Door To Insanity

Pinkie Pie could feel the smooth ground under her hard, pink hooves as she walked. The faint but even sound of her hoofsteps  bothered the continuing silence that would't seem to move, and the creepy whispering coming from the ponies around her.

Sure, this was a bad day for her. It could be easily told from another pony's point of view. Her mane was straight and her eyes cold and empty, unlike the pink, poofy-mane party pony they had seen before. Now it was an emotional time for her, and she couldn't make any room for happiness. Just her and her thoughts. 'Her and her thoughts...'

Pinkie Pie snapped at that familiar sound. It was the voice again. The voice was always in her mind, annoyingly commenting on her actions and talking to her, targeting her, as if she was the enemy. But she wasn't. She knew that she was good, but when this voice was here, the dark, deep, seductive stallion in her imagination, she felt as if she was falling inside a black hole. It was changing her...pushing her into the darkness...and she knew it.

When did this begin? When she awoke, of course. That's when anything could start becoming bad...terrible, even. She read the books and saw the movies. She's not dumb.

Of course I'm not dumb, Pinkie Pie thought to herself, ignoring the voice's company, I'm the smartest pony in Ponyville. They don't take me seriously. She could hear herself grinding her teeth at the end of that statement. Pinkie wanted to growl, and prove everypony she was smart. Pinkie Pie, herself, was the smartest pony in Ponyville, no, all of Equestria. Secretly. If anypony knew they could take advantage of her...

'Too bad', the voice began, softly, 'You're so smart. They don't know. They think you're stupid.' He said 'stupid' sharply, which made Pinkie come to her senses. Oh no you don't, Pinkie Pie began, shaking, I'm not falling for it. Again, I'm not stupid. I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me convert to your side, right? Well it won't happen!

'Oh, but it will,' the voice replied, 'You know how it goes. And most of my plan has already been done...Pinkamena!'

Pinkie jumped with surprise at the name. She hadn't been called that for a long time, and having it said by some stranger made it creepier.

You know something, Pinkie thought, You know me. You know my history. You know.

'And I can use it as an advantage,' he finished for her.

Too bad. Cuz I'm the only one that can hear you, and you can only tell me, and I know it already.

'Oh, you're truly stupid, Pinkamena,' the voice said to her, 'You only think I'm a disembodied voice trapped inside your head. Well, I'm much more than that.'

Discord? Pinkie Pie wondered in her mind, Is that you?

'Ha! That old nerd wouldn't hurt a pony's reputation, much less take over their soul!' the voice laughed as Pinkie put some pieces of the puzzle together.

You told me your plan already, Pinkie Pie thought, I'm not giving up my soul no matter what!

'Oh, but you will.' the voice said.

Pinkie Pie jumped, as her mind began to fog up and her thoughts dizzy and blurry.

"No! No!"

Realizing that she said it aloud, she hesitated, then ran. She needed to find somepony to help her. Somepony.

Without thinking, she threw herself into the library to find Twilight Sparkle, the smart pony. She read so many books, surely she found an answer to this madness. The library was clean and organized, like usual. Spike opened the door, but Pinkie raced in without even saying hi to the familiar purple dragon. Twilight was reading, like usual, on the floor, next to a few stacks of colorful books.

Only, on one of the pages, there was a picture of her.

Pinkie's eyes opened wide with surprise. "Oh...nononononononono!" She snatched the book from Twilight Sparkle and read the title with horror, her eyes filling with tears of sadness. "Not now," she whispered.

The echoing, mischievous laugh filled her mind expectantly, and Pinkie's mane got droopier and duller in reply.

Twilight Sparkle raised an eyebrow. "Your parents abused you?" Twilight asked suddenly, making Pinkie sadder in response.

"Yes," Pinkie mumbled, "Only slightly."

That was a lie. Of course they did. They were boring, too.

"You never told me," Twilight Sparkle said blandly.

Pinkie's eyes widened with worry and left the room as quick as she entered, tears flying from her face. Soon she found herself in the creepiest part of the scariest alley in Ponyville, holding herself tight, her hooves and face wet, tasting salt on her tongue. It seemed to just keep getting worse.

Having a friend know that she was abused as a filly seemed to be not so big of a problem to others. But to her...she felt more memories. The pain of being unappreciated, mostly.

Finally, she gave in. She gave a soft sigh, and channeled the voice so it was in her mind.

"Alright," she said, her voice shaking, "What do you want me to do?"

'I knew you would give in.' the voice answered softly.

Suddenly, she felt inside-out. Transported into some kind of dark room, she didn't know where she was. She felt lost.

Until a familiar-looking dark-brown stallion entered the room. He had curvy, white hair with dim, vanilla streaks. He would seem like a normal, everyday pony until you looked in his eyes. Cold and unemotional, matching the expression he wore on his face.

"Finally," he said, "I've been waiting so long. I need that soul of yours so I can corrupt it."

"What!?" Pinkie replied, "I thought I'd be reborn or something!"

"No, we never agreed to that," the stallion answered slyly.

"What's your name..." Pinkie mumbled, though loud and clear enough for the stallion to hear.

"It's not important right now," he smiled evilly, Pinkie glaring at him.

"Fine...?" Pinkie said, not knowing what to say, "Whatever. What now?"

"Look behind you."

Pinkie Pie turned around, but screamed when she saw a large, black hole that made up almost the entire room. She ran back, so she would not be able to fall into it on accident.

"You're supposed to jump in there," he said, looking sideways at the black hole and smiling, "It's my perfect perfection. Now go. It won't hurt your body any way or another."

"Why don't you just corrupt your own body instead?" Pinkie asked, curiously, glancing at him.

"I said soul not body, and why would I want to corrupt myself when I can put others in their misery? Especially since my Master tells me to?" he was still staring at the black hole, as if it was his daughter or son, when it was just his invention, "Anyway, I'm merely a hologram. My soul creates a visual image inside of a body which I use for corrupting, taking my invention wherever I go."

Pinkie Pie looked at him sideways. She didn't understand.

He sighed as he saw the pink pony's expression. "I'm not real, you idiot!"

Pinkie Pie jumped. Usually this stallion didn't lose himself while in her mind, but now...she didn't know.

The stallion just pushed the pink party pony to the edge of the black hole. "Bon Voyage. Any last words, pony?" He sputtered 'pony' out as if it was poison. Which to him, it was.

"Life was a party," Pinkie Pie said, tears covering up her deep, ocean blue eyes. Her mane looked flatter than ever, and her colors were so dull she was close to gray.

He had heard enough of this happy, party-loving, annoying pony. With no effort, he pushed the pony in.

Pinkie Pie heard the stallion's last words echoing through her mind.

"And I promise this'll hurt."