Pink Goo
By Fenwolf2003
This story features: Pinkie Pie and Applejack
"What in tarnation...?" Applejack muttered to herself as she stared down at the large egg. She tilted her head as she examined its smooth, undamaged surface. The egg was unlike any she had seen during her many years on the farm, far too large to be from any bird she could name and the colour wasn't right either. The egg's shell was a deep purple in the dimly lit alleyway and was speckled with grey smudges that remained even after Applejack rubbed a hoof tip across a few.
Applejack glanced around the long alleyway but it was empty, even the skies above it were clear of any sign of life. The hustle and bustle of the Nightmare Night party behind her was still obvious even as the night crept into the early hours of the morning. The farmer stared at the crowds of ponies moving beyond the alley before finally smiling; the egg was probably a wayward prop.
"Come on 'lil fella. Let's take ya back to the party." She smiled at the egg as she gently gripped it between her front hooves. The egg's shell was tough and solid to the touch but it was surprisingly light for its size. She carefully reached around behind her to place the egg above her rump, balancing it there for a moment before trotting back towards the party.
The party was still in full swing, the wide main street of Ponyville was choked with dozens of ponies, ferrying their foals between the game stalls or just enjoying the late night life after the visit of Princess Luna. Her stall wasn't far from the alley entrance and few stopped her as she headed back towards the small wooden kiosk set up beside the large tub of water.
Applejack carefully slid the egg across onto the wooden stall and gave it a gentle pat, she'd find the prop's owner when the crowds had thinned out. She still had a job to do, a wayward prop could wait.
Her large bobbing tub was nearly empty after her short absence when she'd said goodbye to Luna, only a few apples left floating along the surface. The orange mare stooped down beneath her stall and yanked out one of the large bushels of apples to tug it across to the tub. She scooped it up in her powerful forelegs and lifted it to tip the contents into the water, the apples splashing loudly as they fell. But despite the noise, she could still hear it.
Even as the last few apples tumbled noisily into the water she could hear the noise; soft crunches and cracks growing gradually louder. Applejack's ears twitched as she heard something splinter behind her and there was a soft tap as something landed on the wooden top of the stall, followed by a few quiet grunts.
"Hey!" A voice called out from behind her, but it was pathetically quiet and strangely high pitched, but Applejack still recognised it. "Hehe! My butt's stuck! Help me outta here, Jackie!"
The farmer's ears dropped as she slowly twisted around to stare back at the stall and to the egg that still sat on top. The egg was laced with hairline fractures that originated from a single, small hole in the tough exterior. A tiny, wiggling form was protruding from the hole, a little pink body that kicked and wiggled as it tried to free its chubby hips from the tight hole.
"P-pinkie?!" Applejack stuttered out as she took a long step back from the tiny mare's squirming form, emerald eyes widening in shock. "W-what in tarnation happened to ya?!"
"I got my butt stuck, duh! Now pull me out! This egg's really hot on my butt!" The pink mare giggled as she waved her forelegs up towards her immense friend.
Applejack continued to stare down at the tiny form of one of her best friends, the pony quickly gave up on struggling so she could pout up at the farmer. "Hello? Jackie?" Pinkie frowned. "Stop being such a big mean, meany-pants! Pull me out!"
"B-but....what the heck happened to ya? Yer tiny!"
"Well, duh! I can see that, silly! Now pull me out, my butt's getting all sweaty!"
"B-but...."
"Jackie!" Pinkie squirmed to emphasis how stuck she was, her wide hips caught in the small hole she'd knocked out of the egg. "I'm hungry! There wasn't any candy in there!"
Applejack hesitated for a few more seconds before she finally reached a hoof out to let the tiny pony wrap her forelegs around it. She waited until her friend smiled up at her again before she gently pulled her hoof back, the pink mare's hips remaining stuck for a moment before slipping free.
Once free Pinkie immediately let go, dropping to the wooden table with a loud, excited giggle. She bounced around a few times, hoofs softly clopping against the solid wood, moving in circles until she finally stopped to bounce in place as she stared up at Applejack. The little mare beamed up at her friend, bright blue eyes sparkling against the candle light that illuminated the wide street. "You look really super ginormous from down here, Jackie!"
"Pinkie...why're ya'll so relaxed?! How in tarnation did ya'll get so tiny?" Applejack frowned as she asked her friend who just giggled and bounced in response, mane and tail bobbing behind her as she moved. "Was...was it the Poison Joke?" Applejack leaned in as she asked the question, but immediately regretted it as the tiny pony took the chance to jump up onto her muzzle.
"Noooooo idea!" Pinkie sniggered as she bounced a few times on top of Applejack's muzzle, the farmer freezing up so the small mare wouldn't fall. "Last thing I knew I was talking to Luna and then poof! Woke up in a big, yucky egg!"
Applejack's ears sank as she tried to look at the pony but her emerald eyes nearly crossed, Pinkie giggling as she watched. "Ya'll takin' this pretty well...."
"No point being a big gloomy guts!" Pinkie dropped her rump to sit on the bridge of Applejack's muzzle, pink tail dangling down over the farmer's nose. Applejack quivered as the poofy tail tickled across her nose, but the sensation wasn't the strangest thing; the smell was, or more so, the lack of a smell. Pinkie Pie usually smelt of honey, cotton candy and a hundred different types of sweets. The tiny Pinkie however smelt like nothing, even though Applejack could feel the sweat from her rump against her muzzle, there was no scent.
"Hey! Stop sniffing my butt!" The sudden shout and loud giggle that followed it made Applejack jump as her mind snapped sharply back to reality. The jerk sent the tiny pony tumbling rump over head into the air, little limbs flailing even though her excited squeal never stopped. Pinkie landed on top of Applejack's wide hat with a squeal of joy, immediately leaping the short distance back down onto the farmer's muzzle. "Again!"
Applejack stared at the bouncing figure on her nose before frowning. "Pinkie. This is serious."
"Ohh, relax, Jackie! It was fu..." The little pony abruptly stopped mid bounce, the pink mare seeming to pause in the air before slowly lowering to stand on the muzzle again. Applejack could barely hear the noise over the background hum of the crowds, a tiny rumble from Pinkie's belly. "Do you have any candy? I'm really hungry!"
"Pinkie. Never mind that, we gotta find Zecora, she'll have some of that antidote whipped up for ya, lickity-split!" Applejack went to turn to look across at the crowd but the pink mare hammered her front hooves down against her muzzle.
"No, no, no! I'm super-starving! I want candy!" The pink mare pouted at Applejack again as she dropped onto her rump once more and folded her forelegs over her chest like a foal throwing a tantrum.
"Pinkie, we gotta...." She froze as she saw the tiny mare's eyes narrow towards her, the dark glare she gave was enough to make Applejack's ears sink back, despite the huge size difference. "Eh..." Applejack let out a short sigh as she lifted a hoof past Pinkie to rub at her forehead. "Fine....ah'll leave ya here while ah go look for her."
The farmer leaned down towards the stall but before she'd even gotten close the pink mare had leapt down to land gracefully on the wood. She immediately dropped her nose to the ground and began sniffing around like a tracker dog, but quickly dropped to her rump to frown at Applejack again.
"Ah'll get ya ah candy in ah minute." The orange mare groaned out, rolling her eyes even though Pinkie immediately beamed up at her and began bouncing on her rump in anticipation. "But ya'll gotta stay here. Ah know what it's like bein' yer size, might dangerous 'round big ponies, don't want ya'll to get trod on."
"I'll stay! Now make with the candy, bub!" Pinkie sniggered at herself as she held up her forelegs expectantly.
Applejack perked an eyebrow at the pink mare who just continued to beam up at her, holding her forelegs out as her cotton candy tail swished. The farmer finally let out a short groan. "Rainbow Dash was right 'bout ya'll, yer ah mite bit random." With that said she ducked under the stall to the bucket of sweets she kept for the foals. She lifted a candy to the table and dropped it down in front of Pinkie, the pink mare immediately pouncing on it.
"Good. That'll keep ya busy 'til ah find Zecora and sort out this here mess." Applejack knew she wasn't being listened to; the tiny mare was too busy ravaging the candy wrap. She was biting and scraping at it with her hooves, making light work of the thin plastic as she fought to reach the piece of candy that was as large as her ribcage. Applejack had seen the pony's enormous appetite at work before, seeing her devour entire cakes or pies in nearly one go, but it had never looked like this. Pinkie had a wild look in her eye, desperation to get into the candy that bordered on the psychotic. Applejack however just shook her head and turned away, she had bigger problems.
Zecora was nowhere to be seen, and Applejack didn't want to have to trek out into the Everfree forest at night; especially not on Nightmare Night. She didn't give up though, peering up and down the street to try and spot the zebra, noting how difficult it was without her tell-tale Mohawk.
"Jackie!" Applejack's ears twitched as she heard her name, immediately frowning at barely getting a few seconds to look but then she realised something. There was a slight echo to the voice, barely noticeable as the noise hit her ears.
"What is it Pin...." Applejack froze when she turned back towards the pink mare, ears pinning back immediately at the sight before her.
Two pink ponies were beaming up towards her now, the little ponies pressed shoulder to shoulder as they sat on the dark wood of the stall. They were exact replicas of each other, both the very same Pinkie Pie that Applejack had known for years. One lifted a hoof to wave up at her while the other remained seated. "Hey Jackie!"
Applejack just stared down at the two of them, her brain trying to come up with some explanation but nothing came to mind. The pony's ears twitched as both of the ponies giggled at her, then shoulder bumped each other gently as they laughed at her reaction. "P-pinkie...uhhh, Pinkies....what...where?"
"Noooooooo idea!" The two said in unison followed by a loud giggle, tails swishing behind them, tangling around each other's a few times.
"Got anymore candy?" One of the two asked with a bright smile.
"Oh! Or some toffee?" The other added and the first nodded quickly in support.
"Or candy dipped in toffee?" The first drooled, tapping her hooves excitedly on the solid wood.
"Ah...ah...." The orange mare stammered out quietly as her ears rose and sunk a few more times, mouth opening and closing a few times before she finally managed words. "There's....there's two of ya..."
"Duh!" They both were in perfect unison again and that made Applejack take a worried step back. She'd seen some unusual things in her lifetime, many of them involving Pinkie, but she never expected this.
"But....fine....ya both stay here until ah find Zecora... and Twilight...they'll know what in tarnation is goin' on." Applejack squinted suspiciously down at the two who just continued to stare up at her. "Now ya hear meh, stay!"
The two ponies exchanged a few glances before both grinning at the same time. They turned their attention back up to Applejack, a dark, playful smirk on each of their faces. "It'll cost you!" The first said as she folded her hooves over her chest.
"Lots of candy!" The second said as he mimicked the first's position.
Applejack's ears twitched as she stared at the two ponies, noticing that hungry look in their eyes again. They weren't scared, they weren't even nervous, they seemed to be enjoying this; Applejack could still remember the fear she'd felt when she had found herself shrunken. This wasn't right.
"Fine. Ah'll leave ya the bucket, hopefully that'll take ya both sometime to get through..." She ducked down under the stall again before lifting the bucket of sweets to the table by the two Pinkie Pies.
A look of pure ecstasy spread across the faces of the duplicate ponies before they clambered up into the overflowing bucket of sweet goods. They simply disappeared beneath the surface of sweets, slipping from view as if they were diving into a pool. Muffled giggles and crunches could be heard, mixed with the rustle of wrappers being shredded.
Applejack shook her head slowly and swore to herself that she'd never be more than ten feet from Twilight from now on; she could barely understand anything that was happening in Ponyville recently. She turned back towards the crowds and began to search again, looking for the tall hat that would mark Twilight for her but there was no sign. She recognised all of the faces around but she knew none of them would be able to help her, not with this kind of problem.
"Goshdarnit..." Applejack groaned sharply as she lifted a hoof to rub her forehead before pushing her hat back a little on her head. "Alright Pinkies...we gotta...."
"Got anymore candy?" One of the Pinkies called suddenly from behind her, a happy, excited voice that made Applejack just groan again.
"Ya can't be finished with all that already!" Applejack snapped as she turned around towards the stall again.
Applejack's heart missed a beat.
A sea of pink had overflowed from the bucket and spread across the table, dozens of tiny bodies desperately squeezing together to try and fit onto the small stall. Over a hundred smiling faces all stared up at Applejack, bright grins etched across the exact same face of her good friend.
"Got anymore, huh, huh, huh?" One of the Pinkies inquired loudly and immediately several dozen of the replicants joined in on the 'huh's. It finally hit Applejack like a freight train.
"No! No more candy for ya'll....whatever the heck's happenin' to ya'll it's to do with that darn candy!" She glared down at them as she tried to sound forceful despite the unusual situation but they just stayed in place, all of them merely tilted their head in a single wave of motion.
"But....but....! You promised us candy if we stayed! We stayed!" A Pinkie said from amongst the swarm but Applejack couldn't tell which had spoken.
"But it's makin'.... this happen....whatever this is!" Applejack frowned as she leaned down towards them, narrowing her eyes towards the horde. "So, ya'll stay put and not eat 'til ah g...."
The swarm moved as one, without any signs of communication, they just knew what to do. Dozens of tiny ponies scattered when the news of no more candy was confirmed, breaking off in all directions, some even leaping down to Applejack's hooves as they made their escape.
The farmer yelped out in shock and bounced on her hooves as she tried to avoid stepping on any of the tiny pink ponies as they weaved between her hooves. She couldn't keep track of even a tenth of the ponies as they broke away to head for whatever target their food craving brains had locked onto.
"Pinkie! Get yer rump back here!" Applejack called as she twisted around to the ponies that had fled under her, the little mares galloping across open ground towards the stalls on the far side of the street. She reached out to try and grab them but the little ponies were amazingly agile for their size, ducking and diving to get away from her clasping hooves. She did the only thing she could think, pulling her hat of and leaping after a small group of three of the mares. She thumped the hat down on top of them and pinned the rim to the ground to keep them trapped in the crown. "Stop it! Tell all the rest of ya'll to get back here too!"
Applejack frantically looked around for the rest of the ponies; some were still weaving between the crowds' hooves, totally unnoticed by the regular sized ponies. Others were already clambering up onto the nearby stalls while some even were crawling beneath front doors to raid the neighbouring houses. And then she heard it, the first scream.
The first scream turned into two, then a dozen and then an endless wail of terror as the swarm of miniature pink ponies made their presence known. Memories of the recent spider attack had already put many ponies on edge, and the sight of dozens of miniature Pinkie Pies was enough to send most fleeing.
Small groups of pink ponies descended upon the rapidly abandoned stalls and the dropped bags of sweets like locusts onto ripe corn. They picked the areas clean in mere moments before moving off in far greater numbers, the small groups rapidly becoming miniature swarms of pink menaces. The noise of the screaming ponies was slowly being engulfed by the combined noise of hundreds, and then thousands, of tiny ponies giggling in glee.
Few ponies were foolish enough to remain to try and defend their stalls against the onslaught of tiny ponies, and those that did simply disappeared beneath the ever growing Pinkie Pie swarm. They appeared moments later when the ravenous little creatures had passed on, the ponies left with a haunted, distant look on their faces.
Applejack could do little but stare in shock as the pink ponies swarmed everywhere, in less than a minute there were thousands and in two, she couldn't hope to estimate the number. The ground was an endless wave of several inch tall ponies, scattering in all directions as they sought out more food to consume.
The orange mare was snapped back to the problem at hoof when the hat beneath her was suddenly jerked from her grip and flipped over. What had been three tiny fillies a few moments ago now were nearly a dozen, and Applejack hadn't seen them eat anything. Her ears dropped as one of the fleeing pink ponies stopped and turned to smile and wave up at her before bouncing off to join the swarm.
The swarm continued to roll on, moving further and further down the main street, consuming even the grass at the sides of the dirty track. Flowers, vegetables and even small discarded rubbish simply vanished under their advance. And then they all stopped.
All of the ponies stood still for a few moments as they all exchanged glances before suddenly every gaze turned back towards Applejack. Thousands of the ponies suddenly began to bounce back towards her, not a mad gallop to reach the food first; instead they mimicked Pinkie's usual happy bounce.
To Applejack it was as if an ocean of pink was washing towards her, no ground even visible between the tightly packed cluster of chubby little bodies. They were all smiling as they bounced along, a truly unnerving sight for even the much larger pony but she couldn't move to run, she could hear the swarm approaching from behind her as well.
As one, the entire swarm came to a halt, tightly packed in around the towering orange mare as they all just beamed up at her. They just stood and stared at her for awhile before finally one of them trotted forwards to stand in front of the seated farmer.
"Hey, Jackie!" The single Pinkie happily called out as she waved up at the farmer, but frowned when Applejack didn't return the wave. "You okay, Jackie? You look sad!"
Applejack's ears sank as she slowly lay down so she was closer to the height of the tiny Pinkie who smiled at the gesture. "Uh....ah....what...." Applejack tried to find the words but they eluded her and she just ended up staring dumbfounded down towards the single Pinkie, trying to ignore the thousands that were still staring.
"Hehe! Cat got your tongue, silly?" The Pinkie advanced towards her so she could lean up to stand on her hind legs, placing her front hooves on Applejack's nose to steady herself. "Got anymore candy? We're really hungry!" The little filly asked with a bright, friendly smile towards her looming friend.
"Ah....Pinkie....what in tarnation's goin' on here....ya can't just steal all these pony's food..."
"Awwww! Don't be silly! It's Nightmare Night, dummy!" She suddenly grinned, a sly, dark little grin that made Applejack want to recoil as she continued in a sing-song voice. "Nightmare Night, what a fright. Give us something sweet to bite. ."
"But....ah don't have anything....Ya ate all mah apples...."
"Ohhh! Silly! We can work something out. You are my bestest buddy in the whole wide, wide world!" The little pony drummed her hooves gently on the farmer's nose before suddenly leaning in to kiss her on the top of her muzzle.
The action made Applejack pull back this time, sending the little mare tumbling back onto her rear as Applejack blinked in shock. She opened her mouth to speak but froze as she noticed the Pinkie was licking her lips slowly.
"Ohhhh! I always thought you'd taste like apples!" The mare grinned at Applejack, and a moment later the swarm took a single step forwards, closing the circle even tighter around the orange mare.
Cold sweat tickled across Applejack's brow as she forced herself up onto her hooves to try and gain her height advantage back over the pink mare but she knew it made no difference. The defensive gesture made the swarm take another step in around her, all of the little faces still giving her a friendly smile even though she knew what they wanted. The knowledge made her stomach tighten and nausea swept over her briefly.
Soft clucking suddenly caught Applejack's attention and she spun around, ending up face to face with another Pinkie. This Pinkie however stood just as tall as Applejack was but was dressed in her chicken outfit. She just smiled fondly at Applejack before she leaned in to softly peck the farmer on the nose with her prosthetic beak.
"Heya, Jackie! Happy Nightmare Night!" Pinkie Pie chanted out happily as she stepped forwards to slip her forelegs around the farmer's throat to give her a hug. "I see you're the lucky pony who found my special trick this year!" She pulled back from the hug to beam down at the earth mare as she remained up on her hind legs. "Soooooo glad it was you!"
Applejack glared up towards the dressed up earth pony as she stepped back from her, the swarm having to part suddenly to avoid one of her hind legs. "Pinkie! This was yer doin'? Why the hay did ya do it?"
"Because.....Nightmare Night is my special night! I get to pull a super special prank! And you're my prankee...prankest....pranky...You're my target!" Pinkie giggled as she dropped onto her rump in front of Applejack, clapping her hooves together a few times. "I thought you'd have lasted longer than this though! Where's that famous Apple family hospitality to all my little Pinkies?"
Applejack couldn't reply as she tried to take in the information, staring at the pink mare with her mouth agape. She glanced over the swarm of mini-Pinkies and her ears dropped as a few of them even lifted their hooves to wave up at her.
"I thought you'd have done way better! If only you'd brought enough apples for everypony!" Pinkie said with an exaggerated pout towards her. "All my little Pinkie's are really hungry...and so am I!"
"But....ah....ah don't have anything more to give ya..."
"Oh! Don't worry, silly! We can work something out!"
"Like....what?" Applejack asked quietly, ears dropping back as took another step back, the swarm barely parted this time. The moment her hind hoof touched the ground she felt a few sharp bites on her flesh and she stepped forwards again to escape the little nibbles from the tiny ponies. She turned her gaze back towards the regular Pinkie Pie, ears lying flat on her head. "What do you want...?"
"Nightmare Night, what a fright.... " Pinkie stepped in closer to Applejack who couldn't retreat this time. The pink mare grinned playfully at her before leaning in to kiss Applejack softly on the lips, the kiss only lingering for a moment before she leaned around to whisper to the orange mare. "Give me something sweet to bite... " A dark smirk spread across Pinkie's face and Applejack immediately heard the tiny rumble of thousands of hooves suddenly moving in towards her as Pinkie whispered into her ear.
"And you're the sweetest pony I know, Jackie....."