Before The Partyby TheEveryDaySparkleChaptersPrologue: PinkamenaChapter 1: Awakening-part 1Chapter 2: Awakening-part 2Chapter 3: Awakening-part 3Chapter 4: Who Am I?-Part 1Prologue: PinkamenaAuthor's Note HI guys! This is the first chapter of a fanfic i've had stuck in my head, waiting to get out for quite some time. Tell me how you like it. I'll accept any criticisms with an open mind. After all, this is only the first chapter and I know there are things I can improve on. Anyway, Enjoy! Prologue: Pinkamena Pinkamena Diane Pie. A straight laced former rock farmer turned baker who now lived with her adoptive parents and current bosses, The Cakes. She had long since left her real parents behind, choosing instead to spread love, cheer, and laughter all around in the form of her delicious and mouthwatering cupcakes. She didn't just make cupcakes, however. She also made cake and candies, all of which she shared with everyone she knew. Not that she didn't love her parents to death. It's just that, like all children, she felt that it was time for her to leave the nest. Everyone in town knew her, and she knew everyone in town. That was her policy when it came to meeting new people. She would always make it her mission to remember all their names as best she could. She was very polite and never spoke out of turn. When she did speak, it was always in a well mannered voice and she almost never shouted. Her way of speaking was reminiscent of a time long past, a gift from her birth family that she herself was rather thankful for, as it made her mission of making friends easier. She almost never cried. No one ever saw her sad, and she liked it that way, thinking that if anyone saw her sad, they would be sad too, and she didn't want that. Not even for her sake. Aside from being a baker, Pinkamena had a side job where she babysat. Mostly it was the Cakes two kids she had to watch over, and she had done it so often, and gotten so good at taking care of them that the Cakes even started paying her extra. Of course, she still had school, so she made sure to fit it into her schedule whenever she had the time. The school she attended was none other than the prestigious Ponyville High. It was called that on account of it being located in Ponyville, a town that got its name from all the miniature horses that roamed around the town, lead around by their masters toward the green pastures on the outskirts of the town. Pinkamena's own pony was a sleek, black one with a shiny coat and mane. Her adoptive parents, Timothy "Carrot" Cake, given the nickname on account of his auburn hair, and Margaret "Cup" Cake, given the nickname on account of her...less than modest time as a younger woman, had gotten it for her as a Christmas present when she was a child. The stallion's long, muscular legs had taken her for many a ride in her younger years, accompanied by her father, who made sure she never fell off, not even once. When the pony first appeared, tethered to the gate that kept intruders out of their home and good friends from leaving so soon after they arrived, Pinkamena was afraid. The pony was big and scary in her young eyes. Her father ushered her toward it. reassuring her all the way up until they were on the horse and riding it. After she had gotten over her initial shock at being on the pony, Pinkamena realized that riding a horse was pretty darn fun, and decided to name it Obsidian, in honor of its shiny black coat. She really did like that horse. The second time she got a good look at it, she fell in love with its coat and how pretty it was. It matched perfectly with her black silk dress, another gift given to her by her birth parents before she left. She treasured that dress like a jewel, never letting it stay dirty and always wearing it when she had the chance, which was usually when they went to fancy places like restaurants and such. She also had a second pet. An alligator with no teeth, as it had lost them all biting into things it didn't know it shouldn't have, and a rare condition that made him rather small for such a ruthless predator. He was now nothing more than a harmless, cute shell of his previous horrifying majesty. Now, in school, Pinkamena always had good grades. She had all A's in fact. Her birth father had instilled in her the values of hard work, especially in the realm of education. And just like any good daughter would, she continued to study even after she had left. She was always very organized, and never missed a single class. She was always prepared and could probably answer every single question in her sleep if it were physically possible. In fact, she probably did. Her adoptive father "Carrot" Cake always wondered how she was able to keep up with work and school and all her studies at the same time. He later found out she wasn't, when he tucked her into bed after finding her asleep right in the middle of one of her late night study sessions. This wasn't to say that she didn't have any friends. In fact, she had quite a few of them. Six to be exact. Five good friends that she met in freshman year and one that transferred in during her sophomore year. That one was rather new to the school, and even after a few months of being there, she still hadn't quite settled in. There was also one other friend that she had. One she had to try a bit harder to make friends with than usual. A power hungry bad girl who had previously had the entire school wrapped around her little finger. This one took the warm hearts of all of her friends, but eventually they all became friends like she had originally wanted. Pinkamina had the perfect life. She had a job, two loving families, and a great group of friends that she could hang out with. Everything was going as she had always thought it would. That is until... Chapter 1: Awakening-part 1Pinkamena woke up with a smile on her face, as was usual for Ponyville High's most cheerful girl. She sat up in bed, stretching and yawning as she slipped off the covers and made her way to the bathroom to complete the daily routine. Once that was done, she began to slip off her pajamas and replace them with the clothes from her closet. Today she wore a pink short sleeve graphic shirt with a blue balloon on the front, a pair a pink sweatpants, and her favorite pink jean jacket given to her by her adoptive mother. Margaret had suggested she wear something a little bit more modern after seeing her wardrobe. The clothes she had brought from home were mostly dresses, and she thought she needed something a little more current. Pinkamena's mother told her that she could use clothes like these if she wanted to fit in a little better, and after only having been in town for a week before people started calling her a foreign exchange student, she knew she could use the clothes. It even helped a little bit with the selling of her pastries, as it allowed people to see her as a more approachable person. Not that her personality wasn't doing most of the work already. As she had finished putting on a pair of pink and white sneakers, she took one last look over her room, made sure it was clean and everything was in its proper place, and then she made her way downstairs to say good morning to the family. She hugged her parents, waved to the children, and then sat down in her seat to begin her breakfast. While at the table, many conversations were being held. From business talk to school to Pinkamena's friends. Once she had finished her breakfast, she waved goodbye to her parents, left, and, after sparing a wave to Obsidian, left the house with her friends, who had been waiting for her outside her home as they usually did everyday. One day they found that they all walk to school the same way, so they figured why not meet up and go? While on the way, they made plenty of conversation. In fact, they were in the middle of one right now. "Hey Rainbow, how do you think you did on yesterday's math test?" "I think I did a pretty good job." At that they all laughed. "If a 56 is what ya call a good job, sugar cube, then i'd hate to see what a terrible one is." Apple Jack joked. They all laughed some more while Rainbow was getting angrier. "Hey! I did good...They just...couldn't see how awesome I was!" Rainbow Dash denied. "You mean the awesomeness of your cheating?" Twilight joked alongside AJ. "Rainbow! What did I tell you about cheating, Darling?" Rarity said, flipping her hair. "Yeah, yeah, winners never cheat cuz cheaters never win, blah, blah, blah." "Why, I never! How could you possibly have ignored me? I was telling the truth, dear!" Rainbow put a finger to Rarity's nose. "I'm ignoring you because I did not cheat!" Twilight glared at her. "Oh yeah? then why did we find out that you had written the answers on your arm before the test? 'After' getting them from our schools resident bad girls 'The Dazzlings'?" Rainbow's eyes widened in shock. They had found out, right after the test in fact, because Apple Jack noticed it while they were walking and had forced her to tell them everything. She turned around, putting her hands behind her head as she closed her eyes, blushing in embarrassment, afraid to look either of the in the eye after that. "W-well, whatever! So I cheated! What about you?" She pointed to Fluttershy, who shrank back in fear. "I-i got an...eighty-five." She said, too afraid to speak any louder. "What?! You too?!" "See? If even she can get a good grade with how nervous she is, I know that you can too. But 'without' cheating next time." rainbow Dash sighed, defeated. "You're right Twilight. It's just...I was afraid that I would fail. I suck at math." Everyone felt sad about it now, and they huddled around Rainbow and hugged her. Sunset spoke up, letting her presence be known finally. "It's okay, Rainbow. We know it's hard. But, with the right tutor, you can get better." "That's right, and I know just who can help you!" Rainbow was excited now. "Really?! Who is it?!" Twilight frowned, disappointed that her friend didn't know. "It's me." Rainbow groaned. "Ugghhh, but you're so boring." "Well, too bad! You're stuck with me, so be ready to study like you're life depends on it!" "Um, I'll help you study Rainbow!" Pinkamena suddenly said. Rainbow turned around to face her. "Really? You'll help me! Aw, thanks! With you teaching me, i'll have it down in no time!" Twilight looked sad now. The two smartest girls in school, and she had to pick her. She had really been really looking forward to teaching her too. Why, oh why was fate so cruel? Then pinkamena spoke up again. "Uh, girls? That's nice and all, but if we don't hurry up, we're going to be late." She gestured toward the school building, which they had been standing outside of for quite a while. They all booked it to class immediately. Fortunately none of them were late, but they were really tired. So tired in fact that the only one of them that could still move without support was Rainbow, due to her constant athletic pursuits. She was forced to help her friends on their way to class. Chapter 2: Awakening-part 2By lunch, the group was back to normal. After some much needed rest and relaxation under the pretense of food, the seven friends were happy to sit around and talk for the rest of the time until the third class bell rang. "Hey, Twilight! Remember when I steamrolled you in that soccer match?" Rainbow could be heard saying as she enjoyed her spaghetti. "That was the other world's Twilight Rainbow." "Oh yeah, right. But it was still pretty awesome." "It sure was. I still remember her face when she tried to score." Somewhere on the other side, in Equestria, a purple alicorn sneezed. "Hey, have you heard about flash sentry's new song?" Fluttershy suddenly said. "What, ya mean that 'Lessons Learned' or whatever he calls it? Yeah i've heard of it. he let me hear a bit of it sos he could see how it sounded." "What?! You got to hear one of Flash sentry's songs and didn't tell us?" Fluttershy said, upset that she didn't get to study another bands lyrics for herself. "He told me not to tell ya'll. Said he wanted it to be a surprise." "Then how does Fluttershy know about it?" Twilight said, causing everyone to turn to Fluttershy and her to sweatdrop under their piercing gazes. "I just walked by their practice alright!" she yelled as quickly and loudly as her little voice would let her. "Well, did you go inside to watch?" Rainbow asked. "What? No! I was just coming back from my locker when I heard the sounds of their instruments through the door as I walked by." Everyone sighed, relieved. Fluttershy sighed as well, but mostly because she wasn't being put on the spot anymore. "So how was it?" Pinkamena asked. "The song?" "Duh! Now tell us how it was!" Rainbow said. "It was pretty good." "Was it pretty good as in better than us, or pretty good as in it was okay?" Rainbow continued to pepper Apple Jack with questions. "Look I just said it was alright, okay, so back offa me." "Alright? I thought you said it was good." "Enough!" Twilight yelled, causing the entire lunchroom to look her way. "Ehehehe, sorry." she apologized, sheepish grin and all. "so, if it was so good, why are you so upset?" Sunset asked. "I'm not upset. I'm tired. He had me listening to that song so much it's stuck in my head. He said it had to be perfect. Part of the reason I feel like I do now is because I had to sit there holdin' still for a whole 5 minutes. I don't even know what a D flat is!" All of a sudden they understood. They themselves had just run all the way to class not too long ago. That, along with the added stress of being forced to listen to a song over and over can really wear someone out. "Excuse me, girls, but I do believe something quite terrible is happening outside." Suddenly they all stopped and turned toward the windows, following the direction indicated by Rarity's words. She was right. something terrible was happening outside. It looked like a storm was brewing. But this was no ordinary storm. Each boom of thunder was like a drum, and each flash of lightning brought about colors like those of the rainbow, and it was as if the clouds had been colored in by the odd crayon. Common sense would have told them they shouldn't be out there. But curiosity at the sight before them, as well as the possibility of it being a danger that they must face, brought them away from their seats and out toward the storm that raged before them. "Wow! That's awesome!" Rainbow said, watching the colors. "I must admit is is rather beautiful for a storm." "Only you would say somethin' like that, Rarity. On the farm, storms meant all the animals had to return to the pens." "Wow is right, Rainbow! I've never seen something like this before. I have to study it's effects on the weather patterns." "There you go, nerding out again. This is a storm, remember? What if you get hit by lightning?" "Oh please. That couldn't possibly happen." "If you say so." "I'm s-scared of thunder..." Fluttershy said, shaking. "It's alright Fluttershy. I've got you." Pinkamena said, placing her hands on Fluttershy's shoulders. As they all watched the storm, it began to get a little windy. A little too windy. "This storm is getting rather bad, don't you think?" Rarity shouted over the sound of the wind. "This? This is nothing! I can handle a storm like this in my sleep." "Really, Rainbow? Ya'll are sayin' that now, of all times!" "Apple Jack is right, girls. I think it's time we went back inside." With a nod from all, the girls made their way back inside, not noticing that one of them had not shook their head. In fact, one of them had been standing in one spot ever since they first walked out there. Pinkamena stood entranced by the storm, it's colors and sounds mesmerizing her to no end. Fluttershy stopped the girls retreat back inside to turn and go get her, but when she turned around it was too late. A rainbow colored lightning bolt struck the spot where pinkamena was standing, snapping her out of her trance long enough to knock her unconscious. Fluttershy freaked out and ran toward her. The girls had no idea what Fluttershy was so worked up about. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "I-its Pinkamena! She's passed out!" Fluttershy put her thumb and forefinger around Pinkamena's wrist. "And she has no pulse!" This spurred the girls into immediate action. Rainbow rushed over to her, picked her up and ran down the halls to get the principal. the girls following behind as fast as they could. Once in the principal's office, Twilight nearly yelled in her panic. "Principal Celestia! Pinkamena's-" "Calm down, Twilight Sparkle. Deep breaths." twilight did as she was told. "Good. Now what is the matter with Ms. Pie?" "It's terrible, Principal Celestia! Pinkamena's passed out!" "She's passed out? What on earth happened? Is she anemic? It never said anything about it in her records." "No!" Rainbow Dash spoke now. "She's not anemic. She would have told us if she was." She sighed, looking down. "We saw a storm outside and went to see it. Out of curiosity ya know?" Principal Celestia simply nodded, and Rainbow continued. "Turns out, the storm was strange-" "Strange how?" Celestia said, worried now. "It was like a rainbow storm. We thought it was magic, which is also why we were out there, but then the wind picked up and we left." "And what happened after that?" "We left, but Pinkamena didn't. It was like she was in some sort of trance or something. She just stood there." "And when I turned around to go get her after we realized she hadn't come with us," Fluttershy spoke up now. "She got hit by a rainbow lightning bolt and passed out! She has no pulse!" Celestia was already dialing 911. "Get her to the nurses office quickly. We have to make sure nothing else bad happens to her." With that the girls did as they were told, taking her to the nurses office. After telling the nurse the situation, they left her in the bed and sat beside her on chairs, crying and praying and staring down at her with sad, nearly dead eyes. The ambulance arrived in 30 minutes and took her away, along with the girls, as they had refused to leave her side. "Come on, Pinkamena. Wake up." Rainbow said. It was all she said for the whole ride to the hospital. As of now, Pinkamena was in the emergency care unit. The lightning bolt did more damage than the girls thought. It gave her third degree burns, bruised up her body and broke a few bones in the process. She needed quite a bit of medical attention, and the girls agreed to let the doctors work, after being told that if they stayed with her, they would not like what they saw. A few days later, after countless attempts to revive her over the course of each day, the doctors were ready to declare her deceased. They told the girls, making them nearly cry rivers upon hearing it. "No. Not her. Anyone but her!" Rarity screamed. Apple Jack put a hand on her shoulder "I-i t's...fine, Rarity. She's...moved on, now. Ya'll just...be happy for her. She's in a better place." "How can we be happy?! She's gone!" Rainbow cried. "I know. And that's why we have to be strong. For her." The girls huddled close to each other and hugged one another tightly. They were there when the doctors pulled the sheet over her eyes and wrote down the date of death. But, that meant that they were also there to see the impossible happen, because as soon as the last pen stroke was finished on the doctor's chart, Pinkamena made a sound under the sheet, and sat up. Everyone was wide eyed, for they had just witnessed something that should not have happened. Chapter 3: Awakening-part 3Pinkamena looked around and saw that she was in a hospital. All her friends were there with her, but they all had the strangest of looks on their faces, and for some reason, she could see dried tears marking their cheeks. Even the doctors were wide eyed. Had they been crying? But why? Had something happened? She looked down at herself and saw bandages. So many bandages. They covered her hands and winded up her body like a slithering serpent set on devouring her head. It had apparently not gotten the chance however, as her head was the only thing not covered by it, as it instead chose to wrap itself around the rest of her body and squeeze rather tightly. It was then that she realized what must have happened. She had been hurt out there in the storm, and her friends brought her to the hospital. She smiled, thinking that she couldn't ask for better friends. Her smile only lasted for a moment, however, when she noticed that the strange looks on her friends faces, were ones of shock. "What's the matter, girls?" Pinkamena said, truly wanting to know what was wrong. "This is impossible!" The doctor suddenly said, startling her. "What's impossible?" Pinkamena said. "This can't be happening. You...you should be... Why, this is a miracle! I must tell the other doctors." With that he ran off to join the other workers on call. What had given this situation extra impact, was that not only had she just basically come back from the dead, but as the doctors came by and one of them took off her bandages, they noticed that she had no injuries whatsoever. It was as if the incident had never happened. As she looked back, she noticed that her friends were now mere inches from her bedside, all crying uncontrollably and smiling wider than she had ever seen. The first to speak was Rarity. Wrapping her in a tight, loving embrace, she said, "Oh darling, I just can't believe you're alright! We were just so worried that...that..." With that she began to cry, followed closely by her friends, who joined her in the embrace of their friend. "What do you mean 'you're glad i'm alright.'? What are you talking about? What were you so worried about? Can someone please explain to me what's going on?" "We will." Everyone turned toward the voice to see Twilight, wiping her eyes with her hands as she spoke. "But first, we need to welcome you back." They all hugged her tighter, one last time before releasing her, along with all their tears and grief, from their grip. After that, Pinkamena was discharged from the hospital. Celestia said she could stay home, and had exempted her from all classes and homework for at least a week. "It would be best to rest and take things slow for now," she had insisted, despite pinkamena's protests about her condition. "You did just have a traumatic experience after all." She would have tried to argue further, but after being told that one of her students had nearly died, and in fact was officially dead until a few moments after the fact was over, she insisted that she heed her decision. Pinkamena couldn't understand why Principal Celestia wouldn't just let her continue school. Scratch that, she did understand. It's just that...even after all that, if she had said she was fine, then why wouldn't she just let her go? But she knew that their was no arguing with Principal Celestia about this. When it came to the safety and well being of her students, Principal Celestia was in constant "Mother Mode", hugging them, scolding them, and fretting over the smallest things. She had even once sent a student to the nurse's office for scraping his knee on the concrete of the school walkway, when all he really needed was a band-aid and a little time. She knew she meant well. It was just...too much sometimes. And what about her grades? She couldn't just miss a week of school and expect everything to just continue as it had been. Celestia assured her that her grades would not be affected, and she even said she would personally make sure that that was the case, but...what was she supposed to do after that? It wasn't like she could just stay at home and do nothing. She had to have something to do. Anything to take her mind off the ensuing boredom she was beginning to feel. She decided to study. No sense in being out of school if you're just gonna spend that time lollygagging about, right? She spent an hour studying as much as she could, and then planned to set aside another hour for her to do the exact same thing later. Then she offered to help the Cakes with their baking. At first they were hesitant, but after she pointed out that she still had a job to do and it in fact was time for her to do that job, they gave in and let her go. Once she had made her rounds, she returned home with a pocket full of coins known only to the population as 'bits'. This was the official currency here in Ponyville. As was customary she counted out the amount and split it into two stacks, putting one in one jar, and one in another. These jars belonged to the family business and her respectively. One was for the business profits and one was for her college fund, which already had a nice bit of coins in it from even before she was born. One jar had gotten so full that they had to close it off and grab another from the closet. This was the one she used now. As she finished counting and sorting the coins, she made her way up to her room, hoping to spend a little time relaxing in her bed. But, before she could even get a chance to lie back and let all the stress from today wash away, her phone rung. She picked it up and answered, hoping it was just one of those telemarketers her mom hates so she could have a reason to hang up the phone and lie down like she wanted. She mentally scolded for even planning to be so mean to the person before she even answered the phone, and then proceeded to place it to her ear so she could hear properly. "Hello?" She asked curiously. "Oh, it's you, Pinkamena. Good, you picked up. I was starting to get worried." It was one of her friends. Twilight Sparkle, to be exact. "Yeah, i'm sorry. I'm just so tired." Pinkamena said, punctuating her sentence with a yawn. "Tired? You? No way. I've never even seen you sit down for too long." "Yeah well, after all that's happened I'm kinda beat." Twilight knew what she was referring to, and at that realization, her happy face fell, letting loose a frown so deep it could drown a person if they looked too hard. "Oh, I see..." Then, she perked up a bit as she said, "Well, the girls and I were planning on hanging out tonight if you want to come. Maybe you could relax there, with us?" Pinkamena thought for a moment before saying, "Sure, I'll be there. When are we meeting up?" "An hour from now, at the usual place." Twilight said cryptically, which made Pinkamena wonder why her friends didn't just say the name of the place. Everyone of her friends knew what the 'usual place' was, so there was no need for secrecy. That is unless something serious was going down. She got up and got dressed, heading downstairs and out the door. But not before telling her parents where she was going and kissing them goodbye. As she made her way down the path, Pinkamena could only wonder what the problem was. She found herself caught up in thinking about it the whole way to the meeting place. She and Rarity were the first ones there, considering their houses were the closest. The meeting place was none other than the school mascot statue that also served as the portal to Equestria. This being the meeting place, her first thought was that something was up with the portal. "Hi Rarity. You got here first?" "Good evening, dearest. Why, yes I did. I've been waiting here for the others for quite while now and I was starting to get impatient, so I decided to bide my time by painting my nails." "Is that right?" Pinkamena said as she took in that useless bit of information from her friend. "So, how long have you been out here?" "Just about 30 minutes, dear. It's been an 'excruciatingly' long time." Pinkamena giggled at her friend. She knew Rarity had a tendency to exaggerate but come on. This was just ridiculous. She sat down next to her and began waiting. Fortunately for the both of them, but most of all Rarity, Twilight showed up, leading the others to the designated meeting place herself. Rarity was livid. "You could have told me you were coming to get us, Twilight! You know how I hate to be kept waiting." Twilight giggled. "Sorry, Rarity. Guess that thought slipped my mind." "I suppose it did." Rarity said with a dramatic "Hmph!" at the end as she stuck her nose in the air. She opened one eye to see Twilight's reaction, only to turn her head entirely, giving her undivided attention to the glasses wearing nerd. "So, did you decide where it is we are going?" "I'm trying to. I want us to go to a museum but-" "No one but you wants to go to a museum, Twilight. Besides, why would we go there when you're a walking encyclopedia yourself." "Hey!" Twilight said with a smile as her friend teased her. Everyone laughed at the joke and then Sunset spoke up, turning the conversation back to the topic at hand. "I wouldn't mind a visit to the museum." Twilight smiled even wider, turning to look at Rainbow Dash in a way that says, "Told you." "Whatever, Twilight. Museums are boring. How about we play a game?" "Is it another sport that ya know ya'll are gonna beat all of us in?" Apple Jack piped up from her place behind the two of them. "Noooo. Why would you think that?" "Because that's what it always is." Rainbow Dash huffed, but said nothing to deny her claim. "I want to go to the zoo." Fluttershy's small voice said. Apple Jack looked at her. "Why that's a humdinger of an idea, Fluttershy. Sounds perfect." "Hmm, the zoo... I suppose I could go again, just for fun this time." Everyone looked at Twilight when she said that, no doubt wondering what else the purple human could possibly have gone to the zoo for. "What? I go there to study animals." "Classic Twilight." Apple Jack said, followed by a simultaneous "Yep." from all those present. "How about we all go to the spa? I know the perfect treatments for all of you to relax and unwind." "Rarity, the spa sounds wonderful, but I don't believe it's that much of a place to go." "Whatever do you mean, darling? The spa is an adventure in itself." "I suppose but we want to spend time there. You know, just us girls?" Rarity thought about this and nodded. "I understand completely." What followed was a long walk to the Ponyville zoo. It was located inside the Everfree sure, but ever since the battle against Gaia Everfree, it became open territory. "Hmm, the zoo..." "Oh be quiet Twilight. We already know what you're thinking about." Twilight looked up at her friends and saw Rarity looking at her "What do you mean, Rarity? I'm not thinking of anything!" She was getting flustered. "Really now? Are you sure you're not thinking of Timber Spruce, the boy from Camp Everfree?" She was. And they knew. All of her friends were looking at her now, and their eyes made her feel guilty. "Fine. Yes, I am." "I knew it! I can tell these things, you know?" Now it was twilight's turn to fake skepticism. "Oh really?" "Why yes I can. And the passion of love radiates off of you like a wave crashing against the rocky shores." Twilight was flustered again. "L-love?" "Oh it's obvious dear. You've fallen for him hard, haven't you? Ever since the dance at camp." Was that true? Had she fallen for him? He was cute, and kind, and sweet... No, it couldn't be. Rarity was just playing with her. "No!" "Deny it all you want dear. The Diamond sees all." "I'm telling you, i'm not in love!" Everyone laughed and laughed at that, leaving twilight the helpless victim of endless teasing. She was already very shy, not as shy as Fluttershy mind you, but still, this made her feel a pang of shame as the ride continued on "Oh, shut up." She smiled. What followed was a myriad of animals, facts, and fun times had by all as they made their way through the zoo, talking and laughing all the way. Once they had had their fun, they left, Apple Jack having to drag Fluttershy out of what she considered heaven. The seven friends made their way back to Ponyville, going their separate ways once they reach Pinkamena's house, as was usual due to the fact that her house was located in between their own homes. Pinkamena stepped into her house, receiving a creak of protest as she opened the door. She knew that her parents were asleep by now, and she didn't want to disturb them, so she tried to be as quiet as possible. Her and her friends had gone to the zoo in the afternoon, only to return to Ponyville at night. The only reason they were able to do this was because the Ponyville zoo, due to its location and population of mostly nocturnal animals, was the only zoo still open at nighttime. She slowly, quietly walked up to her room, shutting the door with the utmost gentleness. She took an hour to study as she had planned, and then proceeded to lie down on her bed and surrender to sleep. However, what awaited her in her mind was not a dream of happy times with her parents or of laughter with her friends. This, was a nightmare of unknown origin that had seeped it's way into her mind from the deepest, darkest, most sinister of shadows. And it was going to change her life forever. Chapter 4: Who Am I?-Part 1The dream was one of terror. In it, Pinkamena stood alone, in an intense, pitch black darkness that possessed an almost bottomless degree of void. She could see nothing within it's depths, nothing other than more black, for it was not simply a mere descent into darkness. No, it was a constant, unchanging and sinister black that served only to intensify her fear and confusion. She walked around for a while, but nothing changed. The vast black was endless in front of her eyes. It seemed like she would be walking forever. Then, she heard it. Laughter. Joyful, cheerful, and happy laughter. It was almost cute. It in fact would have been, if not for the fact that she still could not see anything at all. That fact alone made it creepy as opposed what it would have, and should have, been. Pinkamena found herself shivering as a strange and unfamiliar chill came over her, making her hold her arms close to herself and rub them. She continued walking for a while. Then she noticed it. The laughter...was getting closer. Each time she heard it, it was a little closer than it had been before, and it seemed to be coming towards her. She sat down and prayed, hoping beyond hope that all this was was a bad dream and that nothing bad would actually happen to her. Of course, she knew it was a dream, but the past few minutes had scared her into doubting that belief. The laughter continued to get closer and closer and was now only a few feet away from her. She was now visibly shaking, the cold and her fear sending a chill up her spine so cold, she felt like she would freeze into a Popsicle at any moment. She heard the laughter again. It was right in front of her now. She looked up from her knees, which she had been looking at and breathing on in an attempt to both hide herself from whatever sinister thing was out to get her, and to warm herself up at least a little bit. When she looked up there was nothing there. For a moment, she relaxed, helped along by the fact that the freezing cold she had felt only moments ago was now completely gone. She stood back up, only to nearly jump out of her skin when she heard a rip from behind her. She turned around slowly, hoping beyond hope that whatever was there would not hurt or kill her. When she turned around, she saw A mirror image of herself. She breathed a sigh of relief and stared at it, to to see what it would do. Then it happened. As she continued staring, the image grew more grotesque and twisted. Her perfectly peach skinned face showed scars and blood everywhere. Her hair was wild and puffy, shooting out in all directions. She was forced to watch as her usually smiling face, went from happy to sad, to crying and then back again. But what it returned to was not her typical smile. In it's place was a dangerously wide, and altogether bone chilling smile that touched her ears and seemed to go even further beyond. Her eyes were bloodshot and were darting in several odd directions. Her right eye twitched uncontrollably. She looked down, watching in horror as this darker, more sinister version of herself, slipped out of the tear she had made in the dream. Shesaw her clothes. The exact same ones she had been wearing for school the previous day. The top was covered in blood, as was the fate of her jeans and sneakers. Pinkamena stepped backwards, trying to get away from the horrid thing that was before her. She quickened her pace, trying to gain distance. That didn't seem to work, as the creature simply sped up as well. She broke into a run, and so did the creature. In her blind fear, she tripped over something, and fell on all fours. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to catch her breath, but she couldn't take time to rest. She stood up and turned around, ready to face this fear of hers, only to have whatever courage she thought she possessed drain right out of her at the exact moment she locked eyes with her crazed reflection. The creature tilted it's head to the side, but it didn't stop there. It kept going until a snapping sound could be heard, and now its head was turned sideways. Pinkamena stood frozen in fear. She couldn't move an inch, and the next thing she saw, made it even worse. The figure held a knife, which it raised above its head, poised for the finishing blow. The figure brought the knife down into her chest. She only had seconds to scream when she was pulled out of her dream with a "Here's Pinkie!" from the strange being. She woke up sweating profusely, scared out of her mind and clutching her chest tightly. Her parents were there and were standing near her bed, looking at her with concerned eyes. "What's wrong, Pinkamena dear?" said "Cup" Cake. "You were screaming in your sleep." Upon seeing her parents, Pinkamena calmed down a bit. "I-it's nothing mom. I'm fine. I promise." "You sure?" said "Carrot" Cake. He wore a worried expression that had obviously been on his face for quite some time, for he still wore it even now that his daughter had awakened. Pinkamena thought for a moment. She didn't want to worry her parents. Especially after all this. She said, "Yes, I'm sure. I'm fine, dad." The two parents cried and hugged her. She hugged them back tightly. What was that thing? Why did it look like her? And what did it want? These were the questions that ran through her mind as she placated her grieving family. One thing was for sure. Something was wrong. Very, very, wrong...
Prologue: PinkamenaAuthor's Note HI guys! This is the first chapter of a fanfic i've had stuck in my head, waiting to get out for quite some time. Tell me how you like it. I'll accept any criticisms with an open mind. After all, this is only the first chapter and I know there are things I can improve on. Anyway, Enjoy! Prologue: Pinkamena Pinkamena Diane Pie. A straight laced former rock farmer turned baker who now lived with her adoptive parents and current bosses, The Cakes. She had long since left her real parents behind, choosing instead to spread love, cheer, and laughter all around in the form of her delicious and mouthwatering cupcakes. She didn't just make cupcakes, however. She also made cake and candies, all of which she shared with everyone she knew. Not that she didn't love her parents to death. It's just that, like all children, she felt that it was time for her to leave the nest. Everyone in town knew her, and she knew everyone in town. That was her policy when it came to meeting new people. She would always make it her mission to remember all their names as best she could. She was very polite and never spoke out of turn. When she did speak, it was always in a well mannered voice and she almost never shouted. Her way of speaking was reminiscent of a time long past, a gift from her birth family that she herself was rather thankful for, as it made her mission of making friends easier. She almost never cried. No one ever saw her sad, and she liked it that way, thinking that if anyone saw her sad, they would be sad too, and she didn't want that. Not even for her sake. Aside from being a baker, Pinkamena had a side job where she babysat. Mostly it was the Cakes two kids she had to watch over, and she had done it so often, and gotten so good at taking care of them that the Cakes even started paying her extra. Of course, she still had school, so she made sure to fit it into her schedule whenever she had the time. The school she attended was none other than the prestigious Ponyville High. It was called that on account of it being located in Ponyville, a town that got its name from all the miniature horses that roamed around the town, lead around by their masters toward the green pastures on the outskirts of the town. Pinkamena's own pony was a sleek, black one with a shiny coat and mane. Her adoptive parents, Timothy "Carrot" Cake, given the nickname on account of his auburn hair, and Margaret "Cup" Cake, given the nickname on account of her...less than modest time as a younger woman, had gotten it for her as a Christmas present when she was a child. The stallion's long, muscular legs had taken her for many a ride in her younger years, accompanied by her father, who made sure she never fell off, not even once. When the pony first appeared, tethered to the gate that kept intruders out of their home and good friends from leaving so soon after they arrived, Pinkamena was afraid. The pony was big and scary in her young eyes. Her father ushered her toward it. reassuring her all the way up until they were on the horse and riding it. After she had gotten over her initial shock at being on the pony, Pinkamena realized that riding a horse was pretty darn fun, and decided to name it Obsidian, in honor of its shiny black coat. She really did like that horse. The second time she got a good look at it, she fell in love with its coat and how pretty it was. It matched perfectly with her black silk dress, another gift given to her by her birth parents before she left. She treasured that dress like a jewel, never letting it stay dirty and always wearing it when she had the chance, which was usually when they went to fancy places like restaurants and such. She also had a second pet. An alligator with no teeth, as it had lost them all biting into things it didn't know it shouldn't have, and a rare condition that made him rather small for such a ruthless predator. He was now nothing more than a harmless, cute shell of his previous horrifying majesty. Now, in school, Pinkamena always had good grades. She had all A's in fact. Her birth father had instilled in her the values of hard work, especially in the realm of education. And just like any good daughter would, she continued to study even after she had left. She was always very organized, and never missed a single class. She was always prepared and could probably answer every single question in her sleep if it were physically possible. In fact, she probably did. Her adoptive father "Carrot" Cake always wondered how she was able to keep up with work and school and all her studies at the same time. He later found out she wasn't, when he tucked her into bed after finding her asleep right in the middle of one of her late night study sessions. This wasn't to say that she didn't have any friends. In fact, she had quite a few of them. Six to be exact. Five good friends that she met in freshman year and one that transferred in during her sophomore year. That one was rather new to the school, and even after a few months of being there, she still hadn't quite settled in. There was also one other friend that she had. One she had to try a bit harder to make friends with than usual. A power hungry bad girl who had previously had the entire school wrapped around her little finger. This one took the warm hearts of all of her friends, but eventually they all became friends like she had originally wanted. Pinkamina had the perfect life. She had a job, two loving families, and a great group of friends that she could hang out with. Everything was going as she had always thought it would. That is until...
Chapter 1: Awakening-part 1Pinkamena woke up with a smile on her face, as was usual for Ponyville High's most cheerful girl. She sat up in bed, stretching and yawning as she slipped off the covers and made her way to the bathroom to complete the daily routine. Once that was done, she began to slip off her pajamas and replace them with the clothes from her closet. Today she wore a pink short sleeve graphic shirt with a blue balloon on the front, a pair a pink sweatpants, and her favorite pink jean jacket given to her by her adoptive mother. Margaret had suggested she wear something a little bit more modern after seeing her wardrobe. The clothes she had brought from home were mostly dresses, and she thought she needed something a little more current. Pinkamena's mother told her that she could use clothes like these if she wanted to fit in a little better, and after only having been in town for a week before people started calling her a foreign exchange student, she knew she could use the clothes. It even helped a little bit with the selling of her pastries, as it allowed people to see her as a more approachable person. Not that her personality wasn't doing most of the work already. As she had finished putting on a pair of pink and white sneakers, she took one last look over her room, made sure it was clean and everything was in its proper place, and then she made her way downstairs to say good morning to the family. She hugged her parents, waved to the children, and then sat down in her seat to begin her breakfast. While at the table, many conversations were being held. From business talk to school to Pinkamena's friends. Once she had finished her breakfast, she waved goodbye to her parents, left, and, after sparing a wave to Obsidian, left the house with her friends, who had been waiting for her outside her home as they usually did everyday. One day they found that they all walk to school the same way, so they figured why not meet up and go? While on the way, they made plenty of conversation. In fact, they were in the middle of one right now. "Hey Rainbow, how do you think you did on yesterday's math test?" "I think I did a pretty good job." At that they all laughed. "If a 56 is what ya call a good job, sugar cube, then i'd hate to see what a terrible one is." Apple Jack joked. They all laughed some more while Rainbow was getting angrier. "Hey! I did good...They just...couldn't see how awesome I was!" Rainbow Dash denied. "You mean the awesomeness of your cheating?" Twilight joked alongside AJ. "Rainbow! What did I tell you about cheating, Darling?" Rarity said, flipping her hair. "Yeah, yeah, winners never cheat cuz cheaters never win, blah, blah, blah." "Why, I never! How could you possibly have ignored me? I was telling the truth, dear!" Rainbow put a finger to Rarity's nose. "I'm ignoring you because I did not cheat!" Twilight glared at her. "Oh yeah? then why did we find out that you had written the answers on your arm before the test? 'After' getting them from our schools resident bad girls 'The Dazzlings'?" Rainbow's eyes widened in shock. They had found out, right after the test in fact, because Apple Jack noticed it while they were walking and had forced her to tell them everything. She turned around, putting her hands behind her head as she closed her eyes, blushing in embarrassment, afraid to look either of the in the eye after that. "W-well, whatever! So I cheated! What about you?" She pointed to Fluttershy, who shrank back in fear. "I-i got an...eighty-five." She said, too afraid to speak any louder. "What?! You too?!" "See? If even she can get a good grade with how nervous she is, I know that you can too. But 'without' cheating next time." rainbow Dash sighed, defeated. "You're right Twilight. It's just...I was afraid that I would fail. I suck at math." Everyone felt sad about it now, and they huddled around Rainbow and hugged her. Sunset spoke up, letting her presence be known finally. "It's okay, Rainbow. We know it's hard. But, with the right tutor, you can get better." "That's right, and I know just who can help you!" Rainbow was excited now. "Really?! Who is it?!" Twilight frowned, disappointed that her friend didn't know. "It's me." Rainbow groaned. "Ugghhh, but you're so boring." "Well, too bad! You're stuck with me, so be ready to study like you're life depends on it!" "Um, I'll help you study Rainbow!" Pinkamena suddenly said. Rainbow turned around to face her. "Really? You'll help me! Aw, thanks! With you teaching me, i'll have it down in no time!" Twilight looked sad now. The two smartest girls in school, and she had to pick her. She had really been really looking forward to teaching her too. Why, oh why was fate so cruel? Then pinkamena spoke up again. "Uh, girls? That's nice and all, but if we don't hurry up, we're going to be late." She gestured toward the school building, which they had been standing outside of for quite a while. They all booked it to class immediately. Fortunately none of them were late, but they were really tired. So tired in fact that the only one of them that could still move without support was Rainbow, due to her constant athletic pursuits. She was forced to help her friends on their way to class.
Chapter 2: Awakening-part 2By lunch, the group was back to normal. After some much needed rest and relaxation under the pretense of food, the seven friends were happy to sit around and talk for the rest of the time until the third class bell rang. "Hey, Twilight! Remember when I steamrolled you in that soccer match?" Rainbow could be heard saying as she enjoyed her spaghetti. "That was the other world's Twilight Rainbow." "Oh yeah, right. But it was still pretty awesome." "It sure was. I still remember her face when she tried to score." Somewhere on the other side, in Equestria, a purple alicorn sneezed. "Hey, have you heard about flash sentry's new song?" Fluttershy suddenly said. "What, ya mean that 'Lessons Learned' or whatever he calls it? Yeah i've heard of it. he let me hear a bit of it sos he could see how it sounded." "What?! You got to hear one of Flash sentry's songs and didn't tell us?" Fluttershy said, upset that she didn't get to study another bands lyrics for herself. "He told me not to tell ya'll. Said he wanted it to be a surprise." "Then how does Fluttershy know about it?" Twilight said, causing everyone to turn to Fluttershy and her to sweatdrop under their piercing gazes. "I just walked by their practice alright!" she yelled as quickly and loudly as her little voice would let her. "Well, did you go inside to watch?" Rainbow asked. "What? No! I was just coming back from my locker when I heard the sounds of their instruments through the door as I walked by." Everyone sighed, relieved. Fluttershy sighed as well, but mostly because she wasn't being put on the spot anymore. "So how was it?" Pinkamena asked. "The song?" "Duh! Now tell us how it was!" Rainbow said. "It was pretty good." "Was it pretty good as in better than us, or pretty good as in it was okay?" Rainbow continued to pepper Apple Jack with questions. "Look I just said it was alright, okay, so back offa me." "Alright? I thought you said it was good." "Enough!" Twilight yelled, causing the entire lunchroom to look her way. "Ehehehe, sorry." she apologized, sheepish grin and all. "so, if it was so good, why are you so upset?" Sunset asked. "I'm not upset. I'm tired. He had me listening to that song so much it's stuck in my head. He said it had to be perfect. Part of the reason I feel like I do now is because I had to sit there holdin' still for a whole 5 minutes. I don't even know what a D flat is!" All of a sudden they understood. They themselves had just run all the way to class not too long ago. That, along with the added stress of being forced to listen to a song over and over can really wear someone out. "Excuse me, girls, but I do believe something quite terrible is happening outside." Suddenly they all stopped and turned toward the windows, following the direction indicated by Rarity's words. She was right. something terrible was happening outside. It looked like a storm was brewing. But this was no ordinary storm. Each boom of thunder was like a drum, and each flash of lightning brought about colors like those of the rainbow, and it was as if the clouds had been colored in by the odd crayon. Common sense would have told them they shouldn't be out there. But curiosity at the sight before them, as well as the possibility of it being a danger that they must face, brought them away from their seats and out toward the storm that raged before them. "Wow! That's awesome!" Rainbow said, watching the colors. "I must admit is is rather beautiful for a storm." "Only you would say somethin' like that, Rarity. On the farm, storms meant all the animals had to return to the pens." "Wow is right, Rainbow! I've never seen something like this before. I have to study it's effects on the weather patterns." "There you go, nerding out again. This is a storm, remember? What if you get hit by lightning?" "Oh please. That couldn't possibly happen." "If you say so." "I'm s-scared of thunder..." Fluttershy said, shaking. "It's alright Fluttershy. I've got you." Pinkamena said, placing her hands on Fluttershy's shoulders. As they all watched the storm, it began to get a little windy. A little too windy. "This storm is getting rather bad, don't you think?" Rarity shouted over the sound of the wind. "This? This is nothing! I can handle a storm like this in my sleep." "Really, Rainbow? Ya'll are sayin' that now, of all times!" "Apple Jack is right, girls. I think it's time we went back inside." With a nod from all, the girls made their way back inside, not noticing that one of them had not shook their head. In fact, one of them had been standing in one spot ever since they first walked out there. Pinkamena stood entranced by the storm, it's colors and sounds mesmerizing her to no end. Fluttershy stopped the girls retreat back inside to turn and go get her, but when she turned around it was too late. A rainbow colored lightning bolt struck the spot where pinkamena was standing, snapping her out of her trance long enough to knock her unconscious. Fluttershy freaked out and ran toward her. The girls had no idea what Fluttershy was so worked up about. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "I-its Pinkamena! She's passed out!" Fluttershy put her thumb and forefinger around Pinkamena's wrist. "And she has no pulse!" This spurred the girls into immediate action. Rainbow rushed over to her, picked her up and ran down the halls to get the principal. the girls following behind as fast as they could. Once in the principal's office, Twilight nearly yelled in her panic. "Principal Celestia! Pinkamena's-" "Calm down, Twilight Sparkle. Deep breaths." twilight did as she was told. "Good. Now what is the matter with Ms. Pie?" "It's terrible, Principal Celestia! Pinkamena's passed out!" "She's passed out? What on earth happened? Is she anemic? It never said anything about it in her records." "No!" Rainbow Dash spoke now. "She's not anemic. She would have told us if she was." She sighed, looking down. "We saw a storm outside and went to see it. Out of curiosity ya know?" Principal Celestia simply nodded, and Rainbow continued. "Turns out, the storm was strange-" "Strange how?" Celestia said, worried now. "It was like a rainbow storm. We thought it was magic, which is also why we were out there, but then the wind picked up and we left." "And what happened after that?" "We left, but Pinkamena didn't. It was like she was in some sort of trance or something. She just stood there." "And when I turned around to go get her after we realized she hadn't come with us," Fluttershy spoke up now. "She got hit by a rainbow lightning bolt and passed out! She has no pulse!" Celestia was already dialing 911. "Get her to the nurses office quickly. We have to make sure nothing else bad happens to her." With that the girls did as they were told, taking her to the nurses office. After telling the nurse the situation, they left her in the bed and sat beside her on chairs, crying and praying and staring down at her with sad, nearly dead eyes. The ambulance arrived in 30 minutes and took her away, along with the girls, as they had refused to leave her side. "Come on, Pinkamena. Wake up." Rainbow said. It was all she said for the whole ride to the hospital. As of now, Pinkamena was in the emergency care unit. The lightning bolt did more damage than the girls thought. It gave her third degree burns, bruised up her body and broke a few bones in the process. She needed quite a bit of medical attention, and the girls agreed to let the doctors work, after being told that if they stayed with her, they would not like what they saw. A few days later, after countless attempts to revive her over the course of each day, the doctors were ready to declare her deceased. They told the girls, making them nearly cry rivers upon hearing it. "No. Not her. Anyone but her!" Rarity screamed. Apple Jack put a hand on her shoulder "I-i t's...fine, Rarity. She's...moved on, now. Ya'll just...be happy for her. She's in a better place." "How can we be happy?! She's gone!" Rainbow cried. "I know. And that's why we have to be strong. For her." The girls huddled close to each other and hugged one another tightly. They were there when the doctors pulled the sheet over her eyes and wrote down the date of death. But, that meant that they were also there to see the impossible happen, because as soon as the last pen stroke was finished on the doctor's chart, Pinkamena made a sound under the sheet, and sat up. Everyone was wide eyed, for they had just witnessed something that should not have happened.
Chapter 3: Awakening-part 3Pinkamena looked around and saw that she was in a hospital. All her friends were there with her, but they all had the strangest of looks on their faces, and for some reason, she could see dried tears marking their cheeks. Even the doctors were wide eyed. Had they been crying? But why? Had something happened? She looked down at herself and saw bandages. So many bandages. They covered her hands and winded up her body like a slithering serpent set on devouring her head. It had apparently not gotten the chance however, as her head was the only thing not covered by it, as it instead chose to wrap itself around the rest of her body and squeeze rather tightly. It was then that she realized what must have happened. She had been hurt out there in the storm, and her friends brought her to the hospital. She smiled, thinking that she couldn't ask for better friends. Her smile only lasted for a moment, however, when she noticed that the strange looks on her friends faces, were ones of shock. "What's the matter, girls?" Pinkamena said, truly wanting to know what was wrong. "This is impossible!" The doctor suddenly said, startling her. "What's impossible?" Pinkamena said. "This can't be happening. You...you should be... Why, this is a miracle! I must tell the other doctors." With that he ran off to join the other workers on call. What had given this situation extra impact, was that not only had she just basically come back from the dead, but as the doctors came by and one of them took off her bandages, they noticed that she had no injuries whatsoever. It was as if the incident had never happened. As she looked back, she noticed that her friends were now mere inches from her bedside, all crying uncontrollably and smiling wider than she had ever seen. The first to speak was Rarity. Wrapping her in a tight, loving embrace, she said, "Oh darling, I just can't believe you're alright! We were just so worried that...that..." With that she began to cry, followed closely by her friends, who joined her in the embrace of their friend. "What do you mean 'you're glad i'm alright.'? What are you talking about? What were you so worried about? Can someone please explain to me what's going on?" "We will." Everyone turned toward the voice to see Twilight, wiping her eyes with her hands as she spoke. "But first, we need to welcome you back." They all hugged her tighter, one last time before releasing her, along with all their tears and grief, from their grip. After that, Pinkamena was discharged from the hospital. Celestia said she could stay home, and had exempted her from all classes and homework for at least a week. "It would be best to rest and take things slow for now," she had insisted, despite pinkamena's protests about her condition. "You did just have a traumatic experience after all." She would have tried to argue further, but after being told that one of her students had nearly died, and in fact was officially dead until a few moments after the fact was over, she insisted that she heed her decision. Pinkamena couldn't understand why Principal Celestia wouldn't just let her continue school. Scratch that, she did understand. It's just that...even after all that, if she had said she was fine, then why wouldn't she just let her go? But she knew that their was no arguing with Principal Celestia about this. When it came to the safety and well being of her students, Principal Celestia was in constant "Mother Mode", hugging them, scolding them, and fretting over the smallest things. She had even once sent a student to the nurse's office for scraping his knee on the concrete of the school walkway, when all he really needed was a band-aid and a little time. She knew she meant well. It was just...too much sometimes. And what about her grades? She couldn't just miss a week of school and expect everything to just continue as it had been. Celestia assured her that her grades would not be affected, and she even said she would personally make sure that that was the case, but...what was she supposed to do after that? It wasn't like she could just stay at home and do nothing. She had to have something to do. Anything to take her mind off the ensuing boredom she was beginning to feel. She decided to study. No sense in being out of school if you're just gonna spend that time lollygagging about, right? She spent an hour studying as much as she could, and then planned to set aside another hour for her to do the exact same thing later. Then she offered to help the Cakes with their baking. At first they were hesitant, but after she pointed out that she still had a job to do and it in fact was time for her to do that job, they gave in and let her go. Once she had made her rounds, she returned home with a pocket full of coins known only to the population as 'bits'. This was the official currency here in Ponyville. As was customary she counted out the amount and split it into two stacks, putting one in one jar, and one in another. These jars belonged to the family business and her respectively. One was for the business profits and one was for her college fund, which already had a nice bit of coins in it from even before she was born. One jar had gotten so full that they had to close it off and grab another from the closet. This was the one she used now. As she finished counting and sorting the coins, she made her way up to her room, hoping to spend a little time relaxing in her bed. But, before she could even get a chance to lie back and let all the stress from today wash away, her phone rung. She picked it up and answered, hoping it was just one of those telemarketers her mom hates so she could have a reason to hang up the phone and lie down like she wanted. She mentally scolded for even planning to be so mean to the person before she even answered the phone, and then proceeded to place it to her ear so she could hear properly. "Hello?" She asked curiously. "Oh, it's you, Pinkamena. Good, you picked up. I was starting to get worried." It was one of her friends. Twilight Sparkle, to be exact. "Yeah, i'm sorry. I'm just so tired." Pinkamena said, punctuating her sentence with a yawn. "Tired? You? No way. I've never even seen you sit down for too long." "Yeah well, after all that's happened I'm kinda beat." Twilight knew what she was referring to, and at that realization, her happy face fell, letting loose a frown so deep it could drown a person if they looked too hard. "Oh, I see..." Then, she perked up a bit as she said, "Well, the girls and I were planning on hanging out tonight if you want to come. Maybe you could relax there, with us?" Pinkamena thought for a moment before saying, "Sure, I'll be there. When are we meeting up?" "An hour from now, at the usual place." Twilight said cryptically, which made Pinkamena wonder why her friends didn't just say the name of the place. Everyone of her friends knew what the 'usual place' was, so there was no need for secrecy. That is unless something serious was going down. She got up and got dressed, heading downstairs and out the door. But not before telling her parents where she was going and kissing them goodbye. As she made her way down the path, Pinkamena could only wonder what the problem was. She found herself caught up in thinking about it the whole way to the meeting place. She and Rarity were the first ones there, considering their houses were the closest. The meeting place was none other than the school mascot statue that also served as the portal to Equestria. This being the meeting place, her first thought was that something was up with the portal. "Hi Rarity. You got here first?" "Good evening, dearest. Why, yes I did. I've been waiting here for the others for quite while now and I was starting to get impatient, so I decided to bide my time by painting my nails." "Is that right?" Pinkamena said as she took in that useless bit of information from her friend. "So, how long have you been out here?" "Just about 30 minutes, dear. It's been an 'excruciatingly' long time." Pinkamena giggled at her friend. She knew Rarity had a tendency to exaggerate but come on. This was just ridiculous. She sat down next to her and began waiting. Fortunately for the both of them, but most of all Rarity, Twilight showed up, leading the others to the designated meeting place herself. Rarity was livid. "You could have told me you were coming to get us, Twilight! You know how I hate to be kept waiting." Twilight giggled. "Sorry, Rarity. Guess that thought slipped my mind." "I suppose it did." Rarity said with a dramatic "Hmph!" at the end as she stuck her nose in the air. She opened one eye to see Twilight's reaction, only to turn her head entirely, giving her undivided attention to the glasses wearing nerd. "So, did you decide where it is we are going?" "I'm trying to. I want us to go to a museum but-" "No one but you wants to go to a museum, Twilight. Besides, why would we go there when you're a walking encyclopedia yourself." "Hey!" Twilight said with a smile as her friend teased her. Everyone laughed at the joke and then Sunset spoke up, turning the conversation back to the topic at hand. "I wouldn't mind a visit to the museum." Twilight smiled even wider, turning to look at Rainbow Dash in a way that says, "Told you." "Whatever, Twilight. Museums are boring. How about we play a game?" "Is it another sport that ya know ya'll are gonna beat all of us in?" Apple Jack piped up from her place behind the two of them. "Noooo. Why would you think that?" "Because that's what it always is." Rainbow Dash huffed, but said nothing to deny her claim. "I want to go to the zoo." Fluttershy's small voice said. Apple Jack looked at her. "Why that's a humdinger of an idea, Fluttershy. Sounds perfect." "Hmm, the zoo... I suppose I could go again, just for fun this time." Everyone looked at Twilight when she said that, no doubt wondering what else the purple human could possibly have gone to the zoo for. "What? I go there to study animals." "Classic Twilight." Apple Jack said, followed by a simultaneous "Yep." from all those present. "How about we all go to the spa? I know the perfect treatments for all of you to relax and unwind." "Rarity, the spa sounds wonderful, but I don't believe it's that much of a place to go." "Whatever do you mean, darling? The spa is an adventure in itself." "I suppose but we want to spend time there. You know, just us girls?" Rarity thought about this and nodded. "I understand completely." What followed was a long walk to the Ponyville zoo. It was located inside the Everfree sure, but ever since the battle against Gaia Everfree, it became open territory. "Hmm, the zoo..." "Oh be quiet Twilight. We already know what you're thinking about." Twilight looked up at her friends and saw Rarity looking at her "What do you mean, Rarity? I'm not thinking of anything!" She was getting flustered. "Really now? Are you sure you're not thinking of Timber Spruce, the boy from Camp Everfree?" She was. And they knew. All of her friends were looking at her now, and their eyes made her feel guilty. "Fine. Yes, I am." "I knew it! I can tell these things, you know?" Now it was twilight's turn to fake skepticism. "Oh really?" "Why yes I can. And the passion of love radiates off of you like a wave crashing against the rocky shores." Twilight was flustered again. "L-love?" "Oh it's obvious dear. You've fallen for him hard, haven't you? Ever since the dance at camp." Was that true? Had she fallen for him? He was cute, and kind, and sweet... No, it couldn't be. Rarity was just playing with her. "No!" "Deny it all you want dear. The Diamond sees all." "I'm telling you, i'm not in love!" Everyone laughed and laughed at that, leaving twilight the helpless victim of endless teasing. She was already very shy, not as shy as Fluttershy mind you, but still, this made her feel a pang of shame as the ride continued on "Oh, shut up." She smiled. What followed was a myriad of animals, facts, and fun times had by all as they made their way through the zoo, talking and laughing all the way. Once they had had their fun, they left, Apple Jack having to drag Fluttershy out of what she considered heaven. The seven friends made their way back to Ponyville, going their separate ways once they reach Pinkamena's house, as was usual due to the fact that her house was located in between their own homes. Pinkamena stepped into her house, receiving a creak of protest as she opened the door. She knew that her parents were asleep by now, and she didn't want to disturb them, so she tried to be as quiet as possible. Her and her friends had gone to the zoo in the afternoon, only to return to Ponyville at night. The only reason they were able to do this was because the Ponyville zoo, due to its location and population of mostly nocturnal animals, was the only zoo still open at nighttime. She slowly, quietly walked up to her room, shutting the door with the utmost gentleness. She took an hour to study as she had planned, and then proceeded to lie down on her bed and surrender to sleep. However, what awaited her in her mind was not a dream of happy times with her parents or of laughter with her friends. This, was a nightmare of unknown origin that had seeped it's way into her mind from the deepest, darkest, most sinister of shadows. And it was going to change her life forever.
Chapter 4: Who Am I?-Part 1The dream was one of terror. In it, Pinkamena stood alone, in an intense, pitch black darkness that possessed an almost bottomless degree of void. She could see nothing within it's depths, nothing other than more black, for it was not simply a mere descent into darkness. No, it was a constant, unchanging and sinister black that served only to intensify her fear and confusion. She walked around for a while, but nothing changed. The vast black was endless in front of her eyes. It seemed like she would be walking forever. Then, she heard it. Laughter. Joyful, cheerful, and happy laughter. It was almost cute. It in fact would have been, if not for the fact that she still could not see anything at all. That fact alone made it creepy as opposed what it would have, and should have, been. Pinkamena found herself shivering as a strange and unfamiliar chill came over her, making her hold her arms close to herself and rub them. She continued walking for a while. Then she noticed it. The laughter...was getting closer. Each time she heard it, it was a little closer than it had been before, and it seemed to be coming towards her. She sat down and prayed, hoping beyond hope that all this was was a bad dream and that nothing bad would actually happen to her. Of course, she knew it was a dream, but the past few minutes had scared her into doubting that belief. The laughter continued to get closer and closer and was now only a few feet away from her. She was now visibly shaking, the cold and her fear sending a chill up her spine so cold, she felt like she would freeze into a Popsicle at any moment. She heard the laughter again. It was right in front of her now. She looked up from her knees, which she had been looking at and breathing on in an attempt to both hide herself from whatever sinister thing was out to get her, and to warm herself up at least a little bit. When she looked up there was nothing there. For a moment, she relaxed, helped along by the fact that the freezing cold she had felt only moments ago was now completely gone. She stood back up, only to nearly jump out of her skin when she heard a rip from behind her. She turned around slowly, hoping beyond hope that whatever was there would not hurt or kill her. When she turned around, she saw A mirror image of herself. She breathed a sigh of relief and stared at it, to to see what it would do. Then it happened. As she continued staring, the image grew more grotesque and twisted. Her perfectly peach skinned face showed scars and blood everywhere. Her hair was wild and puffy, shooting out in all directions. She was forced to watch as her usually smiling face, went from happy to sad, to crying and then back again. But what it returned to was not her typical smile. In it's place was a dangerously wide, and altogether bone chilling smile that touched her ears and seemed to go even further beyond. Her eyes were bloodshot and were darting in several odd directions. Her right eye twitched uncontrollably. She looked down, watching in horror as this darker, more sinister version of herself, slipped out of the tear she had made in the dream. Shesaw her clothes. The exact same ones she had been wearing for school the previous day. The top was covered in blood, as was the fate of her jeans and sneakers. Pinkamena stepped backwards, trying to get away from the horrid thing that was before her. She quickened her pace, trying to gain distance. That didn't seem to work, as the creature simply sped up as well. She broke into a run, and so did the creature. In her blind fear, she tripped over something, and fell on all fours. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to catch her breath, but she couldn't take time to rest. She stood up and turned around, ready to face this fear of hers, only to have whatever courage she thought she possessed drain right out of her at the exact moment she locked eyes with her crazed reflection. The creature tilted it's head to the side, but it didn't stop there. It kept going until a snapping sound could be heard, and now its head was turned sideways. Pinkamena stood frozen in fear. She couldn't move an inch, and the next thing she saw, made it even worse. The figure held a knife, which it raised above its head, poised for the finishing blow. The figure brought the knife down into her chest. She only had seconds to scream when she was pulled out of her dream with a "Here's Pinkie!" from the strange being. She woke up sweating profusely, scared out of her mind and clutching her chest tightly. Her parents were there and were standing near her bed, looking at her with concerned eyes. "What's wrong, Pinkamena dear?" said "Cup" Cake. "You were screaming in your sleep." Upon seeing her parents, Pinkamena calmed down a bit. "I-it's nothing mom. I'm fine. I promise." "You sure?" said "Carrot" Cake. He wore a worried expression that had obviously been on his face for quite some time, for he still wore it even now that his daughter had awakened. Pinkamena thought for a moment. She didn't want to worry her parents. Especially after all this. She said, "Yes, I'm sure. I'm fine, dad." The two parents cried and hugged her. She hugged them back tightly. What was that thing? Why did it look like her? And what did it want? These were the questions that ran through her mind as she placated her grieving family. One thing was for sure. Something was wrong. Very, very, wrong...
