Dark Shadows

Chapter 6: Lost Laughter

It was early in the morning when Poison Apple woke up. As she sat up she was greeted by a foul smell, and after taking a quick look around the room she found it's source. Not only had Spike already started to decay, but his bowels had released themselves during the night, leaving a nice pile of dragon turd for Poison Apple to clean up.

"Stupid dragon" Poison Apple grumbled as she cleaned the floor, throwing both Spike, and his turds, into the garbage. After taking a long bath Poison Apple got up and prepared to deal with the next target on her list, Pinkamena Diane Pie. Poison Apple whistled a tune as she dried herself off, pausing to look in the mirror and she was surprised at what she saw.

It was Applebloom. Normal old Applebloom. As Poison Apple looked into the mirror she could hear Hysteria's voice.

This must be a shock young one, to look as you used to, but it is necessary, Hysteria said, quietly laughing to herself, For you must wait around the element of laughter, as she will soon lose her happiness. Poison Apple understood what Hysteria was saying. With a close friend dead, and three of the other elements changed, there was no way Pinkie Pie was going to be able to stay cheerful and happy. The plan was so simply, yet so evil. Poison Apple loved it.

She quickly made her way downstairs and had a quick meal because she was hungry, probably a side effect of her current form. After finishing her food she made her way outside, making her way towards Sugar Cube Corner. As she got close she could hear Pinkie humming happily inside. As she opened the door the humming got louder until Pinkie was standing right in front of Poison Apple.

"Hiya Applebloom! What can I get you?" Pinkie asked, bouncing around Poison Apple happily.

"Can I have an, uh..." Poison Apple said quietly, looking at the menu on the counter, "I'll have a strawberry milkshake"

"Okay, just go wait over there, I'll have it in a second!" Pinkie said happily as she bounced back into the kitchen. Poison Apple looked around at the other patrons. Among them were a rather cranky looking middle aged man, a bald Unicorn, and a Pegasus with fire red hair. She continued to look around, but stopped as the quaint environment began to make her feel sick.

"Here you are, it's on the house!" Pinkie blurted, quickly running to the counter as two people came in, a Unicorn and a Pegasus. They were chatting happily with each other as they reached the counter. Poison Apple watched them carefully, not knowing why, but most likely to take her mind off the decor. The Unicorn was a pale white with two tone red hair and blue eyes. The Pegasus, who was a fair bit larger than the Unicorn,  had light brown hair and had hazel eyes, along with a carefully trimmed beard. Pinkie was still bouncing around as she took their order.

"We'll have two large blueberry muffins please" the Pegasus said, his low voice matching perfectly with his gruff appearance.

"Okay, take a seat over there and I'll bring them to you" Pinkie said happily, turning into a pink blur as she popped into the kitchen, coming back so fast she managed to beat the couple to their table. She quickly mumbled something to them and then ran back to the counter, another person entering the store. Poison Apple could hear the couples conversation from where she was sitting, so she decided to listen in to pass the time.

"Service here is really good" the Pegasus said as he pulled out a chair for the Unicorn. After she sat down her went to the other side and sat down.

"Yeah, I've been here a few times before, and she's almost always like that" the Unicorn said, her voice matching her small body. The two of them leaned across the table and kissed before sitting back in their chairs. The Unicorn took one of the muffins up in her magic, using her hands to take something out of her bag.

"So, is this about what you're thinking of for the character?" she asked, taking a bite out the muffin, a look of pure bliss spread across her face.

"Yeah, maybe make them a tiny bit more skeleton-ey, and brighter eyes, then it's perfect" the Pegasus said, taking a bite out of his muffin as his date rummaged through her bag. She pulled out another picture, this time of a town in the middle of a forest.

"So this is Sunny town as I imagine it when it's peaceful" she said, wiping a bit of muffin of her date's face, making him frown.

"Yeah, that seems good, but what about after the curse shows up?" he asked, putting the muffin down and taking a drink out of a travel mug he brought with him. He smiled briefly before putting the mug back down. The Unicorn quickly finished off her muffin before reaching into her bag one last time, this time pulling out a picture of the same town, but this time it had a sinister appearance,

"How's this?" she asked, noticing he put his muffin down, "You gonna finish that?"

"It's perfect, and you can have it, I know how much you love blueberry muffins" he said, pushing the muffins towards her. She quickly jumped over the table and kissed him before devouring the muffin. As she wiped her face Twilight came through the door, her colours still drained.

"Hiya Twili-" Pinkie paused, noticing her lack of colour, "You okay Twilight?"

"No" Twilight replied in a monotone voice. Poison Apple quickly pulled the orb out and set it underneath her table, hoping this would be her opportunity to get Pinkie out of the way.

"Why not, it's an amazing day today, oh, and we have a special on rainbow cupcakes today!" Pinkie said, her voice going back to it's normal tone.

"Spike's dead" Twilight said, still monotone.

"Spike's dad?!" Pinkie said, either not hearing what Twilight said, or hoping she just heard her wrong, "What's he got to do with anything, aren't you his mom or something?!"

"I said Spike's dead" Twilight said louder this time, getting the attention of everyone in the store. Pinkie froze in midair, breaking the laws of physics, and then fell to her knees. Her hair had lost it's usual puffiness, and she looked noticeably darker. The couple that Poison Apple had been listening to slowly got up, prompting everyone else in the store to do the same. A light began to shine under Poison Apple's table, meaning the orb was starting to work, and Pinkie quickly stood up, looking at the customers who tried to leave with mad eyes.

"No one leaves this room!" she shouted, rage flooding her voice. The older man quickly turned back towards the door, eager to escape, only to have Pinkie rush up to him and hold him up by his throat. The Pegasus that Poison Apple had been watching turned around and pulled her off the old man. He quickly overpowered Pinkie as she tried to push her way past him, and he threw her towards Twilight, who moved out of the way, allowing Pinkie to whack her head on the floor.

"Come on, get moving, let's get out of here" he said, waving his arms around in an attempt to get everyone outside. Looking around the store he saw Poison Apple sitting at her table and quickly rushed over to help her out of the store, only to be attacked by Pinkie, who was now holding a knife.

"GO! RUN!" he shouted at Poison Apple, managing to hold Pinkie back long enough for Poison Apple to get out of the store. From outside all that could be heard was a loud thud as someone's body hit the floor. After a few anxious moments the Pegasus came out of the store holding Pinkie in his arms, a knife stuck into her stomach.

"What happened?!" the Unicorn he had been with yelled, running up to him.

"She attacked me, and then the knife slipped and..." he said, trailing off as he looked at Pinkie, "We need to get her to a hospital". He quickly looked around before taking off, his date using her magic to teleport directly to the hospital while he flew Pinkie over. Poison Apple silently laughed as Pinkie's blood slowly dripped down, leaving a trail from Sugar Cube Corner, all the way to the hospital. As she turned to leave she heard someone yell from behind her.

"Applebloom!"

She quickly turned around to see Scootaloo running towards her. The young Pegasus quickly came to a stop in front of Poison Apple. Poison Apple smiled to her and began talking to her, knowing what she was going to do next.

Yes young one, another who is yet to find her purpose, and it's your friend too!, Hysteria laughed, the irony of the situation being the funniest thing her twisted mind has seen in a long time.