Pinkie Pie Kills the Brony Universe
Pinkie Pie shivered in the middle of a summer's afternoon. The sun's warm rays lighted upon her pink fur, but she shivered as if cold nonetheless. Her sixth sense, which she called her "Pinkie Sense", often warned her of danger or notable events. This time, it told her of the latter. She shifted her weight, tilted her head, and winked. To those nearby, Pinkie directed her blue eyed expression at no one in particular, but she clearly meant it for you.
After a short walk through Ponyville, she arrived at her destination, a giant oak tree. The town hollowed out the living tree long ago to become the local library. For the past few years, however, it also dually served as the home of the town's newest resident, Twilight Sparkle. Yesterday, during lunch, Twilight invited Pinkie to meet with her today. For what reason, Pinkie didn't know, but she rarely denied a friend. She raised a hoof and gave the door a few light taps. A few moments later, the door opened.
“Oh! Hello, Pinkie.” Twilight smiled.
“Hiya Twilight!" Pinkie hopped in place. "You look extra purple-ly and smart today!”
Twilight laughed and waved the unusual compliment away. “Oh, I'm just the same ol' unicorn I've always been. Come on in.”
Pinkie followed Twilight into the library. Books and papers laid scattered on the floor and piled high on Twilight’s desk. The mess extended no mercy for the center table either. Pinkie found herself mildly intrigued at what new, mystery research Twilight conducted. After retrieving something from her desk, Twilight returned to Pinkie with a slightly worn book, wrapped in her magic.
“Sorry for the mess. I got stuck on a problem, and I guess I got a little..." Twilight glanced once more around the room. "...carried away."
Pinkie's head tilted. "What sort of problem?"
"Well..." The purple aura from Twilight's horn opened the book and levitated it to her friend. "This one."
Pinkie took the book in her hooves and stared at it for a moment. The scribbled ramblings of madness scrawled its pages. The doodles of a pony with Pinkie's mane were drawn here and there. Lines and arrows criss-crossed between the drawings amidst an abundance of confusing formulas, which squeezed against each other to fit in the dwindling free space. Question marks peppered the rest.
She turned it sideways, scrutinizing the chaos. "Ok... But what does it mean?"
Twilight pulled the book away. “Don't you see? For whatever reason, the laws of physics, and maybe even the universe itself, bend and break at the whim of your random, crazy antics." Twilight brought her face close to Pinkie's. "By watching you, I've come up with a compelling hypothesis.”
Pinkie leaned away from her friend’s intensity. “...And what’s that?”
Twilight poked a hoof into Pinkie’s chest. “You can use magic.”
A brief pause fell on the conversation.
Pinkie erupted into a giggle fit. “Well, of course I can use magic, silly. Everyone has some form of magic in them, even us earth ponies.”
Twilight shook her head. “No. Earth pony magic is passive and usually relates to the ground and plants, but it’s different with you. Your magic goes beyond that. Why? How do you do it?”
Pinkie blinked. “I just do what I do, Twilight. I don't know how to explain it. It just happens.”
Twilight sighed and turned away. “If there’s one thing I've learned from my time in Ponyville, it’s that friendship is magic in the literal sense. It’s possible that maybe you have so many friends that you have an excess of this magic, thus giving you the ability to use it without even consciously thinking about it.” Twilight looked back at Pinkie. “This brings me to the true reason I asked you to come over.”
Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “Ok…?”
“If you really can use magic, I want to help you unlock that potential and teach you how to use it.”
One of Pinkie's forehooves pawed at the oak floor. "...I would, Twilight, but keeping an entire town happy already takes up most of my time and studying magic seems like it would involve a lot of...” Pinkie looked around once more at the mess of research in the library. “Well, studying...”
Twilight approached her friend once more. “Please, I'm begging you. This could be a momentous breakthrough for all of Equestria! Imagine! Earth ponies and pegasi, shifting and manipulating the world around them, just like a unicorn!”
"Well..." Pinkie thought for a moment. "Ok!" She beamed.
"Great!" Twilight began pulling down a few of the remaining books left on the shelves. "Now, from what I can tell, it seems your magic is controlled by your subconscious. So, if we pull some of your subconscious into your conscious, that should create a direct link between your thoughts and your hidden magic potential."
"Makes sense to me!"
Twilight referenced one of the books she pulled from the shelves and took aim with her horn. "So, you ready?"
"Yup-a-rooni!" Pinkie sat and happily awaited whatever came.
With a grunt of effort, a beam of violet light shot out of Twilight's horn and struck squarely into Pinkie's mind. Pinkie's head jerked back, mouth agape, but unable to make a sound. Light danced around her, swirling faster and faster. Her body glowed ever brighter until a final flash of light burst with deafening, arcane energy. The force of the blast threw the entirety of the library's furnishings, to include Twilight, to the edge of the room, pressing them against the walls. The windows shattered outward and the door struggled to stay hinged.
Pinkie woke up first. "Owie..." she said and tried to rub the headache away with a hoof.
"Hello Pinkie."
Pinkie sat up and looked around, but didn't see anyone. "Um, hi? Who are you?"
"You know who I am."
Pinkie gasped. "You're my subconscious?!" She bounced around the room, grinning ear to ear. "This is so great! I already had a whole bunch of friends on the outside, but now I have one inside!"
A groan escaped from under a pile of books and furniture. A blue book, punched clean through by a purple horn, preceded the re-emergence of Twilight. "Ugh... That's never happened before..."
Pinkie stood proud in the middle of the room. "It worked, Twilight! It worked! Isn't that right, Ms. Subconscious?!"
"Don't talk about me out loud. No one else can hear me and everyone already thinks you're crazy."
"What?" Twilight scratched her head, only noticing the book on her horn after bumping it with her hoof.
"Oh! Uh... Just kidding!" Pinkie looked around and her smile gave way to concern. "...Wow. We really made a mess of the place."
Twilight smiled and attempted to pry the book from her horn. "Yeah we did, but don't worry about it. It was already in shambles before we-." She stopped messing with the stubborn book and raised an eyebrow at Pinkie. "Whoa... Nice mane cut."
Pinkie looked up, but didn't see her signature curly cue. Instead, her hair fell flat more as a solid, magenta sheet than it's usual poofy silliness.
"Oh, that's no problem," Pinkie declared. She brought a hoof up to her mouth and blew hard as she always did to regain her usual hair style, but nothing happened. "Huh..."
"How do you feel?" Twilight freed herself from her literary burial.
Pinkie checked herself over. "I still feel like the same Pinkie."
Twilight circled her friend, eyeing her up and down. "Hmm... I wonder if your inherent magic was keeping your hair up this whole time."
"So what's next?"
"Let me run some tests. We need to be sure you're in top form." Twilight started for the library's basement.
"No. Don't let her find out about me."
Pinkie shifted in place. "Actually, Twilight, I feel perfectly fine. I think I'd like to go home for now."
"Oh." Twilight paused. "Well, alright then. That is, if you really do feel ok."
"Yeah," Pinkie yawned. "I just wanna go home and take a nap."
A half smile curled Twilight's lips. "That actually sounds like a great idea. That spell took a lot out of me as well." She frowned. "I hope this didn't dissuade you from studying magic."
Pinkie wrapped a hoof around her friend's neck and pressed her cheek against Twilight's. "Of course not. I'll be back tomorrow morning. I promise." Pinkie left the library with a friendly wave and strode out through the center of town on the way to the bakery where she lived.
"So why didn't you want Twilight to know about you?" Pinkie asked.
"It's easier this way. She would have wanted to figure out how, where, why, and who I was. We would have been stuck there forever."
"But I thought we already knew all that," Pinkie pointed out.
"We do, but she doesn't. Now stop talking to me out here. We're getting looks."
Soon, Pinkie arrived home. The first floor bakery smelled of freshly baked pies, cakes, and other pastries.
"I'm hungry for some cupcakes."
Pinkie giggled. "You've read my mind!"
The next day, Pinkie returned to the library as promised. The library's shelves displayed its pristine collection of books with pride, no longer strewn about the floor. A chalkboard, a flip chart, and other schoolhouse items occupied the far end of the room. Even a juicy, red apple rested on Twilight's desk, where Twilight herself sat ready, dressed up in a classic teacher's outfit.
Twilight smiled and adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses. "Please come in, Pinkie. The class is waiting."
Pinkie didn't see a 'class', but happily joined its ranks nonetheless.
"Does anyone have any questions before we begin?"
Pinkie looked around at the other non-existant students, then raised a hoof.
"Yes, Pinkie?"
"When do we shoot lasers?"
Twilight checked her notes. "That would be... Lesson 217. Any other questions?"
Pinkie shook her head.
"Good. Now, for our first lesson, we're going to start all the way back to the very beginning. So today, we're going to learn about... the history of magic!" Twilight outstretched her hooves with a bit of fanfare.
"We have a better idea."
"The first recorded instance of spell-casting dates back to the-- Yes, Pinkie?"
Pinkie dropped her hoof. "How about... teleportation?"
Twilight hesitated. "...That's not until... Lesson 526. That one's much too difficult for a beginner. After all, bending space is a little more complicated than a simple aim and shoot spell."
"They've been watching us for years."
"Well, can I at least take a quick peek at it, pretty please?" Pinkie did her best puppy impression.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "That doesn't work on me, Pinkie, but fine. Here."
A book soon floated down into Pinkie's awaiting arms. "Thanks, Twilight! Now let's see... Page 15... Here it is.... Ok! I'm done." Pinkie closed the book and hugged it to her chest.
"You're welcome. Now, as I was saying. The first recorded instance of- What is it now, Pinkie?"
"And we've always wanted to meet them."
"I'd really like to practice teleportation if it's alright with you."
Twilight chuckled. "Very funny, Pinkie, but nopony's been able to pick up a spell that quick."
Pinkie hopped to her hooves. "I did! Watch!" Her eyes shut tight in concentration and her whole body shone brighter.
"Wait Pinkie! Stop!" Twilight cried.
Seconds before Pinkie blinked away in a flash of pink light, she opened an eye and looked directly at you.
"Ready or not, here we come."
A slight tingle danced across Pinkie's body. The library walls disappeared and in their place, a sea of countless stars revealed themselves within an endless, black abyss. Weightlessness surrounded her. The stunning display of stars and the infinitum of darkness caused Pinkie’s mouth to drop in awe.
“Whoa… Where am I?”
Using her fledgeling magic, Pinkie floated through the void to get a closer look at one of the nearby stars. When she drew closer, she saw that the star was not, in fact, a star, but a collection of large bright spheres. They spun lazily while thin tendrils of light snaked their way from the larger spheres to a smaller one in the middle.
One of the larger ones gently floated in front of her. Despite the blinding light, she could see into it. She saw her closest friends and herself laughing and playing with each other. Another pony there too, one she hadn't met before. Pinkie didn't have much time to ponder the new pony’s vivid colors or extravagant mane cut as the sphere drifted away from her.
Another sphere came to replace the first. In this one, she saw an exciting battle between her friends and a giant, formless, black shadow. The battle seemed to have lasted far longer than the little ponies could endure. The darkness threatened to grow and cover everything. Her friends, beaten and desperate, prepared to unleash one final attack to save Equestria. Pinkie never saw the ending to that story as yet another sphere approached to take its place.
This time, Pinkie didn't hesitate. She mustered up a pink aura around herself and readied to jump into the next one. It came near, she jumped, and landed face first in the grass with a thud. Gravity gave her a rude reminder. Shaking the headache away, Pinkie looked up to find her friends blissfully enjoying a summer’s picnic.
She bounced around her friends in a fit of excitement. “Hey! What’s up? Did it look like I came out of nowhere, ‘cause I totally did! You guys won't believe where I just came from and how I got there and- Ohmygosh! Twilight! I have to show you... what... I...”
Pinkie’s words trailed off. Something unsettled her. She took a moment to observe her surroundings. The leaves rustled in the wind, birds glided leisurely in the sky, and even the flowers bowed for the occasional insect. Everything moved... except for her friends.
They stood there, frozen in mid-conversation. The gentle breeze pulled at their thin, wispy hair. Delicate seams stretched skin across their bodies. Their bulging, glassy eyes gazed unnaturally at one another. Their mouths hung open with only a bit of stitching at the corners of their ghastly smiles. Pinkie stared at the gruesome sculptures of horrifying patchwork. When she saw Twilight among them, her legs buckled beneath her.
"No. Don't faint."
Pinkie's body collapsed to the ground, but her subconscious kept her awake. Her eyes struggled to stay open as they stared blankly at her friends. She laid there for a long while, unable to escape the horrific scene.
"A-are they..."
"Yup. Any deader and they would have been last week's stand-up comedy routine."
Tears welled up in her eyes. "But who... Who would do such a thing?"
A knife landed in the grass a few inches from her face. Pinkie looked up where the blade came from. Above her stood a somber, pink pony. The pony's straight magenta hair formed a curtain around Pinkie's face as tears streamed from the blue eyes that stared down at her.
"Kill me," the pony said, pointing to a scar that spanned the width of the pony's neck. "I can't do it myself."
Pinkie sat up and blinked at the new pony. "What? Who are--"
"You see that?!" the pony shouted.
Pinkie's eyes followed the pony's outstretched hoof to her friends.
"I did that! So pick up that knife and kill me!"
"You heard the mare."
Pinkie looked down at the knife in front of her, still red from an unknown source.
"She's literally asking for it."
A shaky hoof reached out to secure the knife. The other pony turned and sat with her back to her.
"After all, she did kill our friends."
Pinkie's eyes revisited Twilight's grotesque body. Her grip on the blade's handle tightened.
"She deserves it."
Pinkie approached the mare from behind. The other pony's back shook with quiet sobs while she stared at the lifeless statues she created. Pinkie lightly pressed the knife's edge along the scar of the pony's neck. The pony took in a sharp, shuddering breath at the touch.
"Wait."
"Why'd you do it?" Pinkie spoke with ice in her voice.
"You know why. We don't see the world like the others do." The pony gestured towards you. "Don't you feel that? Their stare? They're waiting for something. They wanted a show and I gave them one, but now? I have no reason to live anymore." Her eyes returned to the statues. "In the end, we're all just puppets to them and they'll abuse us to no end for their own entertainment."
"Cut her strings."
Pinkie yanked the knife across her victim's neck. The other pony sputtered and grasped at the wound with a forehoof as she fell forward, catching herself with the other. The mare let out a sick, gurgling cough as a torrent of blood splashed against the ground. Pinkie's cold expression melted into a burning heat of panic. She rushed to the pony's side and fumbled her own forehooves against the outpouring of blood.
"O-oh my gosh! I-I'm so sorry! Please don't die!" Pinkie's voice quavered.
A blood-soaked hoof slapped itself across Pinkie's face. Pinkie raised a trembling forehoof to her burning cheek and looked wide eyed at the pony bleeding out in front of her. The pony stared at Pinkie with a furrowed brow, as if threatening to do worse if she tried again. Blood continued to pour and a few seconds later, the pony found herself struggling to stay up. Eventually, the mare's strength denied her, and she slumped face down into the grass. Her long, straight magenta hair splayed out and soaked in the mare's blood.
In the black void, Pinkie's limp body floated in place. She watched the large spheres spin before her. Every now and again, the world she was in moments ago would pass, each time a grisly reminder. The joy and adventure contained in the other spheres did little to make up for the horror she witnessed... and done. She looked up at the only sphere different from the others, the small one in the middle. For some reason, these worlds were connected to it and Pinkie wanted to know why.
A notification popped up on the website. It was a message. It read, 'Hey, I noticed that you changed one of your art pieces recently. Any reason?' Confused, the recipient scrolled through their art collection. They didn't remember changing anything. Then, something caught their eye. Clicking the thumbnail magnified the picture. There, at the bottom, laid the strands of long, straight magenta hair, splayed out and soaked in blood. Something wet and sharp pressed against its neck.
"Hello, puppet master."
The second coat of blood in Pinkie's fur overlapped the first. Back in the abyss, Pinkie watched the star slowly collapse into itself until it vanished completely from existence. She gazed at the other countless stars around her.
"You've killed one. Finish the job."
The next day, Pinkie awoke back in Ponyville. She looked at the familiar furnishings of her room. Little toys laid piled up in one corner, party supplies in another. Colorful balloons pulled against the strings tied to her bed posts. The bed itself sported little designs of balloons, cupcakes, and candies.
Pinkie pushed back the blankets and ran a hoof over the blood encrusted in her fur. She broke down into a shivering mass of tears. Eventually, she couldn't cry any more, though she wanted to. She laid in bed for a long while.
"You know, Twilight's probably worried sick about us."
At the thought of Twilight, Pinkie managed to find some shred of motivation to get up and clean herself off. She'll deal with the bedsheets later. She filled her tub with warm water and didn't bother with the bubbles. She soaked herself, watching the dried blood flake off of her.
After a long moment of silence, Pinkie addressed her subconscious. "...I've always believed my life purpose was to bring joy and happiness into others' lives, not take that life away."
"Yeah, but they deserved it... Right?"
Pinkie didn't answer and for a while, silence once more reigned over them.
"You know there were a bunch of other stars out there."
"Yeah..."
Late into the afternoon, Pinkie once again found herself standing outside Twilight's library. She knocked. A second later, the door swung open to reveal a disheveled Twilight. Her jumbled mane and bloodshot eyes spoke volumes of Twilight's sleepless hysteria. Pinkie tried her best to smile.
Twilight stared wide eyed at Pinkie for a few seconds before emotion welled up in her eyes. "Oh Pinkie! You're safe!" She wrapped her forehooves around her friend's neck. "We were so scared. The whole town pulled together for a search party and everything."
Pinkie clung tight. "It's great to see you too..."
Twilight pulled back to wipe away her tears. "Oh look at me. I'm a mess. Come on in. I'll make some tea for us."
Pinkie followed inside. The library's books blanketed the oak floor once again. Piles of crumpled papers formed little mountains of failed theories. Meanwhile, ink bottles and quills teetered precariously atop the tomes of literature. There might have been some method of organization to the madness, but she didn't see it. She wandered over to Twilight's desk, careful not to step on anything. On it sat various spell books opened up to a few teleportation and location spells. She flipped through the pages aimlessly, stopping whenever a spell caught her attention.
"I stayed up all night trying to figure out some way to link different spells together to find you," Twilight called out from the kitchen. "Where were you by the way?"
Pinkie traced one particularly interesting spell with a hoof. "It's kind of a crazy story actually."
"Well, the only thing I planned to do today was to keep looking for you. So we have all afternoon to talk about it." Twilight paused and added, "One lump or two?"
Pinkie closed the book and treaded lightly to the room's center table. "Oh, you know me!"
Twilight giggled and emerged from the kitchen with a kettle, two cups, and a whole jar of sugarcubes. As she walked toward the table, she pushed the books out of the way with her magic so the two of them could sit and talk.
"Now," Twilight said, pouring tea in both cups and handing one to Pinkie. "Tell me everything that happened."
Pinkie took the cup and filled the rest of it with sugarcubes as per usual. "Well, right after I teleported, I was suddenly surrounded by a bunch of trees and it was super dark."
"Wait. You were in the Everfree Forest?!"
Pinkie nodded. "Uh-huh. Waaay off target. I was lost there for a while too. I didn't know which way was home and no matter which way I went, I always wound up in the same place."
Twilight leaned closer. "How'd you get out?"
"Well," Pinkie held a hoof to the side of her mouth as if to keep a secret. "I spotted one of the stallions from Ponyville."
"Yeah?" Twilight whispered.
Pinkie nodded. "I won't say names, but it was obvious that he was meeting up with another mare."
Twilight gasped.
"I know! So scandalous!" Pinkie batted a hoof at the air with a big smile on her face.
"So what happened next?"
"Well, I camped out until I could follow him back to town."
"Wow," Twilight said, leaning back as if needing time to process such a story.
Pinkie shrugged. "Eh, it just goes to show that nopony's as perfect as they seem."
Twilight brought a forehoof to her face. "Ugh, but I still should have thought to look for you there."
Pinkie placed a reassuring hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Aw, it's ok. It's not your fault. That spell was way out of my league. I should have listened to you."
Twilight didn't say anything, but only stared into her cup.
When the silence became too much for Pinkie, she broke it. "So... A search party huh? What kind of fun activities do you do in one of those? And why wasn't I invited? You know I love myself a good party, Twilight."
Twilight giggled. "Well, usually they involve a bunch of ponies panicking and running around, screaming somepony's name in absolute chaos. Not exactly an event you'd enjoy. And if you were there," Twilight teased with a smirk, "there wouldn't even be a search party in the first place."
"Speak for yourself." Pinkie reclined against the table. "I, for one, think that sounds like a great time." She punctuated her statement with a sip of tea.
Twilight laughed. "Tell you what, the next time somepony goes missing, I'll let you organize the search party."
Pinkie smiled. She gave her tea cup a swirl before finishing it off and reached for a second helping. She noticed Twilight staring down into her own cup, still filled to the brim.
"When I thought I lost you, it was the single most scariest moment of my life." Twilight stared into Pinkie's eyes. "Promise me you'll never do that again."
Pinkie placed a reassuring hoof on Twilight's. "Of course, Twilight. I promise."
"No! Wait! Please!" it begged, struggling against the magical pink aura that held it. "I didn't mean anything by it!"
"You wrote a story about one of my friends killing their younger sister!" Pinkie shouted. "What exactly was that was supposed to mean!?"
"Nothing! I made it up! It never really happened!" it cried.
Pinkie stamped a hoof. "I was there! I saw it happen!"
"Hey. Remember that particularly interesting spell a few days ago? I think now would be the perfect time to use it."
Pinkie flipped her victim upside down and placed a hoof on its head. A surge of images, tastes, sounds, smells, and feelings washed over her. The information of an entire lifespan filled her mind.
Pinkie smirked. "Looks like you've got a younger sister of your own."
"You stay the hell away from my sister, you bi--!"
Pinkie shut its mouth tight with her aura, a cruel smile stretched across her face. "Shh. You'll ruin the surprise."
Pinkie turned and dissipated her magicked bubble of silence, courtesy of Twilight's spell book. Her throat glowed with a subtle spell. She opened the door and called out in her victim's voice. "Hey! Kirsten! You won't believe what I just found out about milk! Oh man, it's so gross!"
Moments later, 'Kirsten' came bounding into the room. "Really? What?"
A couple weeks later, Pinkie awoke to the sound of someone knocking at her bedroom door. She groaned. She already spent her nights awake in the abyss, now someone insisted she be awake during the day too.
"Who is it?" Pinkie rasped.
"It's me, Twilight."
Pinkie checked her clock.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, Twilight! Thank you."
"Can I come in?"
"...No...?"
"Pretty please?"
Pinkie could almost hear the puppy dog eyes. She sat up and rubbed her face hard with her hooves. She did a quick check to see if there was still blood on her from the previous night. Nope. Last night's bath left her clean as a whistle.
"Fine. Come in," she yawned.
The door opened with a bit of violet magic and Twilight stepped inside. "Hey, what time were you planning on getting up anyways? It's already pretty late in the day."
Pinkie shrugged.
"Here, I'm gonna open the blinds."
"Please don't..." Too late. Bright light stabbed Pinkie's brain with a massive migraine.
"Come on, don't you wanna learn some magic?" Twilight, now at Pinkie's bedside, swished a hoof through the air in a jolly ol' fashion.
Pinkie did her best to avoid the mind-searing rays of light. Her hair helped a lot with that. "Not really... I mean, not today."
"I'll teach you about lasers!" Twilight teased in a sing song.
Pinkie's ears perked up, but soon flattened once more. "No, not even for lasers, Twilight. I'm... not in the mood for it."
Twilight's playfulness turned heartbroken. "No one's seen you leave your room for days, Pinkie. We miss you."
Pinkie sighed. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I guess I... just lost the energy to keep up."
Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkie's and smiled. "That's perfectly alright. You've spent your whole life working so hard to make sure everyone else was happy that you deserve a vacation, or retirement if you prefer. We'll understand."
Pinkie avoided eye contact.
"You've given so much to us. Allow us to give back to you for a change."
Pinkie smiled despite the tears in her eyes and patted her friend's hoof. "Thank you, Twilight. Don't worry. I'll be back to my usual silliness in no time, but if you don't mind, I'd like to try and get some rest. I didn't sleep very well last night."
Twilight nodded. "Sorry for waking you. I'll visit again sometime. If there's anything I can do to help, just say the word."
Twilight rubbed her friend's hoof one last time before standing to leave. Twilight's aura shut the blinds and closed the door behind her as she left. After Twilight's visit, Pinkie laid awake in her bed. She found it hard to sleep after Twilight's visit, but sleep or no sleep, night drew near and the work must go on.
Later that night, the vast expanse of darkness surrounded her. Pinkie watched the stars with listless eyes. Her progress eliminated several stars from the black void, but the countless other stars, still shining before her, reflected the tremendous amount of work still to come. She allowed her weightless body to drift aimlessly.
"I've been thinking," Pinkie spoke, knowing full well that her subconscious could read her thoughts. "Does it all really matter in the end?"
"Because when they die, they take their worlds and our friends with them?"
"Yeah."
"I see it more as a mercy."
"How so?"
"Well, think about it. These alternate realities were created for the sole purpose to cause our friends pain and suffering. So which is better? A swift erase from reality or a slow, agonizing existence?"
Pinkie said nothing.
"By the way, have you noticed? It's been a long time since any new stars showed up. I think they're getting the message."
Pinkie floated over to another cluster and looked into the large spheres as they drew near. She watched an alternate version of Twilight get her heart broken by some unnamed stallion. She wondered why she even bothered to check anymore. The suffering never changed, only the methods did. For whatever reason, they were obsessed with hurting her friends.
With a tired sigh, Pinkie floated up to the small sphere in the middle and stepped through. She landed in a dark, quiet room. This didn't come too much of a surprise to her as she did most of her work at night anyways. However, something didn't feel right. She didn't hear any breathing, or whirring machines, or anything.
She lit the room with a bit of magic to get a better view. Her Pinkie Sense twitched her tail violently. She heeded the warning and ducked to the side, barely dodging a large form, lunging at her from behind. Pinkie snatched it up in her aura and magicked a bubble of silence around them.
"How'd you know I was coming?" she snarled.
It didn't answer and instead began shouting and kicking against her magic.
Pinkie clamped its mouth shut, a common practice by now. "Stop it. No one else can hear you in here." She shut her eyes tight and rubbed a hoof against her temple. "Now you're going to tell me how you knew I was coming, or I'll kill you right now." She released her grip on its mouth.
It sobbed for a moment before speaking. "The news. Everyone knows that you're killing us one at a time." It hung its head and added. "I haven't slept for days..."
"Well, you can rest easy now."
The pink aura tightened around her victim's neck and released the rest of its body. She watched as its limbs thrashed about, desperately grasping at the ethereal force that suspended it in the air. The coloration in its face changed from pink, to red, to white, to blue, and finally ending on purple. She held it for a few minutes more before dropping it to the floor.
"Enjoyed that did you?"
"Hardly."
"Well, it sounds like our work is only going to get harder from now on."
"Yeah." Pinkie dissipated her bubble and teleported back to the abyss. The countless stars greeted her return.
"And there's still a whole lot left to do."
A few days since her last visit, Twilight climbed the bakery's stairs up to Pinkie's room. She held a paper aloft in her magic and knocked on the bedroom's door. No one answered. She knocked again, harder this time. Still no answer. Concerned that her friend was having another bad day, Twilight opened the door and carefully peeked inside.
"Pinkie?" she whispered. Twilight looked around the room, but didn't see anyone. "Piiinkieee..." She ventured further in.
A thorough search failed to reveal the pink mare. Twilight frowned. She looked at the sheet of paper she brought with her. Twilight, with her obsessive compulsive ways, made a complete roster of the town's citizens before disbanding the search party that day. According to Pinkie, a stallion left Ponyville to meet with a secret affair and didn't return until the next day, but according to this, no one else was missing.
Of course, Twilight didn't accuse Pinkie of anything, but the discrepancy did make her curious. Twilight rolled up the sheet of paper and stuffed it in her bag. She left the room and gently closed the door behind her. She'll try looking around town.
Pinkie sped through the abyss. They were fighting back. As a result, she ditched the theatrics for speed and efficiency. She didn't have time for suffocation or her bubble of silence. She didn't know any combat spells either. All she had was the same kitchen knife she started out with. She'd pop in, make a few choice cuts and she was gone. She didn't even bother to wait for her victims to bleed out.
Guards often showed up to protect her targets, which caused more than one close call. She spared the guards, when she could, preferring to execute her offenders instead. Besides, her teleportation rendered them useless for the most part anyways. It was obvious they had no experience with magic and she exploited that to the fullest.
"How long have we been here? Twilight's going to worry herself sick again. We should go back."
"No. If we stop now, it'll only be a matter of time before they figure out a way to stop us."
Pinkie rocketed into the next sphere. Her hooves slid across the floor's smooth surface and preserved her momentum. She saw guards standing between her and her target. Pinkie performed a low, spinning leap before teleporting past the guards, whose weapons made loud blasting noises at her previous location. She reappeared behind enemy lines and allowed the finality of her spin to sever half of her victim's neck. Then, she was back in the abyss, already on her way to the next.
Her work continued for what felt like forever, but finally, only one remained. She smiled. In a few moments, she'll be done with this nightmare and back home in Ponyville. She floated close to the star's center, but stopped. She looked around at the large spheres that surrounded her. Something didn't feel right. She looked into each one, analyzing the contents of each. One of them made her stop in her tracks.
She stared into the large sphere with wide eyes. Eventually, she struggled to work up the willpower and pushed herself in. Her hooves clunked against the oak wood beneath her. Books covered the floor. A tea kettle rested at the center table and a purple unicorn sat hunched over a messy desk.
"T-Twilight...?" Pinkie whispered.
Twilight's head shot up before spinning around. "Pinkie!" Twilight leapt from her desk and wrapped her hooves around her friend's neck, gently rubbing her face into the warm, pink fur.
Pinkie didn't reciprocate.
"It's been months!" Twilight spoke between sobs. "I wasn't sure if you were ever going to come back!" Twilight brought her face up to look Pinkie in the eyes. "Where have you been this whole time?"
Pinkie's face showed no emotion. Her thoughts were elsewhere.
Twilight pulled back and tried to wipe away some of her tears. "A-are you ok...?"
Pinkie pushed Twilight off and turned away.
"Pinkie! What happened? Why are you--"
"Shut up!" Pinkie shouted. Her body gently shook with quiet sobs. "Don't you see?"
Twilight took a step closer. "See? See what?"
"See that none of this is real, Twilight. We're puppets to them and we've got strings all over us."
Twilight ventured another step closer, leaning a little to sneak a glimpse of her friend's face. "Puppets? Strings? What do mean? Of course, this is real." Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "We're real."
Pinkie wracked Twilight's hoof with a vicious slap.
"Ow!" Twilight cried. "That hurt!"
Pinkie spun on her hooves and brought her face close to Twilight's. "Did it?! Did it hurt?! Or did someone else decide that for you?!"
"I-I-I--" Twilight backed away. "I-I don't understand! What are you talking about?"
"Everything I did was all part of their plan! Their enjoyment! Not even their own kind is safe from their sick, sadistic creations!" Pinkie punctuated her statement by slamming a hoof on the center table, which split under the force. She scooped up several books and started ripping out their pages.
Twilight watched in horrified awe. "Pinkie... please... stop..." she whispered.
"Stop what?!" Pinkie continued her literary massacre. "Technically, I'm not doing anything right now! Besides, It's not like I haven't destroyed these books a thousand times before!"
Pinkie froze. A thought chilled her. 'A thousand times...' It repeated in her head. A thousand versions of her friends... A thousand worlds... no more fictitious than her own, gone because of her violent crusade. Pinkie sat down with fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
Twilight walked past the ruined books and sat next to her friend. "Pinkie... Please. Tell me what's going on. What happened?"
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you..."
"There is a way to make her see..."
Twilight wrapped a hoof around Pinkie and pulled her close. "I'm trying..."
"Our mind had always been a mystery to her."
Twilight wrapped her other hoof around Pinkie's head, pressing it into her chest. "Please... I just want to help..."
"Let her in."
Pinkie pulled away from the unicorn's grasp. "You have a memory spell." Pinkie stared Twilight in the eyes. "Use it on me."
Twilight hesitated. "...But we never got that far into the magic lessons. How do you know about..."
"Nevermind that." Pinkie shook her head. "You have to use that spell on me. Otherwise, nothing I can say will make any sense. "
"O-ok..." Twilight nodded.
A dim, violet glow lit up the library's interior. Twilight pressed her horn against Pinkie's forehead and released the spell. Twilight's head threw itself back. Images of Pinkie's deeds, the abyss, the countless worlds, a legion of memories, and more poured into her, unrelenting and ruthless. Not just the images, but the feelings and emotions associated with them as well. Twilight's bloodcurdling screams echoed across town.
When the spell ended, Twilight's body laid immobile on the floor. Her pinprick pupils didn't move from the center of her wide eyes. Her shallow breaths gurgled through the white foam in her mouth. A low thundering of hooves approached the library. When the crowd of ponies arrived, they only found a mess of books, a broken table, and an unresponsive unicorn.
Pinkie's final destination floated in front of her. Outside the cluster's bright parameter, sat an infinite and lonely expanse of darkness. Pinkie looked out to see her home world. Her eyes traced its ethereal trail to the small sphere in the middle.
"You know what will happen once we do this."
"I do."
"There's no turning back after this."
"We've lost that privilege long ago."
Pinkie floated into the small sphere. The large ones outside spun lazily about, unaware of their inevitable fate. A pulse of light echoed through the ethereal structure. Then, they drew closer to a center point in the middle. Their bodies squeezed against each other. They pressed and shrank smaller... and smaller... and smaller... Until finally, they were gone.
