Tear Down The Wall

    Pinkie lay in the hospital bed, her condition worryingly unclear, while her five friends watched over her.  Spike, however, was absent as Twilight didn’t feel that she should worry him.  Besides, the purple pony didn’t want to disturb his nap.

    About an hour later, a nurse pony came in.  “Alright, visiting time is almost up.”  This was met by groans of annoyance and disappointment.

    Feeling like the spokespony for the group, Twilight took a step towards the nurse and said, “Please miss, let us stay here with her.  I promise we won’t get in the way, or disturb any of the other ponies.”

    The white medical pony glanced at all the pained expressions looking at her and sighed.  “Okay you can all stay, but only for tonight, and any kind of ruckus from you and I’m kicking you out, you hear?”  Sighs of relief were heard.  After she left, the five of them slowly turned towards the prone pink pony.  With heavy hearts they no doubt thought the same thing: would she ever wake up again?

…

    As Pinkie Pie stared at the brick wall, a new set of sounds started to come from it.  Again, the wall started to dissipate to reveal a different set of surroundings.  This time, she was standing on a path near Sweet Apple Acres.  She started to trot towards the town, and came across Applejack.

    “Hey, Applejack,” Pinkie said with a hesitant smile.

    “Oh it’s you,” the orange farm pony said with an irritable tone.  “What the hey do you want?”

    “Umm,” Pinkie fidgeted uncomfortably, “I only wanted to talk.”

    “Well why would I want to talk to some dumb pink pony?”

    “I, uhh…” She closed her eyes as she grimaced.  These words were starting to upset her.  “Why are you saying such…” opening her eyes again, Applejack was there… but she was several paces away and walking towards her.

    With a smile she said, “Oh hey there Pinkie Pie,” suddenly in a cheerful tone.

    Now the pink pony was feeling both hurt and confused.

    “Wow, it’s not like you to be at a loss for words,” Applejack jested.

    “Oh, um… I’m just a little distracted, that’s all.”

    “Well I’m awfully busy right now,” Applejack said as she started to move off.  Turning back to face Pinky, she added, “but maybe I’ll see you around later.”

    Pinkie continued her trot into town, but went cold when she noticed something.  The homes and buildings around her, they were all white… like they were made of those eerie white bricks.

    A background voice remarked, “Oh look, it’s Pinkie Pie.”

    “Why did she bother coming back?  This place was so much better off without her,” added another voice.  Pinkie flinched at the scathing remarks she was hearing.  Other voices were saying similarly hurtful comments, clearly intended for her to hear them.

    Desperate to get away from it, she broke into a gallop.  After a long moment of going as fast as she could, she tripped.  Regaining her balance, she looked backwards to see another ditch.  As she watched it, there was a gravelly rumble and a white wall rapidly grew out of the hole.  Continuing her run, she was desperate not to be trapped inside again.  Lines were forming and segments of the wall were springing up in her path, and she urgently swerved around them.  All the while she could still make out the hateful words.

    Suddenly a huge chunk of ground fell away right in front of her.  Her momentum was too great and she could not stop in time.  She stumbled at the edge and fell into the darkness of the gaping hole.

    Stunned and sore, she tried to catch her bearings but everything was dark.  How deep must that fall have been?  While trying to focus in the dark, a light suddenly turned on, and the sound of several ponies yelling, ‘surprise’.  Pinkie yelped in fright and practically jumped out of her coat.

    Looking around her, she appeared to be in Applejack’s barn.  More specifically, it looked like the time when they had given her a surprise party.  However, the ponies were one short.

    “Umm hey, where’s Rainbow Dash?” she asked them.

    Fluttershy regarded her with an uncharacteristically grim look.  “Oh, like you don’t know.”

    “But of course,” Rarity chimed in, “you’re the reason she’s not here, remember?”

    “Hey, how ‘bout we forget all that stuff and get this party started!” called out Applejack.  The other three ponies responded with a cheer.  Some music started, but there was something wrong with it.  It sounded slow and wavering, as if the batteries were running low, but the others did not seem to notice.

    Balloons were floating around, and they were happily bouncing them around.  When one came near Pinkie, she humored the activity by giving it a tap with her hoof, but it popped.  Behind the bang there was an eerie sound, like a faint sound of laughter.  A few more balloons popped, and each time that same menacing laugh hung in the air.

    “Girls, this is a bit strange for a birthday party, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked, in response to the discordant atmosphere.

    “What are you talking about?” responded Twilight.

    “Yeah,” added Applejack, “didn’t you read the banner?”

    The pink pony looked up at the long banner draped across one of the ceiling support beams.  It said, to her upsetting realization, ‘Pinkie Pie’s Farewell Party’.

    “No.”  She shook her head.  The other ponies were talking and giggling amongst themselves.  “No, this isn’t what happened!” she said with a raised voice, and she quickly trotted over to them.  But on her way, her hooves gave way beneath her.  Once again, she felt herself falling.

…

    With a sullen and exasperated moan, Pinkie found herself back at the bottom of that ridge.  When she stopped and properly looked, she saw that Dash was not there, but she felt certain that it was the same moment in time – the same all-too-familiar sunset lighting.

    But that patch of shrubs was still there.  Slowly, she paced over to it.  Pinkie lifted her front hooves and used them to spread the small branches, and looking inside she saw the reason for its odd shape.  Some of the branches were broken and splintered, as if…

    Without another thought, Pinkie raised her hooves up and stomped down on the shrub.  A loud snapping sound rang out, and her heart skipped a beat.  It was the same snapping sound she heard that day.  Was it a coincidence, or did it mean…

    She slowly stepped back, trying to wrap her head around the implications.  Just then, she heard Twilight’s voice.

    “What happened here?”  Pinkie turned to see her approaching with Fluttershy.

    The yellow pegasus looked downward, and said, “Oh my, Rainbow Dash!”

    “What do you mean, Rainbow isn’t…” Pinkie tried, but she looked down, and Dash was lying there just as she had before.   The pink pony frantically shook her head; the conflicting images were starting to get to her.

    With her eyes closed, she heard the accusing voices, and caught phrases like, “why did you do it?” and “what did she ever do to you?”

    “No… stop it,” she pleaded, but when she opened her eyes, she was met by the sight of her white brick prison.

    Rather fitting of her to think of it that way, because suddenly she heard a metal clunking sound behind her.  Turning, Pinkie saw that one side was replaced with a set of vertical metal bars, and a metal cell door.  A guard pony had opened the door and was gesturing for her to follow.

    “Come along Miss,” he said.  “Your trial is ready to begin.”

    “Wait, what trial?” Pinkie asked.  She was startled when two loud bangs from a hammer rang out behind her.  When she turned, she found herself looking up at a tall stand, with a grimfaced mare looking down at her.  A few quick glances showed that she was in a courtroom, and seated behind her were her friends, and a number of other familiar ponies.

    “What do you have to say in your defense, Miss. Pinkamina Dianne Pie?” the mare, apparently a judge, asked.

    The confused pink pony was stuck in silence for a moment.

    “You have been placed on trial for your past actions, now what do you have to say for yourself?” the judge pony said, more sternly this time.  She shook her head.  “How can you even defend yourself when you clearly don’t know what’s real?”

    A swirl of voices started; the voices of her friends.  “It was your fault!” said one.  “I’m glad you left,” said another.  “Why don’t you see that we’re better off without you?”

    At that moment, she became aware of something; something that sat in the back of her mind like a small itch which she couldn’t quite reach.  This was not real – that much was obvious – but there was something else.

    I’m dying, she thought to herself.  Amid the accusing voices, she could feel herself getting weaker… the sense that she was lying somewhere, while her friends watched her slowly slip away.

    While her friends watched her…

    She was taken aback by those words.  They couldn’t really be there, could they?  All she knew was that it conjured up strong feelings of the love and friendship she once had.  Following those emotions, she found herself looking at that curly-haired image of herself again, but this time she was painting.  Taking a couple of steps to look round her and see the painting, she put a hoof to her mouth and let out a sniffle.

    It was her canvas, but the picture was brightly colored, with all her friends together and smiling.  The other Pinkie then turned to her and said, “Do you like it?  It’s just a little reminder of the days that meant the world to me.”  That was what her alter ego had really painted, only she wasn’t really an alter ego, just a side of her that she had been running away from… but not anymore.

    With her attention back to the courtroom, she yelled out, “I object!”  The voices faded a little.  “Look, I know that I can be a bit random and annoying at times, but I am the element of laughter for a reason.  I make ponies smile, and I make ponies laugh.  I am there to cheer them up when they are feeling down.”

    As she spoke, her resolve continued to grow.  “Also, my time is not wasted.  Making cakes might not be the most important job in the world but I love doing it, and ponies love the treats I make for them!”  She also noticed that the accusing voices were continuing to fade.

   “And Rainbow Dash…” she stopped, struggling with the words she wanted to say.  “Rainbow Dash is…”  A sudden flash of a memory came to her, before she fell down the hill.  It was an image of her yelling at… nothing, then of her rolling on the ground, alone.  She then looked upwards while slowly back-stepping onto the beginning of the slope.  Suddenly, her foot had slipped on the muddy ground.  She rolled helplessly down the hill, bouncing off a patch of shrubs at the bottom.

    Returning to the court room, the words finally came.  With a quiver in her voice:  “Rainbow Dash is alive!”  Just then, her surroundings – the ponies, the stand, everything – started to fade and dissolve.  Eventually, she was left with nothing but the white bricks that lined the room.

    She charged toward the wall and threw herself against it.  She then turned her back to it and bucked her hind legs into it, and again.

    “Let me out!” she yelled.  “I refuse to be a prisoner anymore!”  With another thump, she heard a faint cracking sound.  It started to get louder, and it caused her to take a few steps away.  Large cracks ripped across the surface, growing bigger and interconnecting.  It was followed by a deafening crashing sound.  She closed her eyes and held her hooves over her ears.  The noise just kept going, but soon it started to dim, and eventually she was left in silence.

…

    Opening her eyes, Pinkie found nothing but a vague dull light.  All that desperation to get through the wall and there was nothing on the other side.  It was almost like that muffled feeling during a blackout, only this was different.  She seemed to be frozen still, as if she had become paralyzed.  She couldn’t even move her eyes or blink.  Everything was just… still.

    Is this it, she thought.  After all that, I find out that it was for nothing?

    Looking into the glow ahead of her, it felt like those near-death experiences that some ponies had mentioned in the past.  The reality of it struck her.

    This is really it, isn’t it?  I’m slipping away, which means I’m never going to see my friends again.  Her emotions continued to well up inside.  I’m never going to have fun with them, never going to hear them laugh, never going to be there for them when they need cheering up.  It’s not fair, her inner voice cried out.

    She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.  With a struggle, she forced herself to blink… but something changed.  Her view was different somehow, and she could’ve sworn there was a muddled sound.  Blinking again, the image ahead of her was resolving into something.  And the sound, it was a voice.

    “Did you see that?” the voice said.  “Everypony, come quick!”  There was an excited urgency to the voice… Twilight’s voice.  The sight in front of her started to look square-shaped.  Continuing to focus, it finally became clear enough to make out.  It was a window, only in its side.  The sun was shining in, and there was a small vase with some colorful flowers in it.

    There was a weird sensation in her body, like her limbs suddenly weighed a tone.  With some effort she lifted and craned her head towards the voices, and saw a sight that brought the emotions rushing back again.  Looking down at her were her friends, with smiles and giggles that sounded close to sobs.

    “Where… where am I?” Pinkie asked, but it barely came out as a hoarse whisper.

    “You’re in the medical centre,” replied Twilight.  “You have been in here since yesterday.”

    “Yeah,” Applejack said, “but we didn’t know where you were, not until somepony showed up claiming to know you.  He told us what happened, and we came straight here.”

    “We all stayed here overnight.”  That voice.  Pinkie swiveled a little more, and saw that it came from Rainbow Dash.  “I was afraid we were going to lose you.”

    Pinkie’s voice hitched, “Rainbow, is… is that really you?”

    The pegasus walked up beside her.  “Yeah, of course it is.  Who else would I be?”  Before she could say anything else the pink pony threw her forelegs around her tightly and nuzzled against her.

    “I was afraid I’d never see you again, and that it was all my fault.”

    Dash gave a nervous laugh, but was clearly emotional.  “Funny, I was going to say the same thing.”  Pinkie let go and looked at her eyes.

    “It… it’s a long story,” Pinkie said as she lay her head back onto the pillow.  She was surprised at the sheer lack of energy she had.

    The other ponies took their turns in expressing the happiness and relief that she was still with them, and saying how much they missed her.  When they were finished, the nurse told them that she needed to rest and ushered them out.

    When the room had emptied, Princess Celestia entered and stood at the end of the bed.  “Good morning,” she said with a smile.  “When I heard about what happened, I decided to drop by before the town meeting.”

    “Princess?  You saw me in the market place, didn’t you?” Pinkie asked; her voice still weak.

    “Yes I did,” Celestia replied.  There was a sigh, and then she continued, “After what Twilight told me, and what I sensed from you in the street, I was afraid to say anything as I didn’t know what effect it would have.”

    “Yeah, my mind was going to some really strange places.  I believed I had done something terrible, and I was afraid that if you spotted me, that something bad would happen.”

    Celestia lowered her head and looked a little saddened.  “When Twilight first wrote to me about what happened on the day you ran away, I actually told them to wait.  You see, I have seen similar things like this before, but I assumed it would get better on its own, and that you would return home.  I didn’t realize it was this serious.”  At that the princess perked up a little.  “But it pleases me to see that you pulled through.”

    “Actually, Princess,” Pinkie added.  “In my dream – or whatever it was – I swore I felt the presence of my friends.”

    To this, the princess smiled.  “Of course, the bond with your friends is strong, and they were watching over you all night.  One of the nurses told me that they read you stories, talked about things that happened while you were away.  And sometimes they just talked about fond memories, and how much they missed you.  It warmed my heart to see just how much they cared.”  As she headed for the door, she said, “I have to go now, I need to get ready for the town meeting.  I hope you feel better soon.”

    “Thanks, Princess,” Pinkie responded a little unenthusiastically.  It was sincere, she just didn’t have the energy to convey it.  With the sound of the door closing, she closed her eyes and tried to rest.  There were still some lingering troubled thoughts, but now they were slowly fading and she knew not to listen to them.  She smiled, relishing the knowledge that things were slowly returning to normal.

…

    The following day, Pinkie Pie had regained some of her energy, and was up and about.  The nurses wanted her to stay for another day for observation, but she was free to wander around the small medical centre.

    In the early afternoon, Topsy came by to see her.  He would have been there with the others, but he decided against it, as he didn’t want to impose.

    “So, umm, how are you feeling?” he asked.

    “Still a little hazy, but it’s not too bad,” she replied.

    “I um… I just wanted to say I’m glad you’re getting better.”  He shuffled his front hooves awkwardly.  Just then, he looked at her with surprise.  “Your mane, it’s completely different.”

    Pinkie waved a hoof through her mane, which had become full and curly again.  It was like this when she woke up after her nap, but then another thought came to her.

    “Oh that’s right,” Pinkie started, “they told me you went all the way out to Ponyville to find my friends and bring them back here.”

    “Well yeah… it was the least I could do,” he replied, blushing a little.

    Just then, Rainbow Dash appeared hovering behind them.  “Ooh, looks like someone has an admirer,” she said with a singing tone, and Topsy’s face went a little redder.

    After a moment he realized something, and his expression saddened.  “I guess this means you’ll be going back to Ponyville now.”

    “Wait, you almost make it sound like a bad thing,” the pink pony replied.  “I was snappy, and I was often short with you.”

    “Yeah, maybe you told me off, but a lot of the time you also dropped what you did just to help me.  And despite all your troubles, you were still nicer to me than a lot of other ponies I’ve met.”

    “Oh, you definitely have an admirer!” Dash chimed in again, teasingly.  This was met by a stern gaze from the pink pony, which clearly said, ‘do you mind, I’m trying to have a serious conversation here’.  “Alright,” the blue pegasus said, and left them to it.

    “I’m sorry about that,” Pinkie told Topsy.  “To tell you the truth, it might not have looked like it, but I kinda liked having you around.”  This made the white pony smile.

    They both continued to talk for a little while.  When Topsy headed off, Dash came back and landed beside Pinkie.  “Hmm, I’m starting to wonder if maybe there’s more than one admirer here.”

    Pinkie suddenly looked self conscious.  “Don’t be silly.  I… it’s just we worked together for a while, and he was…”  Under Dash’s gaze, she felt her face getting a little warmer.  “And isn’t there something else you could be doing right now?”

    “Fine, I’ll go see what the other ponies are up to.”  She flapped her wings and lifted off from the floor.  Just before leaving, she made kissy noises, and then narrowly dodged a small crutch which Pinkie had picked up and thrown at her.

    After Dash left, Pinkie was left to her own thoughts.  “Silly Rainbow suggesting that I like that clumsy pony.  That’s just silly,” she thought aloud, with a giggle.  Then why did she suddenly feel bad about leaving?  Her smile faded, and she let out a sigh.

…

    Later on, Mrs. Plough dropped by.  It appeared that Topsy visited her at her home and told her about what happened.  It seemed she already guessed that Pinkie would be leaving.

    “Don’t you worry about it, and go on back home with your friends.  I’ll sort out everything on this end.  Though I have to say, I will miss having you around, and you were always a good worker.”  The mare took a closer look at Pinkie.  “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve really seen you look happy.  And that hair style seems more like you,” she commented, gesturing towards the curls.

    At that, the store owner excused herself, but before leaving she quickly reminded Pinkie to drop by the store in the morning, so she could pick up the last of her pay.

…

    The day after, the nurses told Pinkie that she was free to leave.  Her friends accompanied her back to the apartment to help get everything packed.

    Pinkie went down to the basement and looked around.  Her attention went to the covered painting on the stand.  The pink pony moved over to it and hesitated for a moment before pinching the sheet with her teeth, and pulled it off.  What she saw was the same painting as before, with the dark eerie theme, only it was blurry and heavily distorted.  She closed her eyes tight and rubbed her hoof against her face.  When she looked back at the picture, it almost appeared to be dissolving, and bright colors started to show through.

    Her eyes widened as the new image emerged.  It was actually the same picture she saw while she was unconscious.  Her friends were standing and sitting, and were all happy.  They were also in the library, with treats on a table nearby.  Then it dawned on her.  When she dreamed of being back with her friends a few days before, it was exactly what she saw right before she woke up.

    Twilight made her way down the steps.  “Hey Pinkie Pie, I thought maybe you’d like some help down here.”  Just then, her jaw dropped a little as she gazed at the painting, with the whole group together.  Seeing the happiness expressed in the picture, she started to get a little misty-eyed.  “I, I don’t know what to say.”

    The pink pony felt modest.  “It’s alright I guess, but my painting still isn’t all that great.”

    “No, it’s really good,” Twilight responded enthusiastically.  “The others really have to see this!”  When she ran up and brought the others down, they each had a similar reaction, and each had their turn expressing how touched or impressed they were.

…

    The following morning the last of the packing was done, and Pinkie Pie returned from the Tool Shed.  Topsy came along as he wanted to see her off.

    As Pinkie’s belongings were being loaded into a waiting carriage, Topsy fidgeted nervously.  “So this is goodbye then.  You’re heading back home now.”

    “Well, it’s not like we’ll never see each other again,” the pink pony replied, “and Ponyville isn’t that far away.”

    “Wait, are you saying you still want to see me?” he asked.

    “Sure,” Pinkie responded with a smile.  Her expression then became serious.  “You know, one of the things that allowed me to pull through was when I became aware of my friends.  But they wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for you.”  As she spoke there was in increasing shyness in her mannerisms.  “In a manner of speaking, you… kinda saved me.  That is something I’ll never forget.”

    “Hey Pinkie Pie, are you coming,” called out Dash, as everything was set and the other ponies were waiting in the carriage.

    “Just a second!” Pinkie yelled back irritably, and turned back to the white pony.  “Well, it looks like it’s time to go now.”  After a long moment of hesitation, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, and then headed for the waiting carriage.

    As soon as she got in, the other ponies looked at her with girly curiosity.  Rainbow Dash teased and said, “Hah, I knew it.  So when are you seeing your coltfriend again?”

    “Hey, it’s not like that,” the pink pony protested.  “I was just being nice.  It was… purely platonic.”  Though at that moment, she was kind of glad to be pink, because maybe the others wouldn’t notice that she was blushing.

    And so Pinkie Pie embarked on the carriage ride back to Ponyville, where her life would return to the way it was.  Well not quite.  She had a new friend, not to mention her newfound interest in painting.  Maybe she would continue to pursue it.  Pinkie the artist, she thought to herself, it has a nice ring to it.

THE END

Author's Notes:  There we have it, I hope you enjoyed my story, and let me know what you think.  But really, if you've read this far, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I also want to show my heartfelt thanks to GabuEx (known for his work on My Little Investigations) for prereading my story.  I started off with a short (3500 word) story which was basically an alternate ending to the "Ask Pinkamina Diane Pie" Tumblr.  He said it was good, but lacking as it was mostly a resolution.  This convinced me to flesh it out into a proper story.  The first two chapters went well, but the ending had much to be desired.  Getting his feedback prompted me to go back to the drawing board, and write a new ending... and then I made other significant changes in the process.  In short, he gave me the nudge I needed, and it made the story far better than it would've been otherwise.

Then there's the nice individual who drew the story image for me - she goes by Qiae on Deviant Art, and Wendy on Equestria Forums.  I am thankful for her taking the time to draw this for me.  BTW, you can find more of her drawings in this thread.