Chapters "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"
A gray earth pony stood silently in front of an old fashioned mirror. Her hair was straight at the top and wavy on the bottom, and the only thing that made her beautiful were her eyes: One, gold as the sun's rays and the wheat that grow from its hypnotizing heat, and the other, as dark though bright as the night's stars shining in the sky. Besides that, her hair was dark gray, and her coat was light gray, as simple as day one would say.
"I think you're taking this a little too far," a beautiful face of an alicorn faded into the mirror, "It's not 'Snow White', you know."
The gray earth pony's nose crinkled at the sound of the magical mirror's silky, elegant voice.
"Whatever," her voice was harsh, "Just answer my question! I haven't got all day!"
"Not you," teased the mirror, "Gray and ugly earth pony? Especially a blank flank ?"
The pony's face flushed as she gave a quick glance at her plot. Yes, true, she was a blank flank. Her history was a complicated one. Very...
"That's not my fault! If my sisters haven't left me..."
She paused in the middle of the sentence, not sure to go on. Her sisters, the fantastic, super-smart, royal ones living in Canterlot...while she was left with nothing.
If my sisters haven't left me...
The earth pony felt tears forming in her eyes. Her hooves became wobbly and unstable, and she turned away from the mirror. The mirror...
"What do YOU know!?" Her face turned towards the mirror, "You're just a MIRROR!"
The mirror's face seemed uncertain. "Calm down, okay," the mirror replied, calmly, "Look at yourself. You're a mess."
The face on the mirror faded and she was left alone with a single mirror, so she decided to glance in it herself to take a look to see what had gotten the mirror's face all upset.
Her usually perfectly combed mane was messy and tangled, and her eyes were different then they usually were. Her golden eye was fiery and flaming, while the other was left dark like the shadows and the darkest part of the sky. Both of them showed one thing for sure: evil. And she liked it.
The mirror's face appeared once again, and this time the alicorn's expression was worried.
"I'm worried about you," she began.
"Well duh," the earth pony said, but she couldn't hide the smile growing on her face.
There was an awkward silence. Whenever their eyes met they quickly pulled them away.
"I think I need to think alone to myself," she still seemed to keep her eyes away from the mirror's.
"M--me too," the mirror mumbled, fading.
When the face was gone, the earth pony couldn't help but feel another obnoxious grin growing on her face. It was terrible, but it was worth it. A horrible plan, but she deserved it. She did.
"Be warned, Equestria," she muttered happily to herself, "I'm ruining all your hard work as you did mine..."
She could barely feel the word coming from her mouth, but she spoke it. Kind of choked it, but it was still there, hanging with her other words.
"...Celestia."
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."
Pinkamena Diane Pie awoke with a hesitant feeling, tension all through her body, along with the horrible aching she felt inside of her; her mind was fogged up with confusion and horror and surprise, but mostly confusion.
Pinkie sighed silently to herself. It must have all been a dream...no, a nightmare. A horrible one that she just been able to fight through, at the very last minute. The very, very last, awaking just in time to feel the warmth of the daylight in her bedroom at SugarCube Corner.
The pink party pony made her way out of the pull of the warm blankets easily, but when she did she felt something. Something...weird? No, it couldn't be something weird. It was another feeling...something she couldn't exactly say, but she could tell that there was something wrong with her image.
Before she knew it she was in the bathroom, knowing the mirror would be a great solution to this sensation.
But when she looked in the mirror, she jumped, screaming.
Her mane was deflated and flat. Her colors were still dull, and her eyes were cold and expressionless. When she searched for her happiness she couldn't find any, and felt lost, looking at the mirror as if she was a complete stranger.
But maybe this was just a reaction to that bad dream. Not that it was real. No. Not that it was real. Never.
Knock, knock.
Pinkamena recognized that knock. Since she was a genius herself, she recognized it to be Twilight Sparkle, the purple bookworm who lived in that library.
Maybe she can help... Pinkie's hair or color did not change, but she felt a quick spark of hope and happiness rise inside of her. Forgetting everything, she opened the door to see...
Twilight Sparkle with a worried look on her face.
"Erm...hello, Pinkie," Twilight Sparkle stepped inside, smirking slightly, as if something was wrong.
But of course something was wrong. Pinkie Pie's hair was deflated, and she just happened to have some twisted dream. But how would Twilight know beforehand?
Twilight laughed, only it was the slight kind of laugh when somepony was pretending to be laughing or happy or something. This librarian was up to something.
Pinkie squinted. "Take a seat," Pinkie said slowly, thinking about the possibilities in her mind.
The three possibilities that may or may not be correct, Pinkie thought to herself, 1. She is worried because my hair is deflated. 2. She heard from somepony I've been having a bad day. Or 3...
No! Pinkie laughed to herself, That'd be silly. My dream isn't real. Dreams aren't real. Duh! I'm smart; I should know.
Then something made her freeze. That was it. That confirmed that she was wrong. Really wrong. Really.
'You're stupider than you think, kid.'
Pinkamena closed her eyes, her skin burning. Everything was true. Everything.
Your plan...? Pinkie thought. Than she thought it over. And over.
'It's in action,' the stallion said, laughter following his statement.
It was true. It was all true. She woke up with a huge pain, and her mane was deflated, and...
Pinkie looked worriedly at Twilight, who was blinking into her soul...the mare who knew about her from that stallion's book.
"So...your abusive parents?"
She had to say that! Pinkie shuddered, every little thing coming back to her. The hurt from every beating, the pain of insults and ignorance, and the jealousy of her sisters when she had gotten her cutie mark before them. Everything came towards her, and her eyes began to tear up. She never wanted a family like that, but was forced to love them anyway.
'Oh, my poor little thing...' the voice said.
But this time, she didn't resist the urge. Her eyes stopped tearing up, and instead glowed red for a millisecond. Twilight caught a glimpse of it, but she thought it was just some hallucination.
Pinkie's worried expression turned into an angry, fierce one.
"Get out!"
She pushed her friend out of her room, and quickly slammed the door, before realizing her actions. It was rude, nasty, and just plain mean. Wait...
She thought back to her dream. The stallion, the brown one with the weird, spiky mane cut, and how he pushed her into the corruption hole. And that was working. Working...
It was working fine.
And these were just his first adjustments.
Twilight Sparkle jumped as she heard the door slam in her face.
She hadn't expected this much to go on. Not really, even if it was logical to at least think about the possibility. But no. It hadn't crossed her mind, and Pinkie seemed pretty upset when she finished her unfinished sentence. Glancing awkwardly at the door, she shook her head, and spoke to herself.
"No use trying to get inside again," Twilight Sparkle sighed, looking down at her hooves.
This was really crazy. Totally. But, she had to admit, the craziest thing that happened was yesterday morning's package...
~~~
The doorbell echoed through the library. Twilight Sparkle sighed as she attempted to make her way through a pile of books, and failing.
"Spiiiiike! Get the door, I'm trapped!" She laughed to herself softly at her own joke, then sat down again to finish her reading.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Spike, her assistant, sighed, as he waddled to the door adorably, Twilight Sparkle not resisting the urge to notice. Her smile her assistant didn't seem to see, instead pulling the door open with his small claws.
"Spike! Who is it?"
"'What', not 'who," Spike corrected, as he took a small brown box the size of one of Twilight's books, "It's a package. For you, Twilight."
"Who's it from?" Twilight Sparkle asked blandly, turning a page of her book.
"It doesn't say," Spike said, walking towards Twilight with the box in his hands, then falling from the quick pull Twilight used to get a hold of the book.
The purple mare turned the box to all sides. "Huh."
"Just open it," Spike said impatiently, "It doesn't matter who it's from. Maybe they just forgot to put their name on it, that's all."
"Alright, alright..." Twilight Sparkle pulled at the wrapping until a dusty book appeared, in the middle of Twilight's magic aura.
"A book?" Spike laughed, "You already have enough. This is a library, after all."
"Shut up, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said, but couldn't keep herself from laughing too, "Another book will make a great addition. I love new books, anyway."
"That doesn't seem new to me," Spike joked, "It's 'probably as old as Celestia."
Now the unicorn was serious, and her glare stared into Spike's scales. "Don't joke about that, Spike!" she scolded.
Her thoughts went back to the book, and her hoof turned the page. Oddly, on the first page, there was an unnecessary picture of Pinkie Pie, back when her mane was straight, before she had gotten her cutie mark. It was next to the Table of Contents, which Twilight Sparkle read aloud.
Table of Contents~~
1. Introduction
2. Birth
3. Abuse
4. Cutie Mark
5. Ponyville
6. Present
"A...abuse?" Twilight Sparkle muttered, "Pinkie never told me anything about abuse! Maybe that's why she was so sad back then! Her mane only turns that way when she's angry or sad...or..."
Spike laughed. "You're so gullible, Twilight," Spike said, "It's probably just some kind of random pony that wants to have some fun! Like Gabby Gums!"
After a second of Twilight's glaring, Spike stomped off. The only way to prove it was to look inside.
And Twilight was surprised with what she found.
Twilight Sparkle tried to face the facts: Pinkie had abusive parents, but she never told her, even if she knew that Twilight could help her. Twilight Sparkle felt betrayal.
She shook her head. Snap out of it, Twi, Twilight thought to herself, She never wanted to talk about it. It's inconsiderate of me to force her to speak, only for my purposes. I'm so thoughtless. She isn't Applejack, after all...
'No, she's not.'
Whaa--- Twilight Sparkle jumped at the voice. Looking around to see if somepony was calling her, or reading her thoughts, she realized she hadn't made any progress to going back to the library, instead standing in the pathway by SugarCube corner. Nopony was noticing her whatsoever, though, otherwise they'd think she was weird.
What...who...what are you? Twilight Sparkle thought to herself, thinking that the only way to communicate with something inside her mind was to do it the same way. Unsurprisingly, she was correct.
The voice hesitated for a moment. 'I'm your inner self-conscience, Twilight Sparkle,' the voice lied, speaking in a calm manner, 'You have just released me at your time of doubt, and I wish to say thank you. Now I may help you wherever, or take control of your actions if you are too tired to do so yourself. I can give wisdom, and help you along your journey. This is a long one, I truly believe.'
But...but you're...you're a male! Twilight Sparkle said, recognizing the low and deep voice to belong to a male.
'Now--now, now, Twilight,' the voice began, 'Don't go on judging others by their gender. Would you rather discriminate when you can use me as the time passes by? I won't stay forever, you know.'
Hmmm... Twilight Sparkle put her hoof to her chin, You truly are wise. Wiser than I thought. Oh..okay...so what should I do now?
'What you do or wish to seek, home is the answer for you, you geek.'
Now don't go on saying it like Zecora, Twilight said, And plus, I am not a geek, okay?
'Okay, you are not a geek. Only the smart ones will admit to what they are and what they are not.'
Okay, okay, fine. I'm a geek. And you're surely wiser than I thought, again, Twilight Sparkle said, who began to trot, Just don't say that rhyming thing again.
'Alright. I won't.'
And I need somepony to do something for me, Twilight said.
'What do you want, dearest Twilight Sparkle? Your eyes shine like the moon when it's full, and they sparkle as bright as the stars.'
SHUT UP!
Chapter Four: Dangerous Wisdom
She didn't move. Not once.
Spike was getting extremely worried for Twilight now. As the days went by, she'd pick up the same book she'd gotten a few days ago that he'd had a suspicion about, and read it, with no emotion. She wouldn't eat, either, but every once in a while, she'd look like she was talking...but not making any sounds at all; it was like she was talking to someone in her head.
And then, every day, at lunchtime, she'd then do the most painful thing to him: glare. When he did nothing wrong.
He just couldn't stand it anymore. Twilight would sit there not moving, then maybe go to her bed and sleep for a couple of decent hours, then come back, same routine. He couldn't help to see how impossible it was...not to eat, and still be alive after a couple of months later doing the same exact thing!
Spike's eyes filled with tears, and couldn't see how he was disappointing to Twilight, since all he did was try to offer her food and give her a pillow or blanket to keep her warm. He didn't see how that was bad of him.
And so he left...the very next day, for a good friend's home.
~~~
I don't believe you about those things you said about Spike. He's a good guy.
'You'll see....you'll see soon enough. And then your friends will betray you. I can feel it.'
H-how? It's not possible. You're lying...I'm sure of it.
But Twilight wasn't sure of it. The voice...it had been so innocent the first time, but after a few months, she hadn't really seen anything. No...literally; she could only see a few blurs and an otherwise black wallpaper. She felt movement...like she was actually moving, but she wasn't.
She sighed. The voice had started to tell possibilities of Spike, her greatest assistant, out to destroy her soon enough. She certainly didn't believe that, it wasn't what she felt it was. But...
No. The voice was honest...quite like Applejack. Though, Applejack had a hint of...unexplainable goodness, like a gold glow, and the voice in her head...it wasn't as trustworthy, and it had, instead of that good-glow, a bad one, though it wasn't very obvious or apparent; it was more...a little more...transparent and unstable, if it was that way to describe it.
'It seems my time with you has ran out,' the voice spoke carefully though darkly, 'You can recover your vision soon enough, Twilight Sparkle. But just remember...call me if you see it's true. Spike left you because he's gathering your friends and making them evil. Now, goodbye.'
Twilight didn't argue. The voice made her a little uncomfortable, but...if she that voice did take away her vision like that, she couldn't exactly....
And what about Spike...
A flash of yellow engulfed the blackness and blurs before her, and soon everything was back to normal. But she had a...loneliness, and quickly realized the voice had left and effected it. Now she had a kind of cold feeling in the place the voice had been...
"Nevermind that, Twilight. Remember, be strong," she told herself, "You can DO this. YOU CAN DO THIS!"
She quickly flew down the staircase, and onto the ground level. "Sure, Spike's what the voice says he was like," she said sarcastically, yet she had some doubts. Chuckling nervously, she entered the kitchen, where Spike usually was, and...
He was gone.
"SPIKE! SP-I-KE!" she called, "Where could Spike be ?"
Then it hit her, what the voice had said earlier.
"No! That isn't possible!" she laughed, though still...
Considering it. She was processing it.
"SPIKE! SPIKESPIKESPIKESPIKESPIKE NO!"
She ran out the door nervously, and down the pathway to which she knew Spike would've gone first if the suspicions were correct.
But she could not feel the small green flames inside of her slowly growing...growing, feeding off her worry.
And she ignored it...ignored it...
She ignored the corruption.
