The Catacombs of Zalgo

Chapter 12: The Wrath of The Mi-go

The Mi-go let out a horrific roar towards the group. Inside its maw were thousands of tiny, razor sharp teeth. The sight of the beast’s maw intimidated the ponies almost immediately. With Pinkie Pie being held captive by the grip of the beast, things looked a little bleak for their attempt to rescue her. On the other side of the room was another human cultist. His back was pinned towards the corner of the room. He didn’t make any sudden movement, as he was frozen in fear. Suddenly, his eyes darted over towards Jack. He let out a loud surprising gasp.

“J-Jack?!” He whispered to himself, in a loud tone. At that moment, the Mi-go swerved its head behind and spoted another victim. The cultist let out a yelp in terror, when the beast spotted him. Ignoring Jack and the ponies for a moment, the Mi-go instantly made work of the terrified cultist. The dark tendrils on its back lashed two tendrils over at the terrified cultist. One tendril lashed perpendicularly across the cultist’s body, and the other lashed horizontally on his waist. Blood splattered against the wall behind him upon impact. The cultist flinched in pain, leaving him standing still like a statue. A few seconds later, the lashed pattern on his body started to appear in blood. Then, his whole body slid apart into four parts. Handful of blood spilt and flowed out of him, along with his intestines and guts falling out of him.

Jack’s pupils shrunk in disturbance, as the ponies deeply gasped in horror. The Mi-go’s head twirled back towards the group and began snarling, while Jack stared at the beast fearlessly and anxiously. Jack never thought that the power of Zalgo would go this far, let alone make him uneasy. Suddenly, the Mi-go lifted its head up towards the ceiling. It held Pinkie up over its head, and finally releasing its grasp on her hair. Pinkie’s body dropped like an anvil, as the Mi-go opened its mouth, and catched the pink pony inside the beast’s maw. With Pinkie inside its vicious mouth, the beast slowly swallowed her down, making disgusting gurgling sounds. Everyone’s jaw dropped in an instant, as they gasped in horror. Their hearts went cold the moment they saw their friend got devoured.

“PINKIE PIE! NOOOOOO!!” Rainbow Dash wailed. Tears from before and now were pouring down her face, obscuring her visions. Her throat hurt from the shouting and the intense tension she endured so far. With her anger skyrocketing in a matter of seconds, seething rage exploded from her eyes and mouth. She glared at the Mi-go’s cold-hearted eye.

“YOU BETTER SPIT HER OUT, RIGHT NOW!!” She screamed in anger. Unable to restrain her inner rage, Dash immediately charged at the beast in a barbaric way. Blinded with revenge, she let out a hearty battle cry. Rarity gasped and reached her hoof towards Dash.

“DASH WAIT!!” She called out, then lowering her hoof. “Oh for goodness sakes…” She mumbled and charged in after Dash. Fluttershy and Applejack dashed along side with her at that point. Jack tried to stop the ponies, but they were out of his reach to grab them. He then clenched his teeth and grumbled.

“Oh fuck it…” He mumbled in frustration. Jack reached over his other katana from his back and grabbed the hilt. He pulled out the blade from the sheath, and immediately charged into battle. The Mi-go saw the incoming threat and produced a shrieking cry. The dark tendrils on its back squirmed abruptly. Each one lashed towards the incoming ponies. However, Dash evaded each whip attack with her incredible agility. But the other ponies couldn’t keep up the whip’s velocity, as they were forced to stop and strife to the side. When Dash was in close range at the beast, she leaped up the ground and sidekick towards its upper chest. The force of the kick did push the Mi-go back a bit, but it didn’t faze it one bit.

The Mi-go swoops its hand up, and swatted Rainbow Dash horizontally, sending her rolling on the ground. Applejack had a split second to spot Dash tumbling towards the side, and went back to focusing on her attack. She was just about to make her move, when she spotted a shadowy tendril suddenly lashed right towards her. Applejack reacted fast and slid down on her knees. She leaned back, and watched the tendril swooping past her. The tendril managed to slice a piece of brim on her leather cowboy hat with ease.

Applejack had a second to relieve herself from avoiding the attack. However, she failed to notice that the Mi-go’s hand, that previously knocked Rainbow Dash away, swung back and backhands Applejack across the face. The force sent her tumbling across the floor like a cartwheel. Rarity spotted Applejack tumbling off to the side and gasped. As her focus almost trailed off from her friend’s injury, a dark tendril lashed towards Rarity. She was about to run towards death’s hands, when Fluttershy attempt to intervene the inevitable.

“GET DOWN!!” She cried out, pouncing on top of Rarity. The both of them hit the ground just in time. The tendril barely missed Rarity’s head, but managed to trim a chunk full of her rich, purple mane. When Rarity saw Fluttershy on top of her, she smiled and thanked her. Fluttershy returned the smile at her, as she was glad that Rarity is safe. But the moment was too short, when Rarity spotted yet another tendril coming towards them. Rarity screamed in shock, making Fluttershy twirl her head around to see the attack. At that moment, Fluttershy spotted the tendril, and her life flashed right before her eyes. It felt like this could be it. She thought to herself that she’s about to die. All Fluttershy could do is close her eyes and prepare her demise.

Suddenly, she heard slashing noises coming in front of her. She immediately opened her eyes and spotted Jack charging right past her, slicing the dark tendrils coming his way. His eyes were very perceptive at tracking the movements of the tendrils. Each tendril that came at him, Jack made quick work of them and continued his pathway towards the Mi-go. And his attack pattern with his swords went so smoothly; it looked as though he wasn’t making the slightest difficulty. Closer and closer towards the Mi-go’s body, the beast started to slowly back away. The dark tendrils on its back began to decrease in numbers. Jack’s eyes were fixated on the eye of the beast the whole time, while his senses took care of the tendrils.

When he got close enough, Jack made his move and leaped into the air. Jack made a loud battle cry, and plunged both blades deep into the Mi-go’s eye. Dark red blood sprayed out of the wound, giving out a terrible stench. The Mi-go wailed out in agony, shaking its head violently. Jack held on the hilts the best he could, as he was trying to weaken the monster. The blades that were inside the Mi-go started to cut organic tissues and shift part of the frontal lobe in the brain. The more it struggled, the more pain it received. Jack felt sure he had this one in the bag, but it proved to be a misconception. The Mi-go had enough pain and immediately grabbed Jack’s left ankle with its antenna. The antenna pulled Jack away from the blades, holding him upside down. Then, the Mi-go twirled its head up, reeling the antenna along with it. And then the Mi-go swung its head downward, slamming Jack to the ground in the process. The ground made small fissures and cracks upon the crash. Jack’s impact made him land on his left index and middle fingers on accident. The bones on his fingers snapped out of place, making them dislocated and bruised. Jack fazed in pain, as the sudden impact jolted his body.

The Mi-go twisted its head to the side, reeling Jack towards the wall. He was slammed against the wall face first, then his whole body. Jack let out a painful grunt, as blood rushed out of his mouth. Then, the Mi-go twirled its head back up and down, slamming Jack back on the ground. Jack landed on his back, damaging his spine, and forced him to cough up more blood. Even more cracks and fissures came rushing out from under his body. At this point, his body suddenly started to give up. From all the brutal damage Jack’s been receiving, he felt very numb. He face grimaced in pain, while he bellowed blood curdling moans. All he could do was stare right directly at the Mi-go’s wounded eye.

The Mi-go slowly reeled its antenna up above its head, leaving Jack dangling helplessly. The beast slowly opened its mouth, and released Jack’s ankle. Jack plummeted straight down into the beast’s throat, along with the tiny razor sharp teeth cutting his skin on his body. The ponies saw Jack being swallowed up by the beast, and gasped in unison.

“JACK!!” Every pony cried out. They couldn’t just stand there and let him and their friend, Pinkie Pie, to be devoured for good. They all rose back up to their hooves and charged right back at the Mi-go. The Mi-go bellowed a screeching roar at the ponies. Dark tendrils on the Mi-go’s back immediately sprouted anew, and squirmed abruptly once more. Each tendril swung around the Mi-go’s body, acting as a defensive shield from any incoming attacks. The ponies stopped charging and heaved back. They had no chance at getting close to the Mi-go’s body at this point.

Inside the Mi-go’s throat, Jack’s body began to respond due to the pain he’s receiving from the sharp teeth. His vision were a little blurry, but he was able to see just fine. His body was stuck in the beast’s vertebrate trachea. Saliva and blood streamed down from his jeans to arms. The stench was overwhelming, the air was very thick, and it was almost dark to see. Half of Jack’s body was free, but the trachea constricted his lower half. He tried to pull himself back up the trachea, but the razor sharp teeth punctured deeper into his legs. He was, however; managing himself back up the throat with ease.

But, when his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he spotted a pink object. Then, the pink object started to move and moan painfully. It was Pinkie Pie, but she was in terrible shape. Multiple cuts and bruises were all over her body. She had disgusting chunks of meaty flesh on her hair. And she had dark sandbags hanging under her eyes. She struggled herself to move, but the stress was too much for her to handle.

As her eyes adjust to the darkness, she slowly looked up and spotted Jack hanging upside down. Her head tilted from side to side, as she felt very light headed. Jack stared right back at Pinkie Pie, with the slightest fret expression. With his arms still free, Jack reached towards to Pinkie with his left hand.

“H-Hey… hey you! Grab my hand! Hurry!” He called out towards the pink pony. Soon after, he began to hear sizzling noises from below. He took his eyes off of the pink pony for a moment and noticed right away that the chunks of flesh around Pinkie began to melt away. He silently gasped, as he knew that the digestion system was now activated. He looked back down at Pinkie Pie and reached his hand towards her. But all she did was stare blankly at Jack with her lightless eyes, while her bottom began to fry up.

“WAKE UP!! If you want to live, grab my hand NOW!!” He yelled out. But Pinkie Pie was too weak to answer back. She just continued to sit quietly, while she was starting to be digested. However, a bit of miracle came, as her left forearm started to rise up. Pinkie did her best to reach up towards Jack. The two of them were centimeters away from meeting each other. The digesting system suddenly got stronger, as the flesh on her bottom started to sizzle loudly. With time running out, Jack tried to extend his arm out the best he could to reach Pinkie’s hoof. Finally, Jack managed to grab a hold of Pinkie’s hoof, and immediately hoisted her up. Mustering his strength, he heaved up Pinkie to Jack’s level. While grabbing Pinkie on one hand, his other hand reached back up the trachea tube and grabbed hold on the tube. Pulling himself back up the trachea with his right arm, he brought Pinkie up with him.

But just as he was progressing his way up, he suddenly heard a click. Something was moving down Jack’s shirt, and the object fell out of his collar. He saw a hand grenade falling out with no pin attached to it. Jack let out a surprising gasp, when the grenade hit the ground. With the grenade set, it was about to go off in a couple of seconds. With the instinct to live, Jack mustered all of his remaining strength left and pulled Pinkie up in the tracheal tube with him. He tried to ignore the pain coming from the razor sharp teeth, and squeezed Pinkie inside the tracheal tube.

Back outside of the Mi-go’s body, the beast had all four ponies pinned to a corner. With the dark tendrils ready to be lashed out, the ponies closes their eyes and prepared for the worst. But suddenly, they heard a loud explosion coming from inside its stomach. The explosion was so powerful; it blew up a humongous hole in the stomach area. Blood and entrails flew out of the opening, and splattered all over the ponies. The Mi-go cried out in agony for a moment, before the body tipped over to the side. The beast’s body hit the ground, and gurgled its last breath. The ponies were shocked and disgusted, as blood and the beast’s ruptured organs were all over their bodies. Rarity looked at the other ponies, and to herself. She almost threw up from the gory display. At this point, they all had a moment to brush themselves off with their hooves.

A few seconds later, they noticed something moving within the Mi-go’s throat. They wondered for a second of what was happening in there. But they got their answers as Jack came out while holding onto Pinkie Pie’s barely conscious body. When Jack was out of the beast’s throat, he began to limp away from the body, while dragging Pinkie by the hoof. A few steps later, Jack fell to his knees and gasped for air.

“Son… of… a bitch… nugh…” Jack spoke, while breathing for fresh air. Rainbow Dash spotted Pinkie Pie lying on the ground, and gasped in happiness.

“Pinkie Pie!!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She rushed over towards Pinkie’s body and lifted her unconscious head. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were relieved to see the both of them safe and sound, but more relief to see Pinkie Pie still alive. They all went up to Pinkie Pie and sat around her. Dash tried to wake up Pinkie by wobbling her head.

“Hey! Pinkie Pie! Wake up! It’s me, Rainbow Dash! Please wake up!” She cried out in plea. But only moans of pain were the only responses Pinkie Pie could let out. Their hearts were becoming more anxious by each second passing by. Dash tried shaking Pinkie’s head once more, but to no avail. Seeing Pinkie Pie like this made Dash’s bottom lip quiver. Teardrops began dropping out of Dash’s eyes, landing on Pinkie’s bottom eyelid. Then, Dash’s tears rolled down from Pinkie’s eyelid, making it look like she was crying too. But all hope was not lost, as Rainbow Dash looked at Jack with eyes of desperate need.

“Jack! Please! You got to save her! I’m begging you!” Jack looked over at Pinkie Pie’s barely conscious face, and sighed.

“Alright, alright already. Geeze… just give me a second.” Jack looked at his left hand and saw that both index and middle fingers were bent slightly. He grabbed his index finger with his right hand, and yanked the finger towards straight up. Jack flinched in pain, when the bone cracked into place. The ponies gasped, as they heard the frightful noise. It almost made them sick to their stomachs. After the index finger was back in place, he grabbed his middle finger, and repeats the process. This time, Jack yelped in pain, as he cracked the finger back into place. The pain shot through from his hand to his whole body. It felt just as bad as breaking a bone. Once more, the ponies gasped in fright from Jack’s pain. Rainbow Dash leaned a little closer to view Jack’s fingers.

“Are you alright?” She asked. Jack nodded back at her. When Jack finally got back into shape, he walked on his knees over to Pinkie. He carefully examined her full body. Some of the cuts were severe, but most of them would heal themselves over time. With no time to waste, Jack pulled out a surgical suture, a sewing needle, a needle driver, a capsule containing epinephrine, and a syringe from his pouches. For the next few minutes, he sewed up the badly wounds on Pinkie’s body. Then he cleaned off the blood oozing from the wounds.

After he was finished, he put the sewing supplies away and filled the syringe with epinephrine. Then, he jabbed the needle into the lower part of the pink pony’s spine. He injected the epinephrine, and pulled out the needle. A second or two later, Pinkie’s heart started to pound like crazy. Her eyes shot wide open, and awakened in a frightful gasp.

She sat up quickly, and began shaking in an overwhelming state. The other ponies took action and restrain her forearms and back legs. It only took her a few seconds to settle down. When the adrenaline effect warred off, Pinkie became a bit calm. Her eyes darted from side to side anxiously. Her entire body shook in distress. And she was hyperventilating from the chilling sensation.

“*Heave**Sigh**Heave**Sigh**Heave* W-Wh-What’s g-g-g-going on?! *Heave* Where am I?!” Pinkie said, overwhelmed with confusion and anxiety. Rainbow Dash softly placed her hoof onto Pinkie’s shoulder and leaned her against Dash’s chest. Dash wrapped her forearms around Pinkie, giving her a comforting hug. She slowly stroke Pinkie’s mane from top to bottom in a smooth rhythm.

“Shhhh… I-It’s okay, Pinkie Pie,” Dash softly spoke, sniffing her wet nose. “Take it easy girl. It’s over… you’re safe with us. Just calm down.” When Pinkie heard her friend’s voice, her uncontrollable hysteria ceased. Taking this moment to recover, she began to calm herself down. She saw her friends surrounding her with smiles on their face. When her eyes caught a glimpse of her friends, Pinkie became even calmer.

“G-Girls…” She said with relief. Rainbow Dash hugged Pinkie tighter and wept in happiness. Applejack and Rarity felt the warmth inside their hearts when Pinkie was back to normal. Both of them hugged and cuddled against Pinkie Pie. They too also began to cry in happiness. Fluttershy looks over to Jack with a tearful smile.

“Thank you… *Snivel*… thank you!” She said, and went over to comfort Pinkie Pie. While the ponies were happy to see their friend feeling all-better, Jack began to wonder about their relationships. He felt confused to see them crying, yet, smiling with joy. Something sparked inside Jack’s heart; he felt something like he never felt before. But at the same time, it felt something very scary to him. Unwilling to let this go into his head any further, he looked away from the group and headed over towards a lonely desk table. However, as he was walking, the wounds on his legs began to sting him. Jack grunted in pain, almost making him fall down to his knees. The ponies heard Jack and took their attention off of Pinkie for a moment.

“Jack, yer alright?” Applejack asked. Jack turned his head around and nodded at Applejack.

“Y-Yeah… don’t worry about me.” Jack stood back up, and slowly made his way towards the desk table. When Jack arrived at the table, he slid open the first drawer. There, it contained a new roll of woven gauze bandage, a clean syringe, and an antibiotic insulin vial. There were also old documents under the supplies that looked nothing important. He took the supplies and placed them inside his left pouch. Then, he checked the second drawer, but there were only more documents and a small test tube. He then opened the third drawer, and there it was.

The Key of Apocalypse… Jack said in his consciousness. The key fragment he found had a triangle shaped emerald on top. He grabbed the key and placed it where the other two were resting.

“All I need now is The Key of Death and I’ll soon justify my life and… wait.” Jack suddenly paused himself. He knew that he’d forgotten something very important. At that moment, he saw something coming out of his nose. It was blue smoke steaming out of his nostrils. And that’s when it hit him; he knew that the effect were beginning to wear off. He quickly turned his head over to the ponies.

“Shit! We need to get out of this quarter room now! The effect will wear off in just a few minutes!” He announced shockingly. The ponies gasped; their legs stood up on their own as it hit them. Jack quickly dashed towards the exit, and prepared to open the door. He was just about to open the door, when Fluttershy called out to him.

“Wait! Jack!” She hollered out. “What about Pinkie Pie? She isn’t going to survive the toxic without that chemical thingy you gave us!” Just in time, Jack stopped himself from opening the door. He swerved his head around and looked at Pinkie. It was true that if Pinkie were allowed to roam outside the door for just a few seconds, she would be dead. There was little time left to do the whole process again; plus, he just used his only scroll for this kind of situation. But convenience came when he spotted a barely new gas mask lying on the ground. Jack picked up the gas mask and tossed it over to Pinkie. She caught the gas mask and stared at it with confusion.

“Put that on, and don’t you dare take it off until we reached outside the entrance! Hurry!” Jack said. Pinkie didn’t know whom he was, or what he was. But her friends next to her nodded in agreement. Putting aside her concern, she placed the gas mask on her face, and secured the strap around her head. It was a little crowded in the mask, but she can smell clean oxygen just fine. When she finally had her mask on, the ponies galloped over towards the exit. Jack opened the door, and light green fumes came rushing out of the doorway. At that moment, Jack produced a slight gasp.

“Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me!!” Jack cussed himself again, this time in annoyance. Standing next to the door was the rebirth of Michael. His eyes looked like they’ve been gorged out. Multiple dark tendrils spawned out of his pelvis, giving him the support to stand up. And his white lab coat was almost fully drenched in blood. Michael grinned at Jack sinisterly, as his hallowed eye sockets bled more black blood.

“You know, I never thought that Zalgo would be this generous. This power… coursing through my body… it’s exquisite! I’ve been shown the truth… and my real purpose! Join him… his existence and principle is more powerful than Cthulhu! I have seen what you could not have imagined! Join him…”

At that moment, Jack heard something moist and gooey coming from behind. He turned his head around, and couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. The Mi-go’s blasted hole began repairing itself, moreover; it was regenerating back to its formal form. The skin and carcass it lost during the grenade incident was replaced by the dark tendrils; enclosing the hole completely. Once the whole was fixed up, the Mi-go let out a mighty roar that shook the whole room a bit. And behind the Mi-go was Michael’s lab partner. His severed body animated all on their own, with the help of dark tendrils spawning outside the wounded gaps. Jack turned his head back over to Michael, who was chuckling deeply.

“Or things will get… very brutal.”

Seeing as this was yet another déjà vu, he knew where this was going. With time ticking, Jack had only one answer. He whiped out his handgun and shot Michael right directly on the forehead. His head exploded from the bullet’s impact, as blood and chunks of flesh splattered all over the floor.

“Piss off…” Jack grunted in a scornful tone. He sidekicks Michael’s body off to the side, and immediately dashed off. The ponies looked behind them and spot the Mi-go and Michael’s partner charging towards them. They gasped, and made a run for it. Like a cat chasing a mouse, the gang quickly made haste towards the doorways. The Mi-go slivered its way out and crawled on the ceiling. With each step the Mi-go made, loud thumps shook the whole room. With just one minute until the effect wears off, Jack picked up his pace and sprinted at full speed. Seeing as they could outrun the Mi-go and both cultists made Jack think that they were about to make it out of here alive.

They were just about to pass through the second doorway, when they heard a loud, screeching noise coming from above. Fluttershy was the first to look up. And at that moment, she was pinned to the ground. The gang heard Fluttershy’s yelp, and immediately stopped running. They looked behind them and spotted the young filly once again. The filly was standing on top of Fluttershy’s chest, looking down at her feared eyes. The filly’s eyes were as dark as the shadows can be, as she was transformed by Zalgo as well. The young filly snarled, revealing her sharp and bloody teeth.

“Mommy?! Why did you leave me, Mommy?! Why did you leave me there all alone!?”

The little filly cried out in anger. Pure and seething rage erupted from the filly’s mouth, as her tone rose.

“I’ll be a good girl this time, Mommy! I won’t run off again! Please! Don’t you ever leave me here! Don’t yo-“

At that moment, Jack shot a bullet right directly at the filly’s head. She was sent off twirling into the air by the bullet’s impact. Fluttershy gasped unexpectedly, as she was startled by the gun’s sound. Jack placed the gun back into his holster and sprinted towards the exit.

“LETS GO!” He yelled. Rarity rushed back to Fluttershy and immediately helped her back up to her hooves. After that, they both made a hasty retreat. The Mi-go was barely right on their tails, as Rarity and Fluttershy went through the doorway. The size of the doorway was too small for the Mi-go to fit through. But it didn’t stop the beast, as it barged right through the doorway. The whole wall separating the first and second room began to burst down. The wall cracked, crumbled and collapsed, as pieces of the wall clobbered the catwalk by the force of the Mi-go’s strength. Approximately ten more seconds until the effect wears off and they were about a half a mile away from the exit. Jack and the ponies knew that they weren’t going to make it. Eight seconds passed, and it was time for the effect to diminish. Their hearts pounded like crazy, as the race for survival was on the line. A quarter away from the exit, Jack made a desperate decision. He swerved his head back to the ponies.

“HOLD YOUR BREATHS!!” Jack yelled. Just before the final second had passed by, Jack inhaled whatever he could and held his breath. The ponies also did the same. When that second passed by, their mouth and throat became cold and wet. While running for their lives and holding their breaths at the same time, it felt like it was a difficult task.

The Mi-go swooped its head closer and closer behind the ponies. Its mouth was a few centimeters away from sinking its teeth into one of the ponies’ flanks. Closer and closer towards the exit, their lungs and throat began to build pressure from exhaustion and desperation. They felt like they were gonna exhale at any second now. But just when hope seemed to be lost, Jack finally reached over the door handle. He immediately twisted the door handle and opened it swiftly. He leaped outside, and anxiously awaited for all the ponies to pass through.

Just when Fluttershy’s tail passed through the doorway, Jack pushed the door fast. The Mi-go’s head was just about to reach outside the doorway, when the steel door smashed the beast’s head hard. The Mi-go screamed in agony, as it fell to the second floor. Backing up a few feet away from the door, Jack and the other ponies finally released their breath. Light blue puffs of smoke steamed out of their mouths, as they gasped for air.

Pinkie Pie knew that it was a safe to take off the mask. She yanked the mask off, and began to hyperventilate. She had no idea what was going on, and what in the world was that beast. It frightened her to the brink of insanity. She never faced something this horrific and scaryl in her life. Trying to find some comfort, Pinkie went up to Rainbow Dash and hugged her tightly. Rainbow Dash didn’t expected Pinkie Pie to hug her now. Dash stared at the pink pony, who was now coated in tears.

“Ra-Rainbow… Rainbow Dash… *Wheeze*… I-I’m so s-scared! *Gasp*… W-What kind… of… of…” She tried to cough up her last words, but they were so jammed inside her throat, that it made Pinkie burst into crying. She placed her head against Rainbow’s chest again and wept loudly. Dash felt Pinkie’s fear very clearly, as she too experienced it. She slowly wrapped her forearms around Pinkie and cuddled with her closely.

“Shh… I know Pinkie. It’s going to be all right now… you’re here with us. And… uuuk!” All of a sudden, Dash felt something grumbling in her stomach. Then, she made a loud belch that echoed across the hall. Pinkie looked up, and saw Rainbow Dash with derpy eyes. Blue steams of smoke came out of her mouth, as her head tilted from side to side.

“Uuuugh… I feel weird… *Buuurruuuuup!!*” She spoke in a groggy tone. While Pinkie stared at Dash, her fear and sadness began to wane. The way Dash looked, it almost made Pinkie Pie want to…

“…Heh… Hehe… Hehehe!” Pinkie giggled quietly, with her hoof covering her mouth. Her depression started to loosen up, as she’s feeling a bit brighter than ever. Then, she heard the other ponies belch loudly. She looked over and noticed they too had derpy eyes. Their heads spun in circles, while blue smoke puffed out of their noses. And at that moment, Pinkie’s heart began to beat with joy and happiness.

“PPPFFHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *Snort!* AHAHAHAHAHA!!” Pinkie laughed with full force. In an instant, her straight mane and tail fluffed back up. She threw herself onto her back and continued her hearty laugh. She pointed her hoof at the gang while doing so.

“HAHAHAHA!! Y-YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACES!!” She laughed. The ponies looked at each other’s faces, and instantly began to giggle at one another. This triggered a spark of happiness within each pony. It felt like they haven’t laughed in such a long time. Jack, on the other hand looked disturbed. He was perplexed to see the ponies’ strange behavior. It felt like it wasn’t laughter of mockery… it felt something different. It was like… they were having a good time laughing. Strangely enough, he looked at the ponies’ derpy eyes. For the first time, his stomach began to feel ticklish. His mouth started to quiver upwards, as the laughter continued. And then…

“…h…heh… hehe… ehehehe…” Jack started to giggle so loud, that the ponies just barely heard him. He suddenly stopped giggling and gasped. He quickly placed his hands on his mouth. The new sensational feeling frightened Jack a bit, as he never expected this before. He never knew what laughter felt like. It was like a surprise to him. As his hands covered his mouth, he eyed at the ponies, who were shocked as well. Jack slowly removed his hand from his mouth, and stared at his own two hands.

“Whah… what the hell was that?!” He asked shockingly. Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile at Jack for discovering something special.

“You laughed of course! Laughter cheers everybody up. Even when you feel down or depressed.” Fluttershy said. When Jack heard the word ‘Laughter’, he let out a small gasp. He eyed at Fluttershy looking bewildered.

“I… I did?!” Jack stared at her for a moment, then back to his hands. Both hands shook from the overwhelming sensation of astonishment. Then, he thought to himself the words he learned and experienced back then. Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, and Laughter appeared inside his head. All five of those words were like some sort of puzzle that only he could solve for himself. It felt like there was something missing… something that brings those words together. Unable to find an answer, he set his mind back into reality, and sighed. Jack dropped his hands and turned his back away from the ponies.

“Well… I guess there’s one more place left. Pinkie Pie… you're sticking with us. Let’s move out.” Jack said and proceeded forward. Fluttershy felt a little disappointed that the moment faded. But, she knew that Jack was slowly understanding what friendship really means. With no objections, Fluttershy and the gang followed Jack into the foggy abyss, where their last destination awaited them.