We Stopped Checking for Monsters in the Everfree...

Dash entered the room. Dark. Low light. She immediately noted the guards by the sides of the door. "You guys can leave." Dash said.

"They won't listen. They think I'm suicidal." Pinkie replied, and Dash now saw her. Her mane was flat, her face wet, her colors muted. Her normally joyous tone almost deadpan. Almost.

"Ms. Twilight Sparkle has asked that we guard Ms. Pie." one gaurd responded, not moving.

"Well, I say you can go."

"I'm sorry."

"I saved Equestria several times. Pinkie did too. Two heroes' orders outway one hero's order."

The guards thought about it. "If you need anything, come and get us. We'll be in the main room." They left. "Take care, Pinkie." Pinkie didn't react.

"Hey, Pinks."

"Hi."

"What's going on?"

"Not much..."

Dash bit her lip. "Pinkie... I heard about..."

"My episode?" Pinkie hadn't change tones at all. Still nearly deadpan. Just a hint of sorrow.

"Yeah... Are you OK?"

"I don't know what that means anymore." Pinkie wasn't looking at Dash. She didn't change tone. She wasn't even crying.

"... Do you want a hug?"

"It doesn't matter." So familiar... Dash hugged Pinkie, but Pinkie didn't react.

"Do you feel better?"

"I... can't feel anything... I think I've gone insane..."

"Oh, Pinkie, you haven't gone insane!" Dash opened her mouth to go on, but couldn't find the words. So she repeated "You're not insane." Several minutes passed, with only the friends imbracing.

"Are you real...?" Dash felt a tear on her foreleg.

"Wha...? Of course I'm real!" Dash felt Pinkie shudder in her grasp.

"... I'm sorry. I... just wanted to be sure... I... I was worried that I made you up... I've been doing that lately. Cookie Dough came to visit. I was going to throw her the bestest party ever... Then I realized that I was in Canterlot... And that she was dead... She still talks to me, sometimes. The Joker does, too, but I never see him." Pinkie was back into deadpan. It scared Dash to think that Pinkie was this far gone. She had to get Pinkie help, but she needed to convince Pinkie first to stop resentment from forming, right? Oh, Dash was so unequipped for this.

"Pinkie...?" Dash asked lightly. Maybe if she could alleviate the despair...

"Yes?"

"... Why... do you feel sad?"

"Oh, I don't feel sad... I just feel empty."

"Why?"

"... Harmony has... Friendship is meaningless..."

"No," whispered Dash.

"I heard what Discord said after the first tape... He was right that we all have plans... And they all end with the same fate..."

"No, no, Pin---" Dash started but was interrupted by Pinkie. Deadpan still.

"Death... It's always death. Unless you happen to be born an immortal... Unless you're lucky."

"Pinkie, Friendship is there to get you through hard times. Friends give you something to hold on to when you can't take it by yourself..."

"Until they die, like everypony else... I... I didn't expect that. I've had friends die before... But now I realize they're all gonna die... I'm gonna die... I guess it is kinda funny." she chuckled woodenly. No joy.

"Pinkie... You're PINKIE PIE! How... How could you think like that?! You used to live for your friends! You of all ponies should know that Now is all we have!"

"180 of my friends died. I hadn't even met them yet... It's like you said. We spent a week doing the hardest of work... and it didn't give us a feather..."

"Pinkie... What about now? You have ponies that love you! We love you! Let us help you..."

"Why?"

"We don't want you to hurt yourself! We want you to be happy." Desperation in Dash's voice...

Pinkie somehow snorted joylessly. "It's about what you want, then. Not about what I want..." There was no animosity in the tone.

"Don't you want to be happy?"

"I don't care..."

"... Pinkie... You're confused... Traumatized..."

Pinkie started crying. Lightly. "If Friendship and Harmony are so good... Why does he exist? Why... why don't the Elements just turn the Joker to stone? Why is harmony worth wasting our lives on?"

"Don't you see? Now is all we have. We have to make the best of it! Make friends while we still can!" It was the most obvious thing in the world to Dash.

"... Where is my happiness? I can't find it. I can't even tell what's real." Alarm bells in Dash's head started flashing brighter.

"We have each other..."

"I know. That used to be enough before, but... knowing you'll all leave me... Or that I'll leave you... At a random time... I can't feel happy knowing that..."

"You used to be able to..."

"I used to... How did I do it?" Dash had wondered that a thousand times. Now she knew.

"You lived in the Now. You didn't worry about the future."

"But the Now hurts... So badly..."

"I'm here. I'll help you."

"I... I know you can. But that just makes it harder when you go. It just prolongs the inevitable... I... I have to accept it. That's the only way I'll be able to be happy..."

"Accept what?"

"We're all gonna die. Everyone's gonna die. It'll hurt. And we only make friends because we can't deal with the world around us... It feels so deceptive to make friends just to feel better."

"That's the point of friendship!"

"So it is a farce..."

"No..." Dash realized that Pinkie was gone... What should she do now?

"I... I don't think we can stop the chaos..."

"We can stop him!"

"Dash... Even if we stop him... He's shown us a side of equinity that we can't deny... We can all become like him... He's... He's us."

"He made a choice. We can all make it. That's what makes us special... We can choose to do good and love each other."

"Why should we? Why is love good? I used to know... Can you remind me? I... I need to know." Dash stopped to think, and was about to respond, Pinkie interrupted. "You should leave..." Pinkie said. "I shouldn't be caught talking to myself..."

"P-Pinkie... I'm real! I promise..."

"The real Dash would be able to convince me I'm wrong. Just go. I'll wait here for the real Dash to come. Thank you, me, for trying." She gave Dash a small smile. A sad one.

Dash could have argued, but... Her friend needed more help then she could give.

"Well... Pinkie..." Dash said, fighting back tears. "I'm sure she'll be here soon..."

"I'm sure she will... Close the door on your way out. And send her in if you see her. She's kept me waiting for a few weeks now..." Dash left, shaking. Crying. This wasn't write.

As she came into the main room, she stepped on one of the discarded acupuncture needles she had haphazardly thrown off. By chance or by fate, two drops of blood escaped her hoof. Two drops of blood. Dash named them Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They were both gone now, soaked into the floor.