Memories and Lies
Chapter 1

It was a lovely spring day. The Equestrian sun shone brightly, lighting up the town of Ponyville.
Pinkie Pie, the hyper-active earth pony, headed down the dirt road to Canterlot.

It had been almost a full year since the fiasco of Discord, and everypony was trying their best to forget all the chaos and get on with their lives.
But not Pinkie. With a small clump of blue and yellow balloons held tightly in her mouth the pink pony happily bounced into the garden of statues just outside Princess Celestia's castle.
The other ponies often considered it to be rather strange of Celestia to display the statue of Equestria's latest threat in the same place it once was, rather than sealing it away where it can never be seen again. But there he was, out in the open.

Pinkie Pie peered up at the draconequus statue in front of her.
Her smile, hidden beneath the balloon strings, met the frozen look of horror on Discord's face.
The little earth pony then went and tied the balloons around her waist. While doing this she thought of how Twilight and the others would feel about her visiting Discord's immobilized form.
Pinkie thought back to when they met Discord in Canterlot Tower, and how he taunted Rainbow Dash…

"Oh! You must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent."
"That's right! I'll always be loyal to the Princess!"
"We'll see about that …"

…Pinkie also remembered the draconequus' knowledge of Rarity and Applejack…

"I can't believe we're wasting our time talking to a tacky window …"
"The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of Generosity, if I'm not mistaken."

"So ya know who we are, big deal!"
"Ohh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack …"

…and Twilight, like the others, wasn't at all fazed with his trickery…

"You seem to know our strengths, too."
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle…! And yours is the most powerful and allusive Element: magic."

Although she found herself to be wavering when remembering Discord's words on Fluttershy and herself, Pinkie Pie couldn't stop herself from letting out a laugh…

"Fluttershy's is kindness, and Pinkie Pie's is a personal favorite of mine: laughter."

"Laughter is his favorite Element… Of course! Who doesn't love a good laugh?" Pinkie Pie thought with a smile, and her mind immediately went from Canterlot Tower, to the castle labyrinth… to the balloon garden…

"What's the matter, Pinkie Pie? I thought you appreciated a good laugh,"
"But it's different... They're laughing at me!"
"It's hardly different," Discord had told her. "Your friends laugh at you all the time!"
"My friends laugh with me, not at me," Pinkie had explained, and the earth pony's blue eyes widened at the image of Discord's decapitated head becoming one of the many balloons in the "garden", and circling her, going round and round and round…
"Oh, really?"

Pinkie Pie shut her eyes and shook her head. "No, no, don't be silly, Pinkie!" she assured herself. "Discord just wanted to play, that's all it was: just playing!"

"…Pinkie!?"
"Hahaha!! He-he's st-standing your he-head, haha!!"

"It was all a game, hehe," Pinkie said aloud, and she looked up at the frozen draconequus and smiled.
"You wouldn't do anything to hurt me! I'm sure my friends will understand if I let you free for just a little bit! Now, let's see how to get you out of there, silly!"  
The earth pony then eagerly glanced around, hoping to spot some sort of chaos.

Nothing. Nothing but other pony citizens doing their daily duties.

Pinkie's bottom lip jutted out for a moment, making a cute little pout and she turned her attention back to Discord. Pinkie tilted her head to one side, thinking of ways she could set Discord free without having to use the Elements of Harmony.
"Oh, I know! I could--… No, that's ridiculous. Maybe I--… Nah… Ooh, ooh! I got it--... Oh come on, Pinkie! Get with the times here! "

Pinkie's poofy, curly hair deflated, becoming straight against her head as she looked to the ground in disappointment.
"Hmm…" she groaned, giving the statue another short pout. "What should I do? I mean it's not like I can just borrow the Elements from Canterlot Tower without permission and harness their power to set you free!"

Pinkie watched the stone-faced Discord, and she smiled at the statue's silent reply, her hair going back to normal immediately.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" the earth pony grinned, "I'll be right back! Don't move!" and she zoomed off to Canterlot Tower.


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"Princess! Princess!" Pinkie Pie's calls to Celestia rang through the castle halls. She bounced along the red velvet carpet, and her eyes frantically darted this way and that, in an attempt to locate the alicorn Princess.
Pinkie turned a corner, and in front of her, down the long hallway, stood Princess Celestia, the case used to hold Elements of Harmony hovering next to her in a blue aura from her magic.
Celestia's back was turned, and the door in front of the Princess, the door used to keep the Elements hidden, was just finished closing.
Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up and she rapidly bounced over to Celestia, her whole body vibrating in excitement.
"Princess! Princess Princess Princess Princess…"

Hearing herself being called, Celestia turned around and with a calm smile watched as Pinkie Pie made her way over.

"…Princess Princess Princess I need to talk to you!"

"Good afternoon, Pinkie Pie," said Princess Celestia. "What is it you need to discuss, my little pony?"

"It's about something bad!" Pinkie exclaimed, her eyes going wide in exaggeration, and the Princess raised her head and blinked as the earth pony placed her hooves on the alicorn's chest. "Something really, really BAD!"
"Try to calm down, Pinkie Pie," Celestia gently removed the party-loving pony from her front. "Now then, tell me what's troubling you."

"Oh it's terrible, Princess! There's--! Um… a-a huge tornado outside!" Pinkie explained. "It's heading towards Ponyville and gobbling up everything in its path!"
Princess Celestia blinked at the pony's words and she went over to the window.
"A tornado? How strange… the weather is supposed to be clear all month. Pinkie, what else do you happen to know?" she asked.
"Oh, lots of things!" Pinkie grinned proudly. "Baking cupcakes, how to throw the best party, Gummy's favorite sleeping places, the alphabet backwards…"

Celestia raised a hoof to silence the odd pony, "No, no, Pinkie, what else you know about the tornado."

"Oh! Well, uh, it's… m-made of streamers! And confetti! And it has a mind of its own, and ponies are its favorite food! And Twilight and Fluttershy and Rarity and Applejack and Rainbow Dash are all trying to beat it up but it's VERY powerful so we NEED to use the Elements of Harmony, and and and--!"

Princess Celestia set the Element case onto the floor, and started down the hallway, "Pinkie, don't worry. The Elements will not be needed. I'll go out and deal with this threat to Ponyville. I'm sure if we gather enough Pegasus ponies--"
"No!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, blocking the Princess' path. "Er, you need to stay here and protect Canterlot incase the tornado changes its coarse!"

The Princess closed her eyes, "I must act, my little pony. My faithful student and her friends are in danger. I cannot stay here and—"
Celestia opened her eyes and looked down in front of her, and noticed that Pinkie Pie was gone.
The Princess looked around the hallway, and as she did so she realized that something else had also gone missing: "The Elements!"


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"Oh, why did I do that?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she galloped out of Canterlot Tower. The five elemental necklaces were around her neck, and the crown of the sixth element was resting atop her head.
"Well I know why I did it, but still! I lied to the Princess! I can't believe I did such a horrible thing!"

The pink pony skidded into the garden of statues, and bounced over to the statue of Discord, the necklaces clanking against one another.
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie stood her ground, her gaze locked on the frozen draconequus in front of her.

Her lips thinned as she concentrated on setting Discord free from his stone prison.

After a moment, Pinkie Pie smiled and her blue eyes widened gleefully, thinking she could feel the Elements giving her power, "Hey! I think I can feel the Elements giving me power! Their energy is surging through me! It's creeping up my body! I'm becoming in…vin…ci… ah…"
Pinkie's nose twitched and she raised her head and opened her mouth, "Ah…ah…AH-CHOO!" The pony shot backwards and hit a nearby statue.

"Owww…" Pinkie groggily got to her feet, her eyes going cross-eyed. The pony shook her head, the crown and necklaces falling to the ground.
"Hey! These Elements are broken!"
Without realizing it, Pinkie rapidly dug a hole in front of her, her whole body going under as she went deeper and deeper, and shoved the Elements of Harmony into the hole.
Pinkie jumped out and shook the dirt off her, "Blblblbl! Phew! Glad that's taken care of!"

A sudden glow of energy appeared from inside the hole in the ground, and Pinkie Pie turned her gaze up to Discord's petrified figure.
"Oooo…"
Her eyes widened at the small cracks growing in the statue, and as ponies ran and screamed behind her, Pinkie Pie bounced closer to the statue and placed her front hooves on the stand to get a closer look.

The head of the statue was now covered in cracks, and the cracks crept downward to free the rest of the draconequus.
The infamous laugh of Discord rang through the air, and Pinkie's eyes lit up and her mouth opened into a wide, happy smile as she greeted the laughing omnipotent being, "Hi!"