow and sparkle; and one frame later the group of seven is on the lawn in front of my character’s house.

Before anyone can do anything further, Princess Luna turns to my character and says, “Now, Mormon, you agreed to supply my sister and me with one hundred copies of the Book of Mormon.”

I nod and say, “That’s right.  So, with the help of my friends here, I’ll get that done.”  And, my character proceeds to the door, with the four ponies and one dinosaur following him.

Once inside, I proceed to the closet where the copies of the book are located.  I have my character gather the books, five at a time, and hand them to one of the ponies or to Weed Whacker, who carry them out to the nighttime alicorn.

My character automatically keeps track of how many of the books he hands to each of the ponies and the dinosaur; and, in a matter of minutes, the hundred books have gone from the closet to a neat block next to Princess Luna.

As soon as my character has handed the last five books to the nighttime princess, he closes the closet door, then follows the little dinosaur out to the princess to help her place the books in the block.

When he’s finished, he steps back.

Then Princess Luna nods to him and says, “Thank you for this gift, Mormon.  It will help us a lot.”  And, before I can answer, she closes her eyes and nods her head; and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.  A second later, the nighttime alicorn and the books disappear.

At this point, I look at my group of friends and ask, “So, shall we get ready for dinner?”

I must admit, I’m surprised to see Topsy Turvy smile when she answers, “Sure!”

Then, Ataahua asks, “But, what do you want us to do?”

I answer, “For the past month or so, in preparation for dinner, Weed Whacker, Lyra, Pinkie Pie and I have harvested fruits and vegetables for dinner.  Weed Whacker would harvest vegetables from the vegetable garden, Lyra would harvest fruits from the vineyard, and Pinkie Pie and I would harvest fruits from the orchard.  Considering there are, at present, seven here right now, consisting of five ponies, one dragon, and one human, it seems to me only fair that, with two already working in the orchard, at least one more pony should help in the vineyard, and at least one more in the vegetable garden.”

Presently, Topsy Turvy steps forward and says, “I wanna work with Derpy Hooves.”

Then, before I can agree to the pink earth mare’s request, Berry Punch says, “I’m not good with vegetables, my talent is more with fruits from vines.  So, I would prefer to help Lyra in the vineyard.”

I nod to the red-purple earth mare and say, “Fair enough.”  Then, I have my character turn to the pink earth mare and the gray pegasa; and I ask, “Would you two be willing to work in the vegetable garden with Weed Whacker?”

Presently, Weed Whacker turns to my character and starts waving her arms and says, “Now, Mormon, wait!”  As my character automatically focuses his attention on the little herbivorous dinosaur, she continues, “You know I work alone in the vegetable garden.”

I nod and respond, “That may have been true before, but now we have two more ponies that need to feel welcome.  And, they can help you.  So, will you allow them to do that?”

The little dinosaur lets her forelimbs drop to her sides, seeming to want to indicate defeat.  She then turns to her new assistants, then back to my character, and says, “Alright then, Mormon.”

I nod to Weed Whacker and say, “Good.”  Then, I divide my character’s attention among the entire group; and I say, “Now, let’s get to harvesting.”  Focusing my character’s attention on the red-purple earth mare, I say, “Berry Punch, you’ve harvested with Lyra before.  So, you should do just fine.”  I then focus my character’s attention on Topsy Turvy and Ataahua, and I say, “You’ll be assisting Weed Whacker.  And, since she is familiar with the vegetable garden, I want you to follow her advice.”  And, finally, I have my character divide his attention over the remaining party of six; and I say, “Now, let’s get going!”

A chorus of “Yes, sir!” rings out around the group, and they disperse to their assigned tasks.

Once Pinkie Pie and my character are in the orchard, the pink angel pony turns to my character and says, “Not everypony will understand why you put the lives of me and my friends in jeopardy the way you did; but I just want you to know that I understand.  And, I thank you.”

Then, Diane takes control of Pinkie Pie and, as she selects a tree, adds, “I suppose there’s been no time limit put on your right to interfere with Discord’s plans.”

As my character selects the pear tree to harvest fruits from, it occurs to me that Diane is right.  I chuckle as I say, “I suppose the only limit to the right I earned is my life.”

Diane kicks the tree she chose, causing seven apples to fall from it, as she says, “Then, when and if Discord is ever released from his stone form, you still have the right to interfere in any plans he might make, is that right?”

I pause for a moment before answering, “You know, I suppose you’re right about that.”

Then, before handing control back to Pinkamena, Diane says, “So, until the time that Discord is released from his statue, and after that, our job will be to keep you alive.  And, I will accept that responsibility with honor and gratitude for what you did to help us defeat Discord.”

Then, after Pinkamena takes control of Pinkie Pie, and before she starts picking up the apples, she slowly says, “Just one thing.”  And, without waiting for my invitation to continue, she asks, “While the elements weren’t in that hedge maze, there was one thing of value that was there, isn’t that right?”

I answer, “I suppose it depends on how you look at it.  I did get the chance to make a deal with Discord, one that allowed me the right to interfere in his plans.  If you want to consider that valuable, then yes, there was something of value in that maze.”

Pinkie approaches my character and asks, “Do you think your deal with Discord was the only way we could’ve won?”

I have to pause to think about that.  As I gather my thoughts, I answer, “Who knows?  Would Discord have tried to turn each of you if I hadn’t suggested it?  Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t.  But, I know he would’ve had to touch Fluttershy to turn her.

“Would Princess Celestia have known to send back all the letters Twilight had sent her without my help?  Probably.  She did have the foresight to have Twilight write those letters in the first place.

“Could I have interfered with Discord’s plans without the deal?  Again, maybe I could, maybe I couldn’t.  But, it helped that Discord thought he had me over a barrel by making that deal.  And, with Princess Celestia’s help, I was able to turn things around and return you and your friends to the way you were.

“All in all, perhaps the deal I made with Discord wasn’t so necessary after all.  But, it seems to me that it was the best we had.  And, like I said to your sister Diane, as long as I’m alive, I still have the right to interfere in Discord’s plans any way I see fit.”

By the time I’ve answered Pinkie’s question the best I could, she’s gathered the fallen apples and attached them to her mane.  After hearing me out, she jumps over the fence, then turns to my character again, to me, and says, “You were certainly right about one thing.  When we were in our darkest hour, one of us was willing to follow the path you shed light on.”  And, with that, she gallops back to the house.

As my character climbs over the fence, fruits and all, I can’t help noticing that, unlike when Discord was in control, the sky is slowly darkening, indicating that the sun is slowly going down.  I have my character look up into the sky to see the sun disappear behind the mountains, and the moon rise slowly in its place.  And, that’s another thing.  Instead of the sun and moon trading places marking the change from one hour to another, they trade places in the middle of an hour.

I have my character return to the house, following the ponies and dinosaur, and find Pinkie Pie there, opening the door with her forehead curl.  Then, my character, the last to enter, closes the door behind him.

The same happens with the kitchen door:  Pinkie Pie, the first there, opens the door; and my character, the last to enter, closes it behind him.

Weed Whacker still cleans the fruits and vegetables in the sink, and I still distribute them to ponies at the table.  But, since there are five ponies instead of the normal two, I have Pinkie Pie separate stems from fruits, Lyra cut up vegetables, and Berry Punch cut up tree and kiwi fruits.  Then, Ataahua and Topsy Turvy are put in charge of putting the cut-up fruits and vegetables on a platter that Pinkie Pie provides for them.

All in all, the process of preparaing dinner, taking it into the front room to eat, and eating it, takes up the rest of the hour, as does the clean-up afterwards.

When the remnants of dinner have been cleaned up, Pinkie Pie turns to me and asks, “Mormon, is it alright if I teach Topsy Turvy a song that she can sing to Discord?”

Presently, Topsy Turvy, hearing Pinkie Pie, gallops to my character and says, “Sing?  To my daddy?  I don’t think that’s such a good idea.  He doesn’t like hearing anypony sing.”

At this point, I seem to remember what Discord had Vinyl’s friends doing.  Aloud, I think, “Oh, I don’t know about that.  He did have Drum Roll, Lotta Pipes, and Sweet Tones performing for him.  So, considering that, I see no problem with Pinkie Pie’s idea.”

Pinkie Pie hops around Topsy Turvy as she shouts, “Oh, thank you, Mormy!”  Then, she grabs the worried pink earth mare and, forelimb-in-forelimb, pulls her into my character’s workroom.

From that point, and for the rest of the hour, I have trouble making out what Pinkie tries to teach Topsy Turvy.

In the mean time, the other three ponies, and the dinosaur, retire to their rooms.

Of course, after finding out that Topsy Turvy is occupying the room she and Carrot Top had occupied, Berry Punch decides to sleep in the room next to the one Ataahua chose.

I decide that the least I can do is have my character retire to his room and write his letter to the princesses.  And, in that letter, I dictate how I made a deal with Discord that if he could turn each of the element bearers without making physical contact with any of them, I’d return to my home and not interfere with his plans; and that, if he did touch even one of them, I’d have the right to interfere in his plans any way I saw fit.  I dictate that Discord couldn’t turn Fluttershy without touching her, and that earned me the right to interfere in his plans.  I also state that, as Pinkie had suggested to me, I’ll have that right for the rest of my life.

I include that, while I knew I’d be putting Equestria’s heroes in danger, I also provided a way to get them out of it, and eventually win.  I also include that I didn’t take full control, I just helped return Twilight and the other element bearers.

Finally, I dictate that I’m honored to take care of Derpy Hooves and Topsy Turvy as well as Pinkie Pie and Lyra.  And, I dictate that, considering I’ve been successful in advancing Pinkie Pie on her path to becoming an alicorn, I’m considering running similar experiments on Lyra, and perhaps on Derpy Hooves and Topsy Turvy as well.

Finally, I have the letter signed, rolled up, and delivered to Weed Whacker, who bites it and sends it to the princesses.

After that, I have my character return to the front room and sit on the couch closest to the kitchen, waiting for Pinkie Pie and Topsy Turvy to come in, ready for Topsy Turvy to assume her duties as the keeper of her father, Discord.

It isn’t until halfway into the hour that I hear knocking on my character’s front door.

He automatically rises and answers the door to show me Princess Luna on the other side.

The nighttime princess nods and says, “It is time for Topsy Turvy to assume her duties as Discord’s keeper.”

About this time, I hear another door open; and my character turns toward the hallway connected to the front room to show me Pinkie Pie and Topsy Turvy entering from there.

The pink earth mare, looking up and seeing Princess Luna, says, “Oh, I guess it’s time for me to take care of daddy now.”

The nighttime alicorn nods and answers, “That’s right.”

Topsy Turvy then turns to my character and asks, “Will you go with me?”

I nod and answer, “That is part of my job of taking care of you.”

Then, Pinkie Pie steps forward and says, “I’d like to go, too.”

Again, Princess Luna nods, then answers, “That’s fine.”  She then backs away from the door and asks, “Does anypony else want to come?”

Pinkie Pie shakes her head and answers, “As far as I know, everypony else is asleep.”

The nighttime princess gestures with her head as she says, “Well, then, let’s go.  The cleaning supplies will be ready for you when we get there.”

Topsy Turvy seems a little nervous as she nods and says, “Yes, ma’am.”

The group of three ponies and one human gather on the front lawn, at which point the nighttime alicorn closes her eyes and concentrates.  In the next frame, the group is in between the hedge maze and the statue of Discord.

As soon as she opens her eyes, Princess Luna turns to the pink earth mare and says, “Now, I will fetch the servant with the cleaning supplies.  Ye shall wait here.”  And, with that, she disappears.

Then I hear Topsy Turvy say, “Mormon?”  And, as my character focuses on the pink earth mare, she continues, “I’ve never done cleaning before.  In daddy’s realm of chaos, we didn’t need to.  So, how does it work?”

I have my character kneel on one knee in front of Topsy Turvy, and I answer, “You’ll notice that the stone is white colored.  Your job is to clean off anything that isn’t that white color.  Also, if it doesn’t follow Discord’s normal shape, then you should clean that off as well.”

Topsy Turvy asks, “But, what about the stone itself?  Shouldn’t I clean that off, too?”

At this point, Pinkie Pie answers, “The stone is there because of the Elements of Harmony.  If you try to remove the stone, well, whatever happens, it likely won’t be good for Discord, and probably not for you either.”

Hearing Pinkie’s explanation, Topsy Turvy simply nods in understanding.

But, before she can vocalize her understanding, Luna appears once again near the group, this time accompanied by an elderly earth stallion carrying a bucket filled with water.  After he puts the bucket down, he says, “Well, nice to meet you again, Mormon.”

From the light I can see reflecting off of the earth pony, I do seem to recognize his color and shape.  Then the name dawns on me, and I say, “Grounds Keeper, right?”

The earth stallion smiles and nods and answers, “That’s right.”  He then tilts his head and asks, “So, how’s Fluttershy doin’?”

I answer, “She’s fine.”

Before the conversation can continue, Princess Luna steps forward and says, “Topsy Turvy must get to her duties as soon as possible.  But, in the mean time, Grounds Keeper has other duties to take care of.”  And, before farewells can be said, again the nighttime princess disappears, along with Grounds Keeper.

My character turns to Topsy Turvy, who has already put a forelimb into the bucket.  She pulls out a cloth, no doubt intended for cleaning, and proceeds to limp behind the statue of Discord.

Pinkie Pie picks up the bucket and follows the earth mare, then sets the bucket down below Discord’s tail.

At the same time she starts cleaning the statue of her father, Topsy Turvy starts singing a song.  And, I’m surprised to recognize it, after hearing the fist two words, as Michael McClain’s “Be That Friend.”  And, I can’t help feeling it appropriate, at least, for the theme of the show that, at least partly, inspired this game.  The only real change that seems to have been made is that the pronouns in the third verse have been feminized.  And, that makes sense to me, considering the pony that will be assigned to reform Discord when he’s released from his statue in the third season is Fluttershy, a mare.  Whether or not there are any other motivations for Pinkie Pie teaching that song to Topsy Turvy, at least that line of reasoning works for me.

Topsy Turvy takes as long to clean the statue as she does to sing most of the song, and she sings the last verse while seeming to pray to the statue.  And, she concludes by saying, in a trembling voice, “I miss you, daddy.  Please don’t stay a statue for another thousand years.”

Pinkie Pie steps forward and nuzzles the weeping pink earth mare under her chin, and my character proceeds to stroke her mane.

After a few seconds, Topsy Turvy seems to have her emotions sufficiently under control that she grabs the handle of the bucket in her mouth, then proceeds toward the castle.

There to meet the trio at the nearest door are Grounds Keeper and Princess Luna.

Grounds Keeper accepts the bucket from Topsy Turvy, while Princess Luna says, “From what I’ve seen, Topsy Turvy, you did a good job.  Shall I come again at the same time to pick you up so you can take care of your father?”

Topsy Turvy simply nods.

Princess Luna also nods, then closes her eyes.  Her horn starts to glow, then, a frame later, the four are back in front of my character’s house.

The nighttime alicorn then opens her eyes and backs away from the group, then says, “I must return to the castle now and make my report to my sister.  In the mean time, you three should get some sleep.”  And, with that, she closes her eyes and nods her head again, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle once more.  Then, one second later, she disappears.

I have my character turn to the two ponies, and I say, “I think Princess Luna is right.  We need to be getting to bed now.”

I keep my character in his position until the two mares have gone ahead of him, then I have him follow Topsy Turvy.  I have him focus on her, and I ask, “Topsy Turvy, are you going to be alright?”

The pink earth mare turns to my character and answers, “I need sleep now.  But, I have a job taking care of my daddy, and I have a place to live.  I’ll be fine.”  And, she turns back toward the front door.

I don’t say anymore as the three enter the house, and my character closes the front door behind him.  A minute or so later, the two mares and the human have retired to their rooms, and gone to bed.

I have to wonder if I should be surprised that this first full day has been so long.  After all, in the animated series, the story on which this day is based had to be covered in two episodes.  And, just on this day alone, I’ve taken a lot of notes.

But, there’s just one last bit of business before I close and end the game.

As my character closes his eyes, I hear Discord say, “I haven’t forgotten that I’m indebted to you for keeping my daughter alive.  For that, in spite of the deal between us, I will see to it that you live as well.  But, let it be known that I do not approve of my daughter singing the song she sang to me.”

I can’t help thinking to myself, ‘Well, I’m not the one that taught that song to Topsy Turvy.  That was Pinkie Pie.’  And, the only reason I can think of being the pink angel pony’s influence, Pinkie Pie is the only one that can read my thoughts.  And so I save and end the game until the next time I play.

Chapter 2: When Magic Needs a Hand

This time, as I resume my second game, I find my character waking up to scratching at his bedroom door.

He rises from his bed and walks to the door, and I hear Pinkie moaning from the other side, as though she’s fighting a losing battle to maintain her balance, followed by a light thud.  When my character opens his door, I see the pink angel pony roll over so she’s facing away from my character, then turn to me as she gets back up on her front hooves and says, “Hi, Mormon.”  She chuckles nervously a couple times before adding, “Let’s get some breakfast.”

I vocalize my agreement, and my character steps out of his room, then closes the door behind him.

My character follows the pink angel pony through the kitchen and front room and out the front door, closing behind him the doors that Pinkie opens, and on out to the front lawn.  And there, I can see, through his eyes, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, Berry Punch, Lyra, and Weed Whacker waiting for him.

Weed Whacker steps forward and says, “So, Mormon, we’ve got a problem.”

Together, Ataahua and Topsy Turvy step forward and start talking at the same time, evidently starting off by agreeing with Weed Whacker.

I have my character hold out his arms, and I say, “Alright, you two, stop for a moment.”  When the gray pegasa and the pink earth mare have stopped talking, I have my character put down his arms again; and I say, “There, that’s better.”  I then have my character focus on the gray pegasa, and I ask, “Now, Ataahua, why don’t you start?”

The gray pegasa, with a worried look on her face, says, “Well, you see, Topsy Turvy and I want to work together.  I want to work in the vegetable garden, because I don’t want to get my wings caught in the vines in the vineyard.  But, Topsy Turvy wants to work in the vineyard.”

I have my character focus on Topsy Turvy, and I say, “Well, Ataahua does have a valid concern.  Her wings won’t be much good to her if they get scratched or tangled up in the vineyard.”

Topsy Turvy responds, “But, Weed Whacker’s only letting one pony work with her.”

I shrug and state, “I don’t see what the problem is.  Just because you want something doesn’t mean you’re always going to get it, even around here.  If you want to work with Lyra in the vineyard, then that shouldn’t be a problem.  And just because you want Ataahua to work alongside you doesn’t mean she should have to.”

Topsy Turvy stammers, “B-b-but, but, Lyra already has Berry Punch working with her.  She doesn’t need another pony helping her.”

At this point, Lyra steps toward my character and says, “Not necessarily.  Just because I have one pony helping me doesn’t mean I couldn’t use the help of somepony else.”

I add, “And, besides, since Ponyville is back to normal now, Berry Punch should be going back there either today or tomorrow.  You could learn gardening skills from her while she’s here, and be better at taking care of the vineyard.”  Then, as the pink earth pony grunts a plea, I add, “And, maybe that’ll help you take better care of your father while he’s a statue.”

At this point, Topsy Turvy groans and says, under her breath, “I don’t see how.”

I have my character kneel on one knee in front of the pink earth pony and put a hand on one side of her neck, and I say, “Why not try it for just one day?  For today, you can work with Lyra and Berry Punch in the vineyard.  In a way, you will be working with Ataahua.”

Again Topsy Turvy groans, then asks, “And, how’s that?”

I answer, “Well, both of you will be working outside.  And, both of you will be harvesting plants.”

Now Topsy Turvy just looks up at my character, evidently searching for some point she can use against me, or something she can say to change my mind.  After a minute or two of searching and not finding anything, she looks down, sighs, and says, “Alright.”  She then looks up at my character one more time and adds, “But, I wanna work with Derpy in the vineyard tomorrow.”

I state, “That’ll be up to Ataahua.”  I then have my character stand up again, and I say, “So, let’s get to work.”

Topsy Turvy seems to be the least enthusiastic about going to work, but she seems to not be the only one lacking enthusiasm.

When the pink angel pony and my character have made it to and into the orchard, I ask her, “Pinkie, is there something wrong?”

The bearer of laughter ambles head-first into an apple tree, then rubs her head and growls at the tree.  She then turns to my character and says, “I’m just worried about Vinyl.”  Her mane and tail start to lose their curls as she continues, “Her three friends were mistreated by Discord yesterday, so they’ll probably leave now.  And, knowing Vinyl, well, she’s not gonna take it very well.  I just wanna be there to help her.”

I state, as my character approaches the pear tree and starts harvesting fruit from it, “Well, in that case, when we get to Ponyville, and once we get Berry Punch back to her home, we’ll go visit Vinyl and Octavia, and we’ll see how Vinyl’s doing.”

Pinkamena takes more control of Pinkie as she says, with a smile I can hear in her voice, “Thanks, Mormy.  I hope I can help her.”  And, with that, she allows control of Pinkie Pie to go to Diane.

With Pinkie “Diane” Pie and my character working together, the two leave the orchard with seven each of apples, pears, and peaches.  And, the two join the other five on the front porch.

The fruits and vegetables are prepared in the kitchen, then taken on a platter into the front room, where the seven join forces eating them.  Then, after cleanup, comes the question of who all is going to Ponyville.

Berry Punch, although unwilling at first, finally agrees to return to Ponyville as long as my character is part of the group.  Which works out just fine for me.  After all, it’s part of my plan to go to Ponyville anyway.

Ataahua and Topsy Turvy seem just as unwilling to stay at my character’s house, but agree to stay as long as Lyra and Weed Whacker also stay, which the pale-green unicorn and the herbivorous dinosaur agree to.

With that evidently settled, my character, Pinkie Pie, and Berry Punch set out for Ponyville, following their course through the Everfree forest until they come out on their way to the nearby town of ponies.

Once there, at Pinkie’s request, she heads off toward Vinyl and Octavia’s house, leaving my character to walk Berry Punch to her home with Carrot Top.

Honestly, all I really notice about the red-purple earth mare is that she seems relieved that things in Ponyville are evidently back to the way they were before Discord started rearranging things.  And, when she and the human reach her home, she turns to my character and thanks him for walking her home and salutes him farewell.

Having returned Berry Punch to her home, I have my character head to the home of Vinyl and Octavia to see how Pinkie’s doing with Vinyl.  And, as my character approaches, he seems to be just in time to see a disgruntled Drum Roll, Lotta Pipes, and Sweet Tones leave, evidently packed for resettlement.  And, in the doorway, I see Vinyl, fountains of tears squirting from her glasses, pleading for the trio to stay.

My character stops to watch the trio of musician ponies pass, then focuses on the white unicorn; and I ask, “Are you alright, Vinyl?”

As my character resumes his walk toward the front door, the white unicorn forcefully pushes herself back inside, then, using her magic, slams the door behind her.  Then, as my character reaches the door, it opens again, revealing a worried-looking Pinkie Pie on the other side.

The pink angel mare gestures to my character and says, “Come, … come on in, Mormon.”

My character agrees, and enters through the open door; and I can hear Vinyl bawling from the living room.

As my character follows the cries, I see the white unicorn stretched out on the couch closest to the front door.

Then, I see Pinkie Pie’s worried face as she says, “Mormon, you’ve got to do something. You’ve got to at least try.”

I respond, “I’ll see what I can do.”  Then, after my character steps within maybe a foot of Vinyl’s head and reaches out and puts a hand on her back, I say, “I can see that they really mean a lot to you.”

As the blue-haired unicorn turns and looks at my character, and her sunglasses drop off her nose, revealing her watering eyes, she says, “I … doubt … it.”  She takes another moment to sob before continuing, “They … were … my friends.  I … just got back … together … with them.  And, now they’re leaving.  Leaving for good.  And, it’s all … because of … that Discord!”

As the white unicorn buries her snout in her front hooves and goes back to bawling, I say, “Well, I can’t say that I blame them.  After the way Discord treated them, I can see why they wouldn’t want to stay here, even though Discord won’t be coming back here to cause any more trouble.”

Now, Vinyl glares up at my character and says, “Oh yeah?  Well, he caused me even more trouble.”  She then pushes my character’s arm away from her, then disappears from the couch.  I then hear her voice at the front door saying, “I’m goin’ to get my friends to return.”  And, as my character turns to and focuses on the source of the voice, she concludes, “And, if I can’t get ‘em to come back, I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ ‘til they do come back.”  And, my character watches her as she opens the door, marches through it, then slams it closed again.

From behind my character again, this time I hear Octavia say, “That’s Vinyl for you.”  As my character turns to the gray earth mare, she continues, “It’s just like her to overreact this way.  As much as I’d appreciate the silence, I do hope she does get her friends to come back.”

Now, based on what I’ve seen of the show, as well as works that fans of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic have made, I gave Vinyl a voice.  And, for this extension, I provided her friends leaving as motivation for her to not use her voice when they’ve left to live elsewhere.  And, as for her friends, until the attack from Chrysalis and her swarm of changelings, I’ve programmed them with the desire to move to Canterlot.  Then, after that, I’ve decided, for the next extension, that they should decide to move northward, where they’ll find the Chrystal Empire.  But, that’ll come later on.

I suppose those thoughts occupy me for at least a minute, until Pinkie Pie approaches my character and nudges him.  Then, when he looks down at her, I watch, through his eyes, as her mouth moves, although she ends up not saying anything.  When she finally does vocalize, she just whimpers my name before burying her face in my character’s leg and sobbing.

Automatically, my character picks her up and carries her to the nearest couch to sit down with her.

That is, until I hear Octavia shout, “Mormon, wait, stop!”  When he turns to her, I see her sigh with relief before she says, “Vinyl may not be an alcoholic pony anymore, but the alcohol has had a lasting effect on her.  When she cries, she wets herself.  And, I don’t just mean her eyes get wet, either.  I mean her bladder empties on its own.”

My character turns to the couch, and I can see, through his eyes, that, indeed, there is an unusually reflective spot on the couch, in between where Vinyl’s hind legs had been.

I hear Octavia continue, "This doesn’t happen often, that is, she isn’t normally so emotional.  And, it only happens when she cries.”  After a pause, she says, “I’ll go get a towel and get this puddle cleaned up.  In the mean time, you can go sit on the other couch.”

I nod and grunt in agreement, then have my character take a seat on the other couch, while Octavia heads to the kitchen to retrieve a towel to clean up the mess left by the white unicorn.

It takes a few minutes for Pinkie Pie to gain control of her emotions again, and a minute or two after that for Vinyl to show up at the front door of her and Octavia’s home.

Pinkie, who was just dozing off by that time, looks up and, seeing her white unicorn friend, jumps off of my character’s lap and gallops toward her, asking, “So, Vinyl, how did things go?”

Vinyl only responds by closing her eyes and looking down.

I don’t doubt that Pinkie Pie remembers what her friend had said before she left, as she hugs the white unicorn and says, “Oh.  I’m so sorry, Vinyl.”

Octavia, who’s just coming from the nearby kitchen, approaches the blue-haired unicorn and asks, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Vinyl listens to the gray earth mare’s question, then closes her eyes again and shakes her head.  After that, she pushes Pinkie away from her, then turns and ambles through a nearby hallway, and on to what I assume is her bedroom.

Octavia starts to follow the white unicorn until she turns a corner, then stays put until the sound of a door closing is heard.  After that, she turns to Pinkie Pie and my character and, dropping the towel in her mouth, says, “This is going to take some time.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to get her to talk again, but I’ll see what I can do.  In the mean time, thanks for coming to visit us.”

Pinkie Pie sighs before looking up at my character, at me, and saying, “Maybe we should leave now.”  She then turns to Octavia and says, “I hope Vinyl starts feeling better.  Goodbye, Octavia.  Tell Vinyl I said goodbye.”  Then, she quietly ambles to the door and opens it with her forehead curl.

Taking that as his cue, my character follows the pink angel pony out the door, then stands up again as Pinkie closes the door behind him, again with her forehead curl.

As the human and the angel pony make their way to Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie looks up at my character and says, “I feel terrible for Vinyl.  Do you think there’s anything we can do to make her feel better?  Maybe throw her a party or something?”

My character focuses on the pink angel pony, and I say, “Or, maybe you and your friends could set up a picnic that you could invite Vinyl to.  You know, let her know that she has more friends than just Drum Roll, Lotta Pipes, and Sweet Tones.”

Pinkie’s frown morphs into a smile, and her face lights up as she says, “That’s a great idea, Mormon!”  She then looks ahead of her again as she continues, “I could bake some cakes and stuff when we get to Sugar Cube Corner, and Applejack could make some cider, and we could even have music.  I just need to invite Vinyl when everything’s ready for her.”

By the time the pink angel pony’s finished talking about her plans for the picnic, the two have arrived at the bakery.  And, this time the two enter through the front door.

Once my character is inside, I notice that the Cakes are seated human-style on opposite sides of a table, both talking about something; and Mr. Cake is holding a pencil in his mouth, evidently writing things on the notebook in front of him.

Pinkie gallops toward the two earth ponies and asks, “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, can we use your kitchen?  We wanna make a few treats so we can help cheer up a friend.”

Mr. Cake turns to the pink angel pony and drops the pencil on the floor before saying, “We’re sorry, Pinkie, but we’re going to have to say no.  You see, we’re closed for today.”

Mrs. Cake continues, “That’s right.  You see, since Discord’s attack yesterday, we’ve been concerned about our inventory.  The twins are fine, but we’re just not sure that all our ingredients are.  We were just making a list of things we use, so we can check to see if we need to restock.  I’m sorry, but it’s going to take all day.”

Pinkie seems to melt as she hears what the Cakes have to say.  Then, after that, she says, “Oh.  Well, then, I guess we’re just gonna have to go somewhere else.”

Mr. Cake, with a sympathetic frown, says, “We’re sorry, Pinkie.  Maybe tomorrow.”

Pinkie doesn’t say anything more, just ambles to the front door of the bakery and opens it, then ambles out.

I have my character turn to the two earth ponies, and I say, “We’ll be back tomorrow.  See you then.”  And, after that, I have my character follow Pinkie out of the bakery.

Once again outside, Pinkie turns to my character and says, “Well, let’s go to Sweet Apple Acres.  Maybe Applejack can help us.”

I wonder aloud, “I don’t know about that.  Doesn’t she have a stand she sets up in the town square so she can sell apples?”

The pink angel pony pauses for a moment and looks up at my character, then says, “You may be right.  But still, if the Cakes have closed down Sugar Cube Corner for the day because of what Discord did yesterday, then how can we be sure that Applejack’s still running her apple-selling business?”

I answer, “Well, she may be trying to let ponies know that she’s not going to let Discord’s visit stop her from living her life normally.”

Pinkie scratches her chin with a front hoof, then hums with interest before saying, “Maybe you’re right, Mormon.”  She then puts the hoof down on the ground again, making a mild stamping sound, and says, “Well, in that case, let’s go to the market to see if Applejack’s there.”  And, she turns and gallops off in that direction.

My character runs to keep up with the pink angel pony past Carousel Boutique, and into the park.  And, on the way through there, I can’t help noticing Twilight Sparkle lying on her side on the bench, stroking her tail.  So, I have my character slow down to a stop.

Pinkie, evidently noticing that my character isn’t following her anymore, slows to a stop as well, then turns to my character, or so I assume, and asks, “Mormon, what’re you stopping for?”

As my character focuses on the pink angel pony, I answer, “I just noticed Twilight on the bench over there.  I wonder if something’s wrong with her.”  Actually, considering this chapter is based on the episode “Lesson Zero,” I know there is something wrong.  I even know what it is.

In the mean time, Pinkie turns to the bench and sees the bearer of magic there.  She then turns back to my character and says, “Well, if you want to invite Twilight to our picnic, then go right ahead.  But, we need to see if Applejack is at the market place so we can ask her if we can use her kitchen.”

At this point, the thought occurs to me that Applejack isn’t in the town center after all, and that she’s back at Sweet Apple Acres, probably building a new barn.  Still, I say, “You go on ahead.  I’ll go see if I can help Twilight.”

Pinkie Pie nods and soldier-salutes, then says, “Yes, sir,” then turns and gallops off toward Ponyville’s market place.

Taking my words as orders, my character walks off across the field and approaches the purple unicorn on the bench.

As my character approaches Twilight, I hear her say, “It’s fine.  It’ll all be fine.  The day isn’t over yet.”  She then jumps up to a human-style sitting position and, looking at the sun, growls, “But it will be soon!”

Evidently she doesn’t expect to hear me ask, “Twilight, is everything alright?”

She yells, then turns to see my character behind her.  After that, she sighs before saying, “Oh, hi, Mormon.  I didn’t see you there.  Is there something I can help you with?”

I have my character sit next to her, and I say, “I was about to ask you that question.”

Twilight drops to a canine-style position and sighs again before saying, “Well, unless you have a friendship problem that only I can solve, no, I don’t think so.”

I honestly answer, "I don't have any.  I just saw you on the bench here, and it looked to me like you might have a problem."  I then ask, "So, what's your problem?"

For a few seconds, Twilight just looks up at my character, and I can see her eyes vibrate.  Then, she whimpers, “Well, Mormon, you see, Princess Celestia assigned me to write letters to her from here, about lessons I’ve learned about friendship, on a daily basis.  And, I’ve been able to send her those letters because I’ve always been able to learn something new about friendship.”  She then looks down again and slowly draws circles with with a front hoof on the bench as she continues, “It’s just that, well, this time, I haven’t had anything to write to her about because, well, I haven’t learned anything new about friendship.”

She sniffles once before continuing, “I tried visiting Carousel Boutique because I heard Rarity scream.  Turns out she was just missing a ribbon, which she found next to a chair at her dressing table.  I asked if there was anything else I could do, and all she had for me was to retrieve a measuring tape.

“I went to visit Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres, because I saw Rainbow Dash destroying her barn; and, honestly, I thought she was angry with her.  But, as it turns out, Rainbow Dash was destroying an old barn because Applejack asked her to so she could build a new one.

“I thought I could help Fluttershy overcome a fear because I knew she had plenty of those.  Then, I saw her wrestling a bear.”

Remembering that part of the episode, I theorize aloud, “It was more likely that she was giving the bear a deep-tissue massage.”

At my theory, Twilight looks confused as she asks, “A deep-tissue massage?  With those moves?”

I answer, “I’ve never taken care of a bear, and I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to watch Fluttershy take care of one; so, I can only guess what was going on.  All I know is that not all creatures can be handled the exact same way.

“At any rate, are you sure it requires you solving a friendship problem to learn a friendship lesson?”

Now, Twilight sighs as she collapses into full-rest mode, except she rests her head on the forelimb farthest away from my character, so she’s facing away from him.  She whimpers, “I don’t know what else to do.  If I don’t learn anything new about friendship, then I won’t have anything to write to the princess.  And, if I don’t have anything to write by the end of the day, then I’ll be tardy.  And, if I’m tardy, Princess Celestia’s gonna send me back to magic kindergarten.  And then, I’ll have a bunch of foals laughing at me.”  At this point, she starts quietly sobbing.

I happen to see, from the top edge of my character’s periphery, Pinkie Pie approaching.  So, I have my character wave her closer as I say to Twilight, “Well, maybe you should write to Princess Celestia about your plight.”

The purple unicorn looks up at my character and whimpers, “Wh-what—do—you—mean?”

I answer, “You’re scared about being late in sending a letter to Princess Celestia.  So, why not write to her about that?  Let her know that you don’t feel like you’ve learned anything new about friendship, and you’re afraid of what’s going to happen to you now.  Write to her what your fears are.  Maybe she can help you.”

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as the look of fear on Twilight’s face intensifies; and she says, “Oh, I don’t know.  What if she doesn’t understand?  Can I take that chance?”  She then rests her head between her front hooves as she adds, “And, besides, what if I do learn something new after the letter is sent?”

At this point, I see Pinkie enter my character’s periphery and gently tap the purple unicorn on the head, next to her horn, and say, “Now, listen, Twilight.”  Then, as the bearer of magic looks up at the bearer of laughter, she continues, “Mormon’s given me advice, and he’s never steered me wrong.  And, now he’s giving you advice.  I think you should take it.”

I add, “And, besides, has Princess Celestia ever said that you couldn’t send more than one letter?”

Twilight looks up at my character again, then sniffles before she says, “No.  No, she hasn’t.”

I open my mouth to speak, but Pinkie beats me to it, saying, “Well, then, there you have it.  You go write that letter to the princess, and see what happens.  You’ll see.  After all, she’s ruled over Equestria for a thousand years.  And, you’re her star pupil.  If she doesn’t understand pony behavior, or, for that matter, your behavior, by now, then she hasn’t been much of a ruler or a teacher.”

For the time the pink angel pony’s been talking, Twilight’s been watching her, evidently listening to what she's been saying.  When Pinkie finishes, Twilight nods, sighs, and says, “Thanks, Pinkie.  I guess you’re right.”  When the purple unicorn looks up at my character, she’s smiling as she says, “Well, I guess I better get to writing that letter.  And, you know what, I think I may have learned something new about friendship after all.  Thanks, Mormon.”  And, with that, she rises to all fours, jumps over Pinkie onto the ground, and gallops off to the library.

After human and angel pony watch the purple unicorn gallop out of the park, I hear the angel pony ask, “So, Mormon, did you remember to invite Twilight to the picnic?”

I realize that I haven’t.  So, I shake my head and answer, “I’m sorry, Pinkie.  I was too busy helping her solve her problem.”

Pinkie sighs, then says, “Well, let’s head over to Sweet Apple Acres.  Hopefully, Applejack’s finished building that new barn, and she’ll be able to lend us her kitchen so we can make those treats for the picnic.”

I respond, “I suppose we could check there first.  And, if Applejack is still busy, then we could just go back to my house and make the treats there.”

Pinkie hums with interest and taps her chin with a front hoof, then says, “You know, you may be right.  Lyra and Weed Whacker could help, and maybe Derpy and Topsy Turvy, too.”

I ask, “So, shall we go to Sweet Apple Acres first?”

The pink angel pony nods her head vigorously and answers, “Yeah, let’s do that.”  And, with that, she bounces in the direction of the road to the Everfree forest, and my character rises and jogs to keep up with her.

Maybe ten or so minutes later, the human and the angel pony are at the entrance to the Apples’ ranch.

As the two pass the entrance, Pinkie stops bouncing and looks up at my character, or so I assume since he’s looking ahead, and asks, “So, Mormon, where do you think Applejack is right now?”

My character focuses on the pink angel pony, and I can see that indeed she’s looking up at him.  I answer, “Well, do you remember a few days ago when you were about to stuff that cupcake in your eye on that rock outcropping?”

Pinkie’s first vocalization makes me think it’s both a groan and a sigh.  She then answers, “Yeah, I remember.  What about it?”

I answer, “Near that outcropping was an old barn, one that was just barely standing.  I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the one Rainbow Dash was destroying.”

Now, Pinkie perks up as she concludes, “And, you think she might still be there, either cleaning up or building a new barn.”

I nod and answer, “That’s right.”

Pinkie continues, “And, I remember exactly where it is!”  She then goes back to bouncing as she says, “So, Mormy, let’s get going!”  And, she heads off in that direction, behind the barn where her friends had thrown her the birthday party.

Being ahead of my character, Pinkie is the first to see Applejack.  She confirms this by calling out her name, then asking, “Could Mormon and I borrow your kitchen?”

I’m just barely able to see the orange earth mare past Pinkie as I hear her say, “Well, howdy, Pinkie Pie, Mormon.”  As my character gets closer, I can see Applejack scratch behind her neck with a front hoof as she answers, “Well, Ah don’t know.  Ya see, Granny’s in the kitchen makin’ pies, and Applebloom an’ her friends are a-helpin’.  So, ah don’t think they have anymore room in there for you and Mormon.  Ah’m sorry, Pinkie.”  And, from the way she’s holding her hat right now, I’d say she’s sincere.

Pinkie Pie seems to melt a little before she says, “Well, alright then.”  She perks up again when she asks, “Well, do you think you could make some cider for a picnic I’m planning?  Vinyl’s friends just moved away, so I’m planning a party for her to let her know she has other friends besides Drum Roll, Lotta Pipes, and Sweet Tones.  And, you’re invited to come, too.”

Applejack smiles as she says, “Well, that’s mighty kind of ya, Pinkie.  Sure, Ah’ll be there.  Ah just need to get this mess cleaned up, and Ah have a few apples that Ah can make into cider.  Ah assume it’s in the park?”

Pinkie smiles and nods as she answers, “You know it.”

Applejack nods and says, “Well, then, Ah’ll be there.”  And, she returns to cleaning up the evident ruins of the old barn.

The pink angel mare turns to my character while I say, “Well, we’ve got that taken care of at least.  Now, let’s go back to my place, and we’ll make those cupcakes.”

Smiling, Pinkie replies, “Sure.  And, on the way to your house, we can stop off at Fluttershy’s cottage and invite her.”

I state, “Sounds good to me.”

And, with that, Pinkie Pie bounces ahead of my character, who maintains a brisk pace to keep up with her.

A few minutes later, the angel pony and the human are at the yellow pegasa’s front door.

Pinkie Pie knocks with a front hoof, then takes a step back away from the door.

Maybe a second or two later, the top half of the door opens, revealing Fluttershy.

Presently, Pinkie Pie hops into the air; then Diane spreads her wings and starts flapping them, so that Pinkie hovers that way.  In that position, Pinkamena asks, “Fluttershy, would you come to a picnic we’re having in the park?”

I see the beginning of a smile on the yellow pegasa’s face as she nods and says, “Well, I’d be happy to go.  I just need to take care of the rest of my critters, and then I can come.”

Pinkie Pie hugs her yellow pegasa friend as she says, “Oh, there’s no big hurry.  Mormon and I have to make some cupcakes at his house first, and then we’ll be ready.”

Just then, I see Rainbow Dash seeming to push Fluttershy out of the way before she asks, “Wait, what’s this about a picnic?”  And, she looks eager.

Pinkie had separated herself from Fluttershy just in time so she wouldn’t get hurt.  She answers the blue pegasa, “Well, you see, Vinyl’s friends just moved out, and she’s really upset about it.  So, I thought we could have a picnic party to cheer her up.  So, do you wanna come along?”

This time, it’s Rainbow Dash hugging Pinkie Pie as she shouts, “Ah, yes-yes-yes-yes-yes!”  She then pulls away as she says, “Y’know I’m always up for one of your parties.”

Pinkie Pie hugs Rainbow Dash in return as she screams, “Excellent!”  She then separates from the blue pegasa, turns to my character, and says, “Well, Mormon, let’s get going then.  We gotta get those cupcakes made.”  And, with that, she bounces one hundred eighty degrees, then bounces down the path to the bridge.

Before I allow my character to follow the pink angel pony, I have him wave to the two pegasae; and I say, “Well, see you at the picnic, then.”  And, as my character follows Pinkie Pie to and across the bridge, I hear the farewells from the two pegasae.

Maybe twenty minutes later, the human and the angel pony are back at my character’s house.

As the two enter the house, I hear sniffing sounds coming from Pinkie Pie.  And, at the same time, a message box appears on the bottom of the screen, reading, “The scent of fruit-flavored pastries fills the air.”

Then, I hear Pinkie Pie hum happily and say, “Smells like muffins.”

Knowing what that must mean, human and angel mare share looks, then Pinkie Pie leads the way to the kitchen.

Once in there, I see, through my character’s eyes, the gray pegasa staring into the window of the oven.  Before she turns to Pinkie and my character, I can see she’s wearing a chef’s hat.  But, it’s only after she turns to the two in the kitchen doorway that I can clearly see that she’s also wearing a white apron tied around her neck.  And, as she waves, she calls out, “Hi, Mormon, Pinkie Pie!  You caught me making muffins!”

Well, clearly Pinkie Pie called it.  But, one question’s running through my mind.  I ask, “Where did you get the flour?”

Ataahua continues to smile at the human and the angel pony as she answers, “I went out and got some of those oats I saw growing in your grain field, and Topsy Turvy turned them into flour.”  She then stops waving and puts the hoof down as she tilts her head and asks, “So, why are you here?”

Pinkie takes a step toward her and answers, “Well, it’s for Vinyl, back in Ponyville.  You see, her three friends, Drum Roll, Lotta Pipes, and Sweet Tones just moved out, and she’s really upset about it.  So, I thought I’d have a party to cheer her up; but, Sugar Cube Corner is closed so the Cakes can take inventory of their stock; and Applejack’s getting ready to build a new barn to replace the one that Rainbow Dash knocked down because Applejack asked her to; so we’re left with Mormon’s house here where we can make cupcakes for the picnic party.”

Ataahua seems dazed from the flood of Pinkie Pie’s information.  But, she shakes herself out, then asks, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

I ask, “How are you at making cupcakes?”

Slowly, the gray pegasa answers, “I … only make muffins.”

I hum with interest, then think aloud, “Well, there’s nothing wrong with variety.”

And, that’s when I hear Pinkie Pie giggle before she asks, “Who ever heard of having muffins for anything other than breakfast?”  And, she giggles some more.

As my character turns to the pink angel pony, I answer, “I don’t see what the problem is.  After all, I’ve had pancakes for dinner.”

This just makes Pinkie Pie laugh even more, and even harder.  And, she punctuates her bouts of laughter with snorts.

I have my character turn back to Ataahua, and I say, “As far as I know, there are going to be the element bearers, me, Vinyl, and Octavia showing up to the picnic.  Would you like to come with us?”

The gray pegasa perks up and shouts, “Oh, yeah, I’d love to!”  She then calms down a little as she asks, “Can Topsy Turvy come with, too?”

I nod and answer, “Sure.”  I then have my character turn to the pink angel pony, and I ask, “Pinkie, will you invite Lyra and Weed Whacker?”

Presently, Pinkie stops laughing and rolls onto her hooves.  Smiling, she answers, “Sure, Mormy!”  And, with that, she gallops off toward the room that Lyra and Weed Whacker share.

From where my character is, it isn’t difficult to hear the pink angel pony ask the pale-green unicorn and the dinosaur if they’d like to join her, her friends, and me at the picnic, and the two readily accept.  My character turns to show me, through his eyes, Pinkie, leading Lyra and Weed Whacker back to the kitchen, and explaining to them the purpose for the picnic.

In the mean time, I hear the kitchen door open again, and Ataahua apparently explaining to Topsy Turvy that Pinkie and I have planned a picnic for some reason, and that the element bearers are going to be there.

At this point, I know that Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Vinyl, Octavia, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and I are going to be at the picnic.  And, while it is assumed, I’m not entirely sure if Twilight Sparkle and Rarity are going to be there.  I’m sure that, if one of the other three doesn’t invite them, Pinkie Pie will be sure to.  Either way, I’ll go by faith that they’ll show up, and that Twilight’ll bring Spike with her.  At any rate, that equates to enough refreshments for fourteen, including two dragons and one human.  Of course, there’s the possibility that the princesses will also show up.

As my thoughts wander to that last possibility, I hear Pinkie Pie shout, “Sixteen cupcakes!”

I add, having my character focus again on the gray pegasa, “And, let’s add sixteen muffins to that.”

After a second or two, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “You’re really serious about that, aren’t you?”

My character focuses automatically on the angel pony, showing me, through his eyes, the skeptical look on her face.

I shrug and answer, “I don’t see why not.”

By the back-and-forth twitching of her eyes, I can tell that Pinkie’s thinking about my answer, and, I’m guessing, the prospect of having both cupcakes and muffins at a picnic.  After a few seconds, she smiles up at my character and says, “Okie dokie lokie!”

Presently, Topsy Turvy says, “I’ll go get some more oats from your grain field.”  And, with that, she turns and exits the kitchen.  A second or two later, I hear the front door open and close.

Lyra follows behind her, saying, “I should probably get some fruits from your vineyard, as well.”

Noting that the earth pony and the unicorn have chosen to harvest in different fields, I have to wonder if this is going to set a precedent.  Up until now, no one has been doing anything with the grain field, even though it is available.  If Topsy Turvy takes it on herself to harvest grain for breakfast and dinner, and Ataahua prepares pastries from it, most likely muffins, that’ll certainly add variety to what these characters are going to eat.  All in all, this could turn out better than I’d originally planned.

Being lost in these thoughts, I get a surprise when I hear the kitchen door open, and my character turns to show me Topsy Turvy with stalks of oats in her mouth, followed by Lyra supporting various berries in her magic.

Once she enters the kitchen, Topsy Turvy removes the kernels of oats from their stalks, then literally pulverizes them, using magic that earth ponies aren’t normally known for having.  She then uses that magic to separate the powder into two piles, one of which she floats over to Pinkie Pie, and the other to Ataahua.  The process takes only a few seconds, and leaves both ponies with equal amounts to work with.

In the mean time, with Weed Whacker’s help, Lyra cleans and dries the berries she picked from the vineyard.

I find the process, already in motion, so fascinating that I almost don’t hear Pinkie Pie asking me, “Uh, Mormon, will you help me?”

My character immediately focuses on the pink angel pony, and it takes a second for me to register what she just asked.  When it does, I answer, “Oh, sure, Pinkie.  What do you need help with?”

Pinkie takes a moment to giggle, then asks, “Will you get me a bowl and a cup of water?”

I answer, “Sure."  I then ask, “Do you want both filled with water, or just the cup?”

Again Pinkie giggles before answering, “Just the cup.”

I smile as I allow my character to follow Pinkie’s directions.

In the mean time, Lyra has Weed Whacker assist Ataahua and Topsy Turvy, while she helps me and Pinkie Pie.

With our combined forces, the pastries take not much more than an hour, I estimate, to complete, resulting in sixteen cupcakes and sixteen muffins.

I then take a moment to step out of the game and prepare two boxes, one for the muffins, and one for the cupcakes.

After that, when I re-enter the game, the boxes, as I’ve planned, are found on the coffee table in the dining room.

Lyra supports the pastries with her magic as my character takes charge of the door, opening it ahead of her, then closing it behind him, since he’s the last to leave.  Lyra then uses her magic to float the cupcakes into one box, then close it, then float the muffins into the other box, which she also closes.

Then, Pinkie Pie brings up a good point:  “You know, we have all these cupcakes, and no frosting to go on them.”

Lyra freezes for a moment, then sighs and says, “That is a problem.”

I wonder aloud, “Well, once we’re in Ponyville, maybe we could stop off at a store and get either some frosting or the ingredients for it.  If all we can get are the ingredients, then, once we’re at the picnic, the ingredients can be put together and applied to the cupcakes on the spot.  If we can get the frosting, then it can just be put on the cupcakes.”

I think I hear a slight growl to Pinkie’s voice when she says, “Mormon, I prefer to have fresh frosting, not something that’s already made.”  My character’s already turning to her as she continues, “As long as I have the ingredients, I’ll make my own frosting.”  I’m not sure, but I think I see a slight glare in the pink angel pony’s eyes.

I nod and respond, “Well, alright then.  No problem.”

Pinkie nods in return and smiles as she says, “I know where we can find the ingredients for the best frosting.  So, let’s go.”  And, with three ponies, one dinosaur, and one human following her, Lyra carrying one box in her magic, and my character carrying the other box, the pink angel pony leads the way out of the house, across the lawn, out of the gate, and into and through the Everfree forest.

And, of course, my character closes doors and the gate behind the group.

By the time the group has made it to Fluttershy’s cottage, just outside the forest proper, my character has caught up to Pinkie Pie.  And, I’m guessing that Fluttershy’s going to be the source, in some way, of the ingredients, or at least some of them, for the frosting.

The pink angel pony knocks on the door, then moves back to avoid the opening of the top part of it.

The yellow pegasa, on seeing the group at her door, including two boxes, looks and sounds nervous as she asks, “Oh goodness, the picnic isn’t going to be here, is it?”

Pinkie Pie giggles as she answers, “No, silly.  We just came here because we need some ingredients for frosting for the cupcakes.”

Evidently relieved, Fluttershy sighs, “Oh, good.”  She then opens the lower part of the door and, moving aside and gesturing to the group, says, “Please, come on in.”  And, in her normally timid voice, she adds, “That is, if you don’t mind.”  Then, as the last of the group enters, the yellow pegasa asks, “So, what do you need?”

Pinkie answers, “Well, just the ingredients for frosting: milk, sugar, maybe some eggs, and some coloring.”

As she leads the way into her kitchen, Fluttershy says, “Well, my chickens laid a fresh batch of eggs this morning.  As for the other ingredients, well, I’ll have to check.”

As Fluttershy ambles to her refrigerator to check for the ingredients, Lyra and my character put the boxes on the table in the middle of the room.

I must admit, I’m pleasantly surprised when the yellow pegasa produces the ingredients Pinkie asked for in just a few seconds.

When Fluttershy gets to the table and places on it all the ingredients Pinkie asked for, she asks, “Are you going to be making the frosting here?”

Pinkie shakes her head, then answers, “Actually, we’ve decided we’re going to make the frosting at the picnic, and put it on the cupcakes there.”

I can see the worried look on the yellow pegasa’s face as she says, “Oh, I hope this’ll be enough.  After all, you’ve got two boxes there, and I’d hate for you to run out of frosting.”

Pinkie points to each of the ingredients with a front hoof, evidently counting them, then scratches her chin with that hoof as she says, “Nah, this should be enough.”  She then puts the hoof down again as she adds, “You see, one box has cupcakes in it.  The other one has muffins.”

Presently, I hear Ataahua add, “The muffins were my idea.”

Probably not hearing the gray pegasa, Fluttershy says, “Well, if you’re sure this is going to be enough, then alright.  We should be heading to the picnic site anyway.”

Pinkie smiles as she says, “Yeah, you’re probably right about that.  So, let’s get going.”  And, with that, she grabs the container of milk in her mouth, then turns to the kitchen door, and marches toward it.

Fluttershy follows, holding the eggs in her forelimbs.

Lyra and my character are next, each holding a box of pastries.

Topsy Turvy takes the sugar, and Weed Whacker takes the food coloring.

Ataahua, the only one in the group unoccupied, gallops ahead of Pinkie Pie and grabs the doorknob in her mouth and pulls it open.

Each of the others thanks the gray pegasa as they make their way out of the front door; then, after closing the door behind her, she flies to catch up to the rest of the group.

A few minutes later, the group, now including Fluttershy, has entered the park and picked out a spot for the picinc.

I have my character focus on the pink angel pony; and I ask, “Pinkie, you wanna invite Vinyl and Octavia, and maybe Twilight and Rarity, to the picinic?”

Pinkie smiles back at my character, at me, and answers, “Sure.”  She takes a step or two away before turning back and asking, “Uh, don’t you wanna come with me?”

I answer, “I was thinking I’d stay here and help set up the picnic.”

Pinkie smiles again as she says, “Oh.  Well, alright then.  I’ll go invite Vinyl, Octy, Twily, and Rarity, and be back as soon as I can.”  And, with that, she turns ahead of her and gallops out of the park again.

I’m really not surprised that, by the time my character, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Fluttershy have finished setting the picnic up, Pinkie and the friends she went to invite are there with her.  And, I notice that the box my character carried to the picnic was the one with the muffins.  The box that Lyra carried was the one with the cupcakes.

And, that’s not all.  Following close behind Pinkie and her party of six, which includes Spike, are Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

As soon as Pinkie arrives at the site, she gathers the ingredients she’d requested and starts making the frosting for the cupcakes.

In the mean time, I hear hoof-falls approach my character, who turns to show me, through his eyes, Twilight Sparkle approaching him.  She stops maybe a yard from him and, crossing one forelimb in front of the other and looking down, says, “So, uh, Mormon, I followed your advice and wrote a letter to Princess Celestia about what I was going through.”

I have my character kneel down in front of her, and I ask, “And, what happened?”

The purple unicorn looks up at my character and answers, “Well, I haven’t gotten word back yet, so it’s too early to tell.  But, since I haven’t been sent back to magic kindergarten, I can only assume that things are going better than I thought they would.”  She starts to smile as she adds, “But, your talk with me earlier, on that bench, helped me.  I think I actually did learn something new about friendship.”

just then, I notice a flash of light behind my character, and I hear Princess Celestia’s voice say, “Mormon, it was very kind of you to come to my faithful student’s aid the way you did.”

My character automatically turns to the white princess as she speaks.  When she’s finished, I respond, “I figured it was something I could do to help.  Besides, it was part of my training as a missionary.”

The white alicorn smiles at my character as she says, “It’s nice to know that messengers of your beliefs are trained to care.”  She then turns to her student and says, “Twilight, you did well in taking Mormon’s advice.  I suppose I have neglected to remember your burden.  It is certainly one that you shouldn’t have to bear alone.”  I’m guessing she divides her attention among all the element bearers as she continues, “And, for that reason, I have an assignment for all of you.”  She focuses on my character as she adds, “And, that includes you, Mormon.”

Five ponies and I vocalize in invitation.

Princess Celestia continues, “I’d like you to write to me about any lessons you learn about friendship, but only when you learn any lesson.”  Again she focuses on my character as she adds, “Mormon, go ahead and run on Lyra any experiments you believe will help her advance, the way you helped Pinkie Pie advance.  And, if they so desire, you may run such experiments on Derpy Hooves and Topsy Turvy as well.”

Hearing this, the gray pegasa and the pink earth mare leap and cheer.

The daytime princess takes a moment to chuckle before concluding, “And, I want updates on their progress.”

I reply, “I’ll be sure to put them in my letters to you.”

Then, Topsy Turvy approaches the nighttime alicorn and asks, “Uh, Princess Luna, would it be alright if I come a few hours earlier so I can clean up my daddy before midnight?”

Princess Luna seems to find this question as encouraging as I’m finding it.  She answers, “Sure, Topsy Turvy.  When would you like to come?”

Topsy Turvy stands like a human as she holds the joint of one forelimb with the other and rubs her chin with the first front hoof, then hums in uncertainty.  She then turns to Pinkie, who’s mixing the ingredients for the frosting, and asks, “Uh, do you know when you normally have dinner?”

The pink angel pony snorts, not in anger or anything similar, but in thought.  She continues mixing the frosting as she says, “You know, I hadn’t really thought about it.”  She then turns to my character and asks, “Mormon, would you have any idea when we have dinner?”

I answer, “It seems to me it’s generally between nine and ten o’clock.”

Topsy Turvy nods, then goes back to rubbing her chin with a front hoof.  After another second, she turns to Princess Luna and asks, “Would you come at ten o’clock to pick me and Mormon up so I can take care of daddy?”

Princess Luna smiles as she answers, “Sure, Topsy Turvy, no problem.”

Pinkie drops the stick(?) she was using to stir the frosting, then waves the hoof she was using to stir and calls out, “Oh, oh, can I come with too?”

My character focuses on the pink angel pony, and I answer, “Sure, Pinkie.  You can come, too.”

Pinkie responds by tossing the bowl into the air and shouting, “Woohoo!”  Then, realizing what she did, she grimaces for a moment, then raises her hooves into the air long enough to catch the bowl again.

I can only attribute it to video game physics that everything that had been in the bowl before remains in the bowl when it lands, right-side up, in Pinkie’s hooves, and the contents of the bowl don't change at all.

Pinkie puts the bowl back in her lap, sighs with relief, then sings, “Sorry.”  And, she goes back to stirring.

All laugh, except for Vinyl, who just smiles.  And, by the time the laughter subsides, Pinkie seems to be ready to apply the frosting to the cupcakes.

Twilight sees this.  So, she approaches the pink angel pony and asks, “So, Pinkie, can I help you with that?”

I have my character reach out and put a hand on the purple unicorn’s shoulder, and I state, “Now, Twilight, I’m sure Pinkie knows how to put frosting on cupcakes.”

I then hear Pinkie say, “It’s alright, Mormon.  I could use a little help with the frosting.”

I have my character remove his hand from Twilight’s shoulder, and I say, “Well, in that case, go for it.  Do you think you could divide the frosting into sixteen portions and apply each one to a cupcake?”

Free of my character’s hand, the purple unicorn approaches her pink angel pony friend and says, “Sure, it shouldn’t be a problem.”  She then closes her eyes and concentrates, using her magic to raise the contents of the bowl into the air.

I’m sure there isn’t one creature there that isn’t fascinated by what looks like a pink cloud convulsing above the bowl.  In fact, I’m not even surprised at seeing Pinkie Pie try to stick her mouth under it, no doubt in hopes of getting to drink more chocolate milk.

At any rate, after a few seconds of this type of activity in the cloud, it breaks up into sixteen equal portions, which take shape and each land on one of the cupcakes in the one box.  By the time Twilight’s finished, the cupcakes look the same, each having what reminds me of a pink bowel movement or strawberry ice cream swirl on it.

Suddenly I’m aware of the pink angel pony glaring at my character, at me.  While I have no intentions of speaking my thoughts about Twilight’s artwork, still, Pinkie’s making it clear that she knows what I’m thinking.

But, just because she knows doesn’t mean anyone else knows.

I hear Applejack ask, “Uh, Pinkie Pie, are you alright?”

Pinkie’s glare toward me melts away before she turns to her orange friend, sighs, and says, “Yeah, I’m fine.”  She then turns to the princesses, smiles, and asks, “Would you like to join us at this picnic?”

I hear Princess Celestia smile back as she answers, “We’d be honored.”  As my character turns his focus on the white alicorn, she continues, “But, first, let’s have our scripture reading.”

At this point, Octavia steps forward and asks, “Uh, might I join in?”

My character focuses on the gray earth mare; and I answer, “Sure, no problem.”

I then hear Pinkie Pie ask, “Anypony else need to get their books?”

Topsy Turvy answers, “I have mine,” and a copy of the Book of Mormon immediately appears over her head.

Ataahua seems to melt in her place as she slowly says, “Uh, I, uh, … didn’t bring mine.”

Then, Topsy Turvy says, “That’s alright.”  Then, as one more copy appears over the pink earth mare’s head, she adds, “I’ve got it for you.”

The gray pegasa looks up and sees the book, then jumps up and grabs it, hugging it as she descends again.  She then turns to her pink earth pony friend, hugs her, and sighs, “Thanks, Topsy Turvy.”

Before Pinkie can say anymore, and it looks like she’s ready to, I hear Octavia say, “Well, Vinyl and I need to get our copies if we’re going to read with you.”  And, she grabs the blue-haired unicorn’s tail in her teeth and drags her away, evidently back to their house to retrieve their books.

After watching the two musician ponies leave the park, Princess Celestia turns to the remaining fourteen and asks, “Does anypony else need to return to her house to get her Book of Mormon?”

Rarity’s the first to approach the white alicorn and answer, “Begging your pardon, princess, but I wasn’t aware there would be a reading here.  If it’s alright with you, I should like to go back to Carousel Boutique and get my copy.”

Princess Celestia nods to her and replies, “Go right ahead.”

Next to approach her is Applejack, who says, “Ah s’pose Ah should go back to Sweet Apple Acres ’n’ get mine.  Ah’ll go get it now.”

Last of all, Fluttershy approaches and says, “If it’s alright with you, I need to go to my cottage and get my own copy.”  And, she only flies off after Princess Celestia nods and voices her approval.

Pinkie, seeing the group reduced by about half, sighs, then directs the attention of the princess to the refreshments as she says, “Derpy and I made these muffins and cupcakes, and Applejack made the cider.  Once everypony’s here again, we can eat them while we read.  Is that alright, princesseseses?”

Princess Celestia chuckles, then says, “Sure, that’s no problem.”

Taking that as an invitation, Lyra uses her magic to distribute one cupcake and one muffin to each place where one reader is or was.

The first to return with her book is Rainbow Dash, followed by Fluttershy.  After that is Octavia, carrying Vinyl.  And, following close behind them is Rarity, who is followed by Applejack.

As all take their positions around the circle, Vinyl and Octavia take positions between Ataahua and Lyra, a space that had been occupied the night before by Berry Punch.

When all have settled into their places, Princess Celestia starts things off by briefly describing the events, starting at the beginning of the Book of Mosiah and ending at the end of chapter eighteen.

In the mean time, the other members of the reading group flip through the pages of their book until they find the page they're looking for.

The daytime princess then turns to the white unicorn with blue hair and asks, "Vinyl Scratch, will you begin by reading the first verse of chapter nineteen?"

Vinyl looks up at the daytime unicorn, silently shakes her head, then rests it between her front hooves.

As the blue-haired unicorn silently sighs, Octavia says, "You see, Vinyl's friends just left today, heading for Canterlot.  And, Vinyl promised she wouldn't speak again until they came back here to Ponyville."

Princess Celestia smiles at the blue-haired unicorn and says, "That's alright, Vinyl.  You don't have to read if you don't want to.  And, as for your friends, I'll make sure they aren't harmed."

I think I see the white, blue-haired unicorn start to smile before she sniffles, then sighs again.

The gray earth pony continues, "I shall read for Vinyl."  And, with that, she looks down into her book and reads, "And it came to pass that the army of the king returned, having searched in vain for the people of the Lord."  She then looks up and says, "It's fortunate that the Lord takes such good care of His people."

Ataahua then reads, "And now behold, the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people."

I read, "And the lesser part began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king."  She then looks up and says, "I don't doubt that king Noah did something to anger this Gideon character.  I just wonder what it was."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple."  She then looks up and asks, sarcastically, "Isn't it nice to hear that this king is so valiant in fighting for his people?"

Princess Luna reads, "And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of Shemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, spare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us; yea, they will destroy my people."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life."  Then, she looks up and says, "I'm not really all that surprised to read that king Noah was more concerned about his own welfare than that of his people.  What does surprise me is that Gideon let him go."

Pinkie Pie turns to her azure pegasa friend and responds, "Gideon was probably more interested in making sure his people survived than in killing King Noah at that point."  She then looks down into her own book and reads, "And the king commanded the people that they should flee before the Lamanites, and he himself did go before them, and they did flee into the wilderness, with their women and their children."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue them, and did overtake them, and began to slay them."

Spike reads, "Now it came to pass that the king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites."  He then looks up; and I can see, through my character's eyes, the glare in his as he says, "Now, that doesn't make any sense at all.  Without any females or offspring, pretty soon Noah won't have a kingdom to rule over."

Rarity turns to the juvenile dragon and replies, "Based on this, he may not have a kingdom anyway."  She then looks down into her book and reads, "Now there were many that would not leave them, but had rather stay and perish with them.  And the rest left their wives and their children and fled."

Applejack reads, "And it came to pass that those who tarried with their wives and their children caused that their fair daughters should stand forth and plead with the Lamanites that they would not slay them."

Fluttershy reads, "And it came to pass that the Lamanites had compassion on them, for they were charmed with the beauty of their women."

Lyra reads, "Therefore the Lamanites did spare their lives, and took them captives and carried them back to the land of Nephi, and granted unto them that they might possess the land, under the conditions that they would deliver up king Noah into the hands of the Lamanites, and deliver up their property, even one half of all they possessed, one half of their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things, and thus they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites from year to year."

At this point, Fluttershy interrupts and says, "Well, at least those Nephites are still alive."

Octavia turns to the white, blue-haired unicorn and asks, "Vinyl, are you sure you won't read?"  When she gets no answer, she looks down into her book and reads, "And now there was one of the sons of the king among those that were taken captive, whose name was Limhi."

Ataahua reads, "And now Limhi was desirous that his father should not be destroyed; nevertheless, Limhi was not ignorant of the iniquities of his father, he himself being a just man."

I read, "And it came to pass that Gideon sent men into the wilderness secretly, to search for the king and those that were with him.  And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness, all save the king and his priests."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if their wives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them."

Weed Whacker reads, "And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto death by fire."  She then grunts with interest and says, "Just like Abinadi said, King Noah's life was valued like a garment in a hot furnace.  And, he suffered the same fate that Abinadi suffered."

Princess Luna reads, "And they were about to take the priests also and put them to death, and they fled before them."

Princess Celestia reads, "And it came to pass that they were about to return to the land of Nephi, and they met the men of Gideon.  And the men of Gideon told them of all that had happened to their wives and their children; and that the Lamanites had granted unto them that they might possess the land by paying a tribute to the Lamanites of one half of all they possessed."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And the people told the men of Gideon that they had slain the king, and his priests had fled from them farther into the wilderness."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that after they had ended the ceremony, that they returned to the land of Nephi, rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain; and they told Gideon what they had done to the king."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an oath unto them, that his people should not slay them."

Spike reads, "And also Limhi, being the son of the king, having the kingdom conferred upon him by the people, made oath unto the king of the Lamanites that his people should pay tribute unto him, even one half of all they possessed."

Rarity reads, "And it came to pass that Limhi began to establish the kingdom and to establish peace among his people."

Applejack reads, "And the king of the Lamanites set guards round about the land, that he might keep the people of Limhi in the land, that they might not depart into the wilderness; and he did support his guards out of the tribute which he did receive from the Nephites."

Fluttershy reads, "And now king Limhi did have continual peace in his kingdom for the space of two years, that the Lamanites did not molest them nor seek to destroy them."

At this point, Lyra looks up at my character and asks, "Mormon, should I start reading the next chapter?"

I nod to her and answer, "Sure, go ahead."

The pale-green unicorn nods and smiles back, then looks down into her book again and reads, "Now there was a place in Shemlon where the daughters of the Lamanites did gather themselves together to sing, and to dance, and to make themselves merry."

Octavia turns to Vinyl, searching for the chance to get a response from her.  When she finds none, she turns back to her book and reads, "And it came to pass that there was one day a small number of them gathered together to sing and to dance."

Ataahua reads, "And now the priests of king Noah, being ashamed to return to the city of Nephi, yea, and also fearing that the people would slay them, therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children."

I read, "And having tarried in the wilderness, and having discovered the daughters of the Lamanites, they laid and watched them;"

Topsy Turvy reads, "And when there were but few of them gathered together to dance, they came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that when the Lamanites found that their daughters had been missing, they were angry with the people of Limhi, for they thought it was the people of Limhi."  Again she grunts in interest, this time saying, "I guess even bad creatures can have a good side to them.  Here, the Lamanites demonstrate that they care about their females."

Princess Luna reads, "Therefore they sent their armies forth; yea, even the king himself went before his people; and they went up to the land of Nephi to destroy the people of Limhi."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now Limhi had discovered them from the tower, even all their preparations for war did he discover; therefore he gathered his people together, and laid wait for them in the fields and in the forests."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And it came to pass that when the Lamanites had come up, that the people of Limhi began to fall upon them from their waiting places, and began to slay them."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that the battle became exceedingly sore, for they fought like lions for their prey."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And it came to pass that the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites.  But they fought for their lives, and for their wives, and for their children; therefore they exerted themselves and like dragons did they fight."  Now, it's Twilight's turn to grunt with interest before she says, "So, at this point, it's lions versus dragons."

Spike reads, "And it came to pass that they found the king of the Lamanites among the number of their dead; yet he was not dead, having been wounded and left upon the ground, so speedy was the flight of his people."  He then chuckles a couple times before saying, "It looks like the dragons won."

Rarity reads, "And they took him and bound up his wounds, and brought him before Limhi, and said:  Behold, here is the king of the Lamanites; he having received a wound has fallen among their dead, and they have left him; and behold, we have brought him before you; and now let us slay him."

Applejack reads, "But Limhi said unto them:  Ye shall not slay him, but bring him hither that I may see him.  And they brought him.  And Limhi said unto him:  What cause have ye to come up to war against my people?  Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; therefore, why should ye break the oath which ye made unto my people?"  She then looks up and says, "Ah reckon it makes sense that Limhi'd wanna preserve the treaty between his people and the Lamanites.  And, at the same time, it also makes sense that he'd wanna know why the Lamanites were attackin' 'em in the first place.  Ah really don't wonder why Limhi didn't want the Lamanite king to be killed."

Fluttershy reads, "And now the king said:  I have broken the oath because thy people did carry away the daughters of my people; therefore, in my anger I did cause my people to come up to war against thy people."  She then looks up, sighs, and says, "Neither the Lamanites nor the people of Limhi knew that it was the priests of Noah that had stolen the daughters of the Lamanites.  I don't suppose those priests would have come forward and confessed what they'd done, so the matter could be cleared up."

Lyra turns to the yellow pegasa and answers, "I wouldn't suppose so."  She then looks down into her book and reads, "And now Limhi had heard nothing concerning this matter; therefore he said:  I will search among my people and whosoever has done this thing shall perish.  Therefore he caused a search to be made among his people."

Octavia reads, "Now when Gideon had heard these things, he being the king’s captain, he went forth and said unto the king: I pray thee forbear, and do not search this people, and lay not this thing to their charge."  She then looks up and says, "You know, come to think of it, if Gideon didn't know for sure, he would know enough about king Noah to suspect that either he or his priests would be the type or types to abduct the daughters of the Lamanites."

Ataahua reads, "For do ye not remember the priests of thy father, whom this people sought to destroy?  And are they not in the wilderness?  And are not they the ones who have stolen the daughters of the Lamanites?"  She then turns to the gray earth mare and says, "Just like you said."

I read, "And now, behold, and tell the king of these things, that he may tell his people that they may be pacified towards us; for behold they are already preparing to come against us; and behold also there are but few of us."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And behold, they come with their numerous hosts; and except the king doth pacify them towards us we must perish."

Weed Whacker reads, "For are not the words of Abinadi fulfilled, which he prophesied against us—and all this because we would not hearken unto the words of the Lord, and turn from our iniquities?"

Princess Luna reads, "And now let us pacify the king, and we fulfil the oath which we have made unto him; for it is better that we should be in bondage than that we should lose our lives; therefore, let us put a stop to the shedding of so much blood."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now Limhi told the king all the things concerning his father, and the priests that had fled into the wilderness, and attributed the carrying away of their daughters to them."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And it came to pass that the king was pacified towards his people; and he said unto them:  Let us go forth to meet my people, without arms; and I swear unto you with an oath that my people shall not slay thy people."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that they followed the king, and went forth without arms to meet the Lamanites.  And it came to pass that they did meet the Lamanites; and the king of the Lamanites did bow himself down before them, and did plead in behalf of the people of Limhi."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And when the Lamanites saw the people of Limhi, that they were without arms, they had compassion on them and were pacified towards them, and returned with their king in peace to their own land."

At this point, Pinkie PIe jumps up and shouts, "Alright, let's party!"  She then circles around to her blue-haired unicorn friend, nuzzles her, and says, "Well, Vinyl, get up.  I prepared this party just for you."

Presently, a pad of paper and a pencil suddenly appear above Vinyl, then, possessed by her magic, the pencil writes something on the pad of paper.  Then, when the pencil is finished, the pad floats over to Pinkie.

The pink angel pony reads from the pad, “I just don’t feel like partying right now.”  She then giggles as she turns to the blue-haired unicorn, then says, “Well, you won’t know for sure until you start.  Don’t you wanna be happy again?”

Vinyl’s only response is to rise to all fours, then grab her copy of the Book of Mormon in her mouth, then amble off toward the entrance of the park.

In the mean time, the pencil and pad of paper fall into Pinkie’s front hooves.

As she watches her blue-haired unicorn friend wander off, Pinkie collapses to a canine-style sitting position, but raises a front hoof and claws the air in front of her, toward her friend, and whimpers, “Vinyl?”

As the pink angel pony drops her front hoof under her again and looks down at the ground in front of her, Octavia approaches her, puts a front hoof on her shoulder, and says, “It’s alright, Pinkie.  Vinyl really does appreciate the effort you put into this party.  She just needs to get used to her friends not living here anymore.”  She then approaches the spot where Vinyl had been and proceeds to negotiate her way to picking up two cupcakes and two muffins.

That’s when Twilight approaches and, with her magic, raises the four pastries up for the gray earth mare.

Seeing the purple unicorn coming to assist her, Octavia smiles and says, “Thank you, Twilight.”

The representative of magic nods and smiles and says, “You’re welcome.  I’ll walk these home for you, and you and Vinyl can do what you want with them.”

As Twilight and Octavia follow Vinyl out of the park, Pinkie turns to my character.

For a few seconds, the pink angel pony looks at me through my character’s eyes, while I also look at her.  Eventually, I have my character reach out a hand and stroke Pinkie’s mane; and I say, “Well, you did try to cheer her up.”

Pinkie jumps into my character's arms and whimpers, “But, I should’ve succeeded!  Why didn’t it work?”

As my character automatically wraps his arms around the weeping pink angel mare, I answer, “Maybe the party came too early.  It could be that Vinyl wasn’t ready for it just yet.”

At this point, Pinkie pushes away from my character and, looking at me through him, tries to speak.  But, all she can do is stammer.

Before she can collapse onto my character’s shoulder again, I add, “This may be something Vinyl will have to deal with on her own.  Or, it may be something Octavia can help her with.  Whatever the case is, I’m sure that, when Vinyl’s ready for a party again, she’ll let you know.”

Pinkie collapses into my character’s shoulder and weeps, “I-I … worked … s-so hard … on this.”

I respond, “And, you can consider this a practice run.  Then, when Vinyl lets you know she’s ready, you can throw her another party.”

Pinkie emits a worried moan before saying, “I hope you’re right, Mormon.”

I then hear Fluttershy’s voice say, “In the mean time, if you want, I can give you one more lesson in flight.”  Then, as both the human and the angel pony turn to look at the yellow pegasa, she asks, “”Would you like that?”

Pinkie sniffles once more, then inhales, then exhales, then says, “Sure.  One more lesson.”

Taking that as encouragement, my character lets the pink angel pony go, allowing her to follow Fluttershy to another area of the park where, from what I can see, the yellow pegasa gives her lessons in taking flight from a resting position.

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as the yellow pegasa demonstrates by spreading her wings, then hopping, then flapping her wings to support herself in the air.

Then, from next to my character, I hear Ataahua’s voice say, “I’m guessing, from what Fluttershy said, that’s going to be Pinkie Pie’s last lesson?”

My character turns to the gray pegasa, and I say, “It sounds like.”

Ataahua continues, “I can teach her how to fly around objects, or how to crash into them without getting hurt, if she wants.”

The part about teaching Pinkie Pie how to crash into objects without getting hurt makes me a little suspicious, but I say, “Sure, if she wants.”

I can see Ataahua’s full-faced smile.  But, before she can vocalize her excitement, which I’m sure she’s preparing to do, I hear Princess Celestia say, “You have the beginnings of quite a diverse herd here.”  Then, as my character turns to her, she continues, “You should go ahead and allow Derpy Hooves to teach Pinkie Pie whatever she wants to learn from her.  I’m sure Derpy will be a good teacher.”

The gray pegasa nods and smiles at the daytime alicorn, then says, “Well, thank you, princess.”

The white alicorn adds, “Now, my sister and I need to be heading back to the castle.  In the mean time, let Pinkie know that we were honored to be part of this party.”  And, with that, she disappears.

My character looks around to show me, through his eyes, that Princess Luna has also disappeared.  And, further exploration of the surroundings shows that the cupcakes and muffins for them have also disappeared, suggesting that the two either ate them here, or took them with them.

Whatever the case is, it isn’t long after that Twilight Sparkle returns and joins in a conversation with Rarity and Lyra.

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash approaches my character and asks, “Do you think Pinkie Pie’ll wanna learn some lessons from me?”

I answer, “I wouldn’t be surprised.  And, you’re not the first to want to be next to teach her.”

A clearly-surprised Rainbow Dash asks, “Really?  Who else wants to teach her?”

The blue pegasa seems even more surprised when he hears Ataahua, from under her, call out, “Me!”

Rainbow Dash settles on the ground next to the gray pegasa, then asks her, “Uh, excuse me, Derpy, but what lessons do you think you could teach Pinkie Pie?”

The gray pegasa answers, looking down and drawing circles in the grass, “Well, I was thinking I could teach her how to dodge objects that might fly toward her, or be in her way, or how to crash into things without getting hurt.”

Rainbow Dash reaches out to Ataahua with a front hoof and touches her on the shoulder, drawing her attention.  Then, she says, “If anypony knows about crashing into stuff, you do.  I’m sure you can teach her how to do that without getting hurt.  Just one thing worries me, though: your eyes aren’t properly aligned.  Pinkie’s are.”

At this point, I speak up and say, “I don’t see how that makes Ataahua any worse of a teacher.”

The azure pegasa gives my character a skeptical look and responds, “Since you’re a human, you probably wouldn’t understand.”

I respond, “If ponies are so different from humans that one pony wouldn’t be able to learn from another because they’re not exactly the same, then you’re probably right; and I wouldn’t understand.”

Rainbow Dash’s skeptical look morphs into confusion, and she further communicates that confusion with a grunt.

I continue, “I’m fully aware that Pinkie Pie isn’t perfect.  And, neither is Ataahua.  I just don’t think Ataahua’s imperfect vision is going to be that big of an obstacle to Pinkie Pie learning the lessons that Ataahua is offering her.”

Just then, from behind my character, I hear Pinkie Pie’s voice cheerfully ask, “Offering me what, Mormy?”

Well, it’s good to hear that Fluttershy’s last flying lesson cheered the pink angel pony up.

In the mean time, Ataahua answers, “Rainbow Dash doesn’t think I’ll be able to teach you because of my eyes.”

I can hear the skepticism in the pink angel pony’s voice as she innocently asks, “Uh, Rainbow Dash, why do you think Ataahua’s going to be teaching me with her eyes?”

At Pinkie’s question, Ataahua starts to giggle; and I must admit I’m having trouble taking the mental image seriously.

Rainbow Dash answers, “I’m not talking about Derpy teaching you with her eyes.  I’m just worried that she’s going to get herself, or you, hurt while she’s trying to teach you, well, whatever it is she wants to teach you about flying.”

I decide to speak up now, as I state, “From what I’ve heard from Ataahua, she thinks she can teach Pinkie how to dodge flying or hovering objects, and how to crash into such objects without getting hurt.  My guess is she wouldn’t be offering to teach those things if she didn’t already know how to do them.  Or, at least wasn’t willing to learn them for herself.”

The azure pegasa stammers and him-haws for a minute or two.  Eventually, she sighs in defeat, then says, “Alright.  If Pinkie Pie wants to learn those lessons from you, then you can go ahead and teach them."

Having that permission from Rainbow Dash, Ataahua jumps into and hugs her, repeatedly thanking her.

It takes maybe another minute or two for the azure pegasa to separate herself from the excited gray one.  But, when she finally does, she says, “Alright, alright, alright!  Just ask Pinkie Pie first.”

The smiling pegasa closes her eyes and nods vigorously, then turns to the pink angel pony and asks, “Pinkie, do you want me to teach you how to dodge flying or floating objects, and how to crash into stuff without getting hurt?”

Pinkie seems somewhat nervous as she answers, “Uh, I guess?”

Excited over the pink angel pony’s answer, Ataahua leaps around her, continuously shouting, “Yes!”

Pinkie Pie, in the mean time, starts to relax and giggles while watching the excited gray pegasa.

In the mean time, I hear Rainbow Dash, next to my character, say, “I hope those two know what they’re getting themselves into.”

My character focuses on the azure pegasa.  But, before I can answer her, I hear Twilight’s voice ask, “Uh, where are princesses Celestia and Luna?”

My character focuses on the purple unicorn, and I answer, “They had to return to Canterlot.”

Twilight sighs before saying, “I hoped they could stay longer so I could visit with them.”

Just then, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “You know, Nightmare Night’s tomorrow.  We should be getting home so we can rest up for then.”

Twilight turns to her pink friend and says, “You’re right, Pinkie.  Let’s finish these refreshments, then we’ll head back to our homes.”

The only response of agreement is the remaining ponies, as well as the dragons and the human, claiming the remaining refreshments to finish them off.  After that, the ponies, dragons, and human say their farewells and head off to their places of residence.

I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised that my character and his group arrive at his house before the sun goes down and is replaced by the moon.

At any rate, the group disperses to their chosen areas: Pinkie and my character to the orchard, Lyra to the vineyard, Ataahua and Weed Whacker to the vegetable garden, and Topsy Turvy to the grain field.

While she and my character harvest fruits from the trees, Pinkie and I talk about Vinyl and how long it’ll take for her to adjust to a Ponyville without her friends, as well as the other changes made to Ponyville after Discord’s attack.  And, when the group gathers on the front porch again, my character opens the front door to allow the ponies and Weed Whacker in, then closes the door behind him.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie leads the group to the kitchen, holding the door open for them until my character, the last in line, enters, then closes the door behind her.

With the help of Pinkie and Topsy Turvy, Ataahua makes muffins from some of the berries that Lyra harvested, while the pale-green unicorn, as well as Weed Whacker and my character, prepare the rest of the fruits, and the vegetables, for dinner.  Then, when all the food is ready and placed on a platter, the group enters the front room and takes positions on the couches around the coffee table to eat.

It takes maybe half an hour for the party of six to finish off the fruits, vegetables, and muffins, after which they join forces in the cleanup.

Then, as the group finishes cleaning up, I hear a knock on the door.

Topsy Turvy pauses for a moment, then gallops toward the door.  She makes it clear who is on the other side of the door by shouting out, “Princess Luna!”

I hear, from the other side of the open door, the nighttime alicorn’s voice say happily, “Hello, Topsy Turvy.  Are you ready to take care of your father?”

It’s all I can do to keep from laughing as I watch the earth pony jump up and down and repeatedly shout, “Yes!”  I’d say it’s at the rate of four or five “Yes”es per leap.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, demonstrates that she has no such inhibitions.

In the mean time, the voice of the nighttime princess continues, “Well, then, whoever is coming with you, you need to gather on the front lawn; and I’ll teleport you to the statue.”

I’m not surprised that Pinkie and I join Topsy Turvy and Princess Luna outside.  But, I am surprised to find Ataahua, Lyra, and Weed Whacker also joining the group.  I must admit, I’m curious: If either of the princesses really did exist, would either of them, on their own, be able to teleport themselves and half a dozen others over such a great distance?

Again, in one frame, the group goes from the lawn in front of my character’s house to the lawn in front of Discord’s statue.

Then, as Topsy Turvy accepts the cleaning equipment from Grounds Keeper, I’m aware that Luna isn’t the only princess outside.  He focuses automatically on the other alicorn present, showing me Princess Celestia next to him.

I start, then say, “Oh, hi, Princess Celestia.  How are you this evening?”

The daytime princess chuckles for a moment, then says, smiling, “I’m fine.  I just thought I’d come out here and get your report while Topsy Turvy’s keeping Discord.”

Curious, I ask, “Does this mean the written reports won’t be necessary any more?”

Princess Celestia pauses for a moment, then says, “I should have no problems remembering your report.  I can document it later.”

I take her answer as affirmation, and I say, “Well, I suppose the first thing I have to report is it was an honor to help your student, Twilight Sparkle, solve her problem.”

The white princess starts to walk away from my character, but turns to him and says, “If you will follow me, you can continue to give me your report.”  To the rest of the group, she adds, “The rest of you can stay here.  We won’t be long.”

I hear Topsy Turvy start to sing Michael McClain’s ‘Be That Friend’ as my character follows the daytime alicorn toward, then into, the hedge maze; and, once inside and past the first turn, Princess Celestia stops, then turns to my character and says, “Now, start with Pinkie’s friend Vinyl, and tell me about why she wasn’t speaking, wasn’t willing to read with us.”

I nod, then talk about how Vinyl’s friends, Drum Roll, Lotta Pipes, and Sweet Tones had been tortured by Discord the night before, and how they’d decided they didn’t want to live in Ponyville anymore.  I recite that Vinyl had promised that if she couldn’t convince her musician friends to stay in Ponyville, she wouldn’t say anything more until they returned.  I state that it’s likely to take some time for Vinyl to get used to her friends not living so close to her anymore.

When Princess Celestia asks about how I helped Twilight, I answer that, when I found her on a bench in the Ponyville park, she was lying on her side, stroking her tail.  She muttered to herself when I approached; and, when I asked, she talked about her fear of not getting a letter written on time, that she said she was afraid she’d be tardy and be sent back to magic kindergarten.  I talk about how I suggested that her next letter be about this matter that was troubling her so much, suggesting that her mentor would be more understanding than she was expecting her to be.  I add that I was evidently right about it.

The daytime alicorn then asks about my progress with Lyra, and I respond by saying that, thus far, she’s been great in the vineyard, and has otherwise proven helpful on various occasions.  Then, Princess Celestia makes her point clearer by asking how close Lyra is to earning her wings or earth pony powers.

At first, I’m not sure how to answer, and I say as much.  I don't say this to Princess Celestia, but I programmed Pinkie Pie to gain wings or a horn depending on if the gamer teaches her to buck apples or not.  If the gamer does, then, after successfully caring for her to the end of the season-one episodes, Pinkie Pie, or more specifically Diane, earns her wings.  Otherwise, by that point, Pinkamena earns her horn.  I do tell Princess Celestia about Lyra, that since she’s a unicorn, she doesn’t need to earn her horn; she already has one.  But, learning how to work with plants may be earning her enough skill so she could be ready to gain earth pony powers, and she could become a terra-corn.  In the end, I state that Lyra’s tending the vineyard, harvesting fruits from there, could lead to her getting earth pony powers sooner than I might expect.

Finally, I wonder aloud what I can do to help Derpy Hooves to earn her horn, as she’s expressed to me she wants.

To this, Princess Celestia pauses and hums for a moment or two.  Turning to my character again, she answers that perhaps her student, Twilight Sparkle, could help with that; that if Derpy is willing to take up chemistry or something similar, then that could go a ways toward her earning her horn.

On the subject of Topsy Turvy, I have nothing to report, considering I really don’t know how to help her.  I state that I don’t know what she might want to become, and that she seems happy to take care of her father while he’s a statue.  I suppose I’ll have to ask her about that.

As for Weed Whacker, the daytime princess and I talk about her evident physical growth and her service to me to date.  Thus far, other than reminding me to write letters on a regular basis, she proved most useful to me when Rarity was in trouble with the diamond dogs and needed to be rescued.  And, even then, it seemed that the representative of generosity had made herself such a burden on the diamond dogs that they were more than willing to be rid of her.  Still, on that occasion, Weed Whacker was helpful to the rest of the element bearers, as well as Lyra and myself, in providing a strategy for getting past their pit traps.

Satisfied with my report, the daytime princess leads my character back out of the hedge maze and back to the rest of the group, just in time for Topsy Turvy to finish cleaning and singing to Discord.

When the pink earth mare returns the cleaning equipment to Grounds Keeper, then returns to the main group, Princess Luna teleports the group back to my character’s house, then teleports herself back to Canterlot.

On the way back into the house, I inform Weed Whacker that I delivered my report to Princess Celestia while she and I were walking through the hedge maze; and that I don’t have to write it this time.

With that much covered, the group, once inside the house, splits up and heads to their rooms; and my character, once in his room, retires to his bed.

It's been one whole day again, and already Ataahua and Topsy Turvy have made their contributions to life here.  As long as Ataahua is serious about becoming an alicorn for the right reasons, I’m willing to help her with that.  And, honestly, I do wonder how close Lyra is to gaining earth pony magic.  I’m sure all four ponies living with my character will be able to help each other advance toward becoming alicorns.  And, I look forward to it.  I just wonder, what can I do to help Topsy Turvy advance toward becoming an alicorn?

Well, whatever the case is, until the game’s tomorrow, I save and close it.

Chapter 3: Halloween, Equestria Style

As I resume the game this time, I find my character waking up to strangely muffled knocking on his door, accompanied by the sound of Lyra moaning, not unlike the zombies from the original Resident Evil game.

As my character sits up in his bed, I call out, “Are you alright, Lyra?”

The only response I get is another moan, followed by heavier knocking.

My character rises from his bed and walks toward his door; and I decide to allow him.  And, when he opens his bedroom door and looks down, I see, through his eyes, a unicorn, fitting Lyra’s appearance, wrapped from her hooves to her horn, and from her tail to her nose, in bandages.

There’s something about the cleanness of her bandages that I just can’t take seriously.

Hearing my laughter, Lyra, who’s been looking up at my character since he opened his door, asks, “How do you like my costume, Mormon?”

Through my laughter, I find I can only answer, “Whoa, mummy!”

At my answer Lyra starts to giggle as well.

Then, from in the kitchen, I hear what I can only describe as a child trying to growl or roar menacingly, before I see Weed Whacker march from her hiding spot in the kitchen, on her hind legs, dressed as some kind of predatory dinosaur.

The two fingers indicate a tyrannosaurid, but it seems too skinny to be one that I’m familiar with.  And, while I’ve heard that there at least were dinosaurs that did have feathers, the ones covering Weed Whacker’s arms, legs, torso and head are clearly made of paper, and are pointing in different directions, in a way that has no natural flow to it.  Whatever carnivorous dinosaur Weed Whacker is specifically trying to be, I’m not getting it.  Maybe for Weed Whacker’s species, all that matters is the teeth; and details like the shape and size of the creature just blend together.

For a moment, Weed Whacker lowers her forelimbs and asks, “So, Mormon, what do you think?”  She then raises them again as she snarls, “I’m a hunter.”  And, she emits another juvenile roar.

I have my character kneel on one knee, and I say, “Well, it’s certainly a hunter I’ve never seen before.  What kind are you?”

At first, Weed Whacker lowers her forelimbs again and asks, “What does it matter?”  Then, again she raises her forelimbs before marching toward my character and growling, “I eat meat.”  And, again she roars.

Smiling, I say, “Well, sweet.”

Immediately Weed Whacker stops and grunts in curious confusion.

I continue, “Humans have made friends with a lot of meat-eaters.  And, humans also eat meat, though not strictly.”  I then have my character stand up again as I conclude, “You know, maybe we could go fishing together some time.”

As she watches my character stand up again, I see Weed Whacker start to vibrate; and her mixed expression of confusion and curiosity melds together into fear.  She asks, “R-really?”

I answer, “Well, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.  But, if you want to come with me when I go fishing, you’re welcome to it.  I realize my fishing methods are going to be different from those of a meat-eating dinosaur, so I suppose I could let you go first.”

It takes a second or two for Weed Whacker to respond.  And, when she does, she emits a high-pitched scream before running into the front room through the kitchen door.

I then hear Lyra ask, “Mormon, why did you have to do that to Weed Whacker?”

My character focuses on the pale-green unicorn, showing me the glare on her face.  I answer, “Well, she did say she ate meat.  And, I believe I have mentioned before that humans also eat meat on occasion.”

Lyra points with a hind leg to the kitchen door and says, “But, you scared Weed Whacker.”

I ask, “Well, isn’t this Nightmare Day?”

Lyra puts the hind leg down again and answers, “Well, yeah.  But, that doesn’t mean you have to give somepony nightmares.”

I smile and say, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.  Sorry about that.  But, I’m sure she’ll get over it.  Anyway, where’s Pinkie Pie?”

Before Lyra has a chance to answer, I hear clucking from the other side of my character’s bedroom door.  As my character comes out of his room, closes his door, and looks into the hallway toward Pinkie’s room, and as Lyra backs up a step to keep from being stepped on, I see the pink angel pony, wings painted white, with a small yellow cone on her nose, and dressed in a chicken costume. She’s even wearing yellow socks, or something like that, on her hind legs to make them look like the legs of a chicken.  And, considering the relatively small, red comb on her head, I’m guessing she’s trying to be a hen, which makes sense to me.

Pinkie emits a couple clucks before asking, “So, Mormon, what do you think of my costume?”  And, she punctuates her question with a squawk.

I slowly answer, “Well, considering how brave I’ve seen you act, I must say, I’m not finding this costume convincing.”

I’m not sure how she pulls it off, but Pinkie Pie manages to laugh in such a way that she sounds like living poultry before saying, “Ah, Mormon.”

I then add, “I guess that just leaves Ataahua and Topsy Turvy.”

And, that’s when I hear the sound of paper rattling in the front room.

Evidently the two mares with my character hear it too, as the party of three head to the kitchen, then go through the door and into the front room.

There, I, at least, as soon as my character moves to where I can see her past the closest couch, see the gray pegasa wearing one paper bag on her head, and four more, one on each hoof.  I say, “Hi, Ataahua.  Interesting costume.”

Ataahua smiles at me and says, “Thanks, Mormon.”  Then, as she hovers into the air, she continues, “I’m a bag mare.”

At this statement from the gray pegasa, I can’t help but laugh.

Hearing my laughter, Ataahua descends to the ground and folds her wings, then looks down and says, “I guess my costume wasn’t so good after all.”  And, she turns and ambles toward her room.

I stop laughing immediately as I have my character start walking toward her.  But, evidently I forget about the couch between my character and her; as he trips over the closest arm and falls into the sofa.

In the mean time, I say, “Now, wait, Ataahua.  I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”  Then, when she turns and looks at my character again, I continue, “I just wasn’t expecting you to have that label for your costume.  Could you explain it to me?”

I watch as Ataahua’s ears, which had been drooping before, perk up again, and she smiles as she turns to and approaches my character and answers, “Well, if you’ll remember at the grocery store, and the ponies that set up paper bags and put groceries in them, well, those are the ponies I was trying to dress as.”

I hum with interest, then have my character turn to Lyra as I ask, “Is that how those ponies dress when they’re putting the groceries in the bags?”

The pale-green unicorn turns to Ataahua, then back to my character, and answers, “Well, maybe they dress like that in Cloudsdale.  I’ve just never seen bag mares dress like that in Canterlot, Fillydelphia, or Ponyville.”

I have my character focus on the gray pegasa again, and I state, “Well, it’s an interesting costume anyway.”

I then hear Pinkie Pie ask, “So, Mormon, what are you gonna dress up as, huh?”

As my character turns to the pink angel pony, I answer, “You know, I’ve considered going dressed as I am right now.  Maybe I could just go around town and say, ‘Fi, fie, fo, fum’ all the time.”

Pinkie Pie giggles for a second or two before waving a front hoof at my character and saying, “Oh, Mormon, I don’t think anypony you meet is familiar with the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.”

I can’t help but laugh in response.  If none of the other ponies are, it seems that at least Pinkie is familiar with that story.

Before anyone can say anything further on the matter, Topsy Turvy comes out of her room, not dressed at all, and says, “Yeah, me and Mormon are different enough that we won’t need a costume.”

I add, “And, anyway, shouldn’t we be getting breakfast ready so we can go to Ponyville as soon as possible?”

Pinkie Pie asks in response, “Why?”  She continues, “Since it’s a holiday, there won’t be any businesses open anyway.  We can wait here until late in the afternoon if we want.”

Then, I hear Lyra say, “Well, on the other hoof, there is the matter of the change of clothes Mormon left at Carousel Boutique.”

At this statement from the pale-green unicorn, Pinkie Pie inhales dramatically before saying, “You know, Lyra’s right.  We need to get there so Mormon can get his clothes back.”  She then gallops to the front door before turning to my character, clucking once or twice more, and saying, “Well, Mormon, let’s get going to the orchard.  We need to get breakfast ready.”  And, with that, she turns, pushes the door open, then gallops outside.

As my character follows her, just walking, Topsy Turvy joins him just outside and says, “Oh, that reminds me.  It seems that Derpy and I can work together after all.”

As my character focuses on the pink earth mare, I ask, “What do you mean?”

Topsy Turvy answers, “I had a talk with her about it, as well as Weed Whacker, and Derpy agreed to work with me in the grain field!”

I smile as I say, “Well, as long as Ataahua’s alright with that arrangement, I have no problem with it.  Go right ahead.”

Topsy Turvy smiles and squees, then says, “Thank you, Mormon.”  Then, she looks behind her and calls out, “Let’s go, Derpy!” and gallops off toward the grain field, with the gray pegasa flying to catch up to her.

I can only assume that Weed Whacker heads to the vegetable garden and Lyra heads to the vineyard while I continue to follow Pinkie to the orchard.

By the time my character reaches the peach tree and starts harvesting fruit from it, Pinkamena has already chosen a tree to harvest from, and handed control of Pinkie over to Diane.

As my character grabs and plucks a few peaches from the tree, I hear Diane say, “Pinkamena is really looking forward to this Nightmare Night.”

I reply, “Not that difficult to tell.”

After my character picks six peaches from the tree, he turns to Pinkie “Diane” Pie, who is surrounded by half a dozen apples.

The straight-haired angel pony grabs apples and hangs them in her mane as she continues, “This will be the first time she gets to spend the Nightmare Night celebration with a larger group of her friends, which, this time, will include a human.”

As I watch, through my character’s eyes, Diane pick up the last of the two apples and hang them in her mane, I respond, “Well, to tell you the truth, this will be my first Nightmare Night.”

Immediately Pinkamena takes control of Pinkie and, looking and tilting her head curiously at my character, at me, asks, “What do you mean?”

I have my character kneel in front of the pink angel pony, and I answer, “While it’s true that Halloween in my world is similar to Nightmare Night here, there are a few differences.  And, I look forward to seeing what those differences are.  It’s already evident that ponies dress up in costumes for the celebration, and there’s also the tradition of gathering treats that the two holidays have in common. And, from what I’ve seen, Nightmare Night is as much fun for ponies, at least for foals, as Halloween is for human children.  But, I also understand that the reasoning is a little different.

“From what I understand, Nightmare Night is the celebration of Nightmare Moon being banished to the moon.  On the other hand, I also understand that Halloween is something of a celebration involving keeping free of scary things by resembling them.  And, there may be other differences that I’m not aware of; and probably other similarities.  I’m just curious to find out more about this Nightmare Night celebration.”

Pinkie’s voice builds to a scream as she replies, “And, that’s what makes this celebration so exciting!”  And, she leaps into the air as she screams “exciting”.

Just then, I hear Zecora’s voice say, “I have been doing research on this party as well, for I have been given the tale to tell.”

I think my character and Pinkie Pie turn around at the same time as my character rises to his feet.

Pinkie gallops a couple steps toward the zebra and says, “Zecora, you’re going too?”

Looking at the zebra, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s wearing extensions in her mane.  And, considering the spiders in those braids aren’t moving, I’d say they’re either fake or just the shed exoskeletons of spiders.  And, somehow, they seem to work with the earrings and the neck rings she’s wearing.  At any rate, she nods and, focused on the pink angel pony, says, “Pinkie Pie, in a chicken dress.”  She then looks at my character and adds, “And Mormon, in normal human attire, I guess?”

Pinkie answers, “Yeah, Mormon’s probably just gonna go in his regular clothes.  Topsy Turvy thinks she and Mormon are different enough that they’ll stand out anyway, and Mormon’s curious to see what Nightmare Night’s all about.  He wants to compare it to Halloween.”

Zecora tilts her head and grunts in curiosity.

I respond, “From what I’ve heard about Nightmare Night, there are some similarities between it and a holiday I’m familiar with, as PInkie said Halloween, which is more about warding off unfriendly spirits by trying to look as much like them as possible.”

Zecora straightens her head again and nods before saying, “Well, I hope, when the party’s begun, that you will find Nightmare Night just as much fun.”  And, with that, she trots past the orchard, and the front yard, and on into the Everfree forest.

After watching the zebra disappear into the forest, Pinkie Pie giggles, then says, “Well, Mormy, let’s get back to the house with our harvest.”  And, she hops over the fence and trots toward the house.

My character follows close behind her, carrying the peaches in his arms.

And, it seems that Pinkie Pie and my character are the last to gather on the front porch.

Lyra, as soon as she sees Pinkie and my character on the porch, uses her magic to open the front door and allow the rest of the group to enter.

Then, as soon as she’s inside, Pinkie Pie gallops to the kitchen door and opens it, making way for the rest of the group to enter the kitchen.

Lyra lingers behind long enough to close the door after the last in line, my character, enters.  And, she follows my character into the kitchen, and is thus the last to enter, after which Pinkie Pie closes the kitchen door.

Topsy Turvy, Ataahua, and Weed Whacker join forces to make muffins, combining the oats that Ataahua and Topsy Turvy harvested from the grain field with some of the fruit that Lyra harvested from the vineyard, while the rest of the group joins forces to clean up the fruits and the vegetables and otherwise prepare what isn’t used for muffins.

The full preparation takes maybe half an hour, after which the prepared meal is moved into the front room for the group to eat.  And, after the remnants are cleaned up, the group of six heads out the front door, across the front yard, and on into the Everfree forest.

An uneventful thirty or forty minutes later, the group, lead by Pinkie Pie, is making their way through Ponyville to Carousel Boutique.

I must admit, I find it entertaining to see Pinkie Pie pound on the door with the cone on her nose.

Maybe a minute or two later Rarity answers the door, then, recognizing her angel pony friend, says, “Well, Pinkie Pie, what brings you here?”

Pinkie answers, “Mormon left his change of clothes here, and wants to pick ‘em up again.”

Smiling, the white unicorn answers, “Why yes, of course.”  She then steps to one side and, motioning, invites, “Please, come on in.”

As each member of the group enters, they thank Rarity for inviting them in.

When the last has entered, which happens to be Ataahua, Rarity continues, “Mormon, your clothes are still in the dressing room.”

As my character proceeds in that direction, I reply, “Yes, ma’am.”  And, it isn’t very long, after entering, that I find the clothes where my character had left them, approximately half a week ago.  I have him put the clothes in his inventory, then back out of the dressing room.

Pinkie Pie then suggests, “Mormon, you can go on home and do what you want with that old change of clothes.  We’ll wait here with Rarity.”

My character demonstrates no disagreement with that, as he proceeds out the front door of the boutique, back through Ponyville, and to and through the Everfree forest, and back to his house.

Following my orders, my character takes his change of clothes and puts them in a basket to be washed, before heading out again.  But, before he can get to the front gate again, I hear flapping sounds; and my character looks up to show me the green dragon preparing to land in the pathway between my character’s house and the trail to Zecora’s house.

As soon as I see the dragon land, I say, “It’s been some time since your last visit.  Is there something I can help you with?”

The green dragon, who landed facing away from my character, turns to him and answers, “No.  I just came to tell you that I’ll be leaving here soon.”

I ask, “Why?  Did something happen?”

The dragon answers, “Two days ago, Discord came; and I saw what he did to the pony town.  It was a good thing that you and your pony friends were able to stop him before he could do more damage than that.  But, I fear that if he should escape again, he won’t stop with the pony town.  And, I want to be as far from his influence as possible.”  He sighs before continuing, “I would have been honored to come here again, to have more friendly visits with you.  But, the possibility that Discord will escape again is too much of a threat to me.  I cannot stay here.  I lament that I must leave like this, but leave I must.”

I take a moment to inhale and exhale before I respond, “If I could promise you that Discord will never come back, then I would.  And, as much as Weed Whacker and ponies that have come here might disagree with me, I have been honored by your visits.  I am sorry that you feel you need to leave.  But, I won’t stop you if you feel that leaving now is best.”

The dragon asks, “Is there a way that I could convince you to leave with me?”

I answer, “No.  I have many friends here, and here I can be of greatest service.”

The dragon nods and sighs, then states, “Very well, then.  I have sealed the entrance of my cave here so that no other dragon will get to my gems.  Now, I go in search of a cave elsewhere.  And, when I have found or made one suitable for me, I will return and reopen my cave here just long enough so I can gather up my gems and take them to my new cave.  It is … unlikely that we will meet again.  Farewell, human.”  And, with that, he flies off again.

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as the dragon flies over his house.  And, when I can no longer see him, I say, “Well, I hope you have success in your search.”  Then, I have my character turn and head into and through the Everfree forest, on his way back to Ponyville.

When my character arrives at Carousel Boutique, I have him knock on the door.  And, it seems that it’s as soon as he stops that the door opens; and Pinkie Pie is there saying, “Hi, Mormon!  Come on in.”  Then, as my character enters the clothing store, I hear the change in tone in Pinkie’s voice as she asks, “The green dragon visited, didn’t he?”

I answer, “Yes, he did.”

Pinkie continues, “And, he’s leaving, isn’t he?”

I’m not at all surprised at the pink angel pony’s intuitive nature.  I answer, “Yes, he is.”

I think I see Pinkie’s ears droop as she says, “You know, as scary as he was, I think I’m going to miss him.”

I state, “He said he’d seen what Discord did to Ponyville, and that he didn’t want him doing things like that to his home.  I guess I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to be around here after that.”

Then, I hear Rarity ask, “Who doesn’t want to be around, and after what?”

I open my mouth to answer; but Pinkie Pie is one step ahead of me, as she says, “If you’ll remember that green dragon that visited Mormon’s house about a week ago, the one he calmed down, well, today he paid Mormon one more visit to tell him he’s leaving.  According to what Mormon said, he was scared off by what he saw Discord doing to Ponyville a couple days ago.”

The white unicorn closes her eyes and nods while she says, “Well, good riddance.  Such an uncouth creature shouldn’t live so close to Ponyville in the first place.”

Then, I hear Spike ask, “And, what about his gems?”

I wait for my character to find and focus on the little purple dragon before I say, “He sealed them in his cave in the Everfree while he searches for a new cave.  When he finds his new cave, he’ll reopen his Everfree cave, then gather up those gems to take to his new one.”

At my answer, Spike glares at the floor in front of him and, snapping his fingers on one hand, growls, “Ah, shoot.”

Evidently, as far as his gems were concerned, the green dragon’s fears were well founded.  Spike was hoping for one more shot at them.

At any rate, from the upper edge of my character’s periphery, I see Weed Whacker approach.

When she’s within touching distance of Spike’s tail, she stops and says, “Well, I agree with Rarity.  I don’t ever want to see that green dragon again.”

Then, from inside the dressing room, I hear Ataahua ask, “What green dragon?”

My character automatically looks up and sees the gray pegasa in the doorway.  I answer, “A week or two ago, a dragon moved into the Everfree forest, apparently wanting to meet the human that had convinced his friend, the red dragon that was going to make a mountain cave near here his hibernation cave, to leave.  He visited me a week or so ago after Spike invaded his cave and ate some of his gems.”

Ataahua nods and concludes, “And, today, he decided to leave because of what Discord did to Ponyville a couple days ago, right?”

I answer, “That’s right.”

The gray pegasa nods to Spike and says, “The only dragons I’ve ever met were Spike here and Weed Whacker.  Do you think I could meet with your green dragon friend some time?”

I answer, “That’s unlikely.  He’s gone off to search for another cave.  He said that when he finds a new cave, he’ll come back to the one in the Everfree, open it up again, gather his gems, and take them to that new cave.  He’ll most likely be too busy with that to want to visit me anymore.  And, after that, well, the chances of seeing him again are really unlikely.”

As I finish speaking, Ataahua looks down for a moment.  Then she looks up at my character again and says, “Well, at least I still have Spike and Weed Whacker to talk to.”

Pinkie Pie responds, “Yeah, but he was a friend of yours, wasn’t he, Mormon?”

I wait for my character to focus on the pink angel pony before I slowly answer, “Well, as close of a friend as he could’ve been after two or three brief visits.  I got to see him once when he was happy at meeting me for the first time, once when he was angry at having his home invaded, and this last time when he was sad at having to leave.”

Presently, the pink angel pony jumps up onto my character, forcing him to catch her in his arms, and says, “Aw, come here, Mormon.”  And, with that, she wraps her forelimbs around my character's neck.

Seeing no other option, I allow my character to receive the hug from the pink angel mare.  And, in that position, I wonder aloud, “Do you suppose the green dragon is going to be part of the migration?”

I then hear Weed Whacker answer, “He probably will be.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Next, I hear Rarity say, “In the mean time, it’s getting late; and the Nightmare Night festival will be starting soon.  Shall we head out, then?”

After hearing what Rarity has to say, I have my character kneel on one knee and carefully put Pinkie Pie on the floor on her hooves, then stand up again; and I say, “Sure, let’s do that.”

I can’t help noticing that Pinkie licks tears away from her eyes, which leads me to wonder if she needed the hug more than I did.

In the mean time, I have my character turn to the purple dragon; and I ask, “Shouldn’t you be heading back to the library?”

Spike simply looks at my character confused.

I add, “It’s Nightmare Night.  Don’t you have a costume you should be putting on?”

Now Spike closes his eyes and slaps himself in the forehead with one hand as he says, “Oh, that’s right!  I’m dressing up as a dragon this year.”  And, with that, he opens his eyes again, runs to the front door, opens it, and runs out.

I then hear Rarity say, “That reminds me.  I have this fabulous costume I’ve been preparing just for this event.”  As my character focuses on the white unicorn, she seems to be dividing her attention among all her guests as she continues, “If the rest of you will leave for the festival, I shall go to the dressing room and get ready.  I shall meet you there.”

As those in the dressing room leave, and the group, save for my character, gathers at the front door, I ask, “So, should we wait for you just outside?”

Smiling, Rarity shakes her head as she answers, “Oh, no, you go on ahead.  When I’m ready, I shall find you.”

As my character starts to turn to his other friends, I start to say, “Well, in that case,”.  Then, when he unites with the four ponies and one dinosaur, I conclude, “I guess we’ll go on ahead.”  And, my character proceeds to open the door to allow the ponies and dinosaur to leave ahead of him.

Before my character exits, I hear the white unicorn say, “Thank you, Mormon.”

Then, when the group of six are outside, Pinkie Pie squawks before saying, “Let’s go to the library first.”  And, before pony, dinosaur, or human can respond, she runs off in that direction.

Now, I have seen the video, “Retarded Running Horse,” on YouTube.  But, that video always showed the horse from the side.  Seeing Pinkie Pie running toward the library, I’m left to wonder, had that strange, two-legged horse been shown from behind, would it have looked the way Pinkie does to me right now?  But, that doesn’t matter too much to me at this point.  What does matter is that the rest of the group has to run to catch up to the angel pony in the chicken costume.

The group arrives behind Granny Smith and the group of four foals she’s evidently escorting around the town.  And, en route, I noticed that it was Granny Smith that knocked on the library door.  My party of four ponies, one dinosaur, and one human don’t arrive in time to hear the Nightmare Night greeting, except, it seems, for Pinkie Pie.  But, the rest of the group does arrive in time for Pinkie Pie to burst through the group ahead of her to call out, “Enough chit-chat, time is candy!”

Then, before the purple unicorn can acknowledge her friend, Ataahua and Topsy Turvy sing, in unison, “Nightmare Night, what a fright.  Give us something sweet to bite.”

And, of course, it reminds me of the familiar Halloween chant, “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.”  I don’t doubt that the Nightmare Night chant is based on that.

At any rate, when the pegasa and the earth mare are finished with their song, Twilight Sparkle, still focused on her pink angel friend, asks, “Aren’t you too old for this?”

Pinkie Pie squawks in surprise before asking, “Too old for great candy?” then, in a low growl, answering, “Never.”

The purple unicorn groans as she distributes a piece of candy to each member of her audience.  Then, as Granny Smith moves on with her group, Twilight nods toward Pinkie Pie, shaking the bell on her hat.  She then poses for her audience, swinging the bell, which manages to barely miss Pinkie Pie’s forehead, behind the top of her hat.  Striking another pose, she asks, “Do you like it?”

Now, I recognize her costume, from the episode “Luna Eclipsed,” as that of Starswirl the Bearded; but I see no reason to let Twilight know that.  Instead, I opt to reply with, “A historical figure of some sort, I’m guessing.”

Twilight smiles and nods to my character, answering, “Starswirl the Bearded.  So, what do you think?”

Pinkie makes a thorough front-to-back investigation of Twilight and her costume, then taps her chin when she’s back in front of Twilight again, then shrugs and says, “Yeah, I guess it’ll do.”

Afterwards, Twilight, evidently unnerved by Pinkie’s intrusion into her personal space, turns to my character and, after clearing her throat, asks, “Uh, and Mormon, what about you?”  And, she chuckles nervously.

I answer, “Well, I am familiar with a lot of bearded humans.  But, bearded ponies?  Not so much.  Still, if your costume accurately represents Starswirl the Bearded, then I say well done.  Personally, though, it reminds me more of a historical human character, known as Merlin the Magician.  I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he and Starswirl had more in common than just magic and facial hair.”

Twilight taps her chin with a front hoof for a moment before saying, “I’ve never heard of this Merlin the Magician.”

I reply, “I’m not surprised.  You probably know as much about Merlin the Magician as I know about Starswirl the Bearded.”

At my reply, the purple unicorn giggles.  She then puts the hoof down and says, “Maybe we should get together sometime so you can tell me about Merlin the Magician, and I can talk about Starswirl the Bearded.”

It seems that Pinkie takes this moment of distraction to peck away at the bowl of candy Spike’s holding until most, if not all, the candy is gone.  Then, she runs off again, in the direction of Vinyl and Octavia’s house from what I can tell.

Seeing this, I have my character focus on Twilight; and I say, “Well, in the mean time, it looks like I’m going to have my hands full keeping up with Pinkie Pie, and keeping her out of trouble.”  Then, as my character starts to follow the pink angel pony, I conclude by saying, “See you later, Twilight.”

I think I hear Twilight say something about going to the festival as my character runs to catch up to Pinkie Pie.  But, as I figured, indeed the pink angel pony’s next stop is the home of the white, blue-haired unicorn and the gray earth mare.

My character and the rest of the group catch up to the pink angel pony just in time for Octavia to answer the door.

The gray earth mare barely has time to greet her visitors before Ataahua and Topsy Turvy, and this time Lyra, sing the Nightmare Night chant, which is only familiar to me because of the episodes “Luna Eclipsed,” on which this day is based, and “Scare Master.”

In the mean time, Octavia, who was evidently startled by the sudden chorus, quickly recomposes herself, chuckles, then says, “Well, alright then.”  She then produces a bowl of candy from next to the door as she says, “Here you go.”

This time, it’s Lyra who uses her magic to take six pieces of candy from the bowl and give one to each of the ponies, as well as one to the dinosaur and one to the human.

In the mean time, I decide to take the moment and ask, “So, how’s Vinyl doing?”

Octavia looks down and sighs sadly at the bowl, then looks up at my character and answers, “She’s still not talking.  I think she’s really serious about maintaining her silence until her friends return, however long that will be.”  She then sets the bowl of candy back next to the doorway, exits her house, then moves to the side yard, gesturing for my character, at least, to follow her.  Then, when the group is there in the yard, Octavia takes a seat on the beach chair before continuing, “I’m thinking of redecorating the house.  Maybe if I have half the house in the style Vinyl likes and half the way I like, that could get Vinyl to break her silence.”

For once, Pinkie Pie is distracted from the candy just inside the house.  Coming around to the side of her friend opposite my character, she says, “I don’t know about that.  You remember yesterday, when we threw that picnic party for Vinyl, and how much good that did?”

I must say, I approve of Pinkie Pie making use of past experiences as examples this way.  And, I also enjoy seeing her caring for a friend.

In the mean time, Octavia says, “Well, I don’t know what else to do.  I hate to admit it, but I miss hearing Vinyl talk, and I don’t see any way of getting her friends to come back here.  I’m hoping that, if I can make a big enough change, then maybe I can get her to say something again.”

I wonder aloud, “Well, if you succeed, are you going to want to hear what Vinyl will have to say?”

The gray earth mare waves a hoof in front of her as she says, “Well, at this point, I’d rather hear her say something negative than to keep hearing nothing from her at all.”

I state, “Well, the decision’s up to you.  If you think redesigning your house is going to work, then you’re welcome to try it.  Just be open to the possibility that it won’t succeed; or, if it does work, like I said before, you might not want to hear what Vinyl will have to say.”

I can only guess that Octavia has heard enough of my advice, as she rises to all fours from her beach chair, jumps down, then proceeds back to the front door of her house and enters.

It’s only after the gray earth mare closes the door behind her that I have my character divide his attention among the four ponies and the dinosaur; and I say, “Well, wherever we go next, we better get going now.”

Pinkie Pie takes a moment to shake herself out, then looks up at my character and says, “Well, I say we go over to Carrot Top and Berry Punch’s house next.  They usually have good candy over there.”

Then, Lyra asks, “And, can we visit Bon-Bon after that?  She always makes the best candy.”

Then, Ataahua asks, “Oh, oh, and then can we go to Sugar Cube Corner?”

I answer, “I suppose that’d work out just fine.  We’ll visit Carrot Top and Berry Punch, then Bon-Bon, then go to Sugar Cube Corner.”

In response, the four ponies and one dinosaur leap and cheer.  Then, after that, Pinkie Pie leads the way to the house of the two gardening earth ponies.  And, when the group arrives, again it’s Pinkie Pie who uses the cone on her nose to knock on the door.

When the door opens, revealing Carrot Top, this time all four ponies, as well as Weed Whacker, sing the Nightmare Night chant.

Carrot Top stumbles back a step, but manages to catch herself before the chant ends.  She then chuckles before retrieving a bowl of candy from behind the doorway.

As soon as the bowl is revealed, once again Lyra possesses six pieces of candy with her magic and gives one piece to each of the other ponies, as well as one to the human and one to the dinosaur, and keeps the last piece for herself.

In the mean time, I have my character focus on the yellow-orange earth mare; and I ask, “So, how is Berry Punch?”

Carrot Top frowns as she answers, “She’s in her room.”  She then sets the bowl back where she took it from, then looks down and adds, “I think she may be worried that Discord might come back and torture her some more.”

I state, “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.  If Discord does come back, I doubt it’ll be to torture her again.”

Carrot Top looks at my character and, frowning with her eyes but smiling with her mouth, says, “I hope you’re right about that.  I like living here with Berry Punch, but I didn’t like hearing about anypony torturing anypony else, especially the way Discord was torturing Berry.”

Just then, I see, from the upper half of my character’s periphery, the reddish-purple earth mare ambling through the front room.

She turns to and sees the visitors at the front door, then waves to them and says, “Oh, hi, Mormon, Pinkie Pie, Lyra.  How are you this evening?”

I answer, “We’re just fine.  We’ve been out trick-or-treating, and we thought we’d come and visit.”

Carrot Top, turning to see her friend, perks up and says, “You know what, Berry, it might be a good idea for you to go out and join Mormon and his friends.  Some fresh air might do you some good.”

I add, “We would welcome one or two more members to our group.”

Berry Punch sighs, then ambles to the doorway until she’s right next to Carrot Top, who takes a step to the side.  She then says, “I know that Discord’s back in his statue.  I saw it for myself when we were in Canterlot.”  She then points to Topsy Turvy as she asks, “But, what about his offspring?  Is there any guarantee that I’ll be safe from her?”

As my character focuses on the pink earth mare, I notice she backs away one step, then looks down and starts slowly drawing circles with a front hoof on the pavement.

I have my character focus on the reddish-purple earth pony again, and I answer, “Topsy Turvy, here, is in my care, and she takes care of her father.  You know what it’s like to be in my care, and you should know that as long as Topsy Turvy behaves herself, there’s nothing to fear from either of us.  And, besides, it’s not right to hold her responsible for the things her father did.”

Again Berry Punch sighs, then says, “I, I guess you’re right about that.  I’m sorry.”

I respond, “That’s alright.  And, at any rate, the invitation is still open.”

I notice Carrot Top smiles as she says, “You know, I could dress up in that lion suit I borrowed from Applejack.”

Berry Punch begins to smile as she says, “And, I have a pith hat and a khaki jacket I could wear.  I could go dressed as Daring Do.”

Presently, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “That’d work for us.”

At Pinkie Pie’s statement, the two gardening earth ponies back away from the front door; and Carrot Top says, “Well, then, if you can wait for us to get dressed, then we’ll join you as soon as we can.  In fact, you can wait for us inside.”

Lyra, the first to accept the invitation and enter, says, “We’ll just wait for you here in your front room.”

I keep my character outside to allow the ponies and the dinosaur to enter first, then have him follow Weed Whacker, the last before him, to enter.

In the mean time, Carrot Top says, “That’s perfect.”  Then, after my character enters, and while Berry Punch closes the door, Carrot Top adds, “You just wait here, and we’ll be back in a few minutes, dressed in our costumes.”  And, with that, she nudges Berry Punch ahead of her, pushing her from underneath and behind, until they disappear into a nearby room.

When the door to that room is closed, I hear Topsy Turvy say, “Thanks, Mormon, for standing up for me.  You really didn’t have to do that.”

As my character focuses on the pink earth mare, I reply, “Well, you are in my care.  And, besides, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t defend you?”

Topsy Turvy rubs at one of her spiral eyes as she says, “Wow.  The only friend I ever had before was Derpy Hooves.”

I state, “Well, now you have more than just one friend.”

Before the pink earth mare can respond, I hear Pinkie Pie sigh and say, “You know, this Nightmare Night isn’t as much fun as I thought it was going to be.”

As my character focuses on the pink angel pony, I state, “Well, Pinkie, you don’t have to stay with us.  If you want, you can join Granny Smith and the foals she’s guiding around town.”

Pinkie perks up and asks, “Really?”

I answer, “If that’s what you want, then go ahead.”

It’s about this time that the door that Berry Punch and Carrot Top entered opens, and the two earth ponies come out, Berry Punch in the pith hat and khaki jacket, and Carrot Top in the lion suit.

For some reason, the song, “You Can’t Hide Your Lyin’ Eyes” starts playing through my mind, or at least the chorus, as I look at Carrot Top.

At the same time, I hear Pinkie Pie shout, “Woohoo!”

Carrot Top approaches my character and, smiling, says, “Wow.  I didn’t expect to see Pinkie Pie so excited to see us in our costumes.”

I reply, “Yeah, Pinkie Pie can get really excitable.”

The rest of the group of now eight laugh, after which Berry Punch opens the door, then holds it open for the rest of the group to exit.

Lyra leads the way to the house she and Bon-Bon used to share.  But, when the group arrives, there is a note on the door.

Lyra takes the note with her magic and reads, “I am at the festival tonight.  I’m one of the ponies in charge of refreshments.  You will find a bowl full of candy next to the door.  Please take one each, so there will be enough for other trick-or-treating ponies.  Signed, Bon-Bon.”

And, while the pale-green unicorn reads, I notice a bowl full of candy in front of the door.

Lyra seems disappointed as she uses her magic to take eight pieces of candy from the bowl and gives one piece to each member of the group, keeping one piece for herself.

I have my character place a hand on Lyra’s back, and I say, “You were hoping to visit with her, I’m guessing?”

The pale-green unicorn turns to my character and answers, “I was hoping she’d be home, yes.”

My character automatically starts stroking Lyra’s back as I state, “Well, the letter said she’d be at the festival.  After we visit the Cakes at Sugar Cube Corner, then we’ll head over to the festival; and you can visit with Bon-Bon there.”

Lyra inhales deeply, then exhales slowly, then says, “Well, alright then.  Let’s get going.”

The group of eight is led by Topsy Turvy and Ataahua to Sugar Cube Corner, which seems to be occupied, in spite of the late hour.

Pinkie Pie pushes the front door open; and, on seeing the two earth ponies at the table, the group, save for Berry Punch, Carrot Top, and me, sing the Nightmare Night chant.

The earth pony couple smile as they listen to the chant, after which Mr. Cake rises, grabs the bowl in the middle of the table, and approaches the group with it.  And, in the mean time, Mrs. Cake says, “Well, welcome, dearies.  Please, accept some of these treats from us.”

Again Lyra uses her magic to take treats from the bowl, this time eight, and distribute them to each of the ponies, as well as one for the dinosaur, and one for the human.

And, while Lyra is doing that, I ask, “So, I’m guessing everything is accounted for?”

Seeing that the distribution of treats is being taken care of by unicorn magic, Mr. Cake returns to the table and puts the bowl back, then turns to my character and answers, “Yes.  As it turns out, we didn’t lose anything in Discord’s attack a couple days ago.”

Berry Punch snorts and says, “You were lucky Discord didn’t torture you.”  She then sighs as she adds, “Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky.”

The two earth ponies at the table look at each other, then Mrs. Cake rises and trots over to the reddish-purple one and nuzzles her, asking, “Oh, are you alright?”

Berry Punch accepts the attention, but nods as she answers, “Yes, I’m fine, thanks to Mormon.”

I respond, “I’m glad I could be of service.  Although, it was Lyra who came to your rescue, not me.”

Then, I hear Pinkie Pie ask, “Are these the only places we’re gonna visit?”  Then, as my character turns to her, she continues, “’Cause, I really don’t have enough candy here.”

I answer, “Well, if you want you could …”

Before I can finish my answer, Pinkie looks outside.  Then, she turns to my character excitedly and says, “Oh, never mind.  I see Granny Smith out there, and she’s still trick-or-treating with those foals.”  In maybe one or two frames she’s at the front door waving to my character and saying, “Thanks, Mormon.  I’ll get back to you.”  And, with that, she’s disappeared out the front door, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.

I admit, I can’t help but chuckle at Pinkie Pie’s enthusiasm.

Then, I hear Mr. Cake say, “Well, the festival should be in the park, not too far from Carousel Boutique, if you wanna head over there.”

My character focuses on the orange earth stallion, and I say, “Thanks.  We may just take you up on that offer.”  And, taking that as instructions, my character proceeds toward the back door.

Evidently the remaining ponies and the dinosaur follow my character, each turning to bid farewell to the Cakes before they leave.

A few minutes later, the group is approaching Rarity’s clothing store; and, across the bridge, in the park, I can see, through my character’s eyes, the first of what I can figure must be many tents prepared for the Nightmare Night festival.  And, as the group crosses the bridge and makes their way past the first tent, I notice a circle of tents, in the middle of which I see Spike and Twilight, and Pinkie Pie displaying her bag full of candy to the purple unicorn.  And, while the two ponies seem to be distracted, I notice Rainbow Dash, in a Shadowbolts costume, sneaking up behind Pinkie Pie with a black cloud.

I hear Pipsqueak, a cream-colored colt with brown spots, say, “Sure did,” evidently in answer to Pinkie’s question about them going to Cheerilee’s house and getting more treats.

I have my character focus on and wave to the rainbow-haired pegasa, and I call out, “Hi, Rainbow Dash!”

And this, just as she’s preparing to jump on the cloud, right behind Pinkie Pie.

The pink angel pony turns to my character, tilts her head, and grunts in confusion and curiosity; then looks behind her and sees the Shadowbolt-dressed Rainbow Dash peering behind the black cloud.  She then waves to her pegasa friend and calls out, “Oh, hi, Dashy!”

Instead of jumping on the cloud, seeing that her plan’s been foiled, Rainbow Dash groans, “Aw, Mormon, you ruined my prank for me!”

I respond, “Oh, you wanted to ruin it yourself then.  Well, better luck next time.”

Pinkie Pie starts giggling, and the foals follow suit, followed by Spike; and Twilight chuckles a little as well.

Then, after the laughter quiets down, Pinkie Pie and the foals say goodbye to me and those with my character and trot off to somewhere else.

After the pink angel pony and the foals following her disappear, I hear Rainbow Dash sigh. Then, as my character turns to her, she says, “Well, maybe I can get her later.  Besides, there are others I can prank.”  And, with that, she takes her cloud and flies off to another area of the festival.

Twilight turns to my character and, smiling, says, “Thanks, Mormon.  If it hadn’t been for you, …”

Before she can say more, Spike, who had been laughing up to that point, starts coughing.

Twilight immediately turns to her senior assistant and, worriedly, asks, “Spike, are you alright?”

My character acts immediately.  Noticing that the purple dragon is lying down, my character helps him up to a sitting position, then strokes and pats his back until a piece of candy flies out of the little dragon’s mouth and onto the ground.

For a few seconds, Spike gasps for air.  Then, once his breathing calms down, he looks up at my character and says, “Thanks.  I guess I was laughing so much, that piece of candy went down the wrong pipe.”

Twilight then proceeds to nuzzle the purple dragon as she says, “Oh, Spike, I’m glad you’re alright.”  Then, when Spike pushes her away, she looks at my character and, smiling again, sniffles and says, “Thanks again, Mormon.  I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to Spike.”

I smile as I say, “I’m glad I could help.”

Ataahua approaches the purple unicorn and says, “Yeah, Mormon seems to be doing a lot of that lately.”

Lyra chuckles and says, “He always does.”

I have my character focus on the ponies in his group, and I say, “Well, you can go ahead and do whatever you want.”

Ataahua rears up on her hind legs, kicks a few times with her front ones, and calls out, “Sweet!”  Then, as she lands on them again, she adds, “I’m gonna go bob for apples,” then gallops off in a direction not quite toward where the group entered, no doubt toward where I guess she thinks Applejack has a large tub of apples waiting for ponies to bob for them.

As the other ponies and Weed Whacker disperse in different directions, Weed Whacker following Lyra, Twilight says, “Well, Mormon, since you’re new to Nightmare Night, maybe I can show you around.”

I respond, “I must admit, this is a little different from the Halloween celebrations I’ve seen.  I wouldn’t mind being shown around.”

Twilight smiles again as she says, “Let’s go over here.  I helped Applejack set up some tubs of apples.”  And, she leads the way, in a direction different from where Ataahua was headed.

Either the gray pegasa remembered wrong, or she was looking for a different tub of apples to bob from.

Maybe half a minute later, the unicorn, the human, and the dragon arrive at a tub filled with glowing green liquid and apples that are green or red, with the orange earth mare standing nearby.

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as a stallion with a black, short-shaved beard plunges his head into the glowing green liquid, then pulls it out again smiling, with an apple in his mouth.

As the stallion trots off, evidently happy with his catch, I hear Twilight say, “Happy Nightmare Night, Applejack.”

My character automatically turns to the purple unicorn; and I can see, through his eyes, that she’s talking to the orange earth mare, who answers, “Howdy, Spike, hey, Twilight.”  And, noticing my character, she adds, “And, hi, Mormon.”

I greet her in return, after which she turns back to Twilight and says, “Nice costume.”

Spike, evidently not understanding, replies, “Thanks!  I’m a dragon.”

Twilight glares at him and snarls, “She meant me, Spike.”

Her attention then returns to Applejack, who pulls at the fake facial hair and says, “That beard. Ah reckon you’re a country music singer.”

I find myself chuckling as much as Spike.  I have to wonder if this isn’t a reference to ZZ Top, or some other musical group.

As the purple unicorn growls, Applejack turns and points to the tub of glowing green liquid and apples and asks, “While you’re here, ya feel like bobbin’ fer an apple?”

As my character’s attention is directed to the wooden tub, I notice that Ataahua seems to have found her way there by now.  I watch as she reaches her head into the tub, then falls in.  When she rises again, smiling, I can see she has a small chain in her mouth, with a plug hanging from the end of it.

And, the glowing green liquid immediately starts to drain out of the tub.

I have my character walk over to the gray pegasa, who’s now frowning in surprise, and grab her and pull her out; and I say, “Wrong apple.”

As my character puts the gray pegasa on the ground, she drops the plug and says, “My bad.”  She then drops to a canine-style sitting position, turns to my character, and says, “It happens every year.  I bob for apples, but the first thing I come out with …”, then she sighs before concluding, “isn’t an apple.”  Then, she rises to all fours again and ambles off.

I then hear applause from nearby, followed by Mayor Mare saying, “Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!”

I direct my character’s attention to the solemn gray pegasa, and I say, “Let’s go see what’s going on at the stage over there.  Maybe that’ll cheer you up.”

Again Ataahua sighs before she halfheartedly says, “Yeah, let’s go.”

I allow her to take one or two steps before I have my character pick her up and carry her to the stage.  And, while I already know about this, it’s not until my character and the gray pegasa get there that I see Mayor Mare dressed in a clown costume, with one rainbow wig on her head and one on her behind, reminding me of what a mare with Rainbow Dash’s mane, in Pinkie Pie’s style, with Doctor Whooves’ coloring, and a little of Rarity’s sense of style thrown in for good measure, might look like.

Once the cheering of the crowd dies down, the mayor continues, “Now, all the little ponies who’ve been out collecting sweets follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of … Nightmare Moon!” She holds the last word out in something of a ghostly moan, after which she cackles for a second.

Even if I can’t hear him, I know that, somewhere else in the crowd, under his breath, Spike is saying to Twilight, “She wouldn’t be usin’ her voice like that if she weren’t dressed like that.”

At any rate, I decide to have my character put Ataahua back down on the ground on her hooves, and kneel on one knee on the ground next to her.

The gray pegasa then looks up at my character and asks, “Uh, Mormon, could you pick me up again?  I’d like to be able to see what’s going on.”

Although I figure she could use her wings if she wanted to; I decide to agree to Ataahua’s request, and have my character pick her up again, thinking she has her reasons besides what she said.

As my character stands up again, I see the mayor blow some glowing green dust from the base of her upside-down hoof to her right.

The dust settles in a cloud for a second or two, after which Zecora rises from it, eyes closed at first.  After a few steps, she stops, opens her eyes, and says, “Follow me, and very soon, you’ll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon.”  She then swings a dark gray cape around in front of her so that it comes to rest on her back, then proceeds to march off of the stage in a direction that seems to follow a course toward the Everfree forest, in fact, seemingly in the direction of my character’s house.

As the crowd starts to follow the zebra, I hear flapping next to my character’s head.  As my character looks in the direction of the flapping, I notice that Ataahua’s supporting herself in the air just above him with her wings.

The gray pegasa looks at him, smiling, and says, “I do feel a little better now.  Let’s go follow Zecora.”  And, with that, she starts flying in the direction of the zebra and the crowd.

Well, it’s good to hear that she’s feeling better.

As the crowd, led by Zecora, makes its way along the course toward the Everfree forest, I notice a few other ponies, namely the ones living with my character, as well as Weed Whacker, who’s still following Lyra, join the parade.  And, there are other ponies that join the group, including Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack, along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.

Just outside of town, the group turns away from the trail that would lead to my character’s house and eventually to that of Zecora, circles around the hill where my friends and I had observed the last meteor shower a week ago in the game, on the side facing Ponyville, and approaches a statue on the edge of the forest, again facing Ponyville.

The thing about the statue I find the most interesting is the detail.  If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Nightmare Moon had met up with a cockatrice, or had otherwise been trapped in stone, and then been placed on the stone platform.

As soon as she’s within touching distance of the statue, Zecora turns around and faces her audience.  Then as the crowd comes to a stop, she says, “Listen friends, I’ll tell you where you got your fears, of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary.”  She then reaches into her cloak with a front hoof and pulls it out again, then blows into it, releasing more of the glowing green dust.  Then, as the dust coalesces into a living, although glowing green, version of the statue, Zecora continues, “Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary.”

The glowing green dust specter of Nightmare Moon then proceeds to dive at the foals in the front of the crowd, crashing into them and bursting into a cloud of fluorescent green.

I have to admit, the display looked really impressive, if artificial, in the episode “Luna Eclipsed,” on which this day is based.  And, in this video game setting, it looks no less impressive; and, having been the one that modeled the specter, I know it isn’t real, outside of this video game.

At any rate, in the cloud of fluorescent green, which seems to have hidden Zecora as well as the foals, I hear the zebra’s voice continue, “Every year, we put on a disguise to save ourselves from her searching eyes.”

At this point, I’d like to mention that my character is not in a position so he can see what’s going on in the cloud, or at least not what the foals can see.  But, from what I’ve seen in the episode, which I’ve tried the best I could to duplicate in this video game, while Zecora speaks, two eyes appear; and a mouth opens above the group of foals.  Also, in the episode itself, it’s just the foals in the group.  But, in this video game, I have a group of stallions and mares following Zecora and the foals.  And, that group of adult ponies is blocking my character’s view of the glowing green cloud and what’s happening in it.  But, the crowd isn’t blocking my character from hearing what Zecora says, nor of the screams of the foals as they react to the face that appears to them out of the dust cloud.

Now, back to the story, Zecora continues, “For, Nightmare Moon wants just one thing, to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!”

I hear two more screams, which I know must be coming from Pipsqueak and Pinkie Pie, and a second later I hear the angel pony on my right say, “Oh, Mormon, you’re here.”

My character automatically turns to her, and I say, “I thought it’d be interesting to see and hear the story Zecora’s going to tell.”

Before the pink angel pony can say anymore, I hear Zecora continue, “Hungering, she soars the skies.  If she sees nopony, she passes by.  For if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!”

In the mean time, one more cloud of fluorescent dust rises above the crowd, morphs into the specter of Nightmare Moon, roars, then flies upward and disappears.

My character’s attention is then attracted toward Zecora again when I hear a timid but curious Pipsqueak ask, “Um, Miss Zecora, if we need our costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon, so she won’t gobble us up, how come we still need to give her some of our candy?”

Again, because of the crowd, I can’t see, through my character’s eyes, the little colt who starts the conversation with the zebra.

But, I still see her answer, “A perfect question, my little friend; for, Nightmare Moon you must not offend.”  She then raises the front hoof she raised before and blows on it again, releasing another cloud of fluorescent green dust.  And, as it forms into the specter again, Zecora continues, “Fill up her belly with a treat or two, and she won’t return to come eat you!”

And, at that moment, the specter leaps again at the foals, mouth open wide, but bursts into the dust cloud again when it makes contact.

But, the message has been received loud and clear.

Pinkie Pie, the first to run to the sculpture, dumps her bag of candy at its base and cries, “Everypony, let’s dump the candy and get outta here!”  And, the foals join the pink angel pony in emptying their bags of candy in front of the statue.

But, before the group can run off, a wind starts to blow.

I know that my character’s attention isn’t the only one that’s attracted skyward.  And, when my character looks in that direction, I see, through his eyes, clouds starting to gather around the moon and spin somewhat, as though a tornado might be forming.  Then, in a flash of light from the sky, a chariot, ridden by a cloaked form and driven by ponies with large bat wings, approaches, descending rapidly.

Another thing I know is that the cloaked figure is Princess Luna, but most of the crowd doesn’t know that.  I don’t doubt that, based on the story Zecora was telling, the crowd must be thinking that Nightmare Moon must be coming to devour either them or the candy.

In the mean time, the chariot swoops over the heads of the group, but comes to rest in the air just behind my character.

Then, perhaps more than anything to confirm my suspicions, I hear Pinkie Pie scream, “It’s Nightmare Moon!  Run!”  And, my character turns just in time to see the pink angel pony follow her own advice and run past him back toward Ponyville, screaming, followed by the foals.

And, it seems that even Zecora joins the stampede.

The Ponyvillian adults, in the game anyway, are there at the statue; but most of them are evidently frozen in fear, stuck between the statue and the incarnation of their deepest fears.

Then, the nighttime alicorn jumps out of the chariot and lands on my character’s other side, putting him between Princess Luna and her chariot.  Her cloak then dissolves into bats that fly off, and I can see the worried look on her face as she reaches out a front hoof and says, “Please, fear me not.  We meant not to frighten you.”  And, I can see that she’s clearly reaching for the stampede of foals.

But, the nighttime princess’ plea is evidently enough to snap the remaining adults out of their trance; and they join Pinkie Pie, Zecora, and the foals in the stampede back to the village.  All that remain, aside from Princess Luna, are my character, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike.

I have my character take a step toward the nighttime alicorn, and I ask, “Princess Luna, are you alright?”

The princess lowers her front hoof, looks down, and answers, “We are fine.  But, for sooth, we meant not to frighten everypony.”

As my character reaches out to stroke Princess Luna’s neck, I say, “I wouldn’t blame you for what happened.  After the story that Zecora told, when you came down from the sky in a chariot guided by bat ponies, just about everyone was expecting an attack from Nightmare Moon.”

I see the nighttime princess’ eyes vibrate as she says, “But, Nightmare Moon is no more.”  Then, she raises her voice to a regal roar as she continues, “Thanks to the element bearers and their bond of friendship, we are free from Nightmare Moon!  Nopony should have reason to fear us!”

From Princess Luna’s side opposite my character, I hear Twilight say, “Uh, Mormon may be right about the timing of your visit, but you’re not going to make a lot of friends by shouting at everypony.”

Princess Luna turns and listens to Twilight as she speaks, then answers, “But, this is the traditional Canterlot voice.  It is tradition to use the royal ‘we,’ and to use as much volume as we have.”

I state, “As traditional as it might be, like Twilight said, it probably won’t help you make a lot of friends.”

At my statement, the nighttime princess turns back to my character and roars, “We used not this voice when we first approached, and they still ran off!”

I respond, “Well, I don’t think roaring at them is going to make things any better.  And, maybe you should send your chariot and bat ponies back to Canterlot.”

For a moment Princess Luna stammers, “B-b-but,” then she sighs before saying, “But, my sister said that we should take our chariot here so we could celebrate with the ponies of Ponyville.  We thought they would welcome us.”

I have my character rest his outstretched hand on the nighttime alicorn’s neck, and I say, “Well, you’re here now.  And, maybe Twilight and I can help you fit in better.  The ponies of Ponyville trust and respect Twilight and me; so, maybe, if the Ponyvillians see the three of us walking into town together, they’ll understand that you’re not the threat that Nightmare Moon had been.”

From the opposite side of the nighttime princess, I hear Twilight’s voice say, “Mormon may be right about that.  So, what do you say, princess?”

Again Princess Luna turns and listens to Twilight while she speaks.  Then, she sighs one more time before saying, “Very well, then.”  She then turns to her bat ponies and says, “Ye are dismissed to return to Canterlot.  We shall remain here, but we shall return when the festival is over.”  Then, after the bat ponies fly off again, heading for the castle city, the nighttime alicorn turns to my character, then to Twilight on her other side, and says, “Let us go to Ponyville.”

In evident agreement, my character starts walking along with Princess Luna; and I can only assume Twilight, on Luna’s other side, is also joining in the march back to Ponyville.

On the way there, I say to the nighttime princess, “Oh, by the way, I liked the way you had your cape turn into a flock of bats.  Was your cape made of bats that flew off, or did you actually turn your cape into bats?”

That gets a smile from the lunar princess as she says, “It was a cape that I turned into bats.”  She then turns to my character and asks, “For sooth thou didst like it?”

I answer, “I did like the effect.”

Twilight takes over the conversation from there, but I don’t pay attention to it until the group of four are in the park where the festival is taking place.

And, from there, as ponies see the nighttime alicorn, they scream or yelp before groveling and whimpering.

Once the group of four comes to a stop in the middle of the circle of tents, Princess Luna turns to my character first, then to Twilight Sparkle on her other side, then looks around at the ponies huddling on the ground around her.  I see her close an eye, and I assume she’s also closing the other one; then I see her inhale deeply, then open her eyes again and roar out, “Citizens of Ponyville!  We have graced your tiny village with our presence so that you might behold the real princess of the night, a creature of nightmares no longer, but instead, a pony who desires your love and admiration!”  Princess Luna doesn’t seem to notice the ponies around her backing away as she shouts, “Together, we shall turn this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!”

At this point, under my breath, I say, “Princess Luna, I don’t know if you’re forgetting or just ignoring my advice.  I just don’t see this going well for you.”

In the mean time, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “You hear that, everypony?  Nightmare Moon says she’s gonna feast on us all!”

Evidently she’s still with the group of foals who’d started the stampede back to Ponyville.  At any rate, she starts screaming; and the foals follow her example.  And, they continue to follow her as she runs out of the park and into the residential area.

In an attempt to clarify herself, Princess Luna reaches a front hoof to them and says, “What?  No, children, no.”  Pointing the hoof at her chest, she continues, “You have no more reason to fear us.  Screams of delight is what your princess desires, not screams of terror.”  And, she punctuates her last statement by stamping the hoof she’d been holding up hard on the ground, causing cracks in the pavement and further fear in the pony closest to that hoof, a yellow-colored unicorn with light-blue mane and dressed to look like a mouse.

As the nighttime princess looks at my character again, I find that I really don’t need to say anything.  I can see, in her expression, that she knows she’s failed to get what she wanted.

Turning a hundred eighty degrees, the lunar alicorn lowers her head and says, “Forgive me, citizens of Ponyville.  I still have much to learn.”  And, she proceeds to amble out of the park.

As Princess Luna passes between my character and Twilight, and the two can see each other again, the purple unicorn looks up at my character and says, “Let’s go.  I have an idea how we can help her.”  And, by example, she leads my character by following after the lunar princess.  Then, when Twilight and my character catch up to her, Twilight asks, “Princess Luna, are you alright?”

The nighttime alicorn turns to my character and says, “Joining in this celebration is more difficult than we thought.  Everypony remembers us as Nightmare Moon, and they seem unwilling to accept us as Princess Luna.”  And, she sighs before continuing, “We spoke without the royal Canterlot voice, and caused a stampede.  We spoke with the royal Canterlot voice, and they still fear us.  We know not what we shall do now.”

I hear Twilight hum or groan in thought for a moment, then say, “Well, I may know a friend who can help you.”

I think I see a smile on Princess Luna’s face as she turns to the purple unicorn and says, “We would be grateful for any advice you could give us.”

I see the purple unicorn again when she moves ahead of Princess Luna, then turns to her and says, “Then follow me.  I know where to find her.”

The nighttime alicorn nods to her and says, “Please, proceed.”  And, as the trio continues, to Fluttershy’s house, led by the purple unicorn, I hear Princess Luna say, “Oh, and might I say that your Starswirl the Bearded costume is commendable.  Thou hast even gotten the bells right.”

At this point, I must admit, I’m surprised that Princess Luna didn’t bring up the costume earlier.

In the mean time, I hear Twilight say, “Thank you, Princess.  It’s about time someone got my costume.”

Again I lose track of the conversation until the trio arrives at the bridge over the river separating Fluttershy’s cottage and property from the path deeper into the Everfree forest.

After the three cross the bridge, Twilight says, still leading the group, “Don’t worry, Princess.  Fluttershy can give you some pointers.  She’s delicate and demure, with the sweetest little voice.”

The nighttime princess and my character stop behind Twilight as she stops at Fluttershy’s cottage door, then reaches out a front hoof and knocks on it.

Then, from inside the cottage, I hear the yellow pegasa uncharacteristically roar out, “Go away! You can’t be here!  Visitors aren’t welcome here on Nightmare Night!”

Once Fluttershy’s tirade is over, Twilight turns to Princess Luna, chuckles nervously, then approaches the door again and calls out, “Uh, Fluttershy, it’s me, Twilight!”

Presently, the top part of the front door opens just enough for the yellow pegasa to peer out.  Seeing her purple unicorn friend, she relaxes a bit and says, “Oh, Twilight, it is you.”  Then, seeing my character, she adds, “And, Mormon, you’re here too.”  I see her smile as she opens the lower half of her front door and takes a step or two out of her house, until she sees Princess Luna, at which point she yelps, then races back into her house, closing the door behind her.

Again Twilight turns to Princess Luna and chuckles nervously.  But, this time, she says, “Wait right here.”  And, again she approaches the door.  But this time, she enters and closes both halves of the door behind her.

As we hear crashing sounds coming from inside the yellow pegasa’s cottage, Princess Luna turns to my character and asks, under her breath, “Have we come at a bad time?”

I answer, “Let’s just say that Nightmare Night isn’t exactly one of Fluttershy’s favorite holidays.”

And, before the conversation between the human and the nighttime alicorn can continue, the door, clearly possessed by Twilight’s magic, opens again; and Fluttershy, who I can see is being pushed outside by Twilight, emerges.

Then, I hear the purple unicorn say, “Fluttershy, you remember Princess Luna?”

The nighttime princess reaches out a welcoming front hoof to the yellow pegasa and says, no roars, “Charmed.”

Fluttershy’s first response is to fly back into her house.  That is, until Twilight uses her magic to retrieve her.  Then, clearly with no choice but to confront the lunar princess, she timidly responds, “L-likewise.”

Presently, Princess Luna continues, “Twilight Sparkle has spoken of the sweetness of thy voice!  We ask that thou teachest us to speak as thou speakest!”

In the mean time, Twilight sets the yellow pegasa on the ground on her back and releases her from her magic.

In such a prone position, Fluttershy says, “O-okay.”

Princess Luna roars, “Shall our lessons begin?”

Again, Fluttershy says, “O-okay.”

The nighttime alicorn roars, “Shall we mimic thy voice!?”

Again the timid pegasa answers, “O-okay.”

Princess Luna, not changing her tone, roars, “How’s this!?”

Presently, Fluttershy, smiling fearfully, quickly says, “Perfect.  Lesson over,” then flies off toward the entrance to her house.

But, Twilight is one step ahead of her, closing the door so that she collides with it.  Then, with the yellow pegasa still stuck on the door, she turns to the lunar alicorn and says, “A little quieter, Princess.”

At first she roars, then stops the roar; but continues, still very loud, as she asks, “And, how’s this?”

Twilight turns to her yellow pegasa friend and asks, “Better, right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy’s only response, once she can pull her face free from the door, is to giggle nervously, before finally sliding and falling completely off.

Then, Princess Luna asks, more quietly, “How … about … now?”

I see Twilight smile as she answers, “Now you’re getting it.”

Then, in a tone normal for one-on-one conversation, the nighttime alicorn asks, “And, … how about now?”

Twilight continues to smile as she says, “Yes.  Well done.”

In the mean time, Fluttershy, still overcome with fear, weakly proceeds to raise a front hoof to reach the door knob.

But, before she can, again she’s seized by magic, this time Luna’s, which whisks her to the nighttime princess.

Princess Luna, as soon as Fluttershy is close enough, grabs her in a forelimb and hugs her, roaring, “Ah, thank you, dear Fluttershy.  Our normal speaking voice shall surely win us the hearts of thy fellow villagers.”

I should’ve expected this, considering how I’ve based this day on the episode, “Luna Eclipsed.”  But, I hear Pinkie Pie, from behind the group, call out, “Fluttershy, you better hide out!”  As my character turns to her, she continues, “Nightmare Moon is here and—”  I then hear her cluck like a scared chicken as she calls out, “She’s stolen Fluttershy’s voice, and she can’t scream when she gobbles her up!”  And, she runs off again, followed by the foals, who scream first.

This time, I groan as I say, under my breath, “Pinkie Pie, you’re not helping things.”

In the mean time, Princess Luna takes a step toward them and roars out, “Nay, children, wait!”  Then, remembering what she learned from Twilight and Fluttershy, she tones her voice down and says, “I mean, nay, children, no, wait.”  And, when she turns back to Twilight and my character, well, I can’t blame her for being upset.

I have my character approach the fallen yellow pegasa, and I say, “Princess Luna, Twilight, you two go on ahead.  I’ll make sure Fluttershy gets back into her cottage.”

Twilight nods to my character and says, “Agreed.”  She then turns to the lunar alicorn and says, “Come with me, Princess.  It’s time for Plan B.”

I listen as the hoof-falls lead away from the cottage, then I have my character stroke the back of the clearly traumatized pegasa as I say, “I can see how frightening this experience must’ve been for you.”

Fluttershy turns away from my character, so I can only hear her whimper, “Y-you have no idea.”

I continue, “And, on a holiday like this, when every pony is dressed up as a monster, even though you know that Princess Luna is no longer Nightmare Moon, well, it is reasonable to consider the possibility that there’s still some of Nightmare Moon left in Princess Luna.”

I hear a loud sniffle from the yellow pegasa, followed by her sobbing, “I just want Nightmare Night to be over!”

At this point, I have my character pick up the weeping pegasa; and I say, “And, I just want you to know that you did help Princess Luna.  She’s going back into Ponyville to get a lesson from Applejack.”  I then have my character stand up again, and I conclude, “Now, I’ll take you back into your house.  Once you’re inside, you can go back to hiding under your bed, or whatever you want to do, until it’s time for the reading.”

It seems that Fluttershy, while hanging on to my character’s closest arm, can only squeak, “Oh, thank you, Mormon.”

Then, as my character opens the door, I see Fluttershy’s bear friend there to meet him.  I say, “Well, it looks like your bear friend is here to take over for me.”

For a moment the yellow pegasa seems unwilling to move away from my character.  Then, when she turns and sees the grizzly waiting for her, she flies out of my character’s arms, and into those of her bear friend.

The bear smiles and waves to my character, then carries the trembling, weeping pegasa further into her house.

Seeing that my character’s duties there seem to be finished, I have him leave Fluttershy’s house, closing the door behind him, then return to Ponyville, to the park where the Nightmare Night festival is still going on.

By the time my character gets back to the festival, he seems to have arrived at just the right time to see Princess Luna try her hoof at tossing fake spiders onto a web.  In fact, he reaches her and Twilight just in time to see the nighttime princess make her first attempt at tossing one of the fake spiders.

I decide not to say anything as I watch, through my character’s eyes, the lunar alicorn toss the spider towards the web, only for it to bounce to a stop just in front of it.

Seeing her first attempt as unsuccessful, Princess Luna looks down and sighs.  Then she notices my character next to her and turns to him.

I nod and say, “Go ahead and try again.  I may want to try it after you.”

From behind the human and the alicorn, I hear Applejack call out, “You can do it, Princess!”

Encouraged by both earth pony and human, the nighttime alicorn takes another spider, then a moment to focus on the web.  After that, she closes her eyes and crouches, preparing to toss the fake spider.  Straightening her legs, she tosses the spider into the air.

And, this time, the spider lands in the middle of the web.

At first, as the nighttime alicorn opens her eyes and sees the result of her last throw, she seems surprised.  Maybe she is.  Then, she says, “Your princess enjoys this—fun.  In what other ways might we experience it?”

I state, “If you wanna go on ahead, I’d like to have a shot at this game.”

Princess Luna steps aside and says, “Please, fair Mormon, try this for thyself.”

As my character chooses a fake spider from the bowl, the pink earth mare with yellow hair and a bee costume rises from her cowering position and trots toward the web saying, “First, let me retrieve the princess’ spiders.”  She then grabs the two fake arachnids in her mouth, then trots back to the bowl and places them on top of the pile.

Once the way is clear, I have my character take aim, above where I expect the spider to land, then program him to toss the spider with as much force as I expect it’ll need.

As it turns out, on release, the fake spider is seized by a breeze which carries it a little higher than I’d anticipated.  Instead of landing in the center of the web, the fake spider lands on top of it; where it proceeds to roll off behind the web.  Then, due to the stickiness of the threads, or so I assume, the rolling of the spider slows down until it stops at the center.

I hear a closed-mouth laugh from Princess Luna.  Evidently, she decided to stick around to see how I’d do.  As my character turns to her to show me, through his eyes, that indeed she’s covering her mouth with a front hoof in a failed attempt to contain her laughter, she turns to me as well.

I point to the web and say, “I’m guessing there aren’t many ponies that could pull that off.”

Evidently the nighttime princess has decided to give up on restraining her laughter, as she just drops the hoof she’d been using.  A second later, through her laughter, she says, “Nay, not without magic.”  And, she keeps laughing.

And, ponies gather around her and, after getting a look at my unusual achievement, join in her laughter.

I wasn’t expecting my first attempt to play out the way it did, so I have to laugh about it as well.

After a few more seconds, I hear Applejack say, “Let’s head over to the catapults.”  And, as Princess Luna and I turn to the orange earth mare, she continues, “You can try yer hoof at chunkin’ pumpkins at some targets.”

Princess Luna smiles at my character as she says, “Let us go, Mormon.”

I smile back and say, “Sure, let’s go.”  And, my character and Princess Luna, as well as a crowd of ponies who’ve come to watch the display, follow Applejack to the catapults.

I’m not surprised, when the group arrives, to see only catapults.  First of all, that’s how I saw it in the episode, “Luna Eclipsed.”  Second of all, it’s how I programmed it.  And, finally, I suppose trebuchets would likely be too complicated for ponies, other than unicorns and alicorns.

At any rate, Princess Luna chooses a catapult, then adjusts its position and angle to aim for the target she wants to hit.  She then uses her magic to select a pumpkin and place it in the bowl of the catapult.

As the nighttime alicorn steps away to make sure the catapult and the target are aligned, I hear Twilight call out, “Fire away, Princess!”

The lunar alicorn turns and nods to the purple unicorn, then turns back to the catapult and puts a hoof on the trigger, applying enough of her weight to release the firing mechanism.

As a result, on release, the pumpkin arcs over the ground and lands in the middle of the target, splattering pumpkin seeds and meat in all directions.

Seeing her first attempt is a success, the nighttime alicorn rears up on her hind legs, raises her front legs into the air, and says, “Ha-ha!  The fun has been doubled!”

Around her, ponies cheer; and I also applaud and say, “Well done, Princess Luna.”

The nighttime princess comes down to all-fours position again and, looking at my character, says, “Thank you, Mormon.”

Then, I hear Applejack suggest, “Why don’t you go bobbin fer apples?  We got the best apples in Equestria, Princess.”

The lunar alicorn pauses for a moment and brings a front hoof up to her mouth.  Then, she says, “I ask that thou callest us, me, Luna, dear Applejack.”  She then turns to the other ponies around her and calls out, “Hear me, villagers!  All of you, call me Luna!”

The proposal is clearly received well among the ponies surrounding the lunar princess, as they repeat the name as though approving a name for a new infant, a new foal.

Following close behind Applejack, Luna says, “Shall we move on to bobbing for apples.”  Then she pauses and gasps.

I already know what’s happening, but my character turns automatically anyway in the direction the nighttime princess is looking.

Pipsqueak is teetering on the edge of one of the tubs of apples, and my character has focused on him just in time to show me, through his eyes, the colt falling into the tub of glowing green liquid, knocking the remaining apples, those that are visible anyway, out of it.

At about this time, I hear Pinkie Pie ask, “Hey, girls!  Have you seen Pipsqueak around?  We lost him the last time we had to run—”

Luna reacts immediately, galloping to where the little colt fell in, and reaching in to grab him and pull him out by his trousers.

Amid gasps and sighs of relief, I hear Pinkie Pie squawk and shout, “Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak!  Everypony run!”

At this point, not wanting to see all of the lunar princess’ friendshipping progress go to waste, I have my character turn in the direction of the pink, chicken-dressed angel pony, and I shout, “Pinkie Pie, that’s enough!”

I’m not sure, but I think Pinkie Pie trips and falls.  When she rises again, she turns to my character, head lowered, and slowly ambles toward him.

When the now-humbled angel pony is close enough, I ask, “Did you see what happened?”

Pinkie slowly looks up at my character, then stammers, “W-w-well, n-n-no.”

I have my character kneel on one knee in front of the pink angel pony, just as she stops in front of him, and I say, “I’m guessing Pipsqueak was trying to bob for apples, in spite of how small he is and how deep the tub is.”

From my character’s right, I hear the little earth colt ask, “Uh, Princess Luna, will you put me down, please?”

After a second, I hear, from about the same direction, Princess Luna say, “Please, just call me Luna.”

Then, I hear Pipsqueak say, “Thank you, Luna,” then light hoof-falls approaching, then Pipsqueak say, “Mormon here was right.  It was my fault.”  As my character focuses on the little colt, he continues, “I fell in, and Nightmare Moon, er, Luna, was just rescuin’ me.”  I then see him turn to the lunar alicorn and conclude, “Thank you again, Luna.”

Luna focuses on Pipsqueak and says, “Thou art welcome, dear colt.”

I can hear the colt smile up at the nighttime alicorn as he says, “Please, call me Pipsqueak.”

Luna smiles back as she says, “Yes, Pipsqueak.”

A moment later, I hear Pinkie Pie whimper, and my character looks down and watches her as she ambles up to Luna.  At the lunar princess’ closest hoof, the pink angel pony stops and, looking up at her, whimpers, “I’m so-o-o-o sorry, Princess.  I didn’t mean to hurt anypony.  It’s just that, well, sometimes it’s just really fun to be scared.”

I think I hear a grunt or hum of interest from Twilight.

At any rate, the nighttime alicorn asks, “Fun?”  She then repeats the question, this time in the Canterlot roar, before continuing, “You accuse me of gobbling up your friends, and call it fun?”

At this point, I have my character rise to a standing position; and I say, “Now, Princess, calm down.  Pinkie Pie has apologized, so, it’s up to you to forgive her.”

I don’t doubt it’s because of my words that Princess Luna stops and looks around.  And, my character joins in looking around, showing me the fear in the faces of ponies all around the nighttime princess.

In the voice she learned from Fluttershy and Twilight, Princess Luna says, pointing a hoof toward Pinkie Pie, “Very well.  I forgive thee.”

The pink angel pony’s first response is to howl with relief, after which she repeats, several times, the words, “Thank you,” while hugging the front leg that Luna hadn’t pointed at her.

At this point, the nighttime alicorn looks at my character, evidently uncertain of what to do next.

A thought occurs to me, and I say, “You have a choice of what you can do now.  You can keep this festival as a reminder of what you were, what ponies fear about you; or, you can make it a celebration of what you are, what you’re becoming.”

I then hear Twilight Sparkle say, “Or, perhaps there’s a way that you can make it both.”

Luna looks down at the purple unicorn and asks, “Please explain, what doest thou mean?”

Twilight turns to the path out of town, then looks behind her to the nighttime alicorn and says, “If you’ll follow me to the Nightmare Moon statue, princess, I’ll explain everything there.”  She then turns to my character and asks, “Mormon, will you join us, too?”

I answer, “Sure, I’d be honored.”  I then have my character turn to the pink angel pony, and I ask, “Will you come with us, Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie doesn’t say anything at first, she just looks at Twilight.

In return, the purple unicorn pauses for a moment, then says, “Sure, Pinkie.  If you want to come with us, you’re quite welcome.  You could help me explain my plan to Princess Luna.”

At the same time, Pinkie Pie says, “Thank you, Twily,” and Luna says, “Please, just call me Luna.”

Then, again at the same time, Pinkie Pie says, “And, thank you, Mormy,” and Twilight says, “Alright then, Luna.”

I have my character stroke Pinkie’s mane as a way of welcoming her thanks, and I ask, “So, shall we get going then?”

Twilight nods and says, “Sure.  Just follow me.”  And, with that, she proceeds on ahead along the course out of Ponyville, followed by Luna, then Pinkie Pie and my character.

When the group arrives at the statue, Twilight turns to Princess Luna and says, “Now, the foals are going to come with their candy to drop some of it at the base of the statue here.  Luna, can you use a transformation spell to turn into Nightmare Moon?”

Luna recoils a little in worry, and her eyes dart left and right a couple times, before she says, “We could, but we do not see how that will help the citizens of Ponyville to like us.”

Then Pinkie Pie perks up and says, “Oh, I think I understand.”  She then focuses on the nighttime princess as she continues, “It’s kind of like a spook alley.”

Luna looks at each of the two ponies and the human as she asks, “What is a … spook … alley?”

At this point, I decide to answer, “If a spook alley for ponies is anything like one for humans, it’s kind of a pathway that’s filled with objects more or less intended to be scary.  If I understand Twilight’s plan correctly, she wants you to pretend to be Nightmare Moon, and scare the coming foals just enough so that they run away, but not so much that they get hurt.”  I then have my character focus on the purple unicorn, and I ask, “Is that right, Twilight?”

The purple unicorn nods vigorously before continuing, “Like Pinkie Pie said, sometimes it’s just really fun to be scared.”

Luna relaxes a bit, but rubs the bottom of her chin with the joint of a front hoof as she says, “So, thou wantest us to pretend to be Nightmare Moon so we can scare foals so they’ll like us?”

Twilight pauses for a moment before saying, “Just trust me on this.  But first, could you use that transformation spell?”

Luna turns to my character, and I have him nod.  She then turns to Pinkie Pie, who also nods.  Finally, she inhales deeply, then exhales, then says, “Very well, then.”  She then closes her eyes, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.  Then, starting with her horn, she darkens to a black color, armor or jewelry forms on her head, neck and hooves, her teeth become pointed like those of a carnivore, and her mane and tail sparkle in the moonlight and become a more translucent color.  When she opens her eyes again, even her irises and pupils glow white, and she smiles and asks, “How’s this?”

Presently, Pinkie Pie cackles like a scared chicken and runs and hides behind my character’s legs.

Seeing the trembling pink angel pony hiding behind my character, Luna starts to frown as she asks, “Too much?”

On the other hand, I can hear Twilight smile as she answers, “No, it’s perfect!”  She then circles around the back of the statue as she says, “Now, follow me.  When the foals come and deposit their candy in front of the statue, you switch places with it and tell them they made the right move, and that you’ll gobble up the candy instead of them.  When the foals look up, they’ll think the statue came to life.  Trust me, they’ll love it.”

Luna follows the purple unicorn behind the statue, but says, “We’re not sure about this.  But, we shall trust thee.”

I then have my character turn to the pink angel pony, and I say, “I guess we’d better get behind the statue, too.”

My character then leads Pinkie Pie behind the statue, to join Twilight, and Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon.

It’s only a minute or so later that I hear the voices of Zecora, Mayor Mare, and the foals approaching.  Then, I hear them emptying their bags of candy in front of the statue.

I have trouble believing that such light objects would make as much noise in reality as I have the pieces of candy making as they fall to the ground.  But, that much sound is necessary to let anyone hiding behind the statue know when the foals are dumping their candy at the base of the Nightmare Moon statue.

At any rate, I hear Pipsqueak, the last to leave an offering, say, “Here, Nightmare Moon.  I hope you like it.”

At this point, Twilight signals Luna with a nod and a motion of the front hoof Luna can see.

A moment later, Luna is replaced by the Nightmare Moon statue; and I hear her above my character, roaring out, “Citizens of Ponyville, you were wise to bring this candy to me!”  My character then automatically looks up to see the black alicorn mare from behind as she continues, “We are pleased with your offering!  So pleased, in fact, that we just might eat it instead of you!”  She then rears up on her hind legs and neighs for all to hear.

I then hear gasps, then screams, of foals, and then their light hoof-falls as they gallop away.  I’m sure I also hear leaves rustling.

Then, I hear closer and somewhat heavier hoof-falls; and my character turns downward to show me Twilight coming out from in front of the Nightmare Moon statue, then saying, “You see?  They loved it!”

Luna, still in her Nightmare Moon form, drops to all fours and jumps down from the base of the statue, then sarcastically says, “Yes, I could tell by their shrieks as they ran away.”  She then transforms back into Princess Luna as she asks, “Art thou sure about this?”

I allow my character to come out from behind the Nightmare Moon statue.  But, Luna is between my character and Twilight Sparkle; so I can only hear the purple unicorn answer, “Just wait.”

Then, before anyone can say anything more, and while my character is coming around the lunar alicorn, I hear Pipsqueak ask, “Uh, Princess Luna, if I might ask, do you think you could come back next yer, and scare us again?”  Apparently, he sees my character at about the same time that I see him, as he focuses on my character and says, “Oh, hi, uh, …”

Until she speaks, I’m not aware that Pinkie Pie has followed me.  She says, “Oh, this is Mormon.”

The little spotted colt nods to my character, at that point, and says, “Hi, Mormon.”

It apparently takes this amount of time for the nighttime princess to snap out of her state of befuddlement, as it’s now that she asks, “Art thou saying that thou likest us to scare thee?”

Pipsqueak turns back to Luna and answers, “It’s really fun.  Scary, but fun.”

Surprised, Luna asks, “It … is?”

Pipsqueak continues, “Yeah.  Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year.”

Luna’s surprise starts to turn to happiness as she says, “Well, we had considered canceling Nightmare Night because it was becoming offensive to us.  But, if you foals like it so much, then so be it.”  Then, happily she roars, “Let Nightmare Night continue, forever!”  She then turns to the statue of Nightmare Moon, and her horn glows and sparkles.

I hear a wheezing puff sound, and my character turns to the pillar to show me that the Nightmare Moon statue is back in its place.

I then hear Pipsqueak proclaim, “You are my favorite princess ever!”  Then, as my character focuses on the little foal, I see him gallop to Princess Luna and hug her closest front leg.  Then, he gallops off to the other foals and says, “You hear that, guys?  She’s gonna come back and scare us again next year!”

This time, as the foals evacuate the bush they were hiding behind and gallop back to Ponyville, they cheer instead of scream.

As my character turns back to the nighttime alicorn, I hear her laugh as she says, “You were right, Twilight, it was … fun.  As much for us as for those foals.  Perhaps we shall come back next Nightmare Night to play the role of Nightmare Moon for them.”

Twilight Sparkle encouragingly asks, “But, for now?”

Luna answers, “But, for now, let’s go back to Mormon’s house for the scripture reading.  Then after that, we shall teleport Mormon, Topsy Turvy, and anypony that wants to go with, to the Canterlot garden so Topsy Turvy can take care of her father, and Mormon can give his report in person to my sister.  Then, we shall take them home, and they can do what they want.”

The purple unicorn nods and says, “Sounds like a plan to me.  First, let’s go back to Ponyville so we can gather everypony up.  Then we’ll go to Mormon’s house.”

Smiling, Luna says, “Yes, let us do that.”

When the group returns to Ponyville, Luna and Twilight gather up Rarity, Applejack, Spike and Rainbow Dash; while Pinkie Pie and my character gather up Lyra, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Weed Whacker.  Then, when the group reunites just outside of the park, they head out of town to Fluttershy’s cottage where Twilight gets the timid pegasa to join the group.  And, from there, the group heads through the Everfree forest, lit by the horns of Luna, Twilight, and Lyra.

When the group arrives at my character’s house, I must admit, I’m surprised to see Princess Celestia there to meet them.

It's quickly decided that the group gather in a circle on the front lawn and begin the reading as soon as possible.  The treats that were gathered by way of the trick-or-treating expeditions, shared among the readers, become the refreshments.

While members of the group are producing their books and turning to the right page, I have my character turn to the gray pegasa next to him; and I ask, "Ataahua, will you start the reading with the first verse of chapter twenty-one of Mosiah?"

The gray pegasa smiles at me and says, "I'll need to get my book from inside, but then I can read."

Encouragingly, I say, "Well, go right ahead.  We'll wait for you."

Ataahua just nods before galloping to and into the house.  And, by the time she comes back out, everyone else is at the right place in their books.  She settles down, opens her book, turns to the right page, then reads, "And it came to pass that Limhi and his people returned to the city of Nephi, and began to dwell in the land again in peace."

I then read, "And it came to pass that after many days the Lamanites began again to be stirred up in anger against the Nephites, and they began to come into the borders of the land round about."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Now they durst not slay them, because of the oath which their king had made unto Limhi; but they would smite them on their cheeks, and exercise authority over them; and began to put heavy burdens upon their backs, and drive them as they would a dumb ass—"  She then looks up and says, "In other words, instead of killing them, they bullied them."

Weed Whacker reads, "Yea, all this was done that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled."

Princess Luna reads, "And now the afflictions of the Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had surrounded them on every side."  She then looks up and says, "Not surprising, all things considered."

Princess Celestia reads, "And it came to pass that the people began to murmur with the king because of their afflictions; and they began to be desirous to go against them to battle.  And they did afflict the king sorely with their complaints; therefore he granted unto them that they should do according to their desires."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And they gathered themselves together again, and put on their armor, and went forth against the Lamanites to drive them out of their land."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that the Lamanites did beat them, and drove them back, and slew many of them."

At this point, Ataahua says, "Yeah, there are those times that standing up to a bully isn't enough.  Maybe they'll leave you alone for a while; but, more likely than not, they'll be back.  Especially if they live nearby."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And now there was a great mourning and lamentation among the people of Limhi, the widow mourning for her husband, the son and the daughter mourning for their father, and the brothers for their brethren."

Spike reads, "Now there were a great many widows in the land, and they did cry mightily from day to day, for a great fear of the Lamanites had come upon them."

Rarity reads, "And it came to pass that their continual cries did stir up the remainder of the people of Limhi to anger against the Lamanites; and they went again to battle, but they were driven back again, suffering much loss."

Applejack reads, "Yea, they went again even the third time, and suffered in the like manner; and those that were not slain returned again to the city of Nephi."

Fluttershy reads, "And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten, and to be driven to and fro, and burdened, according to the desires of their enemies."

Once again, Ataahua speaks up and says, "Sometimes, that's all you can do, is just give up and hope that either the bullies will leave you alone or go away one day, or that you'll be rescued."

Lyra reads, "And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions."

Ataahua reads, "And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage."

I read, "And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Now there was a great number of women, more than there was of men; therefore king Limhi commanded that every man should impart to the support of the widows and their children, that they might not perish with hunger; and this they did because of the greatness of their number that had been slain."

Weed Whacker reads, "Now the people of Limhi kept together in a body as much as it was possible, and secured their grain and their flocks;"

Princess Luna reads, "And the king himself did not trust his person without the walls of the city, unless he took his guards with him, fearing that he might by some means fall into the hands of the Lamanites."

Princess Celestia reads, "And he caused that his people should watch the land round about, that by some means they might take those priests that fled into the wilderness, who had stolen the daughters of the Lamanites, and that had caused such a great destruction to come upon them."

Rainbow Dash reads, "For they were desirous to take them that they might punish them; for they had come into the land of Nephi by night, and carried off their grain and many of their precious things; therefore they laid wait for them."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that there was no more disturbance between the Lamanites and the people of Limhi, even until the time that Ammon and his brethren came into the land."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And the king having been without the gates of the city with his guard, discovered Ammon and his brethren; and supposing them to be priests of Noah therefore he caused that they should be taken, and bound, and cast into prison.  And had they been the priests of Noah he would have caused that they should be put to death."

Spike reads, "But when he found that they were not, but that they were his brethren, and had come from the land of Zarahemla, he was filled with exceedingly great joy."

Rarity reads, "Now king Limhi had sent, previous to the coming of Ammon, a small number of men to search for the land of Zarahemla; but they could not find it, and they were lost in the wilderness."

Applejack reads, "Nevertheless, they did find a land which had been peopled; yea, a land which was covered with dry bones; yea, a land which had been peopled and which had been destroyed; and they, having supposed it to be the land of Zarahemla, returned to the land of Nephi, having arrived in the borders of the land not many days before the coming of Ammon."

Fluttershy reads, "And they brought a record with them, even a record of the people whose bones they had found; and it was engraven on plates of ore."

Lyra reads, "And now Limhi was again filled with joy on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Mosiah had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings; yea, and Ammon also did rejoice."

Ataahua reads, "Yet Ammon and his brethren were filled with sorrow because so many of their brethren had been slain;"

I read, "And also that king Noah and his priests had caused the people to commit so many sins and iniquities against God; and they also did mourn for the death of Abinadi; and also for the departure of Alma and the people that went with him, who had formed a church of God through the strength and power of God, and faith on the words which had been spoken by Abinadi."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Yea, they did mourn for their departure, for they knew not whither they had fled.  Now they would have gladly joined with them, for they themselves had entered into a covenant with God to serve him and keep his commandments."

Weed Whacker reads, "And now since the coming of Ammon, king Limhi had also entered into a covenant with God, and also many of his people, to serve him and keep his commandments."

Princess Luna reads, "And it came to pass that king Limhi and many of his people were desirous to be baptized; but there was none in the land that had authority from God.  And Ammon declined doing this thing, considering himself an unworthy servant."

Princess Celestia reads, "Therefore they did not at that time form themselves into a church, waiting upon the Spirit of the Lord.  Now they were desirous to become even as Alma and his brethren, who had fled into the wilderness."

Rainbow Dash reads, "They were desirous to be baptized as a witness and a testimony that they were willing to serve God with all their hearts; nevertheless they did prolong the time; and an account of their baptism shall be given hereafter."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And now all the study of Ammon and his people, and king Limhi and his people, was to deliver themselves out of the hands of the Lamanites and from bondage."

At this point, I have my character stand up; and I say, "Let's let that be the end of the reading for tonight.  Next time, we'll start reading in chapter twenty-two."

Luna then rises to all-fours position and says, “Excellent.”  Turning to Twilight and the rest of the element bearers, she says, “You are dismissed to return to Ponyville.”

Pinkie Pie opens the gate for her friends, then says her goodbyes to each of them as they exit.

When those six, including Spike, are on their way back through the forest, Luna turns to my character and those living with him and asks, “Now, for those that remain, how many want to join Topsy Turvy, Mormon, our sister and us in Canterlot when Topsy Turvy takes care of her father?”

Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Weed Whacker, and Ataahua look at each other, then back at the nighttime alicorn; and Ataahua steps forward and says, “Actually, we’d all like to come.”

It’s Princess Celestia who then says, “Well, in that case, let’s all go to Canterlot Castle.”

With that word from the daytime princess, the nighttime one closes her eyes; and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.  Then, in the next frame, the six ponies, the dinosaur, and the human are in the garden of the castle, in front of Discord’s statue.

Luna goes to the castle, presumably to get Grounds Keeper and the cleaning supplies; and Princess Celestia focuses on my character and says, “Mormon, if you’ll come with me, you can give me your report while we walk through the garden.”

I can’t think of anything to say immediately, so I nod and allow my character to follow the daytime princess into the maze.

As the human and the alicorn move far enough into the maze that the hedges start to hide them from the rest of the group, Princess Celestia asks, “So, how did you like the Nightmare Night celebration?”

I answer, “It was very much like another holiday I’m familiar with, from where I live.”

If I didn’t see her smile, I could still hear it in her voice as she asks, “Oh, really?  And, what holiday is that?”

I answer, “It’s called All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween.  Much like the ponies I’ve seen do for Nightmare Night, humans for Halloween dress up in monster costumes.  Halloween comes on the last day of October, and, along with the costumes, is celebrated by children going from house to house, chanting a familiar rhyme in order to get candy.  And, there are all sorts of games to play, as well as a traditional spook alley.  I remember, when I was a child, the whole celebration being really fun.  Then, as time went by, there were apparently people that took advantage of the traditions to play some really harmful tricks on the children that went trick-or-treating.  Now, in recent years, trick-or-treating takes place earlier in the month, in a parking lot, where it’s called trunk-or-treating.”

I think I hear Princess Celestia shiver a bit before she says, “Well, nopony plays tricks of a harmful nature on Nightmare Night.  I’m sure you’ve heard the story of Nightmare Moon, told by Zecora?”

I answer, “I have.”

The daytime princess continues, “The tradition of gathering candy from other ponies, then donating some to Nightmare Moon, serves a symbolic purpose.”

It takes my character running into Princess Celestia’s backside for me to realize that she’s stopped.

She turns to my character, surprised, and asks, “Mormon, are you alright?”

I answer, “I’m fine.  I just didn’t realize you’d stopped.”

The daytime princess continues looking at me as she says, “Well, as long as you’re alright, I’ll continue.  You see, gathering candy from other ponies is meant to remind us of a time when humans lived among us, and would trade amongst themselves.  And, some of those humans would donate what they’d gained through trade to their God.

“The foals’ donating some of their candy to Nightmare Moon isn’t intended to mean that they should worship her.  Rather, the intent is to symbolize the hope that the good remaining in my sister would some day be reawakened, and that Luna would be purified from being Nightmare Moon.  Part of that hope was fulfilled when Twilight and the other element bearers used the Elements of Harmony to purify my sister.  And, thanks to you, I do see the good in her coming back.”

I grunt with interest before saying, “I had suggested to Luna that she could use the Nightmare Night celebration to help her gauge the progress she makes towards the princess she should be and away from being Nightmare Moon.”

Princess Celestia states, “I’d sent her to Ponyville so she could see how much the ponies there care about her.  Do you think that was a good idea?”

I take a moment before I answer, “I’m not entirely sure she understood all the symbolism of all that was going on.  You might want to have a talk with her about that.  It might help her to better understand why the foals were leaving candy in front of her statue.”

Princess Celestia sighs, then says, “Maybe you’re right.”  She then asks, “So, what about Lyra? Have you made any progress with her?”

I slowly answer, “Well, actually, I haven’t had time for that today.  We’ve been occupied with the Nightmare Night celebration, and I wasn’t able to get to Lyra specifically, especially while I was trying to help Luna and Twilight.”

At this point, I hear Princess Celestia smile as she says, “Well, like you said, you may have made more progress with her than you might think.  So far, she has been part of your experiments on Pinkie Pie; and that could’ve left as much of an impression on Lyra as it has on Pinkie.  If you don’t perform any of your experiments directly on Lyra, then at least keep an eye on her and see what progress she’s making.”

I respond, “Thanks.  I’ll do that.”

Then, Princess Celestia asks, “So, what about Topsy Turvy and Derpy Hooves?”

I answer, “Pretty much the same as Lyra.”  I continue, “I did have to rein in Pinkie, though.”

The daytime alicorn asks, “Oh?  What happened?”

I answer, “Well, I was assisting Twilight in helping Luna fit in more among the Ponyvillians.  But, Pinkie, on the other hand, hoof, whatever, wasn’t making it easy.  The first two times, I let it pass.  But, the last time, Luna was rescuing a foal after he’d fallen into a tub of glowing green water and apples.

“I figured there’d been enough about Nightmare Moon eating ponies, and I called Pinkie out on it.  And, fortunately, that was enough to stop her from interfering anymore.  I could see that, as much fun as it might be for Pinkie to be scared, the way she was going about it wasn’t helping Luna any.”

Princess Celestia concludes, “So you told her to stop, and she did.”

I reply, “That’s right.”

The daytime alicorn then asks, “And, what happened after that?”

I answer, “Well, what Pinkie said gave Twilight an idea, and she ran a little experiment, with the help of me and Pinkie Pie, to give Luna the chance to have a little fun with her image as Nightmare Moon.  Basically, when it came time for the foals to bring their candy offerings to the statue, well, after they did so, Twilight had Luna appear in the place of the statue as Nightmare Moon and scare the foals.  And, as it turns out, the foals did enjoy it.  One of them even asked Luna to come back and scare them again next year.”

At my last statement, Princess Celestia laughs before saying, “Yeah, that sounds like foals.  And, I’m glad to hear that my sister’s fitting in with the ponies of Ponyville.”

After a pause, I ask, “So, is there anything else I should report on?”

The daytime princess turns around in her spot until she’s facing my character, then says, “No, that’ll be all.  Thank you.”  And, with that, she walks past him and back toward the entrance of the hedge maze, with my character following her.

By the time we get back to the group supervising Topsy Turvy caring for her father, the pink earth mare is finishing cleaning the statue, as well as singing the song Pinkie taught her.

A few seconds later, after Topsy Turvy has finished and voiced her desire that her father not be a statue for another thousand years, Princess Celestia guides Grounds Keeper back to the castle, cleaning equipment and all; and Luna teleports the four ponies, one dinosaur, and one human back to my character’s house.

Then, after the nighttime alicorn teleports away again, the ponies, dinosaur, and human get to work harvesting food for dinner, then go back into the house and prepare the food in the kitchen, then eat it in the front room.  Then, after that and the cleanup, the six disperse to their rooms.

I really have nothing more to add to my notes than what I’ve written.  So, until the game’s tomorrow, I save and close the game.

Chapter 4: Generosity's Sibling

As I resume the game, the first thing I hear is the sound of a hoof pounding on wood; and, when I open my second game file, that sound is followed by Ataahua’s voice calling out, “Mormon, are you awake yet?”

My character rises from his bed and walks to the door.  When he opens it, there seems to be something preventing it from opening enough to allow him to leave, something that yelps in pain in Ataahua’s voice.

I order my character to stop trying to force the door open; and I ask, “Ataahua, is that you?” Then, after hearing a pained grunt of affirmation from the gray pegasa, I ask, “Are you alright?”

As per my orders, my character closes the door enough to allow Ataahua to move out of the way.  Then, once I’ve heard the hoof-falls away from the door stop, I allow my character to open the door again; and I can see, through my character’s eyes, the gray pegasa in the hallway, a sad look on her face, rubbing a forelimb from the shoulder down.

At first, as she looks at me, she whimpers, “Yeah, I’m alright.”  Then, she continues, “Pinkie Pie wanted me to come and get you, to let you know that she’s out in the orchard already.  She also said that I should tell you that she needs to get to Ponyville as soon as possible so she can get back to work at Sugar Cube Corner.”

Considering the door is sufficiently open that my character can walk through it, I have him do so, then close the door behind him; and I say, “Thanks, Ataahua.  I’ll go out and help her, then.”  And, with that, and with the gray pegasa leading the way, my character automatically follows, opening and closing doors for the two of them along the way.

It’s about the time that the human and the pegasa reach the orchard that Ataahua moves off toward the grain field.

In the mean time, my character climbs over the fence, then approaches a pear tree to harvest fruits from it.

From an apple tree nearby, I hear Diane Pie say, “I’ve just harvested the apples we’ll need.  I’ll gather them, and we’ll meet at the house.”

My character turns to the pink angel pony, showing me, through his eyes, that indeed Pinkie Pie has straight mane and tail, and her mane is over one side of her head and neck.

I say, “Go on ahead.  I’ll catch up to you.”

And, with that, my character proceeds with harvesting pears.  In fact, such a harvest doesn’t take very long; and soon my character has gathered enough pears for the group, and is carrying them in his arms back to the house.

By the time he gets there, Topsy Turvy is also there holding the door open, waiting for him to come inside.  And, the pink earth mare follows my character to the kitchen, where Lyra is holding the door open with her magic.

With Weed Whacker in the sink, cleaning the fruits and vegetables for the rest of the group, the preparation process takes only a few minutes, with a little extra time for Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Pinkie Pie to prepare and bake muffins to have with the rest of the fruit.  Then, when all is ready, the fruit and muffins are taken into the front room, where the group sits on the couches.

Ataahua raises a front hoof, volunteering to offer the prayer over the food.  And, she offers the prayer before I can agree to it, after which ponies, dinosaur, and human choose an item of food and start eating.

During the meal, different subjects are brought up, including Pinkie Pie’s behavior over the previous night’s Nightmare Night celebration, and what she learned about what she should and should not have done.  There’s also the green dragon, and the effects of him leaving.  Then, there are the lingering effects of Discord’s attack, and how long it could take to recover from it.  And, there’s also the topic of the previous night’s reading, and how Ataahua related it to bullies.  And, as breakfast ends and is cleaned up, there’s the question brought up about how long Topsy Turvy will have to take care of her father, how long he’ll remain a statue.

With the group of six ready to leave, they head out and to the front gate, and are soon on their way through the Everfree forest, and back to Ponyville again.

Once the group arrives at Sugar Cube Corner, it seems that the Cakes find themselves with an overabundance of workers.  While they agree that it’s important that Pinkie Pie be there, since she’s an employee, there’s one evident problem.  With Pinkie Pie filling the role of preparing batter, the only other jobs available are oven supervising, retrieving ingredients to help with preparing the batter, and setting up pots and pans to put the batter in to prepare for baking.  Mrs. Cake takes it on herself to place the completed pastries on the shelves, and Mr. Cake takes control of the cash register.  But, that apparently leaves three jobs for a total of five creatures.

Eventually, it’s decided that Lyra should take care of setting up the containers, Ataahua is chosen to retrieve ingredients, and Weed Whacker is chosen to supervise the oven.

I don’t mind the arrangement, considering that I may have something to do outside Sugar Cube Corner.

On the other hand, Topsy Turvy seems disappointed that she doesn’t have anything to do, that she can’t help Ataahua.

Well, considering that neither my character nor Topsy Turvy are needed at Sugar Cube Corner, I decide to have my character lead the pink earth mare outside, where, once he puts her on her hooves on the ground again, I say, “Well, I suppose we could find something to do elsewhere in town.”

I think I hear a note of skepticism in Topsy Turvy’s voice when she asks, “Really?  And, what do you suggest  we do now?”

I have my character start walking as I say, “I’m sure there are other ponies in town that could use our help.”

The pink earth mare groans, “Like, who?  Twilight has Spike to help her, and she’s a unicorn anyway; so, she probably won’t need our help.  Fluttershy’s so used to doing things on her own, I don’t think there’s anything we could do to help her.  Rainbow Dash spends her day either sleeping or moving clouds or kicking them apart.  And, I don’t have any experience bucking apples out of trees; so, I don’t think I’d be any help to Applejack.”

I state, “And, that just leaves Rarity.”

Topsy Turvy glares up at my character for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t make clothes.”

I respond, “We may not have to.  There may be other ways we can help her.”

The pink earth mare turns and looks at the bakery modeled after a gingerbread house, then turns back to my character and sighs, then says, “Well, we’ve got nothing better to do.”

Taking that as a plan, my character starts walking toward the cylindrical clothing store.

A few minutes later, the human and the earth pony arrive at Carousel Boutique.

As my character approaches the door to knock on it, I hear Topsy Turvy say, “Well, we’re here, and there’s nothing for us to do.  So, let’s go.”

My character turns to the pink earth mare, and I say, “We just got here.”

Before either of us can say anymore, from somewhere nearby, I hear Sweetie Belle’s voice call out, “Who’s there?”

Topsy Turvy and my character exchange looks, then run around the boutique to see what’s going on.  And, we arrive in time to see the white unicorn filly with a wooden tub of clothing and dirty water, and the unicorn filly in the process of scrubbing a sweater that looks, to me anyway, like a patchwork of solid colors and maybe a curved line or two.  And, I can’t help noticing the step ladder just next to the tub, opposite where Sweetie Belle is scrubbing the sweater.

Before human or earth pony can say anything, Sweetie Belle, seeing my character first, says, “Oh, hi, Mormon.  What’re you doing here?  Shouldn’t you be helping Pinkie Pie at Sugar Cube Corner?”

My character focuses on the unicorn filly, and I answer, “Well, with two extra friends I’ve made recently, it seems that I’m not needed as much there as I have been.  So, since I’m not needed there, I figured I could help elsewhere.”  I then ask, “Is there anything I, or maybe Topsy Turvy here, could help with?”

Sweetie Belle pauses long enough to huff and say, “Well, I don’t know.  I try to help my big sister, and I end up makin’ a big mess.  I made breakfast, but Rarity didn’t like it because she said it was all burned.  I tried to help make breakfast, but I couldn’t even put a piece of parsley on the plate without Rarity getting all nervous about it.”  She then sighs before resuming the scrubbing as she says, “Now I’m doing laundry.  I hope at least this way I’m helping my big sis.”

I state, “Yeah, about that sweater you’re cleaning?”

Curiously, the white unicorn filly tilts her head and asks, “Yeah, what about it?”

I answer, “If you’re going to hang that up to dry, you should hang it indoors.”

Innocently, Sweetie Belle asks, “Why?”

I answer, “Trust me on this.  You’ll be better off if you hang the sweater up to dry in the house.”

Evidently finished, the white unicorn filly takes the sweater in her mouth, then climbs the ladder and, using two clothes pins, hangs the sweater on the clothes line.  She then turns to my character and says, “My sister may live here, but this place is a clothing store, not a house.”

Then, Topsy Turvy asks, “Uh, don’t you have parents?  Where are they?”

Sweetie Belle turns around on the ladder and sits down human style, then once again sighs.  She then answers, “Yeah, they left on vacation.”  As though reluctantly reciting a poem or reading lazily from a script, she adds, “Seven days and six nights.”  Finally, she concludes, “They’re leaving me with my big sister until they come back.”

At this point, Topsy Turvy lowers her head and says, “Well, Mormon and I came here to help anypony that needed it.  But, if we’re not needed here, then there’s no reason for us to stay.”  She then looks up at my character and says, “Let’s go, Mormon.”  And, she turns and ambles away.

As my character starts to follow the pink earth mare, she turns to him again and asks, “Well, any other bright ideas?”

For some reason, the first thought that comes to my mind is the disc in my character’s inventory, the one he and Scout play with.  Thinking about it, I say, “Well, I do have a disc we can play with.”

Now, Topsy Turvy stops and asks, “What kind of disc?”

My character stops a step behind the pink earth mare, and I answer, “It’s a disc that I throw for Scout, and he brings it back to me.”

Hearing that, Topsy Turvy growls, “So, what, you’re gonna play with me like I’m a wooden dog now?”

I answer, “You don’t have to bring it back.  You could catch the disc and throw it back to me.”

Now, Topsy Turvy turns to my character completely and asks, “And, how am I supposed to do that without hands?”

At this point, Topsy Turvy’s reminding me of fan stories I’ve heard about Lyra.  I answer, “When Applejack throws another disc I made for her pet dog Winona, she holds the disc in her mouth, jumps and spins around, then releases the disc.  She gets really good distance that way.  Maybe you could do the same thing?”

Topsy Turvy scratches her chin in thought for a moment, then sighs and says, “Yeah, I guess it’s worth a shot.  I don’t have any better ideas for what we could do.”

Considering the matter settled at least for the moment, I point my character to the bridge; and I say, “So, let’s head over to the park.  We can play there.”  And, in the mean time, I have my character remove the disc from his inventory.

Topsy Turvy says nothing more, but the hoof-falls I hear from behind my character indicate she’s following him as he walks across the bridge into the park.

I must say, the park is remarkably clean considering the festival of the previous night.  Evidently, when the ponies are finished with any parties they throw, they get to work and tidy up and leave no evidence that there was a party.

At any rate, when the human and the earth pony get what I figure is a safe distance away from Carousel Boutique, I have my character stop and toss the disc ahead of him.

In response, Topsy Turvy shouts, “Hey, no fair!  I wasn’t ready!”  and gallops ahead to try to catch the disc.  And, she manages to do so, but only after it lands and rolls for a second or two.  Then, once she has the disc in her mouth, she jumps straight up in the air, then spins a hundred eighty degrees at the climax, and releases the disc in my character’s direction.  When she lands, she turns to my character again and calls out, “How’s that, Mormon?”

I have to hand it to Topsy Turvy.  She’s made a really accurate throw.

The disc glides right back to my character.  And, as he catches it, I call out, “Nicely done, Topsy Turvy!  Now, catch!”  And, I have my character toss the disc back to the pink earth mare.

Watching Topsy Turvy try to anticipate where the disc is likely to land, I find she reminds me of either Scout or Winona, as she jumps from one side to the other and back again, evidently deciding how she’ll be able to grab the disc.  Then, when the disc is, I’d say, maybe a foot away from her, she jumps up and catches the disc in her mouth, once again reminding me of a dog.  Then, once she lands, she jumps into the air again and spins three hundred sixty degrees this time, once again releasing the disc in the direction of my character.

But, it seems that the pink earth mare has a surprise for my character this time; as, when the disc is close enough for him to grab it out of the air, it suddenly stops, then jumps directly upward.

I have my character point into the air, and I say, “I guess I should’ve seen that one coming.”

I then hear Topsy Turvy start giggling.  And, when my character turns to look at his finger, I see the disc perfectly centered on the nail, and spinning like a top.  I have him toss the disc into the air, then catch the disc when it comes back down, then turn back to the still-laughing pink earth mare; and I say, “Good one.  I see playing games with you is going to be more fun and unpredictable than I thought.”

Now, I see Topsy Turvy laugh even harder as she rolls onto her back.

I decide to try a different tactic; and I have my character kneel on the ground on one knee, then curl his arm vertically to the ground, then uncurl it quickly and release the disc so it rolls toward Topsy Turvy.  Then, on release, I call out, “Here, try to catch this one!”

Presently, Topsy Turvy stops laughing and looks between her hind legs and grunts questioningly.  Seeing the disc rolling toward her, she immediately rolls onto her hooves toward the rolling disc, in its path in fact, and calls out, “Woah!”  And, she hops into the air to avoid the disc rolling into her.

I can’t help laughing at the display.

And, I can only guess she uses chaos magic she must’ve inherited from Discord to catch the disc and get it back to her.  She then grins devilishly at my character and says, “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” before somehow rolling the disc on the ground and back toward my character.

I’m not all that surprised at how rapidly the disc rolls toward my character.  But, I am surprised when the disc, maybe a foot from my character, suddenly rises up again and turns horizontal, then flies around him the way one might expect a flying saucer to.

For maybe a minute the disc dodges my character’s attempts to grab it out of the air.  It’s not until Topsy Turvy is overcome with her laughter that my character is finally able to catch the disc, which, for that minute, had a mind of its own.  Then, when my character throws the disc back to her, in such a way that it bounces off of the ground a few feet in front of her, I call out, “You’re full of all sorts of surprises.  Here, try this!”

But, this time, the pink earth mare is instantly ready for it.  She crouches down until the disc flies over her, then catches on her head.

The result is Topsy Turvy reminding me of scenes in movies where I’ve seen orientals wearing round, woven-reed hats that look like the disc on Topsy Turvy’s head.  After a second or two, she thrusts her head up again, tossing the disc in the air; then, when it lands, she grabs it in her mouth.

At this point, I applaud the pink earth mare for that display of talent.

But, instead of tossing the disc back to my character, Topsy Turvy gallops back to him, drops the disc at his feet, and says, “I just saw Sweetie Belle leave Carousel Boutique.  I wonder if something’s wrong.”

As my character turns to the cylinder-shaped clothing store, I’m sure I already know what’s going on.  After all, this day, and the one immediately following, are based on the episode, “Sisterhooves Social,” where Rarity and her little sister, Sweetie Belle, take part in a competition that, from what I understand, is designed to prove teamwork between two sisters.  And, Sweetie Belle, when the final race takes place, will think she’s racing alongside Applebloom’s sister, Applejack, until after the race when she discovers that Rarity took Applejack’s place early on, in the first mud hole.  But, that’ll come later.

Right now, all I can see that indicates where the white unicorn filly is is the top of her mane appearing to bounce just above the guard wall of the bridge.  And, she seems to be heading to the park, where Topsy Turvy and my character are.

Seeing the filly approaching, I decide that my character and Topsy Turvy should wait where they are until she arrives.  And, it’s not until she’s gotten past the bridge that I can see she seems to be focused on the ground just in front of her; and she’s clearly not happy.

A few seconds later, when the white unicorn filly is maybe a foot or two away, Topsy Turvy takes a step toward her and asks, “What’s wrong?”

Sweetie Belle mumbles, “Rarity just chewed me out for ruining her ‘incredibly expensive, one-of-a-kind, crocheted, wool sweater.’”  She then sighs before continuing, “You were right.  I should’ve listened to you when you said I should hang it up indoors to dry."  She then finally looks up at my character as she concludes, "I mean, how was I supposed to know that wool shrinks when you hang it out in the sun?”

A thought occurs to me, and I have to chuckle a bit before I say, “I have to wonder if sheep ever run into that problem when they get wet, and then the sun comes out?”

It’s easy to tell when the mental image occurs to Topsy Turvy and Sweetie Belle, as they, in that order, start giggling about it.

When the laughter dies down, the unicorn filly sighs again before saying, “I’d just like to do something with my sister, help her in some way.”

Topsy Turvy nuzzles the unicorn filly and says, “Yeah, it doesn’t help when somepony tells you to do something, and never explains how to do it.”

Again Sweetie Belle sighs before mumbling, “Yeah, that’s true.”  Then, she looks up at my character and asks, “Say, do you think I could play with you and, … uh, …”

The pink earth mare seems instantly aware that the white unicorn filly is referring to her, as she says, “Topsy Turvy.”

Sweetie Belle nods to the pink earth mare before turning to my character again and saying, “Do you think I could play with you and Topsy Turvy for a while?”

Topsy Turvy and my character look at each other, then turn back to the white unicorn filly; and I say, “I suppose so, until your sister calls you back inside.”

Topsy Turvy asks, “Do you have a ball or something like that that we could play with?  Mormon has a disc that we’ve been throwing to each other, but I think that’s a little too big for you.”

I see the little filly smile as she answers, “You know, I do have a ball we could play with back at Mom and Dad’s house.”  Then, she starts drooping again as she adds, “The only problem is, since they’re on vacation, they locked the doors so I can’t get in.”

I agree, “That is a problem.”

Then, Sweetie Belle continues, “And, I doubt Opalescence’ll allow me, or anypony for that matter, to play with her ball of yarn.”

  Now, Topsy Turvy agrees, “Yeah, cats are pretty possessive when it comes to things like that.”

Presently, Sweetie Belle perks up again and asks, “So, how were you two playing with that disc?”

At this point, Topsy Turvy and my character turn and look at each other again, and I can see the smile on the pink earth mare’s face.  She then turns and gallops a few feet away, then stops, turns to my character, then seems to bow, reminding me of a dog waiting for his or her owner to throw a favorite toy.

My character then reaches down and picks up the disc, then stands up again and tosses it to Topsy Turvy.

Again the pink earth mare uses her chaos powers to control the disc, once it leaves my character’s hand, to guide it so it circles around her head, then disappears for a second or two, then reappears in her open mouth.

I’m not surprised to hear Sweetie Belle laugh at the display Topsy Turvy and my character put on.

Then Topsy Turvy jumps straight into the air, spins three hundred sixty degrees, and releases the disc back toward my character.

As my character reaches out ahead of him in anticipation of catching the disc, suddenly I’m aware of a change, both in my character’s posture, and in the position and velocity of the disc.  Suddenly my character’s holding the disc in his hand the way a human waiter would hold a platter of food, and on the disc is a pair of unicorn statues: one of Rarity, and one of Sweetie Belle.  And, the two are facing and looking at each other, and smiling.

The white unicorn filly laughs for a few more seconds, then asks, “May I see the disc?”

My character acts on his own and affirmatively, lowering the disc to Sweetie Belle’s eye level.

The unicorn filly coos in admiration, then says, “That’s so neat.”  Then, a thought evidently dawns on her, and she backs away and says, “Wait I just got an idea.”  She then turns and gallops back toward the bridge, saying, “Rarity’s gonna love this!”

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as Sweetie Belle gallops across the bridge, then back into Carousel Boutique; and I know what she’s gonna do.  And, while, in the episode, Sweetie Belle got the idea on her own, in this game, it was evidently Topsy Turvy that gave her the idea.  At this point, I expect she’ll make a picture of her and Rarity, similar to the statues that Topsy Turvy had on Scout’s disc, and enclose the picture in a frame of rare, baby-blue sapphires in the shape of a valentine.  I also know that it’ll anger Rarity at first, since she’s been saving the sapphires for clothing for a client; and once the deed is done, Rarity’ll have to go out and look for more sapphires.  But, she’ll look at the picture later on and realize what kind of present Sweetie Belle had made for her.  But, once again, that’s yet to come.

Right now, I have my character turn to Topsy Turvy; and I say, “I’m not altogether sure that was the right idea to give her.”

Evidently puzzled, the pink earth mare approaches my character and asks, “What?  Sweetie Belle wanted an idea for what she could do to help her sister, and I gave her one.  What’s wrong with that?”

I inhale, then exhale, then say, “Let’s just go back to Sugar Cube Corner.  Maybe we can find something else to do.”

I think I hear a shrug in the pink earth mare’s voice as she says, “Well, alright then.”

And, with that, and as I have my character put the disc back in his inventory, the human and the pink earth mare leave the park and head back to Sugar Cube Corner.

It’s not until the two have crossed the bridge again when I hear Topsy Turvy ask, “So, what’s wrong with the idea I gave Sweetie Belle?”

My character looks down and to his left side to show me, through his eyes, the pink earth mare looking up at him.  I have to pause in thought for a moment before I answer, “Well, I suppose the image of Rarity and Sweetie Belle smiling at each other wasn’t such a bad idea.  I’m just worried about what Sweetie Belle might add to that picture.”

Topsy Turvy tilts her head slightly as she asks, “And, what might that be?”

I answer, “With any luck, we won’t find out.  Let’s just head back to Sugar Cube Corner and see if we can help with anything there.”  And, I have my character look ahead of him.

I hear Topsy Turvy mumble something that sounds like halfhearted agreement, and nothing more is said by either the pink earth mare or me until she and my character arrive at Sugar Cube Corner.

As the human and the pink earth mare enter through the front door, I hear Mr. Cake say, “Oh, hi, Mormon, Topsy Turvy.  You came just in time.  As it turns out, we could use your help after all.”

My character automatically turns to the orange earth stallion as he speaks; and after he’s finished, I ask, “Oh?  What do you need help with?”

Mr. Cake answers, pointing with a front hoof, “As you can see, we have a lot of upper shelf space that we could use to hold more pastries.  Cup can put pastries on the shelves she can reach, but neither of us could use the upper shelves because we couldn’t reach that far up.  But, Mormon, I bet you could reach up there easily enough.  If you could put loaves of bread or other pastries on those upper shelves, then get them down again when we ask for them, then we’d have more to offer.  We could make use of the shelves up there, and we could satisfy more customers.”

I respond, “That sounds good for me, but what about Topsy Turvy?”

Mr. Cake continues to smile as he answers, “Well, while Cup’s taking care of the twins, Topsy Turvy could take her place putting pastries on the shelves that she can reach.”  He then turns to the pink earth mare and asks, “Do you think you could do that?”

Topsy Turvy looks up at my character, then back at Mr. Cake, then says, “I suppose so.  If it’s a way that I can help, then I’ll do it.”

At that point, I hear Mrs. Cake say, “Excellent.  It’s just about time for me to check on the twins anyway.  So, do you think you could take over for me in the mean time, Dearie?”

Something about the way Topsy Turvy grimaces suggests to me that she doesn’t like being called Dearie.  Still, she answers, “Sure.”

With that agreement from the pink earth mare, Mrs. Cake smiles as she trots to, then ascends, the stairs, then trots to the second door from them and opens it, then enters.

I can see that the shelves within the reach of Mr. or Mrs. Cake are already occupied.  All I can do is wait to be told when a pastry is ready for display.

And, in the mean time, Topsy Turvy takes the position that had been occupied by Mrs. Cake.

It isn’t long after that when a familiar-looking pony enters, a white unicorn mare with mane and tail of two shades of blue, wearing goggles.

Mr. Cake, recognizing her immediately, says, “Well, Vinyl Scratch, it’s nice to see you here.”

The white unicorn produces a pen and notebook with her magic, then writes something in the notebook, then passes it with her magic to the orange earth stallion.

Mr. Cake seems worried as he looks at what’s written in the notebook, but he seems to hide it well when he says, “Well, alright then.”  He then turns to the pink earth mare and asks, pointing something out to her, “Topsy Turvy, will you get a loaf of oat bread from that bottom shelf?”

Topsy Turvy follows the orange earth stallion’s forelimb to where he seems to be pointing, then turns back to him and says, “Yes, sir,” then grabs a loaf from the shelf.  Carrying it in her front hooves, she walks the loaf, much the way a human would if one had hooves instead of hands, to the counter next to Mr. Cake, where she sets it carefully next to him.

Mr. Cake, watching the pink earth mare return to her previous position, says, “Thanks, Topsy Turvy.”  He then turns back to Vinyl Scratch and says, “That’ll be two bits.”

The white unicorn nods, then produces two flat, gold-colored cylinders, then grabs the loaf of bread in her magic and quietly exits through the front door.

Once she’s left, Mr. Cake turns to my character and, with concern coloring his voice, asks, “Mormon, do you know what’s wrong with Vinyl?”

I answer, “It’s kind of a long story.  Simply put, her friends left a few days ago; and she’s taking it pretty hard.”

Mr. Cake offers a stretched out “Oh” of understanding before adding, “I hope she starts feeling better soon.”

Then, from close to the door to the kitchen, I hear Pinkie Pie ask, “You hope who starts feeling better?”

The orange earth stallion turns to the pink angel pony and answers, “Vinyl Scratch.  She just came in and asked for a loaf of oat bread.”

Pinkie Pie, who’s now sticking her head through the kitchen door, asks, “And, she wrote her order down, I’m guessing?”

Mr. Cake answers, “That’s right.”

Pinkie then says, “Vinyl promised she wouldn’t speak again until her friends come back.  They’re living in Canterlot right now.”

Mr. Cake concludes, “And, I’m guessing Vinyl’d rather mope around here in Ponyville than follow her friends?”

At this point, Topsy Turvy says, “My daddy wanted them to play music.  He even chose the instruments for them.  I don’t know if it was the music or the instruments they didn’t like.”

Pinkie adds, “Vinyl still has friends here in Ponyville, which is probably why she refuses to leave.  But her three band mates, the ones that Discord forced to play music, were the ones that left.  Vinyl chooses to stay here because of Octavia, who’s living with her, and because of her other friends here in town.”

Mr. Cake nods, then says, “Well, on the one hoof, it’s nice to know that not everypony was scared away by Discord’s attack.  In fact, most ponies that lived here before the attack stayed here after it.  On the other hoof, it’s sad that friends had to be split up because of what Discord did.”

At about this time, maybe two or three more customers come in.  and, I lose track of what all is said after that.  But, as it turns out, I do get a chance to put pastries on the upper shelves that the ponies are unable to reach.

Eventually, Mrs. Cake comes back from taking care of the twins; but, instead of replacing Topsy Turvy, the two earth mares join forces, Topsy Turvy placing pastries on the shelves within their reach, and Mrs. Cake retrieving them from their places and delivering them to customers.

Maybe two hours after Topsy Turvy and my character have started helping the Cakes, an angry-looking Rarity enters and requests a loaf of bread.  And, while she waits, she grumbles about how her little sister used up a bunch of rare and valuable gems for an art project of hers.

As my character retrieves a loaf from an upper shelf, I decide to say, “I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm by what she did.”

The white unicorn emits a sound that’s equal parts snort and groan before saying, “She had no business messing with those baby-blue sapphires.  She should’ve known that they were for something more important than her little art project.”

As my character places the loaf of bread on the counter in front of Rarity, I ask her, “Did you let her know beforehand what those gems were for?”

Rarity looks down at the loaf of bread and mumbles, “Well, no.”

I continue, “She was probably just wanting to do something nice for her big sister.  I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm by it.”

Presently, Rarity groans, “Oh, you don’t know the half of what Sweetie Belle has put me through today.  Do you know she had the nerve to clean my room?”

I think I hear a note of sarcasm from Topsy Turvy’s voice as she says, “Oh, she should go to jail for that.”

Rarity turns a glare on the pink earth mare and says, “This is no laughing matter.  It was my room, and she had no business going in there and disrupting my organized chaos.”

Now, Topsy Turvy snorts and says, “Organized chaos, huh?  I wonder what daddy’d think about that.”

Before Rarity can say anymore, I ask, “Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on your little sister?”

Now, the white unicorn turns her glare on my character as she says, “Ever since this morning, she’s turned Carousel Boutique into a disaster.  She turns breakfast into charcoal, she even burned orange juice.  Then, when all she had to do was put garnish on a plate, she couldn’t even do that without destroying the kitchen.  She washed my incredibly expensive, one-of-a-kind, designer-crocheted wool sweater and hung it in the sun!  I was hoping to wear it on a special occasion, and now I won’t be able to wear it at all!  And, that was just this morning.”

At this point, I wonder if I dare tell Rarity that I saw Sweetie Belle earlier doing laundry, including the sweater, and hanging the sweater on the line.

But, before I have time to offer a response, Rarity emits another snorting groan, then says, “Well, I hope she’s learned her lesson.  I told her to clean up the mess she made, and do something that doesn’t cause a big mess for me to clean up.”  Then, before anymore can be said, she leaves two gold-colored coins on the counter, takes the loaf of bread, and marches out of the front door.

The topic of conversation for a few minutes after that is Rarity and how she could’ve handled the matter with her little sister better.  That is, until the next customer comes in.  And, it seems a few minutes after that when my character looks out the front door as it opens; and I see Sweetie Belle ambling slowly past, head lowered and parallel to the ground.  And, based on what I’m seeing, once again she’s clearly not happy.

She’s not the only one out there, there are plenty of other ponies going about their own business.  And, at that point, my character’s told to place a small cake on the top shelf; so, he’s occupied with that.  But, my guess is she’s on her way to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Applebloom and Applejack.  Knowing what’s coming, she’ll get the idea from them, or at least from Applebloom, to attend the Sisterhooves Social the game’s tomorrow, and try to enlist Rarity in the event.  And, the rift between the two sisters will just get a little bigger when Rarity will decide that the event is too messy, too uncouth, to attend.  But, once again, I’m getting ahead of the story.

When the last customer leaves, having purchased a package of oat rolls, the Cakes call an end to the day, dismissing my character and his friends as they close up shop.

Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy all seem to be happy as the group makes its way through the Everfree forest to my character’s house.  Then, as soon as they're past the front gate, they get to work harvesting fruits, vegetables, and grains, which they make into snacks for them and others that’ll come for the reading.

The element bearers come in through the front gate, while Princesses Celestia and Luna appear in a flash of light in the front yard.

As the readers gather in a circle, I can’t help noticing that Rarity seems upset.  I have my character focus on her, and I ask, “Rarity, what’s wrong?”

The white unicorn seems surprised to hear me say her name, based on how she looks up at my character.  But, after she hears my question, she looks down again and says, “Oh, nothing you need to worry about.”

Based on what I remember from the episode, I know what the problem is.  I ask, “It’s about your little sister, isn’t it?”

Now, when Rarity looks up at my character, she seems surprised that I’d know that much about her and her problems.  She slowly rises to her hooves as she asks, “Might we have a moment in private?  I don’t want everypony to know about this.”

As my character rises to his feet, I say, “We could either go around to the back of the house, or we could go inside.”

Rarity backs out of the circle, then turns to my character’s house and says, “Let us go into your house.”

In evident agreement, my character backs out of the circle as well and leads the way to and onto the front porch, and to his front door.  He then opens the door and holds it open for Rarity, then follows her inside.  Then, as my character closes the door behind him, Rarity ambles to the nearest couch and jumps up onto it.

It’s only after my character takes a position on the opposite couch that I ask, “So, what’s wrong?”

I’m not sure if Rarity out-and-out loses the battle with her emotions, or just gives it up.  All I know is that she sniffles once or twice before breaking down and bawling.  And, something about this doesn’t strike me as her famous melodrama; it looks like genuine emotion.

After a few seconds, Rarity whimpers, “I was … so wrong about my … my little sister.”  She sobs before continuing, “The … the sweater she ruined, … well, it fits … Opal now.”

I must admit I feel like laughing right now.  But, I decide that now is not the time for that.

In the mean time, Rarity continues, “My room’s … so organized now … I got inspiration, … and now I have a new wardrobe line for … next fall.”

At this point, I say, “It sounds like what Sweetie Belle did wasn’t such a bad thing after all.”

Rarity continues, “Then, … then there was that picture.”  Again she sobs before continuing, “It was so … so beautiful.  All that time we spent fighting, … and she made that picture … for me.”  She sobs some more before concluding, “I went to apologize to Sweetie Belle … b-but I d-don’t think she w-wants to f-forgive … me.”  She then wails out, “Oh, Mormon, what have I done!?”

At this moment, the front door opens; and Applejack enters.  Kicking the door closed behind her as soon as she’s far enough inside, she says, “Uh, hi, Mormon.  Ah though Ah’d come in and check to see how things were a-goin’ with you and Rarity.”  She turns and sees her white unicorn friend sobbing on the couch, then approaches her and says, “Uh, Rarity, maybe Ah can help y’all.”

Still choked with emotion, Rarity’s voice is an octave or two higher as she looks up at her orange earth pony friend and asks, “But, … how?”

Applejack nuzzles her friend before saying, “Ah was a-thinkin’ we could discuss it after the readin’.  But, maybe we should discuss it now.”

Rarity starts to gain control of her emotions again as she asks, “Discuss … what?”

Applejack circles around the back of the couch that Rarity’s sitting on, then jumps up over the arm opposite Rarity, then trots over to her.  Draping her closest forelimb over the base of Rarity’s neck, she says, “Ah was there, and Ah heard Sweetie Belle say she didn’t wanna be yer sister no more.  Are ya sure you’d rather not get all dirty?  Even if it meant gettin’ yer sister back?”

Rarity leans against her orange earth pony friend and answers, “Oh, Applejack, I’d do anything to let Sweetie Belle know how sorry I am.  I’ll do anything to get her back.”

I think I see a smile on Applejack’s face as she pulls her forelimb back under her and says, “Well, then, Ah got jest the thang.”

Rarity asks, “Yes, what’s that?”

Applejack produces a poster from under her hat and shows it to Rarity, saying, “Tomorrow’s the Sisterhooves Social.  If’n Ah agree to be Sweetie Belle’s sister for the day, Ah think Ah could trick her into racin’ alongside y’all without her a-knowin’.”

Now, Rarity just grunts in equal parts curiosity and confusion.

On the other hand, I have a really good idea of what Applejack’s up to.  But, at the same time, I think it’s best to allow the orange earth mare to explain.

Applejack says, putting the poster back under her hat, “Ther’s a race, the last event, wher two sisters need to cooperate in order to win.  An’, it’s a combo of all sorts of thins.  The first obstacle is a mud puddle that ever’pony needs to jump over a’for they can move on to the next one.  If'n y'all hide in the puddle, when the race starts, Ah’ll fall inta it, then give y’all m’hat.  Then, you jump outta the puddle ‘n’ c’ntinue the race instead of me, alongside yer sis.  Do y’all think you can do that?”

Rarity pauses in thought for a second or two, then says, “I suppose so.  But, won’t Sweetie Belle be suspicious?  After all, I’m not the athlete you are.”

Applejack shrugs and answers, “Ah, shucks, as long as y'all keep covered in mud, and keep m’hat on yer head, she won’t suspect nothin’.”

Again Rarity pauses, but this time just long enough to sigh before saying, “Well, if it’s the only way I can get Sweetie Belle back, then I’ll do it.”  And, the way she says those last three words, she sounds determined.  I look forward to finding out how determined she is.

Applejack smiles more genuinely before elbowing Rarity in the shoulder and saying, “We’ll discuss the details after the readin’.  So, shall we go then?”

Rarity answers, “Yes, I’m ready for the reading.”

With that confirmation from the white unicorn, my character rises from the couch he’s sitting on, approaches the two ponies, being careful to avoid the coffee table, and picks up each of the two and sets them on all fours on the floor before heading to the front door.

Before the three can leave, though, I hear Rarity say, “Thank you, Applejack.  And, thank you, Mormon.”

At the same time Applejack says, “Yer welcome, Rarity,” and I say, “I’m glad I could be of service.”

My character then walks to the front door and opens it, then holds it open, allowing the white unicorn and the orange earth pony to leave ahead of him, then follows them out.

As the two ponies and one human return to their positions in the circle, I hear Princess Celestia ask, “Are all matters settled, then?”

Again at the same time, Applejack, Rarity and I answer affirmatively.

As ponies, dragons, and human turn to the right page in the Book of Mormon, I remember that Ataahua, next to my character, read first the last time.  So, I say, "I guess I read the first verse tonight."  Then, once my character finds the start of the twenty-second chapter of Mosiah, I read, "And now it came to pass that Ammon and king Limhi began to consult with the people how they should deliver themselves out of bondage; and even they did cause that all the people should gather themselves together; and this they did that they might have the voice of the people concerning the matter."

Topsy Turvy then reads, "And it came to pass that they could find no way to deliver themselves out of bondage, except it were to take their women and children, and their flocks, and their herds, and their tents, and depart into the wilderness; for the Lamanites being so numerous, it was impossible for the people of Limhi to contend with them, thinking to deliver themselves out of bondage by the sword."

Weed Whacker reads, "Now it came to pass that Gideon went forth and stood before the king, and said unto him: Now O king, thou hast hitherto hearkened unto my words many times when we have been contending with our brethren, the Lamanites."

Princess Luna reads, "And now O king, if thou hast not found me to be an unprofitable servant, or if thou hast hitherto listened to my words in any degree, and they have been of service to thee, even so I desire that thou wouldst listen to my words at this time, and I will be thy servant and deliver this people out of bondage."

Princess Celestia reads, "And the king granted unto him that he might speak. And Gideon said unto him:"

Rainbow Dash reads, "Behold the back pass, through the back wall, on the back side of the city.  The Lamanites, or the guards of the Lamanites, by night are drunken; therefore let us send a proclamation among all this people that they gather together their flocks and herds, that they may drive them into the wilderness by night."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And I will go according to thy command and pay the last tribute of wine to the Lamanites, and they will be drunken; and we will pass through the secret pass on the left of their camp when they are drunken and asleep."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Thus we will depart with our women and our children, our flocks, and our herds into the wilderness; and we will travel around the land of Shilom."  She then looks up and says, "A good plan.  Ponies that are intoxicated to the point that they can't focus aren't easy to wake up.  And, I assume it's the same way with humans.  Still, it'd be a good idea for King Limhi and his people to be careful, once the Lamanites are intoxicated, not to wake them up."

Spike reads, "And it came to pass that the king hearkened unto the words of Gideon."

Rarity reads, "And king Limhi caused that his people should gather their flocks together; and he sent the tribute of wine to the Lamanites; and he also sent more wine, as a present unto them; and they did drink freely of the wine which king Limhi did send unto them."

Applejack reads, "And it came to pass that the people of king Limhi did depart by night into the wilderness with their flocks and their herds, and they went round about the land of Shilom in the wilderness, and bent their course towards the land of Zarahemla, being led by Ammon and his brethren."

Fluttershy reads, "And they had taken all their gold, and silver, and their precious things, which they could carry, and also their provisions with them, into the wilderness; and they pursued their journey."

Lyra reads, "And after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla, and joined Mosiah’s people, and became his subjects."  She then looks up and says, "I guess they were careful, like Twilight suggested."

Ataahua reads, "And it came to pass that Mosiah received them with joy; and he also received their records, and also the records which had been found by the people of Limhi."

I read, "And now it came to pass when the Lamanites had found that the people of Limhi had departed out of the land by night, that they sent an army into the wilderness to pursue them;"

Topsy Turvy reads, "And after they had pursued them two days, they could no longer follow their tracks; therefore they were lost in the wilderness."  She then looks up and says, "I'm going to assume it was the Lamanites that were lost in the wilderness."

As my character turns to the pink earth mare, I state, "It could simply mean that the trail they were following was no longer traceable.  But, it does seem more likely that Mormon was referring to the Lamanite army."  I then have my character look around the circle, and I ask, "Well, since we've come to the end of this chapter, we've each had a chance to read at least one verse.  So, do you want to call an end to the reading right now, or shall we read one more chapter?"

At first, all the other members of the reading circle talk at once, making it difficult to determine any decision.

Then, Princess Celestia rises and says, "Alright, my little ponies.  If everypony talks at once, nopony will know what the final decision is.  So, why not vote on it?"  Not waiting for an answer, she turns to Topsy Turvy and asks, "What say you?"

The pink earth mare rises and answers, "I say we read one more chapter."  And, after that, she settles back down into a sphinx-style position.

Continuing the pattern of the reading, Princess Celestia requests a vote from each of the readers.

The first three ponies, including Princess Luna, all agree to read one more chapter, as does Princess Celestia.  In fact, it seems that the only one of the readers around the circle that votes to end the reading until tomorrow night is Spike.

After Ataahua votes to read one more chapter, and before Princess Celestia can ask for my vote, I have my character stand up; and I say, "Almost everyone has voted in favor of reading one more chapter, and I also vote in favor of it."  I then have my character turn to my dinosaur friend, and I ask, "Will you start with verse one?"

As my character, as well as the ponies on all fours, settle down again, Weed Whacker nods in agreement, then looks down and reads, "Now Alma, having been warned of the Lord that the armies of king Noah would come upon them, and having made it known to his people, therefore they gathered together their flocks, and took of their grain, and departed into the wilderness before the armies of king Noah."

Princess Luna reads, "And the Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them."

Princess Celestia reads, "And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And they came to a land, yea, even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And they pitched their tents, and began to till the ground, and began to build buildings; yea, they were industrious, and did labor exceedingly."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And the people were desirous that Alma should be their king, for he was beloved by his people."  She then sighs before looking up and saying, "I'm beginning to wonder if they've forgotten what it was like to be ruled by King Noah."

Spike reads, "But he said unto them: Behold, it is not expedient that we should have a king; for thus saith the Lord: Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one man shall not think himself above another; therefore I say unto you it is not expedient that ye should have a king."

Rarity reads, "Nevertheless, if it were possible that ye could always have just men to be your kings it would be well for you to have a king."

Applejack reads, "But remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance;"  She then looks up and says, "Well, at least one of 'em remembers."

Fluttershy reads, "Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth."

Lyra reads, "Nevertheless, in this I do not glory, for I am unworthy to glory of myself."

Ataahua reads, "And now I say unto you, ye have been oppressed by king Noah, and have been in bondage to him and his priests, and have been brought into iniquity by them; therefore ye were bound with the bands of iniquity."  She then looks up and asks, "Did they really forget, like Twilight suggested, or do they want to go back into that situation?"

At this point, I answer, "From this perspective, it's a little difficult to determine their mentality.  It could be that they were hoping that Alma would be a good king, or at least a better one than Noah was.  Throughout human history, at least, there are examples of people that proved to be good kings, and people that proved to be bad kings.  The thing about all the responsibility falling on one creature is that, well, that creature is responsible for everything bad that happens, as well as everything good.  And, unfortunately, it seems that the bad things tend to outweigh the good, or at least are more frequently remembered.  Not to mention that it's very difficult to get rid of a bad king."  I then read, "And now as ye have been delivered by the power of God out of these bonds; yea, even out of the hands of king Noah and his people, and also from the bonds of iniquity, even so I desire that ye should stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free, and that ye trust no man to be a king over you."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments."

Weed Whacker reads, "Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them."

Princess Luna reads, "And now, Alma was their high priest, he being the founder of their church."

Princess Celestia reads, "And it came to pass that none received authority to preach or to teach except it were by him from God.  Therefore he consecrated all their priests and all their teachers; and none were consecrated except they were just men."

Rainbow Dash reads, "Therefore they did watch over their people, and did nourish them with things pertaining to righteousness."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that they began to prosper exceedingly in the land; and they called the land Helam."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And it came to pass that they did multiply and prosper exceedingly in the land of Helam; and they built a city, which they called the city of Helam."

Spike reads, "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith."  He then looks up and says, "I'm guessing that means that things didn't always go well for Alma and his people."

Rarity reads, "Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people."  She then looks up and asks, "Didn't Mormon say something about nopony going through life without difficulties?"

Applejack reads, "For behold, I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God, yea, even the God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob."

Fluttershy reads, "And it came to pass that he did deliver them, and he did show forth his mighty power unto them, and great were their rejoicings."

Lyra reads, "For behold, it came to pass that while they were in the land of Helam, yea, in the city of Helam, while tilling the land round about, behold an army of the Lamanites was in the borders of the land."

Ataahua reads, "Now it came to pass that the brethren of Alma fled from their fields, and gathered themselves together in the city of Helam; and they were much frightened because of the appearance of the Lamanites."

I read, "But Alma went forth and stood among them, and exhorted them that they should not be frightened, but that they should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Therefore they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that they would spare them, and their wives, and their children."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the hearts of the Lamanites.  And Alma and his brethren went forth and delivered themselves up into their hands; and the Lamanites took possession of the land of Helam."

Princess Luna reads, "Now the armies of the Lamanites, which had followed after the people of king Limhi, had been lost in the wilderness for many days."  She then looks up and says, "Evidently it was the Lamanite army that was lost in the wilderness."

Princess Celestia reads, "And behold, they had found those priests of king Noah, in a place which they called Amulon; and they had begun to possess the land of Amulon and had begun to till the ground."

Rainbow Dash reads, "Now the name of the leader of those priests was Amulon."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that Amulon did plead with the Lamanites; and he also sent forth their wives, who were the daughters of the Lamanites, to plead with their brethren, that they should not destroy their husbands."  She then looks up and says, "Now, they didn't go willingly, did they?  After all, they were kidnapped by Amulon and the other priests."

I answer, "Well, If they did go willingly, it's not the only instance that I've heard of in human history.

"In fact, the most remembered instance is of a city in a country humans called Sweden, a city called Stockholm.  It was either the city, or a group of people in that city, who were taken hostage.  Then, over a period of time, the people that were taken hostage grew to sympathize with their captors, and even fought on their side, against those who came to rescue them.  And, this being the example most remembered of this type of situation, instances of people being abducted, then sympathizing and siding with their captors, are known as the Stockholm syndrome."

After emitting a grunt of interest, Twilight Sparkle reads, "And the Lamanites had compassion on Amulon and his brethren, and did not destroy them, because of their wives."  She then looks up and says, "If this Stockholm syndrome had anything to do with it, I'd imagine the Lamanites probably didn't want to hurt females of their own kind either.  After all, they apparently did have a good side to them."

Spike reads, "And Amulon and his brethren did join the Lamanites, and they were traveling in the wilderness in search of the land of Nephi when they discovered the land of Helam, which was possessed by Alma and his brethren."

Rarity reads, "And it came to pass that the Lamanites promised unto Alma and his brethren, that if they would show them the way which led to the land of Nephi that they would grant unto them their lives and their liberty."  She then looks up and says, "I'd imagine this'd leave Alma and his people with quite the conundrum.  After all, would they know if Limhi and his people had left that place or not?"

I answer, "If the Lamanites had informed Alma and his people that they'd been lost in the wilderness pursuing Limhi and his people, then yes, they would know."

Applejack reads, "But after Alma had shown them the way that led to the land of Nephi the Lamanites would not keep their promise; but they set guards round about the land of Helam, over Alma and his brethren."  She then looks up and says, "Probably because they didn't wanna take the chance of Alma and his people gittin' 'way."

Fluttershy reads, "And the remainder of them went to the land of Nephi; and a part of them returned to the land of Helam, and also brought with them the wives and the children of the guards who had been left in the land."

Lyra reads, "And the king of the Lamanites had granted unto Amulon that he should be a king and a ruler over his people, who were in the land of Helam; nevertheless he should have no power to do anything contrary to the will of the king of the Lamanites."  She then looks up and says, "I guess we'll see how long that lasts."

I respond, "Indeed."  I then have my character stand up, and I say, "And, with that, let's call an end to the reading for tonight.  Next time, we'll begin the reading with chapter twenty-four of the Book of Mosiah, and see how things go from there.  In the mean time, those of you who are returning to your homes, I hope you return to them safely."

After hearing my announcement, the element bearers reclaim their books and gather together, along with Spike, who climbs onto and rides on Twilight’s back.

At the front gate, Pinkie Pie exchanges farewells with each of her friends, then closes the gate behind them.

In the mean time, Princess Luna asks, “How many of you would join Topsy Turvy and Mormon in traveling to Canterlot Castle so that Topsy Turvy may take care of her father?”

Again Ataahua, Lyra, and Weed Whacker volunteer, as does Pinkie Pie when she returns to my character’s side after closing the gate.

Seeing that all are willing to join the pink earth mare and the human in visiting Canterlot Castle once again, the two princesses together bow their heads, and their horns start to glow and sparkle.

One frame later, the group of eight are in front of Discord’s statue; and Luna trots off to the castle to get Grounds Keeper and the equipment and other items necessary for Topsy Turvy to clean the Discord statue.

In the mean time, Princess Celestia turns to my character and asks, “Will you come with me into the labyrinth so you can give me your report?”

I nod and vocalize agreement, and my character follows the white alicorn into the hedge maze.

When the human and the alicorn have gone far enough into the maze that both are hidden from view of the others, Princess Celestia stops, then turns to my character and asks, “So, how has progress been going with Lyra?”

Seeing the white princess stop, my character also stops.  Then, after hearing her question, I answer, “I’m not all that sure.  You see, today, well, at first, the only ones that didn’t have employment at Sugar Cube Corner were me and Topsy Turvy.  So, we decided to see if we could help someone else in town.”

The white princess grunts in interest(?) and asks, “And, how did that turn out?”

I answer, “Pretty good, as far as I could tell.  We went to Carousel Boutique to see if we could help with anything there, and we found Sweetie Belle trying to do something nice for her big sister, which, at that time, was doing the laundry.  But, it seems that Rarity wasn’t being very cooperative, and was finding fault with everything her little sister was doing.  When we found Sweetie Belle, she was washing a sweater made of wool.  I warned her that she needed to hang the sweater indoors, but she didn’t listen.  And, in the mean time, Topsy Turvy and I went to the park and played with a disc that was normally Scout’s toy.”

The white princess taps her chin with a front hoof as she says, “Considering Rarity’s temperament during the reading, my guess is things between her and her little sister, Sweetie Belle, haven’t been going well, and that she’s willing to make things better between them."  She then stops tapping her chin as she adds, "But, my interest right now is in how the disc-throwing game between you and Topsy Turvy went.”

I reply, “Well, I, for one, found it a lot of fun, and I’m sure Topsy Turvy also enjoyed it.  It was just three or four rounds, but we had lots of fun throwing the disc to each other.  There were times when Topsy Turvy had me catching the disc in some really creative ways, and there was one time when she had the disc in random locations around me so, until she was laughing so hard she couldn’t keep it up anymore, I couldn’t catch the disc.”

Princess Celestia asks, “And, what happened to end that game?”

I answer, “Well, Sweetie Belle came out again, discouraged because her last act of service at that time had turned into another disaster.  So, Topsy Turvy made small statues on the disc and gave her an idea of what she could do as another act of kindness toward her big sister.  Then, when Sweetie Belle went back to Carousel Boutique, I decided that Topsy Turvy and I should go back to Sugar Cube Corner and see if there was something we could do there.  I wasn’t sure about the idea that Topsy Turvy gave Sweetie Belle, and I told her about my concern.

“At any rate, as it turns out, the Cakes did have things for me and Topsy Turvy to do at Sugar Cube Corner for the rest of the day.  My job was to put pastries on the upper shelves when they were ready, and to take them down again as customers requested them.  And, Topsy Turvy assisted Mrs. Cake in putting pastries on the shelves in their reach, or to retrieve them at customers ‘ requests.  And, that’s pretty much what we did for the rest of the day.”

Now, the white alicorn restates, “So, I’m guessing, then, that you’ve made some progress with Topsy Turvy, then?”

I answer, “Well, if playing games with and working alongside her qualifies, then, yes, I have.”

Then, the daytime princess states, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve had an indirect influence on both Lyra and Derpy Hooves through Pinkie Pie.”

At this announcement, I say, “Well, that’s very kind of you to say.  Thank you.”

The daytime alicorn welcomes my gratitude with a nod, then canters past my character, saying, “Now, let’s join the rest of the group.  When I’m back inside the castle, I’ll document your report.”

I stop my character from following Princess Celestia as I say, “Sounds good.  But, one thing before we go back.”

The white alicorn stops, turns to my character, and asks, “Yes, what’s that?”

I answer by asking, “Should I return the clipboard and the writing equipment to you?”

The daytime alicorn shakes her head and smiles as she answers, “No, you go ahead and keep it.”  And, with that, she continues on her way out of the hedge maze.

At this point, I allow my character to follow the white princess out of the maze; and I say, “Well, then, thanks.”

By the time the human and the daytime alicorn have rejoined the group of now nine, Topsy Turvy is halfway through cleaning her statued father, and about halfway through her song.  Along with the other seven, my character stands there, watching the pink earth mare clean the statue of Discord and sing, and once again she finishes cleaning the statue before she finishes singing.

When Topsy Turvy is finished singing, and once again vocalizes her wish that her father not remain a statue for another thousand years, as Luna and Grounds Keeper are dismissed to return to the castle, Princess Celestia leans toward my character and asks, “Why does Topsy Turvy sing that song while cleaning Discord?”

I answer, “It was Pinkie Pie’s idea to teach her that song.  And, considering the theme, who am I to question it?  And, besides, what if Discord were to be released from his statue some day?  Wouldn’t it be a good idea for him to have a sense of what a true friend is before that?”

The daytime princess grunts in equal parts of interest and agreement before saying, “I hadn’t really thought about it that way.  That is a good idea.  And, maybe I will have him released some day, as long as somepony is available to reform him.  Do you have any ideas?”

I pause strategically for a moment, then say, “When he was first released from his statue a few days ago, the only one of the element bearers he had to physically touch to turn her was Fluttershy.”

Now, after grunting strictly and clearly with interest, Princess Celestia concludes, “And, you think that Fluttershy would be the best choice to reform Discord.”

I reply, “It does make sense to me.”

Next, the daytime princess asks, “And, why not you, Pinkie Pie, and Topsy Turvy?”

I answer, “First of all, there’s the reason I already mentioned.  And, I told Discord that the one he touched physically would touch him in return some day.

“Second of all, there’s also the fact that I’m not all that sure Discord’s willing to reclaim Topsy Turvy just yet.  Topsy Turvy, after all, tried to get herself killed in order to release her father.  And, as for me and Pinkie Pie, well, while I have earned his respect enough that he might just defend me if he gets the chance, I’m not sure if I should push that anywhere.  And, I think Discord’s going to need kindness rather than laughter to reform him.”

The daytime princess grunts in uncertain agreement before saying, “I value your opinion, and I’ll take it into consideration.  I’m just not sure that my little ponies are ready for Discord to return just yet.  I’m not sure that I’m ready for him to return.  But, when I am, and when I’m sure my little ponies are, I might just decide to take you up on your advice.”

And, at this point, the nighttime princess returns, alone.

Seeing her sister coming, Princess Celestia approaches her and says, “I have a report to document.  You go ahead and return Mormon and his friends to his home.”  Then, as Luna nods in agreement, the daytime alicorn returns to the castle.

Once she’s close enough, and the group of six have gathered around her, the nighttime alicorn closes her eyes, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle again.  And, one frame later, the group of seven are back at my character’s house, on his front lawn.

As the ponies and the dinosaur head back to the house, Luna bids my character good night before disappearing.

It’s about that time that Pinkie Pie remembers and reminds everyone else that they need to gather ingredients for dinner.  And, with that, the group disperses to different fields to gather food for dinner.  And, when the group has come back together on the front porch, it’s Lyra who uses her magic to open the front door and allow the rest of the group to enter, then closes the door after she’s entered.  And, it’s Topsy Turvy who opens the kitchen door for everyone else to enter, then, like Lyra, closes it after she’s entered.

In the kitchen, the group separates into two of three, so that one, composed of Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Pinkie Pie, prepare and make muffins of some of the berries that Lyra donates; and the rest prepare the rest of the fruit to be eaten raw.

Then, when the food is prepared, the six gather in the front room and eat.  Then, after that, the group disperses to their separate rooms.

Before my character can go to bed, though, I hear a knock at his door, followed by Pinkie Pie’s voice asking, “Mormon, can I come in?”

As my character approaches the door, I answer, “Sure, Pinkie, just a minute.”

And, once my character opens the door wide enough, the pink angel pony trots in, then, with the assistance of her wings, hops up onto my character’s bed, then turns around and settles into a sphinx-style position.

As my character closes the door, then approaches the pink angel pony, I ask, “So, Pinkie, is everything alright?”

The pink party pony looks down and sighs before saying, “I’m just worried about Rarity.”

I state, “I think I understand.  She wasn’t exactly in the best mood when she asked me for advice.”

Pinkie then looks up at my character, at me, and asks, “Do you think she’ll be able to patch things up with her sister, following Applejack’s plan?”

I answer, “Rarity already knows what she did wrong, and she’s willing to make it right again. It’ll all be up to Sweetie Belle whether she accepts her older sister’s efforts or not; but, personally, I’m sure that, when Sweetie Belle sees how far her older sister’s willing to go to make things right between them, she’ll accept it and get back together with her.”

Pinkie starts to smile as she says, “I hope you’re right, Mormon.”

I ask, “So, is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?”

Pinkie Pie rises to all fours again and answers, “No.  Thanks, Mormon.”  And, with that, she hops off my character’s bed again and canters to the door.

Automatically, my character rises to his feet and walks with the pink angel pony to the door and opens it for her, then closes it again once she’s in the hallway.  Then, after that, he goes to bed.

As far as I can tell, I’ve written as much as I can think to write.  So, until the game’s tomorrow, I save and quit.

Chapter 5: Mud in Her Eye

When I resume the game this time, I hear, as my character wakes up, the sound of muffled hoof-falls outside his door.

My character rises, walks to his door, and turns the door knob; and I hear a female grunt of curiosity.  I allow my character to open the door, but slowly so whoever is on the other side has a chance to move out of the way.

And, whoever it is does move; and I see, through my character’s eyes, that it’s my pale-green unicorn friend.  As I see her slow to a stop from a gallop, I say, “Hi, Lyra.”

The pale-green unicorn turns and smiles at my character, then says, “Hi, Mormon.  I don’t know if anypony else is up yet, I’m just headed to the kitchen.”

As my character leaves his bedroom, I hear another grunt of curiosity from the kitchen, followed by a pink head with darker pink, curly mane peering from the left of the entrance.  The pink angel pony, seeing the unicorn and the human coming, says, “Oh, hi, Lyra, Mormon.”

At the same time, Lyra and I say, “Hi, Pinkie.”

Then, I add, “So, is anyone else awake?”

The pink angel pony smiles as she closes her eyes and nods vigorously, then opens her eyes again as she says, “Derpy and Topsy Turvy are here waiting for you.”  She then tilts her head as she asks, “Uh, is Weed Whacker awake yet?”

From the opposite side of my character’s bedroom door from him, I hear the herbivorous dinosaur answer, “Yeah, I’m awake.  And, as soon as Mormon closes his door, I’ll join you in the kitchen.”

Automatically, my character reaches out and closes the door; and, as he focuses on the little dinosaur, I say, “Oh, sorry about that, Weed Whacker.”

She looks up at my character and says, “That’s alright.”  She then looks past my character and, I’m guessing, at Pinkie Pie, and asks, “So, has anyone harvested anything for breakfast yet?”

My character, as per my instructions, focuses on Pinkie Pie, who answers, “Uh, not yet.  We were just waiting for the rest of you to wake up.”  She then asks, “So, you ready to go?”

My character remains focused on the pink angel pony, so I can only hear Weed Whacker say, “I’m ready when everyone else is.”

Pinkie Pie then asks, “Lyra, are you ready?”

From my character’s perspective, I can only see the pale-green unicorn’s head from behind; so, I can only hear her say, “Sure, I’m ready.  What about Derpy and Topsy Turvy?”

From the kitchen, I hear the two voices say at the same time, “We’re ready when everypony else is ready.”

I state, at this point, “Well, since it seems that everyone’s ready, I say let’s get going.”

And, that’s when I see my gray pegasa friend move into the hallway, taking an evidently hovering position over Pinkie Pie’s head, and ask, “Uh, shouldn’t we get some breakfast first?”

I chuckle for a second or two before I say, “That’s what I meant, Ataahua.”

Perhaps laughter wasn’t the best response I could’ve given, at least not the best first response.

Ataahua slowly drops to the kitchen floor until she lands, then looks down and says, “I’m sorry, Mormon.”

I see, from the lower half of my character’s periphery, Lyra turn to my character with a worried look on her face, as I have my character circle around her and approach the gray pegasa.  When he's close enough, I have him kneel down on one knee and stroke the side of Ataahua's neck that I can see with his left hand, and I say, “No, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

Just then, Pinkie Pie moves into the hallway next to Ataahua and, nuzzling the gray pegasa, says, “I think Mormon thought you were making a joke, that you wanted him to laugh.”

Now, Ataahua looks up at my character and, with a nervous chuckle, says, “Oh.”

Then, I have my character stand up again; and I say, “Let’s just go out and do some harvesting.”

I think I see Ataahua start to smile as she nods.

And, it’s Pinkie Pie who leads the way out of the kitchen, through the living room, and outside, with my character following behind the group to close doors.

Outside, my character and Pinkie Pie meet up in the orchard, where the pink angel pony chooses an apple tree, and my character chooses a peach tree to harvest some fruits.

All I hear from the pink angel pony, while my character chooses and harvests half a dozen peaches from the tree, is the sound of a thud, followed by leaves rustling and half a dozen more, lighter thuds.  And, when my character is finished harvesting the peaches, he turns around just in time for Diane to return control of Pinkie Pie back to Pinkamena.

It’s not until the pink angel pony has hung the fallen apples in her mane that she turns to my character, to me, and says, seeing my harvest, “Oh, I guess you’re ready then.  Let’s go back to the house.”

As I watch, through my character’s eyes, the pink angel pony hop over the fence, assisted by Diane’s wings, I vocalize agreement; and my character follows her over the fence and back to the house, where human and angel pony meet up with the rest of the ponies and the dinosaur, waiting to get back into the house.

Lyra opens the door with her magic, allowing everyone else to enter ahead of her, then she enters and closes the door behind her.

In the mean time, my character proceeds ahead of the group and opens the kitchen door, again allowing the rest of the group, including Lyra, to enter the kitchen ahead of him.  After that, he follows Lyra into the kitchen and closes the door behind him.

As it turns out, Ataahua and Topsy Turvy request a peach from my character to use in some of their muffins, to which I agree.

And, Lyra, on request, donates a kiwi fruit for the muffins.

Based on what I see, it seems that Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Pinkie Pie make two batches of muffins: one with the peach, and one with the kiwi fruit.

I, for one, have never had peach or kiwi fruit muffins; but I wouldn’t be opposed to trying such things, if for nothing more than the experience.

At any rate, while Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Pinkie Pie prepare the muffins; Lyra, Weed Whacker, and my character prepare the rest of the fruits and vegetables to be eaten raw.

Then, after the food is prepared and placed on a platter, my character carries the platter of food into the front room and places it on the coffee table; and the four ponies, the human, and the dinosaur combine forces in eating the prepared breakfast.  And, when the food has been eaten, as much as the group can eat, the remnants are cleaned up; and the group makes final preparations and heads out to and through the Everfree forest, and on their way back to Ponyville.

Once past the outskirts, it isn’t long before the group arrives at Sugar Cube Corner, where members of the group take the positions they had the previous day.

Seeing my character ready to get to work, Mr. Cake says, “Uh, Mormon, we’ve come up with an idea, and we could use your help with it.”

I smile and ask, “Yeah, what’s that?”

The orange earth stallion answers, “Cup and I have decided that pastries such as specialty cakes and elaborate pastries like that should go on the upper shelves, the ones that you can reach; while the rest of the pastries, such as loaves of bread and rolls, can go on the shelves that we can reach.  Does that sound good to you?”

I answer, “As long as I work here, sure, no problem.”

Mr. Cake smiles as he says, “Good.  Now, if you’ll take these loaves of bread down from the upper shelves and put them on the counter, Cup and Topsy Turvy will pass you the cakes and other pastries we want on those upper shelves.  And, we’ll put the bread you put on the counter into the shelves we can reach.”

I don’t have to vocally agree, my character starts working on the project immediately.  And, within a few minutes, shelves are stocked in an orderly manner with the different kinds of pastries.

And, in the mean time, I hear the voices of Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Weed Whacker, and Ataahua from the kitchen giving or receiving orders, although Ataahua seems to be receiving more orders than she’s giving.

Still, as time passes, an order comes in, an especially large order for rolls and cupcakes and doughnuts, to go to the Sisterhooves Social event, which is evidently held at Sweet Apple Acres.  And, considering the specifics of the event, my character is given charge of putting the ordered pastries on upper shelves above the counter, where it’ll be especially difficult for most ponies to reach.  And, when the order is filled, which takes maybe three or four hours, Pinkie Pie, Ataahua, and my character are put in charge of delivering the order to Sweet Apple Acres, while Lyra, Topsy Turvy, and Weed Whacker remain at the bakery to continue baking loaves of bread and other pastries.

By the time the two ponies and the human arrive, it seems that Rarity is at that first mud-hole, hesitating to take her first step into the waterlogged soil.

The good news seems to be that no one else has shown up to the event just yet.

After the group of three makes their delivery, I have my character approach the while unicorn; and I ask, “So, Rarity, how are things going so far?”

The purple-haired unicorn moans apprehensively and says, “I don’t know if I can go through with this.”

I see Pinkie Pie approach, and hear her ask, “Well, don’t you and Fluttershy go to the spa and have mud baths as part of your time there?”

Still nervous, Rarity answers, “Well, yes.”

Conclusively, Pinkie Pie says, “So, you can think of this as just another mud bath.”

Rarity stares at the mud as she asks, “Well, what if it’s cold in there?”

At this point, I state, “Well, it’s warm out here.  Maybe the sun’ll warm up the mud.”

Again the white unicorn emits a worried moan before asking, “W-what if I step into the mud, and I immediately have to use the outhouse?”

Now, Ataahua answers, “Well, then you’ll be keeping the mud-hole muddy.”

The gray pegasa’s answer elicits groans of disgust from the other two ponies.

Then, Rarity asks, “Well, what if, while I’m in there, somepony else falls in besides Applejack? What if I get hurt?”

I answer, “A valid concern.  But, this is your chance to let your little sister know how much you want to be her big sister.  You and Applejack have been preparing for this, haven’t you?”

At this point, I notice, or so I’m guessing, Diane opens her wings to fly Pinkie Pie to the other side of the mud hole.

In the mean time, Rarity answers, “Well, yes, of course I do.  How could I not want her back after that picture she made with me and her?”

Now, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Rarity, if you’re that worried about being in the mud, then I’ll go in first.”  And, she puts her right front hoof into the mud.  Then, after a second or two, she says, “You know, the mud really isn’t that bad.  It’s actually kinda warm.”  She then pulls her hoof out again and, looking at her friend, says, “You try it now.”

Again Rarity moans apprehensively, then says, “Well, Pinkie, if you say so,” then takes steps to and into the mud.  She seems to prance a bit until she can get all four hooves into the mud.  Then, she says, looking at Pinkie Pie, then my character, “You know, you’re right.  The mud is quite nice.  It really isn't so—” Just then she emits something of a squeak; and I see her tail arch up, and hear the sound of a fountain of water.

From about where Pinkie Pie had been, I hear Ataahua, smiling, say, “There, you see?  Like I said, you’re keeping the mud moist.”

Rarity turns to the gray pegasa, and I can see her grimacing as she calls out, “Get me out, get me out, get me out!”

I have my character kneel on one knee, and I say, “I’m thinking it’s a little late for that now.  You’re going to have to get yourself fully submerged in there, and that’s going to have to include your tail.  And, it’s going to have to be in spite of the fact that you just wet yourself.”

Rarity looks at my character and gasps, then says, “Well, alright then.  But, I think I shall do more than 'wet myself' before the relay begins.”

I state, “Just remember why you’re in there, and you should be fine.”

Then, Pinkie Pie asks, “You didn’t eat anything before now, did you?”

As the white unicorn sinks into the mud so that all that can be seen of her is her tail and her head, she says, “I have eaten nothing for two or three hours.  Why do you ask?”

Pinkie Pie grimaces, then chuckles nervously and says, “Oh, nothing.”  Then, after another nervous chuckle, she waves her muddy front hoof to her friend and says, “Good luck, Rarity.”  And, Diane uses her wings to fly her over the mud hole again.

With the two ponies and the one human on the one side of the hole, Ataahua and I bid farewell to Rarity as well, then the group of three proceed out of Sweet Apple Acres, and back to Sugar Cube Corner.

When the three arrive, Pinkie Pie and Ataahua circle around to the alleyway where they can enter the kitchen directly, and my character enters through the front door.

As soon as my character steps through the door, I hear Mr. Cake say, “Usually deliveries don’t take that long, even to Sweet Apple Acres.  Were there any problems along the way?”

My character focuses on the orange earth stallion as he speaks.  Then, to answer his question, I say, “Nothing you need to worry about.  I just needed to provide some encouragement to one of the sisters.”

Mr. Cake smiles and says, “Well, knowing Pinkie Pie’s friends, I’m sure you were more than helpful.”

I smile back and say, “I hope so.”

It’s maybe an hour after that, of adding pastries to and removing them from shelves, before, as the last of the line of satisfied customers leaves, Mr. Cake approaches the window and turns the sign there around so that the side facing outward reads, “Closed.”  He then turns to my character and says, “We always attend the Sisterhooves Social, so we can watch Applejack and her sister Applebloom compete in that last race.  And, if we leave now, we can get there before the race starts.  So, for the rest of the day, we’re closing down.”  He then tilts his head as he asks, “Mormon, are you going to watch the race, too?”

I answer, “I’d welcome the opportunity to see what it’s all about.”

Then, from the kitchen, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “I usually go with the Cakes to see the race.  Do any of you want to come with?”

I then hear affirmative answers from Lyra, Weed Whacker, and Ataahua in turn.

After hearing them, I have my character turn to Topsy Turvy; and I ask, “Do you want to go with us?”

The pink earth mare looks up at my character and, with, I suppose, the best poker face that an Equestrian pony can muster, says, “I usually just went with Derpy, because she was my only friend.  But, now I have a lot more friends.”  She then smiles as she concludes, “So, I’d be happy to attend.”

I have my character focus on Mr. Cake, and I say, “Well, I guess it’s final then.  All of my friends are coming with to the Sisterhooves Social.”

In the mean time, I do notice that Mrs. Cake ascends the stairs, evidently to get the twins.

At the same time, Mr. Cake says, “Cup’ll go upstairs to get the twins.  When she comes back down, we’ll head over to Sweet Apple Acres.  We should make it just in time for the race.”

And, it’s just at the time when Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Weed Whacker, and Ataahua enter the front room from the kitchen.

Maybe a minute later, Mrs. Cake comes out of the room next to Pinkie Pie’s old room, foal carrier for two on her back with the two foals in it, one on each side, and descends the stairs, ready to head out.

As soon as the blue earth mare is safely past the bottom step, I hear Mr. Cake say, “Well, if we’re all ready, then let’s go.”  And, I hear the front door to the bakery open.

Mr. Cake and my character allow the mares and the herbivorous dinosaur to leave first, then Mr. Cake gestures for my character to leave ahead of him.  Once my character has done so, Mr. Cake follows close behind, then lingers long enough to close the door to the bakery.  Then, he leads the group out of town and on the way to Sweet Apple Acres.

When the group arrives, I notice stands set up on each side of the race track.  Evidently, between the delivery and my group arriving with the Cakes, the Apples must've been busy setting up the stands.

As the group of eight takes their places in the stands closest to the finish line, I notice that other ponies occupy other stands around the track, and around my character and friends.  And, the filly-mare pairs gather at the starting line.

Then, Mr. Cake notices something different, which he addresses immediately by asking, “Uh, why is Applejack pairin’ up with Rarity’s little sister?”

I know the answer, but I say instead, “It’s kind of a long story.  Suffice it to say it’s a sister thing.  Let’s just sit back and enjoy the race.”

I hear some uncertainty in Mr. Cake’s voice as he says, “Well, alright.”

Just then, I hear audio feedback, followed by Granny Smith shouting quietly, “Is this thing on?”

My character’s attention is drawn to the elderly earth mare, and I can’t help chuckling a little when I see that she’s been shouting into the large end of a funnel.  I can still hear her, though, as she leans over to Big MacIntosh and complains about it not working.  My guess is that the red earth stallion whispers to her that she’s been calling into the wrong end of it, which would make sense.  She then spins the thing around, calling it a “carn-fangled modern doohickey.”  Then, shouting into the small end, she says, “Now, this is what y’all been waitin’ fer, the Sister Soses, The Social Hooves, d’oh, dad-nabbit, you know, the big race!”

Whether it’s in the episode itself or this video game, I think Granny Smith’s little speech has to be the most entertaining thing about the event.

In the mean time, the elderly mare offers a brief description of the race, then says, “So, y’all head on out to the finish line, ye hear?”  And, it seems that Big MacIntosh informs her of a correction she needs to make, which she calls out, “The start line!  It’s what Ah sid.”

I have my character focus on the duo of Applejack and Sweetie Belle, and I can see Sweetie Belle say something to Applejack.  Although I can’t hear it in this game, from the animated series I know she’s saying, “That’s us.”

Then, I see Applebloom approach the unicorn filly and appear to threaten her, although I know she’s just reminding her friend that it’s just a one-day thing.

I hear, as my character is focused on the racers, Granny Smith call out, “On yer marks, git sit, d’oh!”  And, I don’t need to see it in the context of this video game to know that Granny Smith rocked her chair too close to the amplifier, and stuck her eye with it.

But, it’s enough to get the race started.

While the other racers leap over the mud hole, Sweetie Belle hops through it without sinking.

Applejack, evidently the last to get started and to get to the mud hole, stumbles into it.

Among the sympathetic cries from the audience, I hear Mr. Cake say, “Oh, that’s gonna cost ‘em some points.”

I’m sure I’m one of the few in the audience that knows that it’s Rarity, not Applejack, that emerges from the other side of the mud hole.  But, I still call out, “It’s alright!  You can still recover from it, Sweetie Belle, Applejack!”

And, it seems that my shout of encouragement is echoed by the other members of the audience in one form or another.

The next obstacle is hopping from one small, empty tub to another across five of them.  And, it seems that Berry Punch’s little sister can’t quite make it across that part of the course without tripping over one tub, sending it flying toward the audience.  Fortunately, it rolls harmlessly to the side of the stands.

In the mean time, Sweetie Belle and the mud-disguised Rarity have no such problems making it past those tubs.

Next is a stack of wooden boxes, which Sweetie Belle has a struggle with, but is helped by the mare she thinks is Applejack.

The fourth obstacle, the pies, proves to be no problem for the two sisters, who use literal leverage to toss their pies into the air, then catch them in their open mouths and swallow in one gulp, before heading off to the next obstacle.

Pushing a large bale of hay is another obstacle that proves to be no problem for the two sister unicorns to overcome, even without magic.

Next is the tub on stilts where Rarity tosses in the whole batch of grapes before tossing her sister in as well.

I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised to see how well the little unicorn filly does, prancing the grapes into juice, which drains into a jar, which Rarity picks up and carries to the stool, after which Sweetie Belle runs ahead, past a pile of apples on a table.

I’m even more surprised to see Rarity jump on the end of the table opposite the apples, sending them flying toward her little sister, who catches them in a tub, even using one of her hips to keep a stray from escaping.

The two even cooperate to get a single egg from inside the chicken coop into a basket using their snouts.

After that, it’s a mad dash to the finish, which they just bounce along until they’re overtaken by Berry Punch and her little sister.  From then on, at top speed, the two pairs of sisters gallop toward the finish line.  And, the only thing that stops Sweetie Belle and Rarity from crossing the finish line ahead of Berry Punch and her little sister, or at all for that matter, is that the two unicorn sisters jump and slide just a little too soon.

As the two earth pony sisters are awarded first prize ribbons and carried off, Applebloom approaches Sweetie Belle and her mud-disguised sister and says, “Oh, so close.  Y-you almost won.”

In the mean time, Sweetie Belle nuzzles her sister, still disguised in mud, and says, “Thank you, Applejack.  You’re amazing.  I don’t even care that we didn’t win.”  She then hops and grabs onto her sister’s neck in a hug as she continues, “This was so much fun!”  Then, she looks up to see that she knocked the mare’s hat off, revealing a white horn.  Emitting a puzzled squeak for a moment, she lets go of the one she thought was Applejack, then ambles behind her and rubs the mud from the mare’s left hip to reveal her cutie mark of three blue diamond shapes.  Turning to see the mare's head once again, she asks, uncertainly, “Rarity?”

The white unicorn, who’d had her eyes closed at the time, opens them again and shakes the mud off of her, completely revealing herself.

Her big sister finally revealed, Sweetie Belle pauses for a moment before asking, “Wait, where’s Applejack?”

And, that’s when the orange earth mare, as covered in mud as Rarity had been, emerges from the mud hole and gasps for breath for a moment.

Incredulous, Sweetie Belle says, “I don’t get it.”

Then, as Applejack proceeds to explain the situation to the white unicorn filly, I have my character turn to the orange earth stallion next to him; and I say, “I’m goin’ down to visit with Applejack, Rarity, and their little sisters.”

My character doesn’t wait for a response, but I still hear Mr. Cake say, “Go right ahead.”

I don’t think my character’s walk, even in the game’s time, is more than a few seconds.

Sweetie Belle, turning to see my character next to her, asks, “Mormon, did you know about this?”

I answer, “Well, as a matter of fact, I was there when Applejack told Rarity about her plan to get you and your big sister back together.”

The little white unicorn filly starts to tear up as she looks at each of the others and says, “You all … did this … for me?”

Rarity approaches her little sister and answers, “Us … I did it for us.”  Then, as Sweetie Belle nuzzles her, she adds, “You see, we are apple pie.”

Sweetie Belle, not understanding the metaphor, moves away from her big sister and grunts in uncertain curiosity.

In response, Rarity laughs nervously and says, “I’ll explain later.  For now, I think we deserve a celebration.”

At this point, I say, “Well, I’m happy to see that the two of you are back together.”  I then have my character focus on Applejack, and I add, “And, it looks like your plan worked out pretty well.”

The orange earth mare chuckles nervously as she responds, “Well, it helps when the two yer a-helpin’ wanna get back t’gether.”

I then set my character’s focus back to Rarity.

But, before I can say what I want to say, I hear Pinkie Pie call out, “So, let’s have a party!”

Rarity then emits a few more nervous chuckles before she says, “Well, as long as it’s a party for two.”

The pink party pony turns and ambles away from the group, evidently disappointed.

I have my character focus on and follow after Pinkie Pie.  When he catches up to her, I say, “Now, Pinkie, it’s alright.  I think they appreciate your sentiments, they just want to celebrate together, just the two of 'em.”

Since Pinkie’s looking ahead, I can only hear her say, “I know.  I just wanted to be part of their celebration, that’s all.”

By this point, all the pony spectators have cleared out of the stands.

Thinking about the race, I say, “You know, I wonder: do you think any of your sisters would take part in this race with you?”

Pinkie answers, “I don’t know.  Marble’s shy, and this race is too public for her.”  She then turns toward my character, and I can see her start to smile as she continues, “Limestone might join me in the race.  She’s been happy and pleasant since we were foals.  And, I’m sure Maud’d be happy to be part of the race, too.”  Then she frowns again as she concludes, “And, that’s the problem.  Three sisters, and I’d want to invite two, if not all, of ‘em to join me.”

I agree, “That would be a problem in a race that requires a team of no more than two.  And, as for me, well, it looks like this race is designed for ponies, not humans.”

Just then, from behind my character, I hear Berry Punch say, “Uh, Mormon, I’d like to have a word with you.”

My character stops and turns and focuses on the red-purple earth mare, and I ask, “Yes, Berry?”

I see her smile up at my character as she says, “I just wanted to thank you for helping me a few weeks back.”  She then glances down at her little sister, then looks back up at my character, then, tearing up, says, “If I needed any reason to avoid going back to that tavern, it’s my little sister.  I don’t ever wanna disappoint her.  So, thanks for helping me avoid getting into a bad habit.”

I reply, “I’m glad I could help.  And, congratulations on winning the race.”

Berry Punch nods and says, “Thanks again.”  She then turns and trots off, with her little sister keeping up with her.

I then hear Pinkie Pie ask, “So, what do we do now?”

My character focuses on the pink angel pony, showing me that she’s smiling now; and I answer, “I don’t have anything specifically scheduled right now.  Is there anything you wanna do?”

Pinkie looks up at the sky and says, “Well, it’s still early for the scripture reading.”  Then, looking at my character, at me, again, she says, “Maybe we could play with our pets for a while, just you and me.”

At that point, something comes to my mind; and I say, “You know, there is another possibility.”

The pink angel pony tilts her head and asks, “Yeah?  What’s that?”

I answer, “A few days ago, Ataahua volunteered to teach you a few more lessons on flight.”

Pinkie Pie straightens her head again and says, “Oh, that’s right.”

I ask, “Don’t you think you should give her that chance?”

The pink party pony hums in uncertainty, then tilts her head again and asks, “You mean right here, or back at your home?”

I begin my answer slowly, “For the things Ataahua wants to teach you, maybe the park would be the best place to go.”

At this point, from behind my character, I hear the voice of the gray pegasa as she asks, “Well, whether it’s at your home, in the park, or here at Sweet Apple Acres, what I wanna teach Pinkie Pie I could best start to teach her up in the clouds.  That way, she’d be least likely to get hurt.”

As I hear Ataahua’s voice, my character turns to her so I can see her while she speaks.  Then, when she’s done, I have my character turn back to Pinkie Pie; and I ask, “So, what do you think?”

The pink angel pony stops moving altogether, which evidently worries Ataahua.

My guess is Pinkamena and Diane are consulting with each other.

When the pink party pony starts talking again, she says, “Well, if it’s alright with you, Mormon, I’d like to go back to your house with you to have the lesson.  Then, when the lesson’s over, we can go back there, and we’ll know where to find you.”

I nod and say, “Well, in that case, you’ll need to get Lyra, Weed Whacker, and Topsy Turvy so we can head back that way.”

Then, from behind my character, I hear Lyra’s voice say, “No problem.  We’re right here.”

Automatically my character turns and focuses on the pale-green unicorn; and I can see that, indeed, she, Weed Whacker, and Topsy Turvy are there.

At about that time, I see Mr. Cake come into my character’s vision and say, “Well, in that case, you six go on ahead, and the rest of us will go back to Sugar Cube Corner.  We have some planning to do for tomorrow, as well as getting the twins back to bed.”

After hearing the orange stallion out, the group says their goodbyes; and the Cakes begin their journey back to Ponyville, back to Sugar Cube Corner.

My character and his group follows the family until they leave Sweet Apple Acres, at which point the Cakes turn toward Ponyville; and my character and his friends follow the trail around Ponyville and on into the Everfree forest.

After a half hour, the group arrives at my character’s house, where my character opens the front gate, allowing the ponies and dinosaur to enter ahead of him.  Then, after that, as soon as my character has followed the ponies and dinosaur through the front gate, he closes it behind him.

At that point, I have him focus on his audience; and I say, “Now, Ataahua is going to teach Pinkie Pie the first lesson she wants to teach her.  Do the rest of you want to stay out here and watch, or are there other things you’d rather do?”

As Ataahua and Pinkie Pie take their places next to each other, Weed Whacker, Topsy Turvy, and Lyra look at each other, evidently uncertain about how to respond.

Seeing their uncertainty, I add, “If you’d rather go back inside, or go pick fruits or vegetables or grains, or anything besides watching Pinkie Pie and Topsy Turvy, I won’t hold it against you.  I just want to know what you’d like to do.”

At this point, Lyra steps forward and, evidently eager, says, “Actually, I have some questions that maybe you could answer.  Do you think you could do that while Derpy’s teaching Pinkie Pie?”

I pause for about a second before answering, “Well, I’d be happy to answer your questions the best I can.”  I then have my character focus on Topsy Turvy and Weed Whacker, and I ask, “And, what about you two?”

Now, Topsy Turvy steps forward and says, “Well, if it’s all the same to you, I wanna stay out here and keep an eye on Derpy.  She’s my friend, after all, and I don’t want her to get hurt, or get Pinkie hurt.”

I restate, “So, you want to stay out here?”

The spiral-eyed mare nods and grunts in affirmation.

I then have my character focus on Weed Whacker, and I ask, “And, what about you?”

The herbivorous dinosaur looks around, then turns back to my character and says, “Well, I don’t have any questions that need answering, but I would like to keep a lookout for Derpy and Pinkie Pie.”

I state, “I guess that means you’re going to be sticking with Topsy Turvy, then?”

Smiling, Weed Whacker nods and says, “Sure.”

I say, “Well, in that case, while Weed Whacker and Topsy Turvy watch out for Pinkie and Ataahua, Ataahua can give Pinkie her first lesson; and Lyra and I will head out to the pond out back, so I can answer her questions.”

After cheers of agreement, Pinkie Pie and Ataahua fly off into the sky; Topsy Turvy and Weed Whacker settle down in the front yard to observe them; and Lyra follows my character to the pond.

Once the human and the unicorn arrive, Lyra settles into a sphinx-style position under a tree, while my character sits down next to her.

I have my character focus on the pale-green unicorn, and I ask, “So, what questions do you have for me?”

Lyra turns to my character and says, “I’ve been wondering about this Stockholm Syndrome you talked about last night, when you talked about how the Lamanite females that the priests of Noah had stolen and married, how they could willingly defend those priests that had abducted them.”

I ask, “Well, what would you like to know?”

Lyra answers by asking, “Well, do you have experience with that?”

I answer, “I must admit, I don’t.  I’ve never been in a hostage situation, neither as hostage, or as abductor.  At best, I’ve seen fictional stories of people in such a situation.”

The pale-green unicorn, at this point, tilts her head skeptically and says, “Your best is you’ve seen fictional stories.”  Then, after I grunt in affirmation, she asks, “So, how can you know anything about this Stockholm Syndrome, and how it affects people, if you’ve never had personal experience with it?”

I answer, “Like I said, I don’t know, not specifically.  But, being a human, I can at least theorize on how I might act in such a situation, and what might cause me to sympathize with possible captors, and even fight for them.”

Now, Lyra’s skepticism melts away and is replaced by curiosity as she asks, “So, what do you think would have to happen for you to sympathize with your captors?”

I answer, “Well, I’d have to find something in common with them, maybe an experience that at least one of them has had that parallels one of my own experiences.  I’m a returned missionary, and I’ve had a lot of good experiences as a missionary.  If I could find something good in one of my captors, then that might lead me to want to stay with them in order to see if I could find more good in them, maybe lead them to release me without the need for violence, or for further violence if there’s already been some.”

Lyra then asks, “Is that the same with all humans?”

I answer, “Considering it's called a syndrome, I'm thinking probably not.  In some cases, it could be a question of justice for the captors.  Shared experiences, perfectly or imperfectly paralleled, could lead to sympathy on the part of the hostages.  And, if the captors display a good side toward their hostages, who knows?  The hostages, as I theoretically might, could want to see more of that, search for more good in their captors, and seek out ways to save them.”

At this point, Lyra scratches the back of one ear with a rear hoof as she says, “I don’t understand.”

I ask, “Well, what about you?  What if you were in a hostage situation?  What do you think would have to happen in order for you to sympathize with your captors, and even fight for them?”

Lyra stops scratching and looks up at my character and answers, “Well, I don’t know.  I don’t think I even want to know.”

I pause for a moment, then say, “Well, let’s try a hypothetical situation.”

At this point, Lyra seems to get a little nervous as she says, “Uh, well, alright.”

I then say, “Let’s say your at the library, looking for a musical score.  And, there are other ponies in the room with you.”

The pale-green unicorn points at my character and asks, “Are you there with me?”

I answer, “No, but you’re not alone.”  Then, as I get an “Okay” from Lyra, I continue, “Then, the Royal Guard comes in, and you hear one of them telling Twilight that there’s a dangerous unicorn stallion on the loose there.”

Lyra says, “Well, in that case, I’d start backing away from the doorway.  I must be there in an adjacent room, if I can hear the royal guard talking to Twilight, and it has to be that room behind the main room.  Anyway, I wouldn’t want to impede the royal guard trying to capture a criminal, so I'd back away from that doorway.”

I continue, “Twilight agrees to the search, and the royal guard divide up and start looking through each room in the library.  Then, they enter the room with you and other ponies, including a unicorn stallion that’s on your opposite side from the royal guard pony.”

The pale-green unicorn says, “Well, since I don’t know which unicorn stallion is dangerous, the first thing I’d wanna do is move away from the one that’s so close to me.”

In order to try to ease her apparent fears, I have my character stroke the side of Lyra’s neck closest to him; and I say, “Now, remember, this is only hypothetical.  It isn’t really happening.”  Then, when I see her calm down, I continue, “The stallion you’re moving away from grabs you with his magic and keeps you between him and the royal guard.”  I see Lyra getting more nervous; but, to her credit, she isn’t jumping up and galloping away.  I continue, “He threatens to use you as a shield if the royal guard tries to attack, and to kill you if the royal guard doesn’t let him go.”

Lyra moans in fear before saying, “If the stallion’s keeping me from moving, then there’s really nothing I can do, except maybe beg for my life.”  She then rises to all fours again and says, “I don’t wanna do this anymore.”  And, with that, she turns toward the front yard and starts galloping in that direction.

I call out, “Now, it’s alright!”  Then, when the pale-green unicorn stops and turns to my character, I add, “Remember, it’s just a hypothetical situation.”

Presently, Lyra shakes her head and says, “No.”  She then stops shaking her head and continues, “I know what you’re trying to do.  I’ve never been a hostage, and I don’t ever wanna be a hostage, and I don’t wanna know what Stockholm Syndrome would be like for ponies, and especially not for me.  So, just leave me alone.”  And, again she turns and gallops toward the front yard.

I had hoped to put Lyra in a theoretical hostage situation to get an idea about how a pony, an Equestrian pony, might react to a captor that he or she could sympathize with.  Could I get her to the point that she would take sides with her captor?  I know enough about Lyra that I could give her such a captor, I’m sure.  And, that’s what I was working toward.  But, it looks like I’m going to have to wait and see if I can run the experiment at a later time.  Still, I got it started.

And, that’s what I think about as my character stands up again and starts making his way back to the front yard.

As my character approaches his house, I hear Lyra whimpering, and Weed Whacker talking to her.  Through my character’s eyes, I can’t see them, or Topsy Turvy, yet; neither can I make out what Weed Whacker is saying, since her voice is bouncing off of too many objects.  It isn’t until my character gets past a corner of the house when I see Lyra, Weed Whacker, and Topsy Turvy, and I hear the herbivorous dinosaur say, “… and, I think Mormon understands that you’re uncomfortable with the idea of sympathizing with one that captures you.  I know I understand.  But, at the same time, you were the one that asked about Stockholm Syndrome, and Mormon just wanted to know if you ponies are as capable of it as humans are.”

I don’t mean to, but at the same time I’m not surprised that I startle the pale-green unicorn when I say, “That’s right.”

After cutting short a scream of alarm and fear, Lyra turns and looks at my character, then says, “Uh, h-hi, Mormon.”

As soon as my character is close enough to her, I have him kneel on one knee next to her; then I say, “I wasn’t intending to make you feel uncomfortable.  I was just trying to answer your question.  And, I figured that the best way to do that was to see if I could set up a scenario that might allow you to sympathize with someone that might capture you.”

Lyra turns to face my character more directly, then props herself up on one of his legs, looks up at him, and says, “I know.  I just didn’t think that answering my question meant I’d be put in a situation like that, even a hypothetical one.”

I have my character start stroking Lyra’s mane, and I ask, “So, do you still want me to answer your question?”

For a moment I see the pale-green unicorn tremble, then sigh, then finally say, “I guess so.  Do you think you could do it without putting me in that kind of position?”

I answer by asking, “Well, I don’t know, can you think of another way?”

Lyra looks down for a second or two, then looks up at my character again and answers, “No, I guess not.”

I continue, “But, I’m guessing, from your response, that it is possible for a pony to sympathize with one that would capture him or her?”

Lyra emits a snort that almost sounds like a laugh, after which she says, “I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re probably right.  If a part of me didn’t believe that I could sympathize with somepony that was holding me hostage, then I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”  She then takes a step back, removing her forelimb from my character’s leg, then moves past him back toward the pond, and says, “Well, I guess I’m ready to get the rest of my answer now.”

As my character rises and follows the unicorn, I find I can’t help smiling.  Evidently, not only is Lyra willing to get her question fully answered, she’s also willing to get it one-on-one with me.

As the human and the unicorn head back to the pond, I hear Weed Whacker call out, “Get your answer willingly, Lyra!”

When the two are back at the pond, my character sits down under a nearby tree; and Lyra settles into a sphinx-style position in front of him.

The pale-green unicorn then says, “Now, I seem to remember you had me in a helpless position, under the control of a male unicorn who was using me as a shield against a royal guard pony.”  And, she shivers once.

I answer, “That sounds about right.”  Then, I continue, “Since the royal guard pony doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, he backs out of the room, then orders the others to back away and provide a way from that room in the library to the outside.”

Lyra says, “Since I still can’t do anything, I have no choice but to go with him.”

I continue, “The stallion, still holding you hostage and not trusting the guard, backs out slowly, through the front room of the library, then out the front door.  Then, once the two of you are outside, the stallion uses a teleportation spell that takes the two of you into an old, abandoned cave.  He takes you to a part of the cave that has a prison door at its opening, throws you inside, and closes the door so you can’t get out.”

Lyra shivers, then says, “My first instinct would be to use a teleportation spell of my own so I could get out of that cell, out of that cave.”

I continue, “The stallion seems to have taken precautions against that, as every teleportation spell you try to use either dissipates before you can use it, or causes you to teleport back into your cell.”

Lyra seems to have quite the active imagination, as, at this point, she doesn’t say anything, just starts whimpering.

I continue, “The stallion then says, ‘I’m sorry.  I can’t believe I had to take a hostage.  I guess they were right after all.  What was I thinking, believing that Lyra mare?  All her crazy talk about humans existing?  Look at where it’s gotten me.’”

Now, Lyra stops whimpering and rises to a canine-style position, then, tapping a front hoof on her chest, says, “Wait, I’m Lyra.  You mean you also believe that humans still exist?”

I continue, “The stallion turns and looks at you more closely, then looks away, closes his eyes, puts a front hoof between them, shakes his head, and says, 'Ugh, this is just perfect.  Not only do I have to take a hostage, the hostage I take just happens to be Lyra.  Can this get any worse?’  Then, he puts the hoof down again, opens his eyes, and starts ambling away.”

Now, Lyra holds out a front hoof and says, “Wait!  Humans do still exist, and I can prove it!  I live with a human!”

I can see that Lyra’s starting to sympathize with her imaginary captor, although she seems so deep in the role play that she doesn’t seem to realize it just yet.  I decide to continue, “The stallion turns back to you, then produces a key and uses it to open the door to your cell.  Then, once the door’s open, he tosses the key aside and says, ‘Go, get outta here.  You’re free to go.  Believing that humans exist isn’t worth it if I have to take somepony hostage in order to be free myself.’”

Now, Lyra rises to all fours and, pointing to the imaginary stallion, pleads, “No, you don’t understand.  You’re right.  Humans do exist!"  She then taps herself on the chest again as she continues, "I can show you the human I live with."  She then concludes by putting the hoof down and calling out, "You’re not alone in your belief!”

At this point, I decide to put an end to the lesson by saying, “There, you see?  In a very short time, not only are you sympathizing with your captor, you’re also willing to side with him.”

Lyra starts to snap out of the role play, and seems surprised as she says, “You’re right.  I was willing to join forces with that stallion.”

I ask, “What did he do to make you feel that way toward him?”

Lyra pauses for a second or two in thought, then says, “Well, first he said he agreed with me about humans existing.  Then, when he found out it was me he was holding hostage, he showed he was regretting it, he even opened the door to my cell and let me go.  He said it wasn’t worth believing in humans if it meant that somepony else had to lose their freedom so he could have his.  He showed that he wasn’t the dangerous pony the royal guard was saying he was.”  She pauses for another second or two to return to a canine-style position before pointing to my character and asking, “Do you think something like that could happen to you?”

As I watch Lyra put her front hoof down again, I find it’s now my turn to pause for a second or two in thought before I answer, “You know, it just might, and maybe even as fast as it happened to you, if not faster.  If the circumstances were just right; if I had a captor who was more shaky in his beliefs than I am in mine, but had similar ones; if that captor demonstrated remorse for holding me captive, enough that he or she would let me go free; then I might sympathize with him or her, I might even be willing to fight on his or her side.  It’s something to be aware of.  On the one hand, a captor may have a good side, and may feel that he or she has no choice but to take a hostage.  On the other hand, whoever it is is still infringing on another creature’s freedom in order to retain his or her own.”

At this point, the pale-green unicorn grunts with interest before asking, “So, is it wrong to side with somepony who’s not letting you have your freedom, even if he or she demonstrates a good side?”

I answer, “That’s a good question.  And, when I have a good, solid answer for you, I’ll share it with you.”

At first, Lyra seems to melt.  Then, she looks up at my character again and asks, “Do you think the scenario that you put me into was similar to the one the priests of Noah did to the Lamanite mares they stole?”

Again I pause for a moment to think about the story.  When I choose to speak again, I answer, “I’m sure there were commonalities among them besides them being the descendants of Lehi.  As is recorded in the chapter, Noah’s priests were too ashamed to go back to their families; and, if for no other reason than to satisfy their own urges, that was probably the best idea they could come up with.  Could the daughters of the Lamanites come to sympathize with them?  Maybe, maybe not.  Could they find enough in common, enough of a reason to sympathize with them, that they’d even fight for the ones that had stolen them?  Probably.  I couldn’t say for sure, since I wasn’t there at the time.  For all I know, there were other circumstances that made the daughters of the Lamanites sympathetic to the priests of Noah, if such was the case.  It may have been that, after abducting them at that pool, the priests treated those Lamanite women really well.”

Just then, I see, through my character’s eyes, Ataahua come in for a landing, followed by Pinkie Pie, just to the side of the house.  And, both look really good.

My character automatically stands up, and he and Lyra approach the pegasa and the angel pony.

And, as they do, Topsy Turvy and Weed Whacker approach from the front yard as well.

I ask, “So, Ataahua, how did it go?”

The gray pegasa turns to my character and says, “I think it went really good.  Pinkie learned really fast how to move around clouds, and I think she even enjoyed it.”

Pinkie Pie replies, “Oh, yeah!  It was so much fun!”

I state, “Well, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.”

Before I can say anything more, Lyra asks, “So, should we get to harvesting what we need for snacks for the reading?”

The other ponies and the dinosaur cheer in affirmation, then separate to the different areas.

My character follows Pinkie Pie into the orchard.  And, when the two get there and choose trees to harvest from, I hear Pinkie Pie, specifically Diane, ask, “So, what did you talk about with Lyra?”

I answer, “We discussed the Stockholm Syndrome, and how it could affect humans and ponies, how humans and ponies could be susceptible to it.”

My character chooses fruits from the peach tree he’s chosen as I hear a thud from behind him, followed by rustling and a few more thuds.

Then, I hear Diane say, “It is difficult for me to imagine a situation in which I would sympathize with somepony that would steal my freedom from me, even fight on the same side as that somepony.”

My character picks a few more peaches, then I have him turn to the pink angel pony, and I say, “I came up with the perfect circumstances that made Lyra sympathetic to a hypothetical captor.  I suppose I could do the same thing for you.”

As she gathers the fallen apples and puts them in her mane, Diane says, “You know us better than anypony else.  And, I know that you want what’s best for us.”  Then, circling the tree to collect a few more apples, she adds, “I may not be able to easily picture such a scenario, but that doesn’t mean I believe it’s impossible for me to be part of such a thing.  It could happen to me, it could happen to you, it could happen to anypony.  And, knowing and acknowledging that something could happen is the first step toward knowing what to do about it.  If you want to show me how it could happen to me, then I’d be willing to find out, so I could learn how to deal with such a situation.”

I find myself smiling as I say, “After dinner tonight, you could come to my room; and I’ll see if I can set up a hypothetical situation that’d give you an idea of what Stockholm Syndrome might be like for you.”

Diane, before turning control of Pinkie Pie over to Pinkamena, simply says, “Agreed.”  Then, after the pink angel pony’s mane and tail burst into curls, she proceeds to bounce to and over the fence, then toward the house.

My character follows close behind her, walking to the fence, then climbing over it.

The group of six meet at the house, where Pinkie uses the curl in her forehead to open the front door and allow the rest of the group to enter, then follows them inside, closing the front door behind her.

My character, in the mean time, leads the group to the kitchen door, where he opens it and holds it open for the rest of the five to enter, after which he follows them into the kitchen and closes the door behind him.

With the group of six in the kitchen, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Pinkie Pie join forces to make muffins using a few fruits that Lyra donates; and Lyra, Weed Whacker, and my character clean and prepare the rest of the fruits for the reading.

It’s happened so frequently now that I have to wonder if it hasn’t been planned that the other element bearers arrive and knock on the door just after the snacks have been prepared and placed on the snack tray.

Seeing that the snacks are ready, Pinkie Pie gallops out of the kitchen, stopping long enough to open the door, then gallops to the front door to greet guests.

In the mean time, the other three ponies join forces to take the tray out of the kitchen, through the front room, outside, and onto the front lawn, while my character retrieves the TV tray from his work room to support the snack tray above the lawn outside.

Surprising that I’ve forgotten that until now, and the trays have still managed to find their way back to their places inside the house.

At any rate, after providing the TV tray, then going back inside to close the open doors, my character goes back outside and takes his position in the circle.

And, I can only assume it's during this time that the alicorn sisters show up in the front yard and join the reading circle.

Before the reading begins, I have my character stand up; and I say, "Now, chapter twenty-four of the Book of Mosiah is twenty-five verses, and the twenty-fifth chapter is twenty-four verses.  So, I'm thinking that, since there are fourteen of us, and chapter twenty-four won't have enough verses for each of us to have read at least two by its end, we should also read chapter twenty-five."

Conversations around the circle immediately after my proposal seem to suggest that everyone agrees with it.

Finally, I hear Princess Celestia say, "I believe we're all in agreement on this."  As my character focuses on the daytime princess, she continues, "If you want those two chapters read, then let's go ahead and do that."

I nod and say, "Very well, then."  I then have my character sit down again and turn to my pink, spiral-eyed friend; and I ask, "Topsy Turvy, will you read the first verse of chapter twenty-four?"

The pink earth mare smiles as she nods, then looks down into her book, turns to the right page, then reads, "And it came to pass that Amulon did gain favor in the eyes of the king of the Lamanites; therefore, the king of the Lamanites granted unto him and his brethren that they should be appointed teachers over his people, yea, even over the people who were in the land of Shemlon, and in the land of Shilom, and in the land of Amulon."  She then looks up and says, "I guess that's no surprise.  If, as Mormon suggests, Amulon and the other priests of Noah had gotten their Lamanite wives to sympathize with them and argue for them; and if the Lamanites weren't willing to hurt other Lamanites, even those who were arguing for their enemies; then, depending on their arguments, the most obvious next step would've been for them to make those priests their own, and make them teachers and rulers of them, at least one step below their king."

By the time Topsy Turvy is finished reading the first verse, ponies and dragons alike have all turned to the right page.

The next is Weed Whacker, who reads, "For the Lamanites had taken possession of all these lands; therefore, the king of the Lamanites had appointed kings over all these lands."

Princess Luna then reads, "And now the name of the king of the Lamanites was Laman, being called after the name of his father; and therefore he was called king Laman.  And he was king over a numerous people."  She then looks up and says, "A bit obvious, I suppose.  But, after all, based on the records thus far, the Lamanites were a lazy people."

Princess Celestia reads, "And he appointed teachers of the brethren of Amulon in every land which was possessed by his people; and thus the language of Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And they were a people friendly one with another; nevertheless they knew not God; neither did the brethren of Amulon teach them anything concerning the Lord their God, neither the law of Moses; nor did they teach them the words of Abinadi;"  She then looks up and says, "I'm guessing that this 'people friendly one with another' was the Lamanites.  And, it fits in with what Mormon said about 'em."

Pinkie Pie reads, "But they taught them that they should keep their record, and that they might write one to another."  She then looks up and, after a grunt of interest, says, "I'm guessing that Laman and Lemuel and those with them hadn't bothered to teach their children to read or write.  And, now, Amulon and the other priests of Noah are teaching them those things.  This could either be a very good thing, or a very bad thing."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And thus the Lamanites began to increase in riches, and began to trade one with another and wax great, and began to be a cunning and a wise people, as to the wisdom of the world, yea, a very cunning people, delighting in all manner of wickedness and plunder, except it were among their own brethren."  Now, it's Twilight's turn to grunt with interest before saying, "I have to wonder, then.  The Lamanites must not have been entirely evil if they weren't attacking other Lamanites."

Spike reads, "And now it came to pass that Amulon began to exercise authority over Alma and his brethren, and began to persecute him, and cause that his children should persecute their children."

Rarity reads, "For Amulon knew Alma, that he had been one of the king’s priests, and that it was he that believed the words of Abinadi and was driven out before the king, and therefore he was wroth with him; for he was subject to king Laman, yet he exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put task-masters over them."

Applejack reads, "And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God."

Fluttershy reads, "And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death."  She then looks up and says, "Order everypony that prays to be killed?  This Amulon sounds even worse than the Lamanites."

At this point, I state, "That's often the way it is.  The more someone learns about how to do things right, if he or she turns against that, he or she knows that there's more that he or she can do wrong.  It's not unlike climbing.  The higher one climbs, the farther one can fall."

Lyra reads, "And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts."  She then looks up and says, "I'm guessing that means that they stopped praying aloud, and kept their prayers inside them.  And, just because their prayers weren't vocal, that didn't mean that they weren't heard."

Ataahua reads, "And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage."

I read, "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

At this point, I hear Ataahua ask, "Now, why did God just ease their burdens?  Couldn't He just take them and move them back into Nephite territory?"

As my character focuses on the gray pegasa, I answer, "I suppose He could, but that's not what he did.  You see, God isn't there to give us an easy life.  There are things we can learn from difficulties, helpful lessons we can gain from them.  And, you'll see soon enough how the people of Alma were benefited by this."

Presently, Topsy Turvy reads, "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."  She then looks up and, with a grunt of interest, says, "They submitted cheerfully.  Does that mean they were happy with their situation?"

My character turns to the pink earth mare, and I answer, "I don't know that they were necessarily happy with their situation.  Remember, they were in bondage.  I'm guessing that, if they were happy with anything, it was that God had answered their prayers with the blessing he had promised them."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."

Princess Luna reads, "And he said unto Alma: Thou shalt go before this people, and I will go with thee and deliver this people out of bondage."

Princess Celestia reads, "Now it came to pass that Alma and his people in the night-time gathered their flocks together, and also of their grain; yea, even all the night-time were they gathering their flocks together."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And in the morning the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yea, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep."  She then looks up and says, "You know, this kinda sounds like what Limhi had done before, except that Limhi got all the Lamanites drunk."

Then, Princess Celestia says, "And, there's one more thing."  As my character focuses on the daytime princess, she continues, "Mormon, you've mentioned before how God tests His people.  I'm guessing He was testing Alma and his people by allowing them to be taken prisoner and become slaves.  And, considering that they chose to rely on God, and, for all intents and purposes were happy in His service, they must've passed this test; and being free from bondage must've been their reward."

I nod to Princess Celestia and say, "I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And Alma and his people departed into the wilderness; and when they had traveled all day they pitched their tents in a valley, and they called the valley Alma, because he led their way in the wilderness."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Yea, and in the valley of Alma they poured out their thanks to God because he had been merciful unto them, and eased their burdens, and had delivered them out of bondage; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it were the Lord their God."

Spike reads, "And they gave thanks to God, yea, all their men and all their women and all their children that could speak lifted their voices in the praises of their God."

Rarity reads, "And now the Lord said unto Alma: Haste thee and get thou and this people out of this land, for the Lamanites have awakened and do pursue thee; therefore get thee out of this land, and I will stop the Lamanites in this valley that they come no further in pursuit of this people."  She then looks up and says, "There is a time and a place for everything, and within enemy boundaries is neither the time nor place for celebration.  Alma and his followers could celebrate once they were back in Nephite territory."

Applejack reads, "And it came to pass that they departed out of the valley, and took their journey into the wilderness."

Fluttershy reads, "And after they had been in the wilderness twelve days they arrived in the land of Zarahemla; and king Mosiah did also receive them with joy."  She then turns to Ataahua and says, "Well, Derpy, it looks like, for all intents and purposes, God did pick them up and put them back in Nephite territory.  They just needed to take and pass a test first."

Lyra then looks up and says, "I guess that means I get to start chapter twenty-five."  She then looks down and reads, "And now king Mosiah caused that all the people should be gathered together."

Ataahua reads, "Now there were not so many of the children of Nephi, or so many of those who were descendants of Nephi, as there were of the people of Zarahemla, who was a descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the wilderness."

I read, "And there were not so many of the people of Nephi and of the people of Zarahemla as there were of the Lamanites; yea, they were not half so numerous."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And now all the people of Nephi were assembled together, and also all the people of Zarahemla, and they were gathered together in two bodies."  She then looks up and says, "So, there were two groups: the people of Nephi, and the people of Zarahemla.  And, they were separate from each other."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that Mosiah did read, and caused to be read, the records of Zeniff to his people; yea, he read the records of the people of Zeniff, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until they returned again."

Princess Luna reads, "And he also read the account of Alma and his brethren, and all their afflictions, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time they returned again."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now, when Mosiah had made an end of reading the records, his people who tarried in the land were struck with wonder and amazement."

Rainbow Dash reads, "For they knew not what to think; for when they beheld those that had been delivered out of bondage they were filled with exceedingly great joy."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And again, when they thought of their brethren who had been slain by the Lamanites they were filled with sorrow, and even shed many tears of sorrow."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And again, when they thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God."

Spike reads, "And again, when they thought upon the Lamanites, who were their brethren, of their sinful and polluted state, they were filled with pain and anguish for the welfare of their souls."  He then looks up and says, "Sounds like it was quite the emotional roller-coaster ride.  No wonder they didn't know what to feel."

Rarity reads, "And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites."  She then looks up again and says, "Now, that's a bad situation, when your own foals don't want to acknowledge you as their parents.  Still, considering what their fathers had done, it's not all that surprising."

Applejack reads, "And now all the people of Zarahemla were numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom had been conferred upon none but those who were descendants of Nephi."

Fluttershy reads, "And now it came to pass that when Mosiah had made an end of speaking and reading to the people, he desired that Alma should also speak to the people."

Lyra reads, "And Alma did speak unto them, when they were assembled together in large bodies, and he went from one body to another, preaching unto the people repentance and faith on the Lord."

Ataahua reads, "And he did exhort the people of Limhi and his brethren, all those that had been delivered out of bondage, that they should remember that it was the Lord that did deliver them."

I read, "And it came to pass that after Alma had taught the people many things, and had made an end of speaking to them, that king Limhi was desirous that he might be baptized; and all his people were desirous that they might be baptized also."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Therefore, Alma did go forth into the water and did baptize them; yea, he did baptize them after the manner he did his brethren in the waters of Mormon; yea, and as many as he did baptize did belong to the church of God; and this because of their belief on the words of Alma."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that king Mosiah granted unto Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave him power to ordain priests and teachers over every church."

Princess Luna reads, "Now this was done because there were so many people that they could not all be governed by one teacher; neither could they all hear the word of God in one assembly;"  Then, after grunting with interest, she turns to my character and asks, "Mormon, is this usually the case?  Where you're from, are there so many humans that they need to be divided up like that, and taught in smaller groups?"

This is one question I'm not really sure how to answer.  In reality, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is large enough and sufficiently spread out that it's divided into wards and branches and stakes, with bishops and branch presidents to lead them, as well as a prophet to lead the entire church with authority and guidance from God.  In this game, though, my character comes from a distant land, where humans are slowly, but surely, recovering in numbers from Discord's attack so many years earlier.  But, there is similar leadership there.

Finally, I decide to say, "Well, it's taken us humans quite some time to recover; but there's still a lot more for us to do.  We do have leaders, religious leaders, where I come from; and we're organized much like this.  Will we ever get back to where we were before Discord's attack?  Maybe, maybe not, depending on how you'd chose to look at it.  If you want to look at us based on quality of life, based on what we were before Discord's attack that long ago, we're probably better now than we were then.  As far as quantity goes, we're still a small group; but quality comes first."

Princess Celestia reads, "Therefore they did assemble themselves together in different bodies, being called churches; every church having their priests and their teachers, and every priest preaching the word according as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And thus, notwithstanding there being many churches they were all one church, yea, even the church of God; for there was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And now there were seven churches in the land of Zarahemla.  And it came to pass that whosoever were desirous to take upon them the name of Christ, or of God, they did join the churches of God;"

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And they were called the people of God.  And the Lord did pour out his Spirit upon them, and they were blessed, and prospered in the land."

At this point, I have my character stand up; and I say, "And, let's call an end to the reading for now.  We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow.  But, in the mean time, thanks for coming to the reading; and, for those of you who are heading back to your homes, I hope you have a safe trip."

As I speak, the ponies and dragons stand up; and when I wish them a safe trip to their homes, they nod to me.  Then, Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Ataahua and Topsy Turvy gather on the front porch of my character’s house (Ataahua, Lyra, and Topsy Turvy carrying the trays), the two sister princesses wait just off of the porch; and Spike and the rest of the element bearers, aside from Pinkie Pie, gather at the front gate.

I start inputting instructions for my character to head to the gate to allow the ponies and dragon gathering there to exit; but then Pinkie Pie leaps from the front porch, gallops to the front gate, and opens it, then bids farewell to each of her friends as they exit.

Seeing that the pink angel pony has volunteered for the position, I decide to delete the instructions and have my character head to the front porch to wait for her to come back.  And, that doesn’t take much more than a minute.

When Pinkie Pie returns, Princess Celestia turns to the group and asks, “How many of you want to join Mormon and Topsy Turvy in Canterlot while Topsy Turvy takes care of her father?”

From the staggered shouts of “I’ll go,” it seems that the other four are willing.

The three ponies holding the trays even drop them on the porch to free themselves for the trip.

So, Princess Celestia smiles; and she and her sister close their eyes; and their horns start to glow and sparkle.

One frame later, the group of eight are in front of Discord’s statue, and Princess Luna then proceeds toward the castle to get Grounds Keeper.

In the mean time, Princess Celestia turns to my character and asks, “Will you follow me into the labyrinth?”

Knowing that it’s time for me to give the daytime princess my report, I say, “Yes, ma’am,” and instruct my character to follow her into the hedge maze.

Once the white alicorn and the human are far enough into the maze that they’re hidden from view of the rest of the group, Princess Celestia turns to my character and asks, “So, how have things been going with Pinkie Pie?”

I answer, “Pretty well, I think.  This afternoon, she got her first lesson from Ataahua, and it looks like she did really well with it.”

While I can’t see the daytime princess smile, I can hear it in her voice as she says, “That’s good to hear.”  She then asks, “And, what about Lyra?  What have you learned today about unicorns from her?”

I answer, “Well, if Lyra's any indication, they don’t like hostage situations, not even hypothetical ones.”

Now, I hear suspicion in the daytime alicorn’s voice as she slowly asks, “Hypothetical hostage situations?”

I continue, “You’ll remember, in last night’s scripture reading, the subject came up about Stockholm Syndrome; and how it might’ve played a role in the Lamanite women being willing advocates for the priests of Noah that had kidnapped them?”  Taking what sounds to me like a grunt of affirmation at its face value, I continue, “Well, I decided to try an experiment on Lyra, and I came up with a scenario where she might sympathize with a stallion that would take her hostage.”

I think I hear the suspicion in Princess Celestia’s voice deepen, and maybe turn to anger, as she asks, “And, what happened then?”

I answer, “Well, at first she ran off, saying that she didn’t want to know more about Stockholm Syndrome after all.  Then, I guess after talking to Weed Whacker and Topsy Turvy, she came back and decided it wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.  So, I went far enough through the scenario that I did get her sympathetic with her captor, even wanting to fight alongside him.”

I think I hear the daytime alicorn start to calm down as she asks, “You did end the scenario before Lyra actually started fighting, didn’t you?”

I answer, “Yes, I did.  And, now Lyra has a really good understanding of what Stockholm Syndrome is, at least the best I could give her.”

I hear a sigh from the white princess, followed by her saying, “I don’t like seeing or hearing about any of my little ponies scared, even if it’s for a good reason.  But, as long as Lyra has been unharmed from learning a worthwhile lesson from your example, I suppose it’s alright.  Just, be careful next time.”  She then pauses for a moment before asking, “Has anypony else taken an interest in having a Stockholm-syndrome scenario?”

I answer, “Pinkie Pie has.  And, I promised her one.  It’ll likely come after dinner this evening.”

Again I hear Princess Celestia sigh, then say, “What about Derpy?”

I answer, “No, she hasn’t shown any interest in such a scenario.”

For once, I hear the daytime princess chuckle before she says, “Well, that’s good to hear.  But I actually meant, have you learned anything new about pegasi from her?”

I answer, “Oh.  Well, no, not really, other than that Ataahua, anyway, was more than willing to give Pinkie Pie her first lesson in flight, something about moving around obstacles.”  I then ask, “Are all pegasi such willing teachers?”

I think I hear a smile in the daytime princess’s voice as she answers, “There are a few that aren’t confident in their ability to teach non-pegasi how to fly, there are even pegasi that don’t know how to fly.  You have been fortunate, you and Pinkie, to have found pegasi that were willing and eager to teach Pinkie how to fly.”  She then asks, “So, what have you been doing at Sugar Cube Corner lately?”

I think it curious that the daytime princess would ask me that question.  Still, I see no reason why I shouldn’t answer, “Actually, I’ve been relegated to putting pastries, evidently the more valuable ones, on upper shelves; and Topsy Turvy helps Mrs. Cake put pastries on the shelves that the two of them can reach.”

Princess Celestia says, “It sounds like you’re kept busy there.”  Then, after I offer a grunt of agreement, she asks, “Is there anything else you’d like to give a report on?”

At this point, the situation between Rarity and her little sister Sweetie Belle comes to mind; so I answer, “Well, yesterday, I became involved in a matter between Rarity and her little sister.  It seems that their parents headed off on vacation, and left Sweetie Belle with Rarity.  The two sisters didn’t get along very well, and even separated for a while.  It seems that every time Sweetie Belle tried to do something nice for her big sister, Rarity always found something wrong with it.  Then, later on, Rarity realized that things that her sister did worked out better than she’d expected.  And, things really came to a head when Rarity found her little sister’s picture which she’d drawn and lined in a valentine shape with rare gems.  After that, Rarity wanted to get back with her little sister; but Sweetie Belle wasn’t so willing.

“Well, today, based on a plan that Applejack came up with for them, Rarity went to hide in a puddle of mud, although she needed a little encouragement to get into that mud puddle.  I attended the race she was going to take part in later on; and, as planned, Applejack jumped into the mud puddle; and Rarity came out covered in mud.  Well, long story short, while they didn’t win the race, Rarity and Sweetie Belle did get back to being on good terms again.  So, things worked out for them.

“I’m guessing, by now, that you’ve already gotten a letter about the incident?”

I hear Princess Celestia answer, “I have, but it’s good to hear another point of view of it. Thanks for providing it.”  I then hear hoof-falls, as well as her voice saying, “Let’s go back to Discord’s statue.”

I wait for the hoof-falls to pass by my character before allowing him to follow the white princess out of the hedge maze.  Then, once outside the maze, the human and the white alicorn join the rest of the group watching Topsy Turvy take care of her father and sing.

After she’s done, and has wished that her father not be a statue for another thousand years, Grounds Keeper gathers up the cleaning supplies and takes them back to the castle, while the two princesses nod and close their eyes, and their horns start to glow and sparkle.

In the next frame, the group of eight are back on the front lawn of my character’s house.

The white princess then says, “We shall return to the castle now so I can document your report.”  And, with that, and before anyone can say anything more to her, she and her sister disappear.

I have my character lead the group to the front door, pick up the trays, and open the front door to allow the ponies and dinosaur to enter.  Then, once all are inside and my character has closed the door behind him, I have him take the TV tray back to the work room, while the three ponies that had been carrying the trays onto the porch take the snack tray to the kitchen.  By the time my character’s back in the front room, the ponies that were carrying the tray are just entering as well.

I ask, “So, shall we go out and gather food for dinner?”

Pinkie Pie’s as enthusiastic as ever with her affirmative answer; and, while the rest of the group don’t quite match Pinkie’s enthusiasm, they’re still clearly willing.

With the answer to that question evident, I have my character go and open the front door to allow the ponies and dinosaur to exit, then follow them out, and close the door behind him.

Weed Whacker, once she’s close enough, separates from the group to enter the vegetable garden; Lyra heads to the vineyard; Ataahua and Topsy Turvy head to the grain field; and Pinkie Pie and my character head to the orchard.

Once there, while Pinkie Pie, under the control of Diane, chooses a tree and bucks apples from it, my character chooses the nectarine tree to harvest fruits from.  And, by the time the human and the angel pony are ready to leave the orchard, each have harvested six of the fruits that they’ve chosen.  And, Pinkie Pie is back under Pinkamena’s control.

The human and the angel pony arrive back at the front porch, and have to wait for no more than a minute before the rest of the group arrives as well.  And, it’s Pinkie who opens the front door, using the curl in her forehead, and allows the other three ponies, as well as the dinosaur and the human, to enter, then follows them inside and closes the door behind her.

In the mean time, my character moves ahead of the group and opens the kitchen door for them, then waits for the ponies and dinosaur to enter, including Pinkie Pie, then follows them inside and closes the door behind him.

Once again, it’s a matter of Pinkie, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy preparing the oats, as well as a few fruits that Lyra donates, and making muffins from them, while the rest of the group prepares the remaining fruits and the vegetables to be eaten raw.  Then, once the meal is ready, my character carries it into the front room and sets it on the coffee table; and the group joins forces in eating the prepared meal.  And, once it’s eaten, and the remnants cleaned up; the group separates and heads to their rooms.

That is, almost everyone in the group.

I’m really not surprised when my character shows me, through his eyes, that while Lyra and Weed Whacker head to their room, Pinkie Pie follows my character into his.  She then trots over and hops onto his bed, then turns a hundred eighty degrees to face him, then settles into a sphinx-style position.  Then, Pinkamena passes control over to Diane, who she says, “Well, my sister and I are ready for that Stockholm Syndrome scenario you promised us.”

As I watch the pink angel pony’s mane uncurl and fall to one side of her head, I find myself having to gather my thoughts for a few seconds, during which time my character approaches her and kneels on one knee on Pinkie’s right side.  Knowing how much Diane cares for Pinkamena, her twin sister, I could give her a captor with a sibling in trouble, so she’d want to help her.  In fact, a situation like that seems like a really good one.  The only problem is the setup for the scenario.  Where should it begin?  Should I use a griffin?  A pegasus?  Maybe a rogue alicorn?  Considering how respected alicorns are among ponies, using a rogue alicorn in the scenario would likely be a bad idea.  Maybe a dragon?  Well, why not?  After all, the green dragon I met showed evidence of caring for the red one.  It just might work.

By the time I’ve come up with what I think would be the best scenario, my character has already gotten to the edge of the bed, and is kneeling just off of it on one knee next to Pinkie “Diane” Pie.

In fact, my guess is my character has been sitting in front of the pink, straight-haired angel pony for at least a minute, as I hear her say, “I’m ready for the scenario when you are.”

At that point, I decide to start with, “Well, let’s begin at Sugar Cube Corner.  We’re working at our assigned tasks, when we hear a loud thud outside, followed by a dragon’s roar.”

Presently, Pinkamena takes control of Pinkie and asks, “What’s a dragon doing in Ponyville?”

I continue, “A few more thuds that get louder and heavier suggest that the dragon’s heading toward Sugar Cube Corner.  Then, the bakery seems to implode as huge claws break through walls and windows.  Then, the building, except for the foundation, flies off, revealing a green dragon, who roars again, then reaches down and grabs you with the hand that isn’t holding the building.”

While I tell the story, Pinkie rises to a canine-style position and, wide-eyed, starts trembling and whimpering, and her ears fold back against her head.  When I’m finished, she asks, “Why?  Why would a dragon want me?”

I continue, “The dragon puts Sugar Cube Corner back on its foundation, although crooked, then flies off.”

Now, Pinkie Pie cries, “I’m so scared, I think I’m gonna wet myself!”

I continue, “A wet hand or arm doesn’t matter to the dragon, or at least it doesn’t seem to.  He continues flying until he reaches a cave.  As he marches into the cave, you happen to notice a nest made of gems, with maybe two or three dragon hatchlings inside it.”

Presently, Pinkie Pie stops trembling and whimpering and, instead, smiles and says, “Uh, maybe we should make this a female dragon.  I just can’t imagine a male dragon caring for young.”

I decide to agree with Pinkie, as I say, “Alright then, the he dragon’s a she.”

Still smiling, Pinkie points at my character with a front hoof and says, “Thank you.”  She then puts the hoof down under her again and goes back to trembling.  She cries out, “She wants to feed me to her ba-ha-ha-by-he-hes!”

At this point, I’m having all sorts of trouble keeping from laughing.  It takes me a few seconds before I can continue, “What you don’t see until the green dragon puts you down is that there’s another dragon, a blue one, apparently guarding the nest.  The blue dragon wakes up for a moment, looks at you, then apparently goes back to sleep.”

Now, Pinkie cries, “I’m gonna be killed by dragons with a sweet too-hoo-hoo-hooth!”

Pinkie Pie’s making it really difficult for me to keep from bursting into laughter right now.  Still, after a few more seconds, I continue, “The green dragon that brought you in points to the blue dragon and says, ‘This is my sister.  She needs to go out and feed, but she refuses to leave her nest and allow me to take over for her.  She hasn’t eaten for a while, and I worry that she may starve.”

Presently, Pinkie’s mane straightens and falls to one side of her head, indicating that Diane has just taken over.  Not only that, but one that doesn’t know Pinkie as well as I do might think, from the evidence that all emotion drains from her face while her mane and tail uncurl, that her curly mane and tail are the source of her emotions.

Diane says, “I would ask the green dragon, 'So, what do you want me to do about it?'”

I continue, “The green dragon answers, ‘I want you to convince my sister to leave her nest and let me guard her hatchlings, so she can get something to eat.’”

Diane says, “I would ask the green dragon, 'Does your sister not trust you with her hatchlings?'”

I continue, “The green dragon answers, ‘My sister trusts no one with her hatchlings.’”

Diane says, “I would ask the green dragon, 'Could you not bring her food?'”

I continue, “The green dragon answers, ‘Dragons gather food for themselves.  My sister knows better than I do what kind of gems she likes best.’”

Diane sighs, then says, “I need to have a better look at the blue dragon.”

I continue, “A look at the blue dragon shows you that most, if not all, of her ribs are visible, as well as several bones showing through her neck and tail.  Also, her wings are almost transparent.”

Diane says, “I would say to the blue dragon, ‘You are not healthy.  You must recover your health before you can care for your hatchlings.’”

I continue, “The blue dragon says, ‘My hatchlings are all that matter.’”

Diane says, “I would say to the blue dragon, ‘You cannot take care of your hatchlings if you are dead.  You need to get food.’”

I continue, “The blue dragon says, ‘I have obtained food, and given it to my hatchlings.’”

Diane says, “Your dedication to the next generation is commendable.  But, you need to take care of yourself as well.  Your sister can take care of your hatchlings after you are dead, but how will your hatchlings remember you?  Will they remember you?”  She then focuses on my character, on me, and says, “This is an effective scenario.  I feel an attachment to both dragons.”

I ask, “If at that moment, a rescue team were to approach the cave where those dragons are, how would you react?”

Diane pauses for a moment before answering, “I would want to stay either until I've convinced the blue dragon to find food for herself, until I’ve convinced the green dragon to find food for her, or until the blue dragon dies.”

I ask, “And, if the team were insistent on rescuing you?”

Diane very vehemently answers, “I would still want to stay.  I would fight to stay until I no longer needed to.”  She then sighs and says, “I would have that Stockhlm Syndrome then.  Thank you for the scenario.”

As Diane returns control of Pinkie to Pinkamena, as indicated by Pinkie's mane and tail curling again, my character rises from his kneeling position and walks to the door; and I say, “There are times when the best way to get around a situation is to go through it.”

Pinkie jumps off of my character’s bed and trots toward the door.  But, as my character opens it, she stops and asks, “What about the blue dragon?  Could Diane have convinced her to leave her nest to her sister and find food for herself?”

I answer, “That’s a good question.  What do you think?”

Pinkie rubs her chin with a front hoof as she hums in thought before saying, “Her ribs and bones were visible through her skin, and her wings were almost transparent.  It sounds like she was really close to dying.  If my sister’d been able to convince the blue dragon before she died, she might just die before even getting out of the cave.  But, Diane probably would have bought our freedom that way.”

I say, “Well, if that’s all, then it’s time for you to be going back to your room.”

Pinkie smiles and says, “You’re right, Mormy.  See you tomorrow.”  And, with that, she trots out the door, then waits for my character to close it again.  And, from what I hear of her hoof-falls, she trots to her room.

After that, my character goes to bed and to sleep.

As I save and close the game, I’m left thinking about the possible scenarios where I might be susceptible to Stockholm Syndrome.  While I hope I never get into a hostage situation, I can’t ignore the possibility that, if I ever do become a hostage, under the right circumstances, I could also sympathize with my captor or captors, and even end up fighting on his, her, or their side.  But, now is not the time to worry about that.  For now, I save the game and close it until the next time I have time to play.

Chapter 6: Bowling Strike-out

As I resume the game this time, I find my character once again waking up on his own.  In fact, it isn’t until he gets out of his bed that I hear Pinkie call out, “Mormon, are you awake yet?”

I answer back, “I just woke up!”

Pinkie Pie says, “Well, as soon as you’re ready, meet me out in the orchard; and we’ll get to harvesting fruits.  Everypony else is either out in the vineyard, the vegetable garden, or the grain field.  I know it doesn’t take long to pick fruits; so, while we may be behind everypony else, we should meet on the front porch at the same time if we leave now.”

I have my character head to his bedroom door to open it, and I reply, “I’ll be there shortly.”  And, as my character gets to the door and opens it, I hear my pink angel pony friend moan as though she’s losing her balance, followed by a light thud.  After that, I’m not surprised when my character opens his door and steps into the hallway to see Pinkie Pie roll onto her front, get back up on all fours, then turn a hundred eighty degrees to face him.

The pink angel pony smiles up at him, at me, and says, “So, let’s get going.”  And, she proceeds toward the kitchen, where she waits for my character at the door.

As soon as he makes it to her, she opens the door and trots through it, then, I assume, heads for the front door.

My character, after passing through the kitchen door, closes it behind him, then turns to the front door to show me, through his eyes, that Pinkie Pie is already there.  Then, when he reaches her again, she opens the front door and proceeds to gallop through it, leaving my character to close it as soon as he’s also through it.

In the orchard, I have my character choose the apricot tree to harvest fruits from.

My main indication that Diane has taken over Pinkie Pie is hearing the pink angel pony’s voice, devoid of emotion, say, “Please choose seven apricots.  Then, you can donate one to Ataahua for her muffins.”

I’ve had fruit-flavored muffins before, but none that had apricots or apricot filling in them.  But, something about muffins containing apricot appeals to me; so, I have my character follow Diane’s advice, and harvest an extra apricot to donate to the gray pegasa for her muffins.

In the mean time, Pinkie “Diane” Pie chooses an apple tree and bucks it, causing six apples to fall from it.

Of course, since my character’s attention is focused on harvesting apricots, my only indication is a loud thud, followed by rustling and a few more, quieter thuds.  And, by the time he’s finished and returns his attention to the pink angel pony, Pinkamena is back in control, with the six apples hanging from her mane.

She leads my character, bouncing over the fence and back to the front porch.

And, I’m not surprised to see, when the human and the angel pony get there, that the other three ponies and the dinosaur are back on the front porch as well, each with their harvest.

It’s Lyra who, with her magic, opens the front door, then holds it open for the rest of the group to enter.

Then, once my character is past the front door, he moves ahead of the group to the kitchen door, which he opens, then holds open for the rest of the group to enter, then follows them in, closing the door behind him and Lyra.

With the six in the kitchen, it’s pretty much business as usual.

My character donates the extra apricot to Ataahua for her muffins, and Lyra donates a few grapes for the same purpose.  Then, while Ataahua, Pinkie Pie, and Topsy Turvy make the muffins; my character, Lyra, and Weed Whacker clean the rest of the fruits and the vegetables and prepare them to be eaten raw.

Then, when breakfast is ready, my character carries the tray with the prepared food into the front room, where the group gathers on the couches around the coffee table, and joins together in eating the prepared meal.  Then, when they have eaten all they can, they join in cleaning up the remnants, then proceed out the front door, to and through the front gate, and on into and through the Everfree forest and on into Ponyville.

En route to Sugar Cube Corner, I’m sure I hear Applebloom’s voice saying something about bowling.

Evidently Pinkie Pie hears it too, as she turns to my character, to me, and says, “Let’s get to Sugar Cube Corner as soon as possible.”  And, she points herself in the direction of the bakery and gallops as fast as she can in that direction.

I can understand why.  After all, this is the first day based on the episode, “The Cutie Pox.”  The Cutie Mark Crusaders plan on trying to get their cutie marks in bowling.  But, it’s Applebloom that’s going to get her ball to even touch one of the pins.  Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are going to try to cheer her up in different ways, including a cupcake at the bakery.  And Pinkie will also try and fail to cheer up the little yellow earth filly.  But, that’s yet to come.  Right now, the group races to keep up with Pinkie Pie to get to the bakery.

Once the group arrives, Pinkie enters through the front door, then gallops up the stairs, to the end of the indoor balcony, and, or so I assume, into her party room up the stairs.

In the mean time, Lyra, Ataahua, and Weed Whacker take their positions in the kitchen, while Topsy Turvy and my character take their positions in the front room.

A few minutes later, Pinkie Pie, sweating but smiling, emerges from the door.  She trots along the caged hall to the stairs, descends them, then trots into the kitchen.

It’s about the time that Topsy Turvy helps Mrs. Cake put a few fresh loaves of bread on the mid-lower shelves that the Crusaders come in talking about how their latest attempt to get their cutie marks was a failure.

Applebloom proceeds to amble up to the counter, then rest her head on top of it.

Sweetie Belle requests a cupcake from Mr. Cake.  Then, when she gets it, she pushes it in front of the evidently depressed yellow earth filly and says it’ll cheer her up.

But, Applebloom pushes it away and says, “No, it won’t.”

At this point, I have my character sit on the floor next to her; and I ask, "Would you like to talk about it?”  While I already know what her problem is, I still figure it’s best if she identifies her problem first.

Applebloom looks up at my character, sighs, then looks back down at the cupcake she pushed away and grumbles, “No, Ah don’t.”

It’s Scootaloo that says, “Aw, come on now, Applebloom.  You did the best out of all of us.”

Sweetie Belle confirms, “Yeah.  At least you didn’t gutter your ball.”

Applebloom groans, “Yeah, Ah didn’t knock down no pins, neither.”

At this point, I ask, “So, what happened?”

Sweetie Belle looks up at my character and answers, “Well, we went over to the bowling alley to see if we could get our cutie marks in bowling.  But, things didn’t go according to plan.  My ball always went in the gutter.”

Scootaloo turns to her unicorn friend, snorts, then says, “Yeah, at least yours guttered in our lane.”  She then turns to my character and adds, “I bucked my ball, and I guttered it, five lanes over.”

I can’t help chuckling to myself about that.  While I saw what happened in the episode, it’s actually more entertaining to hear these three fillies talk about it.

Then, Applebloom looks up at my character and says, “Well, Ah tried holding the ball in my mouth.  Then, on my way to the lane, Ah tripped and fell.  Ah heard a ball hit some pins and knock ‘em over, and Ah thought it was my ball, 'n' that Ah'd a-gotten my cutie mark.  But, Ah didn’t.  Instead, it was the colt in the lane next to ours who got his.  All Ah was able to do was git my ball up to the first pin.  It tapped it, then bounced off.”

I can’t deny, at this point, that what Applebloom said, not to mention what I remember from the scene in the episode, reminds me of a movie.  So, I decide to adapt the line it reminds me of as I say, “Well, you can look at it this way.  If the objective of bowling was to get the ball as close to the first pin as possible without knocking any of them over, you’d be the grand champion.”

All that does is cause the little yellow earth filly to glare up at my character and pound a front hoof on the counter as she says, “But, that ain’t the objective, is it?”

As Applebloom turns back to the counter, I decide not to say anymore.

And, that’s when Pinkie Pie trots in and asks, “Is everything alright in here?”

My character focuses on the pink angel pony, and I answer, “Applebloom’s upset because her last attempt to get a cutie mark didn’t go very well.”

Then, Applebloom once again draws my character’s attention to her as she growls out, “It failed!  Ah tried to git a cutie mark in bowlin’, ’n’ it failed!”  She then drops her head back down on the counter and whines, “Ah’m never gonna git a cutie mark, never!  Ah’m a’gonna be a blank flank ferever.”

I suppose I could mention to Applebloom how poetically she just rhymed, but I figure I’m in enough trouble with her right now.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie says, “Hey, I know what’ll turn that frown of yours upside down!”  And, she grabs the little yellow earth filly under her forelimbs and flies her up to her party room.  She sets Applebloom down just long enough to open the door, then grabs her again and flies her up the stairs.

As Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gallop to catch up to the pink angel pony, I decide that my character should remain downstairs and keep following his assignment.  I already know how Pinkie Pie’s going to try to cheer up Applebloom, and I also know it won’t work.  Still, it’s worth trying at least once.

Maybe twenty or so game minutes later, the Crusaders, lead by a still-depressed Applebloom and followed by a distraught Pinkie Pie, exit through the door to Pinkie’s party room, head along the balcony and down the stairs; and the Crusaders go to and out the bakery’s front door.

Pinkie Pie, who has stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looks up at my character and says, “I don’t understand.  This is the second time one of my parties has failed to cheer up somepony.”

I state, “Yeah, when someone’s determined to be in a bad mood, there’s not much that can be done about it.”

The pink angel pony sighs, then asks, “Do you think anypony can cheer her up?”

I answer, “Probably not a pony, and evidently not a human.  This is probably a job best suited to a zebra.”

Pinkie Pie nods to my character, to me, and says, “I hope Zecora can help her.”  Then, she shakes herself out and, with a determined tone to her voice, says, “I need to get back to work.  If I couldn’t cheer up Applebloom, I just need to get better at my parties.”  And, with that, she marches back into the kitchen.

Perhaps an hour or so later, Mr. Cake calls break time; and my character and his friends gather just outside the front door for a snack.

I’m not all that surprised to see that Pinkie Pie has a salad ready for Weed Whacker and flower sandwiches for herself and the other ponies.  I am surprised, though, when the pink angel pony has a cheese-filled, folded-over tortilla ready for my character.

I offer Pinkie Pie my thanks as my character receives the snack from her.

Then, as my character takes his first bite of the cheese-filled snack, I hear Twilight, behind my character, innocently ask, “Mormon, what is that?”

My character turns his head to show me the purple unicorn curiously pointing with a front hoof at the snack he’s holding.

I answer, “It’s a quesadilla.”  I then have my character offer it to her, and I ask, “Would you like a bite?”  Now, having seen all five seasons of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, I know that Twilight Sparkle is afraid of quesadillas.  I even have a back story to go with it.  But, I see no reason to let those around me know that.

Also, my intention is not to torture the purple unicorn.  In the cannon of the cartoon, there's no given indication of Twilight being afraid of quesadillas.  Of course, there's no scene where she comes in contact with a quesadilla.  Spike did in a previous episode, but not Twilight.  So, what better time than now to bring up that issue?

Still, it's really not a surprise to me when Twilight responds by shrieking, then backing away from my character and whimpering, “Keep that thing away from me!”  After that, she turns and gallops away.

After a few seconds, I hear Pinkie Pie ask, “What was that all about?”

I keep my character from taking another bite of his snack long enough for me to shrug and answer, “I guess she doesn’t like quesadillas.”

Pinkie Pie eats her sandwich in one mouthful before saying, “I’ve seen ponies not like things before, and they’ve never acted that way.  Maybe I should go and see if she’s alright, see if I can find out why she hates quesadillas so much.”  And, before anyone can stop her, she bounces off toward the library.

As my character takes another bite of his quesadilla, I hear Lyra say, “Well?”

My character focuses on the pale-green unicorn, and I ask, “Well, what?”  And, it’s then that I notice that she’s glaring at my character.

Lyra asks, “Well, aren’t you gonna go with Pinkie?”

Pinkie had given my character the quesadilla, and no plate or anything like that to put it on; and I’m not about to have my character put an item of food on the ground.  I answer, “When I’m finished eating, I’ll go after her.  She’s headed to the library, right?”

The pale-green unicorn growls before saying, “You really had no idea that Twilight hates quesadillas?”

I answer, “I didn’t think she was that scared of them.  And besides, it was Pinkie Pie who gave me the quesadilla.”

Sitting more human-style, Lyra holds her sandwich, or what’s left of it, in one front hoof while she closes her eyes and plants the other front hoof between them, then shakes her head.  A second later, she removes the front hoof from between her eyes, stops shaking her head, sighs, and says, “Look, none of her friends knows why she’s so afraid of quesadillas.  All we know, all we’ve known from the first day we met her, is it’s not a good idea to offer her one, because she always shrieks and gallops away from it.”

I pause for a moment before I say, “I’ll remember that from now on.  If I ever have another quesadilla, I won’t offer it to Twilight.”

Lyra and the others present talk about other things while the group finishes their snacks, after which they rise; and Lyra turns to my character and says, “Let’s head over to the library.  We can see if Pinkie Pie’s still talking to Twilight, and maybe the rest of us can talk with her.”

Then, from behind my character, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “No need.  I just got back.  Twilight’s just fine now.”

My character turns to her, and I ask, “So, did she say anything about why she’s afraid of quesadillas?”

The pink angel pony, still looking up at my character, at me, answers, “Mormon, maybe it’s best if the two of us talk about it in my room upstairs.”

I hear Lyra ask, “Well, what about me?  I’m one of Twilight’s friends.”

Pinkie Pie looks down and snorts out a sigh, then looks up at the pale-green unicorn and the human and says, “Alright, but just the three of us.  Weed Whacker, Topsy Turvy, and Derpy can wait outside, or just in the front room, either way as long as it's just the three of us.”  She then nudges the front door open with her snout.

The angel pony, the unicorn, and the human, in that order, make their way through the front room of the bakery, up the stairs, and in through the first door at the top.

Once inside, I click on the room and say, “Soundproof on.”

Pinkie Pie turns to my character and says, “Thanks, Mormon.”  She then sits down canine-style and says, “I went over to the library with Twilight to let her know I was sorry about what had happened.  And, that's when she told me why she’s so scared of quesadillas.”

It’s Lyra who asks, “So, what is it?”

Pinkie answers, “When she was a foal, Twilight was poisoned when she ate some moldy cheese.  Ever since then, she’s been afraid of everything that even looks like cheese.  She figures she can eat things with cheese in them, as long as she doesn’t notice the cheese.”  The pink angel pony then looks up at my character, and I see her ears droop as she adds, “I guess the cheese in the quesadilla was too obvious for her.”  And, she looks down again.

I have my character reach out a hand to stroke the pink angel pony's mane, and I state, “It wasn’t a bad idea for you to serve me the quesadilla.  I did appreciate it.  It was good.  I guess neither of us were expecting Twilight to react to it the way she did.  It’s a good thing to remember, the next time we have quesadillas.”

Pinkie Pie looks up at my character and starts to smile, but still sniffles and rubs at her nose with a front hoof.

Then, Lyra says, “I had no idea.  No wonder she’s so scared of quesadillas.  I suppose they can have other ingredients in them, but a quesadilla is basically just a tortilla shell, folded over, with a lot of melted cheese in it.”

When Lyra’s finished speaking, I ask, “Pinkie Pie, are you alright?”

The pink angel pony whimpers, “I guess so.”  And, again she sniffles.

At this point, I have my character open his arms to the pink angel pony; and I say, “Come here.”

Pinkie Pie nods a couple times, then jumps in to my character’s open arms and starts sobbing quietly.

At this point, I say, “Now, it wasn’t your fault.  Remember what I said about the quesadilla you served me?  We just learned something new about Twilight Sparkle, that’s all.”

One frame after I finish talking, or so it seems, Lyra joins in the hug, placing herself, somehow, in one of my character’s arms so that the two ponies and the human are sharing a group hug.

After a few seconds, the three separate; Pinkie Pie and Lyra approach the door; Pinkie Pie opens it; and I click on the room and say, “Soundproof off.”  Then, the three exit the room.

As the angel pony, the unicorn, and the human descend the staircase, an excited Mr. Cake, marching rapidly in place, says, looking quickly from the three to the front door and back, “You’ve gotta come see this.  Applebloom’s just come into town, and she’s got two cutie marks.”

I know what that means, and I know what Applebloom did to get those cutie marks.  And, I find myself unable to avoid thinking out loud, “I’m guessing one of the marks is for loopty-hooping, and the other is for balancing plates on sticks?”

Mr. Cake answers, “I haven’t seen the cutie marks for myself, but what she’s doin’ right now seems to point to that being the case.”

Lyra moves ahead of Pinkie Pie and follows Mr. Cake outside, but Pinkie Pie stays put next to my character.  She turns to him and, focusing on me through him, asks, “You know what’s going on, don’t you, Mormon?”

I answer, “Yes, I know.”

Pinkie Pie continues, “And, you know how to solve this problem, right?”

I answer, “I know that, if she doesn’t have it already, Zecora will have the solution; and we’ll have to wait until tomorrow for her to use it.”

Pinkie Pie looks down and sighs, then looks up at my character again, at me, and asks, “So, what do we do in the mean time?”

I pause for a moment before answering, “Well, there’s really nothing much we can do for right now.  We have our roles to play, and we'll have to follow those roles until then.”

Just then, I hear Mrs. Cake from the kitchen ask, “Pinkie Pie, will you come here for a moment?”

Pinkie starts for a moment before turning to the kitchen and calling out, “Coming, Mrs. Cake!”  She then turns to my character and asks, “So, will you come with me before going outside to watch Applebloom?”

I pause for a moment in thought before I say, “Sure, why not.”  And, accepting that as instructions, my character follows the pink angel pony into the Cakes’ kitchen.

There, a worried-looking Mrs. Cake turns to the curious angel pony and asks, “Pinkie, do you know what happened to these corn cakes?  We seem to be short half a dozen.”

I’m unable to see Pinkie Pie’s face; but I can see, through my character’s eyes, the pink angel pony shrug, and the ends of her wings twitch alternately, as she says, “Beats me.  I only had one.  And it was really good, too.”

Mrs. Cake looks at Pinkie Pie for a few seconds, then sighs and says, “Well, if we can’t find the other five corn cakes, then we’re gonna have to make six replacements.  In the mean time, let’s go out and see what Applebloom’s doin’.”  And, with that, she makes her way to and through the back door.

When Mrs. Cake closes the back door behind her, I have my character kneel down and put a hand on Pinkie Pie’s back, causing her to start once again.  Then, when she turns to my character, I say, “Now, we both know that you ate all six of those missing corn cakes.”

The pink angel pony looks down, and her ears droop, as she says, “Yeah, you’re right.”  She then looks up again and says, “They were just so good, and I couldn’t help myself.  I only meant to eat one.  I probably would’ve eaten all of ‘em if nopony else had been there.”

I state, “You know you’re gonna have to tell Mrs. Cake about it.”

Pinkie Pie responds, “Yeah, I know.  And then, I’ll have to make six more cakes to replace the ones I ate.”

I ask, “Do you think you can keep from eating them this time?”

Pinkie answers, “I can make the batter for 'em, and pour ‘em into the pans, and put 'em in the oven.  But, I’m gonna need somepony else to take ‘em out again.  They were just smellin’ so good, …”

I watch the pink angel pony trail off, then I smile as I say, “I understand.  When food comes out of the oven smelling good, it’s hard to avoid eating it.”

The pink angel pony smiles up at my character again, then frowns and looks down again and asks, “Do you think this means I’m gonna lose my wings?”

I answer, “I doubt it.  As long as you tell Mrs. Cake what you did, and Pinkie promise you won’t do it again, you should be fine.”  I don’t mention her having to keep the Pinkie promise, because I know how important those promises are to her; and besides, this is one of those I’m sure she’ll be able to keep.

Pinkie sighs, then says, “Well, let’s go out and see what Applebloom’s doin’.”

I only nod in agreement before my character follows the pink angel pony back into the front room and out the front door.

Once outside, Pinkie Pie trots on ahead in search of the little yellow earth filly, only to find her coming up behind her.  And, I have to wonder if it’s Diane that causes Pinkie to collapse and allow Applebloom to jump over and ahead of her on the metal hula hoop.

I must admit, it is rather fun to watch, as much in the episode as in this video game.  And, I also know that the two marks that Applebloom has right now are the only ones she’ll get until tomorrow.

In the mean time, after hopping over Pinkie Pie, Applebloom rides on the hoof past her siblings and grandmother, although she pauses long enough to spin the hoop around the necks of herself and Granny Smith.

Then, Applejack whistles through her front hoof, then kicks a table with a stack of plates and a pie in its tin, causing the plates and pie to fly into the air.

Applebloom catches the plates on her hooves and the cake on her back, then tosses them into the air again and tosses the hoop with them.

In the air, the hoop cuts the pie into eighths, which then land on plates on two picnic tables, four on one table, and four on the other.

Somehow, I’m not surprised to see Pinkie Pie occupy a spot at the first table where a piece of pie has landed on a plate.  And, not just because I’ve seen it in the episode and faithfully duplicated the animation in this game.  But, she still enjoys the piece of pie while watching the little yellow earth filly enjoy the attention she’s getting.

At any rate, after the pie is eaten, the four Apples make their way out of town, with Applebloom still twirling the hoop with her tail and balancing two plates on sticks on her nose, out of town and back to Sweet Apple Acres.

In the mean time, as ponies clean up after the impromptu party, my character and his friends return to Sugar Cube Corner so that Pinkie Pie can hopefully inform the Cakes of what she’d done and get to work on replacing the corn cakes.

Well, as it turns out, the Cakes are so occupied with other things that they apparently don’t have time to hear Pinkie’s confession, although they still allow her to make six more corn cakes to replace the six that have come up missing.

After that, it’s just a matter of another game hour before the Cakes close up Sugar Cube Corner for the rest of the day, allowing my character and his friends to make their way out of town, to and through the Everfree forest, and back to my character’s house.

Once the group gets there, Pinkie Pie asks me if she and I can have a meeting in my room.

I agree, then lead the pink angel pony to and into my character’s bedroom.

Once both are inside and my character closes the door behind him, Pinkie Pie ambles to my character’s bed and hops up onto it, then circles around a hundred eighty degrees, then settles into a sphinx-style position with her front hooves hanging over the edge.

As my character approaches her, the pink angel pony sighs and says, “I wish I could’ve gotten a chance to tell the Cakes about eating those six corn cakes.  It’s not as bad as when I killed Gilda and had to tell others about it, but it still doesn’t feel good.”

I reply, “Yeah, doing bad things isn’t intended to feel good, and the only way it’ll lead to good consequences is when the one that did the bad thing confesses, makes corrections, and stops doing the bad thing or things, and does good things instead.”

At this point, Pinkie Pie puts her head between her front hooves and sighs before saying, “I know.”  Then, after a pause, she adds, “Who would’ve thought that repenting would be so difficult?”

I snort before I say, “It is interesting how it seems to require a schedule in order to get back on the right track again.  But, I can see that you regret lying to Mrs. Cake.”

Now, Pinkie sniffles before whimpering, “If I’d known how important those corn cakes were, I wouldn’t have eaten them.  I—regret—that—too.”

As the pink angel pony starts sobbing, I have my character start stroking her mane; and I say, “You have tomorrow to take the opportunity to repent to the Cakes.”

Presently, Pinkie Pie lifts her head up and looks at my character, at me, and asks, “And, what if I don’t get a chance to repent to them tomorrow, huh?”  She then lowers her head between her front hooves again and mournfully asks, “What if I never get a chance?”

I answer, “If you need to schedule some time to talk with them, maybe that’ll be your best option.  You won’t be able to for the rest of today; but, like I said, maybe tomorrow.  Explain what happened.  You’ve already replaced the corn cakes you ate.  If that isn’t enough, well, it’s at least a start.”

Pinkie Pie sniffles a couple more times, then sighs as she looks up at my character and says, “You’re right.  Thanks for listening to me.”  And, she starts to smile again.

I answer, “I’m glad I could help.”  Then, as my character rises and walks to his bedroom door, I ask, “So, shall we go out and gather some fruit from the orchard for snacks for the reading this evening?”

Presently, Pinkie Pie bounces onto all fours, then hops off of my character’s bed, and says, “Oh, yeah, that's right.  We do need to do that.”  And, as my character opens the door to his room, she bounces past him and through it, down the hallway to the kitchen, and waits for him in front of the kitchen door.

I can’t help smiling as my character exits his room, closes the door behind him, then walks to the kitchen door and opens it for the pink angel pony.

With the door open for her, Pinkie trots through it, behind the closest couch, and on to the front door.

My character follows Pinkie through the kitchen door, closes it behind him, then walks to the front door and opens it, allowing the pink angel pony to exit, then follows her out onto the porch, closing the front door behind him.

And, wouldn’t you know it, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Topsy Turvy, and Ataahua are already there, with their harvests.

So, I have my character open the door for them again, and allow them to enter.  Then, once they’ve done so, I have my character close the front door again.

Pinkie Pie leads my character to the orchard, and bounces over the fence.  Then, while my character climbs over the fence, Pinkamena turns control over to Diane, who proceeds to choose an apple tree to buck apples from.

In the mean time, my character, now in the orchard, chooses the pear tree and searches for pears to harvest.

The time is relatively quiet, except for the sounds of Diane bucking apples from the tree she chose and my character picking pears.  And, when the human and the angel pony are finished, they meet at the fence again, where I see that Pinkamena is back in control of Pinkie.  From there, Pinkie, mane decorated with apples, hops over the fence; and my character climbs over it.  After that, the human and the angel pony make their way back to the house.

My character opens the door for Pinkie Pie, who gallops inside to the kitchen door and holds it open for my character, after he closes the front door and makes his way toward the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, I notice that Ataahua and Topsy Turvy are already in the process of preparing muffins for the reading, using berries that Lyra donated, while Lyra’s cutting up vegetables and separating fruits from stems after Weed Whacker, in the sink, has cleaned them.

My character and Pinkie Pie donate their harvests to Weed Whacker to clean.  Then, Pinkie Pie moves to help Ataahua and Topsy Turvy; and my character helps Lyra and Weed Whacker.

While I’m not entirely sure when the four others started preparing their harvests for reading-time snacks, with the help of my character and Pinkie Pie the process concludes in a matter of maybe ten or so minutes.  And, the group does seem to get a minute to rest before I hear a knock at my character’s front door, indicating that the guests have arrived.

Pinkie Pie, Lyra, and Ataahua take control of the snack tray, while Topsy Turvy and Weed Whacker follow my character ahead of them to the front door.  There, my character greets guests first, then encourages them to move aside to allow the three ponies taking care of the snack tray to pass.  Then, while the three ponies are moving the tray down the stairs of the porch, my character runs to his work room to get the TV tray so the snack tray can be placed on top of it.  And, he’s outside just in time to place the TV tray ahead of the three ponies handling the snack tray.

And, it isn’t long after that when Princesses Celestia and Luna appear, each with their own copies if the Book of Mormon.

I guess that reminds Lyra, Weed Whacker, Topsy Turvy, and Ataahua that they don’t have theirs with them, as they gallop or run inside again to retrieve their copies.  And, it’s only a minute or two before they’re back outside again.

As ponies and dragons around the circle proceed to open their books and turn to the right page, I say, "Now, the next chapter we'll be reading in the Book of Mosiah, chapter twenty-six, is thrity-nine verses; so, the reading should go around the circle about three times."  Then, when I notice that everyone is evidently at the right page, I have my character turn to my herbivorous dinosaur friend; and I ask, 'Weed Whacker, will you read the first verse?"

She looks up at my character and smiles and nods, then looks down into her book and reads, "Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers."  She then looks up and asks, "Is it really that difficult for two generations of humans to understand each other?"

As my character focuses on the herbivorous dinosaur, I answer, "While the basics of a language might not change; at least where I come from, a word can mean one thing to one human, and mean something very different to another.  And, it can be the same between generations.  Sometimes, a word can be used for one generation, and never be used so frequently again.  For instance, there's the word 'diggity,' which, from what I understand, was used to demonstrate appreciation or excitement.  Nowadays, someone can use that word, and maybe only the one using that word will understand what it means.  It just isn't used anymore.  The Nephites may have been in a similar situation.  Words used by the established generation might not have been used by the rising one, which may have had their own words that the previous generation didn't have.  Does that answer your question?"

Weed Whacker simply smiles and nods.

Princess Luna then reads, "They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened."  She then looks up and says, "This is starting to sound like Laman and Lemuel."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And they would not be baptized; neither would they join the church.  And they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissensions among the brethren they became more numerous."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering words, who were in the church, and did cause them to commit many sins; therefore it became expedient that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should be admonished by the church."

At this point, I have my character look up; and I say, "Here, we have the start of a really interesting chapter, if you will, in the history of the Nephites.  Later on, we'll find out about five young men in this 'rising generation' that were most likely the instigators of this movement among the Nephites, four of them sons of Mosiah, and the other the son of Alma.  But, that's for later chapters.  Suffice it to say, we'll learn about their repentance process, and how they'd do more to build up the church than they could do to damage or destroy it."  I then have my character turn to Twilight's assistant, and I say, "Spike, you may go ahead and read the next verse."

The purple dragon nods, then looks down and reads, "And it came to pass that they were brought before the priests, and delivered up unto the priests by the teachers; and the priests brought them before Alma, who was the high priest."

Rarity reads, "Now king Mosiah had given Alma the authority over the church."

Applejack reads, "And it came to pass that Alma did not know concerning them; but there were many witnesses against them; yea, the people stood and testified of their iniquity in abundance."  She then looks up and asks, "Uh, aren't these sons of Mosiah and Alma?  How could they not know 'bout 'em?"

I have my character focus on the orange earth mare, and I answer, "Those brought before Mosiah and Alma may not necessarily have been their sons.  Or, if they were, the young men might've hidden their actions sufficiently from their fathers that they just didn't know about 'em.  At this point, since I don't know exactly what happened, all I can do is theorize.  But, that may be enough.  I doubt my life will be incomplete if I never know the details of what happened.  The important part is written in this book."  I then have my character turn to the yellow pegasa and nod for her to read the next verse.

Fluttershy nods back, then reads, "Now there had not any such thing happened before in the church; therefore Alma was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king."

Lyra reads, "And he said unto the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities.  And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes."

Ataahua reads, "But king Mosiah said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged."

I read, "And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled; and he went and inquired of the Lord what he should do concerning this matter, for he feared that he should do wrong in the sight of God."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying:"

Weed Whacker reads, "Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon.  Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi."

Princess Luna reads, "And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them."

Princess Celestia reads, "And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people."

Rainbow Dash reads, "Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep."

Spike reads, "And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive."

Rarity reads, "For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance.  And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive."

Applejack reads, "For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand."

Fluttershy reads, "For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand."

Lyra reads, "And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me."

Ataahua reads, "And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed."

I read, "And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Therefore I say unto you, that he that will not hear my voice, the same shall ye not receive into my church, for him I will not receive at the last day."  She then looks up and says, "Here, we seem to have a demonstration of freedom to choose whether to follow a good path or a bad one.  And, whichever course we choose, God won't interfere with our decision, except to warn us if we've chosen the wrong path."

I reply, "Indeed.  You did well in identifying that."

Weed Whacker reads, "Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also."

Princess Luna reads, "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me."

Princess Celestia reads, "And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his neighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation."

Rainbow Dash reads, "Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass when Alma had heard these words he wrote them down that he might have them, and that he might judge the people of that church according to the commandments of God."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And it came to pass that Alma went and judged those that had been taken in iniquity, according to the word of the Lord."

Spike reads, "And whosoever repented of their sins and did confess them, them he did number among the people of the church;"

Rarity reads, "And those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out."

Applejack reads, "And it came to pass that Alma did regulate all the affairs of the church; and they began again to have peace and to prosper exceedingly in the affairs of the church, walking circumspectly before God, receiving many, and baptizing many."

At this point, I decide to speak up again and say, "There's a saying among us humans, that necessity is the mother of invention.  That is to say, we don't search for something until the need arises.

"Here, up until this point, there had apparently been no need to ask if someone who hadn't repented should be allowed into the church or not because all who had wanted to enter the church had repented.  Now, there's a rising generation that wasn't listening to the older generations, and was refusing to do what was right.  Here the need arose; and so Alma, the high priest, searched for an answer to his question.  And, because he brought it to God, God gave him the answer he was looking for."  I then have my character focus on the yellow pegasa, and I say, "Fluttershy, you may continue."

Fluttershy nods, then looks down and reads, "And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God."

Lyra reads, "And they did admonish their brethren; and they were also admonished, every one by the word of God, according to his sins, or to the sins which he had committed, being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things."

At this point, I have my character stand up; and I say, "And, that'll be the end of the reading for this evening.  I thank you for your participation; and, to those who are returning to your homes, I hope you have a safe trip."

At my announcement, ponies and dragons around the circle rise and start picking up and closing their books.

Lyra, Weed Whacker, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy gather on the front porch.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie gallops to the front gate and holds it open as she bids her friends, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack, farewell.

Once Spike and the rest of Pinkie Pie’s friends have disappeared into the Everfree, and Pinkie Pie has joined up with the other four on the front porch, Princess Celestia approaches the group and asks, “How many of you want to come with Mormon and Topsy Turvy to Canterlot?”

I’m really not surprised to hear shouts from everyone in the group of five, other than Topsy Turvy, affirming that all want to go with the pink earth mare and my character.

Taking note of this response, the daytime alicorn turns and trots midway into the lawn, next to her sister, then turns back to the group of six, and, smiling, says, “Then, come here, my little ponies, and my sister and I will teleport you with us to Canterlot.”

Accepting that as their invitation, the four ponies, one dinosaur, and one human join the two alicorns as they bow their heads and close their eyes, and their horns start to glow and sparkle.

Then, one frame later, the group is once again in front of Discord’s statue, in the garden of Canterlot Castle.

While Princess Luna trots toward the castle to get Grounds Keeper and the cleaning supplies, Princess Celestia turns to my character and asks, “Mormon, will you follow me into the labyrinth?”

I answer, “Yes, ma’am,” and my character follows the white alicorn into the hedge maze.  And, the human and the alicorn stop when they can no longer be seen by the ponies and the dinosaur.

At this point, Princess Celestia turns to my character and asks, “So, what have you learned today about Lyra specifically, and about unicorns from her?”

I pause for a moment in thought, then answer, “Well, one thing I’ve learned about her, which doesn’t surprise me, is that she cares about her friends.  I learned today that Twilight’s afraid of quesadillas, and Lyra joined me in learning from Pinkie Pie why she’s afraid of them.  Apparently it’s one thing about Twilight that Lyra hadn’t known about before.”

The daytime princess folds her wings somewhat and closes her eyes as she says, “Yes, I know that Twilight was poisoned as a foal after eating some moldy cheese.  And, since then, she’s been afraid of anything even made of or containing cheese.”  She then opens her eyes again as she says, “While I can understand her fear of being poisoned again, she still needs to learn that not all cheese is poisonous.”

At this point, I state, “Still, she demonstrates another way that you ponies and we humans aren’t all that different.  Frequently, although it doesn’t always work, all a human needs is to get sick once from eating or drinking something, and he or she will never again consume the thing that made him or her sick.  He or she may even become afraid of it.”

Princess Celestia responds by sighing, then saying, “Well, it’s nice to know that there are commonalities between you humans and us ponies.”  She then asks, “Have you learned anything about Pinkie Pie, about earth ponies, today?”

Answering with the first thing that comes to my mind, I say, “Well, earlier today, the Cutie Mark Crusaders came in after failing to get their cutie marks in bowling.  And, it seems that Applebloom took it the hardest.  She even refused to be cheered up by one of Pinkie Pie’s parties.

“She left; and when she came back into town, she had two cutie marks.”

I’m not surprised to see Princess Celestia startled by the news.  She asks, “Did you say two cutie marks?”

I answer, “That’s right.”

The daytime princess’s alarm turns to worry as she says, “The last time any of my little ponies had more than one cutie mark per pony was before Granny Smith was born, when there was an outbreak of cutie pox.”

I know what Princess Celestia’s talking about, but I still ask, “Cutie pox?”

The daytime alicorn answers, “Yes.  It started and ended mysteriously, and there was no chance for anypony to study the outbreak.  It seems that there was a group of ponies that suddenly got cutie marks all over their bodies.  And, they were forced to fulfill the talents that came with them.  The first two or three of the talents were of little or no use to ponies, except for display.  And, while talents that appeared after that could prove useful, the ponies became exhausted from having to do the things represented by their cutie marks.”  She then turns to my character and says, “Mormon, I want you to keep an eye on Applebloom.  The next time we meet in here, I want you to tell me if a cause was found, and a cure.  Is that understood?”

I nod and answer, “Yes, ma’am.”

The white alicorn nods back, then says, “Very well then.”  She then inhales deeply, then exhales slowly, then asks, “Have you learned anything new about Derpy Hooves, anything about pegasi?”

Slowly, I answer, “I didn’t get a chance to learn anything new about her or about pegasi, no.”

At this point, Princess Celestia smiles and says, “That’s alright.  Tomorrow is the pet play date for you and the element bearers.  You may get a chance to learn about her then.”

I seem to remember writing to the princesses about the pet play dates, so I’m not surprised that Princess Celestia would know about them.

Then, Princess Celestia asks, “Is there anything else you want to report to me?”

There are a few things I can think of, but I decide that Pinkie and others can write their own reports on those subjects.  So, I say, “No, I believe that’s all.”

The white alicorn nods to my character and says, “Very well, then.  Let’s return to the others.”  And, she canters past my character and toward the entrance to the hedge maze.

And, as soon as she’s past, my character follows her.

Back at Discord’s statue, by the time the human and the white alicorn make it back there, Topsy Turvy is, from what I can see, halfway through cleaning her father, and not quite halfway through the song she’s singing.  It takes a few more minutes before she’s finished.  And, while Grounds Keeper takes the cleaning supplies back to the castle, the pink earth mare once again wishes that her father won't remain a statue for another thousand years.

It’s Princess Luna who teleports my character and his friends back to his house, after which she returns to the castle.

From there on, the six disperse to their normal duties preparing dinner.

My character chooses the plum tree to gather fruits from, and Pinkie “Diane” Pie requests that he harvest an extra to donate to Ataahua for her muffins; and I agree to that.

In the kitchen, after it’s cleaned, I have my character donate the extra plum to Ataahua so she can bake it into some of the muffins that she, Topsy Turvy, and Pinkie Pie make.

And, in the mean time, my character, Lyra, and Weed Whacker prepare the rest of the fruits, as well as the vegetables, to be eaten raw.

When the preparations are complete, the group of six gather in the front room, with my character carrying the tray of food.  As my character places the tray on the coffee table, the ponies and dinosaur occupy places on the two couches; and, once all are seated, and the food blessed, the group join forces in eating the prepared meal.  Then, once it’s eaten, the group join in the cleanup, then separate and head to their rooms.

But, it seems that once again Pinkie Pie follows my character and asks, “Mormon, may I join you in your room?  I have a question or two I need answered.”

Once I’m sure Lyra and Weed Whacker are on their way to their room, I have my character hold the door open for the pink angel pony; and I say, “Sure, come on in.”

As she enters, Pinkie Pie says, “Thank you.”  Then, while my character closes the door behind the two of them, she trots to my character’s bed and jumps up onto it, then turns toward my character and settles into the familiar sphinx-style position.  She waits until my character is close enough before saying, “The first question I have is about something that came up in the reading, something that I found … curious.”

By this point, my character is already kneeling on one knee next to the pink angel pony.  I ask, “What would that be?”

Pinkie Pie answers, “In one verse in this evening’s chapter, verse eight, it’s written that Mosiah gave authority of the church to Alma.”

I respond, “That’s true.”

Pinkie Pie then asks, “Does that usually happen?  Is one human given control of the government of you humans, and another human given control of religion?”  I open my mouth to answer, but Pinkie interrupts and adds, “I mean humans in your real world, not in this video game.”

I take a moment to collect my thoughts before I answer, “Well, from what I understand, no, it isn’t.  When America separated from England, it was apparently normal practice in England to have a national religion, a religion that served as the government, which was, from what I understand, Catholicism.  Because the religion ruled the country, it didn’t allow for a lot of freedom.  And, because of that, and because Americans value their freedom, it was agreed that, in America, there should be a separation of church and state, which is to say that religion should hold a different position in society from government.  Such separation is still highly valued today, allowing for people to believe what they want, to adhere to whatever religion they want, without the government punishing them for not believing in a particular way.”

Pinkie Pie grunts in interest, then says, “I see.”  She then tilts her head and asks, “Do you think this kind of separation of church and state existed among the Nephites?”

I have to pause and think about that for a moment before I answer, “I suppose that’s possible.  While Mosiah ruled over the Nephites as their king, he was a godly man.  He did his own work, so he wasn’t a burden to his people.  But, he also made sure, evidently, that religion had a separate position from the government.  So, it is likely that there was a separation of church and state among the Nephites, although I have to wonder if it was as strict among the Nephites as it is among Americans.”

At this point, Pinkie Pie seems concerned as she asks, “What do you mean?”

I answer, “It’s recorded, as much in American history as in that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that the first prophet of the church, Joseph Smith Jr., ran for president of the United States; and it seems that a lot of people liked him, or at least the things he was running for.  But, being the leader of a religion, I guess Americans became concerned that, if he were to become president, he might make the religion he lead the main religion of America.  And, that was, I suppose, at least one of the things that lead to his being killed when he was.”

Now, Pinkie straightens her head in surprise as she says, “Wow, that is strict.”  She then relaxes somewhat as she adds, “I don’t know if ponies would go that far; but I would hope that, if we thought our most favorite rights were in danger, we’d defend them, too.”

I have my character reach out and stroke Pinkie Pie’s mane, and I ask, “So, are there any other questions you have for me?”

At my question, Pinkie Pie seems to melt as she answers, “I’m … still worried about that lie I told.  Do you really think I’ll get a chance to tell the Cakes about it tomorrow?”

I answer, “I’m sure you will.  I know you regret lying to Mrs. Cake; and, if you have to make an appointment, one way or another you’ll get your chance to repent to them.”

Pinkie Pie sniffles as she says, “I hope you’re right, Mormy.  I really don’t want to feel like this anymore.”  And, she nuzzles my character.

I don’t say anymore, just allow my character to stroke Pinkie Pie’s mane for a while longer until she pushes his hand away with her closest forelimb.  Then, I have my character stand up and walk to his bedroom door, while Pinkie Pie jumps off of his bed and follows him there.  Then, when he opens the door, the pink angel pony trots past him through it, then to her room once my character closes his door again.  That’s what I’m assuming, anyway.

At any rate, my character then goes to, then climbs into, his bed and goes to sleep.

If there’s one thing I expect for tomorrow, it’s that it’s gonna be a busy day.  There’s the pet play date, where I expect Rainbow Dash to let her friends know that she’s interested in getting a pet.  Then, there’s also the situation with Applebloom, and her evidently contracting the cutie pox.  And, there’s Pinkie Pie, and her lie to her bosses.  Two of those will meet their conclusion the game’s tomorrow, but the first will just be starting.

I do have a back story for the cutie pox, which makes sense to me considering the story in the episode with that name, “The Cutie Pox.”  While there are no historical visuals in the show, at least not in the first five seasons, my guess is that whatever number of ponies that there were, ponies without cutie marks, must’ve gotten their hooves, or whatever, on the heart’s desire flower and used it to each get a cutie mark.  But, there was a side effect associated with that kind of practice, in that more marks appeared; and the ponies with those marks, as Princess Celestia mentioned, were forced to do whatever those marks symbolized.  The cure, then, was in a related flower, known as the flower of truth.  When the seeds from that flower were planted near the infected ponies, all they had to do was confess to using the heart’s desire flower to get their cutie marks, and they’d be freed from the influence of the heart's desire flower, which meant all their cutie marks would disappear; and they'd finally be able to rest.  Again, it’s just a theory.  Whether it’ll be confirmed in any future episodes or not is yet to be seen.

In the mean time, I’m sure that Pinkie Pie will get a chance to tell the Cakes what she did, or at least they’ll hear about it.  Whatever happens, once they know, it’ll be up to them whether they’ll forgive Pinkie Pie or not, whether they place further restrictions on her or not.  But, that’s for the game’s tomorrow.  So, until then, I save and close the game.

Chapter 7: The Many Images of Affliction

As I open the file of my second playthrough, I find myself wondering if I’m going to have as much fun observing circumstances in this video game as I’ve had watching the episodes “The Cutie Pox” and “May the Best Pet Win.”  Although, there is the fact that I’m going to need to help an angel pony with a guilty conscience.

As the game resumes, I find that my character seems to have awakened on his own.  I do hear sounds and voices coming from the hallway; but they seem a little more quiet, like they’re not directed at my character’s bedroom door.  So, I have my character rise from his bed and walk to his bedroom door and open it.  Then, after he steps into the hallway and closes his bedroom door, following the sound of the voices, he automatically turns to the end of the hallway, where the bedrooms of Lyra and Pinkie are located; and I can see, through his eyes, Lyra and Weed Whacker in front of Pinkie Pie’s bedroom door.

I then hear Lyra call out, “Pinkie, are you sure you’re alright in there?”

I ask, “Is there something wrong?”

Both the unicorn and the dinosaur jump and yelp in alarm at hearing my voice, then turn to face my character.

Then, as soon as she regains her composure, Weed Whacker answers, “We’re not sure.  Pinkie Pie hasn’t come out of her room yet.”

I ask, “Are you sure she’s in there?”

It’s Lyra who answers, “We can hear her crying in there.  Did something happen yesterday, or during the night?”

I answer, “Maybe I should go in and see if she’s alright.”

Lyra slowly nods, then uses her magic to pick up Weed Whacker and put her on her back, after which she backs up away from Pinkie’s bedroom door.

As my character approaches the door to the pink angel pony’s bedroom, I have him face the pale-green unicorn and the dinosaur; and I say, “You can go ahead and start harvesting food for breakfast.  I’ll go and see if Pinkie Pie’s alright.”

Again Lyra just nods, before ambling past my character, as soon as there’s room; and then, once she’s past, she gallops to the kitchen, opens the door to the front room, trots through it, then closes the kitchen door behind her.

As soon as I can see that the unicorn and the dinosaur have disappeared at least into the front room, I have my character turn to Pinkie’s bedroom door.

But, as I reach out to open it, the door seems to open on its own.  Then, my character looks down to see Pinkie Pie, evidently controlled by Pinkamena, on the other side of the door.

She steps aside to allow my character to enter, then closes the door behind him.  Then, as my character follows her, she ambles to her bed, jumps up onto it, then turns to my character and settles into a sphinx-style position.  She stammers, “I-I-I … I’m st-till w-w-worried that I … I w-won’t g-get a ch-chance to l-let the C-cakes know how s-s-sorry I am that I l-lied about eating those c-corn c-cakes.”  And, she sniffles and sobs.

I have my character reach out and stroke the pink angel pony’s mane, and I respond, “Now, remember what I said.  If making an appointment is the only way you can get the chance to let them know, then that’s what you’ll have to do.”  I watch the pink angel pony sniffle again, then I continue, “Maybe the opportunity won’t just be there all of a sudden, in which case you’ll have to look for it.  But, that doesn’t mean it’ll never come.  If you have to make your own opportunity, then that’s what you should do.  Just remember, I’ll be there with you.”

Now, Pinkie starts to smile as she asks, “You will?”

I nod and answer, “I will.”

At this point, the pink angel pony jumps into a standing position, then falls forward onto my character, who catches her and returns her hug.  In that position, she says, “Thank you, Mormon.”

After a few seconds, the angel pony and the human separate, after which I ask, “So, shall we go out and harvest some fruits from the orchard?”

Pinkie seems to force a chuckle as she answers, “Sure, let’s do that.”

I make sure that Pinkie’s on her bed before I have my character back away from her, rise to his feet, then walk to her bedroom door and open it.

In the mean time, the pink angel pony hops off of her bed and follows my character, trotting to the door, then through it as soon as there’s enough space for her.

My character then follows Pinkie out the door, then closes it behind him, then follows the pink angel pony to the kitchen door, where she opens the door for him, then trots to the front door.  Then, after closing the kitchen door behind him, he follows the pink angel pony to the front door, where she opens that one for them.  Then, once the two are outside, my character closes the front door behind them; and the two head out to, then into, the orchard.

Diane takes control of Pinkie Pie, then chooses an apple tree to buck apples from it.

In the mean time, my character chooses the peach tree to harvest fruits from, including an extra to donate to Ataahua for her muffins.  Then, when the fruits have been harvested, Diane hands control of Pinkie to Pinkamena, who gathers the bucked apples and hangs them in her mane.  The angel pony and the human leave the orchard, to meet up with Ataahua and Topsy Turvy, who have evidently just gotten back from harvesting oats in the grain field.

I take the opportunity to say, “I can understand that you ponies probably don’t eat wheat.  I don’t know if it’s good for you or not, but it is good for humans like myself.  So, if you want to make wheat muffins for me, then go right ahead.  There really isn’t a grain that isn’t good for humans, but wheat is especially good for humans like myself.”

In response, Topsy Turvy looks up at my character and says, “Well, if you want to harvest wheat for yourself, then go right ahead.  I’m just not sure that it’s such a good idea for us ponies to harvest it.  Like, what if some of the wheat got mixed in with the oats?  What if we can’t tell the difference?”

I hadn’t really thought about it that way, and I say as much to the pink, spiral-eyed earth mare.  But, at the same time, I didn’t program the ponies to be poisoned by the wheat, certainly not to the point that it’d kill them.  But, if the ponies are comfortable harvesting and consuming the oats and not the wheat, and if I really want my character to eat more wheat, then maybe it’s a matter I should have my character take into his own hands.

But, back on the front porch, it’s once again Pinkie Pie who opens the front door, allowing the human, the dinosaur, and the other ponies to enter; then follows them inside and closes the door behind her.

In the mean time, as soon as he’s inside, my character leads the group to the kitchen, where he opens the door and waits for the rest of the group to enter, then follows them in and closes the kitchen door behind him.

Once there, once again Pinkie Pie joins forces with Ataahua and Topsy Turvy to make muffins, as my character, Lyra, and Weed Whacker team up to prepare the rest of the fruits, minus the peach I donate and the kiwi fruit Lyra donates, to be eaten raw.  Then, when the breakfast is ready, my character carries the tray with the food into the front room, where the human, the dinosaur, and the ponies gather around the coffee table on the two couches, and eat the prepared breakfast.  Then, after that, they clean up the remnants, then head out to the front yard.

It’s about then that Pinkie Pie turns to my character and asks, “Uh, Mormon, shouldn’t you call Scout?  Remember, today’s the day for the weekly pet play date with our friends.”

Somehow, that fact had slipped my mind; so it’s a good thing Pinkie Pie was there to remind me.  After acknowledging that, I have my character turn to the timber wolf on his front porch, and I call out, “Come here, Scout!”

On hearing his name being called, Scout rises to a canine-style position, then to all fours, then, after wagging his tail for a second or two, jumps off of the porch and gallops toward my character.  But, he adjusts his course just off of the porch so that he gallops past my character and jumps over the fence.

Seeing the eager timber wolf waiting for him, I have my character open the gate for the ponies and the dinosaur; then, once they’re out, I have my character follow them, and close the door behind them.

And, it’s about this time that I notice Gummy attached by his mouth to Pinkie Pie’s tail.

But, there’s something else.

From behind my character, I hear Zecora say, “I greet you, my friend Mormon.  Your quest through the Everfree has begun?”

My character turns to face the zebra as she speaks.  When she’s done, I nod and answer, “That’s right.”  I then ask, “So, what brings you here?”

Zecora’s smile morphs into a look of worry as she says, “My Heart’s Desire has disappeared, and for Applebloom’s safety I fear.”

At this point, Ataahua trots toward the zebra and says, “I guess you haven’t heard.  Yesterday, Applebloom showed up in town with two cutie marks.  She has two special talents!”

Zecora’s look of worry deepens, and her voice goes up a few tones as she says, “Two talents? Then my fears have come to pass!  I must find the cure, and fast!”  And, with that, she turns back into the forest, in the direction of her hut, and gallops off.

After the zebra disappears back into the forest, I hear Ataahua ask, “What’s wrong?  Isn’t it a good thing that Applebloom has two cutie marks, and two talents?”

My character focuses on the gray pegasa as she speaks; and, when she’s done, I answer, “It’s kind of a long story.  Let’s just say that she’s gonna have a major burden to let go of.”

I then hear Topsy Turvy ask, “If Zecora’s lost her heart’s desire, why is she so worried about Applebloom?  That’s sounding kind of suspicious to me.”

My character turns to the pink earth mare to hear her out, after which I answer, “The Heart’s Desire Zecora was talking about is a flower that grows in the Everfree forest.  I can’t give you any details right now; but, apparently she was going to use it for some purpose or other, and Applebloom evidently stole it from her.”

While I talk to Topsy Turvy, I see Ataahua amble up next to her.  When I’m finished with my answer, the gray pegasa asks, “So, what does this Heart’s Desire flower have to do with Applebloom getting two cutie marks?”

My character automatically focuses on Ataahua as she speaks.  When she’s done, I answer her, “My guess is she used the flower to get a cutie mark, not realizing that getting a mark under such circumstances came with side effects.”  Then, seeing the gray pegasa about to ask another question, I have my character raise a hand in front of her, palm facing her; and I conclude, “You’ll likely see for yourself what those side effects are when we get to Ponyville.  There’s even a name for the condition, which we’ll hear about when we get there.  But, we need to get there first.”

Ataahua simply nods in agreement and understanding, after which the gray pegasa and the pink earth mare turn and start following Pinkie Pie into the forest.

It isn’t long after entering the forest that the two ponies and the human catch up with the other pony, the timber wolf, and the dinosaur; and, from then on, it’s an uneventful half hour before the combined group exits the forest, then enters Ponyville.

Just a few steps into town, the group meets up with Twilight and Applejack.

The orange earth pony approaches my character and says, “Hi, Mormon.”  Then, in a voice rich with concern, she says, “We got a real problem a’brewin’.”

Not far past the two ponies, I see the yellow earth filly evidently holding Bon-Bon, Lilly Valley, and their little sisters, or so I assume, hostage tap-dancing around them while playing an accordion, and still spinning the hoop on her tail and balancing plates on sticks on her nose.  I respond, “I see what you mean.”  I then direct my character’s attention back to the purple unicorn and the orange earth pony, and I add, “Long story short, Zecora already knows; and she should be coming with the cure as soon as possible.”  I then focus my character’s attention on Topsy Turvy, Lyra, Ataahua, and Weed Whacker; and I say, “You four take Scout and Gummy to the park.  Pinkie Pie and I have some business to take care of at Sugar Cube Corner, after which we’ll catch up to you.”

The three ponies and the dinosaur, with concerned looks on their faces, simply nod in agreement.  Then, Ataahua takes Gummy while Lyra takes Scout; and the group of six, minus one human and one angel pony, head to the Ponyville park.

With the group now down to two, I hear Twilight ask, “Uh, Mormon, how does Zecora know about Applebloom’s cutie pox problem?”

I answer, “When my friends and I were leaving my house to head to town, Zecora met up with us and said something about one of her ingredients disappearing.  Then, Derpy told her that Applebloom had shown up in town with two cutie marks, and that seemed to confirm Zecora’s suspicions.  Suffice it to say that she’ll be here with the cure, like I said, as soon as she can be.”

A clearly worried Applejack asks, “So, what’ll we do in the mean time?  Ah tried to stop my little sis, and Ah couldn’t.  Ah’m really scared for her.”

As Applejack sniffles once, Twilight turns to her and answers, “Now, it’ll be alright.  Mormon told us that Zecora knows, and she’s coming with something that should help Applebloom.”

I respond, “That’s right.  But, in the mean time, Pinkie Pie and I have some business to take care of at Sugar Cube Corner.”

Twilight sighs, then says, “Alright, Mormon, Pinkie Pie, you go ahead and take care of whatever business you need to.  If we need you, we’ll let you know.”

In response, Pinkie says, “Thank you, Twily,” then turns back to my character and adds, “So, Mormon, let’s get going.”  And, she turns in the direction of the bakery and starts galloping.

I say no more, just allow my character to follow the pink angel pony to Sugar Cube Corner.

But, it seems that, when the angel pony and the human arrive and enter and look around, there's no one inside.

Pinkie Pie calls out, “Mrs. Cake?  Mr. Cake?  Are you in here?”

Then, from upstairs, I hear the voice of Mr. Cake call out, “We’re up here, Pinkie!  We’re just changin’ the twins’ diapers!”

Pinkie calls out, “I need to talk to you about something!”

I then hear Mr. Cake call out again, “If you’ll give us a few minutes, we’ll be done with the twins!  Then we can talk with you!”

Pinkie then calls out, “Alright!”  She then turns to my character, to me, and says, “I guess there’s nothing more for me to do than just wait.”  And, she turns to the front door and settles down canine-style.

In the mean time, as I have my character stroke Pinkie’s mane to calm her down, I hear female voices call out, “She’s Cursed,” “Hexed,” and “Enchanted,” then Spike’s voice say, “No, she’s not.  She just has some weird, mysterious disease with no known cure called cutie pox.”

Then, Pinkie and I watch as the towns ponies stampede off, crying out in panic.

Not long after that, I hear Zecora’s voice say, “I thought I had removed their fear the last time that I had visited here.  But, doors are barred, and shutters shut.  Guess I should’ve stayed inside my hut.”

I then hear Twilight say, “Zecora, Applebloom has cutie pox!  Mormon said you were coming with a cure.”

Then, I hear Applejack say, “And, magically, you’re here!  Is yer zebra sense a’tinglin’?”

I have to wonder if that isn’t a reference to Spiderman.

In the mean time, I hear Zecora answer, “My zebra sense did not bring me out.  It was a special flower that I needed about.  I thought I had enough to fix all the potions I had to mix.  But, after my visit from Applebloom, some had mysteriously left my room.”  She then approaches the yellow earth filly and asks, “Applebloom, what do you say?  Did this flower just walk away?”

Applebloom, who at this point is lifting a barbell with her tail, hesitates to answer.  Then, signified by a flash, another cutie mark appears on her, causing her to start washing the windows of a building just across the street from Sugar Cube Corner.

I see the zebra smile as she says, “A cutie pox cure I have for sooth, for healing power is within the seeds of truth.”

I then hear an excited Applejack say, “Well then, give ‘em to her, quick!”

Zecora, removing the seeds from a saddle basket with her tail and holding them over her head, replies, “These seeds must be planted in the ground; when, with the truth they’ll grow and mature, is found.”

At this point, I hear Pinkie Pie say, under her breath, “Oh, no.”

Under my breath, I say, “It’s alright, Pinkie.  I’m thinking the truth she’s after isn’t from you.”

I then hear Applejack say, “Then, let’s get to it!”  My character focuses out the window onto the orange earth mare as she knocks the seeds out of the zebra’s tail, digs a hole with one hoof, then covers the seeds after they fall into the hole.  Then, she says, “Alright, now they’re planted.  Now, somepony, tell the truth!”

At approximately the same time, I hear a door open from approximately behind my character, and Mr. Cake call out, “Now, Pinkie, what did you want to talk about?”

Then, it’s just a matter of seconds until Applebloom starts spinning out of control like a top; and Pinkie Pie makes it clear that she’s reached the end of the tolerance of her guilty conscience, as she cries out, “Yesterday, I told Mrs. Cake that I ate one corn cake, but I really ate three!”

From where I heard Mr. Cake’s voice, I now hear Mrs. Cake ask, “Pinkie?”

Then, the pink angel pony cries out, “Okay, six!  I ate six corn cakes!”

At this point, I’m sure I hear relief in Mrs. Cake’s voice when I hear her say, “It all makes sense now.”

Then, Pinkie bawls out, “Oh, make it stop, oh, make it stop!”

Now, I hear creaking coming from the balcony, then down the stairs, as Mrs. Cake’s voice says, “Pinkie Pie, you could’ve just told me that you ate those six corn cakes yesterday when I asked.  I wasn’t going to hold it against you, dearie.  I just wondered what had happened to them.”

And, that’s when the pink angel pony turns around and sees the blue earth mare approach her.  She sniffles and asks, “Really?”

As the yellow-orange stallion and the blue mare stop maybe a foot away from the pink angel pony, Mrs. Cake answers, “Of course, dearie.  We knew you’d make the corn cakes the best you could.  I guess we didn’t know just how irresistibly good you’d make them.”

Mr. Cake adds, smiling, “If you’d told Cup the truth, like she said, we wouldn’t have held it against you.”  His smile then fades as he adds, “But, now that we know that you lied to us, well, …”

Mrs. Cake sighs before slowly continuing, “We’re not sure that we can trust you.”

The pink angel pony clearly feels the sting of the news from her female boss.  She takes a moment to look down and sniffle, then says, “I’m so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake.  I still want you to trust me.”  She then looks up at them again and asks, “What can I do to make it up to you?”

I see Pinkie’s ears perk up again as Mrs. Cake starts to answer, “Well, you replaced the corn cakes you ate.  That was a good start.”  I then watch Pinkie’s ears tilt to a right angle from where they’d been when she hears Mr. Cake say, “But, for a while, anyway, I’m afraid you’re going to need supervision, until we know for sure that we can trust you again.”

The stallion then looks up at my character and asks, “Mormon, where’s Lyra?”

I answer, “She’s at the park with Weed Whacker, Topsy Turvy, Derpy Hooves, and Pinkie’s and my pets, Gummy and Scout.”

After hearing my answer, Mr. Cake says, “Then, when you’re at the park, I want you to tell Lyra that she’s going to be keeping an eye on Pinkie Pie for the next week.  After that, I want her to give me a report on Pinkie Pie’s behavior.  Pinkie’s future as an employee here will depend on her report.  Is that understood?”

I answer, “Yes, sir.”  I then pause for a moment before I ask, “Should I tell her to be honest in her report?”

Mr. Cake answers, “If you think it’s necessary, then do that.”  He then turns back to Pinkie Pie and says, “You’ve been a good employee up until now.  I hope you’ll prove to be that again.”  And, with that, he and Mrs. Cake turn and canter toward the kitchen.

After the two earth ponies disappear into the kitchen, I hear Pinkie Pie sniffle, then sob, before she turns to my character and says, “Oh, Mormon, what have I done?”

I have my character reach out and start stroking Pinkie’s mane again as I answer, “Well, you’ve taken the first step toward getting their trust back.  Mr. Cake said you’ve been a good employee, and he wants you to keep working here.”

Pinkie stammers, “B-but, what if … what if I make another m-mistake?”

I answer, “That’s why you have friends, to support you and help you so you don’t make those kinds of mistakes again.  I’m sure that the Cakes have made their share of mistakes in their time, which is why they were willing to overlook your mistake in lying to them.  They’re good employers, and they see you as a good employee.  You just need to prove them right.”  I then have my character open his arms to the pink angel pony, and I say, “Now, come here.”

The pink angel pony, tears streaming from her eyes, hops up into the arms of my character and hugs him around his neck.

My character responds by catching her in his arms and hugging her in return.

After a few seconds, the two separate; and I ask, “So, shall we go to the park now?”

Pinkie’s laugh sounds kind of forced to me as she answers, “Sure.”

As the pink angel pony and the human exit the bakery through the front door, they’re just in time to see Applebloom and her two friends gallop off excitedly back toward the Everfree forest.

I know what happened, but I still decide to ask, “I’m guessing everything turned out alright?”

I hear Applejack chuckle before she says, “Yeah.  As it turns out, the truth that made the seeds sprout was that Applebloom got her cutie marks by brewin’ up a potion.  When the sprout grew and blossomed, she ett it and was cured.  She’s fine now, ‘n’ thinks she’s a-gonna get a cutie mark in potion makin’.”

I find myself smiling as I say, “Well, it’s good to hear she’s back to normal.”

Then, Pinkie Pie asks, “So, what about the pet play date?  Are you two comin’?”

Presently, Applejack closes her eyes and plants a front hoof between them, then, shaking her head, says, “Ah plum forgot all 'bout it.”  She then stops shaking her head, drops the front hoof below her, and opens her eyes as she says, “If you’ll meet me at the park, Ah’ll go back to Sweet Apple Acres ’n’ git Winona.”  And, with that, she gallops off toward her family ranch.

Once the orange earth mare disappears around a corner, I hear Twilight say, “Well, I guess if I’m gonna join in, I’d better get Owlowiscious.”  She then turns to the library as she says, “I’ll meet you at the park,” and gallops off toward her Ponyville home.

As my character and Pinkie Pie focus on each other, it’s Pinkie Pie who says, “I guess we’d better be heading for the park then.”  And, she gives me no chance to agree, but starts her own gallop toward the park, with my character running to catch up with her.

At the park, it seems that Scout is relaxing, while Gummy is snapping at Weed Whacker’s arms, legs, tail, and even her head.

In the mean time, Fluttershy is there with her white rabbit Angel, and Rarity is there with her white Persian cat Opalescence.

As the two arrivals join the group, I have my character approach the pale-green unicorn; and I say, “Lyra, it seems that you have a new temporary job at Sugar Cube Corner.”

Curious, Lyra asks, “What job is that?”

Presently, Pinkie Pie approaches her and says, “Well, there’s something you need to know before Mormon tells you about your new job.”

Lyra now sounds suspicious as she asks, “And, what’s that?”

Pinkie Pie, at this point about a foot away from the pale-green unicorn, sits down canine-style as she answers, “Well, if you’ll remember when we made those corn cakes yesterday, and I ate six of ‘em, I told Mrs. Cake I’d only eaten one.  I don’t know why I lied, I didn’t mean to.  But, today I told ‘em the truth about what had happened.  I think they’ve forgiven me, but they want you to supervise me to make sure I can be trusted again.”

Lyra responds by approaching and hugging the pink angel pony, then saying, “If it means I can help you get back on the Cakes’ good side, then sure, I’ll supervise you.”

Pinkie sniffles as she hugs Lyra in return, and asks, “And, you’ll be honest in your report?”

Lyra answers, “Well, of course.”  She then asks, “So, how long do I have to supervise you?”

At this point, Pinkie pulls away and says, “It’ll have to be a week, at least.  Hopefully just a week.”

It’s about this time that Twilight arrives, with her owl pet on her back.  Evidently seeing the conversation between Pinkie and Lyra, she approaches and asks, “is everything alright here?”

Pinkie turns to her purple unicorn friend and answers, “Everything’s fine.”  Then, seeing the owl on Twilight’s back, she asks, “So, I'm guessing you’re ready for the pet play date?”

Twilight answers, “I am once Applejack gets here.”

It’s at this time that Rarity approaches and says, “Well, if we’re going to have our pet play date, then we cannot have it so close to Carousel Boutique.  What if Mormon or Applejack should accidentally toss one of their discs over the stream so that it hits and breaks one of my windows?  Or what if Owlowiscious should fly into one of them and break it?”

Pinkie makes it clear that she takes offense, as she growls, “Hey!  Mormon’s more careful than that!”

Twilight adds, “And, Owlowiscious is agile and smart enough that he won’t damage anypony’s property.”

At this point, I decide to say, “Nonetheless, I think Rarity may have a point.  We are pretty close to the border of the park here, and there is the possibility that someone’s property could get damaged if something goes wrong.  Maybe there’s someplace further into the park where we could go and play with our pets and avoid such a possibility.”

And, it’s about the time that I finish speaking that I hear the orange earth pony say, “Well, Ah’m here.”  Then, as the attentions of the other ponies and the human turn to her, Applejack asks, “Uh, is ther’ somethin’ wrong?”

I answer, “Rarity brought up a valid concern.  If we start playing here, there’s a major possibility that someone’s property could get damaged.”

Without hesitation, Applejack says, “No problem.  Ah know a place further in the park where we c’n play without a-botherin’ anypony else.  It’s in the middle of the park, around a tree.”  She then takes a few paces forward, evidently toward the center of the park, and says, “Jes follow me.”  And, she then looks straight ahead of herself and gallops off.

Taking that as their cue, the other ponies, the dragons, and the human, as well as their pets, move to keep up with the orange earth pony.

After about a minute of running through the woods, the group emerges; and I can clearly see, through my character’s eyes, a tree in the middle of the clearing.

Presently, Scout and Winona gallop ahead of the group; and Owlowiscious flies off of Twilight’s back to either keep up with or lead the two canids.

Opalescence, Angel and Gummy also join in the race to the tree.

Owlowiscious is the first to arrive, followed by Winona and Scout.  Angel and a surprisingly agile Gummy are close behind them, followed by Opalescence.  And, it becomes clear that the tree already has an occupant, as, once the rest of the group arrives, reuniting pets with their owners, Rainbow Dash floats down from the tree, followed by Opalescence, who climbs down the tree and onto Rarity’s back.

Smiling at the blue pegasa, Rarity says, “Please, sincerest apologies if our pets were bothering you.”  She then turns to her cat again and says, in a voice one might expect her to use on a child, “Please say you’re sorry, Opal.”

The white Persian cat simply hisses and turns away in response.

Rarity smiles weakly at Rainbow Dash again and says, “She’s sorry.”

Evidently puzzled, the blue pegasa points at each member of the group with a front hoof and asks, “What’re you all doing out here?”

Applejack gallops a little past Rainbow Dash, then stops to produce a red disc from her hat as she answers, “Well, we always round up our critters for a regular old pet play date in this park every week.”  In the episode, the event is called a "pony pet play date."  But, since it includes a human with a pet, the play date is clearly for more than just ponies.

At any rate, an uncertain Rainbow Dash asks, “Uh, you do?”

I answer, “It’s not usually this far in; but yes, we come here to the park.”

Fluttershy adds, “I thought you knew.  You didn’t know?”  She then starts drawing circles in the grass under her with a front hoof as she asks, “She didn’t know?”

I slowly answer, “Well, like I said, this is the first time we've come this far into the park to have a pet play date.”  I then ask, “Uh, Rainbow Dash, do you have a pet?”

The azure pegasa scratches the back of her head with a front hoof and, smiling weakly, answers, “Uh, no, I don’t.”

And, it’s at this point that Lyra steps forward and says, “Well, you’re not the only one here without a pet.  I don’t have one, Derpy doesn’t have a pet, Topsy Turvy doesn’t have a pet, and neither does Weed Whacker.”

Rainbow Dash approaches the pale-green unicorn and asks, “So, why do you come here?”

Lyra answers, “Well, first of all, I live with Mormon.  So, I either stay at his house, or I come with him.  And, my choice is to come with him.”

The blue pegasa continues, “And, what do you do for these pet play dates?”

I notice Lyra hesitates before answering, “I just give Weed Whacker rides around the park.”

Ataahua then approaches Rainbow Dash and says, “I started giving Pinkie Pie lessons in flying just a few days ago.  I’m gonna give her another lesson hopefully today.”

Having followed her gray pegasa friend, Topsy Turvy approaches Rainbow Dash and says, “I’d be happy to take care of Pinkie Pie’s pet while Derpy here gives her another lesson in flying.”

The blue pegasa flies toward my character and restates, “So, while not everypony has a pet, everypony does have something to do for this play date, is that right?”

I answer, “That pretty much covers it, yes.”

I then hear Applejack say, “Now, if’n y’all’ll excuse us,” then tosses her disc for Winona to catch and retrieve.

I, on the other hand, can’t help noticing the look on Rainbow Dash’s face.

After a few seconds, the blue pegasa cries out, “Hey, now wait a minute!”  Now, having gotten the attention of her friends back, she continues, “Just because I don’t have a pet now doesn’t mean I never want a pet.”

With uncharacteristic enthusiasm, Fluttershy turns to her fellow pegasa and says, “Really?  Uh, you really want a pet?”  After that, I lose track of what the yellow pegasa says; as her buzzing around Rainbow Dash is so surprising I can’t help laughing about it.  But, that’s fine.  If I want to try to figure out what she says, I can always go back to the episode “May the Best Pet Win,” on which the rest of this day, as well as all of the following day, are based.

As the yellow pegasa carries the blue one off, saying something about her new pet being her best friend forever, I hear Twilight say, “Well, I guess the play date for Fluttershy’s over.”  Then, once my character turns back to her, she continues, “So, does everypony else here want to continue the play date?”

in the frame immediately following Twillight’s question, Pinkie’s right there nose-to-nose with her purple unicorn friend.  She starts bouncing as she says, “Yeah, let’s do it, let’s do it!”

And, while Applejack and Rarity don’t seem to show their pink angel pony friend’s level of enthusiasm, they still demonstrate that they’re willing to continue the date.

It’s only after my character has produced the blue disc for Scout and thrown it for him the first time that I hear Lyra say, “You know, as much as I like giving you rides, Weedy, I’d sure like to have my own pet.”

Hearing this from the pale-green unicorn, I first have my character focus on her, at which point he shows me that she's settled into a sphinx-style position, looking at the grass immediately in front of her.  Seeing this, I decide to have my character approach her.  When he stops approximately a foot away from her, I ask, “Are you alright, Lyra?”

Lyra looks up at my character and answers, “Yeah, I’m fine.”  Then, she inhales deeply, then exhales slowly.

For a moment Scout distracts my character, bringing the disc for him to throw again.

I accept the distraction long enough so that my character can take the disc from the timber wolf, then toss it as far away as he can.  Then, I have him focus on the pale-green unicorn again; and I say, “You never said anything about wanting a pet before.”

Again Lyra looks up at my character, then says, “I hadn’t thought about it until Rainbow Dash brought it up.”  She then turns away from my character again, resting her head over one of her front limbs, and says, “Now, it’s all I can think about.”

I can understand the role of peer pressure in making a decision.  I don’t know if peer pressure has anything to do with this, but it’s clear that, in spite of having Weed Whacker to take care of, my pale-green unicorn friend is still feeling lonely, and thinks that having a pet is the answer.  And, maybe it is.

But, right now, I have to think about other members of the group as well.

Pinkie Pie is getting another lesson in flight from Ataahua.

Topsy Turvy is playing with Gummy.

And, it’s clear that Weed Whacker is worried about Lyra.

In spite of Scout being back and clearly demonstrating that he wants my character to throw the disc again, I decide to focus my character's attention on the pale-green unicorn; and I say, “Well, maybe we can go visit Fluttershy after this, and you can talk to her about it.  In the mean time, I’m thinking that Weed Whacker here wants you to give her a ride or two around the park again.”  I notice Lyra looks up at my character; so, I ask, “So, will you do that until the rest of us are are ready to go?”

At this point, Lyra rises to all fours, then looks up at my character again and says, “Well, alright, Mormon.”  And, she turns to the herbivorous dinosaur and uses her magic to lift her up and put her onto her back, after which she asks, “So, where shall we go?”

I allow my character to look around at where Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity are playing with their pets, and where I’ve been throwing the blue disc for Scout.  Then, I have my character point out the places as I answer, “You can go from the tree here to the edge of the woods, then around to that corner over there, then back to the tree.  That should be safe enough fun for the both of you.”

Lyra nods and says, “Alright.  Thanks, Mormon.”  And, with that, she gallops off past the tree and toward the edge of the woods.

Seeing the pale-green unicorn active again, I have my character rise again, then toss the disc for Scout.

For a few more game hours the play date continues on this way.  Then, as the sun starts approaching the mountains, Twilight decides to call an end to the play date; and the group gathers, pets and all, and makes its way to and through the woods toward where they’d entered.  Then, once outside the woods, they cross the bridge, then make their way to the library.

There, Twilight says, “While Mormon and his friends make it back to their home, let’s everypony else go back to their homes and drop off their pets and get their books; and we’ll meet up with Mormon again at his house.  Does everypony agree?”

Applejack and Rarity each vocalize their agreement, at which point the group separates into four:  Applejack and Winona to head for Sweet Apple Acres; Rarity and Opalescence to head for Carousel Boutique; Twilight, Spike and Owlowiscious enter the library to get ready for the reading before leaving, save for Owlowiscious, who stays there; and my character and his friends to head toward the Everfree forest.

Before going into the forest proper, my character and his friends make a stop off at Fluttershy’s cottage, where I give Lyra a chance to make her request to the yellow pegasa to adopt one of her critters as a pet.

I’m really neither surprised nor disappointed when I see Fluttershy react to Lyra’s request with the same amount of enthusiasm as how she reacted to Rainbow Dash saying she wanted a pet, except that she doesn’t drag, she doesn’t have to drag, Lyra to her cottage.

When the yellow pegasa calms down from her initial reaction, she clears her throat and asks, “Now, what kind of pet do you want?”

Lyra looks at my character and grunts in curious uncertainty.

I decide to try to clarify by asking, “Do you want a bird?  A mammal?  A fish?  An amphibian? A reptile?  An arthropod?  Something like that?”

Fluttershy smiles and says, “Yeah, I suppose that’d be a good place to start.”

At this point, Lyra starts rubbing her chin with a front hoof.  After a second or two, she says, “Well, I don’t want a pet that Gummy or Scout’d try to eat, so no fish or amphibians.”  Then, as a spider tries to crawl up her other front hoof, she puts down the one she’d been using to rub her chin, recoils and emits a stifled groan of disgust, then says, “And, I’m not comfortable around bugs.  So, no arthropods.”

Evidently saddened by the pale-green unicorn’s reaction to him, the spider turns and ambles away.

At the same time, I say, “That just leaves birds, mammals, and reptiles.”

In the mean time, Fluttershy vocally empathizes with the spider, then turns to Lyra and says, “You didn’t have to be so mean to him.  He was only trying to be your friend.”

At this point, I have my character put a hand between the two ponies; and I say, “Now, let’s remember why we came here.”  I then have my character focus on the yellow pegasa as I say, “Lyra just said what kind of pet she doesn’t want.  All she needs to do now is decide what kind of pet she does want.”

Focused on my character, Fluttershy says, “You’re right, Mormon.  I’m sorry.”  She then turns to Lyra again and says, putting a front hoof on my character’s hand to lower it, “I just hate to see one of my creatures get hurt feelings.”

In response, Lyra nods and says, “Yeah, I understand.  I just prefer to have a pet with a spine and no more than four legs, that’s all.”  Then, going back to rubbing her chin with the front hoof she’d used before the spider incident, she continues, “I want a pet that’s different from what Mormon and Twilight and her friends have; so, no dog, no cat, no rabbit, no alligator, no owl, and not timber wolf.”  She then puts the hoof down again and, turning to the yellow pegasa again, asks, “Did Rainbow Dash decide what kind of pet she wanted yet?”

Fluttershy giggles quietly and answers, “No.  I showed her all the creatures that’d make good pets, and she had a difficult time choosing among a bunch of flying critters, most of them birds.  But, there’s this tortoise that still hopes she’ll adopt him.  She’s planning on holding a contest to see which pet’ll be the best for her.”

Lyra goes back to rubbing her chin as she says, “Well, I don’t want to interfere with Rainbow Dash’s contest, so whatever critters are going to compete in that contest I'm going to have to assume are already hers.”  She then groans in uncertainty before asking, “So, what am I left with?”

As a group of small, hopeful-looking mammals line up in front of the pale-green unicorn, I decide to speak up and say, “Now, I hope you don’t mind me adding some restrictions of my own.”  As Lyra and Fluttershy turn to my character, I continue, “I’m all for having a song bird around my house.  I do enjoy their singing, after all.  But, Lyra, whatever creature you choose as your pet, I just want you to know that you’ll have to keep a careful watch over it.  Fluttershy won’t like to hear this, but I’ve chased away or killed all the rodents that have invaded my turf.”

I’m really not surprised at all when Fluttershy, after hearing my last statement, covers her mouth with a front hoof, shakes her head, and sniffles harshly.

I add, focusing my character’s attention on Lyra, “There are rodents that humans keep as pets, including mice and rats.  But, as for me, if you want a rodent as a pet, and want it to have its freedom, then the best choice is a Guinea pig or something larger.”

Presently I hear scurrying sounds; and, when I look back at the gathering in front of my pale-green unicorn friend, I see that, indeed, the group has shrunk, with the smaller rodents having left.

At this point, Fluttershy whimpers, “Well, at least Mormon warned us.”

Lyra responds by grunting in uncertainty, then clearing her throat, then saying, “Yeah, you’re right about that.”  Then, looking at the remaining creatures, she says, “So, this is what I have to choose from.”  And, the first one she approaches and sniffs is a raccoon.

Seeing this, I speak up and say, “From what I understand, raccoons are really smart.  A creature that can easily learn how to live around other creatures, such as humans, ponies, alligators, and timber wolves, would have the best chance of becoming part of the family.”

I can’t help noticing the raccoon looks up at my character, and seems to smile at him.

Then, Lyra responds by saying, “So, there’s promise for the raccoon.”  Next, she approaches a ferret and sniffs it.  She then takes a step back and groans in disgust, then says, “I’m sorry, but I can’t have a pet that smells like … that.”  Then, as the dejected ferret wanders off, the pale-green unicorn approaches the next creature in line, a beaver, and sniffs at it.

Now, I speak up and say, “I’ve never had a beaver as a pet.  I don’t doubt it’d be willing to fish from my pond.  I just wonder if a beaver could share with a human and a toothless alligator.”

At this point, Lyra, focused on the beaver, tilts her head and asks, “Well?”

The beaver tilts its head in response and chatters for a second.

Now, Fluttershy says, “He wants to know what you mean by 'share,' Mormon.”

I open my mouth to answer, but Pinkie Pie steps in front of my character and answers, “Mormon, here, fishes from a pond on his property every once in a while to catch a fish from there and eat it.  And, Gummy catches and eats a fish from there on a daily basis.”

I add, “I’m not suggesting you give me and/or Gummy a piece of any fish you choose to catch, I’m just wondering if you’d be willing to take only what you can eat for one meal from the pond, and leave plenty for all of us.”

The beaver marches up to my character, chattering furiously the entire time.  He continues chattering after stopping maybe a few inches from my character, in front of him, then concludes his chattering a second later by slapping his tail on the ground behind him.

A few seconds later, Fluttershy, who has evidently taken a half step back in surprise from the beaver’s tirade, puts her hoof down again, then takes a moment to clear her throat before saying, “Uh, Mr. Beaver says you must not know much about beavers, or you wouldn’t be accusing him of being greedy.”

I decide to have my character kneel down on one knee before I say, “You’re right, I really don’t know anything about beavers.  If I accused you of being something you’re not, or suggested as much, then I’m sorry.  If Lyra chooses you to be her pet, then I’ll be willing to learn more about you.  I might make this mistake again, I may make all new mistakes.  But, that doesn’t mean I’d be against you becoming part of the family.”

I must admit, I’m surprised when the beaver approaches my character, after I’ve spoken, climbs up one of his legs, then stands on his knee and sniffs at him.  Then, afterwards, he turns and jumps off of my character’s leg and gallops back to the group in front of Lyra.

In the mean time, if I’m not mistaken, Topsy Turvy seems to be comforting the ferret that Lyra rejected.

I think I also see Weed Whacker playing with what could either be a mount horn lizard or a bearded dragon.

Back to Lyra and Fluttershy, as the beaver returns to his place in the group in front of the pale-green unicorn, she sniffs at a few more creatures before returning to the beaver and saying, “I believe I’ve decided which one I want as a pet.”  And, with that, she nuzzles the beaver.

As the rest of the creatures disperse, I notice that Topsy Turvy ambles toward the yellow pegasa and asks, “Uh, Fluttershy, may I have this ferret as a pet?”

Fluttershy smiles as she answers, “Well, as long as Mormon agrees, yes, you may.”

I state, “I’ve had ferrets as pets before.  They’re carnivores, so if they eat plants or plant parts at all, it’ll be extremely rare.”

Fluttershy then turns to the pale-green unicorn and asks, “And, you’ve decided on Mr. Beaver as your pet, Lyra?”

The pale-green unicorn stops nuzzling the beaver long enough to grunt to Fluttershy in affirmation.

The yellow pegasa turns to my dinosaur friend and asks, “And, Weed Whacker, it looks like you want to have the mount horn lizard you’re playing with as a pet?”

My observation about mount horn lizards and bearded dragons is that perhaps the only difference between them is their geographical origins.  Mount horn lizards are native to American deserts, while bearded dragons are native to Australia.  From what I’ve seen of them, their shapes and colors are extremely similar.

At any rate, Weed Whacker answers, “If it’s alright with Mormon, then sure.”

As the attention of the dinosaur and the yellow pegasa are directed toward my character, I say, “Well, just so long as Gummy doesn’t try to eat him, I have no problems with it.”

Now, my character automatically shifts his attention to the green, toothless alligator hatchling on Pinkie’s back, and I notice his tongue is hanging out of his open mouth; and he seems to be frowning with his eyes.  Is he expressing disgust at my suggestion?

Then, I notice Pinkie Pie turn to look at me and nod her head.  I can only assume I have my answer.

Then, Ataahua trots toward her fellow pegasa and asks, “Uh, Fluttershy, may I have the raccoon as my pet?”

At the gray pegasa’s question, the raccoon gallops up to her, then rises on its hind legs, apparently clasps its front paws together, and starts chattering excitedly.  She then turns to the yellow pegasa and chatters some more.

In the mean time, Fluttershy, after emitting a giggle at the raccoon’s behavior, answers, “Well, Derpy, like Weed Whacker said, if it’s alright with Mormon, then it’s alright with me.”

As the two pegasae turn to my character again, I have my character focus on Ataahua; and I say, ”Well, the raccoon’s going to be your responsibility.  As long as you’re willing to accept that responsibility, sure, you can have the raccoon as your pet.”

At my response, the gray pegasa and the raccoon look and smile at each other; and, while Ataahua proceeds to nuzzle the raccoon, the raccoon proceeds to hug Ataahua’s face.

I then have my character focus on the yellow pegasa, and I say, “I came here because Lyra wanted a pet.  I guess I wasn’t aware that Weed Whacker, Topsy Turvy, and Derpy also wanted pets.”

The yellow pegasa covers her mouth with the joint of a front hoof and giggles, then puts the hoof down again and says, “Yeah, when a group comes, and just one of them wants a pet, everypony else in the group starts playing with a critter; and, soon enough, everypony in the group has a pet.”  And, again she covers her mouth with the joint of a front hoof and giggles.

I wonder aloud, “Have there been any returns of pets?”

I can only guess that I’ve said something wrong again, as Fluttershy looks toward the ground.  When I’m about to ask if she’s alright, she answers, “Uh, unfortunately, every now and then, a pony comes back with a pet he or she chose, and, for some reason or other, decided he or she doesn’t want a pet after all.”

I respond, “Probably because they realize a pet is more responsibility than they can handle, or because they’re not allowed to have a pet, or something like that.”

Fluttershy sighs before saying, “Yeah, those are the most frequent reasons.  Some ponies drop off injured pets, then never come back for them.”

Kind of interesting how my character, in his position of kneeling on one knee, can still manage to walk.  He takes two steps toward Fluttershy and strokes her mane; and I say, “Well, I’ll see to it that my friends take good care of their pets.  After all, I have a pet to take care of, too; although, he seems to have no problems taking care of himself.  So, I can only assume he has a reliable source of food and water.”

Now, the yellow pegasa looks up at my character, smiles, and says, “Well, when it comes to the trees and other sources of food you have on your property, your pets should have plenty to eat.  And, if your pond is fresh water, then they should have plenty to drink, too.”

I respond, “I suppose so.”

Then, from behind my character, I hear Twilight’s voice call out, “Mormon, I thought you’d be at your home by now!”

My character turns and instantly focuses on the purple unicorn, after which I say, “Yeah, Lyra wanted to get a pet.  And, as it turns out, Weed Whacker, Topsy Turvy, and Derpy also got pets.”

Twilight calls out in response, “Well, if you’re finished there, then let’s get going to your house!  We’re looking forward to tonight’s reading!”

I have my character turn his attention to each of his friends; and I notice that the ponies each have her pet on her back; while Weed Whacker has her pet on her head.  I ask, “So, are you ready to go home now?”

I get, for a response, staggered variations of “Yes.”  And, even Fluttershy takes maybe a minute to disappear into her cottage, then reappear with her copy of the Book of Mormon in her mouth, before joining the group heading toward my character’s house.

With everyone evidently ready, I have my character lead the group to and across the bridge, then, with Twilight and the friends that have joined her, on into and through the Everfree forest.

As soon as the group reaches my character’s house, my character and those living with him immediately go to work harvesting fruits and vegetables; and, reluctantly, Ataahua agrees that making muffins this time around would take too much time; so, she and Topsy Turvy, at least for the purposes of the time constraints, agree to not harvest oats for muffins for the reading.

On the other hand, hoof, whatever, Twilight and the other element bearers eagerly help with the preparation of snacks for the reading.  And, even the pets of Ataahua, Lyra, and Topsy Turvy prove to be willing and able assistants in the preparation.

When the snacks are ready for the reading, it’s Twilight, Lyra, and Rarity who, using their combined magic, take the snack platter from the front room to the front lawn, while my character retrieves the TV tray from his work room and puts it on the lawn for a place for the snack tray.

And, it’s about this time that Princesses Celestia and Luna arrive, each with their copies of the Book of Mormon.

While the readers gather around the snack tray, forming a circle, I have a look through the chapter.  Aloud, I make the observation, "It looks like chapter twenty-seven in the Book of Mosiah has thirty-seven verses in it.  Each can read at least two verses just from the one chapter."  Then, as my character looks up and sees that ponies and dragons have produced their copies of the book and turned to the right page, I have my character focus on the nighttime princess; and I ask, "Princess Luna, will you begin the reading with verse one?"

The nighttime alicorn smiles and nods to my character in agreement and affirmation, then looks down and reads, "And now it came to pass that the persecutions which were inflicted on the church by the unbelievers became so great that the church began to murmur, and complain to their leaders concerning the matter; and they did complain to Alma.  And Alma laid the case before their king, Mosiah.  And Mosiah consulted with his priests."

Princess Celestia then reads, "And it came to pass that king Mosiah sent a proclamation throughout the land round about that there should not any unbeliever persecute any of those who belonged to the church of God."  She then looks up and says, "A reasonable proclamation."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And there was a strict command throughout all the churches that there should be no persecutions among them, that there should be an equality among all men;"

Pinkie Pie reads, "That they should let no pride nor haughtiness disturb their peace; that every man should esteem his neighbor as himself, laboring with their own hands for their support."  She then looks up and says, "Much like Mormon's been doing with us."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Yea, and all their priests and teachers should labor with their own hands for their support, in all cases save it were in sickness, or in much want; and doing these things, they did abound in the grace of God."  She then looks up and says, "I'm guessing this means they were outlawing priestcraft."

Spike reads, "And there began to be much peace again in the land; and the people began to be very numerous, and began to scatter abroad upon the face of the earth, yea, on the north and on the south, on the east and on the west, building large cities and villages in all quarters of the land."

Rarity reads, "And the Lord did visit them and prosper them, and they became a large and wealthy people."  She then looks up and says, "I'm guessing by 'large' this writer means 'numerous.'"

Applejack reads, "Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an idolatrous man.  And he was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities."  She then looks up and says, "Ah remember a few days ago, Mormon, you talked 'bout how the sons of Mosiah were the instigators of the movement agin the church."

I respond, "Well, the fact of the matter is that, while the sons of Mosiah and this Alma Junior were mentioned specifically here, it could be because they were the instigators.  It could also mean that they were simply symbols of the movement, or were mentioned because they were sons of leaders.  Let's read more about them."

Fluttershy nods, then looks down and reads, "And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them."

Lyra reads, "And now it came to pass that while he was going about to destroy the church of God, for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king—"

Ataahua reads, "And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;"

I read, "And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them."  I then state, "It's not every evildoer that gets a visit from an angel telling him or her to knock it off."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Nevertheless he cried again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God?  For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people."

Weed Whacker reads, "And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith."

Princess Luna reads, "And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God?  For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth?  And can ye not also behold me before you?  And I am sent from God."

Princess Celestia reads, "Now I say unto thee: Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam, and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he has done for them; for they were in bondage, and he has delivered them.  And now I say unto thee, Alma, go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered, and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off."  She then looks up and asks, "What does this mean, 'even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off'?"

My character automatically focuses on the daytime princess, and I answer, "If you'll remember in the fourth chapter of the First Book of Nephi, Nephi was taught that it's better for one man to be destroyed than that a whole nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.  Here, we have something of a variation of that principle.

"Alma Junior and the sons of Mosiah have been going about to destroy the church that Alma Senior set up, following God's commandments.  Now, an angel is telling them to stop what they're doing.  And, Alma is specifically being told that if he wants to be destroyed, or cast off, it's better that it just be him than that the whole church be lost.

"There are going to be examples of entire cities of wicked people being destroyed while a few of the citizens, the righteous of them, are saved.  And, I have to wonder if those are cases where one person living in each of those cities lead them to their destruction.  If so, then it's a demonstration of the principle that Nephi was taught, at least the negative end of it."

Seeing that Princess Celestia seems satisfied with my answer, Rainbow Dash reads, "And now it came to pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma, and he departed."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And now Alma and those that were with him fell again to the earth, for great was their astonishment; for with their own eyes they had beheld an angel of the Lord; and his voice was as thunder, which shook the earth; and they knew that there was nothing save the power of God that could shake the earth and cause it to tremble as though it would part asunder."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father."

Spike reads, "And they rehearsed unto his father all that had happened unto them; and his father rejoiced, for he knew that it was the power of God."  He then looks up and, in confusion, grunts, "He was happy that his son was struck dumb and motionless?  That doesn't sound very nice."

I decide to answer, "Alma Senior wasn't happy because his son was struck dumb and motionless.  He was happy because an angel from God had let his son know that what he'd been doing wasn't what he was supposed to be doing, that his son had been called to repentance."

Rarity reads, "And he caused that a multitude should be gathered together that they might witness what the Lord had done for his son, and also for those that were with him."

Applejack reads, "And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength—that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God."

Fluttershy reads, "And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength, and he stood up and began to speak unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort:"

At this point, I speak up and say, "We'll find out what Alma Junior went through when he gives his account in the Book of Alma.  But, for now, suffice it to say that this experience had a profound effect on him."

Lyra looks up and says, "Well, he was unconscious for two days and two nights; so, it must've been quite the experience."  She then looks down and reads, "For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit."

Ataahua reads, "And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;"

I read, "And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God."  I then have my character focus on Lyra, and I say, "Actually, the effect goes deeper than just him being unconscious for that period of time.  But, like I said, we'll have to wait until his account in the Book of Alma to learn the details about it."

Topsy Turvy reads, "I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off."

Weed Whacker reads, "Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God."  She then looks up and says, "Here, he talks about almost dying repenting, and being snatched from an everlasting burning.  I'm guessing this happened while he was unconscious.  Now, that was quite the experience."

Princess Luna reads, "My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.  I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God.  My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more."

Princess Celestia reads, "I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all."

Rainbow Dash reads, "Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him.  Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; then shall they confess, who live without God in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his all-searching eye."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And now it came to pass that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, and those who were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them, traveling round about through all the land, publishing to all the people the things which they had heard and seen, and preaching the word of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many of them."  She then looks up and says, "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those unbelievers had known Alma Junior before the visit from the angel.  And, knowing him then, it would likely be very difficult for them to accept him after he'd been converted."

I respond, "That may be the case.  But, Alma still put forth the effort to preach to them after his conversion.  No doubt, this was part of his repentance process."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "But notwithstanding all this, they did impart much consolation to the church, confirming their faith, and exhorting them with long-suffering and much travail to keep the commandments of God."

Spike reads, "And four of them were the sons of Mosiah; and their names were Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni; these were the names of the sons of Mosiah."

Rarity reads, "And they traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, confessing all their sins, and publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them."

Applejack reads, "And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer."

Fluttershy reads, "And how blessed are they!  For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth."  Grunting with interest, she looks up and says, "I'm guessing that the Mormon writing about these young men, Alma, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni, must've thought that, to Isaiah anyway, their feet must've been very beautiful on the mountains."

With my character focused on the yellow pegasa, I state, "Based on what's written here, they did qualify."  I then have my character stand up, and I add, "Later on, we'll learn that the sons of Mosiah, after preaching to the Nephites, weren't satisfied with that; and, with the blessings of their religious and political leaders, they went to preach to the Lamanites next.  But, that's a story for another time.  For right now, I think we should call an end to this reading.  Thank you for your attendance, and I hope to see you tomorrow.  In the mean time, those of you returning to your homes, I hope you have a safe trip."

At my dismissal, the ponies, dragons, and human gather in two groups.

The element bearers and Spike, lead by Pinkie Pie, make their way to the front gate, where Pinkie Pie bids each one of the other element bearers, as well as Spike, farewell.  Then, she waits until the group of six disappear into the Everfree before closing the gate again and returning to a position next to my character.

At this point, Princess Celestia looks at the remaining group and asks, “So, how many of you want to come with Mormon and Topsy Turvy to Canterlot Castle?”

I’m really not surprised to hear Pinkie Pie, Ataahua, Lyra, and Weed Whacker each volunteer to come with my character and Topsy Turvy to see the pink earth mare take care of her father.  But, whether I should be or not, I am surprised to see the new pets of Lyra, Weed Whacker, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy approach and, in their own ways, volunteer to join the ponies and dinosaur.

The four new owners then turn to their pets and tell them that they should stay “here at Mormon’s house,” that they won’t be gone for very long, and that Scout and Gummy will look after them.

Now, I don’t know about anyone else; but, if I were in the position of the new pets, I don’t know that I’d consider the possibility of being cared for by a wooden dog and a toothless lizard all that encouraging.  So, I’m not all that surprised when the new pets beg for another minute or two before they give up and take their positions on the front porch with Scout.

With that matter evidently settled, the remaining ponies, the dinosaur, and the human gather on the lawn; and Princesses Celestia and Luna close their eyes and bow their heads; and their horns start to glow and sparkle.

One frame later, the group is in the Canterlot Castle garden in front of Discord’s statue.

As Princess Luna trots toward the castle to get Grounds Keeper and the cleaning supplies, Princess Celestia trots off toward the hedge maze, requesting that I join her.

My character automatically follows the daytime princess in; and, once the human and the white alicorn are far enough in that they’re hidden from the rest of the group, Princess Celestia turns to my character and says, “Now, this time, I first want a report about what you’ve learned about cutie pox.”

Since this is my back story about the apparent affliction, I decide to report, “Well, based on my sources, I’ve learned that the first instance actually involved a group of ponies that used the Heart’s Desire flower to get their cutie marks.  But, there was an unexpected side effect, in that, while each pony did get a cutie mark, the Heart’s Desire didn’t stop there.  As the ponies demonstrated the talent symbolized by their individual marks, they each got another cutie mark, which meant they had another talent to demonstrate.  The peer pressure of the ponies around them to demonstrate the new talent overcame the good judgment of the ponies with the second marks, and they started demonstrating the new talents associated with the new marks, along with their first ones.

“It wouldn’t be for another few hours, in fact during the night, when the next mark to appear on them would force them each to demonstrate a third talent.  And, as long as the ponies demonstrated the new talents represented by each new cutie mark, the Heart’s Desire would keep giving them new cutie marks, and new talents to demonstrate.  But, not only that, all the marks would act on the ponies, instead of the ponies acting on the marks.  Evidently, because other ponies weren’t aware of what those ponies had done to get those random marks, they saw it as some sort of disease, which they called cutie pox.”

Princess Celestia rubs her chin with a front hoof and grunts with interest before saying, “Considering the reports from Applejack and her little sister Applebloom, that makes a lot of sense.”  She then puts the hoof down again and asks, “So, Mormon, what’s the cure for cutie pox?”

I answer, “There’s a flower closely related to the Heart’s Desire, called the Flower of Truth.  If someone plants the Seeds of Truth, and an afflicted pony confesses that he or she had not earned his or her cutie marks but got them from the Heart’s Desire flower, then the seeds would sprout and blossom into the flower; and all the afflicted pony had to do after that was eat the flower in order to be cured.”

At this point, the daytime princess smiles and says, “Thank you, Mormon, for solving this mystery for me.  There have been no recorded deaths from this mysterious illness.  But, thanks to you, it’s no longer a mystery.”  She pauses for a moment before adding, "Also, thanks for answering my question during the reading.  Since I'd read that part about the angel telling Alma to stop destroying the church even if he wanted to be cast off himself, I'd wondered what that meant."  She then asks, “Now, do you have any new information about Lyra?  Have you learned anything new about unicorns from her?”

I answer, “Well, I don’t know if this is something new or not, but I learned today that she wanted, or has been wanting, a pet.”

I notice that Princess Celestia grunts in affirmation before saying, “I have noticed some new animals at your house.  I’m guessing one of them is Lyra’s?”

I answer, “We visited Fluttershy’s cottage on the way back to my home, and there Lyra decided on what kind of pet she’d want.  She decided on the beaver.”

The daytime princess then asks, “And, what about the other creatures I saw?”

I answer, “Lyra’d rejected the ferret because of its scent, so Topsy Turvy decided she wanted that one as a pet.  While the raccoon was still in consideration because of some observations I’d made, Derpy decided to keep it as a pet after Lyra chose the beaver.  And, Weed Whacker got to keep the mount horn lizard as a pet after Fluttershy observed her playing with it for a while.”

The white alicorn observes, “So, that means everypony at your house has a pet then.”

I reply, “Only the pets have no pets, unless you want to consider them owning their owners.”

The daytime alicorn chuckles for a second before saying, “Well, if I consider that, then I have to consider Philomena owning me.”  And she chuckles some more.

I force a chuckle of my own before I say, “Yeah, just a thought.”

I still hear Princess Celestia smile as she says, “Well, the need to care for another creature isn’t strictly a human trait.  As you’ve seen, even ponies have a need to take care of each other, or even a creature that isn’t a pony.”

I state, “Well, considering that I’ve seen almost all of the element bearers with pets, and even you with your own pet, that doesn’t surprise me.  And, after all, why should it just be humans that want to take care of each other?  Why shouldn’t other creatures have that survival instinct as well?”

The white princess nods and says, “Exactly.”  Then, she asks, “And, on the subject of Derpy, has she taken the opportunity to teach Pinkie Pie more about flying?”

I answer, “Well, as a matter of fact, she did give Pinkie another lesson during the pet play date.  And, based on what I’ve seen, I’d say the lesson was successful.”

The white alicorn grunts in agreement, then asks, “And, any idea what that lesson was?”

I slowly answer, “Well, actually, I didn’t take the opportunity to ask.  But, based on what I’ve seen, I’m guessing it wasn’t her lesson on hitting objects without getting hurt.”

Princess Celestia says, “Well, based on what I’ve seen, she seemed to be enlisting the help of other pegasi to teach Pinkie Pie how to dodge moving objects.  And, she picked up on that lesson really well, really quickly.  And, from what I’ve seen, Rainbow Dash has yet to learn how to hit things like walls or mountains or even the ground without getting hurt.  If Pinkie Pie can learn that, maybe she can teach it to Rainbow Dash.”

I state, “Well, I wouldn’t put it past Pinkie Pie.  She is a good student.  I just hope that Rainbow Dash will be receptive to such a lesson.”

The daytime princess agrees, “I hope so as well.  If Rainbow Dash can’t, I fear she’ll hit something hard and break a bone or two.”  She then asks, “So, anything else you’d like to report?”

I pause for a moment before saying, “You know, there’s one thing I’ve observed in Pinkie Pie, at least, that reminds me of my own observations and experiences when it comes to humans.”

The white alicorn asks, “And, what’s that?”

I answer, “Well, I won’t get into any details, because I think that should be for Pinkie Pie to report.  But, I have observed that a guilty conscience can be as troubling to a pony as it can be to a human.  Suffice it to say, from me anyway, that Pinkie Pie did something wrong yesterday.  Today, she was going to get it taken care of; when, after Applejack planted those Seeds of Truth reserved for Applebloom and demanded that someone tell the truth, she ended up blurting out what she’d done wrong from the doorway of Sugar Cube Corner.”

Princess Celestia says, “The suggestion is that Pinkie Pie had lied about something.  And, I’m guessing she’s on the course toward making up for her mistake.”

I answer, “She and the Cakes had a discussion about it; and, yes, she is making up for her mistake.”

At this point, the daytime princess nods and smiles, then says, “Well, if there’s nothing more that you want to report, then I think we should return to the others.  Topsy Turvy should just about be done taking care of Discord by now.”  And, with that, she turns toward the entrance to the hedge maze and canters past my character.

This time, my character automatically waits for the white alicorn to pass before following her out of the maze.

When the human and the daytime alicorn make it back to the group in front of Discord’s statue, indeed Topsy Turvy has finished cleaning it, and is nearly finished with her song.  After a few seconds, when she’s finished singing, and once again wishes that her father won't remain a statue for another thousand years; Grounds Keeper takes the cleaning supplies and, following Princess Luna, returns to the castle.

In the mean time, my character and friends gather around Princess Celestia, who bows her head and closes her eyes, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.  And, one frame later, the group of seven are back on my character’s front lawn.

As the ponies and dinosaur take positions in front of the steps, Princess Celestia opens her eyes and, looking at my character, says, “Now, you have another busy day tomorrow.  Be sure to get plenty of rest before then.”  And, with that, she disappears.

Then, from behind my character, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Well, let’s get to work harvesting food for dinner.”  And, before my character can focus on her, I see her gallop past him on her way to the orchard.

I have my character turn to focus on the other ponies and the dinosaur, but they’re also ready to take action.  By the time my character has turned to them, they’re already on their way to the vineyard, the vegetable garden, or the grain field.  So, I decide to have my character follow Pinkie Pie into the orchard.

By the time my character’s gotten there, Diane has already taken control of Pinkie Pie and chosen an apple tree to buck apples from.  So, I have my character make his way to the plum tree to pick half a dozen plums from it, plus one for Ataahua for her muffins.

As my character harvests plums, I hear Diane say, “At least one of the new pets is capable of eating plants as well as meat.  Perhaps we should harvest at least one extra fruit for those that can eat them.”

I don’t know much about mount horn lizards.  If they are as closely related to the Australian bearded dragons as I think they are, then maybe they can also eat plants as well as insects.  And, maybe raccoons can eat plants as well.  From what I understand, there are several rodents that can eat both plants and meat; and I think beavers are among those.  But, if I understand correctly, ferrets are strict carnivores.  So, Topsy Turvy’s pet will likely have to go fishing at the pond or hunting in the forest for his food.  In the mean time, Diane may be right; and it’ll be a good idea to harvest at least one extra fruit for the new pets that can eat fruit.

I suppose I’ve gotten so lost in thought that I needed to hear Diane say, “Mormon, that’ll be one too many.”

My character freezes in place, but still turns his head to focus on the pink angel pony.  Then, when he turns to the number of plums he’s holding, I notice he’s holding eight plums in one of his arms.  When my character looks up again, I notice him holding one more plum, ready to pluck it from its branch on the tree.  I have him release his grasp on the fruit, then turn back to Diane; and I say, “I guess you’re right.  I was lost in thought, and I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.”  Then, as my character drops the hand back to his side, I ask, “So, Diane, have you gotten any extra apples for the new pets?”

Diane nods, then answers, “Pinkamena and I have agreed that one extra apple for the new pets should be enough, along with what extra fruits and vegetables everypony else has harvested for them.  I shall return control of Pinkie Pie to Pinkamena, and she will gather up the apples in her mane.  Then, we will return to the front door.”  And, before I can answer, Pinkie’s mane and tail curl; and she trots, no bounces, over to the fallen apples, gathers them up, and hangs them in her mane.  Then, when she’s done, she turns to my character and says, “Let’s go back to your house now.”  and, she bounces to and over the fence.

My character follows after her, and the two meet the rest of the ponies and the dinosaur on the front porch.  Then, my character opens the door to allow the ponies and the dinosaur to enter.

It’s Lyra who trots ahead of the group and opens the kitchen door with her magic to allow the rest of the group to enter.

In the mean time, as I wait for the rest of the group to enter, I can’t help noticing that Lyra, Weed Whacker, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy have been reunited with their new pets.  As Weed Whacker, the last in line, and her new pet, enter, I can’t help wondering if the new pets are going to help with the preparation of the food.  Such assistance would be welcome.

And, indeed, as my character follows the herbivorous dinosaur inside, closing the door behind him, then follows the group into the kitchen, I notice the new pets have taken their positions next to their owners, and are ready to help them.

As my character donates a plum to Ataahua for her muffins, I find I can’t help chuckling to myself as I watch her raccoon and Topsy Turvy’s ferret handle the fruits and vegetables much the way I’d expect small-handed monkeys to handle them.

Lyra’s beaver handles the fruits and vegetables with somewhat better dexterity, but such a small creature as Weed Whacker’s mount horn lizard seems at a loss on how to handle fruits and vegetables larger than itself.  My character is still the best at distributing the fruits and vegetables among the ponies, but the new pets put in their best effort.

When dinner is finally ready, the group of ten gather in the front room; and, the new pets and their owners share positions on the couches and enjoy their meal together.  That is, all except for the ferret, who waits at the front door.

It takes me a moment to realize that he’s waiting to get his own food before I have my character rise and open the door for him.

At any rate, while the group enjoys their food, I bring up the matter of names for the new pets.

The first to react is Ataahua, who nuzzles her raccoon pet and says, “I wonder what kind of name would work best for my friend here.”

I think aloud, “As far as I know, the Maori have never heard of raccoons, so they have no word for them.  But, there’s one feature the raccoon has that distinguishes them from other creatures, at least as far as humans are concerned.  The black coloring around and between their eyes looks to humans, at least where I come from, like it’s wearing a mask.  And, the Maori have a couple terms that mean mask.”

Ataahua holds out a front hoof toward my character and says, “Yeah, that’s all well and good.  But, you’re right.  My raccoon friend does look like he’s wearing a mask over his eyes."  She then puts the hoof down again as she continues, "And, you know, maybe I can give him a name that fits that.”  Then, after pausing to hum in uncertainty, she asks, “I wonder, is there a job that might require somepony to wear a mask, maybe a job that requires stealth?”

Presently, Pinkie Pie speaks up and answers, “Well, there’s the spy.”

Now, as the gray pegasa turns back to her new pet, she grunts in interest.  After a few seconds, she asks the raccoon, “So, what do you think?  Would you like to have 'Spy' as your name?”

The raccoon takes a moment to scratch under his chin with a front paw, evidently pondering over the name.  Then, he puts the front paw under him again, smiles at Ataahua, and, chattering, nods vigorously.

Ataahua chuckles happily and says, “Alright, then, I’ll call you Spy from now on.”

In the mean time, it seems that Weed Whacker has been thinking about a name for her new pet.  With the mystery of a name for Ataahua’s raccoon pet solved, the herbivorous dinosaur says, “I’ve been thinking of names I could give my new pet, but none of them work for me.”  She then looks up at my character and asks, “Do the Maori have a word for ‘dragon’?”

I answer, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Maori word, ‘tarakona,’ is an adaptation of the English word ‘dragon.’  Why do you ask?  Would you like to name your pet that?”

Weed Whacker repeats the word, ‘tarakona,’ over a few times, each time seeming to take more of an interest in the word as a name.  Then, she looks up at my character and answers, “You know, I think I would like that name for my pet.  Alright, I’ll call my pet Tarakona from now on.”

Then, Lyra, nuzzling her pet beaver, says, “I’m guessing they don’t have beavers in New Zealand.”

I respond, “Not that I’ve ever seen or heard of, no.”

For a while Lyra looks at her pet and hums in a tone that almost sounds to me like disappointment.  Then, after a minute, she turns back to my character and asks, “What was the name of that one Nephite?  He was a priest of a bad king.  He believed the words of a prophet, then lead a group of other Nephites to a new land, where they worked really hard to build a life for themselves.  Do you remember that Nephite’s name?”

Instantly the name comes to mind, so I say, “I’m guessing you’re thinking of Alma.”

Presently, Lyra nods and says, “Yeah, that’s the one, Alma.”  She then turns to her beaver pet and, tilting her head, asks, “Would you like to be called Alma?”

Evidently the name appeals to the beaver, as he immediately nods vigorously and chatters in excitement.

And, it’s about this time that Topsy Turvy’s pet ferret comes in with a fish in his mouth.

Seeing this, Topsy Turvy says, “I think I’ll call you Fisher.”

The ferret rises up onto his hind legs and looks around, evidently unsure about what’s just happened.

At this point, I say, “I guess that means that all the pets have names, then.  If there’s nothing else, then let’s finish our dinner so we can get to bed.  Like Princess Celestia said, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”

If anything further is said, I lose track of it as the group finishes the dinner, then cleans up the remnants, then separates to their individual rooms.

That is, all except for Pinkie Pie, who asks me if she can follow my character into his room.

In agreement, first allowing Lyra, Weed Whacker, and their new pets to pass by, I have my character open his door for the pink angel pony, who trots in and to my character’s bed, then jumps up onto it.  She then spins a hundred eighty degrees so she’s facing my character again, and settles down into a sphinx-style position and allows her front hooves to dangle off the side of the bed.  Then, after my character closes the door to his room, and while he’s walking toward her, she says, “You were right.  I did get a chance to talk to the Cakes about the lie I’d told after all.”

I respond, as my character kneels on one knee next to Pinkie Pie, “True, although I guess you could’ve waited until it was just you and me and the Cakes before you said anything about it.”

Pinkie Pie grimaces, then smiles and chuckles nervously before saying, “Yeah, I guess I didn’t realize just how much that lie had been bothering me.”

I have my character reach out and stroke the angel pony’s mane, and I say, “But, now you’ve got a plan on how to get back on their good side.”

Now, the pink angel pony’s smile becomes more genuine as she says, “Yeah.  Thank you for helping me with that.  You were right.  The Cakes still want to keep me as an employee, and just want to know they can trust me again.”  And, with that, she rises to all fours again, then hops up on her hind legs, takes a step or two toward my character, and lands on him, giving him a hug, which my character returns.  Then, when they separate, she says, “Well, I’ll head to my room now.”  And, she hops off of my character’s bed and toward the door.

My character follows her there, then opens the door for her.  Then, as soon as she’s fully in the hallway, he closes the door behind her.  Then, he prepares for and goes to bed.

If this day is any indication of what the game’s tomorrow is going to be like, then indeed it’s going to be another busy one.  And, I’m looking forward to it.  So, until the next time I play, I save and close the game.

Chapter 8: A Mascot for Loyalty

After starting the game, I resume my second playthrough to find my character being awakened to the voice of Pinkie Pie calling out, “Mormon, wake up!  I wanna get to town to see which pet Dashie’s gonna choose!”

I think Pinkie Pie already knows, as I do, which of Fluttershy's creatures the rainbow-haired pegasa's going to choose as her pet.  Still, I remember how much fun it is to watch events unfold, at least in the episodes of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, particularly the episode on which this and the previous day are based, “May the Best Pet Win.”  I know what kinds of obstacles and tests Rainbow Dash is going to put the candidates through, but I also expect the process to be as much fun to watch in the setting of this video game as it is to watch in the episode.

As my character rises from his bed and approaches his bedroom door, I call out, “I’m up, I’m up!”

Then, as my character opens his bedroom door and sees the pink angel pony in the hallway, she says, “We’ve already gotten breakfast ready, so all we have to do is eat.  Then, we can go to Ponyville and see what Dashie’s got in store for those critters that wanna be her pet.”  And, with that, she turns and heads into the kitchen, then waits for my character at the door to the front room.

My character follows the eager angel pony, who immediately opens the door, then holds it open for him.  And, based on what she said, I’m not surprised to see the other three ponies and the dinosaur around the coffee table.

What I do find interesting is that Lyra looks different somehow.  If I’m not mistaken, her horn is longer; and she’s grown in size, although she seems more ... skinny?

As my character takes a spot next to the mint-colored unicorn, I mention, “Lyra, you look different today.”

The pale-green unicorn levitates a piece of carrot from the coffee table to her mouth, but stops it before she can take a bite, at which point she says, “Thanks for noticing.  I believe I have earth pony powers now.  It must be from working out in the garden the way I have.”

I smile as I say, “Well, if you need advice on how to handle these powers, you have Pinkie Pie or Topsy Turvy to turn to for advice.  Or, you can wait until you get into town, and there’ll be other earth ponies that can help you.”

Lyra smiles back at my character and says, “Thanks for the advice.  I know I’m good at harvesting fruits.  Maybe there’s something else I can do with these new powers.  I look forward to finding out.”

At this point, Pinkie Pie, who took a position next to Lyra and has just finished eating a slice of apple, raises a front hoof and offers a suggestion that everyone there should bring their own pets along, then invites the rest of the group to vote on the motion; and, in the mean time, my character chooses a fruit, an apple, from the pile and starts eating it.

During breakfast, everyone, including me, agree to Pinkie's proposal to bring their pets with them to the tests and trials that Rainbow Dash will be putting her candidates through.  Whether it’ll be fun for them or not, I’m sure it’ll be interesting for me, at least, to watch.  And, I’m sure it’ll be fun for Pinkie Pie, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, Lyra, and Weed Whacker to watch, as well.  Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if, as soon as the group gets into town, Lyra will want to visit Bon-bon, her earth pony friend, as soon as possible.

Once breakfast is over and cleaned up, the group head out, with their pets, through the front gate, on through the Everfree forest and into Ponyville.

I’m not surprised that, as soon as the group has entered town, Lyra turns to my character and asks if she can go find her friend, Bon-bon.

I agree to follow her to where her friend lives in town, while I leave my pet timber wolf with Pinkie Pie and the rest of the group.  And, while the group, led by Pinkie Pie, make their way to Carousel Boutique; Lyra, her pet beaver Alma, and my character head to the house where she used to live with her cream-colored earth pony friend.

On the way there, Lyra brings up the subject of taking on the label I’ve given to earth ponies that have gained a horn, or unicorns that have gained earth pony powers: terra-corn.

I agree with her that it makes a lot of sense that such a title would be appropriate for her, since she qualifies as a pony with both a unicorn’s horn and earth pony powers.

For the rest of the time, Lyra talks to her pet beaver, Alma.

And, it’s about the time that the group arrives at the house that I, at least, notice that Bon-bon is exiting the house, then turning and closing the door behind her.

The pale-green terra-corn speeds up as she approaches her earth pony friend, calling out, “Hey, Bon-bon!”

As Lyra stops about a foot away from her, the cream-colored earth pony turns to the familiar voice and calls back, “Oh, hi, Lyra!  How … are … you?”  Then, after a second or two of staring at her friend, Bon-bon says, “Lyra, you’ve grown.”

Lyra smiles back at her friend and says, “I have earth pony powers now.”

Bon-bon, evidently a little incredulous, or perhaps uncertain how to react, nods her head slowly and says, “I suppose you have.  How did this happen?”

Lyra answers, “I’m guessing it’s all the time I spent in Mormon’s vineyard, harvesting fruits from there.”

Bon-bon continues, “And, I’m guessing you’re looking for advice on how you can use your new powers, right?”

Lyra proceeds to sit down canine-style before answering, “That’s right.”

Bon-bon sighs, then says, “Well, my talent isn’t that closely connected to agriculture.  Maybe you could turn to the Apple family for advice.  They know more about that sort of thing than I do.  Or, maybe the ponies at the flower shop.  I’m sorry, but that’s the best advice I can give you right now.”

I notice that Lyra seems to droop a bit as she listens to what her earth pony friend has to say.  When the cream-colored earth mare is finished, Lyra rises to all fours again and says, “Well, thanks for the advice.  I’ll see about doing that.”  And, she slowly turns around and ambles away.

As my character turns to follow the pale-green terra-corn, I hear Bon-bon say, “I really hate disappointing Lyra.  But, if she wants to know more about growing plants, there really are better sources to turn to than me for advice.”  And, by the time the cream-colored earth mare is finished speaking, Lyra and my character are too far away to make a response that much worth it.

Once my character catches up to Lyra, I say, “Let’s just get back to the others.  Applejack’s there, and maybe she can help you.”

Lyra doesn’t say anything, just continues ambling toward Carousel Boutique.

And, on the way there, Alma’s efforts to comfort her don’t seem to make a lot of progress.

By the time the group of three make it to the boutique, they’re just in time to hear Rainbow Dash say something about Twilight not being her pet, then say, “Now, the first test is at the race track, where you’ll be tested for speed.”  Then, turning and seeing my character, she says, “Mormon, what took you so long to get here?”

I have my character stroke my terra-corn friend’s neck, and I say, “Lyra and I went to visit Bon-bon.  She was hoping her earth pony friend could give her some advice on how she could use her new earth pony powers.”

At this point, the rainbow-haired pegasa hovers up to my character and says, “Uh, Mormon, Lyra’s a unicorn, not an earth pony.”

I respond, “She just got her earth pony powers this morning.”

Now, Rainbow Dash approaches Lyra and circles around her, visually studying her from her head to her hooves.  She then returns to my character and says, “She doesn’t look all that excited about it.”

I state, “Well, you’ll remember that I said we just got back from visiting her friend Bon-bon about getting advice on how she could use her earth pony powers?  Well, as it turns out, Bon-bon didn’t have any advice, other than to ask either the Apples or the ponies at the flower shop for advice.”

While I speak, I watch Rainbow Dash rub the bottom of her chin with a front hoof.  Then, when I’m finished speaking, Rainbow Dash points to the orange earth mare with the front hoof she’d been using to rub her chin and says, “Well, Applejack’s right over there.  Lyra can go ask her.”

The orange earth pony approaches and says, “Why, Ah’d be happy to help.  What’s the problem?”

Lyra turns to the orange earth mare and, starting to smile, says, “I just got earth pony powers last night, and I’m hoping I can get advice on how to use them.”

Alright, it was sometime last night.  Sometime between when my character went to bed and the time he woke up.

At any rate, Applejack smiles back as she says, “Well, the fact of the matter is there are different kinds of earth pony powers.  Fer instance, Ah’m gifted in agriculture, raisin’ crops and farm animals, that sart of thing.  Pinkie Pie’s gift is throwin’ parties, ’n’ that requires makin’ party favors ’n’ other things from plants that grow outta the ground, or minerals that come from the ground.  Bon-bon makes candies, ’n’ they’re also made from plants ’n’ minerals from the ground.  Whether directly or indirectly, ever’ earth pony has a talent connected to the ground.  Have you found any talents that are related to agriculture, or anythin’ like that?”

Lyra’s chuckle sounds sincere to me.  After a second, she answers, “Well, thanks to Mormon, I’ve learned that I’m good at picking fruits from vines in his vineyard.”

Applejack says, “Well, that’s a good start.  If’n y’all wanna see if yer talent goes beyond that, then ya may wanna try plantin’ some seeds ’n’ see if you can make 'em sprout ’n’ grow with yer magic.  Or, y’all may wanna see if you can heal sick or injured plants with yer magic.  Or, since yer talent is music, maybe you can see if yer music can help plants grow or heal.”

Lyra waits for a second to see if Applejack has any more advice.  Then, when it’s clear she doesn’t, the pale-green terra-corn smiles at the orange earth mare and says, “Thanks for the advice, Applejack.  I’ll look into it and see if it works for me.  I just hope my cutie mark doesn’t change.”

Applejack laughs before saying, “Ah seriously doubt that’ll happen.  Ah don’t think cutie marks work like that.”

I seem to notice, at this point, Pinkie Pie looking at her own cutie mark.  So, having my character walk over to the pink angel pony, I ask, “Pinkie, is everything alright?”

Pinkie looks up at my character, at me, and says, “I was just wondering about something.  Tonight, when we have a moment, I’d like to talk about it with you.  But, for right now, let’s just follow everypony else.”

I only nod in agreement, and my character walks next to the pink angel pony, who follows the rest of her friends to what appears, to me anyway, to be a track designed for equines, surrounding a football field.

When the group arrives, the ponies, dragons, and already-adopted pets take their positions in the field surrounded by the track, while the birds, bat, insects, and tortoise hoping to be Rainbow Dash’s pet line up in front of a white line that crosses the track.

It’s only after Rainbow Dash says, “Alright,” that each creature takes their positions behind line, and waits there, appearing ready to pounce.

While in the animated series Rainbow Dash is shown starting the race immediately, in this game I have her making a short speech first:  “Now, I want you to remember that I’m looking for the fastest. And, I also wanna see endurance; so, you’ll each do ten laps around this track.”  Then, she says, “Now, on your marks, get set, …”

When the rainbow-haired pegasa says, “get set,” it’s clear the hopefuls are focused on winning this race.

Then, Rainbow Dash blows her whistle, and the race begins.

The tortoise seems to have not even started moving before the first to complete a lap, the bald eagle, passes him.  And, by the time the last flying creature to complete the ten laps, the bat, crosses, the tortoise sets his first foot on the line.

In the mean time, during the race, Rainbow Dash judges each contestant visually on what she considers “speedy.”  Evidently, the flying insects are falling short in that category.

When the race ends and Rainbow Dash sees the tortoise has just barely taken his first step, she says, “That’s just sad.”  She then turns to my character and asks, “Uh, Mormon, will you help me set up the obstacle course?”

I know that the azure pegasa’s obstacle course is going to be strictly for the flying hopefuls, but I still agree to help set it up.

And, Pinkie Pie also volunteers to help.

In fact, with the help of everyone there, it’s only a matter of seconds before the course is ready for the flying creatures.

As the creatures line up after the obstacle course is complete, Rainbow Dash says, “Now, everypony, the purpose of this obstacle course is to test your agility.  On your marks, get set, go.”

immediately, the flying creatures take to the air and start flying around the different obstacles, while Rainbow Dash once again visually judges them.

Of the flying creatures, the flamingo seems to have the biggest problem negotiating what could either be a propeller or perhaps a see-saw.

And, while the flying insects seem to have little or no problems with the obstacles, they grade, as near as I can tell, just above average on the rainbow-haired pegasa’s scale of agility.  It seems to me that Rainbow Dash is looking as much for style as she is for the ability to handle each obstacle.

In the mean time, the tortoise stretches as much as he can to reach the first obstacle, or perhaps the closest one; but, he only manages to stumble and roll over onto his back.

Rainbow Dash, seeing this, says, pointing to the tortoise, “You wanna know the opposite of agility, that.”

On the other hand, the hummingbird seems to have no problems making tight, speedy turns around all the obstacles, grading the highest on Rainbow Dash’s scale.  The only problem is when the azure pegasa offers the hummingbird a high five, which the little green bird accepts.  The hummingbird proves its inability to support its weight in the air with just one wing, and ends up falling to the ground.  And, in Rainbow Dash’s eyes, that means a loss of points.

While everyone else helps take down the obstacle course, Rarity retrieves her pet carrier from her boutique and puts her cat in it.  And, with Lyra’s help teleporting the two of them to and from the boutique, the process takes about as long as is does for everyone else to take down Rainbow Dash’s obstacle course.

I have to hand it to the tortoise.  In spite of all the setbacks he’s faced, he hasn’t given up on being Rainbow Dash’s pet.  And, it seems that all he’s had have been setbacks.

On the other hand, two hopeful pets, the wasp and the hummingbird, seem to have given up after failing on the obstacle course.  Or, at least the wasp seems to have failed.  The hummingbird, based on what I see, took the loss of points pretty hard.

Rainbow Dash accepts the carrier, in the mean time, from her white unicorn friend, then sets it down again and says to the remaining hopefuls, “Okay.  Which of you has the guts to try to get Opal’s favorite toy from him?”  And, she then proceeds to place the toy mouse which Spike had once used to try to set up Owlowiscious in front of the cage.  Then, he opens the door, freeing the Persian cat from his cage.

Opalescence exits the cage, then raises a paw, bares the claws on it, then swings the paw at the hopefuls, who suddenly don’t seem quite so hopeful.

That is, except for the butterfly, who flies up to the Persian cat and dazzles him with the display of colors from his wings before dragging the toy mouse away.

This earns high praise from Rainbow Dash, who says, “Now, that takes guts.”

In the mean time, the tortoise seems to have circled around the pet carrier.  Once in position, he proceeds to push it on top of Opalescence, who snaps out of his bedazzlement and jumps out of the way in time, then proceeds to take out his frustrations on the tortoise’ shell, while the tortoise defends himself by hiding inside.

Fluttershy proceeds to calm the enraged feline, while Rarity reclaims the carrier; and everyone else helps set up a stage for Rainbow Dash’s next qualifying round, style.

I have to say, for a mare with a supposedly tomboyish attitude, Rainbow Dash surprises me with her willingness to put on makeup for the flamingo, or to wear clothes that make her look like a stereotypical nerd for her picture with the owl.  And, I say as much to Pinkie Pie.

While the pink party pony giggles about it, Rainbow Dash explains, “Any pet of mine’s gotta look good, ‘cause he’s gotta make me look good.”

Evidently that kind of logic works for the azure pegasa.  And, perhaps that’s all that matters.

At any rate, after having her picture taken with some of the birds, her next picture is taken with the tortoise, who, wearing a bow, slowly smiles at her.

As admirable as the shelled reptile’s persistence is, Rainbow Dash makes it clear by her expression that she’s growing impatient with him.

After each hopeful has their picture taken with the rainbow-haired pegasa, she listens to their vocalizations, evidently testing for coolness.  And, based on her rating scale, the bald eagle scores the highest.

On the other hand, the tortoise emits a sound that reminds me of the strained groan of Philomena when she was concluding one cycle and starting another a few weeks ago.  And, the butterfly doesn’t make any sound, at least none that anyone can hear.

Next is Rainbow Dash’s test for awesomeness, which, as far as I can tell, is something of a demonstration of each hopeful’s most unique natural talent.

I must say, watching the bat hang from a tree while angling its ears to listen for sounds in different directions, at least in the animated series, is rather interesting, almost musical-looking, although I’m not sure it impresses Rainbow Dash as much.  I did my best to replicate that in this video game, and have had to settle with parts of spheres radiating from the bat’s ears as they moved.

In the mean time, a toucan trying to blow a raspberry through its beak is probably the least attractive of the displays, while the flamingo standing on one leg is nothing out of the ordinary, and just a little more impressive to Rainbow Dash than the toucan’s display.

The display Rainbow Dash likes the most, though, is the owl turning his head a full three hundred sixty degrees.

Again, the tortoise tries to impress the azure pegasa by pulling his head into his shell.  But, because he’s been doing that so frequently, it isn’t so impressive to Rainbow Dash.

The competition then moves to the school yard, where the hopefuls use the outdoor stage to demonstrate what they hope will be their most impressive and helpful skill, which Rainbow Dash labels the "radical-ness" test.

Sadly, as each of the hopefuls demonstrate their chosen skill, they prove far less than impressive to the rainbow-haired pegasa; and some of them seem to do more to irritate than impress.

The bat comes the closest by using his wings to play music on wine glasses, then shattering them with a screech.

The problem with this is it evidently registers to Rainbow Dash as a natural talent rather than a learned skill, which means a loss of points for the bat.

In an episode of Happy Days, one of the last ones, one of the main characters, Arthur Fonzerelli, jumps over a trapped shark on water skis, a move that registered to fans of the show as a desperate grasp at ratings.  In the episode, “May the Best Pet Win,” among the first of the few obstacles the tortoise has set up is a small tub with two sharks in it.  And, the tortoise doesn’t even get to his first obstacle before stumbling off his platform and landing on his back.  Perhaps it is most fortunate that the tortoise didn’t get his chance to jump the two sharks.

After the curtain closes on the obstacle course, separating the tortoise from it, Rainbow Dash approaches him, sets him up on his feet again, and says, “Listen, turtle, …”

Fluttershy, from behind the stage, sticks her head out from among the curtains and corrects, “Tortoise.”

The azure pegasa growls, “Whatever!”  She then continues, “You’ve had your fun, but I think we both know who made the cut and who didn’t.”  After a moment, she clarifies, “You didn’t.”  And, she points to the sky, where the owl, the eagle, the falcon, and the bat are flying overhead, to the cheers of the ponies on the ground.

My guess is that's her attempt to silently communicate to the tortoise the four who are still capable of being her pet.

At any rate, she then returns her attention to the tortoise as she continues, “I mean, A for effort and everything, you gave it your best shot.  Maybe I have a gold star sticker around here that you can have.  But, seriously, go home.  You’re starting to creep me out.”  And, she smiles weakly at the tortoise.

The shelled reptile seems to understand what Rainbow Dash is telling him.  He’s been rejected.  But, still, he searches the azure pegasa’s face, hoping for some way to redeem himself in her eyes.

But, Rainbow Dash turns away from him, to the final four hopefuls, and says, “So, anyway, you were all outstanding competitors.  But, there’s only one of you that can be number one.  Your final, tie-breaking contest is going to be,” then, turning away for a moment, she says, “hold for dramatic effect,” then turns back to the four and continues, “a race against me,” she then canters up to the last four hopefuls and concludes, “through Ghastly Gorge!”  And, she sings a three-note melody that's frequently used to suggest a dramatic twist.

As Rainbow Dash leads the eagle, falcon, owl, and bat to Ghastly Gorge, Fluttershy comes out from behind the stage, approaches the tortoise, and says, “I’m so sorry that you didn’t get to show Rainbow Dash how good you are with those obstacles.”

The tortoise slowly turns away from the yellow pegasa.

Fluttershy, moving as slowly as the tortoise, asks, “This really meant a lot to you, didn’t it?”

I notice a tear leak from the eye that I can see from the tortoise, and he lets out a long, slow, noisy sniffle, followed by an equally long, mournful squeak.

Next, I see determination build in Fluttershy’s face as she says, “This isn’t over yet.  As Celestia is my witness, we’ll prove to Rainbow Dash how good a friend you can be to her, how good a pet.  Are you with me?”  And, when she asks that question, she nuzzles the tortoise under his chin.

At this little speech from the yellow pegasa, the tortoise slowly looks at her and smiles.

At this point, lowering herself to make it easier for the tortoise to mount her, Fluttershy says, “Then, climb on my back.  I’ll carry you to Ghastly Gorge, and we’ll show Rainbow Dash that you can be her pet.”

The tortoise nods slowly, then proceeds to march slowly off of the stage and onto the yellow pegasa’s back.

Once the tortoise is in position, Fluttershy turns and, seeing my character watching the two of them, approaches him and says, “Mormon, I thought you’d be with Pinkie Pie and the others.”  Then, before I can answer, she says, “Well, never mind.  I’ll lead you to Ghastly Gorge.”  And, she prances on ahead of my character.

One thing I’m not aware of; at least not until I see a wood pile come to life, rise and approach; is that Scout has decided to wait for my character.  So, a separate party of four, composed of my character, Flutteshy, Scout, and the tortoise, makes its way to the gorge where Rainbow Dash’s final test for her perfect pet will take place.

Because I modeled it that way, I’m not surprised that Ghastly Gorge is positioned as far away from the nearest tree in the Everfree Forest as it is from Ponyville, at least a mile away.  And, it starts as a crack in the ground, with a small outcropping that serves as a platform for Rainbow Dash, the eagle, the falcon, the owl, and the bat, as well as the tortoise, to start from.  I am surprised, and pleased, to see that the azure pegasa was willing to wait for four more to show up before starting her race.

When the four show up, Pinkie Pie runs up to my character and quickly explains that Rainbow Dash has already laid down the rules for the four hoping to be her pet, and was waiting for Flutteshy and my character to show up so she could lead them to the finish line.  And, she proceeds to do so.

But, first, Fluttershy lowers herself to the ground to allow the tortoise to crawl off of her back, then proceeds to follow the pink angel pony to the finish line at the end of the gorge.

And, before I allow my character to follow the two ponies and the timber wolf, I have him focus on the tortoise; and I say, pointing to one of the cliff faces, “There’s a course down the cliff face over there.  There’s only enough room for a tortoise your size to walk along it without slipping and falling.  You can follow that course to the bottom of the gorge, then follow the stream from there through the rest of it.”

The tortoise nods to my character, then proceeds toward the cliff face he pointed out.  And, he has no problem finding the path along that face.

Seeing the tortoise is on his way, I allow my character to catch up to the ponies, their pets, and my character’s timber wolf friend, then follow them to the finish line where the other ponies, save for Rainbow Dash, and their pets, are waiting.

I take it as a testament to the strength of the wind in Ghastly Gorge that it is evidently strong enough to really slow down the azure pegasa; as the group, which includes my character, is keeping ahead of her and the last four, well, actually five, hopefuls.  Fluttershy, my character, and the friends of theirs that are, other than Rainbow Dash, not waiting at the finish line, while running or galloping, are moving well ahead of the rainbow-haired pegasa.  They reach the finish line before Rainbow Dash gets to the tunnel.

And there the group waits for Rainbow Dash.

Of course, I know what’s going to happen.  The azure pegasa will get past the quarray eels before her overconfidence gets the best of her, and she runs into a cliff, causing a rock slide.  Then, she’ll get trapped by a boulder, and have to wait for the tortoise to get to her and free her.  And, it’ll be the tortoise that’ll cross the finish line with her and earn his right to be her pet.  I’ve seen it in the episode, and I’ve duplicated the event in this video game.  And, now I have the opportunity to see it all work out.

In the mean time, it takes a few minutes after my character, Fluttershy, and those with them have joined up before the first of the fliers, the falcon, crosses the finish line first.  Then, after that is the eagle, followed by the owl, and last of all the bat.

As each hopeful crosses the finish line, the enthusiastic cheers from the ponies diminish; and evident and sincere worry begins to replace those cheers when Twilight Sparkle says, “Something’s not right here.”  She then produces a pair of binoculars and starts looking through them into the gorge.

Before the yellow pegasa can ask, I have my character turn to the four candidates; and I ask, “Wasn’t at least one of you supposed to cross the finish line with Rainbow Dash?”

The four start, and the bat even screeches in shock.

The falcon slowly approaches my character and emits a couple extended vocalizations.

My character then automatically focuses on Fluttershy, who says, “The falcon said they thought she was right behind them, and wants to know if he should go back and try to find her.”

Just then, I hear Applejack say, “Great galloping galoshes, there’s been an avalanche in there!”

My character automatically turns his attention to beyond the finish line, while the five element bearers present start chattering amongst themselves, each offering their own plan for a rescue.

In the mean time, I have my character focus on the azure pegasa and her mount, which, at a typical pace for a shelled reptile, is approaching through a cloud of dust.

My only guess is that Pinkie Pie notices the same thing, as she jumps out of the group of arguing ponies and, pointing to the dust cloud, calls to her friends, “Wait, look!”

My character is still focused on the two approaching, so I can only hear Fluttershy say, “A turtle.”

I then hear the four others call out, “Tortoise!”

A second later, I hear Fluttershy respond, “Whatever.”

I hear Twilight Sparkle say, “And, he’s carrying something on his back.”

I then hear an excited Pinkie Pie call out, “It’s Rainbow Dash!  It’s her!  It’s her!”

The pink angel pony’s excitement spreads to the rest of the group, as they cheer on the tortoise and the azure pegasa riding him.

Then, as the enthusiastic cheering dies down again, I hear Fluttershy say, “Maybe we’d better go meet them halfway.”

Indeed, while the two are maybe a yard or so away from the finish line, at the rate the tortoise is moving, it could take another hour or two for them to get there.  And, since the other four have already crossed the finish line, there’s really nothing for them to lose by moving the line to their friend’s position.

Twilight moves the finish line and banner up to where Rainbow Dash and the tortoise are, just in time for the tortoise to set his foot on the line.

Instantly, the other four element bearers cheer as the shelled reptile takes further steps across the white line.

Then, as the four hopeful fliers approach the azure pegasa, Spike approaches the tortoise and congratulates him.

Then, Twilight approaches her azure friend and says, “Oh, thank goodness you’re not hurt, Rainbow.”

The rainbow-haired pegasa pats some dust off of a shoulder as she replies, “Ah, just my pride.”

Then, Rarity says, “I … certainly hope … all this dreadful dust was worth it.”  And, she sneezes.

Presently, Applejack replies, “It sure was if’n it means that Rainbow Dash gets to have her own little critter just like the rest of us from now on.”

I notice the tortoise smiles as he looks up at the azure pegasa.

Then, as the four hopeful fliers approach, Rainbow Dash dismounts the tortoise and, looking at him, says, “Uh, thanks.”  Then, patting him on the head, she adds, “What you did, … I owe you one.” And, she bumps a front hoof with the tortoise’s mirror front foot.

My character’s attention is drawn to Fluttershy as she singsongs, “Rainbow, your new pet is here waiting for you.”

And, as the other three wander off, the falcon extends his wings and flaps, flying above the group and landing on Rainbow Dash’s back.

I have to wonder, considering the azure pegasa arrived wrapped in bandages, either the tortoise was provided with a first aid kit by Fluttershy, or there was one hidden somewhere in the gorge.  Either way, it clearly came in handy.

At any rate, a clearly humbled Rainbow Dash him-haws, “Oh, right, yeah, that.”

Spike asks, “Well, what’s the matter?”

Presently, Pinkie Pie runs behind the purple dragon and, leaning on him like a prop, adds, “You got your perfect pet, right?”

Then, Fluttershy trots in next to Applejack and asks, “The best of the best is what you wanted, remember?”

I can’t help noticing the look on the falcon’s face, a look that suggests to me that he’s hoping that the azure pegasa will forget about him not having gone back to help her when she needed it.

And, looking at the falcon keeps me from hearing the rest of what the yellow pegasa has to say.

But, I still hear Applejack say, “A falcon sure looks good on ya, Rainbow.”

Then, my character's attention is attracted to the rest of the group at the finish line when Rarity takes a picture of Rainbow Dash with the falcon on her back; and the flash of light startles the tortoise, who disappears into his shell.

The azure pegasa takes a moment to calm the tortoise down and coax him back out before rising again and saying, “A falcon sure does look good on me.”

The falcon nods, perhaps as much with pride as with hope that Rainbow Dash has forgotten about his mistake in judgment.

And, his hopes seem to be confirmed when she continues, “And, he’s absolutely everything I ever wanted in a pet.”  Then, she sighs.

Fluttershy, next to her, prompts, “Yay?”

Then, all the falcon’s hopes are negated when Rainbow Dash concludes, “But, I said whoever crosses the finish line with me gets to be my pet.”

Now, Pinkie Pie comes nose-to-nose with her azure pegasa friend and agrees, “You did, you did say that!”  And, she bounces a couple times as she continues, “She did say that, that was the rule!”

Rainbow Dash continues, “And, the only one that crossed the finish line with me was the one that stopped to save me when I needed help, the tortoise!”

As the azure pegasa rears up on her hind legs to hoist her new pet into the air, the falcon flies in front of her a foot or two, then lands, then closes his eyes and plants the end of one of his wings between them and shakes his head.  Then, he takes a moment to open his eyes and fold the wing again just in time for Rainbow Dash to put the tortoise down on the ground again, reaches out a wing and shakes the tortoise’s forelimb, then walks away, evidently defeated.

I decide to have my character approach the falcon.  Then, when he’s close enough, I ask, “Are you going to be alright?”

The falcon turns and looks up at my character, then slowly nods his head, then turns away from him again.

I state, “I’m sure someday someone, perhaps a pony, will adopt you.”

At this statement, the falcon turns to my character again and smiles sadly at him, evidently hoping he’ll adopt him.

Seeing, through my character’s eyes, the look in those of the predatory bird, I say, “I already have a timber wolf as a pet, and I’m not sure I’m ready to adopt another one.  And everyone that lives with me, pony or dinosaur, also has a pet.”  Then, as the falcon looks down sadly, I add, “But, that doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t want to have you as a pet.  Just be patient and have faith.”

I must admit, I’m surprised when the bird, after smiling up at my character, flies toward him only to stop and hover maybe an inch or so from him.  Supporting his weight in the air with his wings, he then proceeds to nuzzle my character for a second or two before flying off again.  I can only guess that means he’s accepted my advice.

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash is dictating a letter to Princess Celestia, which Spike is writing for her.  The basics are the contrast of her opinion of the perfect pet before her competition, and her opinion afterwards.  From what I’ve seen of the series, at least the first five seasons, my guess is that Rainbow Dash will have her pet tortoise for years to come.  I don’t know if she ever had a pet before this, there’s no information on that.  But, she has one now.  And, she’ll form a bond with him so that she’ll have difficulty letting go when it’s time for him to hibernate for the winter.  But, she’ll get him back.

In the mean time, she has a new friend, and a pet to join her a game week later for the regularly-planned play date.  Not to mention, watching him snatch away Opalescence’s favorite toy is certainly fun to watch.  Rainbow Dash’s new pet may not be the fastest creature on the planet; but he clearly knows his strengths, and is not afraid to make use of them.

By the end of the letter, Rainbow Dash even has a name for her new pet, Tank.

Then, Fluttershy approaches her and says, “But, Rainbow Dash, you didn’t want a pet that couldn’t fly because it would keep you grounded and hold you back, remember?”

This question from the yellow pegasa causes the blue one to look worriedly at her new friend, and earns a frown back from the tortoise.  But, that doesn’t last long; as, after a thought-filled grunt, Rainbow Dash turns to my character and asks, “Humans used machines to fly, didn’t they?”

I answer, “That’s right.”  I’m not sure if, in the cannon of the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic series, humans even exist anymore in Equestria, or in anyplace around there.  But, in the cannon of this video game, where humans still remain, I have provided records of humans flying in machines, as well as blueprints of the machines themselves.  I ask, “Is there something you want or need help with?”

The rainbow-haired pegasa answers, “I could use your help with something.  Do you think you could maybe make a machine that could help Tank fly?”

I ask, “Do you mean like a machine that Tank could enter, and use controllers to fly?”

Rainbow Dash looks at her new pet and smiles.

On the other hand, Tank frowns and sticks his tongue out.  My guess is he either gets, or is worried that he could get, motion sickness.  Either way, the thought of riding in, or driving, a flying machine clearly doesn’t appeal to him.

Rainbow Dash sighs, then turns back to my character and says, “Maybe something more on the order of an attachment, like something I could put on his back that could help him fly.”

Now, it’s my turn to grunt in thought for maybe a second.  When I speak up again, I say, “I’ve heard of a type of hat, a beanie, that’s known to have a propeller attached to it.  I’ve never heard of it actually helping humans to fly; it’s more likely that it helps the one wearing it to keep cool in warmer temperatures, or it's just for decoration.  But, if the hat part were made of a harder substance, with straps that would hold it in place on Tank’s back, and the propeller were strong enough and had enough torque, then it could hopefully support Tank’s weight and get him off the ground.  Then, if the propeller could spin at different speeds, Tank could gain or lose altitude as he wants and needs.”

Presently, Rainbow Dash leaps into the air and, flapping her wings to support her weight in the air, screams, “Yes!”  And, I find I can’t help laughing a little as she sings, and I do mean sings, “I got a new pet, and he’s gonna fly!  I got a new pet, and he’s gonna fly!”  And, all while doing a dance in the air.  After another round or two, the azure pegasa lands next to her new pet, then looks up at my character and says, “Let’s go to your house so we can make that machine.”

Again I can’t help but laugh at Rainbow Dash’s enthusiasm.  Then, I say, “Alright, let’s get going.  But, you realize that it’ll require some planning.”  It’s about this time that I notice that Rainbow Dash has already started her march back toward Ponyville, carrying Tank on her back.  So, I have my character catch up to her while I say, “I need to take some measurements to make sure the device will fit on Tank’s back.  And, I’ll need to do testing to make sure that it works comfortably for Tank.”

The azure pegasa grunts thoughtfully as she says, “It sounds like I’m gonna have to spend that time with you.  Do you think you can have the machine ready by the next play date?”

I answer, “I can hope for that.  But, I have duties that take me away from my house.  Pinkie Pie’s not the only one that works at Sugar Cube Corner, for instance.”

Rainbow Dash says, “Yeah, I know.  I’ve seen you around Ponyville, making deliveries to different places there.  I wonder, do you like working at Sugar Cube Corner?”

I smile and answer, “It has it’s bright sides.”

Then, Rainbow Dash suggests, “Well, maybe, when you’re not occupied with your duties at Sugar Cube Corner, you can be working on the flying machine for Tank.”

After a second or two of thinking about it, I reply, “You know, that might just work.  Sure, let’s do that.”

The blue pegasa adds, “And, until the next play date, I guess that means I’ll be living with you then?”

I answer, “Or, at least until the machine is completed.  But, at any rate, I am coming up with some ideas on how the machine will work.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash squeals, “Oh, I can’t wait.”  And, she gallops on ahead.

After that, Fluttershy approaches my character and asks, “Uh, Mormon, do you really think you could make a machine that could help a tortoise fly?”

My character focuses on the yellow pegasa, and I answer, “Humans have made flying machines before.  And, we still have machines that help us move faster from one place to another than we normally could.  The idea behind machines like that could help me in making a device that could help Tank fly.”

Worriedly, Fluttershy says, “Oh, I hope he won’t get hurt.”

I respond, “If Tank really wants to fly, then he’s likely willing to take that risk.  But, I imagine that him running into things will be part of his lessons in flying.”

At this statement, Fluttershy squeaks in fear, then sighs, then says, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.  And, he is a good learner.  I just hope Rainbow Dash and her new pet aren’t going to be too much of a problem for you.”

I grunt in thoughtful agreement before saying, “Well, as long as they behave themselves, I’m sure they won’t be.”

At this point, Fluttershy whimpers a little, making me wonder if she’s worried about her fellow pegasa’s behavior.

As the yellow pegasa falls behind, I’m suddenly made aware of Pinkie Pie’s presence, as she says, “So, let’s see.  We’ve got me, you, Lyra, Ataahua, Weed Whacker, and Topsy Turvy.  And, now Dashie and her new pet, Tank.  Things are gonna be a lot more active with her around.”

I reply, “I suppose you’re right.  Do you think she’ll be willing to harvest fruits or vegetables?  Maybe grains?”

Presently, Diane uses her wings to lift Pinkie into the air and keep her to her present side of my character.

And, while thus supported, Pinkie taps her chin with a front hoof and hums thoughtfully.  Then, she drops the hoof again and says, “You know, all I’ve seen her do, aside from napping, is kicking clouds out of existence.  I don’t know if she’d want to harvest fruits, vegetables, or grains."  Then, with a shrug, she concludes, "Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn’t.”

I continue, “It’s her option.  But, she could be helpful … around … the … house.”  I trail off because I notice Pinkie’s tail twitching.

At first, the pink angel pony asks, “Mormon, what’s wrong?”  Then, she looks behind her and sees her tail twitching.  She then turns to my character again, to me, emits a grunt of foreboding, and asks, “Do you think Tank could be in trouble?”

I answer, “It’s possible.  Let’s go.”

And, my character runs on ahead, while Pinkie Pie flies close behind him.

And, sure enough, by the time the two get to Rainbow Dash, it’s clear that Tank, her pet tortoise, is losing the battle to stay on her back.  Fortunately, my character is there just in time to catch the tortoise as he finally slips and falls off.

As my character positions Tank on Rainbow Dash’s back again, between her wings, I can’t help noticing, from the top of my character’s perspective, that the azure pegasa was evidently watching her new pet, and had been unable to keep him from falling.  She sighs, then says, “Thanks, Mormon.  I’m glad you were there to catch Tank.”

I reply, “I’m glad I could help.  I saw Pinkie’s tail start twitching, and I figured something or someone was going to fall.  Then, Pinkie suggested it might by Tank, and I figured it’d be a good idea to come and make sure.  I’m glad I did.”

Rainbow Dash smiles and says, “So am I.  And, so is Tank.”

At this point, I see the tortoise’s head peer from in front of his shell, then slowly smile.  And, I can’t help noticing that he isn’t focused on my character.  So, I have my character turn to where Tank’s attention is focused, and I see Pinkie Pie hovering next to my character.

The pink angel pony smiles back and says, “Well, Mormon was the first to notice my tail twitching.”  And, she giggles.

Rainbow Dash laughs as well, then says, “Well, the important thing is that Tank is safe.  So, shall we head to your house then, Mormon?”

I answer, “Sure.”

There are other and further conversations, but I stop paying attention to them and just continue to watch as the group returns to the outskirts of Ponyville.  There, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Rarity and their pets head into the village; Applejack and Winona head to Sweet Apple Acres; and the rest of the group heads into the Everfree forest.  But, before the group heads into the forest proper, Fluttershy, along with Angel, turns and heads back to her cottage.

Conversations continue among the remaining ponies until the group arrives at my character’s house.  And, once there, my character opens the front gate to allow the ponies, those that choose to enter that way, to make their way inside.

And, once all the ponies and their pets are on the front lawn, it’s Ataahua who turns to the azure pegasa and says, “Now, Rainbow Dash, each of us has something to do while we’re living here, specifically related to gathering food.  Topsy Turvy and I harvest oats from Mormon’s grain field, Pinkie Pie and Mormon harvest fruit from his orchard, Lyra harvests berries from his vineyard, and Weed Whacker harvests vegetables from his vegetable garden.”  She then tilts her head and asks, “Would you like to help Lyra, or Weed Whacker?”

At this question from the gray pegasa, Rainbow Dash turns to my character and, also tilting her head, grunts in curiosity and confusion.

I reply, “I’m guessing Derpy is suggesting that either Lyra or Weed Whacker could use help since there are two ponies that work in the grain field, and a human and a pony that harvest fruits in the orchard.”

After hearing my explanation, Rainbow Dash grunts in understanding.  She then turns back to her fellow pegasa and answers, “I just came here so Mormon and I could build a machine to help Tank fly.  I don’t plan on staying here after that.”

At this point, Pinkie Pie comes between the two pegasae and, focusing on the rainbow-haired one, says, “Aw, you don’t need to worry about that right now.”  Then, looking toward the front door, she continues, “Here, come with me.  There are still a few rooms that are empty.  You can stay in one of them for the week until Tank has his flying thingy.”  And, she starts bouncing toward the house.

As Rainbow Dash follows Pinkie Pie to the house, a distraught Ataahua turns and walks toward my character.  When she’s about a foot away from my character, she turns back toward the two element bearers and watches them enter the house, then turns back to my character and asks, “Do you think I should’ve told Rainbow Dash about harvesting food?”

I have my character kneel on one knee and start stroking the gray pegasa on the side of her neck, and I say, “It was a good idea to invite her.  Just so long as she understands that it was an invitation, and not a work order.”

Ataahua looks down and sighs, then looks up at my character again and asks, “Do you think that’s how it sounded to her?”

I answer, “It’s a possibility.  You may want to talk to her about it to be sure.”

I think I see Ataahua start to smile as she says, “Yeah, I’ll go ahead and do that,” then gallop toward the house.

In the mean time, Lyra and Weed Whacker approach my character; and Lyra asks, “Do you think Rainbow Dash’d be willing to help either of us?”

I answer, “It’s possible.  But, let’s leave it up to her if she chooses to help, and who.”

Lyra simply nods and starts trotting toward the house.

On the other hand, Weed Whacker lingers behind just long enough to say, “If Rainbow Dash chooses to help me, I just want you to know that I’d rather do all the harvesting.  I’m not sure I can trust a hoofed creature to dig up vegetables without doing a lot of damage.  She can carry them back to the house.”  Then, not waiting for a response, she turns and runs to the house, following Lyra and Topsy Turvy inside.

I allow my character to follow the herbivorous dinosaur into the house, then diverge his course to the nearest hallway, looking for Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.  And, as my character enters and walks down the hallway, I can hear the voice of the pink angel pony coming from the end of the hallway.  In fact, I think it’s coming from the room that Rarity had occupied when she stayed here for one night.  And, as my character approaches the room and opens the door, I hear Pinkie Pie say as much to her rainbow-haired friend.

The attention of the two mares is drawn to my character as he enters, and Rainbow Dash says, “Hi, Mormon.  Pinkie was just telling me about how Rarity used this room when she stayed.  Is it true she kept Vinyl and Octavia up all night bawling?”

I answer, “Well, until they moved into the kitchen to try to get some sleep.  At least, that’s what I got when I woke up the morning after the fashion show, and Vinyl told me about it at the table.”

The azure pegasa chuckles for a second before saying, “Well, I won’t be keepin’ everypony, anypony, awake bawlin’.  So, when do we get started on that flying thing for Tank?”

I answer, “Well, I have my work room that we could use.  I’ll need to take some measurements and make some plans.  I have a few ideas that I think could help us.  But first, we’re gonna need to get ready for the reading tonight.  Do you think you could help with the harvesting?”

At first Rainbow Dash grimaces, then rubs the back of her neck with a front hoof as she says, “Yeah, I don’t know about that.  I don’t wanna get my wings all scratched up harvesting in your vineyard, and I’m not sure I could do anything to help Weed Whacker.”

I have my character kneel on one knee in front of the azure pegasa, and I say, “Well, your help anywhere would be appreciated.  Weed Whacker said that if you want to help her, you could carry the vegetables she picks.  And, I’m sure I could provide a covering for you so your wings don’t get scratched up should you choose to help Lyra in the vineyard.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash chuckles nervously a couple times before putting the front hoof down under her, then looking up at my character eagerly and asking, “So, do you think I could help you and Pinkie Pie in the orchard?”

At this point, Pinkie Pie, who was on the bed, hops off near my character and says, “Yeah, I don’t know.  I buck the apple trees, and Mormon chooses another tree to pick fruit from.  Unless you wanna choose a fruit tree that Mormon doesn’t choose to harvest from.”

I state, “Well, if you’d like to try picking fruit from trees the way a human does, the way I do, then you’re welcome to it.”

The rainbow-haired pegasa focuses on my character and asks, “One thing, when can we get to making the flying machine for Tank?”

I have my character look at Pinkie Pie, then back at Rainbow Dash; and I say, “Well, generally after the reading, this group gathers together with the princesses, who teleport us to Canterlot so Topsy Turvy can take care of her father, Discord; and, during that time, I give my report to Princess Celestia.  Then, when we come back from that, we usually harvest, prepare, and eat dinner; then go to bed.”

I note some sadness in Rainbow Dash’s grunt of understanding.  Then, after looking down for a moment, she looks up again and asks, “After dinner, do you think we could get to work on Tank’s flying machine?”

I pause in thought for a second before answering, “Well, I suppose I could start by taking Tank’s measurements, then making some initial plans.  I actually have an idea for taking advantage of Tank’s natural walking movements in helping him fly.  But, we can talk about that later.  Right now, we need to get ready for the reading.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash sighs again before saying, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”  She then perks up again and asks, “Say, could I leave Tank in here while we’re harvesting?”

Maybe a second after the azure pegasa asks, I’m aware of something of a groaning sound coming from the tortoise.  When my character automatically focuses on him, I can only tell that he’s not happy as he slowly shakes his head.

For a moment, when she sees the look on her new pet’s face, Rainbow Dash seems to mirror his expression before smiling and saying, “So, you wanna come with me, is that right?”

Now, the tortoise smiles again and slowly nods.

At this response, Rainbow Dash sighs before saying, “Well, if I’m gonna have you on my back, then I won’t be able to fly and help Mormon harvest fruit.”  She then turns to my character and asks, “Mormon, do you have any advice for me?”

I take a moment to look at the tortoise again, then back at Rainbow Dash, then say, “Well, Scout, my pet timber wolf, is usually on the front porch, not far from the doorway, on the side of how it opens.  I suppose Tank could stay with him until we’re done harvesting.”

Rainbow Dash nods and says, “Sounds good to me.  Let’s do that.”

As I have my character rise to his feet again, I can’t help noticing the tortoise slowly shaking his head at me and frowning.  I say, “It’ll be alright.  Rainbow Dash’ll be back when she’s harvested the fruits she wants.”  It doesn’t seem to satisfy Tank, but the group goes ahead with the plan anyway.

At the front door, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and my character are joined by Weed Whacker, Lyra, Ataahua and Topsy Turvy.  Then, outside, as I remove Tank and set him near Scout, ordering my timber wolf friend to take care of the tortoise, I then allow my character to follow my half-dozen friends past the end of the side of the house, where Weed Whacker turns and heads into the vegetable garden.

Then, at the end of the pathway intersecting with the dirt trail to the pond, Lyra, Ataahua and Topsy Turvy turn and head to the vineyard and the grain field; while the rest of the group turns and heads to the orchard.

The ponies and the human each have their own ways of getting past the fence.  Pinkie Pie bounces, Rainbow Dash flies, and my character climbs.  Then, Diane takes over Pinkie Pie, then chooses an apple tree to buck apples from; my character chooses the peach tree; and Rainbow Dash chooses the pear tree, where she proceeds to hover around and pick fruits as she sees my character do.  And, the way she moves into and away from the tree kind of reminds me of how I’ve seen bees or hummingbirds fly toward and away from flowers.

When each has harvested a little more than half a dozen fruits, Pinkie Pie, once again under control of Pinkamena, along with Rainbow Dash and my character, exit the orchard the way they entered, then proceed back to the house.

I’m not at all surprised to see the other three ponies and the dinosaur there waiting for me.  And, with the group united, Lyra opens the door, allowing everyone to enter.

I have my character go in and empty his harvest onto the coffee table before going out again to get Tank.  And, I’m once again not surprised to find Rainbow Dash out there with him.  My character gathers up the tortoise and puts him on Rainbow Dash’s back, after which the human, the pegasa, and the tortoise go back inside the house.

Rainbow Dash then follows my character into the kitchen where, seeing how occupied it is in there, she decides to back out and wait at the opened end of the coffee table.

After allowing the azure pegasa to do that, I have my character take his position and assist with the cleaning and preparing of the snacks for the reading, a process that takes just a few minutes, especially when I remember the fruits my character left on the coffee table.  Then, when all the fruits are cleaned and prepared for the reading, my character enters the front room just in time to meet Rainbow Dash there.

The azure pegasa says, “I just remembered I need to get my Book of Mormon from my home.  It shouldn’t take long.”

I agree to let her go, and take care of Tank while she’s gone, which she promises won’t take more than a few seconds.

In the mean time, my character sets the TV table; Lyra, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy place the snack tray on the lawn; and Pinkie Pie bounces over to the front gate to welcome guests.

I can only guess it must’ve taken Rainbow Dash longer than expected to find her book, as she returns a minute after she left.  And, when she gets back, she acts like she was gone for a week.  She spends another minute nuzzling Tank before allowing my character to put him on her back.  Then, she heads out, joining her friends in the circle around the snack tray.

I take a moment, while everyone in the circle is producing their books and opening them to the page of the chapter all will be reading, to have a look ahead; and I notice something interesting.  I have my character look up at the others in the circle, and I say, "Now, we're down to the last two chapters in the Book of Mosiah, and we're once again in the situation where the first of the two chapters is not quite enough so that everyone can each read two verses; but the next chapter has more than twice the verses."

There seem to be three or four ponies around the circle that repeat in exclamation the words, "Twice the verses!"

Then, before I can ask the question, Pinkie Pie, who was either the first or the last to repeat those three words, rises to all fours and says, "Well, I say we read both chapters.  Then, tomorrow we'll start the Book of Alma."

And, voices around the circle all seem to agree with the pink angel pony.

So, I have my character focus on the white alicorn; and I ask, "Princess Celestia, will you read the first verse of chapter twenty-eight?"

The daytime princess smiles and nods, then looks down into her book and reads, "Now it came to pass that after the sons of Mosiah had done all these things, they took a small number with them and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites—"

Rainbow Dash then reads, "That perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them."  She then looks up and asks, "Do you think they were going to share the magic of friendship with the Lamanites?"

I answer, "Indeed, as it's recorded, they were hoping to make friends with the Lamanites, to 'cure their hatred,' as it was put.  Now, it may be of interest for you to know that the Maori have a word for friend, 'hoa,' and a term for enemy, 'hoa riri,' which literally means 'anger friend.'  Now, by this kind of Maori logic, the best way to get rid of an enemy is to get rid of the anger.  That way, without the anger, all that's left is a friend."

Pinkie Pie then turns to her azure pegasa friend and says, "And, there's also this."  She then looks down into her book again and reads, "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."

At this point, Weed Whacker rises and says, "Alma would know about that more than anyone else.  After all, he repented almost until he died."

I add, "There's more to it than that.  But, we'll read about it when we get into the Book of Alma."  I then have my character turn to the purple unicorn, and I ask, "Twilight, will you read verse four?"

Twilight Sparkle smiles and nods, then looks down and reads, "And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners.  And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever."

Spike reads, "And it came to pass that they did plead with their father many days that they might go up to the land of Nephi."

Rarity reads, "And king Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord if he should let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word."

Applejack reads, "And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites."

Fluttershy reads, "And it came to pass that Mosiah granted that they might go and do according to their request."

Lyra reads, "And they took their journey into the wilderness to go up to preach the word among the Lamanites; and I shall give an account of their proceedings hereafter."

Ataahua reads, "Now king Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdom upon, for there was not any of his sons who would accept of the kingdom."

At this point, I have my character look up; and I say, "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if not wanting to be king was one of the motivations for Mosiah's sons wanting to serve a mission among the Lamanites."  I then have my character look into his book again, and I read, "Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, and all the things which he had kept and preserved according to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi;"

Topsy Turvy reads, "And this he did because of the great anxiety of his people; for they were desirous beyond measure to know concerning those people who had been destroyed."

Weed Whacker reads, "And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow."

Princess Luna reads, "Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;"

Princess Celestia reads, "And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;"

Rainbow Dash reads, "And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times."

Pinkie Pie reads, "Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time back until the creation of Adam."

As Pinkie Pie grunts in interest, Twilight Sparkle reads, "Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow; nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice."

Spike reads, "And this account shall be written hereafter; for behold, it is expedient that all people should know the things which are written in this account."

At this point, I state, "Indeed, this record is abbreviated, and comprises the second last book in the Book of Mormon, the Book of Ether."

Rarity reads, "And now, as I said unto you, that after king Mosiah had done these things, he took the plates of brass, and all the things which he had kept, and conferred them upon Alma, who was the son of Alma; yea, all the records, and also the interpreters, and conferred them upon him, and commanded him that he should keep and preserve them, and also keep a record of the people, handing them down from one generation to another, even as they had been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem."

Applejack looks up and says, "Ah guess that means Ah start chapter twenty-nine," then looks down again and reads, "Now when Mosiah had done this he sent out throughout all the land, among all the people, desiring to know their will concerning who should be their king."  She then looks up and says, "Now, somethin' 'bout this don't sound right to me."

Fluttershy reads, "And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: We are desirous that Aaron thy son should be our king and our ruler."  She then looks up and, tilting her head, asks, "Aren't they forgetting something?"

Lyra reads, "Now Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi, therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him; neither would Aaron take upon him the kingdom; neither were any of the sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them the kingdom."  She then turns to my character and says, "You suggested that one of the reasons why Mosiah's four sons wanted to serve a mission among the Lamanites was so they wouldn't have to be king."

Before I can answer, Ataahua reads, "Therefore king Mosiah sent again among the people; yea, even a written word sent he among the people.  And these were the words that were written, saying:"

I read, "Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you as such, I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye are called to consider—for ye are desirous to have a king."  I then have my character look up, and I say, "I'm thinking that not wanting to be king over the Nephites was such a strong motivation because they remembered what they'd been like before their conversion; and they didn't want to take the chance of having the same thing happen to them that happened to King Noah.  As we've already read, 'they were the very vilest of sinners.'  It took them so much to repent from that, not to mention that Noah was such a good example of an evil king, it very likely made the position very forbidding to them.  It isn't recorded in the Book of Mormon; but it's possible that, before he became king, Noah was actually a really good man.  But, then, when he got into a position of authority, well, it's generally human nature that being placed in such a position of authority leads a human to do things that aren't good to the people he or she rules over, or even him- or herself.  It happened to Noah, and it could've happened to Ammon, Aaron, Omner, or Himni."

Topsy Turvy sees my character turning to her, and she goes ahead and reads, "Now I declare unto you that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong has declined, and will not take upon him the kingdom."

Weed Whacker reads, "And now if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions among you.  And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you, which would be the cause of shedding much blood and perverting the way of the Lord, yea, and destroy the souls of many people."

Princess Luna reads, "Now I say unto you let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have any right to destroy another if he should be appointed in his stead."

Princess Celestia reads, "And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things he would recall the things which he had said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people to commit much sin."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And now let us be wise and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace of this people."  She then looks up and asks, "Uh, 'look forward to these things?'"

I take a moment to think about it before I answer, "I'm guessing what King Mosiah meant by 'look forward,' in this case, is 'beware,' or 'watch out for.'  I'm guessing, while Joseph Smith Jr. was translating the Book of Mormon, looking forward to something carried more of a negative connotation than it does nowadays.  Or, maybe it did in King Mosiah's day."

Pinkie Pie reads, "Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people according to our law; and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just."

Spike reads, "Therefore, if it were possible that you could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the laws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments, yea, if ye could have men for your kings who would do even as my father Benjamin did for this people—I say unto you, if this could always be the case then it would be expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you."

Rarity reads, "And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God, and to establish peace throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity;"

Applejack reads, "And whosoever has committed iniquity, him have I punished according to the crime which he has committed, according to the law which has been given to us by our fathers."

Fluttershy reads, "Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you."

Lyra reads, "For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction!"

Ataahua reads, "Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations of his people.  Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of their iniquities they were brought into bondage."

I read, "And were it not for the interposition of their all-wise Creator, and this because of their sincere repentance, they must unavoidably remain in bondage until now."

Topsy Turvy reads, "But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him."

Weed Whacker reads, "And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king save it be through much contention, and the shedding of much blood."

Princess Luna reads, "For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him; and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God;"

Princess Celestia reads, "And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people, yea, laws after the manner of his own wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against him he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can he will destroy them; and thus an unrighteous king doth pervert the ways of all righteousness."  She then looks up and says, "This is why, a thousand years ago, my sister and I chose the title of princess instead of queen.  We may not be human, but we are still fallible."

Princess Luna continues, "We battled a king of another land, which disappeared a thousand years ago.  And, he wasn't all that different from King Noah, mentioned here in this Book of Mormon.  And, seeing what he put his little ponies through, we didn't want the same thing to happen to our little ponies.  We didn't want to become like that evil king.  So, we chose to be princesses instead."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And now behold I say unto you, it is not expedient that such abominations should come upon you."

Pinkie Pie reads, "Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people."

Spike reads, "And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land."

Rarity reads, "And now if ye have judges, and they do not judge you according to the law which has been given, ye can cause that they may be judged of a higher judge."

Applejack reads, "If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, ye shall cause that a small number of your lower judges should be gathered together, and they shall judge your higher judges, according to the voice of the people."

At this point, I speak up and say, "I find the system that King Mosiah is proposing rather interesting.  If a lesser judge isn't making fair judgments, then that judge has to answer to a higher judge.  And, if a higher judge isn't making fair judgments, then that judge has to answer to a group of lower judges.  It seems to me that King Mosiah is proposing a system of checks and balances for the proposed judges of his people."

Fluttershy reads, "And I command you to do these things in the fear of the Lord; and I command you to do these things, and that ye have no king; that if these people commit sins and iniquities they shall be answered upon their own heads."

Lyra reads, "For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings."

Ataahua reads, "And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land."

I read, "And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part."

Weed Whacker reads, "And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule over them;"

Princess Luna reads, "Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated—telling them that these things ought not to be, that they were expressly repugnant to the commandments of God."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now it came to pass, after king Mosiah had sent these things forth among the people they were convinced of the truth of his words."

Rainbow Dash reads, "Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins."

Once again, I decide to speak up and say, "Now, if I might take a moment, I find this really interesting.  The Nephites started out with a line of kings, and turned to a government of judges that they'd elect.  The Israelites in the old testament started out with judges, and turned to kings to rule over them.  Quite an interesting contrast."

Pinkie Pie reads, "Therefore, it came to pass that they assembled themselves together in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges, to judge them according to the law which had been given them; and they were exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty which had been granted unto them."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And they did wax strong in love towards Mosiah; yea, they did esteem him more than any other man; for they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre which doth corrupt the soul; for he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he had established peace in the land, and he had granted unto his people that they should be delivered from all manner of bondage; therefore they did esteem him, yea, exceedingly, beyond measure."

Spike reads, "And it came to pass that they did appoint judges to rule over them, or to judge them according to the law; and this they did throughout all the land."

Rarity reads, "And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be the first chief judge, he being also the high priest, his father having conferred the office upon him, and having given him the charge concerning all the affairs of the church."

Applejack reads, "And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in the ways of the Lord, and he did keep his commandments, and he did judge righteous judgments; and there was continual peace through the land."

Fluttershy reads, "And thus commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who were called the Nephites; and Alma was the first and chief judge."

Lyra reads, "And now it came to pass that his father died, being eighty and two years old, having lived to fulfil the commandments of God."

Ataahua reads, "And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old; making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem."

I read, "And thus ended the reign of the kings over the people of Nephi; and thus ended the days of Alma, who was the founder of their church."  I then have my character stand up, and I say, "And, thus ends the record in the Book of Mosiah, as well as the reading for this evening.  Again, I thank you for your attendance and participation; and, those of you returning to your homes, I hope you have a safe trip."

As the group separates into two, Rainbow Dash, instead of joining the other element bearers on their trip through the Everfree forest, joins Pinkie Pie, Topsy Turvy, Lyra, and Weed Whacker on the front porch of my character’s house.

On her way there, Fluttershy approaches her fellow pegasa and asks, “Uh, Rainbow Dash, why are you staying with Mormon?”

The azure pegasa turns to the yellow one and answers, “Mormon’s gonna help me make a flying machine for Tank, remember?  And, I’m gonna stay with him until it’s complete.”

Hearing this, Fluttershy jumps in front of her fellow pegasa and says, “Uh, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.  Tortoises aren’t designed to fly.”

Rainbow Dash stops before she can run into the yellow pegasa and listens to what she has to say.  Then, she pats her on the shoulder with a front hoof and says, “It’s alright, Fluttershy.  Mormon has some ideas for what he can put into the machine to help Tank fly.  I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Fluttershy looks down and sighs, then looks back up at Rainbow Dash and says, “Well, if you say so.  I just hope it won’t be too much of a problem.”  And, she ambles around her fellow pegasa and joins the other element bearers at the front gate.

Then, something seems to dawn on Pinkie Pie, who leaps from her position on the front porch and gallops toward the front gate.  She then opens it and bids farewell to her friends as they leave. Then, when her friends have disappeared into the Everfree, she turns and gallops back to the front porch.

The sister alicorns, who remain on the front lawn, turn to the group on the porch; and Princess Celestia asks, “So, how many want to join Mormon and Topsy Turvy while Topsy Turvy takes care of Discord?”

I’m really not at all surprised when Rainbow Dash, as brief as her stay is likely to be, is among the volunteers to join the human and the pink earth mare at Canterlot Castle.

An excited Pinkie Pie wraps her forelimbs around the azure pegasa and shouts, “Oh, I’m so happy you’ll be coming with us, Rainbow Dash!”

Smiling, the azure pegasa replies, “Well, if I’m gonna stay with you and Mormon and everypony else that lives with him, then why shouldn’t I join in the other activities as well?”

I can hear the smile in Princess Celestia’s voice as she says, “Well, everypony whoever’s coming with, come and join me and my sister on the lawn; and we’ll teleport you to Canterlot Castle.”

Obediently, the group gathers around the two princess alicorns, who then close their eyes and bow their heads; and their horns start to glow and sparkle.

In the next frame, the group are on the lawn of Canterlot Castle, in front of Discord’s statue.

At this point, while Princess Luna goes to get Grounds Keeper, Princess Celestia canters toward the entrance to the hedge maze as she looks at my character and asks, “Mormon, will you come with me and give me your report?”

I answer, “Yes, ma’am,” and my character proceeds to follow the daytime alicorn into the hedge maze.

While my character is walking toward the hedge maze, I hear Rainbow Dash ask, “So, is that normal for Mormon and Princess Celestia?”

I then hear Ataahua answer, “It’s been that way since Topsy Turvy and I moved in with him. Princess Celestia has always led Mormon into the labyrinth to get his report.  And, when they’re done, they always come back.”

I hear Pinkie Pie add, “I hear Princess Celestia writes the report down after that.”

I don’t hear anymore from the group, as, once my character enters the maze, the hedges either absorb or reflect their voices, making it impossible to hear what they say.

At the first turn in the maze where she usually asks for my report, Princess Celestia stops and turns to my character and asks, “So, have you learned anything new about unicorns?  Anything new about Lyra?”

I shrug and answer, “The only thing new about Lyra is that she’s gained earth pony powers.  She’s physically grown, and she’s taking an interest in what those powers are going to mean to her.”

I think I see Princess Celestia’s smile grow as she says, “Well, that’s really good news.  I had hoped that living with you would bring about some kind of positive change in her.  I suppose that means she’s a terra-corn now.”

I nod and say, “Based on the label I suggested for ponies with both earth pony powers and a horn, yes, that’d be right.  And, since Lyra has started studying her earth pony abilities, it’s given me a chance to learn how earth ponies’ abilities are connected to the earth.”

I watch as the daytime princess settles into a canine-style position before asking, “And, how is that?”

I answer, “From what I’ve heard Applejack say about it, Pinkie’s talent for throwing parties is connected to the earth by how she uses things that originate from the soil, such as the ingredients for her pastries, or the elements that compose her party favors.  In a similar manner, Bon-bon’s talent for making candy stems from ingredients that start out living in the soil.  Applejack is more closely, more directly, connected to the ground; as her talent is in agriculture.  And, based on the criterion of the indirect, I’d imagine that Octavia’s talent for music is connected to her cello, which is composed of at least one tree that started life in the soil, and metal, which comes directly out of the ground.”

Princess Celestia rises to all fours again and says, “An explanation that is both reasonable and really very interesting.  Thank you for sharing that with me.  Tell me, have you learned anything else about earth ponies or unicorns?”

I answer, “I’m pretty sure I’ve covered all I’ve learned about those subjects so far.”

The white alicorn nods, then says, “I noticed that Rainbow Dash is living with you now.  And she has a tortoise with her.”

Considering Princess Celestia no doubt already has the rainbow-haired pegasa's report, my guess is she wants my report on the subject.  For that reason I explain, “The tortoise is her new pet.  You see, today, Rainbow Dash held a competition to see which of the possible pets would be best for her.  And, in the end, while she’d picked out four flying creatures as her candidates, the tortoise ended up meeting her final criterion for being her pet.  Only the tortoise had stopped to help her out when she’d gotten caught in a rock slide, then carried her to the finish line.”

Again the daytime princess nods, then says, “I received her report earlier, and she told me about how her criteria for the perfect pet for her had changed.  Thank you for providing the information on how she came to that conclusion.”  She then tilts her head and asks, “So, why is she living with you?”

I answer, “She doesn’t want her new pet to keep her grounded, so she’s going to be living with me until we’ve made a machine that’ll allow her new pet to fly with her.”

Princess Celestia straightens her head again and concludes, “So, instead of being grounded by her pet, she’s going to make her pet tortoise fly.”

I respond, “That’s what she told me, yes.”

I think I see a look of concern develop on the daytime alicorn’s face before she says, “Tortoises weren’t designed for flight.  I hope Rainbow Dash’s new pet will be able to fly without getting motion sick.”

I state, “You know, Fluttershy had a similar concern, and I can understand why.  I don’t know if this is going to help with that or not, but I plan on designing the flying mechanism so that the tortoise’s natural walking movements will help him fly.”

Princess Celestia’s face tightens, so that she almost looks angry to me, as she says, “Like, providing strings to attach to the tortoise’s feet, then setting up the strings so they attach to a system of wheels and levers that spin a propeller and at least allow the tortoise to rise, hover, and descend?”

If this were a conversation with a real creature glaring at me, I’d be nervous right now.  But, since I know I’m only talking to a video game character, I’m relaxed as I answer, “That is what I’m thinking about.”

Again Princess Celestia smiles as she says, “Well, if anypony can get it to work, anyone, then I’m sure you can.”

I smile as I say, “I appreciate your vote of confidence.”

Then, the white princess asks, “So, is there anything else you want to add to your report?”

I answer, “None that I can think of.  I think everything has been pretty much covered.”

After hearing my answer, the daytime alicorn canters past my character and says, “Well, in that case, let’s go back to the others.”

My character waits for the daytime princess to pass in front of him before following her out of the hedge maze.  And, by the time we get to the rest of the group, once again Topsy Turvy is halfway through cleaning the Discord statue, and almost that far through her song.

The group waits for the pink earth mare to finish cleaning the statue and sing, after which Grounds Keeper takes the cleaning equipment back to the castle.

Then, after the spiral-eyed earth mare once again wishes for her father to not be a statue for too long, the five ponies, one dinosaur, and one human gather around the two alicorns, who close their eyes and bow their heads; and the horns of the two alicorns start to glow and sparkle.

One frame later, the group is back on the front lawn of my character’s house.  And, as soon as my character and those living with him are gathered on the front porch, the two alicorns close their eyes and bow their heads once again; and their horns start to glow and sparkle a second or two before they disappear.

Presently, Rainbow Dash turns to my character and asks, “So, can we get to work on Tank’s flying machine now?”

My character focuses on her, and I answer, “Let’s have dinner first.  Then, after that, you, Tank, and I can meet in my work room; and we’ll get to work on that machine.  We can at least get the measurements figured out.”

Rainbow Dash scoffs and rolls her eyes before she says, “Measurements?  What do you need measurements for?”

I answer, “To make sure the machine will fit Tank.  Plus, there’s going to be all sorts of machinery inside the device that’s going to help Tank fly.”

Rainbow Dash sighs, then says, “Yeah, whatever.  Let’s have dinner, then I’ll help you take Tank’s measurements.”

Before I can agree, the other ponies and Weed Whacker leave the front porch and head out to their fields to start harvesting.

Seeing this activity, again Rainbow Dash focuses on my character, then asks, “Uh, Mormon, why is everypony heading out to the fields again?  Don’t you already have the food harvested?”

I answer, “I like my food as fresh as possible, and evidently so does everyone else that lives here.”

Now, the azure pegasa grunts with interest, then says, “I hadn’t really thought about it that way.  In Cloudsdale and Ponyville, I'd get all my food at the market.  Sometimes I’d take naps in the apple trees in Applejack’s orchards, but that’s just because I like the way they smell.”

I state, “Well, around here, we harvest food for each meal so we’re guaranteed to have the freshest ingredients.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash circles around my character down the stairs, and onto the lawn. There, she looks at each of the fields (Is it, or is it not, surprising that she seems to be able to see so well in such a low level of light?) and hums with interest.  Then, she turns back to my character again and says, “You know, maybe I can help out.  So, where do I start?”

I answer, “You can decide where you want to help out.”

Now, the rainbow-haired pegasa smiles as she says, “Thanks.”  Then, she heads toward the vineyard, evidently to help Lyra with harvesting.

With that decided, my character proceeds to the orchard, where Pinkie Pie, controlled by Diane, is evidently in the process of finding a tree to buck apples out of.

My character climbs over the fence, then proceeds to the peach tree, where he starts picking a few fruits from it.

In the mean time, it’s clear that Pinkie “Diane” Pie has made her choice; as I hear a thud, some rustling, and a few more, lighter thuds.

After my character has picked some eight or nine peaches, I turn to find that Pinkamena has once again taken over control of Pinkie Pie and proceeded to hang the fallen apples in her mane.  Then, seeing that my character is ready to return to the house, she excitedly calls out, “So, let’s go,” then hops over the fence and bounces back to the house.

My character follows closely behind her, scaling the fence, and on back to the house.  And, by the time the human and the angel pony are there, all except Lyra and Rainbow Dash are there as well.  And, all my character has to do is turn to look in the direction of the vineyard to show me that those two are on their way.

Seeing the group ready to go back inside, my character proceeds to the door and opens it for the ponies and the dinosaur, then holds it open for them to enter ahead of him.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie heads the group to the kitchen door, then opens it for them and holds it open.

My character follows Weed Whacker, the last of the group to enter, and closes the door behind him; then follows her into the kitchen, where Pinkie Pie follows him in, closing the door behind her.

From there, Rainbow Dash takes charge of placing the prepared food items on a platter she pulls out.

Once dinner is ready, including muffins prepared by Pinkie Pie, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy, with fruits donated by my character and Lyra; Rainbow Dash helps carry the platter into the front room, where human, dinosaur, and ponies gather around.

I invite Pinkie Pie to pray over the food, which she does; and everyone eats.

Then, when all are satisfied, they join forces in the cleanup, after which Rainbow Dash reminds me about the need to start work on the flying machine for Tank.

Either Pinkie Pie hasn’t informed Rainbow Dash of where my work room is, or the azure pegasa is being courteous and allowing my character to lead her and Tank there.  Either way, my character leads the way into his work room, where he clears off a table.  And, based on the sound, I’m guessing that Rainbow Dash has taken the initiative and closed the door to the work room.  She’s there with her tortoise just as my character has cleared off a table, so we can get right to work.

My character produces a measuring tape, a pen, and a rectangle while Rainbow Dash puts Tank on the cleared-off surface; then my character proceeds to take measurements of the tortoise’s shell, from front to back, from right to left, across the top, then from underneath, writing down the measurements as they're taken.  He even wraps the tape around Tank’s shell, above his head and tail, to get a measurement of circumference.  Then, after my character writes down that information, Rainbow Dash and I agree that enough has been done for the night; and the three proceed to their separate rooms.

As my character proceeds to go to bed, I can’t help thinking of how this temporary addition to the group is going to influence things.  In the first game, when my character brought Rainbow Dash home to take care of her and defend her from Pinkie Pie, she broke down the door to try to get in contact with her.  And, there are other differences: there are other ponies to help her figure things out, help her acclimate.  And, who knows how long it’ll take for Tank’s flying machine to be ready for him?  I find myself looking forward to finding out.

So, seeing that my character is asleep, I save and close the game until the next time I can play.

Chapter 9: Of Loyalty and Humility

Over the past day or two, I was attending a family reunion.  I don't regret attending the reunion, in fact I enjoyed it.  But, as I sit down, I must admit, I'm looking forward to getting back to playing "Hey, Batter."

One might think that, considering how much time I spent away from the game, I may have forgotten some of the things that have happened, and that I've done.  But, as I open the game and my second file, I find that I can remember everything from the last time I played.  And, my character awakes to the sound of knocking on his door, followed by Pinkie Pie calling out, “Mormon, it’s time to get up!  We need to get breakfast ready so we can go back to Ponyville!”

As my character rises from his bed, I hear Rainbow Dash’s voice call out, “And, don’t forget, we need to get to work building that flying machine for Tank!”

I answer back, “First thing’s first!  First we have breakfast!  Then, when we get to Ponyville, I’ll help you work on the flying machine for your new pet!”

In the mean time, my character leaves his bed and walks toward his bedroom door.  And, once there, he opens it to find that the pink angel pony and the azure pegasa aren't there anymore.  I can only guess that means Pinkie and Rainbow Dash are already on their way, Pinkie Pie to the orchard, and Rainbow Dash to wherever she's chosen to go.

My character heads through the kitchen, through the front room, and outside, closing the open doors behind him.  My guess is the pink angel pony and the azure pegasa were too impatient to wait and close the doors they’d opened.

At any rate, by the time my character gets to the orchard, Pinkie is being controlled by Diane; and she’s already chosen a tree for bucking apples.  In the mean time, while Pinkie “Diane” Pie prepares to buck apples from the tree she chose, my character climbs the fence and chooses the nectarine tree and proceeds to harvest fruits from it.

From the pink angel pony’s position I hear a thud, then leaves rustling, then a few more thuds. Then, I hear the emotionless voice of Diane say, “Mormon, I expect Rainbow Dash will be tested today.”

I know what Diane means.  After all, if I’m not mistaken, this day, as well as the following, are based on the episode, “The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.”  But, at the same time, because I’ve programmed this game for those not familiar with My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, as well as the fact that I still like to play the part of such a gamer, I say, “Tested?”

Diane continues, “Rainbow Dash needs to remember humility, and she’ll be tested on how much about it she can remember.”

Again, I know what Diane means.  In the episode I just mentioned, Rainbow Dash rescues a few different ponies.  Then, as she gets more attention for her good deeds, I suspect she forgets the lesson her friend Rarity learned when she got her butterfly wings, then flew up to the sun during the Best Young Fliers’ Competition in Cloudsdale and got her wings burned away.  Something different will happen to Rainbow Dash, she won’t lose her wings.  But, she will be competing with a new, more mysterious hero in town.  And, she’ll eventually find out that the new hero is just her friends in disguise.  But, that’s for later.

For right now, I say, “I suppose part of that lesson is that I’ll have to be there to remind her that she wanted me to help her build the flying machine for her tortoise, and not be distracted by the attention she’s going to receive.”

I can only assume my pink angel pony friend nods, as my character is too occupied picking nectarines to give her his attention.  All I know is I hear her say, “If that is the role you must play, then so be it.  But, I won’t be surprised if she needs your help as much as the rest of us will.”  And, by the time my character has picked some eight or nine nectarines and can turn to her, Diane has returned control of Pinkie back to Pinkamena, and the curly-haired angel pony is taking the fallen apples and hanging them in her mane.

The pink, curly-haired angel pony, seeing my character looking at her, says, “I’m glad Diane trusts you as much as she does.”  Then, seeing that he’s picked as many nectarines as he has and is ready to go back to the house, she adds, “So, let’s go back.  I don’t know how much longer Rainbow Dash is going to wait.”  And, she bounces to and over the fence, then back to the house.

My character follows her, and meets up with the other ponies and the dinosaur waiting for them on the front porch.  Evidently even Weed Whacker was either earlier or just faster than my character and Pinkie Pie.

It’s Rainbow Dash who, seeing my character and Pinkie arrive on the front porch, opens the door and allows everyone to enter.

And, it’s my character who leads the group to the kitchen and opens the door there for them, then waits for everyone else to enter.  And, once the last of the group, Weed Whacker, has entered the house, and Rainbow Dash is following her in, I call out to her and remind her to close the door behind her, which she does rather begrudgingly.

Then, when Rainbow Dash has followed Weed Whacker into the kitchen, my character follows the rainbow-haired pegasa in, and closes the door behind him.

Rainbow Dash takes over my job of passing out fruits and vegetables that Weed Whacker cleans, and my character becomes one of those who prepares the plant products for breakfast, to be eaten raw.  Although, I still donate the extra nectarine to Pinkie Pie, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy for the muffins.  I personally have never had muffins flavored with summer fruits, but I wouldn’t be against trying them.  As good as summer fruits are by themselves, they might just taste even better in such a pastry.

It takes maybe ten or twenty minutes for the breakfast to be prepared, after which the group takes the meal into the front room and joins forces in eating the fruits, vegetables, and muffins.  Then, when all have eaten their fill, they join forces in the cleanup, after which they leave my character’s house, with Rainbow Dash carrying Tank, and head through the Everfree forest, and on into Ponyville.

When the group arrives at Sugar Cube  Corner; Pinkie Pie, Ataahua, Lyra, and Weed Whacker head into the kitchen; while the rest of the group remains in the front room.

Mrs. Cake, seeing the azure pegasa, asks, “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing with Mormon?”

The rainbow-haired pegasa turns to her and answers, “I’m here because I need Mormon’s help making a flying machine for my new pet tortoise, Tank.”

The blue earth mare then turns to my character and asks, “Uh, this won’t interfere with your regular duties here, will it?”

I answer, “I hope it won’t be too much of an interference.  I have some ideas on what I can do to design such a machine.  I already have the measurements, but I may need to do a few other things to make sure the machine fits Tank comfortably.”

I then hear Mr. Cake say, “Well, if you need it, there’s always Pinkie’s old room upstairs.  You can turn that into a temporary work room.”

At the same time, after the orange earth stallion is finished speaking, as Rainbow Dash and my character turn to him, she and I say, “Thanks.”

I continue with, “I’m sure that’ll really help out.”

Mr. Cake smiles as he says, “If you need anything else, please feel free to ask.”

My character nods in agreement, and I think Rainbow Dash does as well.  Then, the human and the pegasa head up to Pinkie Pie’s old room.

Once inside, I have my character look around until I see a table where Tank can settle.

In the mean time, I hear an excited Rainbow Dash say, “Oh, I can’t wait until Tank can fly with me.”

I have my character retrieve the table, and I say, “That may take some time.  I’m thinking it’ll be a good idea to get some plaster or something so I can make a mold of Tank’s shell.”

Immediately after I finish talking, I hear Rainbow Dash say, “Oh, no.  Mold?  Where?  Where!?  I haven’t had Tank for one day, and he’s already dying?”

My character turns to the rainbow-haired pegasa to show me she’s in a panic checking her pet from his shell to his limbs.  When he’s brought the table to the position of Rainbow Dash and Tank, I have him put it down before I say to her, “It’s alright, it’s alright.”  When the azure pegasa looks up at my character, I continue, “I can understand how you misunderstood what I said.  I was just thinking out loud that, if I could get a better idea of the shape of Tank’s shell, I could get a better idea of where I could put the gears for the flying mechanism, the parts that’d be shielded from external elements.”

At first Rainbow Dash sighs with relief, relaxed now that she understands that Tank’s life isn’t in danger.  Then, a second later, she glares up at my character and says, “Mormon, that wasn’t funny.”

I nod and say, “I understand.  You’re not used to having a pet.  And, now that you have one, you want to take the best care of him that you can.  I didn’t mean to suggest that anything was wrong with him.  I was just making a suggestion as to how I could work on the idea I have for his flying machine, that’s all.”

At first, Rainbow Dash looks down at Tank, who looks back up at her and slowly smiles.  After a second or two, she looks back up at my character and opens her mouth.

But, before she can say anything, a scream is heard from outside.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was Rainbow Dash that had screamed.  And, to complete the effect, the scream ends when Rainbow Dash closes her mouth.

The azure pegasa sets Tank on the table and looks and flies toward the window.  After looking outside for a moment, she turns back to my character and says, “Somepony needs my help.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I respond, “You go on ahead.  I’ll stay here and start working on plans for the flying machine.”

Rainbow Dash nods to my character, then turns, opens the window, and flies out.

As my character starts making plans, drawing out possible gear-and-string scenarios to connect the strings and the propeller, after a few seconds, I hear cheering coming from outside.  My guess is that Rainbow Dash rescued a foal and carriage from rolling off a hill towards what I remember planning out to be Sweet Apple Acres, somewhere in an empty area.

I then hear her call out, “There’s something wrong with the baby!”

Evidently, that hill isn’t too far away from Sugar Cube Corner.

At any rate, a moment later, I hear her continue, “She’s not cheering for everypony’s favorite hero, Rainbow Dash!”

I don’t know if my character’s doing this, but I find myself groaning as I close my eyes and press the palm of one hand into my forehead.

It’s a few seconds later, after I’ve removed the hand from my forehead, opened my eyes, and looked to see that my character has continued the work while I was reacting to the azure pegasa’s lack of humility.  It seems that the last scenario he was working on hasn’t worked when applied to Tank’s shell.

It’s about the time that my character completes another hopeful design that Rainbow Dash flies through the window again and, seeing my character at work, asks, “So, how’s it coming along so far?”

I answer, “Well, so far, I’ve found a few ideas that don’t work.  I just need to find one that will.”

The rainbow-haired pegasa comes to a stop in the air next to the table, then lands, then says, “Well, if anypony can do it, you can, Mormon.”

I can’t help smiling as I say, “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”  I then pause for a moment before I continue, “I heard you outside.”

Rainbow Dash laughs nervously, scratches the back of her head with a front hoof, and says, “Yeah, my fans, ya know.”

Hearing the azure pegasa laugh again, I say, “Yeah.  ‘There’s something wrong with this baby. It’s not cheering for me.’”

The way Rainbow Dash opens her mouth, I think she’s going to try arguing with me some more.  But, after a few seconds of evidently not being able to find a counter-argument, she finally sighs and, a sad expression on her face, says, “Yeah, you’re probably right.  I guess I did get a little carried away out there.”  Then, looking at the plans my character is ready to try next on Tank, she asks, “So, do you think those’ll work?”

I answer, “I’m hoping so.  If not, maybe I’ll try wheels and strings or something like that.”

Rainbow Dash hums with interest for a moment before asking, “Aren’t you going to use strings to attach to Tank’s feet?  Didn’t you say something about his walking helping him fly?”

I answer, “I did.  I’m just having trouble figuring out how I’m going to get that to work.  Maybe I need to get him weighed, and work from there.”

Rainbow Dash asks, “Well, why would you need to do that?  Couldn’t you just make the machine, put it on Tank’s back, and just fool around with it until it works?”

I answer, “I suppose I could.  But, if I could make calculations based on weight and the necessary lift, it could save me some time.  Then, after that, if I need to make some adjustments, then I’ll make them.”

Again Rainbow Dash sighs, then ambles to the door and says, “Maybe the Cakes have some weighing machine that you can use.”  And, before I can reply, she opens the door and exits.  And, a minute or two later, she’s back with a lever-style scale, as well as some weights hanging from her mane.

Seeing the device, I have my character move Tank from the table so that Rainbow Dash can put the scale on it.  She then holds it down while my character puts Tank on one side, then removes the weights and starts putting them on the other side.

As the counter-weights start to balance the two sides of the scale, I notice the final measurement seems to suggest maybe six or seven of the weights that my character has been putting on the one side.

Then, I hear a groan come from the tortoise, and my character turns to see him acting … differently.  So, I ask, “Are you alright?”

Seemingly in response, the tortoise opens his mouth, then belches, then squirts a thick, pale-greenish liquid out of his mouth.

I don’t know if a real tortoise or turtle would be able to spout the way I have Tank doing.  If so, it might not be what everyone expects, to see a creature so slow as a tortoise projecting its vomit the way Tank is doing.  And, it happens maybe two or three times before Tank finally stops and slowly pulls his head back into his shell.

But, the product of the tortoise’s nausea has one effect that’s probably not so surprising.  Without that additional weight, Tank, on his side of the scale, rises just a little bit above the side with the weights.

My guess is Rainbow Dash was waiting until she was sure that Tank was finished before grabbing him off of the scale and hugging him, crying, “I’m so sorry, Tank!  I didn’t mean for you to get sick!”

In the mean time, without any weight to counter-balance, the scale tilts and spills some of the weights onto the floor.

Seeing this, I state, “Well, I think I have a good idea of how much Tank weighs, or at least weighed before he got sick.  So, any idea how much these things weigh?”

Rainbow Dash sobs, “D-don’t you think … you’ve d-done … enough to him already?”

I have my character grab one of the weights and hold it out to the azure pegasa, and I say, “I meant one of these things.”

The azure pegasa looks at my character and rapidly blinks for about a second before saying, “Oh.”  She then sighs vocally before answering, “I don’t know.  You’ll have to ask the Cakes.”

I have my character, who at this time had been kneeling on one knee, start to stand up again; and I respond, “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

Then, once my character is standing, Rainbow Dash points to him with her free front hoof and says, “Wait, it looks like Tank threw up on you.”

My character automatically looks down at his shirt and slacks.  There seems to be nothing particularly shiny on his shirt, but there is a new stripe on one leg of his pants.  As he turns back to Rainbow Dash, I answer, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

The azure pegasa puts his pet tortoise on the floor, then looks at my character again and says, “I’ll go downstairs and get a few towels or something so we can clean up the mess.”  And, after gently and reassuringly tapping her pet’s shell, she goes back out through the door.

I prepare to remind her to ask about the weights; but I figure, as fast as she moves, it’s probably too late to mention it.  So, I have my character turn to her pet tortoise; and I see, through his eyes, that Tank is smiling unsteadily.  Since the ordeal with the scale is over with, I think he’ll have plenty of time to recover from his nausea.  I just wonder what the next step in making his flying machine should be.  And, there’s one more thing, come to think of it.

As I’m looking at Tank, I hear Rainbow Dash, next to my character, say, “Here’s a towel for you so you can clean off your … clothes.”  My character automatically turns to her, and I can see, through his eyes, the smile on the rainbow-haired pegasa as she laughs nervously.  Then, when my character takes the towel from her, she adds, as she strolls away from him, “Oh, and I asked the Cakes about those weights.  They each weigh a PBM.”

Now, in the animated series, at least in the episodes of the first five seasons, there’s no mention, that I’ve heard, of weight measurement that the ponies are known to use.  But, for this video game, I’ve tried to imagine how a pony might measure weight; and I've come up with my own idea.  As disgusting as this may sound, I’ve figured that the most reasonable measurement that an Equestrian pony might use would be their bowel movements, which could be really standard once a pony reached adulthood.  I also based this measurement on my experiences with Pinkie Pie, as she progressed from earth pony to complete alicorn, and how the size and mass of her bowel movements, as well as how much she ate, changed with her physical size.  Indeed, when she graduated to full alicorn, the weight of her bowel movements quadrupled, more or less; and I considered it a reasonable way that a pony might measure how much something might weigh.

When Pinkie Pie was fully mature, and before she became an alicorn, I’d say her bowel movements generally weighed maybe half a pound.  Then, after she earned her wings and her horn, her bowel movements weighed a little over two pounds.

This made it easy to decide what this kind of measurement system should be.  And, having nothing else to go on (no pun intended), I’ve decided to base the pony measurements accordingly:  a Pony Bowel Movement, or PBM, from Pinkie Pie, weighed an estimated half a pound, while an Alicorn Bowel Movement, or ABM, from her, weighed an estimated two pounds, or four PBMs.

Now, it took six or seven of those one-PBM weights to balance one side of the scale with Tank on the other side.  And, since one PBM is half a pound, the most reasonable conclusion is that Tank must weight between three and three and a half pounds.  And, as long as I can convert that to grams, or kilograms, it should give me a good idea of what I’ll need to produce a propeller that’ll allow Tank to, for all intents and purposes, crawl on air.  And, more than that, maybe I’ll be able to make a gear or two to connect to the propeller to make better use of the crawling animation I gave to tortoises.  Maybe I could make it a multi-level gear.

In the mean time, as I’m thinking of these things, Rainbow Dash and my character are busy cleaning up Tank’s vomit.

And Tank, in the mean time, is clearly recovering really well.

And, it’s about the time that the two are finished cleaning up that I hear Pinkie Pie’s voice at the door saying, “Mormon, Rainbow Dash, you may wanna come with me and the Cakes.  Ponyville’s senior ponies are gonna make a speech.”  As the pegasa and the human turn to the angel pony, she continues, “It’s just a few houses down, and they’ll be on a balcony.  And, Mayor Mare’s gonna be there, too.”

Rainbow Dash and my character turn to each other, and I say, “Well, let’s get going then.”  And, I have my character rise to a standing position again.

Then, as Rainbow Dash grabs the towels in her mouth and prepares to take them downstairs again, Pinkie Pie, evidently seeing the stain on my character’s pants, asks with a tone of worry in her voice, “Uh, Mormon, is everything alright up here?”

I answer, “Yeah.  There was just a little mishap getting Tank’s weight.”

Now, Pinkie sighs with relief before saying, “That’s good.  My tail twitched while I was downstairs, and I got worried that somepony up here had fallen.  I’m glad to hear everypony’s alright.”

Then, Rainbow Dash, after having taken the towels back downstairs, comes back up and, not noticing Pinkie’s twitching tail, says, “So, Mormon, if you’ll put Tank on my back, let’s get going to that speech.”

As I vocalize agreement, my character picks up the tortoise and puts him on the azure pegasa’s back.  Then, the pegasa, the angel pony, and the human leave the room, proceed down the stairs, and head to the front door, where they meet the Cakes, Lyra, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Weed Whacker. Then, it’s just a few seconds’ walk to the home where three senior ponies are ambling around, evidently waiting for the fourth to come out.

I notice that Pinkie’s tail starts to vibrate a little more aggressively when the fourth senior pony, a lavender, bespectacled stallion with a smoking pipe emitting bubbles as a cutie mark, comes out on the balcony.

And, sure enough, I start to hear cracking noises coming from the balcony as the stallion reaches the guard railing.

As gasps and screams of alarm are heard among the gathering of ponies, Rainbow Dash turns to my character and asks, “Mormon, will you please take Tank?”

Once I agree and my character takes the tortoise from the rainbow-haired pegasa’s back, she rises into the air and says, “Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here.”

And, this while the balcony starts to tilt forward.

It doesn’t surprise me that the azure pegasa arrives in time for the balcony to snap off from the rest of the building, nor that she’s able to lower the four senior ponies safely to the ground.  Also, after having seen it in the episode, I’m not surprised that Rainbow Dash, once again, starts to take advantage of the adulation she receives.  But, I’m not all that happy about it either.

After a few seconds of watching Rainbow Dash show off for the cheering ponies, I hear Twilight Sparkle say, “Call me silly, but I think this whole hero thing might be going to Rainbow Dash’s head.”

I can’t see if my character turns to face her, because I’ve got my face buried in my hands right now.

But, I do hear Pinkie Pie reply, “You may be right, silly.”

What gets me to uncover my face is when I hear one of the elderly ponies, the stallion, say, “I’m getting too old for this.”  And, I can’t help chuckling over that.

But, in the mean time, all I can see is Rainbow Dash in front of my character’s face, saying, “Well, Mormon, let’s get back to Sugar Cube Corner.  We still have that flying thing to make for Tank.”

For a split second, there’s instant silence.  Then, there’s the sound of galloping as the crowd heads off toward the bakery made of gingerbread.

My character also starts to make his way to the bakery, until Rainbow Dash stops him and says, “Wait, Mormon?”  Then, when my character stops and turns to her, she continues, “Uh, could we make a stop off at the library first?  I know it’s kinda out of our way, but I need to pick up something from there before we go back to Sugar Cube Corner.”

I know what, or in this case who, the azure pegasa’s after.  And, I consider refusing and demanding that she come with me.  But then, there’s something else to consider.

That crowd of ponies that saw Rainbow Dash rescue the elderly ponies on the balcony are most likely already there, and will likely be ready for her with cameras and other equipment to take notes on what she says and/or does.  And, while I know she’ll be heading to the library to get Spike to take notes on her words and actions, to write her biography, I also know it’ll delay her arrival at Sugar Cube Corner.

So, taking that into consideration, I decide to say, “Well, alright.  You can go ahead to the library, but I’m heading to Sugar Cube Corner.  Oh, and while you’re out, maybe you could get some supplies from the hardware store in town.”

Rainbow Dash, hearing my request, exhales, emitting a sound that’s part sigh, part groan, all exasperation.  Immediately after that, she says, “Fine, what do you need?”

I answer, “Well, I could use some plaster of Paris, if you could find some there.  That, or some cement, or maybe both.  And, I’ll need some high-quality string.  A roll of wool, I suppose, and a roll of metal string, if possible.  And, if they don’t have propellers there, then some wood for making a propeller.  On second thought, just get some wood for the propeller.  I’ll figure out how long it needs to be when I make my calculations.  If they have metal gears of different sizes, and some metal rods to hold them in place, then get, say, three each of the gears, and maybe ten rods.  If I need more, then we’ll know where to get them.  The gears’ll give me a good idea of what I have to work with.  You know what, I’ll likely need wood for more than just the propeller.  So, an extra block or two for the main part that’ll cover all the machinery, and for the part that’ll go between the machinery and Tank’s shell.  And, maybe a belt, something made of either leather or some kind of strong cloth.”

Whether it’s my order or the time that it’s taken for me to make it, it’s clearly taking a toll on the patience of the azure pegasa, who finally growls, “Is there anything else?”

I answer, “No, I think that’ll be all.”

Rainbow Dash growls out, “Good,” then turns and drifts off toward the library.

My character, on the other hand, resumes his march toward the bakery.  And, when he walks inside, he’s greeted by cheering.

I know who they’re expecting, but I decide to have some fun; so I say, “Uh, thanks.”

Then, when the crowd sees that the one they’re cheering for isn’t the one that entered, they collectively groan; and a member of the crowd, Berry Punch I think, asks, “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

I answer, “I sent her to the hardware store to get some supplies.  She should be back soon enough.”

Then, Pinkie Pie approaches me and asks, “And, I’m guessing you’ll be waiting for her upstairs in my room?”

I answer, “That’s right.”

Pinkie Pie nods in understanding, then says, “Good.  When she comes, I’ll let her know you’re waiting for her.”

As my character proceeds to the pink angel pony’s room, I reply, “Good.”  And, once my character makes it up to her room, I have him close the door behind him.  Then, I have him set the tortoise back on the table; and I say, “Rainbow Dash should be back soon enough.  I guess you heard that I sent her to the hardware store in town to get the supplies I need for your flying machine.”

By the time I’m finished speaking, my character is kneeling on one knee in front of the tortoise.

And, when I’m finished speaking, Tank takes a step toward my character, puts a front foot on his hand, and slowly smiles.

I smile back and say, “I do hope she remembers everything I asked her to get.  Until I get all the supplies, about all I can do is make the calculations so that I can figure out how long the propellers need to be, what size of gears I need, and, ultimately, how big the machine needs to be.”  You know, come to think of it, I could make those calculations right now.  So, while I’m waiting for the azure pegasa to show up, that’s what I do.

Considering that I have Equestria’s gravitational acceleration equal to that of Earth’s, or approximately so, at least for Rainbow Dash’s pet, that gives me a good idea of where I can begin with the calculations.  And, I have the conversion equations between different measurements; so, I have no problems, once I find the conversions, in finding out the force gravity has on Tank.  So, after figuring out that it’s somewhere between just below thirteen and a half Newtons and a little over fifteen and a half, that gives me a good idea of where I can start in making a good, strong, wooden propeller, and how fast it’ll have to spin to get Tank at least hovering above the ground.

And, it’s about this time that I hear the bell downstairs ring, followed by Pinkie Pie calling out, “Mormon, Rainbow Dash’s here!”  And, I can only hope, at this point, that Pinkie Pie takes the opportunity to remind her azure pegasa friend that she’s needed upstairs.  Still, I decide to have my character head at least out of the room to see what Rainbow Dash is doing.

As soon as my character and the azure pegasa see each other, the pegasa flies up to my character and, scratching the back of her head with a front hoof, says, “Uh, Mormon, I did order those supplies you wanted me to.  But, they’re gonna be kinda expensive.”

I ask, “How expensive?”

Rainbow Dash answers, “The wood’s not a problem, and neither is the string, the plaster, or the cement.  The problem is the gears.  The smallest cost ten bits each, and they go up two bits with each bigger size.”

I can see the worry in the pegasa’s face.  But, I know I can easily cover whatever the price is, considering I’ve given my character infinite money.  So, I say, “I’ll go to the hardware store and pay for the supplies.  And, when I come back, I’m gonna need your help putting the flying machine together.”

Rainbow Dash looks relieved as she says, “Thanks, Mormon.”

As my character heads down the stairs, I say to the rainbow-haired pegasa, “In the mean time, you’re gonna have to stay here with Tank.”

Rainbow Dash follows my character down the stairs, nodding and saying, “Sure.  I’ll stay here with Tank and …”

At this point, I have my character stop and turn to the azure pegasa, who also stops before she can run into him.  I then add, “And remember, I’m here to help you build a flying machine for your pet tortoise.  I’ve worked out some of the measurements, and I’m still working on the plans.”

Frowning with her eyes, smiling with her mouth, and again scratching the back of her head with a front hoof, Rainbow Dash answers, “Uh, of course, Mormon.  Whatever you say.”  And, she chuckles nervously.

I allow my character to make his way to the other door before I stop him again, turn to the rainbow-haired pegasa, and say, “Now, this shouldn’t take very long.  And, like I said, when I get back, I’m going to need your help.”  I then allow my character to turn and head out for the hardware store.

But, before I can get far enough away from the bakery, I hear one of the foals, a filly, I think, say, “Uh, Rainbow Dash, could you tell the story about how you rescued me from the well?”

As my character continues on his way to the hardware store, I can figure that, from what I saw in the episode, there really isn’t that much to tell.  Of course, on the other hand, knowing Rainbow Dash, she’s going to want to keep the story interesting by adding as many flourishes to it as possible, very likely making it seem like an episode of some old spy show.  Chances are that it’ll keep her from keeping an eye on her pet tortoise, but it’ll also keep her occupied until I get back.

When my character gets to the hardware store, I find out that some twenty incremental sizes of gears are being sold there, which, by my calculations, means the price would come to seventeen hundred forty bits.  That, in addition to the ten rods, which each cost another ten bits, the small bags of plaster and cement, which each cost five bits, the three blocks of wood, each two bits, and the belt, two more bits, the full cost comes to eighteen hundred, fifty-eight bits.

I’m guessing that, whatever weather control pays in Ponyville, it wouldn’t pay enough to cover the price of all the items I requested.  And, while I’m sure Filthy Rich or perhaps another rich pony in town could cover the cost, so can my character.  So, I have him pay the price for the items, then gather them up and take them back to Sugar Cube Corner.

And, when my character gets there and enters, I hear Rainbow Dash say, “And then, I zoomed into the well.  I knew it’d be dark and dangerous, but I didn’t let that stop me.  Danger’s my middle name, after all:  Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash.”

At this point, I have my character hold up a hand; and I call out, “Uh, Miss Danger, I’m here with the supplies for Tank’s flying machine.  And, I could really use your help putting them together.”

The azure pegasa drifts over to my character and, with something of a worried smile on her face, asks him, “Couldn’t it wait, I’m in the middle of a really epic story here.”

After having watched the episode so many times, both with and without Pinkie Pie, I decide to abbreviate it as I say, “Yeah, lemme guess.  You were swimming in a cloud when you heard a foal screaming for help.  So, you looked down and heard the cries coming from a well just under your cloud.  You dove into the well, found the filly, and fished her out of it.  Isn’t that pretty much what happened?”

Rainbow Dash seems deflated as she answers, “Well, yeah.  But, when I told the story, it was gonna be so much more, you know, epic.”

And, at the same time, I hear the snickering of three mares from nearby.  No doubt, they’re Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie.

The azure pegasa glares at the trio, putting an end to the snickering.  She then turns her glare on my character and asks, “Hey, how did you know about that?  I didn’t see you there.”

I answer, “I have a good source for my information.”

Rainbow Dash retorts, "Well you should tell your ‘good source’ that whoever it is needs to make the story sound exciting.”

I respond, “Look, I get it, you like getting all that attention for the things you’ve done.  But, there’s a saying among us humans that I think you need to remember:  It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice."

At my statement, Rainbow Dash sputters for a few seconds before holding her front hooves out to my character and saying, “What?  What does that mean?”

I answer, “It means that as much as I understand your need to be the center of attention, there are more important things you need to be doing.  And, right now, one of those things is you need to help me put together the flying machine for your pet tortoise.”

At this point, the rainbow-haired pegasa stammers, “W-well, c-couldn’t you d-do the w-work on y-your own?”

I answer, “I suppose I could.  But, this is supposed to be your project, and I’m supposed to be the one helping you with it.”  I pause for a moment before I continue, “I appreciate you living with me.  But, the reason you’re doing that is so I can help you build a flying machine for Tank.  And, if I’m going to help you with that, then you have to take part in the process.”

For a few seconds more, Rainbow Dash stammers and sputters, trying to search for a response she thinks will satisfy me.  Then, she says, “I helped you take Tank’s measurements.  I ordered the components for you from the hardware store.”

I respond, “And, I appreciate that.  I’m sure Tank’ll appreciate it, too.  But, there’s more for you to do.  The next play date won’t be for a few more days.  And, if you want to be ready with your pet by then, you’re gonna have to help me out now.”

Just then, I see Scootaloo approach the azure pegasa.  She holds up a pencil and a note pad and asks, “Rainbow Dash, could I get your autograph?”

Presently, all the foals in the room cheer, then chant, “Autograph!  Autograph!”

Rainbow Dash quiets the cheering and chanting by calling out, “Just give me a moment, alright?”  She then turns to my character again and says, “Look, the longer we stay here arguing, the longer it’ll take to get the flying machine built.  You just start working on it, and I’ll get back to you when I’ve finished signing autographs.”  And, with that, she flies out the door, followed by all the colts and fillies that want her autograph, as well as the stallions and mares that want to take her picture.

But, my character is proven to not be completely alone in the bakery, as I hear Twilight’s voice say, “I agree with you.”  As my character turns to her, she continues, “Rainbow Dash should be helping you put the flying machine together, not going out and signing autographs.”

I respond, “That’s what I’ve been telling her, but she isn’t listening.  Right now, it seems that the best way for me to help her is to continue work on her pet’s flying machine, without her.”

The purple unicorn points out, “But, she should be helping you with that.”

Since I can only see Twilight Sparkle right now, I can only hear Pinkie Pie grunting in agreement.

Still, I correct, “Actually, I should be the one helping her.”  I then continue, “If you want to try to remind Rainbow Dash of that, then go ahead.  But, in the mean time, I have a machine to start building.”  And, my character, taking that as instruction, proceeds toward and up the stairs.

As he gets to the top of the stairs and proceeds into Pinkie’s old room, I hear Twilight say, “I have an idea, but I’m gonna need your help, everypony.  Let’s go to Carousel Boutique.  We’ll talk about it there.”  And, my character closes the door to Pinkie Pie’s room with Tank before Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack can leave the building.

My character leaves the supplies from the hardware store with Tank before heading downstairs again to get a paper container, or at least some paper, to take back upstairs with him, as well as some water, to prepare the plaster to make a cast of Tank’s shell.  Knowing that the extra weight of the cast is going to immobilize the tortoise for a short time, I still figure it’ll be better than trying to build the machine on the shell of the tortoise.

I decide to have my character cover enough of the tortoise’s shell that I figure I can sufficiently build the machine without it being too much of a problem.

But, I don’t realize, until it’s too late, that a problem arises when my character tries to make a mold of that part of Tank’s shell using the cement.  I guess I should’ve known the cement was going to be softer than the plaster.  Or, perhaps they’re equally hard.  Whichever the case is, when my character takes a mallet and pick to the plaster, both the plaster and the cement shatter, leaving quite a mess on the floor.  I’m left to wonder, should I use the cement for the cast, or will the cement crumble too easily?  Then again, I suppose I could cheat and make the mold of Tank’s shell in the modeling and animation program I used to make all the models in this game, or just use a duplicate of Tank for the job.

It’s about the time that I’m considering these options that I hear a scream from outside.  Temporarily abandoning work on Tank’s flying machine to find out what’s going on, my character hastily leaves the room, runs downstairs and out the door, then looks up to show me a popped hot-air balloon, with a mare in the basket, both rapidly falling.  I have my character find Rainbow Dash, and he shows me that the azure pegasa is still busy signing autographs.

As the mare cries for help, I hear Snips ask Rainbow Dash, “Uh, don’t you think you should go and help?”

The azure pegasa, evidently still occupied signing another filly’s notebook, says, “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got a good ten seconds to spare.  Just a couple more.”

There’s something wrong, I think, when a hero would rather sign a couple more autographs than go immediately to rescue someone in trouble.

But, before I can approach Rainbow Dash and remind her of her duty, she’s finished signing her autograph to the filly’s notebook, and finally decides to fly off toward the falling mare and balloon.

And, not far from where the rainbow-haired pegasa had been signing autographs, Spike is narrating as he writes about her present act of heroism.

Hearing what the little dragon is saying and writing, I almost feel like hiding my face in my hands again.  Especially when I see how casually Rainbow Dash is handling the situation.  She could demonstrate a little more caring, at least.

But, if I were to hide my face in my hands right now, I wouldn’t be able to see what I know to be one of her friends, covered completely in purple and dark blue clothing with, I suspect, glass goggles over her eyes, making her look, to me anyway, the way I might expect a changeling to look without holes and wings.  The costume comes complete with a hat that could cover a unicorn’s horn.  And, the cape she wears covers the possibility of wings.

At any rate, for a moment she stands on top of a house before leaping off, and onto another roof.  She does this a few more times, before leaping over the basket, grabbing the mare inside, jumping out of the other side of the basket, and landing safely, with the mare, on the ground.

In the mean time, the unsuspecting Rainbow Dash, having missed her chance to be the rescuer, ends up wrapped up in the balloon, which lands on and covers a tree.

The crowd that had been following Rainbow Dash turns its attention to this purple-and-dark-blue-clad pony and starts cheering as she helps the mare she rescued to her hooves.  Then, as members of the crowd wonder about the new heroine’s identity, their new heroine leaps away.

Then, the way one might expect any politician to do, Mayor Mare places herself where the new heroine had been and says, agreeing with the crowd, “That’s right, Ponyville has a new hero.  A mysterious mare that has done well by our fair city today.  I hereby dub this new hero, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!”

During the mayor’s speech, the mystery heroine stands for a moment on a hill, then leaps behind it, disappearing from view.

After the speech, as the crowd cheers around her, I hear Rainbow Dash, still wrapped up in the balloon, snarl, “Mare-Do-Well, huh?  Well, that mare would do well to stay out of my way.  Ponyville’s  got room for only one hero, and that hero is me!”  And, evidently not noticing the rope that’s both wrapped around a front hoof and under a rear one of hers, she tries to take a step, only to stumble and fall into a sphinx-style position.  She then groans and rests her head on the rope-attached front hoof.

At this point, I have my character approach the azure pegasa and start unwrapping the rope from her front hoof; and I say, “I’m thinking it’s time for you to be getting back to helping me with your pet’s flying machine.”

Rainbow Dash snarls up at my character while I speak, then pushes him away with her free front hoof and says, “I’m not in the mood right now, Mormon.”

As my character goes back to untangling her front hoof, I respond, “Now look, Rainbow Dash, I can understand that you’re upset right now.  But, the fact of the matter is that I need your help with Tank’s flying machine.”

And, it’s about this time, when my character manages to get the rope off of Rainbow Dash’s front hoof, that a carriage holding a group of tourists drives by; and I happen to notice the poor quality of the wooden bars in front of it as my character turns to see the vehicle, and the pony pulling it, drive by.

And, it’s about this time that I hear Rainbow Dash say, “Look, Mormon.”  My character turns his attention to the azure pegasa as she continues, “I appreciate that you freed me from the rope.  But, Tank’s flying machine is your department, not mine.”

And, it’s about that time that I hear a loud crack from the tourists’ carriage that just passed, and my character’s attention is once again drawn to the vehicle as it runs over the pony that’d been pulling it, and starts heading toward the infamous slope toward Sweet Apple Acres.

That’s the bad news.  The good news is the pony that had been pulling the carriage isn’t hurt.  He rises to all fours and calls out, “Somepony, anypony, stop that runaway carriage!”

Evidently, Rainbow Dash sees this as her chance.  Before my character can turn his attention to her, she says, “Besides, I’ve got some tourists to rescue.”  And, she immediately flies off.

The good news is that my character was able to free both of Rainbow Dash's hooves from the rope.  And, as he tosses the rope back onto the balloon, I can only hope that Rainbow Dash’ll take this rescue seriously, although I doubt she will.

I have my character rise and approach the stallion that had been pulling the carriage, and I say, when he’s close enough, “Let’s get going.  The carriage will be stopped by the time we get there.”

As my character, as per my instructions, passes the stallion, he asks, “But, how can you be so sure?”

My character focuses on him, and I answer, “Trust me, I know.”  And, my character turns back to look ahead of him as he walks.

Evidently uncertain, the stallion says, “Oh, alright,” and starts following my character.

I didn’t expect to get the flying machine project done in one day; but, at this rate, the construction stage might not even get started today.  But, at least I have some measurements and the components I need.

At any rate, by the time the human and the stallion arrive at the scene, the carriage is stopped at the edge of the cliff, the tourists have evacuated the vehicle, and Rainbow Dash is angrily marching back towards Ponyville.

As the stallion gallops toward the carriage and his apparent friends to see if they’re alright, I have my character turn his attention to the azure pegasa.  When the human and the pegasa are close enough, I have my character stop; and I ask, “Rainbow Dash, are you alright?”

The rainbow-haired pegasa stops as well, then turns to my character and groans, “Not as long as that Mare-Do-Well is around I’m not.”

I decide to have my character sit on the ground next to Rainbow Dash as I ask, “What happened?”  I know the answer; but, once again, I like to hear the story from the source.

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash follows suit, collapsing into a sphinx-style position as she answers, “I wanted to let them know that they’d be alright, but they insisted on me stopping the carriage first.  So, I tried.  But, it was going too fast, and I was knocked out of the way.  I’d never had that happen before.

“Then, that Mare-Do-Well came and stopped the carriage by jumping in front of it.  You can see how it all ended up.  But, … Mare-Do-Well is stronger than me?  How does that work?”

I decide to have my character stroke Rainbow Dash’s mane for a few seconds before I say, “Let’s head back to Sugar Cube Corner.  I still need your help with that flying machine for Tank.”

Then, as my character and the azure pegasa rise, I hear the stallion’s voice say, “Uh, before you head over there, could you help me?”  As my character turns to the stallion, he continues, “I need to get this carriage to someplace in town where it can be repaired.  And, maybe I can get some brakes on it, too.”

As my character gets into position to push the vehicle back up the hill, I answer, “Sure.”  I then have him focus on the rainbow-haired pegasa, and I call out, “Rainbow Dash, could you help me, help us?”

The azure pegasa looks at my character, then down again, and answers, “I don’t feel like it.”

My character starts pushing the carriage up the slope as I say, “We could use your help.”

Now, Rainbow Dash glares at my character as she says, “Look, I couldn’t stop that carriage from rolling off the cliff, that’s what Mare-Do-Well did.  So, what’s the point of pushin’ it back up the hill?”

By this point, my character, pushing the carriage, is as close to Rainbow Dash as he can get while still keeping to the path and continuing to push the carriage.  I ask, “So, that means you’re not going to help?”

Rainbow Dash watches my character pass her, then says, “I’m gonna head back to Sugar Cube Corner.  I’ll meet you there, and we can get to work on Tank’s flying thingy.”  And, with that, she proceeds to fly off toward the bakery.

The stallion that was leading the carriage, seeing the azure pegasa fly off, says, “It was nice of her to try to stop the carriage, even if she didn’t succeed.  I just wish she’d swallow her pride ’n’ help you out.”

As my character continues to push the carriage up the slope, I respond, “I agree.  The problem is she considers this new hero in town, Mare-Do-Well, her competition.  she’s addicted to the attention she’s been getting for her own acts of heroism; and now that a new hero’s getting the attention, Rainbow Dash is feeling the withdrawal.”

By this point, the carriage is just about to the top of the slope.

In the mean time, the stallion says, “Well, just because she don’t get the attention for her good deeds, that don’t mean she shouldn’t do ’em.”

As my character, with the help of the stallion, turns the carriage away from the top of the slope, I reply, “Agreed.”  And, my character only stops pushing the carriage when the stallion says that it should be fine where it is, although he still holds it in place.

The stallion then asks, “So, do you know of a repair shop in town?”

I answer, “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

The stallion sighs, then says, “Well, it was nice of you to help us as much as you did.  Thanks.”

I state, “If you and your friends need a place to stay for the night, you should get in contact with the mayor.  She’ll likely know where to find a good hotel here.  For that matter, she might even know where a good repair shop is.”

Then, as my character proceeds to release the carriage and walk away, the stallion calls out, “Thank you, uh, whatever you are!”

I have my character turn back and wave at him, then turn ahead of himself again as he continues to walk.  From there, it’s a walk of maybe a minute or two back to the bakery.

Once my character arrives back at Sugar Cube Corner and returns to Pinkie Pie’s room, I see, on the floor in front of Tank and his perch, Rainbow Dash sphinx-posed, mumbling about something.  My guess is she’s plotting her next action.

I ask, “So, are you ready to help me with Tank’s flying machine?”

The rainbow-haired pegasa looks up at my character and says, “You can go on ahead.  I really don’t feel like building anything right now.”

After watching Rainbow Dash look down in front of her again, I decide to have my character approach her and sit next to her, opposite Tank.  Then, when he’s seated, I have him stroke her mane; and I state, “It seems to me that you’ve forgotten something when it comes to acts of heroism.  There’s a time for words, and there’s a time for action.  And, in an emergency situation, action comes first. Then, when the emergency is passed and the time for words comes, you’ve got to choose them carefully.  As I said before, it’s nice to be important; but it’s more important to be nice.”

The azure pegasa, looking at her hooves, says, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.  I should’ve tried to stop that carriage first.  Then, when I’d stopped it, then I could’ve talked to the tourists.”  She then looks up at my character and asks, “So, are they alright?”

I answer, “The last I saw of them, they were just fine.  The stallion that was drawing the carriage is likely looking for a repair shop for it, as well as a hotel where he and the tourists can spend the night.”

Now, I’m sure I see Rainbow Dash start to smile as she says, “Yeah, Mayor Mare will know where to find those places.”

Then, I hear rumbling up the stairs and Pinkie calling out, “The construction site!  Twitch-a-twitch!”

Rainbow Dash immediately goes on full alert, evidently knowing what the pink angel pony’s talking about.

As cliched as it may sound, having seen the episode, I know about the situation better than Rainbow Dash does.

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash leaps to her hooves and says, “I’m sorry, Mormon, but I have some construction ponies to rescue.  As soon as that’s over, I’ll get back to helping you with Tank’s flying thingy.”  She then gallops to the door, nearly running over a clearly surprised Pinkie.  She stops long enough to pat her angel pony friend on the head with a front hoof and say, “It’s alright, Pinkie. I’m on it,” before leaping off the elevated pathway, spreading her wings, and maneuvering her way out the bakery’s front door.

The last part I assume, I didn’t actually see it.

What I do see is Pinkie Pie watching her friend, then turning back to my character, to me, and, putting a front hoof to her chest, inhaling and exhaling in a sigh.  She then says, “Thank goodness.  I thought I was going to have to explain something.”  She then puts the hoof down and says, “Mormon, I’m gonna need your help putting on my hero suit.”

Clearly, the angel pony already knows, or at least suspects, that I know about her secret.

As she leaps to her bed and pulls out a suitcase, I ask, “What all do you need my help with?”

Pinkie, after pulling the suitcase out of its hiding place, swings her head so that the suitcase flies up on to the bed.  She then lets go of the handle and proceeds to open the container as she says, “I can get the suit and the mask on myself.  I just need your help with the cape, the hat, and the wing covers.”

I watch as the pink angel pony pulls out the suit and starts dressing in it, and my character retrieves the cape, as I say, “Sure, no problem.”  I’m not surprised to see that the outfit opens and closes from the top, along Pinkie’s back.  It likely works that way with the others who’ve chosen to play the role of Mare-Do-Well.

At any rate, as the pink party pony stretches in the costume to make sure it fits the best, she looks at my character, at me, and says, “Uh, maybe we should start with the wing covers.  The cape can go on after that.  Oh, and could you also help me button up this thing?”

As Pinkie rolls onto her hooves again, my character puts the cape on the bed and pulls out the covers for Pinkie’s wings; and I say, “Sure.”  Then, my character approaches the pink angel pony from the back and, resting the covers on a shoulder of his, proceeds to find and button up her costume, starting with the base of her twitching tail, and ending with just behind her neck.  He then pulls each wing cover from his shoulder and puts it on the wing closest to him, then circles around Pinkie again and puts the other cover on the other wing.  He then goes back to the bed to get the cape and the hat.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie says, “I really appreciate you helping me with this.  It helps to have a human around that knows my secrets and is willing to help me.”

As my character fastens the cape in place and puts the hat on Pinkie’s head, I say, “I’m glad I can help.”  And, I’m sure I can see Pinkie’s tail twitch once or twice more while my character makes sure the costume is alright.

As my character steps back so I can make a final appraisal, Pinkie Pie says, “Thanks, Mormon.” Then, she adds, “Oh, and could you meet me at the construction site?”

I answer, “Sure, no problem.”

The pink angel pony asks, “You promise?”

I understand what Pinkie wants.  If I make a Maori promise, then time in the game will freeze; and I can get to the construction site at about the same time that Rainbow Dash does.  But, that’ll be fine.  Understanding that Pinkie wants me to be there, I answer, “Ki tahi au.”

Immediately, Pinkie freezes.

I have my character turn to Tank to see that he’s also frozen in place.  So, I have my character head downstairs and to the front door of the bakery, open it, go through, then head towards the site of the construction of a tall, rather unstable-looking building.  And, it’s when I see, through my character’s eyes, the building peering over the houses in town that I say, “Continue.”

Then, as the activity resumes in the game, I hear Rainbow Dash say, “Never fear, your friendly neighbor—” then yelp in alarm.  My guess is she’s just in time to see the disaster start to unfold.  And, she’s evidently already forgotten what I’d told her earlier, about action coming first in an emergency situation.  Of course, it might not have looked like an emergency to her until a bunch of wooden beams flew toward her.

As my character arrives on the scene, stopping just outside the disaster radius, I watch as the destabilized, far-from-complete building starts to fall apart.  As soon as my character spots the azure pegasa trying to maneuver around falling debris, I call out, “Rainbow Dash, remember what we talked about!  Action now, speech later!”

Continuing to maneuver through the rain of debris, Rainbow Dash answers back, “I’m, duh, a little, woah, busy—ooph!”

The bad news is she’s caught off guard by a beam that swings around and hits her in the chest.  The good news is my character is in the right place to catch her as she falls.

And, that’s when Pinkie shows up in her Mare-Do-Well costume, then proceeds to zig-zag through falling debris, then jumps on some barrels and rides them toward the collapsing building.  Maybe one or two yards from the structure, Pinkie hops off of the barrels and into the lowest level to rescue a yellow mare with white mane and tail.

In the mean time, with my character focused on the azure pegasa in his arms, I ask, “Rainbow Dash, are you alright?”

In response, the rainbow-haired pegasa groans and asks, “What happened?”

I answer, “A beam knocked you out of the air.”

Suddenly alert, Rainbow Dash looks around and shouts, “The worker ponies!  Are they alright?”

I answer, “They will be.  Mare-Do-Well is going in to help them.”  My guess is that time away from this game did me more good than I thought.  Knowing that it’s Pinkie in the costume, I still had the presence of mind to say that it was Mare-Do-Well instead of Pinkie Pie who was rescuing the workers.

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash growls, then shouts, “Let go of me!”  And, she flaps her wings to keep herself from falling before continuing, “There’s no way I’m gonna let some novice hero replace me.”  And, she flies into the rain of building parts to search for a worker pony to rescue.  And, she does manage to rescue one stallion from being flattened under a falling stack of bricks.

While the two mares don’t work together, nonetheless they manage to get all the worker ponies to safety in time for the building to finally collapse.

You know, come to think of it, I suppose I could’ve prevented the collapse of the building if I’d waited to unpause the game until my character was in place to catch the wooden beams before they hit the structure at its weakest point.  But, I suppose, if I’d done that, then the ponies constructing the building wouldn’t know about the weakness.  Fortunately, that knowledge didn’t come at the cost of any lives.

At any rate, after the collapse of the building, I hear Rainbow Dash say, “Well, Mare-Do-Well, or should I call you Mare-Do-Slow, you’re gonna have to do better to compete with me, ‘cause I move like lightning.”

At this point, it’s all I can do to keep from hiding my face in my hands again.  At times like this, if there’s one thing Rainbow Dash is really good at, it’s forgetting humility.

In the mean time, one of the stallions that was rescued by Pinkie says, “Actually, she saved all of us.  We owe her our lives.”

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as the smug smile on Rainbow Dash’s face quickly melts into a frown of humiliation before I have my character approach the stallion she rescued; and I say, “I’m thinking it’s time for you to rethink these plans.  There should be a way you can build this structure so it’ll be more stable than it was.  Maybe start with the lowest floor, make sure it’s complete and capable of holding the next floor, then move on to that next floor.”

The stallion sighs, then says, “These are the plans we were given, and this is what we have to work with.”  As he  rises to all fours again, he adds, “If you can think of a better, more economical way to get it done, I’m open to suggestions.”

In the mean time, a yellow mare with white mane, wearing a pink hard hat, a vest, and a tool belt similar to the stallions, approaches my character, holding a rolled-up parchment in her mouth, and hands the parchment to him.

When the stallion finishes speaking, my character unrolls the parchment and shows me the blueprints inside.

Sure and oddly enough, the plans, as shown, call for one room per floor, going straight up, and even goes so far as to instruct that the constructors build the floors as close to simultaneously as possible.

I have to wonder how the structure wasn’t continually vibrating with all the activity going on inside of it.  And, I say as much.

Actually, from what I saw of the episode, I wouldn’t be surprised if how I’ve had the instructions presented on the parchment were exactly how the instructions must’ve read.  That, or the constructor ponies must’ve interpreted them that way.

At any rate, the stallion I’m talking to responds, “Well, to tell you the truth, I’m surprised that it stood up for as long as it did.  It was vibrating, constantly; and we all knew it wouldn’t take much for the thing to collapse.  We’re just lucky that nopony was hurt or killed when it did.”

I volunteer to help with the cleanup, and the construction of the first floor, which the ponies agree to.  And, with my character’s help, the cleanup is completed in a short time; and the first floor is built stable and ready for another floor on top of it a few minutes afterwards.

The walls of that first floor are even built with supports inside them for greater stability.

In the mean time, I can only guess that Rainbow Dash returns to Sugar Cube Corner to sulk or something, and Pinkie Pie either goes back there, to my character’s house, or to Carousel Boutique to take off her costume.  I lose track of all else until my character’s role in the building’s construction is done, the worker ponies assure my character that they can handle the job from that point on, and I can go back to the town bakery.

And, by the time my character returns, Pinkie Pie is out of her costume; and he heads upstairs to show me that Rainbow Dash is sitting human-style, forelimbs folded, evidently waiting for him.  And, the sun’s starting to set.

At any rate, the first thing the azure pegasa does when my character enters the room is start complaining about how I’ve done little or nothing in building her pet’s flying machine.

I can only guess that, while I was helping at the construction site, either the game itself or the Cakes came in and cleaned up the mess I’d had to leave behind.  I respond, “We really don’t have time for you to complain right now, especially if we want to get back to my house before the sun completely sets.  But, if you really wanna complain, then let me respond by saying that I could’ve used your help here.  I was hoping to make a separate model of Tank’s shell to work with, but that failed miserably.”

Then, I hear Pinkie Pie behind my character say, “Mormy, Dashy, it’s closing time.  You should better take Tank and whatever you need downstairs and outside before the Cakes close up.”

I keep my character focused on the rainbow-haired pegasa while Pinkie speaks.  Then, afterwards, I state, “Pinkie’s right.  If you’ll take Tank, I’ll take the supplies.”

Rainbow Dash emits a groaning sigh, then says, “Oh, alright.”  She then uses her wings to get herself into all-fours position, allowing my character to put her pet on her back.

My character then gathers up the supplies and puts them in the bag to carry with him out of the bakery.

Outside, my character, along with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, Lyra, and Weed Whacker, head out of Ponyville again, to and through the Everfree forest, and back to my character’s house.

There, Rainbow Dash takes her pet to her room, while my character takes the supplies to his work room.

In the mean time, the four other ponies and the dinosaur head outside to the orchard, vineyard, vegetable garden, and grain field and start harvesting food for snacks for the reading.  Or, that’s what I assume.  When my character comes out of his work room, he meets Rainbow Dash coming out of her room; and, when the two enter the front room, no one else seems to be in the house.

I suggest to Rainbow Dash that we head out to assist with the harvest, and she agrees, begrudgingly.  So, the human and the azure pegasa head out and to the orchard to join Pinkie Pie in harvesting fruits.

Pinkie Pie harvests apples, my character harvests plums, and Rainbow Dash harvests pears.

Back on the front porch with the rest of the group, my character opens the door to allow the others to enter, then closes the door behind him when the last to enter, Weed Whacker, goes in before him.

In the mean time, it’s Lyra who leads the group through the front room to the kitchen door, which she holds open to allow the others, followed by my character, to enter.  Then, she follows my character in, closing the door behind her.

Inside, it’s pretty much business as more-or-less usual.  Weed Whacker is in the sink cleaning the food items; Rainbow Dash distributes them; Pinkie, Ataahua, and Topsy Turvy make muffins with contributions from my character and Lyra; and those two prepare the rest of the food for raw snacks for the reading.  And, as though planned, which wouldn’t surprise me, there’s a knock on the door just as the snacks are ready.

While Rainbow Dash, Ataahua and Lyra join forces to take the tray of snacks outside, Pinkie Pie proceeds to go outside to greet guests.

In the mean time, I send my character to his work room again to get the TV tray to hold the snack tray.

The guests, once greeted, gather around where my character places the TV tray, and where Rainbow Dash, Ataahua and Lyra place the snack tray on top of it; and each member of the group starts to produce their copies of the Book of Mormon and start flipping through the pages to the one of the next book.

As my character produces his copy, I say, "Tonight, we start reading from the Book of Alma."  I then have my character turn to the azure pegasa, and I ask, "Rainbow Dash, will you start with the first verse?"

The rainbow-haired pegasa smiles at my character and nods, then looks down into her book and reads, "Now it came to pass that in the first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, from this time forward, king Mosiah having gone the way of all the earth, having warred a good warfare, walking uprightly before God, leaving none to reign in his stead; nevertheless he had established laws, and they were acknowledged by the people; therefore they were obliged to abide by the laws which he had made."

Pinkie Pie then reads, "And it came to pass that in the first year of the reign of Alma in the judgment-seat, there was a man brought before him to be judged, a man who was large, and was noted for his much strength."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And he had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God, bearing down against the church; declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people."  She then looks up, toward my character, and says, "You know what, Mormon, this mindset that this man's suggesting sounds a lot like your definition of priestcraft."

As my character focuses on her, I answer, "That's what it is.  We'll find out later on what this man's name is, but I have to wonder about something.  It's been my experience that it's possible to know the definition of a concept without knowing that such a concept has a label.  I have to wonder if that was the case with this man.  Did he know that what he was preaching was called 'priestcraft?'"

Spike reads, "And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life."  He then looks up and says, "Well, if everypony's gonna have eternal life, then what's the point of living?  And, why all the difficulty then?  And, that's another thing.  This man's preaching that priests and teachers shouldn't support themselves, but be supported by the people, and become popular.  If he's selling these people salvation, then telling them they already have it, isn't he saying that they don't need to give him any money, that they shouldn't give him any money?"

You know, I'm really starting to like Spike right now.

Rarity reads, "And it came to pass that he did teach these things so much that many did believe on his words, even so many that they began to support him and give him money."  She then starts giggling, and continues to laugh for a few seconds.  After maybe two minutes, when she can finally speak again, she says, "Of all the silly things I've heard, this has to top it all.  These people are giving this man money for what he says they already have."  And, she laughs some more.

I can't help smiling as I say, "I know what you mean.  But, people are like that.  They get sold on an idea, and pay money for it even when they don't need to.  It's part of their nature, and something humans need to beware of."

Applejack reads, "And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel, yea, and even began to establish a church after the manner of his preaching."

Fluttershy reads, "And it came to pass as he was going, to preach to those who believed on his word, he met a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their teachers; and he began to contend with him sharply, that he might lead away the people of the church; but the man withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God."  She then looks up, and I can see her trembling as she says, "Th-this m-man who's p-preaching p-priestcraft and s-selling people wh-what h-he says th-they already have, I d-don't like h-him."

Lyra reads, "Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was an instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage."  She then looks up and says, "I seem to remember Gideon being King Noah's main enemy.  I'm guessing he's not the one preaching priestcraft."

As my character focuses on her, I reply, "That's correct.  Like I said, the name of the man preaching priestcraft will be revealed soon enough."

Ataahua reads, "Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him.  Now Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword."

I read, "And the man who slew him was taken by the people of the church, and was brought before Alma, to be judged according to the crimes which he had committed."

Topsy Turvy reads, "And it came to pass that he stood before Alma and pled for himself with much boldness."

Weed Whacker reads, "But Alma said unto him: Behold, this is the first time that priestcraft has been introduced among this people.  And behold, thou art not only guilty of priestcraft, but hast endeavored to enforce it by the sword; and were priestcraft to be enforced among this people it would prove their entire destruction."

Princess Luna reads, "And thou hast shed the blood of a righteous man, yea, a man who has done much good among this people; and were we to spare thee his blood would come upon us for vengeance."

Princess Celestia reads, "Therefore thou art condemned to die, according to the law which has been given us by Mosiah, our last king; and it has been acknowledged by this people; therefore this people must abide by the law."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And it came to pass that they took him; and his name was Nehor; and they carried him upon the top of the hill Manti, and there he was caused, or rather did acknowledge, between the heavens and the earth, that what he had taught to the people was contrary to the word of God; and there he suffered an ignominious death."  She then looks up and asks, "What does 'ignominious' mean?"

It's the daytime alicorn that answers, "It means 'disgraceful,' 'shameful.'"

Rainbow Dash simply says, "Oh," before continuing, "I'm guessing that the name of this man who preached priestcraft and enforced it with violence, his name was Nehor?"

I open my mouth to answer, but Princess Celestia beats me to it.  She answers, "That's right."

Seeing that her azure pegasa friend is satisfied with the answers she got, Pinkie Pie reads, "Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor."

At this point, I speak up and say, "We'll find out later what kind of a legacy Nehor will leave with the Nephites.  And, it's not a pretty one.  But, for now, let's continue the reading."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Nevertheless, they durst not lie, if it were known, for fear of the law, for liars were punished; therefore they pretended to preach according to their belief; and now the law could have no power on any man for his belief."

Spike reads, "And they durst not steal, for fear of the law, for such were punished; neither durst they rob, nor murder, for he that murdered was punished unto death."

Rarity reads, "But it came to pass that whosoever did not belong to the church of God began to persecute those that did belong to the church of God, and had taken upon them the name of Christ."

Applejack reads, "Yea, they did persecute them, and afflict them with all manner of words, and this because of their humility; because they were not proud in their own eyes, and because they did impart the word of God, one with another, without money and without price."  She then looks up and says, "Now, Ah'm a'havin' trouble with this.  Sellin' the word of God for money?  That don't sound right to me."

Fluttershy reads, "Now there was a strict law among the people of the church, that there should not any man, belonging to the church, arise and persecute those that did not belong to the church, and that there should be no persecution among themselves."  She then looks up and says, "Now, that sounds like a good law to me."

Lyra reads, "Nevertheless, there were many among them who began to be proud, and began to contend warmly with their adversaries, even unto blows; yea, they would smite one another with their fists."

Ataahua reads, "Now this was in the second year of the reign of Alma, and it was a cause of much affliction to the church; yea, it was the cause of much trial with the church."

I read, "For the hearts of many were hardened, and their names were blotted out, that they were remembered no more among the people of God.  And also many withdrew themselves from among them."

Topsy Turvy reads, "Now this was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God, and they bore with patience the persecution which was heaped upon them."

Weed Whacker reads, "And when the priests left their labor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God.  And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength."  She then looks up at my character and says, "You know what, Mormon, this sounds like your definition of humility."

As my character turns to the herbivorous dinosaur, I reply, "It's true, I believe that equality is the spirit of true humility."

Princess Luna reads, "And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely."

Princess Celestia reads, "And thus they did establish the affairs of the church; and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need."  She then turns to her white unicorn friend and says, "You know what, Rarity, this sounds a lot like you."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And thus they did prosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church."

Spike reads, "For those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in sorceries, and in idolatry or idleness, and in babblings, and in envyings and strife; wearing costly apparel; being lifted up in the pride of their own eyes; persecuting, lying, thieving, robbing, committing whoredoms, and murdering, and all manner of wickedness; nevertheless, the law was put in force upon all those who did transgress it, inasmuch as it was possible."

Rarity reads, "And it came to pass that by thus exercising the law upon them, every man suffering according to that which he had done, they became more still, and durst not commit any wickedness if it were known; therefore, there was much peace among the people of Nephi until the fifth year of the reign of the judges."

At this point, I have my character stand up; and I say, "And, that's the end of the first chapter of Alma.  Tomorrow, we'll start off by reading the second chapter, and continue from there as necessary.  But, until then, I thank you for coming; and I hope you who are heading to your homes have a safe trip there."

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie go to the front gate to say farewell to their friends Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Spike; while Ataahua, Topsy Turvy, and Weed Whacker take the snack tray to the house; and my character follows those three with the TV tray.

Lyra’s already there at the front door to let the four enter, and waits for them to come back out again.

And, by the time the snack and TV trays have been put away and the four are back on the front porch, so are Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.  I don’t doubt that the other four element bearers and Spike are on their way back to Ponyville.

At any rate, with the group gathered on the front porch, Princess Celestia asks, “So, how many of you will be joining Mormon and Topsy Turvy at Canterlot Castle to watch Topsy Turvy take care of her father’s statue?”

I’m not at all surprised to hear each member of the group, even Rainbow Dash, volunteer for the trip.

Seeing everyone volunteer, the daytime princess smiles as she says, “Well, in that case, come and join me and my sister on the front lawn.  We’ll teleport when everypony is ready.”

In agreement, the group gathers on the front lawn around the two alicorns, who immediately bow their heads and close their eyes; and their horns start to glow and sparkle.

One frame later, the group is on the lawn near the entrance to the hedge maze, in front of Discord’s statue.

As Princess Luna trots toward the castle to get Grounds Keeper, Princess Celestia trots toward the entrance to the hedge maze and asks, “Mormon, will you come with me?”

As my character proceeds to follow the white alicorn, I answer, “Yes, ma’am.”  And, my character follows her into the hedge maze until she stops just past the first turn.

She then turns to my character and asks, “So, have you learned anything new about Lyra?”

I answer, “Actually, not today, no.”  Seeing her tilt her head curiously, I add, “The fact of the matter is I’ve been focused on Rainbow

Dash and her pet, Tank.”

I must say, I’m surprised to see Princess Celestia settle into a sphinx-style position before she says, “I see.”  Then, she asks, “So, what have you learned about Rainbow Dash?”

I answer, “Well, I’ve known, since joining her in Cloudsdale a week or so ago, that she has an ego.  But, lately, she seems to be letting her ego get the better of her.  Unlike in Cloudsdale, where her ego was getting her discouraged, now she seems to be getting too prideful.  In Ponyville, because of her recent successes rescuing her fellow ponies, she’s been seen as something of a superhero, and has gotten a lot of attention because of it.  And, she’s been enjoying that attention, probably a little too much.

“Her friends have been taking measures to try to help her remember humility; but, from what I can tell, she’s addicted to the attention she’s been getting, and she’s not willing to give that up easily.”

Now, the daytime princess rises to a canine-style position and asks, “And, how do you feel about the measures her friends are taking?”

I answer, “They’re dressing up in identical superhero costumes; and they seem to be competing with Rainbow Dash, or, that is, Rainbow Dash is competing with them, not knowing it’s them, to minimize casualties caused by disasters.  Most recently, Pinkie Pie, dressed in her costume, rescued the majority of worker ponies from a collapsing building.  Rainbow Dash managed to rescue one of the workers, but they all gave credit to the new hero, who they’ve named Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.

“At any rate, while I can appreciate what they’re trying to do, I just hope they don’t go too far with it.  While they’re drawing the attention away from Rainbow Dash, I just hope they remember why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

The daytime alicorn nods as she says, “I see.”  She then points to my character with a front hoof and asks, “And, how do you think they might go too far with reminding Rainbow Dash about humility?”

I pause for a moment to watch the white princess put her front hoof down again before I answer, “Well, I know that one of the things that Rainbow Dash has been doing is encouraging louder cheers from the ponies in town.  When she rescued a foal in a carriage from riding off of a cliff, she said there was something wrong with it because it wasn’t cheering for her.  In my book, that qualifies as bragging.

“I have to wonder if her friends, the other element bearers, in the process of reminding Rainbow Dash to be humble, may do some bragging of their own.  I can understand why they would choose to do that, showing their friend that not everyone appreciates her making her accomplishments out to be more than they are.  I just hope they keep whatever bragging they might do to a minimum.”

Princess Celestia rises to all fours again before saying, “I believe I can understand your concerns.  Once somepony starts something, it can be difficult to tell when it needs to stop.”  She then asks, “Do you think I should warn Twilight and her friends about it?”

I answer, “Honestly, I don’t know.  But, if you do choose to warn them, it should go to Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack.  They’re the ones wearing the disguises, and trying to help Rainbow Dash.”

Princess Celestia nods in agreement, or perhaps affirmation.  I’m having trouble telling for sure which it is.  For all I know, it could be both.  Either way, she adds, “It sounds to me like you also want to help Rainbow Dash.”

I answer, “I do want to help her, and I also want to help her friends help her.  And, at the same time, I want to make sure, in the process of everyone getting help, that no one gets hurt.”

Again the white princess surprises me by turning completely away from my character as she sighs, then says, “Well, there are times when it requires getting hurt in order to get help, and to learn an important lesson.”

I ask, “So, your advice is to let Twilight and the other element bearers brag and hurt Rainbow Dash in order to help her?”

Princess Celestia answers, “If that’s what she needs in order to get help, then that’s what should be done.”

I snort with surprise before I say, “You know, I didn’t think that part of giving these reports would include getting advice on how to act in a situation.”

The white alicorn turns completely to my character again and smiles as she says, “Sometimes that is a part of it.  When one of my little ponies, who needs to make a report to me, comes with evident questions about a situation, as you have done, I need to advise him or her on what to do.  I’ve found that it’s part of being a leader.”  She then asks, “So, is there anything else you would like to add to your report?”

I don’t know if my character smiles back.  All I know is I do as I answer, “No, I think that’s all. Thanks for the advice, by the way.”

The daytime princess nods and answers, “You’re welcome.  Now, let’s go back.”

I only nod in agreement as my character watches the white princess pass in front of her, then follows her back out of the hedge maze.

By the time the human and the white alicorn return to Discord’s statue, again Topsy Turvy is halfway through cleaning it, him, and about halfway through her song.  It takes a few more minutes for her to finish cleaning the statue, and about another minute for her to finish her song and wish for her father to be freed from the statue again.

Afterwards, while Princess Luna and Grounds Keeper take the cleaning equipment back to the castle, Princess Celestia, once her sister and the elder earth stallion are out of range, closes her eyes and bows her head; and her horn starts to glow and sparkle again.

Then, one frame later, the group is back on my character’s front lawn.

The others back away and say goodbye to the daytime princess, who promptly nods and disappears.

After that, the group goes to work, heading into their fields to harvest food for dinner.

I don’t know if I should be surprised or not that Pinkie is silent during the harvest of the fruits in the orchard.  All I know is I’m not.

At any rate, after the harvest, the group gathers on the front porch, where my character opens the door and waits for the ponies and dinosaur to enter.

And, it’s Ataahua who leads the group to the kitchen door, and waits for them, including my character, to enter.

In the mean time, my character waits for the last in line, Weed Whacker, to enter, before following her in and closing the door behind him.

And, after my character enters the kitchen, Lyra follows him in, closing the kitchen door behind her.

In the kitchen, the cleaning of the fruits and vegetables works out the same way it did the previous night.  And, after the food is prepared and blessed, the group joins forces eating it, then cleans up whatever isn’t eaten.

Before my character can close the door after entering his room, I hear Pinkie Pie ask, “Mormon, can I come in for a few minutes?”

It takes my character focusing on the pink angel pony before I can answer, “Sure, come on in.”  Then, as I watch Pinkie enter, then bounce to, then onto, his bed, I ask, “So, what can I help you with?”

Pinkie turns a hundred eighty degrees, then settles into a sphinx-style position.  As my character approaches her and kneels on one knee, she answers, “It’s about that character, Nehor, that we read about tonight.”

I nod in understanding as I say, “Fluttershy mentioned she didn’t like him.”

Pinkie sighs before saying, “She probably feels some kind of strange connection to him.  But, that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

Encouragingly, I ask, “So, is there something bothering you about him?”

Pinkie simply nods before answering, “You said something about him leaving a legacy on the Nephites.  Would you be referring to the desolation of Nehors mentioned later on in the Book of Alma?”

I answer, “That’s right.  The people of Ammonihah are described as being of the ‘profession of Nehor,’ which would mean that priestcraft was part of their everyday life.  And, when Alma and Amulek preached to them, they either cast out or killed all those that believed them.  After that, the two were thrown in prison and mistreated for a week, from what I understand, after which point, after praying to God, they were delivered when the prison collapsed and killed everyone in it except them. Then, a year after they left, which was shortly after God told them to leave, …”

Pinkie holds a hoof out to my character before continuing, “The Lamanites came and destroyed the city, didn’t leave anypony alive there.  Based on what’s written in the Book of Mormon, the dead bodies were ‘heaped up on the earth.’  The smell was so bad that nopony went to reclaim the city for years.  And, because priestcraft, which Nehor had taught while he was alive, was so rampant in the city, they called it the desolation of Nehors.”

At this point, I say, “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a desolation of Nehors coming in my time.  Priestcraft is pretty rampant in my world.  I doubt it’ll happen exactly the way it did in Alma’s time, but I can’t help thinking that it will happen, and perhaps on an even broader scale.”

Pinkie looks down and sighs, then looks up at my character again and says, “Well, let’s hope it doesn’t happen too close to where you live, right Mormon?”

I can’t help smiling as I answer, “Agreed.”

Now, I find that Princess Celestia isn’t the only one that surprises me as Pinkie Pie rises to all fours, then rears up on her hind legs.  Before my character can react, the pink angel pony then collapses on him, wrapping her forelimbs around his neck in a hug, which he returns.

After a few seconds, the two separate; and Pinkie Pie says, “I hope things’ll go alright for you.”  She then rises to all fours and poses as though to jump off of my character’s bed.  But, before she does, she rises again and says, “Oh, and one more thing.”  She pauses for another moment before saying, “If the thought of us bragging bothers you so much, I’ll tell you what I’ll do.  I promise that I won’t do any bragging.”  She then goes through the actions as she says, “Cross my heart and hope to fly,”  and she giggles before she concludes, “Stick a cupcake in my eye.”

I chuckle a bit myself as I have my character stroke the pink angel pony’s mane, and I say, “Thanks, Pinkie.  I appreciate it.”

After wagging her tail, not unlike a dog, Pinkie hops off of the bed and starts trotting toward the door.

My character rises to his feet and follows her, until she stops about midway between the door and my character’s bed.

At that point, I ask, “Pinkie, is there something wrong?”

The pink angel pony turns a hundred eighty degrees toward my character, collapses into a canine-style position, and says, “You know what, there is one more thing.  I’ve been wondering about this for a while now.”  She then inhales deeply, then exhales slowly, then asks, “Is there a particular reason why you’re here?”

I pause for a second before I answer, “I don’t understand.  What do you mean?”

I notice Pinkie’s voice starts to shake as she answers, “For a thousand years there haven’t been any humans in Equestria.  And then, you show up.  Is there a reason why you’re here, now?  And, why are you the only one here?  There must be more to you being here than just to make friends with ponies, to let us know that humans still exist.”

Part of this first extension of this game is the addition of the objective to get a changeling, a queen if possible, and to take that changeling back to my character’s home among the other humans.  I even have a back story, a reason for it, which I tell Pinkie about at this point:  “Over a thousand years ago, when there were so many humans alive here, sorcery and witchcraft were really prevalent among them.  Stories of Pegasus and unicorns were of such great interest to people that they wanted to produce living examples of them.  According to records where I come from, they were successful in creating a species of lion with the wings of a bat and a scorpion’s tail, a combined tiger-goat-snake creature, some multi-headed dogs, and the creature you know as Discord the draconequus.  Those are just some of the creatures that humans were able to make by seeking more control than they should have over genetics, and they proved to be far more dangerous than people expected.

“One of the more benign creatures that was created was a type of arthropod, a type of wasp.  People, as it turns out, were able to reorganize the wasp’s genetics so that it had only four legs, grew its stinger on its head like a horn, and thrived most on positive human emotions.  A healthy specimen had a pale-green color, not unlike that of Lyra.  And, best of all, or so the records read, the wasp took on an equine shape, which made it all the more friendly toward humans.”

I think I can see equal parts interest and fear on Pinkie’s face as she says, “Oh, I see.”

I continue, “These equine wasps, as they were called, became very popular as pets because they fed on positive human emotions, and because they resembled horses.  Then, when they demonstrated that they could bend light around them to make themselves look even more like horses, or ponies, they became even more popular.  They were the humans' first step toward creating a living, horse-like creature with both wings and a horn.”

Pinkie settles into a sphinx-style position before asking, “So, what happened to them?”

I continue, “Humans continued to experiment with equine DNA, and especially that of ponies.  And, there they had their first success with producing a living equine with a horn and wings.  From what we know based on the records, they weren’t successful in making equines with just a horn or with just wings before they were destroyed.  But, in the mean time, these winged, horned ponies began to compete with the equine wasps.  And, the equine wasps didn’t like that.  So, they fought back.”

At this point, Pinkie rises to all fours and, pointing a front hoof at my character, says, “Now, wait a minute.  If I understand, these equine wasps were easier to take care of because they fed on positive human emotions.”  Then, seeing my character nod, she continues, “But, well, ponies eat oats, carrots, apples, and other plants.  So, it’s more difficult to take care of a pony than an equine wasp.”  She waits for my character to nod to her again before asking, “So, why would the wasps get so defensive about the niche they were filling?  What, did humans prefer ponies over equine wasps?”

I pause for a second before answering, “Equine wasps were still wasps; and, as friendly as they proved to be toward humans, there was still the fear that the wasps would sting them.  And, while there was also the possibility of being hurt by a pony, as well as the fact that the equine wasps were far easier to take care of, still, many people preferred to take on the challenge of caring for a pony, one that symbolized two mythological creatures at the same time.

“In the mean time, it seems that the wasps weren’t willing to let go of their monopoly over human attention, and went to war over the ponies because of it; and the humans were stuck in the middle of the conflict.

“Discord, as well as the other creatures that humans had created, got loose and joined sides with the equine wasps.  And, according to reports, there were two of those horned and winged ponies, a white one and a dark-blue one, that lead the ponies against the equine wasps and their allies.  And, before the war ended, almost all of the humans were destroyed.  Kind of funny, isn’t it?  With all their technology, when it came down to it, they couldn’t keep up with their biological creations.  And, their creations survive to this day.  Some of them, a small group of foals, were even dropped off near the last known human settlement.”

I notice it takes, or seems to take, a few seconds for Pinkie to process all the information I gave her.  When she’s done, she says, “So, you’re here to get one of those ‘equine wasps’?”

I answer, “That’s right.  If I can get a queen, then it’ll be all the better.  But, even if I can only get a worker or a drone, that'll be enough.”

Now, I notice Pinkie’s eyes start to vibrate as she says, “And, … and after you … get an equine wasp, … then you’re going … home?”

I answer, “That’s the plan.”

At this point, Pinkie’s mane and tail seem to start to deflate as she looks down, then collapses into a canine-style position, then a sphinx-style position, then starts to whimper.

I decide to have my character reach out and stroke her mane as I say, “Now, chances are that it may take a while before that happens.”

Pinkie looks up at my character, at me; and I can see her start to glare as she says, “But, it isn’t fair.  We’re friends now.  Why would you come here just to find a bug to take back with you?”

I have my character continue stroking Pinkie’s mane as I answer, “You aren’t the only friend I’ve made here, and I’m glad I made so many friends.  I know, now, that it’s not just the ponies that we were given to care for that survived all these years, and I consider that knowledge a valuable gift.  Not only that, but being able to take care of you, seeing you develop wings the way you did, it lets me know that you must’ve been descended from the ponies that humans created, that had both a horn and wings.  Why else would you be able to sprout wings the way you did?”  I then proceed to have my character pick up the pink angel pony as I say, “Now, come here.”

I notice, as my character proceeds to hug Pinkie, that, based on the message box that only appears after a few seconds, it takes that long for the pink angel pony to reciprocate.  And, it lasts for a few more seconds before Pinkie pushes away and says, “So, I guess, somewhere along the way, ponies were able to be born with just a horn, or just wings, or neither, after all.”  And, she half-heartedly chuckles.

I only smile as I reply, “Evidently so.”

Pinkie rests her head on my character’s chest again for a second before saying, “Well, I guess that’s all.  I should better be getting back to my room.  We need to get some sleep for tomorrow.”

My character puts the pink angel pony back on the ground, then stands up again and moves toward the door.

In the mean time, I say, “Yeah, good idea.”  Then, as my character opens his door, I say to Pinkie, who ambles past him, “Good night, Pinkie.”

The pink angel pony pauses in the doorway, and only turns and smiles up at me in response.  After that, she ambles into the hallway, then waits for my character to close his door before she, I assume, continues on to her room.

As my character returns to his bed and goes to sleep, I find I can’t help thinking of what’s going to happen to Rainbow Dash in the game’s tomorrow.  Also, I really am surprised to get advice from Princess Celestia on the matter of Rainbow Dash’s friends helping her by hurting her.  Was that really Princess Celestia’s advice, or did it come from another source?  Thinking about the episode, noting that Rainbow Dash was emotionally hurt by her friends bragging about Mare-Do-Well instead of her, and noting her reaction to the praises they were giving the new heroine, not to mention how it all turned out, maybe it was better that way?  I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.