Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Pepper had just used her magic to draw a line between herself and the trio that had just arrived. "Do not cross that line. I am only here to say goodbye to Handsome. After that, I will leave."
Applejack came to the forefront of the group, being the only one who had both the physical strength and the fighting spirit to deal with the threat posed by Pepper. "I can say for once you're being pretty honest, but if you think Rainbow wants to talk to you, you're wrong, Pepper."
"You are not the first to tell me this, but seriously, I do not care what you think. What are your options? You could try your luck like Pinkie Pie did, armed with your Elements of Harmony, which could lead to the devastation of this town. Or we can sit quietly and wait for Handsome to arrive."
"Now that you mention her, where's Pinkie Pie?”
Pepper shrugged. "She must be recovering from her attempt to give me a bad time." A hint of movement behind Applejack caught her attention. "Apparently, she is not finished with me yet."
Applejack turned around. “Blooming Apples!” she cried, her eyes widening in shock.
Pinkie was standing about ten metres away from them, still in her blue hoodie and black trousers. She was holding a two-and-a-half-metre high candy cane between her forelegs, on top of which a pinata which resembled Princess Celestia's head was mounted. Roughly ten firework rockets were attached to the rear of the pinata’s head.
Rarity took some uncertain steps towards her. "Pinkie, dear, are you all right?"
Fluttershy hid between Applejack and Rarity, just as scared of Pinkie as Pepper.
Pinkie's face was unbelievably grotesque, wavering between a smile that pushed the limits of the zygomatic muscles and crocodile tears that streamed continuously down her face. Her left eye stared at Pepper as if Equestria depended on it.
Gamine watched in silence as the situation worsened.
Pepper prepared to react. She intended to keep her word—the first blow would not come from her.
Pinkie Pie ignited the rockets, adding their thrust to her strength. The improvised rocket hammer began to shatter the ground in its path, spitting out rays of blue energy every time the mouth of the pinata touched the ground. She had drunk the potion earlier to protect her friends' smiles, but she failed to realise how much of a danger she would become instead as she charged directly at her target without considering the lives of her friends who were in the way.
Rarity ran for her life, letting loose a high-pitched scream.
Applejack was about to do the same, but she realised that Fluttershy was frozen in terror. It was too late to pull her away, so she tried to kick her way through the pinata to protect the pegasus.
Gamine couldn't remain passive in the face of the situation; seizing control of the body, she used her magic to lock the weapon in a bubble before pulling it out of Pinkie's hooves.
"Give me back my body! The day is not over yet," Pepper grunted.
Applejack stared at the giant weapon in disbelief and then turned to Pepper.
Gamine stood there with her eyes closed. "I’m sorry, but I had to. Kyndal wanted me to be a full-fledged guardian. I’m not sure if I will ever manage to empathise with the weak, but at least it’s easy for me to protect them. And if you don’t protect anyone in danger, I will have to do it myself again, Pepper.”
With that cleared up, Pepper was back in control. She reopened her eyes, her attention briefly drawn by a faint presence which wasn’t there a moment ago, localised in a nearby bush. Keeping this fact in mind, she looked at Applejack as the rockets burst into a myriad of colours. "What?" she asked the earth pony as she shrunk the bubble to crush the patchwork weapon. She then dumped the debris in front of her hooves, looking for something among the scraps.
Pinkie sat there, laughing crazily at her failure.
Fluttershy was as silent and immobile as a statue, watching the situation with her big, frightened eyes.
Rarity came back, pretending she hadn't run away screaming like a scared filly.
"Did you just help us? Why?" Applejack finally asked.
Pepper ignored the question at first, having quickly located the inert Element of Laughter. "I am only here to say goodbye. That is all I am here for." At these words, she used her telekinesis to toss the Element to Applejack, who caught it with a hoof against her chest.
Trixie took this as her cue. After throwing smoke bombs to obscure her entrance, she jumped from the bush and galloped closer to the four friends, tossing large coloured sheets matching her cape over them.
Pepper watched without moving. There was no aura of bloodlust from this stranger, and she was not the intended target.
Trixie, now standing in front of Pepper, took off her hat to curtsy. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has come to the rescue!" she said, pulling away the sheets to reveal that the four unwilling volunteers of her magic trick were now bound and gagged with countless coloured scarves.
Both Gamine and Pepper were speechless in the face of this magic that could stop four ponies at once. Pepper glanced at Trixie. "Why are you helping me?"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie has dealt with Twilight Sparkle and her friends in the past. Trixie has recently been reduced to stealing to survive. Being able to get back at them by getting in their way is a bonus, especially after the meagre loot Trixie found at Twilight's house." Reaching into her hat, she took out the blue barrette, two phoenix feathers and a horn ring.
“Mother’s gift!” shouted Gamine.
"That barrette and the feathers most definitely belong to me," said Pepper, frowning at the light headache caused by the shout.
"Really? Well, Trixie only steals from wealthy ponies. If those belong to you, Trixie will gladly give it all back. You can even take the ring, which is not to Trixie's liking." With these words, she hoofed Pepper the items.
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With her telekinesis, Pepper grasped the barrette, first making sure that there were no new enchantments added to it. However, a smell called out to her. In her haste, Trixie hadn't completely cleaned the ornament, and the smell of blood was still perceptible. She kept this in a corner of her mind as she finished checking for any enchantments before putting the complete ornament back at the base of her mane halfway between her horn and her ears.
"Examine the ring," suggested Gamine with a tone that dripped with childish curiosity.
On guard, Pepper first made sure the situation remained under control before inspecting the signet ring. The accessory was beautifully crafted, carved from a brass alloy. The ring’s head depicted a phoenix embracing a heart-shaped ruby with its wings. After checking, the ring too had no enchantment.
"Put it on," ordered Gamine covetously, like a thieving magpie unable to stand still in front of such a beautiful object.
Pepper had seen it coming as soon as she noticed the protective phoenix. "First your ornament, now this? Why not make me shapeshift an orange coat while you are at it?"
Gamine squinted her eyes, her whole face wrinkled. She wouldn't give up this new whim of hers.
Pepper sighed as she rolled her eyes, placing the signet ring at the base of her horn. "You are just a parasite. My body is not your property; sooner or later, I will find a way to dislodge you."
"Wait till you sleep to dream," replied Gamine in a whisper.
Pepper was about to reply when she heard a familiar noise. She barely had time to take a few steps back before Rainbow smashed into the ground between Pepper and the four mares laying on the grass.
Standing tall, Rainbow had a sword in her mouth, having taken a quick detour to her house. The weapon had no physical blade; instead, a ruby-colored aura formed an unusually long thirty-centimetre magical edge. The hilt was rudimentary, small, and round, chiselled from a white crystal and holding the Element of Loyalty.
Trixie stood silently next to Pepper, following Bitter's guidelines, and gulped at the sight of the crater
Pepper observed the new weapon. In her eyes, it was a formidable weapon, like one she used to wield a long time ago, and facing somepony wielding such a weapon made her even more wary. "Handsome! I am so happy to see you again," she said with a big euphoric smile on her lips.
But Rainbow didn't care; the whole situation seemed bleak. The way her friends were tied up, she was sure they were about to be kidnapped. She stood up like a shield, wings spread across Pepper's path.
Pepper couldn't miss the fury that emanated from the pegasus, but she decided to overlook it, adopting a meek demeanour. "I am just here to say goodbye. There is nothing to fight about," she said softly, still smiling.
From Rainbow's point of view, it sounded very different. For her, the last time Pepper had left, Princess Celestia had paid the price. And that, along with the sight of her bound friends, gave a different meaning to the goodbye. "Oh yeah? Well, go then," she said, sword still in her mouth.
Pepper was taken aback, her smile fading as she witnessed her friend's curtness. "I did not even make it to Twilight’s library when Pinkie blocked my way, drank something and then jumped on me armed to the teeth as if her life depended on it. She even almost hurt Fluttershy. If Trixie here had not intervened she would probably be still going on right now. All I want is to talk with you, nothing else."
Rainbow moved her head slightly to the left. She took a quick look at Trixie. She wanted to look at her friends, but she couldn't take her eyes off Pepper. Her glare hardened as her iris shrunk. "You're lying."
"The Great and Powerful Trixie can confirm what Pepper just said. Pepper really helped Applejack protect Fluttershy, stopping that giant hammer before breaking it into a thousand pieces with her magic alone. Trixie can testify to that."
Rainbow quickly observed Trixie without taking her eyes off Pepper. She didn't know what to think.
"Handsome, if it helps, I drew a line in the ground a few steps behind you. I promise you I will not cross it, no matter what. Go free Applejack, she will tell you herself. I am staying right here."
She hesitated for a moment and then turned her back on Pepper to go and free Applejack. "Are you all right, AJ?" she asked, turning her eyes back to Pepper and Trixie.
"I'm fine, sugarcube," she reassured as she stood up on her hooves. "It's just as she said."
Rainbow then freed Fluttershy and Rarity. When it was time to untie Pinkie Pie, she stopped a few hooves away from the earth pony. “What happened to your eye, Pinkie?” she asked, concerned.
The still-gagged mare watched with a speck of madness in her azure eye, bigger than usual. "Not smiling, not smiling! Must protect their smiles! Must make them smile! They must smile! They must! At any cost I must make them smile!" The first of the six watches began to ring, covering the music coming from her headphones.
The sound of galloping hooves beating the ground drew Pepper’s attention behind her as Twilight and Sunset finally arrived on the scene.
Turning her eyes to the newcomers, Trixie was shocked and at the same time moved. She had moved to Pepper's side as the situation was souring and it was best to stay in the target's hooves as she had been instructed. At the same time she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Sunset Shimmer? Is that really you?"
Pepper was watching the stranger who had just arrived with Twilight, and the unicorn was staring right back. Pepper felt studied from every angle.
Sunset was split. On the one hoof she was happy to see Trixie after so many years. On the other hoof, she couldn’t help but glare at the white-coated mare standing beside Trixie who matched the description of Pepper provided by Twilight and her friends. She needed an opportunity to strike but Trixie was in the way. "Yes, Trixie. Listen to me, I want you to step aside, you don't know who you're standing next to."
The second watch on Pinkie's foreleg began to ring alongside the first.
"Trixie knows exactly who she's standing next to and what her crime is," she boasted.
Pepper dropped the meek attitude at these words and locked her now icy glare on Trixie, surprised and suspicious after such words. As a magical aura igniting her horn, she put her left hoof on the illusionist.
Trixie had barely enough time to turn her gaze to Pepper before they both disappeared.
Sunset’s eyebrows rose in surprise and she immediately activated her tracker to collect the residue of Pepper’s magical imprint from the teleportation. It was with delight that she noted that the artefact finally located the destination south-east of here.
"Are you all right, girls?" Twilight asked.
"Well, yes and no, sugarcube," Applejack said, turning to Pinkie Pie along with the others.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, looking at her.
"Why is she the only one still tied up?" Sunset added, starting to walk closer to Pinkie Pie.
Rarity spoke. "Sunset dear, it seems that Pinkie Pie is not in her normal state. According to Pepper, she's been like this ever since they met."
Sunset watched Pinkie warily. The third watch began to ring, which startled the unicorn. She looked at the watches. "You made six watches ring at one minute intervals? Why?" she asked, taking off the gag.
"Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile!" was all the crazy mare had for an answer.
Sunset put the gag back in her mouth, quickly stopping the music and the alarms. She tried to remember everything about Pinkie Pie that had to do with time. Only one thing came to her mind as the fourth watch rang. "Pinkie, did you drink the potion that your friend Lazy told you not to?" she asked, freeing her mouth again.
"Smile!" Pinkie replied continuously.
"Pepper mentioned a soda," Rainbow said grumpily.
Sunset stood Pinkie up on her hind hooves with her telekinesis and went behind her to keep her that way. "Applejack, she's poisoned herself. Kick her in the stomach to make her vomit. We have two minutes before it becomes permanent!"
It didn't take much more explanation for Applejack to buck so hard that Pinkie and Sunset flew for several metres, the pink-haired mare vomiting a reddish liquid before falling unconscious.
Immediately they all came together to make sure Pinkie and Sunset were all right. The fifth watch started ringing.
"Sunset, are you all right?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, a little bruised, but I'm fine." She turned off the last alarm, then she did a quick diagnostic, making sure Pinkie's vital signs were stable.
Looking closely at Pinkie’s empty eye socket, Twilight noticed a strange detail. Using her magic, she removed a meticulously decorated eyepatch that perfectly blended into Pinkie's fur. The work had been so detailed the illusion of the empty socket was virtually unbreakable without this close of an inspection.