Broken Mirror

by GMBlackjack

First published 12th of April, 2017

When an experiment with Pinkie's powers go wrong, Pinkie and Rarity are sucked into a world where things are drastically different.

>> There is a world, not far from the Equestria you know and love, where things are much different. How exactly? Well, that will be discovered as time goes on. It isn't all sunshine and rainbows, though both those things exist.

Through an accident that probably could have been prevented were proper precautions in place, two ponies by the name of Rarity and Pinkie Pie are sucked into this nearby world, where they must learn its rules to survive.

If you are squeamish, have a distaste for angry drama, or just can't take ponies being absolutely dastardly, you should leave now, before your poor mind gets triggered. There will be pain and suffering, and there will be nothing your distant psyches can do about it.

Those who are still here - I don't know why you're reading this. I just know that you are. And that I will be your guide.<<

A reboot of the story of the same name by Keywii_Cookies55

Art by Zero-Ice

I - The Pinkie Principle

>> The word beginning is a lie.

'The start. The moment from which everything afterwards comes.' Many would say their story started when they were born. Wrong. They existed for a number of months before they were born, and the biology used in the conception existed countless years before that. The sequence of events cycles back even further, to the grandparents, great grandparents, deep ancestors - even to the atoms themselves, forged in the fires of the Big Bang.

Even that isn't a beginning, it is rather an end - an end to our understanding. And even then, endings are lies as well. Something has to have caused that fiery explosion at the forge of creation, but at that point philosophy, religion, and science become intermingled and everyone has to ask if they really want the question to be answered. Those who try ensure that things will get ugly rather quickly.

The idea that events have a start is an illusion perpetrated by minds that don't know better - cannot know better, in most senses. The concept is so fundamental to them that it is never considered.

My solution is simple: absorb the entirety of a sequence of events at once. Take the limited information available and attempt to remove the temporal bias. For obvious reasons this is likely not an option for anyone else, so sadly a 'beginning' must be arbitrarily established.

What follows is a lie. <<

Twilight Sparkle awoke with an annoyed whinny. She had evidentially forgotten to draw the curtains the night before, and was now being assaulted by an intense ray of solar energy. She was consciously aware of the bright sunbeam on her eyelids, but was not yet awake enough to realize that opening her eyes was a bad idea.

"Ackpth!" she blurted, flailing around as her eyes were scorched with the brilliant image of the sun. The afterimage was engrained into her mind despite the rapid resealing of her eyelids. Closing them tighter didn't help matters - it only made Twilight's head hurt.

In her continual semi-groggy state she managed to fall off her bed and land face first on the floor, wings and hooves splayed. "Ow..." she muttered. She slowly stood up, wobbling slightly from the rude awakening, and shook her head to clear it - though this only turned Twilight's minor head pain into a full-blown headache.

"Okay..." she said, flapping her wings to loosen their tight muscles. "This is not a good start to the day." She glanced at her reflection in her bedside mirror just to make sure nothing was bruised or scratched, relieved to see that the worst was a messed up mane. Well, and the headache, but there wasn't much a mirror could help her with in regards to that.

She set out, marching down the crystalline stairs to one of the many halls inside her castle. Spike was already there, setting out two plates for breakfast. "Morning Spike," Twilight said, sitting down at the table, "what's for breakfast?"

"Toast. Lots and lots of toast," Spike said, smiling sheepishly. "I burnt the hash browns."

Twilight smirked. "Is Celestia dealing with an unexpected breakfast?"

"Ah, no, the stove caught fire this time. I have no idea why." There was a loud ding from the kitchen. "That'll be the toast!" Spike stood up quickly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He never made it into the kitchen, for a bright pink presence blocked his path.

"It isn't the toast, silly, it's the cupcakes!" In a bright rush of elastic energy, a third plate was set, and a pile of cupcakes were deposited on top of each setting.

The pink presence itself sat at a third chair that hadn't existed a moment before. "Enjoy!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Cupcakes for breakfast? Really Pinkie?"

The pink cotton-candy like earth pony giggled. "Why not? Better than just toast right?" She tossed a cupcake into the air and caught it in her mouth, seeming to swallow it whole.

Spike narrowed his eyes. Then he threw his hands into the air and sat back down, admitting defeat. "Yeah... Better than toast..."

Twilight lifted a cupcake to her mouth and bit in - it tasted like sugar and laughter, as always. "So, why are you here Pinkie?"

Pinkie grinned. "I sensed a breakfast emergency! So I heeded the call to action, and am here to provide delicious breakfasts!" She leapt onto the table, standing on her hind hooves, as if ready to pounce on some unsuspecting prey. She reached into her mane and produced a plate covered in pancakes - or, more accurately, a plate covered in whipped cream that Twilight assumed had pancakes underneath, somewhere.

Twilight stared at the giant mound in fascination. "You know, Pinkie, sometimes I still wonder."

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Really Twi?"

"Yeah, I know, it's just 'Pinkie being Pinkie.' Still..." She pulled a pancake out of the stack and munched on it. "I wonder about it a lot."

Pinkie shrugged. "Well, I don't know how it all works either, so I don't know what to tell you."

"Don't worry about it, not a problem, it's just who you are. Though aren't you a little curious as to how you work?"

"Sometimes," Pinkie admitted, "but thinking about what I can do just makes my itty bitty brain hurt!"

Twilight chuckled. "I know the feeling... Both physically and mentally, as you know." Twilight paused for a second, eating another cupcake while she took a moment for some retrospection. "Regardless, that isn't important, anything interesting going on with you lately?"

"Hrm... Well there's a birthday tomorrow, and I was going to see if I could tie a million balloons to Sugarcube Corner... But nothing major going on. Don't even have to work today! Weekend!" She produced a party blower and blew it. Twilight and Spike covered their ears a little late, unable to muffle the sharp noise.

Twilight shook her head. "Ow..." She rubbed her temples, trying to calm her headache. "Well, sadly I am extremely busy, princess duties and studies day after day..." She furrowed her brow, unable to come up with the tasks she had to do today. "Spike, what is on the list today?"

Spike reached under the table and puled out a scroll. "Let's see... Today..." He blinked. "Nothing. It's not even a 'vacation' or 'hang out with friends' day. It's just blank."

Twilight stared at Spike in disbelief. "...What?"

"You have nothing to do today."

Twilight sat back, stunned. "...That never happens."

"Yeah, I'm surprised too."

"Yay!" Pinkie cheered. "That means we can do stuff! Oooh! What would we do? Fight some monsters? Fly through the sky? Have a random dance party for no reason!?"

Twilight was about to choose the random dance party when another idea occurred to her. "Pinkie, you said you were curious about yourself right?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Why don't we see what we can find out? I don't really expect to find any answers, but you and I might learn some things about what you can do."

"Oooh! Sciency bonding time! To the lab!"

"Woah, hold it Pinkie!" Twilight reached out, grabbing the pink blur with her magic. "We can finish breakfast first! And I don't think we'll do it here anyway, I know someone who has a bigger lab..."

Pinkie grinned. "I think I know who it is!"

"Great Wickering Stallions!" the Doctor yelled, jaw dropping. He hardly recognized his laboratory anymore. All of his favorite things were still there- the plasma ball, the central tank, the flying machine mode, the bookshelves - but everything looked organized. The pages were well stacked, the loose objects were grouped by function and appearance, and to top it all off the chemistry station looked clean. It never looked clean, the vaguely circular room always looked like a disheveled mess with random experiments and materials thrown around haphazardly, the Doctor always praying something wouldn't spontaneously combust.

"Who...?" the Doctor wondered aloud.

"Oh!" Rarity said, poking her white head out of the basement. "That'd be me, dear."

The Doctor cocked his head. "But wait... You weren't supposed to do this until tomorrow... And I just wanted a spruce up, not a complete reorganization..."

"I had nothing to do and I figured I'd help out a friend. Plus, I lost sleep last night over how disorganized this was. I just couldn't let it wait another day."

The Doctor let a grin come to his face. "Why, thank you. Here, let me pay you more-"

"Think of no such thing," Rarity interrupted, stalling his hoof with her own, "I enjoyed making this place beautiful. You simply have so many wondrous pieces hidden here!"

"I didn't think I even had this much room."

"You just need to know how to arrange things, Doctor. I'm not quite done with the basement, but that shouldn't take much longer. You should be able to invite ponies over soon." With a toss of her mane, she descended back down the stairs.

The Doctor could see it now. Actual scientific discussion in his house - with all the areas easily accessible and presentable. The other scientists would take him seriously, along with those pretentious Canterlot mages, and he could finally revolutionize how Equestria perceived science. The Doctor's smile widened at the thought. "Thank you so much miss Rarity! I can't imagine how difficult this must have been... Did the spacial anomalies give you any trouble?"

Rarity answered from the basement. "Doctor, Twilight's castle is also bigger in the inside. The space was liberating, if anything."

"Well, I'll let you get to it." Humming to himself, he walked around the central tank, examining his abode more closely. It really did look like a completely new place. Now he just had to remember not to let it fall into disarray again. That would be a challenge. He gulped, realizing the daunting task before him for the first time. Luckily, he was spared further contemplation by a knock at the door. "Yes?" he called, opening the door.

"SCIENCE TIME!" Pinkie yelled, barreling into him. He yelled in surprise, falling flat on his back, the impact knocking a model of Equis off a nearby table.

Twilight came in after the pink menace, the sparkle of experimentation in her eyes. "Yeah, it's science time. You busy Doctor?"

"Not at all," he said, standing up and brushing himself off, "what's the scientific emergency?"

"Me!" Pinkie said, bouncing around like a rubber ball. She ducked behind the plasma ball - appearing next inside the tank, squealing out a trail of bubbles. She swam upwards, far into the ceiling, and then popped out of Twilight's mane. "Woo!"

The Doctor shook his head. "Why is she so excited?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Because we're here to try - and probably fail - to answer a question. How do Pinkie's powers work, and why?"

The Doctor put his hoof to his chin. "You know... That is a good question. Wondered it myself, from time to time."

"Well, I have too!" Pinkie said, "so let's science it and see what happens! What are we going to do!? Huh? Will there be explosions?"

Twilight laughed. "Maybe later. Right now, we just need to take some samples and see if anything's weird about them. By the way, Doctor, love what you've done with the place. Looks better than I ever thought it could!"

"Thank Rarity, she's the one who organized the entire mess. Anyway, you want science? Well then - to the basement!" the Doctor said. He marched down the starts to the large space beneath his house. It was a location in the process of renovation - objects and gizmos were moved into various piles - metallic, wooden, plastic, machinery, plus a few others - and half the floor was adorned with nice rugs with geometric patterns while the other half was barren. Rarity hummed to herself as she laid another rug down.

"Hi Rarity!" Pinkie waved. "Thanks!"

"Hm?" Rarity said, looking up. "Oh, Pinkie! Uh... You're welcome?"

"...Where'd you find these rugs?" the Doctor asked.

"That closet over there. Seems to be an endless amount."

"Ah," the Doctor said, not surprised in the least, "well, do you know where the medical station is?"

"Against that wall for now," Rarity said, pointing. "It will be placed in the center of the room next to your novels eventually. You have good taste in fiction, by the way."

"Er... Yes," the Doctor said, deciding it wasn't wise to continue with that subject. He trotted up to the medical station, glancing at the vials, needles, popsicle sticks, petri dishes, and other implements that were strewn across the desk alongside a built in microscope and centrifuge. "Let's see..." he muttered.

"Hair and blood samples," Twilight said. "Isolate the DNA as well and... any thing else we'll need?"

"Not that I'm aware of," the Doctor said, grabbing a blood drawing needle. "Ready Pinkie?"

"STAB ME!" she shouted, thrusting her leg towards the Doctor. She giggled at his startled expression. Twilight rolled her eyes and motioned for the Doctor to go ahead. He looked at Pinkie, unsure, but did stick the needle in and drew the blood. Pinkie shrieked, swooned, and fell flat on the ground.

The Doctor panicked. "Wh... Pinkie? What? What did I do?"

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth, failing to stop the chuckling. Pinkie joined in quickly afterwards, and soon the two were laughing uncontrollably. "Gotcha!" Pinkie said, touching the Doctor on the nose.

"I... I suppose you did." He shook his head, putting the blood into a vial. Twilight plucked a hair from Pinkie's mane with her magic, handing it to the Doctor. "Thanks," he said, "I'll be getting the results for the next little while."

"Okay," Twilight said, "Pinkie! It is time to see what you can do!" She levitated a camera from one of the piles, setting up its tripod with a quick flick of a switch. The camera's screen sparked to life, displaying a monochromatic image of Pinkie. It proceeded to color parts of the image purple as it detected magic, brighter shades representing higher concentrations of magic. On the screen, Pinkie appeared almost white, the color was so intense.

Twilight examined the screen, a knowing smile on her face. "You are still the earth pony with the highest saturation of magic I've ever seen." She raised her wing, hitting the 'record' button. She cleared her throat. "This is Twilight Sparkle speaking, and this is the first tape on what I am calling... The Pinkie Project. Say hi to the camera Pinkie."

Pinkie waved her hoof around rapidly. "Hi pony scientists from the future!"

"Yes. Anyway, we are here to record the various 'impossible' feats Pinkie can perform. So... Go."

Pinkie sat still, smiling at the camera.

Twilight facehooved. "That means do something, Pinkie."

"Oh. Right." She pulled a sapphire-blue accordion out of her mane and started dancing to the instrument's noise. "Acooordion soooooong!"

"Ability one: object summoning," Twilight said, studying the image onscreen, "there is a minor surge of magic when it occurs, of a pattern I don't immediately recognize."

Pinkie twisted her body around, rolling her blue party canon out from behind her.

Twilight's eyes flew wide open. "Pinkie wait-'

With a mischievous grin, Pinkie launched the party cannon. The confetti burst out with a swirl of colors, knocking Twilight and the camera over. Twilight shook her head and stood back up with a groan, lifting the camera up alongside her. After checking to make sure the device wasn't broken, she let out a sigh of relief. "Try not to knock over the camera, Pinkie Or do anything else that could damage it."

Twilight blinked. Pinkie wasn't where she had just been. Instead she was on the completely other side of the basement, juggling some bean bags

"...Ability two: unusual travel speed. Or teleporting. Or something. It's hard to tell."

Pinkie ran back to the camera. "Ooh! Ooh! What next? This is fun!"

"...Hide behind that broom over there," Twilight suggested, pointing one of the most pathetic brooms ever to exist. The tool only had a few dozen bristles left on it, and the handle was bent at an unusual angle, splintering all over.

Pinkie leapt behind the broom and vanished. Twilight swore she could hear her giggling as if the pink pony were right behind it.

"Ability three: hiding behind impossibly small objects."

Pinkie appeared behind Twilight and tapped her in the back of the neck. "Boo."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Back in front of the camera, Pinkie."

Stretching herself like a noodle, Pinkie threw herself like a slingshot back in front of the camera. She giggled, leaping into the air and did a backflip. Instead of falling to the ground she just kept flipping - and flipping, and flipping...

Twilight shook her head, tearing her eyes from the mesmerizing infinity of the backflips. "Ability five: elasticity. Ability six..." She paused, furrowing her brow. "...That." She looked closer at the magic readings on the screen, shaking her head at what she saw. "Okay, this isn't making any sense or helping us get to the bottom of this." She quickly shut off the camera and collapsed the stand. "Sorry Pinkie, I didn't learn anything."

"It's okay, that was fun!"

"Great Wickering Stallions!" the Doctor called from the medical station, "this isn't normal!"

"We were expecting that," Twilight said, walking over to the Doctor and his microscope, "how is it unusual?"

"Take a look!" he offered. Pinkie leapt in front of the microscope, her eye bulging towards the main lens. "Woooah! That's so cool! I have no idea what I'm looking at!"

"Your cells," the Doctor explained while Pinkie let Twilight have a look. "They... aren't acting like normal cells."

The image Twilight saw was of several pink-tinted cells moving around. Besides the pink color, they looked like normal cells - but they didn't move like normal cells. Pony cells would usually drift around lazily, go after specific chemicals, or not move at all. Pinkie's cells were all moving, vibrating, stretching, and mingling with each other with excess energy. It looked like a microscopic party. It occurred to Twilight that it would cost a lot of energy to keep this level of activity up. No wonder Pinkie ate so much.

"...Yeah cells don't do that," Twilight said, looking up with a smile. "Maybe the answers are in them? Perhaps they are tied into a sort of magic that, when combined as one, turns into what Pinkie has?"

"Maybe," the Doctor said, "more study is warranted... Rarity, where's the magic scan box?"

"Next to your life size cardboard cutout of Newton," Rarity called from across the room.

The Doctor had the grace to look sheepish. "Er... Yes. Right. Of course." He quickly grabbed the small black box and placed it on the medical station. "Let's see what we have here..."

Pinkie decided she'd had enough science for a moment, and it didn't look like they needed her right now. She bounded over to Rarity, knocking over the cardboard cutout of Newton as she did so, paying the historic pegasus scientist's visage no mind. "Hi Rarity!"

"Oh, hello Pinkie," Rarity said, placing another rug down and dusting it off with a feather duster. "I've been wondering... Since when do you like science?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Eh, Twilight was curious, I was curious, and we had nothing to do today. So we figured 'why not?' and rushed right here for some fun! I haven't been disappointed yet!"

"Yes, I saw you over there with that camera..." Rarity frowned. "...Are you sure you want to do this?"

Pinkie cocked her head. "Why not? It can't hurt, and I'm a little curious. Plus, I get to spend time with Twilight, and that's almost always fun!"

"It's just..." Rarity bit her lip. "I thought you liked the mystery, the carefree element, having no need to know, just to be."

"Pfft, it isn't a need, it's just something to do. Twilight doesn't even really expect to find an answer. She's just having fun, like me!"

Rarity shook her head. "If you say so, Pinkie. Even so, perhaps give some more thought in the future?"

Pinkie gave her a confused look. "Uh... Okay?"

"Good. That's all I ask. Now, mind helping me with these rugs?"

"Not at all!"

While Rarity and Pinkie set to laying down more rugs on the bare floor, the Doctor examined his magic box closely. The boxes six faces displayed ever-changing white glyphs, the circle-based symbols approximating the structure of the magic. On the primary face were a lot of question marks. "It's unable to recognize the magic pattern the cells are exhibiting. Which is odd, this thing is calibrated to recognize even exotic magics, like that of a sphinx..."

"So she's unique. No surprise there whatsoever." Twilight squinted, examining the readings closely. A smile slowly creeped up her face. "I think I can recreate this."

"Really? You can mimic a magic signature?"

"Well, my special talent is magic, so it shouldn't be too hard. Don't expect me to be jumping behind brooms anytime soon, you probably need experience for things like that." She closed her eyes and lit her horn, creating a bundle of pink energy in midair. It vibrated energetically, shifting space in a ripple pattern. A few loose papers flew around, and a few bottles were knocked off their shelves.

"Please don't break things!" Rarity called from across the room, but otherwise paying them little mind.

"Woah..." Twilight said, cocking her head, examining the pink energy. It looked like a soft, shifting cloud moments away from releasing rain. "I didn't channel that much energy... It's drawing energy from somewhere else..."

"What do you suppose it is?" The Doctor asked.

"It's pink and it feels weird." Twilight shrugged, watching as several papers flew into the pink energy, and vanished. "Huh. Looks like it's taking them somewhere."

Across the room, Pinkie suddenly stood motionless, her expression going completely blank.

"Pinkie?" Rarity asked, putting a hoof on her frozen friend, "are you okay?"

Pinkie made no response. Her eyes didn't even register Rarity's presence - they just stared far into the distance. She might as well have just been a statue.

"Twilight, something's wrong with Pinkie!" Rarity yelled.

Twilight turned to look at Rarity. "What?" In doing this, she lost focus on the pink cloud for an instant - and that was all that it needed. It increased in size tenfold, becoming less of a cloud and more of a swirling vortex in the fabric of reality. The magic box, camera, and several other loose objects were devoured within a second. The intense tidal forces began to pull at Twilight and the Doctor, inching them towards it.

Twilight acted quickly, encasing the vortex in a bubble shield before anything else could be pulled in. She felt the pull of the vortex wane, and allowed herself to relax. "Well... That could have been bad."

And then Rarity and Pinkie were inside the bubble shield. Twilight was sure they had been outside when she cast it - but there was no denying they were inside now. "Rarity!" Twilight yelled, dropping the bubble shield in an attempt to free the two of them. Rarity screamed in response, flailing her hooves in futility. She was sucked into the vortex despite Twilight's attempts to pull her out, her body stretching into a thin white swirl. Pinkie maintained static and expressionless while the vortex folded her into itself.

The moment Pinkie passed through the center, the vortex let out a soft popping noise and vanished.

Twilight and the Doctor stood motionless, horror plastered on their faces.

Author's Notes:

Roll opening theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2hIavE58Fc

-GM, master of the falls.

II - A Warm Welcome

>> Pinkamina Pie and Rarity Belle. Entire libraries could be filled with observations on these two ponies - and I fully expect such places exist somewhere, split off in some distant place.

Rarity: a generous mare who would do anything for just about anyone, a maiden of pure heart if ever there was one. Classy, and yet not arrogant or deceptive. What a mare.

Pinkie: the bringer of laughter to all ponies, even among horrible darkness and sorrow. A mare of exceptional power and skill who devoted her life to what many would consider a chokingly mundane task. Hyper, happy, carefree - contagious.

Everyone likes those images.

Everyone needs a wake-up call. An entire section in those libraries should be devoted to disbanding these deceptions.

Chew on this.

Rarity: A manipulator, a passive-aggressive unicorn who has the eye of a business executive and the brains to bend ponies to her will, showing only what she wants them to see. Entitled, whiny, overdramatic, and depressing - a facade. She knows what she wants and how to get it, and the only reason she hasn't done more despicable things is because her ambition fails her.

Pinkamina: An idiot. A fool with the keys to the universe, the power that none understand. A fearful mare, afraid for everyone she meets. A liar - or rather, one who lives a lie, a lie that everything will be fine if she could only keep smiling. She knows so much and yet so little.

Gross exaggeration? Not entirely. It's just as true as the first descriptions I gave. Of course, everyone has already made up their minds about the two of them, and nothing I say will change their bias, so I wonder why I bother? <<

Rarity came to with a pained groan. She had the headache to end all headaches, and one of her eyelashes had been dislodged. And all in all, she felt just like someone who hit their head on the rocky ground at high speed should feel upon regaining consciousness. She opened her eyes, subconsciously using her magic to adjust her eyelash back into place. She became aware of the rocky surface she was laid upon, and that it was dark. She let out an annoyed grunt, lighting her horn to illuminate the surroundings.

She was in a cave. Strewn about the gray stalagmites and stalactites were various bits of paper, scientific equipment, and a few magic devices. Rarity only saw one exit to the cavern - a narrow, upward sloping tunnel she couldn't see the end of. There was no sign of a pink magic vortex, though Pinkie Pie herself was easy to pick out from the drab background. The earth pony was on her back, her four legs stiff and pointed straight to the ceiling. Rarity stumbled over to her, horrified by the blank, faraway look in Pinkie's eyes.

"Pinkie? Pinkie can you hear me?!"

Pinkie didn't move.

"Pinkie!" Rarity yelled, nudging her friend. This prompted a response - Pinkie screamed and leaped into the air, flailing wildly, somehow staying airborne longer than should have been possible. After a few seconds, she landed flat on her hooves, breathing rapidly, unable to get enough air. She reached for Rarity, but before she could say anything she passed out from hyperventilation. Rarity caught her before she hit the ground.

Rarity blinked, stunned by what had just happened. "P... Pinkie...?"

Pinkie's eyes flew open. She took a long, deep breath, before slowly rising to her hooves once more. "Okay," she said, "that was one of the most horrible feelings I've ever had." She shook herself, clearing her head. She proceeded to check herself over, finding that all the bruises and scratches were superficial. "But I'm fine now!" she declared, the smile returning to her face.

"W-what happened?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know!" Pinkie shrugged. "Twilight did something and... I stopped." She shuddered, shaking her head once more. "Just... Stopped. It was like part of me was being torn somewhere else, and if I tried to do anything else I'd just break."

Rarity was speechless, the horrified look on her face increasing in intensity the more she thought about what Pinkie had just said.

"But I feel fine now - if a little... odd." She scrunched her muzzle as if it itched. "Proooobalby just recovering."

Rarity nodded. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Rarity, really." The grin on Pinkie's face doubled in size. "Now let's get out of this cave and find out where we are!"

Rarity let out a sigh of relief, smiling. "Alright - but only if you take it easy."

"You too. That's a nasty bump on your head."

Rarity winced, nodding. "I know. I can feel it throbbing. But I'll live." She caressed the lump with one of her hooves, trying to ignore the pain.

Pinkie nodded. "Good! Now lead the way, you are the flashlight!"

"Yes, yes, I know..." Rarity took a step forward, increasing the brightness of her horn as much as she could manage with her headache. As they left the papers and equipment behind, the rocky pathway became narrower and the upwards slope gradually increased the further they went. Rarity noticed her heartbeat accelerate the closer the walls came to her. She gulped, hoping to get out into the sun quickly.

"Isn't this exciting Rarity? We're in a cave in the unknown having an adventure!"

"Yes, I suppose you could say that..." Rarity muttered, her nervousness rising within her. She glanced left and right, looking for any branch in the path, finding none.

"I wonder what we'll find - treasure? A secret society? Daring Do? A super-uper-duper computer person?"

"A dead end!?" Rarity exclaimed.

"Well, I mean, we could find that but-"

"No, Pinkie, this path literally just ends right here!" She poked her hoof at the rocky wall in front of them, throwing a few stones loose.

"Oh," Pinkie said, "that's not good."

"No, it isn't!" Rarity wailed, putting her face in her hooves. "We're trapped down here! We're going to suffocate!" She lost all concentration, dropping the light spell, trying to focus on her breathing - trying to keep herself from passing out. It was hard to focus - too many thoughts were swirling within her head. She had started the day out organizing the Doctor's house, and now she was doomed to a short existence within this cavern. What was the last thing she said to Sweetie Belle? She couldn't remember...

"Rarity..." Pinkie said. "Open your eyes. And don't light your horn."

"Huh?" Rarity said, looking up into the face of Pinkie, sniffing. "...Why?"

"You can see me."

"Yes Pinkie I can see you, I'm not deaf." She paused for a second. "...I can see you." It didn't take long for her to find the source of the light - a crack between two large rocks embedded into the wall in front of them. She couldn't see through the tiny opening, but she could feel the warmth coming from it.

"Okay..." Rarity said, pursing her lips. "We... We need to be careful, move these rocks out of the way delicately so we don't cause a cave-in..."

"Hiiiii-ya!" Pinkie yelled, colliding with one of the large rocks and sending it flying, creating a large opening in the cavern wall through which sunlight poured in. There was no indication of the cave collapsing on them.

Rarity sighed, averting her eyes from the intense light. "Or we could do that. Throw caution to the wind and risk our lives."

"C'mon Rarity, it's an adventure!"

"Yes, I suppose it is..." She climbed out of the cave, into the open world outside. The scenery was empty for the most part - endless grasslands composed of short, dull blades of grass. Not a single tree was visible, and bushes were hard to come by. The sun high in the sky, but it wasn't noon yet. A chilled breeze blew through the grasses, creating a minimal rippling effect.

This wasn't to say there was nothing there at all, far from it. There was one thing in particular.

"Woah..." Pinkie said.

"My Stars..." Rarity gasped.

Before them stood a city larger than any city they had ever imagined. The buildings rose to an absurd height, their rectangular gray visages casting a tremendous shadow over the landscape. There were no outskirts to be seen - no farms, no little houses, no cabins, nothing but hundreds of skyscrapers getting ever-taller as the two mares' eyes were drawn towards the center. One would expect such a tremendous collection of structures to be bustling with movement and life, but the two of them saw almost none from their vantage point. A couple specks could be seen flying from building to building, but aside from that, the shining buildings seemed lifeless.

"Odd," Rarity said, "I have no idea what this place is."

"Then let's go ask!"

Rarity shrugged. "I don't see that we really have any other choice in the matter." She smirked. "Looks a tad like Manehattan though, so the inhabitants will likely be reasonable."

Pinkie facehooved at Rairty's remark but decided not to comment on it. They set off at once, marching down the small hill they were on top of, heading right for the city. They were less than a mile away, so it quickly dominated their entire field of view. However, even as they approached, they still couldn't see much life. The buildings stood tall, and the streets were abandoned. Everything was just too big and angular, filling Pinkie and Rarity with ominous feelings.

Pinkie frowned. "Where is everypony?"

"I don't know... But this place is far too clean to be empty. We just need to do some looking." Rarity stepped onto the street, hooves clacking on the pavement. The clipping and clopping noises echoed through the silent city.

Pinkie moved to follow, but something made her stop. Her hoof began to twitch and her eyes rolled in her sockets, the Pinkie Sense flipping left and right crazily, like it couldn't decide what it wanted to say. A feeling of wrongness filled her body, her very nature feeling violated by the mere idea of setting foot in this place. Then everything stopped, the feeling reducing to a shudder.

"Pinkie?" Rarity called back. "What's going on?"

"It feels wrong," Pinkie said. "This place. Something's... wrong with it. Like blue raspberries."

Rarity frowned, focusing for a moment on the area. She did feel... something off about this place, more than just the usual abandonment of the street. "I feel something too, Pinkie. But we need to see if we can find some answers, regardless."

"I... I don't think we should."

"Pinkie... Come on. It won't hurt us to just walk in. We can run out at any moment." She looked up at the giant buildings, all of which looked more or less the same - gray bricks with the occasional dark window, varying only by height and the placement of the windows. "We won't leave sight of the outside. It'd be easy to get lost."

"Okay..." Pinkie said, stepping onto the concrete. She let out a yelp, shuddering as she felt something latch onto her, tugging at her very core. She took in a breath, pushing through the wrongness and walking up to Rarity, shaking. "Let's... Let's look quickly okay?"

"Of course," she said. "Helooooo!" Is anyone here? We need some help! could anypony perhaps tell us where we are?"

There were no responses.

"Is this place really abandoned?" Rarity wondered.

"No," Pinkie said, pointing upwards, "I see flying machines."

Sure enough, there was a teardrop-shaped machine flying above them. It was silver and glowed in a few places with a soft blue light. It paid them no mind, flying into one of the windows of a building far above them.

"Huh," Rarity said, holding her hoof over her eyes and squinting. She couldn't see any more flying things in the sky. Scanning the streets, she didn't see anything either.

Wait...

"Look!" Rarity pointed down a street to their left. "A pony!" She galloped as fast as her four legs could carry her, Pinkie bouncing along behind. Pinkie frowned as she bounced - her hooves were starting to hurt. That never happened when she bounced, she could always do it as long as she wanted. ...It was probably the road. Just another reason this place was wrong. She sighed, stopping the bouncing and regressing to a simple gallop behind Rarity.

The pony they were approaching was an earth pony stallion. He was blue and wore a bored expression, looking forward like nothing mattered, stepping with a methodical motion.

"Hey! Hey dear! Do you think you could help a few lost mares out?" Rarity called out.

The stallion lazily looked over towards them, mild annoyance on his face. This annoyance quickly turned into dumbfounded surprise. His eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks, unmoving.

"We seem to be hopelessly lost, mister, and we were hoping you could tell us what this place is?"

The stallion's face transformed from flabbergasted to complete bloodcurdling rage in an instant. His veins popped and he opened his mouth to unleash one of the most terrifying sounds Rarity and Pinkie had ever heard. "GREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAGHAAAAAAA!"

Rarity was taken aback - so taken aback that she did nothing to stop the hoof flying at her face. She screamed as he made contact, her small frame falling to the ground, blood dripping from the left side of her face.

He would have done much worse had Pinkie not barreled into him in that moment, tossing him aside. It had taken a lot less effort than she had expected, but she didn't dwell on that."You okay, Rarity?"

"N... No," she said, standing up. "I... I can stand though..."

"And so can our friend." Pinkie said, pointing at the pony.

He spat. "êewol spl¯æc cworaxan, accas!"

Pinkie shrugged. "Okay, let's do this!" She pulled a pair of boxing gloves out of her mane and smirked. She rushed him, preparing a spectacular uppercut. However, he had gotten smarter - though not calmer. He twisted to the side, dodging the pink bullet that was Pinkie, making a straight beeline for Rarity. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAACCAAAAAAAAAS!"

This time Rarity was ready, catching his hoof in her magic, twisting the outstretched leg. He roared in pain, tossed to the ground once more. He didn't let this deter him, however. After smashing his hoof on the ground like the earth had offended him in some way, he readied his other front hoof for a swing.

Pinkie pulled out a frying pan and hit him in the back of his head. He made a soft 'gagh...' noise before losing consciousness.

"Can we get out of here now!?" Pinkie pleaded, smacking him on the head again just to make sure.

"Yes," Rarity said, wiping the blood from her face. The two of them galloped away as quickly as they could manage. No more ponies came out of the buildings.

Pinkie felt drained. Something was pulling at her, tugging at her soul, demanding she stay. She didn't listen to it, but moving out of the city was much, much harder than it should have been. There was something more going on that just pavement beneath her hooves.

Then they heard a loud hum behind them. Glancing over their shoulders, they saw one of the flying machines hovering a meter off the ground, going right for them. It was much faster than they were.

"Oh no..." Rarity said. "Step on it Pinkie!"

"I am!" Pinkie snapped back. "Something's wrong!"

The machine deployed two large guns, preparing to riddle them with bullets.

The two of them leaped out of the city and into the grass. Instantly, Pinkie felt revitalized - and relieved. As if the wrongness was over and everything would be fine. They were out, they were free, they could relax...

She had failed to consider the possibility that the machine would still shoot at them. A mixture of lasers and bullets flew out of the barrels at them. They wouldn't even have had time to scream.

But the agonizing death didn't come - instead, an aura of blue magic filled the area between them at the machine, catching all bullets and reflecting all lasers. A mare's voice yelled. "Get your ass out of here! They're not in the city anymore, drone!"

The drone made a beeping noise and flew back into the maze of buildings without so much as a hesitation.

"Oh thank Stars..." Rarity said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said, turning to their savior. Rarity's jaw dropped the moment she saw her. She recognized the mare before them.

Pinkie did as well. "...Minuette!?"

Minuette shot Pinkie a death glare with her deep, blue eyes. "Don't talk to me, bucker." She turned to Rarity. "And you... What the Tartarus were you thinking?!"

"I... Uh... I was lost?" Rarity managed, looking with concern at the small green hat on Minuette's head, unsure what it meant. She felt as if it was important. Pinkie was still reeling from the death glare she had received.

"Friggin idiot..." Minuette muttered. "You two are coming back to camp. With me. Now. No objections."

Neither of them objected, too scared and exhausted to even think of doing something aside from whatever the blue unicorn wanted them to do. She led them away from the gray city, every step hitting the ground much harder than was necessary.

III - Camp Wake Up Call

>>Toothpaste. There are many kinds of toothpaste, but for the purposes of this illustration simply two will suffice. Suppose one is called 'blue' and another is 'white.' A hypothetical person used the 'blue' on all his life, liking the nice, calm, bubbly flavor. He was happy and didn't question it. Then one day the big company executives stopped making the 'blue' toothpaste for whatever dumb reason. Without even giving it much thought, our hypothetical person started using the 'white' toothpaste, expecting it to be exactly the same as the 'blue' toothpaste even though it looked, smelled, and felt completely different.

He stuck it in his mouth and screamed in agony as the intense chemical-minty flavor overpowered his senses. He probably would have been fine had he not expected it to be nice, calm, and bubbly.

Make of this what you will.<<

"Soooo..." Pinkie said nervously. "I wonder how far it is to camp?"

Minuette stopped in her tracks and glared at Pinkie. "I told you not to talk to me."

"Oh I wasn't, I was just wondering aloud!"

Minuette slapped Pinkie across the face. "You talked to me there."

"Really!?" Rarity yelled. "You hit her just for talking to you?!" She let out an angry breath, rushing to Pinkie to steady her.

Minuette's features contorted in disgust. "You sicken me."

"The feeling is mutual, I assure you," Rarity bristled.

Minuette seemed mildly surprised at this but made no response. Instead, she just gestured for them to continue their trek across the dull, endless grass.

"Thanks, Rarity," Pinkie said, "who knew someone with such a cute little hat could be so mean?"

"Don't pay her any attention," Rarity said, "but try not to antagonize her, okay Pinkie?"

"Okay..." Pinkie sniffed. "Haven't met a single friend here..."

Rarity gulped but said nothing. Holding each other up, they followed after Minuette. The blue unicorn kept glancing behind herself from time to time to see if they were still following. Each time she turned her head back around, her face became more and more disgusted. She seemed to take the fact she was supposed to look at them as an insult.

Rarity wondered what was going on with Minuette... She didn't seem to recognize them at all, and she was acting exceptionally hateful. ...Had Twilight's spell messed up the destinies of ponies again? No... Minuette's cutie mark was the same... But Twilight's spell had to have done something, what else could explain this?

Pinkie wasn't thinking about any of this. She just felt partially empty, wrong. The very world around her felt bleak, and she just didn't have the energy she used to. Everything felt... solid.

The three mares walked along the endless rolling hills of grass, not speaking a word to each other. After about an hour of walking, they crested a hill and were finally able to see into the small valley that held their destination. The camp was a literal camp - a collection of a few dozen tents. Dozens of ponies, all wearing hats similar to Minuette's, scrambled around like a bunch of ants.

Minuette took a breath. "Minuette reporting in!" she called, beginning her descent into the valley. "Got two... 'refugees' here that need to be debriefed!"

"Bring them down!" A loud, booming male voice called up to her. "My tent!"

"Yessir!" Minuette said, saluting even though she couldn't see her Commander from her current vantage point. "Move it." She muttered, using her magic to shove the two of them forward.

Rarity lit her horn, pushing against Minuette's telekinesis. "There's no need for that, we're moving."

They marched into the camp. Given the swords, spears, and other weapons laying around, it was easily discernable that the camp was a base of military operations. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies were all present, though the earth ponies were in an evident minority, composing less than a tenth of the visible ponies. While Rarity and Pinkie hobbled into the camp, everypony stopped to stare at them. There were many initial looks of disgust - mostly from the unicorns, but they were far from the only race engaging in the intense disapproving glares. However, most of these looks of disgust gave way to confusion and surprise. Whispers began to circulate around camp, and despite Rarity's best efforts, she couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Enough of that," Minuette barked, "let the minglers have their time, they're needed by the Commander. So no prodding, that means you Pipps."

A short purple pegasus snorted. "You can't order-"

Minuette lit her horn and shot Pipps in the side, knocking him over. "You were saying, Pipps?"

"Ow..."

"That's what I thought." Minuette turned away, grabbing Pinkie by the neck. She dragged the pink pony - and by extension the currently stunned Rarity - into a large teal tent. Sitting at a rudimentary desk was a light blue pegasus wearing a green hat. His hat was slightly different from all the others, for it was adorned with a single red stripe in the middle. He looked closely at them - letting his eyes stop on all three of their faces. "Hrm... what have we here?"

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth when he spoke. "S-Soarin?"

Soarin blinked. "You know me?"

Minuette shook her head. "Sir, these two mares are crazy! They walked right into the Concretion! I saved them, blocked a drone's bullets, told it to peeve off, and dragged their sorry asses all the way back here. They both thought they knew me, and I can guarantee I've never met either of them before in my life!"

Soarin turned to Pinkie and Rarity, his expression unreadable. "Care to explain what the Tartarus you are doing out here and who the heck you are?"

"Well... I... I'm Rarity Bell and..." She took a deep breath, shaking. "We... We're horribly lost. We woke up in a cave and... And we had to dig our way out, and then... and then..." She started bawling. "We don't know what's going on! We're just lost and broken and lonely and just want to go home and get away from all the violent stallions, guns, and... and... We just need your hel-"

"Stop it," Soarin interjected, eyes narrow. "That was the wrong answer."

Rarity blinked. "...Wha?"

"I know when somepony's trying to manipulate me. You look like a mare who's used to getting what she wants from everypony around her. Not going to fly. Stop this dribbling waterworks nonsense and tell me what the deal is without any pointless add-ons that make me tempted just to have you cracked."

Rarity didn't want to find out what cracked meant. "Y-Yes sir," she said.

"Now. Let's try this again. Who are you?"

"Rarity Belle. This is Pinkie Pie."

Soarin raised an eyebrow at this, glancing at Minuette. She shook her head. "It isn't her. That's a true-pigger standing before you."

Soarin nodded slowly. "Understood. Now... The difficult part. What in Tartarus were you thinking?"

"Uh..." Rarity said, unsure of what to say.

"We were lost. We saw civilization," Pinkie said, rolling her eyes. "What would you do if you crawled out of a cave into an empty field and the only thing you saw was a city?"

Minuette bristled. "How dare you talk to the Commander! I ought to-"

Soarin held up a hoof to silence her. Minuette was most unhappy with this, but she complied. Soarin turned his attention to Pinkie, leaning closer. "I'd get my ass out of there as fast as I could."

Pinkie blinked, then shrugged. "Well yeah, you know the place is bad mojo. I felt it in there, the evil. But before I got there I had no idea!"

Soarin narrowed his eyes. "You're claiming that you've never heard of the Concretion?"

"Not until today," Pinkie said. "Also, who names something the Concretion? It sounds boring and disgusting, even a little silly. Though I suppose I came from Ponyville, so maybe I'm the silly one here, I don't know. Names are funny."

Soarin blinked. "Either you are the most convincing actor I've ever seen or you're telling the truth and are crazy."

"The latter," Pinkie giggled.

Minuette's face transformed from one of general disgust to one of bewilderment. "B-But who in Equestria wouldn't know of the Concretion!?"

Rarity lit up. "Equestria? You know where it is? Where is it!?"

Soarin raised an eyebrow. "...You're standing on Equestrian soil."

"Oh don't be daft, I know Equestria like the back of my hoof, and there was never a giant city in the middle."

"It could be Equestria," Pinkie suggested. "Think. Rarity. That's Minuette, but it's not the fun loving Minuette we know. That's Soarin, but he isn't the pie loving Soarin we know."

Soarin's eyes widened in shock.

"...Okay, so maybe he still likes pie. But still, think - what if this Equestria, isn't our Equestria."

The tent fell silent. Rarity looked deep into Pinkie's eyes. "...How will we get home then?"

"I guess we just hope Twilight and the Doctor figure something out!"

"Okay!" Minuette yelled. "Calling it! Hogshit! I recognize those names! You two are a bunch of lying asses who need to be dumped into the pit of Tartarus!"

"Let's not be hasty," Soarin said. "Describe Twilight and the Doctor to us."

"Well..." Pinkie took a breath. "Twilight's one of our best friends, an amazing purple alicorn who just looooves books and has her own castle and has the best dragon assistant ever and is the Element of Magic and is the Princess of Friendship-"

"Of bucking course..." Minuette muttered.

"The Doctor?" Soarin asked, wishing to move on.

Rarity decided she'd speak. "A bit of an extravagant stallion who's our town's resident scientist type. He-" Rarity stopped, noticing the faces of Soarin and Minuette flash with horror. "...What's wrong with scientists?"

Soarin let out a sharp breath as if he couldn't believe he was going to explain this. "Only the Concretes have scientists."

Rarity frowned. "...What are Concretes?"

Pinkie shivered. "Rarity, the pony we met in the city."

Rarity let out a long breath. "...He was terrifying."

Minuette looked back and forth between Soarin and the two mares. "This makes no sense."

"No, it doesn't," Soarin agreed. "Would you happen to have any evidence of your claims?"

"Well..." Rarity said, putting her hoof to her chin. "There's probably still some of the Doctor's equipment and notes in the cave..."

"Where's that?"

"Just a hop, skip, and a jump from the city!" Pinkie sung, falling over in the middle of her dance. "Ow."

Soarin sighed. "More specific please."

"A few minutes walk from the street Minuette found us on," Rarity said, "You could probably see it from the edge of the city if you were looking."

Soarin frowned. He turned behind him and stuck his head out of the tent. "Bravo! Clamp! Form up and prepare for a fly-spy run! Minuette will brief you on your mission! Report to her in two minutes!"

Minuette blinked. "But sir, I should go-"

"Minuette, tell the team where you found them. You will stay here and guard the prisoners."

"Prisoners!?" Rarity blurted.

"You're an unknown," Soarin said, "and I don't like you. You won't be harmed, you have my word." He paused to glare at Minuette. "That goes for the earth as well, understood?"

Minuette's face twisted. She wanted to explode at him - but didn't. She simply nodded slowly.

"B-but..." Rarity shook her head. "You can't lock us up for no reason!"

"Trespassing on a private military installation and matters of interest to the Crown should be enough to keep me out of trouble. Now get out before I lose my patience."

They left quickly, Minuette watching them like a vulture.

"So, uh, where's the prison tent?" Pinkie asked.

"Isn't one," Minuette said, letting a smirk crawl up her face. She led them to a metal pole in the center of camp. She rummaged through a crate next to the pole and produced two pairs of hoofcuffs.

"You can't be serious," Rarity said.

"Beleive me, I am. I'm also totally serious when I say I will bust your face in the moment the Commander gives me any indication of permission." She growled as she chained them to the pole, tightening the cuffs just slightly more than was necessary. At that point, two pegasi, a mare and stallion who were presumably Bravo and Clamp, landed behind Minuette.

Minuette cleared her throat. "So, here's the deal. I found these bucking minglers on seventy-first street. Check the hills around there for a cave and bring back anything you can find - even Concrete devices. It might be important, blasphemous as it is."

"Yes Minuette!" they said, spreading their wings and taking flight.

"Do back before nightfall and don't do anything preeny!"

The two of them bristled, flying away without another word.

"Insubordinate assess..." Minuette said, turning back to Rarity and Pinkie. "So, guess what, I'm stuck here with you minglers. Guard duty practically makes me another prisoner. So needless to say, I'm about as peeved as an ursa major who's lost her cub. So if you want to keep your beautiful faces in working order, I suggest you sit down and shut up!"

Rarity and Pinkie nodded, hugging each other tightly.

"And quit it with the hugging! It's nauseating!"

They quickly released each other and scurried to opposite sides of the pole. They looked around fearfully - many soldiers passed by, shooting them intense glares. Not a friendly face was seen in the crowd - the best expression they saw was ambivalence and curiosity. No pity. no sadness. Mostly disgust and anger. A few even spat in their direction when close enough.

The largest earth pony Rarity had ever seen walked up to her, snorting. "I bet you're a runter."

A unicorn soldier shouted at him from the sidelines. "Every unicorn's a runter to you, cloud rooter!"

The earth pony smirked. "You hear that?" he asked Rarity. "That's the sound of a pony who wants to experience living Tartarus. I'll get to him later. You on the other hoof..." He chuckled. "Well, I think you're already there."

Rarity glanced at Minuette. Minuette just shrugged in response and started whistling, an amused look in her eyes.

"Oh look at that, she doesn't like you. Absolute shocker," he laughed. "You look so dainty too... Like a little thing from Canterlot tossed out of that cancer and shown the bright bleak world... How's it treating you runter? How is it?"

Rarity started crying, keeping her mouth shut. She audibly winced when he caressed her face, pausing on the recent wound. "I bet it hurts, oh so much. Would you like a little something to help with that? No? Oh you might get it anyway..."

"...Minuette..." Rarity squeaked.

"Did I say you could talk bitch!?" Minuette shouted.

Rarity stared at Minuette, horrified. The stallion just laughed, leaning in closer. "Oh, looks like this doesn't count as harm then? Good. We'll see how far she lets me go..." He kissed her - hard. She squirmed, her mind too distracted to prepare one of her spells.

GONG.

The giant earth pony stumbled backward, bewildered.

GONG.

Pinkie was standing over him with a frying pan, hoofcufffs dangling loose around her front leg.

GONG.

He lost consciousness.

GONG.

Rarity didn't tell Pinkie to stop.

GONG.

GONG.

Pinkie threw the frying pan away, her hair deflating to a mostly flat state. She fell to her knees and bawled her eyes out over the prone form of the earth pony.

Minuette stared, slack-jawed. The camp began to murmur. "Did... Did she just take out TS?" One said.

"I think she did."

"Holy shit."

Soarin strode into the camp, his face betraying his mood - one of a stallion who really didn't have the time for this crap. He walked to the pole and took in the scene. Murmuring ponies. A startled, speechless Minuette. Rarity clinging to the pole like some scared animal. Pinkie crying over the unconscious form of TS. Soarin wondered how Pinkie had managed to take him out without drawing any blood.

Soarin turned to Minuette first, annoyed. "I said no harm was to-"

"T-they were unharmed! TS hadn't even gone very far! I wasn't going to let him go there but... Then muddy here just takes a frying pan out of... I dunno where and starts beating him with it! Th.. how? Wha?"

"Earths do have magic," Soarin said, looking closely at the still bawling Pinkie. Literal rivers of tears were beginning to develop around her. "But I've never seen or heard of anything like this... Chain her back up. Watch them both closely. Don't let anypony near them. Celestia knows what'll happen if you let a vocal unicorn near her."

Minuette gulped and nodded. "Yessir."

"Now excuse me, I..." He looked up at the sky, frowning. Bravo and Clamp were flying back. "That was too fast!" he yelled.

"Sorry, sir! We found the cave, but the Concretes had it surrounded with a sizeable presence!"

Soarin frowned. "Well, the cave exists, these mares seem absolutely crazy, and the Concretes suddenly find that cave interesting enough to form a presence around..." He frowned, turning to Rarity and Pinkie. "I believe you."

"C-c-can we be released?" Rarity managed. Pinkie was in no shape to respond.

"No," Soarin said. "You're still prisoners and you will stay there until I get orders. Flit!" He pointed at a pegasus. "I will have a letter for you to deliver to General Spitfire momentarily. Be prepared."

"Yessir!" Flit saluted with his wing.

Soarin glanced at Minuette. "Don't let any more trouble break out. As much of an ass as TS was, he was an excellent warrior. I don't need to hospitalize another asset."

Minuette nodded wordlessly.

"Good," Soarin said, walking back into his tent, at which point it began to rain.

"Buck!" Minuette yelled. Rarity was too shocked and Pinkie too busy crying to care all that much about being rained on.

Thunder rolled and rain fell down in a deluge that carpeted the entire plains in a suffocating wetness. The camp, being in the center of a valley, was accumulating a rather copious amount of water. It had only been dark for about an hour and already the three mares' teeth had begun to chatter. The rest of the camp had wisely decided to stay inside their tents, only coming out when it was absolutely required.

"I-I'm going to catch h-hypothermia because of you t-two!" Minuette sputtered. "H-Hope you're happy."

"Y-you can't stand silence c-can you?" Rarity asked.

"What the f-frick does t-that have to do with me and h-hypothermia?"

"Well, you're t-talking to us."

"F-Fancy yourself smart-m-mouth do you?"

"N-no, not really, just... P-pinking up the slack for P-pinkie." Images of Pinkie swinging that frying pan over TS's body crossed her mind again. She shook her head and looked at Pinkie, worried. "Darling..."

"I would have killed him. I would have killed him." Pinkie stared at her hooves, face bleak.

"I... I... I can't say I would have objected," Rarity admitted.

Pinkie turned and looked Rarity in the eye. "R-really? B-but it's so wrong..."

"Yes... I... I know Pinkie. I know. I h-hate myself for thinking that b-but-"

"FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!" Minuette shouted. "Y-You two are so naive and sickly-sweet! It's stupid that's what it is! If you're threatened by anything in this world you beat it until it shrivels up and dies!"

Pinkie stared into Minuette's eyes and spoke with a soulless monotone. "It wasn't like that back home. Everypony looked out for everypony else. Friendship was magic. I liked each and every day, only wanting one thing: to make ponies smile. I was happy, almost everypony I knew was happy. We made friends with our enemies. We-"

Minuette punched her. "S-sorry, I forgot you weren't allowed to t-talk to me for a moment there, rooter. And as for that world of yours... I..." She furrowed her brow, trying to come up with a retort. Finding none, she turned away from them.

Rarity sagged. Pinkie was depressed, Minuette was perpetually angry at them just for existing, Soarin' didn't really care about them as ponies, and who knew what TS would have done...

Rarity's entire body heaved, forcing painful tears out. They were in another place, far from home, but agonizingly similar enough to the Equestria they knew to be a constant cruel reminder of what they once had. She looked at Minuette and saw a bubbly happy mare who was one of Pinkie and Twilight's closer friends - only to have the illusion shattered every time the soldier spoke.

And Pinkie...

Pinkie had changed since coming here. Even before the encounter with TS, Rarity could see her struggling to smile... A horrifying thought.

"What's that blue light?" Pinkie asked, pointing up into the sky.

Minuette twitched. "Oh help me, Luna, I don't know if I can restrain myself..."

"In the sky," Pinkie said, pointing into the night. "Blue light."

Minuette looked up at the clouds. "There's no way you can see any-" Her expression shifted from anger to fear instantly. "DRONE!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "DROOOONE!"

The camp sprung to life quickly. The soldiers all ran out as fast as they could, picking up their weapons and readying their spells in a rush of activity. All had their eyes kept on the blue light flying overhead, a single pinprick of energy amongst the storm.

"It's flying low," Rarity heard Bravo tell Minuette, "below the clouds."

"Then either it doesn't care about stealth or we are the target." Minuette said.

Soarin descended from the sky, giving Bravo a tired look. "I'm willing to bet the latter." He glanced over at Rarity and Pinkie.

"Shit," Minuette spat, "they're getting us attacked now!?"

"Very likely," Soarin said, turning to Rarity. "You may have to start moving fast. Minuette, you are to-"

A lance of blue light shot from the sky, incinerating a nearby tent in a fireball. In the light of the explosion, Rarity could see limbs go flying in all directions, some of the blood splattering across her face. She screamed.

Soarin spread his wings. "Get them out of here!" he yelled at Minuette. "Now! The Concretes can't have them!"

Minuette nodded, firing a magic laser to undo their hoofcuffs. "It's your lucky day minglers! Let's mooooove!"

Rarity rushed to Pinkie, helping her up. "Come on, Pinkie..."

"I'll drag her," Minuette muttered, grabbing Pinkie by the hoof and scrambling away with Rarity close behind. Minuette lit her horn, surrounding the three of them in a hazy glow. Rarity watched as Minuette vanished before her very eyes. "Okay, we're all invisible. This does not mean you are quiet. Here's a rope, don't loose your hold on it, it'll be a nightmare to find each other like this. So, go where the rope pulls, and shush!" Rarity felt a rope fall over her face, and she bit it hard. She stumbled in the direction she was pulled, barely able to process what was going on.

All the tents were lanced from above, the entire camp turning into a sea of fire amongst the rain. Smoke rose above the water, blocking the visibility of all ponies on the ground. The soldiers fought back - pegasi flying directly at the drone, and unicorns retaliating with their own lasers. Few of the attacks hit the small glowing target above them, but those that did make contact caused sparks to fly from the metallic carapace. Eventually, one of the pegasi managed to fly right up to the machine and drive his enchanted spear into it, creating a tremendous explosion that engulfed both him and the drone.

"They did it!" Rarity said. "They-"

"No," Minuette said, "they didn't."

She was right. Seven more blue lights appeared, dropping from above the clouds, firing a massive volley of missiles at the camp.

"How... Devastating..." Rarity gasped. From their vantage point halfway up the valley, she could see the entire camp burning.

"They can do worse," Minuette said. "They're minimizing damage because they want you alive."

Rarity shook her head. "That doesn't make sense! What if we were in one of those tents!?"

"Shut it!" Minuette shouted, ramming her hoof in the invisible Rarity's mouth. "Just because they have some tactics doesn't mean they're all that smart! Those drones are designed to purge us!"

They made it to the crest of a hill and stopped. They watched as the battle continued. Two more drones exploded from attacks, and one was frozen in crystal by a unicorn. But the four remaining were more than enough to clean up the leftover resistance.

Soarin made himself known, holding dual enchanted swords that shone with the power of the sun. He shot into the air, dodging the bullets of one drone and driving his swords right into the front of another. He used the explosion to launch himself into another drone - one that lanced him right in the forehead before he could complete his maneuver. He fell from the sky, the light going out of his blades.

Minuette gasped. "C... C... Commander..."

The drones began to meticulously search the camp wreckage, killing anypony they found they didn't like, which was everyone.

Rarity gulped. "We need to leave. Now." Minuette made no response. "...Minuette?"

Minuette shivered in the rain, eyes full of the fire of the valley. "We... We're all doomed..."

Rarity sighed, grabbing Minuette and Pinkie. She slowly dragged the two shellshocked mares across the grasslands in utter darkness, rain falling all around them. She hoped they would stay invisible for quite a while. And that the rain would cover up the drag marks.

IV - Cartwheel of Expectations

>>There are those who act all tough, who seem hardened on the outside, who it seems like nothing would ever get to them. They seem like the perfect soldier, the kind of person that would stare death in the face and strangle it, determined to the end.

But when actually confronted, they fall apart. Everyone has that one thing they anchor their life on. Their beliefs. Another person. Perhaps even a place they hold dear.

So it follows that the best way to utterly and completely tear someone's mind asunder is to destroy their home, kill all those they hold dear, and challenge their fundamental worldviews. It's not always required to do all three, but if the decimation needs to be certain, why risk it?

Perhaps you find this line of thought sadistic. Perhaps you should. But then, why do we study philosophy?

What is it about minds that we demand to understand how they break?

Perhaps that is a topic for another time.<<

Front hoof.

Front hoof.

Back hoof.

Back hoof.

Front hoof.

Front hoof.

Back hoof.

Back hoof.

Front hoof...

It was all Pinkie could think about right now. Walking. There was too much swirling around her head to let her mind wander. If given the chance, she'd latch onto the feeling of emptiness inside her... The things she'd done to TS... The words Rarity had spoken to her... The burning camp...

Her mane was dangerously close to completely flat, but the expression coupled with her mane was not despondent or livid like usual. Instead, her face was straight and blank. Her movement was robotic, calculated, methodical. She hadn't said anything all night or morning.

Neither had Minuette, for that matter. She walked ahead of Pinkie, just behind Rarity, head down. Her face had generally remained sour, but occasionally Rarity would see signs of a deeply troubled mare. Rarity herself had enough of her wits about her to know she hadn't the foggiest idea of what to do or where to go. She just kept walking, hoping to see something, anything that could help them. Even an abandoned cabin would be nice - but all she saw was grass and trees. The trees were more prevalent than they were closer to the Concretion, but they were still sparse along the great plains. The only landmark she saw was the Concretion itself, still visible in the distance.

She sighed - she was far too numb to feel anything about that place. She was spent, barely enough energy in her legs to keep moving. She'd expected to collapse into a heap before daybreak, but she somehow managed to pull through, her four legs accessing reservoirs of energy she didn't know she had.

She knew she wouldn't last much longer though. She looked around, frantically, for a place to rest - and then she saw it. There was something in the distance that wasn't grass or trees. It was a dull brown and crossed her vision like a snake... It might have been a road.

She picked up speed slightly, grunting through her fatigue. She stumbled towards the path, dangerously close to falling over with every few steps. It took a few minutes to reach it, but the moment she arrived at the dirt path she decided enough was enough. She let her legs give out from underneath her, letting out a sigh of relief as her body hit the dirty ground. "A road! I found a road!"

"Want a medal?" Minuette hissed, cresting the hill behind her, Pinkie a few moments behind.

Rarity took in a sharp breath of air. "No, I just want to take a minute and appreciate the road. The sign of civilizaiton. Stars... I didn't realize how good dirt felt until today..."

This shook Pinkie out of her stupor. She fixed rarity with a blank look. "...What!?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow at Pinkie. Seeing that Pinkie's mane still hadn't improved, she chose her words carefully. "...Yes, I do suppose enjoying this dirt has ruined my appearance..."

"There's dirt everywhere!" Pinkie shouted suddenly. "If you wanted to roll in the dirt you could have done it at any time!"

Rarity recoiled. "Pinkie... You aren't feeling well... You need to calm down..."

"No, really?" She said, letting out a sharp, fake laugh. "I hadn't noticed!"

"Pinkie... What's wrong? You can talk to me."

"I have no idea! I feel like something was taken from me! Like a part of me was ripped from the earth beneath my hooves! Things hurt now Rarity! Things that didn't hurt before! My hooves hurt when I bounce! My legs hurt when I stretch! I..." She fell silent. "...Ponies died. Something's wrong with this world..."

"Something's wrong with you," Minuette muttered.

Pinkie glared at Minuette with the intensity of a honey badger. To her credit, Minuette didn't recoil in the slightest.

Rarity held up her hooves before the tension could escalate further. "Look, we're all on the ends of our ropes here. But we're also all in this together. So, one way or another, we're going to have to tolerate each other to survive. Okay, Minuette? Pinkie?"

Minuette huffed. "Fine."

Pinkie nodded slowly, face stoic once more.

Rarity forced a smile. "Good! Minuette, where are we going?"

"We're on the road. We should travel along it."

"Minuette..."

Minuette took in a sharp breath. "Closest town is Cartwheel. That way," she said, pointing to the eastern side of the road. "There probably won't be a contact for me there, but it's close enough to Neighagra Falls, where I know one is. Then I'll find out what the frick to do with you two."

"It won't involve being chained to a pole will it?"

Minuette sneered. "I doubt it, but I'll see what I can do."

Rarity balked. "You wouldn't!"

"Oh yes, I would!"

"Why!?"

Minuette jabbed a hoof at Rarity. "Because you've ruined my life, that's why - you bucking minglers!"

"You didn't have to save us," Pinkie said, not even looking at the two of them.

Minuette bristled. "Yeah. Remind me of my failures why don't you, make me want to drive you six feet under the dirty mud you hold so close to your pigged heart!"

"You seem upset," Pinkie deadpanned.

"No shit! I wonder why!"

"Such a mystery."

"I am going to hurt you now. It will be long, excruciating, and devastating."

"Stop!" Rarity yelled. "This is just what I said not to do less than two minutes ago!"

Minuette twitched but backed down. Pinkie did the same.

"Good." Rarity put her hoof down. "Now, we have a Cartwheel to get-"

Part of the ground behind Rarity exploded from a near-miss missile. Minuette quickly raised a shield around the three of them, preventing the three subsequent missile volleys from vaporizing them.

"Drone!" Minuette yelled. "Stupid!"

The drone fired a lance weapon, shattering Minuette's shield. The impact of the metallic rod with the ground tossed the three mares in different directions. The drone flew in low, extending a claw from its underside towards Pinkie. Pinkie elegantly leaped over the drone's silvery shell, landing softly behind it.

The drone took a few moments to turn around for another pass. Minuette seized the opportunity to blast the machine with a few high-energy laser spells. A few sections on the dome began to smoke from the assault, but otherwise, there was no visible damage. It charged them again, this time choosing to ignore Pinkie in favor of unleashing a stream of bullets right at Minuette.

Minuette levitated the bullets in front of her, stopping every last one a meter away from her body. However, she was unable to stop them and the drone itself. She prepared for the machine to barrel right into her.

It never connected. Rarity stepped in, using her own magic to divert the machine's course away from Minuette - and towards herself. The drone continued firing as it pulled up, sending a few bullets Rarity's way. She reacted in an instant - stopping one of the ballistics inches from her forehead. "My... I just stopped a bullet!"

"Not all of them," Minuette shouted, firing more lasers at the drone as it turned to make another pass.

"What do you mean?I don't feel anything..." Rarity looked herself over and froze. There was a red hole in her leg. "Well... Then... I suppose I'm in shock... I think I'll pass out now." Her eyes rolled back into her skull and she tipped to the ground.

Pinkie took one look at rarity and snapped. Her mane flattened completely and a look of rage took over her previously impassive face. "Okay, mister drone-pants! You're dead!" She leaped into the air higher than was physically possible. She landed atop the drone's back with an impressively loud thunk. She produced her party cannon. "Say cheese."

The confetti explosion produced enough downward force that the drone skimmed the ground, kicking up grass and clods of dirt. The drone managed to regain control, rising into the air once more only to have a giant rubber hammer smash it into the ground with a loud squeak. Pinkie grinned. "You know, that was kinda fun!" Her tail began to twitch uncontrollably. "Huh? Haven't had any Pinkie Sense in a while..." She listened to the call of danger, hopping off of the crashed drone just in time to avoid a bullet.

Minuette took the opportunity to blast the drone with a half-dozen bolts of magic in quick succession, blowing the machine to smithereens. She cackled. "Take that clanker!"

Pinkie smiled, her hair poofing up slightly. "Yeah! Take that clanker!"

Minuette laughed - then caught herself and returned to her normal, angry face. "Hey, bucker, no using my lines."

Pinkie smirked. "Oh come on, I know a repressed smile when I see one! Let it out! Let it out! Let it - ohmygosh Rarity!" She rushed over to her downed friend. "Rarity?"

Rarity groaned, the blood from her leg already pooling on the ground, reddening even more of her already disturbed coat.

"We need to move fast or she's going to bleed out," Minuette said.

"I can do that." Pinkie hefted Rarity onto her back. "Try and keep up."

"Cloud rooter, do you have any idea-"

Pinkie shot down the road at absurd speeds, nothing more than a pink streak in the distance.

Minuette stared down the road in shock. Crap, she's going to arrive at the town before me. "Pigger!" She yelled. "Hold up!" She cast accelerado and retenporia on herself in a futile attempt to catch up with the pink pony. Pinkie was rushing her friend to civilization to save her life...

Minuette bit her lip. They might just get themselves killed.

Cartwheel was so named because the largest building was a giant waterwheel that slowly rotated alongside a large, raging river. There were only a few dozen buildings scattered around, most constructed with stone, though there were a couple wooden abodes and a helping of cloud houses. None of the structures looked to be in good shape, many falling apart or rotting.

Life was slow, silent, and downcast. The earth ponies worked the fields with their heads downtrodden, most watched by unicorns, a small number of which had shiny monocles on their faces. The center of town was mostly occupied by pegasi, all shooting each other death glares as they went about their daily business.

It was in this unsavory town square that Pinkie ran into, Rarity on her back. The wind rush from her momentum blew through the open area, drawing the gazes of all the present pegasi to her. "Is there a doctor in the house!? Rarity needs a doctor! She's been shot!"

The first response was not "I am" nor "I'll go get such-and-such." It wasn't "no" or "what's a doctor?" either.

"What. The buck. Is a cloud rooter doing in our square!?" A tall, black pegasus roared.

Pinkie twitched. "Shove your racist bias elsewhere right now! Can't you see she's hurt?"

The pegasus seemed taken aback. "Did... did you just talk back to me?"

"Yes. So? Doctor! Need! Get it into your thick skull!"

"Calm down, calm down," a milky white unicorn stallion said, striding into the commotion. He wore a monocle on his left eye that shrouded his brilliant green iris. He walked up to Pinkie, examining Rarity with a frown. "Oh. Well, that's something." He lit his horn, stopping the bleeding instantly. He levitated Rarity off Pinkie's back and carried her away.

"W-wait!" Pinkie said. "Where are you-"

"She needs further treatment. If you're still around when she gets better I'll have somepony find you."

"Still around...?" She said. The stallion walked into a nearby building and shut the door. Pinkie's stared at the door for several moments, dragged out of her stupor only by the twitch of her tail. She sidestepped just in time to avoid the black pegasus's skydive attack. He embedded his face into the ground, to the immense amusement of all the pegasi around.

Pinkie giggled. "You okay there?"

"I'm going to kill you," he said, flaring his wings. "No cloud rooter talks back to Thunder, and nopony makes a fool of me!"

Pinkie took a step back, grimacing. It was happening again. They were being attacked. There was evil. It was so sad and depressing and she just wasn't sure if she could take it...

...well, why exactly did it have to be that way? Why did it have to be sad?

Pinkie smiled, her mane suddenly poofing back to its regular state. She leaped onto her hind hooves, gesturing for Thunder to get closer. "Come at me, birdy, let's see how this goes!"

The crowd went wild at this. "You going to take that Thunder?" "You going to let the pig trash talk you?"

Thunder bared his teeth. "You just signed your death certificate." He threw a punch, and Pinkie was suddenly standing on his outstretched hoof.

"I don't think you know what that is." She jumped off his leg and landed squarely on his head.

"Th- what?" Thunder rolled over to knock her off, only to somehow find himself held in her hooves.

"The draw!" Pinkie said, pulling her hooves back. "The calculation!" She squinted her eyes and licked her lips. "The throw!" She tossed the squirming Thunder into the air. "The score!" With a clang, Thunder landed in a garbage can. She held her hooves high, grinning. The crowd went wild, laughing and pointing at Thunder.

Thunder flew out of the dumpster, revealing a knife in his wing. "That's it!"

"Oh really? Your big trick is a knife?" She rolled her eyes, reaching into her mane. "I got dozens of those." She threw a few kitchen and chef's knives out just to make her point. "Kiiiinda boring to use in a fight though, don't you think?"

Thunder roared, flying at her, knife pointed at her chest. A microsecond before he hit, she stepped out of the way. She ripped the knife out of his wing with her tail. "Hrm... Good grip, but the blade could use sharpening." She threw it at a wall - and it didn't stick. "Woah, really poor blade quality there."

Thunder was so angry he was no longer able to form words. He ran right for her, she dodged. He barreled towards her, and she did it again. She dodged. Again, she dodged. Again, again, and again.

She shrugged. "Wow, this is getting boooooring. Do you have any other tricks?"

Thunder responded with another completely pointless lunge - right into Pinkie's frying pan. his eyes rolled back into his skull and he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Guess not."

She turned to the town and grinned, her right eye twitching involuntarily. "Victory is mine! What's my prize?"

"Get her!" One of the pegasi yelled. With this, the crowd surged forth as one to pummel her.

"Oh," Pinkie said, "I... don't think I can take you all..." She gulped.

"Stop!" In a flash of blue, Minuette appeared."This mare is needed alive for official Equestrian Military business! Any of you preeners touch her and you will be annihilated by my horn! Do I make myself absolutely clear?!"

"Loud and clear, accas bitch!" a different pegasus yelled.

"If I ever find out who said that they will rot in Tartarus for eternity," Minuette spat. Then she turned to Pinkie. "Where's Rarity?"

"...One of the monocle unicorns took her into that house..." Pinkie said.

"Ugh, I hate Inspectors..." Minuette muttered. "Did they offer to treat her?"

"I think so."

"Okay. You better come with, the crowd looks like it wants to murder you."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "And you don't?"

"I have orders."

"Ooooh! You don't! Progress!"

A look of panic crossed Minuette's face. She glanced at the crowd for a moment, calculating. She slapped Pinkie across the face - hard. "If I didn't need you alive you'd be rotting in a pit of your own pigger filth!"

The crowd cheered.

Pinkie's mane was returned to its flat state, her eyes watering with tears. A look of uncertainty crossed Minuette's face for the slightest moment, but she buried it quickly. She grabbed hold of Pinkie by the mane. "Come on." She dragged her into the house roughly. Pinkie left a trail of tears along the ground.