Sorcery is Companionship: S1by smakleappChaptersINTROHONESTYLAUGHTERINTROPonies everywhere gathered around the small town, their minds blown at the newly reformed princess standing in front of them. Not only that, they were getting a new resident, a student of the Princess herself! Pinkie Pie naturally was throwing a great party, from almost nothing. One minute the streets were filled with only ponies. Now, streamers, balloons, and tables were set up, sporting food and snacks. This day reinforced the idea that friendship was everywhere, forgiving an old villain, and accepting the newest resident, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight started off to the new party that was just being thrown before a hoof stopped her. Twilight looked up to see her mentor, glaring down at her. Luna was in the carriage, also staring at Twilight, with a serious look on her face matched only by Lunas. By nature, Twilight began to freak. Did I fail a test? Am I not staying here? Has she changed her mind?!? Celestia sensed Twilights coming meltdown and waved her hoof in dismissal of the idea. “Twilight, my dear student. You’ve understood my requirements about the friendship letters?” Celestia’s voice was sweet, but Twilight sensed an underlying tone of urgency. The sun was almost bearing down harder on the two ponies, possibly due to Celestia’s feelings. But Twilight couldn’t guess what those feelings were, so she kept her ropes up. “Of course Celestia! I’ll send one in great detail every-” “There is magic we’re meddling with that we must be cautious with. You must stay vigilant. If anything goes awry, you must tell me. You understand?” Twilight was thrown for a loop. Beads of sweat rolled off her face. Magic we don’t understand? What does she mean? Twilight began to feel fear. Slow and little, but it still made it’s presence known. What if I fail? She cant trust me. “Celestia, I-” Again, Celestia cut her off, even further enforcing the idea of urgency. “Twilight, I trust you. I wouldn’t leave anybody else with the Elements. Keep them safe, and gain confidence. If anything fails, it wouldn’t be your fault.” “Wait, why would it fai-” “Goodbye, my student. I need those letters! Don’t forget!” Celestia popped into the carriage with her sister, and in a second, the guards lifted off of the ground. Twilight was set for a full-fledged panic. She started grinding her teeth, clapping her hooves together. Nothing made sense, she couldn’t be trusted, everything was going to fail cause she couldn’t do it. Celestia made a huge mist- “TWILIGHTWHYAREYOUNOTATTHEPARTYITSFUNWEPLAYGAMESWELLYOUKNOWWAITDOYOUNOTLIKEPARTIESTHATSOKAYIFYOUDONTBUTITSNOTACTUALLYYOUSHOULDWEALLSHOULDPLEASECOMETOPARTYWHOOPSIFORGOTTOSAYTHEPLEASECOMETOTHEPARTY!!!” Pinkie snapped Twilight out of her state of depression. The party pony bounced up and down, and Twilight felt such affection for her, as well as her other friends. At the moment, Twilights worries weren’t destroyed, no, they subsided. Friendship calmed her, and she happily made her way to the party Pinkie Pie magically thrown. “Sister, I’m gracious you have accepted my apology. We have made amends and I’m glad I am back with my family. However, I must be wary of your decision to allow Twilight to hold the responsibility of keeping and wearing the Elements. What if they have not changed, or grew more unstable? What of that?” “Luna, I appreciate your cautiousness about the situation. I trust Twilight more than any other pony besides my own sister. If it fails, we will take swift action. We can’t risk his return.” Luna nodded. “Is that your true reason behind the friendship letters, as well as keeping them in Ponyville?” Celestia chuckled. “Not even back for a day and already figuring me out dear sister. Yes, although friendship is important, they cant be elsewhere. And I will get detailed responses from Twilight in order to determine if everything is okay. I need her to develop friendships while giving me information.” Luna nodded in agreement. The two were silent for a while, enjoying the company. Once they got back to the castle, hugs and apologies were sure to be thrown out. The sisters were excited about repairing their once close friendship. There was much to do, and so little time until possible armageddon would come. The carriage pulled up to Canterlot, and the sisters dismounted, to be met with cheers. Ponies lined the streets, cheering with excitement at their new princess. Old, ancient geezers held up badly drawn pictures of Luna, who was sure there was a connection between the Mare on the Moon and the Sun herself. Young stallions were shocked by Luna’s beauty, and young mares forgot about her evil ways, screaming for attention, and complimenting the way her hooves looked. News travels fast around Equestria it seems, no donut thanks to the mail ponies and the weather pegasi that heard what was happening in Ponyville and came to inform Canterlot. Guards led the way for the princesses. The two waved to the adoring citizens, Luna notably more shy and timid. The kingdom has grown bigger while she was gone. Guard themselves were trying not to freak out over their new royal ruler. The two passed the garden, which made them noticeably grimace. All forgot when Luna almost tripped over herself, causing ponies to erupt in laughter. Luna smirked then hurried her way into the castle, where the doors were closed on the two. The crowd chatted together for a while, then disappeared. HONESTYThe day promised to be a beautiful one. As Applejack rose from her covers, sunlight playfully splashed onto her bed. Her window glazed with yellow light, but it held an orange tinge. It was early in the mourning, and the light had such an orange sheen to it. Applejack noticed this, and she began to stir more aggressively. She always woke up on time, and today was thankfully no different. The day was bigger than most Applejack woke up early on. This whole month was in planning for the Grand Galloping Gala. After 2 months of bonding with her friends, the Gala was a break they needed. And until that month, celebrity actress Slim Sardasian was making her way into Ponyville, staying for a week or two before going to Canterlot. Applejack, of course, would oversee her food. She will pack cider, juice, and applesauce in packed containers to her designated rent house. If she wanted other food, thankfully, that wasn’t her problem. No matter what, she still needed to get a move on. Slim was coming the next day, so today would be packing everything and sending it to her place. AJ walked to her bathroom down the hall, quietly as to not wake Granny and Applebloom. Big Mac for sure was already awake. She did her hair a little bit, clumsily and half-hearted. She didn’t want to fumble around with the comb any longer than she had to. She brushed her teeth and started a quick shower. She didn’t much care for Slim. She felt it was all fake, the dresses, the body, the accent, the fame, the gems. She was a good friend of Celestia’s though, so she needed respect. It’s hard to give that to her when AJ knew that her pre-made food was most likely going to be wasted, in favor of high dining. Whatever. She still got paid, and it was honest work. That’s all AJ cared about. The shower was a quick one. Getting rid of the old dirt to make way for the new dirt. As she made her way downstairs, the orange tint was fading in favor of nice yellow light. Big Mac was eating flapjacks with apple bits inside. He made extra of course. “‘Ello.” “‘Ello.” Their message was quick, but that’s all it had to be. They had long conversations when working. Now was the time to get ready, no time for talk. It was ironic, AJ thought, that work time was when they talked, and downtime was when they kept to themselves. But it worked. It always worked. The smell of apples was still fresh in the kitchen when they walked out. They could faintly see the weather ponies in the yellow-lit sky get ready for the day. The sun was coming up ever so further, and bright light flooded in each time it did so. It was wonderful. AJ’s type of wonderful. The two began to work. Without Applebloom, nobody could hold the buckets, and the two siblings couldn’t waste their time by carrying buckets. They each took two and would fill em up. They could hold about 3 tress worth. They only needed 20 trees or so each for the job. They did overload the other day for preparation, so they could be done early today. It had to be around 6 in the mourning when the bucking started. AJ prided herself on getting lost in its act, say for the few conversations she has with Big Mac. And even then, both focus on the job. It keeps them entertained, as much as work can keep you entertained. AJ did love it, even though she kept telling herself it was for work. She enjoyed it a great bit. Big Mac seemed to not mind the work, same with the other Apples that come over to the farm to help out. But Applejack loved it, more than any one of them. Applejack finished with about 10 as 7 came around. It was harder without Applebloom awake to bring the baskets in. They always did it early in the mourning, so this was a recurring problem. However, the two were ready to take the extra burden for their little sister. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! They finished up around 9, and they were ready to get juicing. Applebloom walked out of the door at the moment, and waved to her siblings. “Big Mac! Applejack? What’s fer breakfast?”Applebloom asked innocently. Applejack wiped her sweat off her forehead and looked to her little sister. “Ah think we have some leftover flapjacks in the fridge.” “Why the fridge?” “I don’t know, what’s the difference?” Applebloom slammed her hoof down on the porch. “I don’t like them cold!” Applejack begrudgingly caved. “Fine! Take them out and let them sit for a while.” “Eyup.” Applbloom looked to her siblings, nodded, then went back inside. The two looked at each other and chuckled. It was a hassle having a younger sister. But it was rewarding to get a family. That’s all the Apples wanted. A family. The two began to move the baskets full of apples to get juiced and prepped for the house. It was about noon when the job was finished. The Apples always prided themselves on finishing the job quickly. AJ knew the others were busy. Rainbow was helping the weather team, Rarity was busy making a dress for Slim to go to the prom with. That was, after all, her reason for coming to Ponyville. Fluttershy was training the animals to help Slim with anything she needed. Pinkie was obviously making a welcome party for Slim, and Twilight was getting ready to greet her, and overall make sure the week ran smoothly. Applejack felt weird, even though the job was done, and done well. She had completed worse jobs than this, and she didn’t care if Slim enjoyed it or not. Wait. Why didn’t she? Applejack was confused. Why am I not caring about her? She cared about everybody who ate her food. So why is Slim different, besides being wealthy and rich? Because you hate that. “What!!???” Applejack turned around, whizzing to see the voice. She was on the porch, relaxing, letting the sun hit her sweat and dry it off her. She now was scared and terrified. The voice was behind her, in front of her, all around her. “Who said that?” I did. You know you hate everything she is. You loathe her. You think she is an embarrassment to ponykind. Your lying to yourself for someone who is the Element of Honesty. “I say come out. I think no such thing. Who are you anyway?” The voice still did not make itself known. Applejacks fear was building up inside of her. You’re lying to yourself, Applejack. Be honest. Stop pretending. AJ stood up out of her chair. “Shut up! Where are you? Who do you think you are?” The voice wouldn’t stop. I only want to help. You need to understand true honesty Applejack. Only then will you be happy. Applejack slammed her back hoof down, and the chair crumbled underneath the weight. Appledash staggered back, shocked at the destruction she just caused. No, she was scared about everything. The voice, her anger, and if it was true or not. It wasn’t, right? “Applejack, is everything alright?” Applebloom ran out onto the porch, a fearful and worrying look in her eye. Applejack turned to realize she was standing in front of a window, a window that Big Mac and Granny were staring at her through. “Y-ye-yeah, I’m fine Applebloom, I’m uh… just kinda talking to myself, that’s all.” Applejack was stammering and sweating profusely. Her breaths were quick and shallow. She was shaking all over, and she didn’t know why. You know wh- “SHUT UP!” AJs voice was full of fear. She was terrified. That voice still wouldn’t shut up, was still talking to her, mocking her, killing her, destroying her. She didn’t know why her thoughts were so violent to this disembodied voice, but she didn’t dare ask the question for fear of it talking again. Big mac busted through the door to the patio. “Applebloom,” Big Mac said in a stern tone, “you need to get Twilight. Tell her there is a problem.” Big Mac turned to AJ, who was now slumped down on the floor. “Hey, Jack, cmon, you’ll be ok.” Big Mac’s tone changed drastically. It was smooth, kind, and worried. AJ gave a bit of a smile. She hoped it was a seizure or something wrong with her brain, rather than some type of demon living inside her. She began to laugh at the thought. And with that thought, AJ slipped out of consciousness just as Big Mac shouted at Granny for a glass of water. Applejack woke up in a hospital bed. She had no idea what time it was, and she found no desire to learn it. She felt sore, and her memory slowly came back to her. It was a single room, and no other patients seemed to be present. The wall was a light blue, just like the sky. And Rainbow Dash. I wonder how quickly she got her job done. Applejack laughed. Some dull old pop tunes were playing softly in the background outside of the room, none of which AJ could recognize. She wondered where her friends were, and what they were doing. She put two and two together and realized Twilight must have sent her here. She remembered her breakdown. She wondered if she was going crazy, or if there really was a voice. She hoped the former was the truth. She sat there for Celestia know how long, with only the faint ticking of the clock and random tunes being heard. This didn’t bother Applejack, not in the slightest. At least it’s not the voice. Hoofsteps were made out on the other side of the door, as one white pony came in, carrying bags of no doubt clothes on her horn. “DARLING, you must be simply, b o r e d.” Rarity misread how loud she can be, and she quickly hushed down. AJ laughed. She loved her friend. They were always hanging out, ever since that sleepover. “Rarity, it’s good to see somepony else,” Applejack said, as Rarity came over to the side of the bed to exchange hugs. After the embrace, Rarity pulled up a seat next to AJ and took off the bags, intent to give them to her. “So, I found these Luscious boots when I was in the thrift store, and this black hat, simply g o r g e o u s.” Applejack took the bags and put them on her nightstand next to her bed. As she turned to the right, away from the door, she looked out a window to see black. Night? Damn, must have been out the rest of the day. “Thrift store? You don’t go into those places.” Rarity hugged her arm, and breathed in, and spoke quickly. “Well, I thought you would like stuff from thereeee Idontknow.” AJ laughed. She didn’t expect her to go into those types of stores. She never did. She must have been worried sick. AJ shifted in bed, intending to get up. This action put a worried look on Rarities face. “So, I’m guessing I’m allowed to leave?” She chuckled, continuing to shift in bed. To her surprise, Rarity rested her hoof on Applejack. “Darling you just woke up. It would be three days at most,” Rarity said, almost at a whisper. AJ put on a puzzled look, staring at her friend. “Well gosh darn it, I didn’t know that one bad day is so serious.” AJ threw her hoofs into the air. Her motion to get out of bed had been replaced with complaining. “I swear, I just was affected by the pressure of a celebrity coming to our town, that’s all. Nothing serious. A day, for Celestia’s sake! Now let me get out of bed.” AJ returned to her previous action. Rarity continued to rest her hoof on AJs shoulder. “Applejack, you’ve been here for over a week.” Applejack was stunned into silence. Her mind stopped to process the information she took in, and was consistently hitting gaps. That wouldn’t make sense. She struggled to find words, trying to tell Rarity that was impossible. Rarities tone did not waver, not even for a second. “Slim has already left, you missed her. You were stuck in a coma almost the entire time. You wouldn’t respond to anypony. You would open your eyes for maybe five minutes, but you wouldn’t say anything. And I’m guessing you don’t remember any of that.” AJ shook her head, her throat extremely dry. She couldn’t breathe, each breath was a trial. She had sun strokes before, many times in fact. She would hallucinate sometimes, but not as serious as last time. And this confirmed it. There was a voice. It had to be. Sun strokes don’t put you in comas, let alone a week. And she didn’t remember anything after Big Mac asked for water. Water. She needed water. That’s all she wanted, water. Everything began spinning. The hoof resting near her neck became itchy and irritable. Water. Thirsty. That’s all Applejack could think of. She could barely hear Rarity, her voice muddled, screaming if she was ok. If only I could get some water. AJ convinced herself that to fix this, all she would need is something to drink. I doubt I ever got that drink. That’s what it was. I needed water! Finally, something that made sense. Rarities hoof left AJ, and the white pony’s voice was shrill and loud. All Applejack could think of was water, and the shrill voice of her friend was gone. It stopped and there was silence. It was all silent. Nothing made a sound. Woah. Applejack weakly waved her hoof in front of her face. It seemed to make trails behind it, making AJ giggle. She glanced over at her now silent friend, who was now making her way out of the room. Applejack didn’t know why. Maybe she realized her voice wasn’t working. AJ stared at the ceiling, tired and drained. Her surroundings still seemed to slosh around, like the snow she would scrape off the barn. The idea of a barn became very funny to Applejack, and she began to giggle again. At hearing an echo, she listened intently. She began to remember a pony that came in before, an hour ago or so. She forgot her name, but looked to the doorway, where the friend left many moons ago. There stood a pony. If it could even be called that. It was all black, almost like those black holes Twilight would talk about. There was no mouth to be seen, but the eyes were a dark, bloodshot red. The pupils were orange, giving the eyes a sinister effect. It stared at AJ, and through this, she could make out a necklace on the ponies’ neck. It was the same one she wore to fight off Nightmare Moon, and now it rested on the dark, void pony. One Applejack was suspicious of. It stared at her. That’s all. Just stared. Applejack was frozen in place. Her surreal environment faded away to a more chilling one. She wasn’t drugged anymore, no, she was injected with pure fear. And then the thing revealed its mouth. The skin kept gliding around like constellations, never stalling. The mouth was pure orange, with strings of its starry skin sticking to the two sides of the mouth. It was smiling. I apologize for having to do this to you, but you were too boneheaded to listen. AJ realized the mouth wasn’t going up and down. When it spoke, it would simply just hang open, and the voice seemed to talk right inside her head. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t find her will to. The thing continued. Explaining will make things easier. I am what is known as the Element of Honesty. My sole purpose was to help the wearer be true to oneself, and an inanimate object would do no such thing. Starswirl, our creator, put in the absolute versions of our given virtues. However, the wearers were misguided and flawed. I took it into my own hands, as well as my fellow brethren. We were put away for this reason. It seems we have been chosen to return once again, and history repeats itself. I cannot stand by while you continue to dirty the virtue of honesty. Again, Applejack couldn’t move. Her body was stuck to her bed. The atmosphere was cold, and AJ’s dry throat returned. The Elements should be good. Everything the thing was saying was the exact opposite. She couldn’t take in any information, as it spoke again. I did not expect you to be this strong, mentally at least. Celestia must have chosen well. Applejack found she could talk again, and her thoughts were blurted out. “Who are you? What do you want? Why should I believe a single word you said?” She was hostile ready to fight, despite the fact she was still paralyzed. The thing seemed to laugh. I would not lie, it’s not in my nature. It is in yours, however. You say you tell the truth, but your feelings are built on lies and fantasies, built on friendship. That struck a chord with Applejack. Nobody insulted her friends. “You hold your tongue! You were built to help friendship, not condemn it. Even if I do believe you about your existence and all that!” AJ snorted. It was at this time that she realized she was in a world of black, everything was gone. The thing scoffed. Friendship? We were not created for friendship. We were simply used for that point. We represent ourselves, and only ourselves. You are weak, Applejack. You give in to stupid ideas in hope of being friends. You despise that celebrity, but you hide it away. Don’t lie, your friends are annoying, and you would be better off alone Your stupid routines, your stupid ideas, your stupid family, everything is a lie. Don’t you see? Give in! Only then you will be free! She hated everything it was saying. Everything. Her blood began to boil at this thing that was standing in this pit of emptiness. It hated her. It despised her. She couldn’t let it win. “You shut up about my life. You’re an idiot for believing your shit. I don’t know where I am, I don’t know quite what’s happening. Everything is moving too fast. But I do know one thing, and that your full of horse malarky! Go back to where you came from! Leav-” ACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT IT It screamed, at the top of its lungs. It filled every crevice of the void, and it wouldn’t stop She knew the only way out of this black prison was to listen to it But she couldn’t. She knew she couldn’t. She mustered up all the courage she had. “No.” It stopped suddenly. And then there was silence. The cold voice spoke once more, its shape now lost in the black prison. Then stay here forever, until you accept. AJ sat down, at least she thought she did. Her mind was conflicted, and she had no idea what to do. She focused on the first thing to pop into her head: friendship. And so it was decided. She would wait. Her friends would do something, they have to. Prove it’s wrong, and wait. And wait she did, waiting for somepony to care, somepony to come. Anypony. LAUGHTERDespair. Darkness. Pinkie felt all of this at once, seeping into her like water into a sponge. It was quick too, the rapid succession of guilt and sadness. Feelings like this usually eluded Pinkie, but now, as she sat in her bed, mulling over the night’s events, she wept. It was almost one when the group went to the hospital. Applejack was stuck in a bed now, stuck in another coma, this one seemingly worse. She looked so peaceful, Pinkie remembered, except for the giant breathing apparatus keeping her alive. When the doc checked her eyes, she said they were glossy, the outer rims a light emerald green. The Apples were present too, and that was all. 8 ponies gathered around one who had been everyone’s rock for the last few months. She was always there. A little hot-headed, sure, but she was counted on. And she always pulled through. In her previous coma, Pinkie couldn’t concentrate on Slim’s party. Her friend was asleep. And now, well, she couldn’t do anything. Pinkie finally kicked her legs from under her to fall on the bed. It must be for something now. Sadness never reached Pinkie, never. Her period of laying down was cut short, as Pinkie popped up once again, looking outside the window. Yup, pitch black. The only sound was the wind, howling, or almost crying, weeping. It was sad, it had to be. It struck Pinkie with even more sadness. Her gaze moved away from the window, and toward her big toy box. She didn’t play with the toys too much, but the Cake twins loved it. She moved here to bring cheer and moved from her family to start a new life. The Cakes took her in. She was forever grateful. She baked, she threw parties, and she played with the twins. Everything to let them know she was grateful. But is it enough? Pinkie shook her head, whispering, “Thoughts, stupid thoughts, no no no. I help them always. Always!” Pinkie still felt doubt. She was changing. She didn’t know why or how, but she was. She never felt this way. Never. “No siree. Never for good ol’ Pinkie!” Doubt. It was in her voice. And she still didn’t know why. It was at this moment of self-confusion that Pinkie felt a presence in her room. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy filled the air. Carnival music slowly faded in, nice and soft, not too loud. There were the soft sounds of rides and machines. And of course, there was laughter. This was sudden, but Pinkie stood stunned for only a minute. She became instantly intrigued. She might be throwing herself a party. She usually does these ahead of time, as to shock herself when it happened. “Well, me, you outdid yourself. I don’t even remember getting music to secretly play, with a laugh track, and get air fresheners on wind blowy thingies to get this smell of deliciousness!!!” Pinkie tapped her chin. “Niiiicceee one, me. Point one, me, zero points, also me.” She giggled at her own jest. Now, time for the surprise. Her sad feelings melted away in favor of unrealistic perceptions. She ignored the creepy factors because it was better than feeling sad. She always replaced her sad feelings with happy ones, and she would make anything positive to get away from sadness. She didn’t want to remember her guilt and sadness tonight, no, she’ll rather feel happy. She didn’t want to think about how years of pent up feelings and sadness culminated tonight. Tonight when she saw her friend sleeping for an unknown time. Tonight when she might have lost her friend. Tonight when she felt bad, terrible, everything. All of that. Pushed aside. It pushed her over her limit. Make things appear, make things happen. Make them laugh, make them giggle, make them forget. When it goes over the limit, forget. If she let up now, she would never recover. She never wanted to feel sad again. Tonight was terrible. Never again. So Pinkie created an illusion that everything was normal. Simply a party. She made it too easy. The sounds of happiness and laughter were still low and soft. She propped herself off her bed and trotted around the room. The smells intensified. It smelled so good. Pinkie jumped up and down with excitement. She was so excited! “This will be the bestest surprise, ever!” Pinkie kept her voice low. Her planned party was enough noise, she didn’t want to wake up all of Ponyville. Horns and drums were playing a happy and silly little tune, causing Pinkie to move back and forth. “Oh, I’m grooving!” She cheered herself on, squatting down and doing perfect moonwalks, in her own not so humble opinion. She wanted to enjoy this party. It was the best one she ever had. She threw the biggest parties, ones with thousands of attendants. And yet this was her favorite one. The own by herself, alone in her room. Because of the day, it was welcomed. It needed to shield her from the last few hours. It had to. This party needed to. She needed it to. She jumped up and down once again and hopped over to the door. She would need to be quiet, sure, but might as well celebrate in the main dining room. “Awesome. I’m like, the best!” She squeed in delight. Party, that’s all she needed to do. Shell be so drugged on happiness, she won’t feel anything. Numb. She bounced to the door, and as she passed the toy box, she shuddered. Something was in there. Waiting. She did not know how she felt it, but she simply did. She stared at it, for who knows how long. She became frightened and wished to check that Gummy was ok, as well as her surrogate family. They had to be o- BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM The toy box moved with every pound and scratch. Something was trying to get out, furiously. It had to get out. Pinkie felt her legs collapse underneath her, and she scooted away from the door and box and put her back to her bed rest. The sounds got louder, as well as the music and laughter. Only a higher volume. Let me out. The voice seemed to scratch against Pinkie’s brain. It repeated itself. Let me ou.PLEEeeeeaasee. It scratched her ears, it scratched her soul. The voice was grating and shacky. It continued, politely asking please after every sentence. “ALRIGHTALRIGHTALRIGHT!!!” In a surge of emotion, Pinkie lept to the box, opened the hatch, then dove back to her previous position. The door opened, but nothing emerged. Nothing. Pinkie was puzzled. “Who is that? You can come out.” She went to her failsafe. “We’ll have a party! Don’t you hear the music and laughter? We’ll celebrate together!” She smiled as if the unknown creature could see her. “DID SOMEONE SAY FUN!” A voice that was distorted thundered from the box. A flash of blue, white, red, and brown flew for the box. In front of Pinkie was a small toy. Bobo the Clown. The fake pony had red circles around the eyes, his face white, with blue diamonds on his cheeks. The plastic smiled moved, causing Pinkie to jerk away from him. His smile immediately turned to a frown. “Awwwww, you don’t like me.” He kicked at the ground. The plastic toy looked at Pinkie, expecting sympathy. He got what he wished. Pinkie scooted over the small toy, which could easily fit in her hoof. “No no no! I’m sorry! Just, toys don’t often come to life. Plus, your voice was kinda scary.” She shuddered back. The toy shook his head, now filled with a grin. “Oh, I can fix that!” He hit two hooves together, and suddenly, he was a real pony, the size of Pinkie Pie. All of his features remained the same, including that wide smile. He giggled in such an exaggerated way that Pinkie fell over herself with laughter. The toy turned on a sad look again. “I can’t do anything about the voice though. Sorry.” He looked down, mock crying. Pinkie shook her head. “That’s okay, you just caught me off guard. Nobody does that!” She could still smell the carnival, hear the carnival, and practically see the carnival. She had a moment of clarity. “Did you make this party?” His grin spread again “Yes, I did! Hope you like it!” “Oh do I do I?” All aspects of previous fear were now gone for utter excitement. “Well,” life-size Bobo continued, “want to continue?” Pinkie nodded her head speedily. All she wanted was to have fun. The thought of Applejack and her depressing thoughts were nowhere to be seen. Bobo pointed to the window, and Pinkie hurriedly rushed to the place. Everybody was down on the street, waving, and cheering her name. It was still nighttime, but the ponies could only think about rooting for her. She spotted her friends in the crowd, wide smiles on their faces, cheering her name. And wow, a Pinkie was there too! Applejack was there too, feeling better overnight. She looked back to see Bobo was gone. She shrugged, and quickly raced down to everypony. She got there and was awarded with cheers from all ponies. They stomped their feet for her, but she didn’t know what the point of the party was. “Thanks everypony! But why?” Twilight spoke up, grinning from ear to ear. “Why, you are happy all time. You are the best! You’re never sad. Right?” Pinkies previous thoughts reached her for only half a second. She thought she saw everypony frown for half a second when the thought crossed her head, but when she went back to being joyous, the crowd followed. “Of course! I can’t be sad!” And she felt a twinge of sadness, and again, she thought she saw the crowd wince. Her happiness returned. The crowd cheered, and they danced. Ponies showed off their moves in pure ecstasy, excited by this late-night bash outside Surgarcube Corner. She spotted the Cakes, and the twins, dancing with the crowd. Even Trixie was there, showing off her moves. Everypony was so happy. The music intensified, and so did the smells, despite no food being present. Pinkie felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find its Rainbow Dash. “Hi Dashie, what’s up!” Dash was grinning, brimming with excitement. “Well, we got a surprise for you at the treehouse. Come on!” And with that, Rainbow raced off towards the library. Pinkie followed Rainbow. Her friends cheered her on. “Goodbye everypony! Thanks for the great party!” “YOUR WELCOME!” They all shouted. With a final wave, Pinkie began to follow Rainbow. She was excited and incredibly naive. She was bouncing without caution, as the houses passed the pink blur. She couldn’t see Dash at this point. “Classic Dashie. Flying off ahead. I’ll catch up!” Pinkie joked. As she naively bounced, there were giant amusement park rides off in the distance. Pinkie oohed and wowed at the giant structures that seemed to be a million miles away. She eventually arrived at the treehouse, the lights inside brightening up the night. She stared at the door for a while, a sudden rush of fear running through her body. She did not know the reason, but her Pinkie Sense was going off the rails. She began to step back. The door flung open, and Bobo the clown was in the doorway. Behind him, Pinkie could see a stage with curtains closed, and one seat in front of it. A show? Pinkie looked curiously at Bobo. “Pinkie! I’m so glad that you could make it! We’re going to have so much fun!” Bobo was smiling down at Pinkie, and his smile had a hint of madness behind it. Something about this place made Pinkie uneasy. She continued to back away. “No thanks, Mr. Clown. I think I java to get home to go to bed, it’s late and I need to work tomorrow, so-” “NONSENSE!” yelled Bobo, who grabbed a refraining Pinkie and led her inside. The inside was lit with lanterns and candles. The girls were nowhere to be seen. Pinkie was scared now. This wasn’t fun. It was fake fun. “Bobo, it’s super scary! Sorry, but I…” Her voice trailed off as she turned to see nopony. Bobo was gone, the door shut. Pinkie just knew it was locked, and from what she was picking up now, she was afraid of what might happen if she tried to open that door. Pinkie hated this sudden change. It was happy only a while ago. Now, everything was different. In the blink of the eye. It made her uneasy something can change over such a short time. Gradual change is scary, yes. Such as the changing of trends, the new fashion lines. But the sudden change of plans? That is what’s terrifying. The fact that there is no long story drawn out. No setup, no nothing. The worst fear is the fear that happens without warning, or with all the warning in the world, and you still don’t see it. Pinkie thought she sounded like Twilight, worrying about sudden changes of plans. But instead of laughing, Pinkie grew scared. With nothing else to do, she sat down on the chair. The curtains opened up to reveal all her friends, beside herself. They were wearing smiles too wide, and Pinkie now felt scared instead of happy. “Hi Rainbow, how are you today?” asked Twilight in a robotic tone. “Thanks for asking, Twilight. I’m doing fine! Great! What about the others!” The others robotically answered together in unison, “We are great too!” Fake laughter came from the 5 ponies, and Pinkie shuffled around in her seat. Her hair was boinging up and down. She knew it wasn’t good, whatever was happening was bad. Very bad. But her fear of what might happen if she tried to escape outweighed her current feelings, so she stayed put She just now realized that the laughing and music faded, and it was silent except for the drone of fake laughter coming from her friends. She then saw herself walk on the stage. Pinkie 2 was frowning. Pinkie would usually try to cheer her up, but she got terrible feelings about Pinkie 2. She stayed in her seat. Twilight turned to face the copy. “Oh, hi Pinkie! Are you feeling great today?” Pinkie 2 grunted, then loudly proclaimed, “No!” The 5 gasped, shocked at the realization that their friend was sad. Their smiles turned to intense frowns. The 5 looked at each other, and exclaimed, “NOW WERE ALL SAD!” The five began to fake cry, while Pinkie 2 turned to Pinkie and shrugged with the same frown. Pinkie 2 then surge forward and slit Twilights throat with a hidden knife. Pinkie usually prided herself on being random, and never one to stop talking. Up until now, she was unable to do this. She felt weighed down by her fear for herself. This was no longer the case, as her friends got hurt. Killed. She rushed forward, able to speak now and no longer fearing for her life, that did not matter now. “WHAT IN THE FRICKING CELESTIA HAY DID YOU DO!?!” As Pinkie surged forward with no fear, her movements were slowed to a stop as she was close to the stage. Her friends continued to fake cry as Pinkie 2 advanced on the remaining five. Pinkie screamed. “WATCH OUT! BAD PINKIE! GIRLS, PLEASE!!!!!” Pinkie 2 slashed the knife across Applejack’s stomach. 4 friends. “STOP! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? HELP! GIRLS!” 3 friends. “STOPPPP! STOP CRYING! I’LL MAKE A PARTY! JUST RUN!!” 2 friends. “PLEASE, THEYRE ALL I HAVE! I DONT WANT THEM TO DIE! PLEASE!” Her voice was shrill, hysterical. Tears were streaming down her face. 1 friend. Pinkies voice now resembled only a whisper. “Ple...ase. Don’t take them a...way. I’m sorry your angry. Just leave them alone. Ple...ase.” No friends. Pinkie choked on her tears, stuck in a mid-run Pinkie 2 turned to look at Pinkie Pie. She couldn’t breathe. Her friends were gone. And it was her fault. She looked up to see Pinkie 2 right in front of her. Pinkie would have stumbled back if she could move. Pinkie 2 began to talk in a low and broken voice. “They died. From us. Because we were sad. We were sad and ruined their days. Now they’re dead.” It was quick, it was informal. It was all Pinkie had to hear. Pinkie 2 spoke again. “Pinkie, we can’t do this ever. We cant do this to them. We love them. We need them. When we feel,” Pinkie 2 pointed at the bloody corpses of her friends, “they get hurt. Don’t you see? We need to hide it down. We can’t let anybody know we feel. Cause we’ll hurt them.” A sane pony would have said bullshit. That was wrong, untrue. That you couldn’t kill your feelings to not hurt your friends, that friends need to know your feelings. Pinkie just saw her friends get brutally murdered by herself. She wasn’t exactly sane right now. Plus, to her it made sense. She always kept her feelings hidden, it couldn’t be that much harder to have no feelings besides happiness. She could do it. She had to do it. “Ok,” Pinkie whispered. Pinkie 2 nodded. She then guided the knife she held into Pinkies hoof and without resistance, guided it into Pinkie 2’s stomach. She smiled as she fell, and Pinkie was now able to move. She fell back, laughing and crying, her psyche broken. She wanted this dream to end. She did not wanna be here anymore. She wanted to leave. “WHY WON’T IT END?” shouted Pinkie. She turned to go through the door to find Bobo the clown. His smile was hanging slightly off his face, and his throat looked slit, as well as his chest. He looked at his wounds, then at Pinkie. He flashed a wide set of sharp teeth. “Good girl.” Pinkie braced herself as he pounced, and she went into black. ____________________________________________________________________________ 3 Days Later Lyra sat on her small couch, glancing at the tv in front of her. Her favorite show, The Ponymooners, was playing. She was observing everything that was happening in the past days. Lyra was sure Twilight would break by now. She needed to wait for that moment. It would be easier to inform her than out of nowhere. When she’s at her most vulnerable, is when she will listen to anything. “That’s what they did to those poor bastards.” Lyra continued to watch her show. It wouldn’t be long now. Only 3 weeks or so until the Gala. It wouldn’t be that hard. Lyra let her mind wander to other places She and Bon Bon were going on another date tonight. It would be hard with a maniac Pinkie on the loose. Lyra wasn’t surprised Applejack fought against it, but she knew Pinkie wouldn’t stand a chance. She knew what it was like to have it in her head. “Oh wait, here’s the best part.” Lyra interrupted herself to watch the part of the show where the stallion would accidentally slam his hand with the hammer. Lyra chuckled, then went back to thinking. She would talk to Twilight, go on the date with Bon Bon, then basically make sure everything that needed to happen would happen. She told Celestia not to do it, there had to be another way. “Sorry toots, looks like I was right on this one.” Lyra floated a chip up to her mouth. After chomping down, she got out of her chair and used her magic to make a hologram of Twilights treehouse. The OCD pony herself was there with Spike. Although there wasn’t any audio, Lyra could tell Twilight was about to write to the princess. “Welp, time for me to calm her down.” And with that, Lyra went on her way to the treehouse.
INTROPonies everywhere gathered around the small town, their minds blown at the newly reformed princess standing in front of them. Not only that, they were getting a new resident, a student of the Princess herself! Pinkie Pie naturally was throwing a great party, from almost nothing. One minute the streets were filled with only ponies. Now, streamers, balloons, and tables were set up, sporting food and snacks. This day reinforced the idea that friendship was everywhere, forgiving an old villain, and accepting the newest resident, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight started off to the new party that was just being thrown before a hoof stopped her. Twilight looked up to see her mentor, glaring down at her. Luna was in the carriage, also staring at Twilight, with a serious look on her face matched only by Lunas. By nature, Twilight began to freak. Did I fail a test? Am I not staying here? Has she changed her mind?!? Celestia sensed Twilights coming meltdown and waved her hoof in dismissal of the idea. “Twilight, my dear student. You’ve understood my requirements about the friendship letters?” Celestia’s voice was sweet, but Twilight sensed an underlying tone of urgency. The sun was almost bearing down harder on the two ponies, possibly due to Celestia’s feelings. But Twilight couldn’t guess what those feelings were, so she kept her ropes up. “Of course Celestia! I’ll send one in great detail every-” “There is magic we’re meddling with that we must be cautious with. You must stay vigilant. If anything goes awry, you must tell me. You understand?” Twilight was thrown for a loop. Beads of sweat rolled off her face. Magic we don’t understand? What does she mean? Twilight began to feel fear. Slow and little, but it still made it’s presence known. What if I fail? She cant trust me. “Celestia, I-” Again, Celestia cut her off, even further enforcing the idea of urgency. “Twilight, I trust you. I wouldn’t leave anybody else with the Elements. Keep them safe, and gain confidence. If anything fails, it wouldn’t be your fault.” “Wait, why would it fai-” “Goodbye, my student. I need those letters! Don’t forget!” Celestia popped into the carriage with her sister, and in a second, the guards lifted off of the ground. Twilight was set for a full-fledged panic. She started grinding her teeth, clapping her hooves together. Nothing made sense, she couldn’t be trusted, everything was going to fail cause she couldn’t do it. Celestia made a huge mist- “TWILIGHTWHYAREYOUNOTATTHEPARTYITSFUNWEPLAYGAMESWELLYOUKNOWWAITDOYOUNOTLIKEPARTIESTHATSOKAYIFYOUDONTBUTITSNOTACTUALLYYOUSHOULDWEALLSHOULDPLEASECOMETOPARTYWHOOPSIFORGOTTOSAYTHEPLEASECOMETOTHEPARTY!!!” Pinkie snapped Twilight out of her state of depression. The party pony bounced up and down, and Twilight felt such affection for her, as well as her other friends. At the moment, Twilights worries weren’t destroyed, no, they subsided. Friendship calmed her, and she happily made her way to the party Pinkie Pie magically thrown. “Sister, I’m gracious you have accepted my apology. We have made amends and I’m glad I am back with my family. However, I must be wary of your decision to allow Twilight to hold the responsibility of keeping and wearing the Elements. What if they have not changed, or grew more unstable? What of that?” “Luna, I appreciate your cautiousness about the situation. I trust Twilight more than any other pony besides my own sister. If it fails, we will take swift action. We can’t risk his return.” Luna nodded. “Is that your true reason behind the friendship letters, as well as keeping them in Ponyville?” Celestia chuckled. “Not even back for a day and already figuring me out dear sister. Yes, although friendship is important, they cant be elsewhere. And I will get detailed responses from Twilight in order to determine if everything is okay. I need her to develop friendships while giving me information.” Luna nodded in agreement. The two were silent for a while, enjoying the company. Once they got back to the castle, hugs and apologies were sure to be thrown out. The sisters were excited about repairing their once close friendship. There was much to do, and so little time until possible armageddon would come. The carriage pulled up to Canterlot, and the sisters dismounted, to be met with cheers. Ponies lined the streets, cheering with excitement at their new princess. Old, ancient geezers held up badly drawn pictures of Luna, who was sure there was a connection between the Mare on the Moon and the Sun herself. Young stallions were shocked by Luna’s beauty, and young mares forgot about her evil ways, screaming for attention, and complimenting the way her hooves looked. News travels fast around Equestria it seems, no donut thanks to the mail ponies and the weather pegasi that heard what was happening in Ponyville and came to inform Canterlot. Guards led the way for the princesses. The two waved to the adoring citizens, Luna notably more shy and timid. The kingdom has grown bigger while she was gone. Guard themselves were trying not to freak out over their new royal ruler. The two passed the garden, which made them noticeably grimace. All forgot when Luna almost tripped over herself, causing ponies to erupt in laughter. Luna smirked then hurried her way into the castle, where the doors were closed on the two. The crowd chatted together for a while, then disappeared.
HONESTYThe day promised to be a beautiful one. As Applejack rose from her covers, sunlight playfully splashed onto her bed. Her window glazed with yellow light, but it held an orange tinge. It was early in the mourning, and the light had such an orange sheen to it. Applejack noticed this, and she began to stir more aggressively. She always woke up on time, and today was thankfully no different. The day was bigger than most Applejack woke up early on. This whole month was in planning for the Grand Galloping Gala. After 2 months of bonding with her friends, the Gala was a break they needed. And until that month, celebrity actress Slim Sardasian was making her way into Ponyville, staying for a week or two before going to Canterlot. Applejack, of course, would oversee her food. She will pack cider, juice, and applesauce in packed containers to her designated rent house. If she wanted other food, thankfully, that wasn’t her problem. No matter what, she still needed to get a move on. Slim was coming the next day, so today would be packing everything and sending it to her place. AJ walked to her bathroom down the hall, quietly as to not wake Granny and Applebloom. Big Mac for sure was already awake. She did her hair a little bit, clumsily and half-hearted. She didn’t want to fumble around with the comb any longer than she had to. She brushed her teeth and started a quick shower. She didn’t much care for Slim. She felt it was all fake, the dresses, the body, the accent, the fame, the gems. She was a good friend of Celestia’s though, so she needed respect. It’s hard to give that to her when AJ knew that her pre-made food was most likely going to be wasted, in favor of high dining. Whatever. She still got paid, and it was honest work. That’s all AJ cared about. The shower was a quick one. Getting rid of the old dirt to make way for the new dirt. As she made her way downstairs, the orange tint was fading in favor of nice yellow light. Big Mac was eating flapjacks with apple bits inside. He made extra of course. “‘Ello.” “‘Ello.” Their message was quick, but that’s all it had to be. They had long conversations when working. Now was the time to get ready, no time for talk. It was ironic, AJ thought, that work time was when they talked, and downtime was when they kept to themselves. But it worked. It always worked. The smell of apples was still fresh in the kitchen when they walked out. They could faintly see the weather ponies in the yellow-lit sky get ready for the day. The sun was coming up ever so further, and bright light flooded in each time it did so. It was wonderful. AJ’s type of wonderful. The two began to work. Without Applebloom, nobody could hold the buckets, and the two siblings couldn’t waste their time by carrying buckets. They each took two and would fill em up. They could hold about 3 tress worth. They only needed 20 trees or so each for the job. They did overload the other day for preparation, so they could be done early today. It had to be around 6 in the mourning when the bucking started. AJ prided herself on getting lost in its act, say for the few conversations she has with Big Mac. And even then, both focus on the job. It keeps them entertained, as much as work can keep you entertained. AJ did love it, even though she kept telling herself it was for work. She enjoyed it a great bit. Big Mac seemed to not mind the work, same with the other Apples that come over to the farm to help out. But Applejack loved it, more than any one of them. Applejack finished with about 10 as 7 came around. It was harder without Applebloom awake to bring the baskets in. They always did it early in the mourning, so this was a recurring problem. However, the two were ready to take the extra burden for their little sister. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! They finished up around 9, and they were ready to get juicing. Applebloom walked out of the door at the moment, and waved to her siblings. “Big Mac! Applejack? What’s fer breakfast?”Applebloom asked innocently. Applejack wiped her sweat off her forehead and looked to her little sister. “Ah think we have some leftover flapjacks in the fridge.” “Why the fridge?” “I don’t know, what’s the difference?” Applebloom slammed her hoof down on the porch. “I don’t like them cold!” Applejack begrudgingly caved. “Fine! Take them out and let them sit for a while.” “Eyup.” Applbloom looked to her siblings, nodded, then went back inside. The two looked at each other and chuckled. It was a hassle having a younger sister. But it was rewarding to get a family. That’s all the Apples wanted. A family. The two began to move the baskets full of apples to get juiced and prepped for the house. It was about noon when the job was finished. The Apples always prided themselves on finishing the job quickly. AJ knew the others were busy. Rainbow was helping the weather team, Rarity was busy making a dress for Slim to go to the prom with. That was, after all, her reason for coming to Ponyville. Fluttershy was training the animals to help Slim with anything she needed. Pinkie was obviously making a welcome party for Slim, and Twilight was getting ready to greet her, and overall make sure the week ran smoothly. Applejack felt weird, even though the job was done, and done well. She had completed worse jobs than this, and she didn’t care if Slim enjoyed it or not. Wait. Why didn’t she? Applejack was confused. Why am I not caring about her? She cared about everybody who ate her food. So why is Slim different, besides being wealthy and rich? Because you hate that. “What!!???” Applejack turned around, whizzing to see the voice. She was on the porch, relaxing, letting the sun hit her sweat and dry it off her. She now was scared and terrified. The voice was behind her, in front of her, all around her. “Who said that?” I did. You know you hate everything she is. You loathe her. You think she is an embarrassment to ponykind. Your lying to yourself for someone who is the Element of Honesty. “I say come out. I think no such thing. Who are you anyway?” The voice still did not make itself known. Applejacks fear was building up inside of her. You’re lying to yourself, Applejack. Be honest. Stop pretending. AJ stood up out of her chair. “Shut up! Where are you? Who do you think you are?” The voice wouldn’t stop. I only want to help. You need to understand true honesty Applejack. Only then will you be happy. Applejack slammed her back hoof down, and the chair crumbled underneath the weight. Appledash staggered back, shocked at the destruction she just caused. No, she was scared about everything. The voice, her anger, and if it was true or not. It wasn’t, right? “Applejack, is everything alright?” Applebloom ran out onto the porch, a fearful and worrying look in her eye. Applejack turned to realize she was standing in front of a window, a window that Big Mac and Granny were staring at her through. “Y-ye-yeah, I’m fine Applebloom, I’m uh… just kinda talking to myself, that’s all.” Applejack was stammering and sweating profusely. Her breaths were quick and shallow. She was shaking all over, and she didn’t know why. You know wh- “SHUT UP!” AJs voice was full of fear. She was terrified. That voice still wouldn’t shut up, was still talking to her, mocking her, killing her, destroying her. She didn’t know why her thoughts were so violent to this disembodied voice, but she didn’t dare ask the question for fear of it talking again. Big mac busted through the door to the patio. “Applebloom,” Big Mac said in a stern tone, “you need to get Twilight. Tell her there is a problem.” Big Mac turned to AJ, who was now slumped down on the floor. “Hey, Jack, cmon, you’ll be ok.” Big Mac’s tone changed drastically. It was smooth, kind, and worried. AJ gave a bit of a smile. She hoped it was a seizure or something wrong with her brain, rather than some type of demon living inside her. She began to laugh at the thought. And with that thought, AJ slipped out of consciousness just as Big Mac shouted at Granny for a glass of water. Applejack woke up in a hospital bed. She had no idea what time it was, and she found no desire to learn it. She felt sore, and her memory slowly came back to her. It was a single room, and no other patients seemed to be present. The wall was a light blue, just like the sky. And Rainbow Dash. I wonder how quickly she got her job done. Applejack laughed. Some dull old pop tunes were playing softly in the background outside of the room, none of which AJ could recognize. She wondered where her friends were, and what they were doing. She put two and two together and realized Twilight must have sent her here. She remembered her breakdown. She wondered if she was going crazy, or if there really was a voice. She hoped the former was the truth. She sat there for Celestia know how long, with only the faint ticking of the clock and random tunes being heard. This didn’t bother Applejack, not in the slightest. At least it’s not the voice. Hoofsteps were made out on the other side of the door, as one white pony came in, carrying bags of no doubt clothes on her horn. “DARLING, you must be simply, b o r e d.” Rarity misread how loud she can be, and she quickly hushed down. AJ laughed. She loved her friend. They were always hanging out, ever since that sleepover. “Rarity, it’s good to see somepony else,” Applejack said, as Rarity came over to the side of the bed to exchange hugs. After the embrace, Rarity pulled up a seat next to AJ and took off the bags, intent to give them to her. “So, I found these Luscious boots when I was in the thrift store, and this black hat, simply g o r g e o u s.” Applejack took the bags and put them on her nightstand next to her bed. As she turned to the right, away from the door, she looked out a window to see black. Night? Damn, must have been out the rest of the day. “Thrift store? You don’t go into those places.” Rarity hugged her arm, and breathed in, and spoke quickly. “Well, I thought you would like stuff from thereeee Idontknow.” AJ laughed. She didn’t expect her to go into those types of stores. She never did. She must have been worried sick. AJ shifted in bed, intending to get up. This action put a worried look on Rarities face. “So, I’m guessing I’m allowed to leave?” She chuckled, continuing to shift in bed. To her surprise, Rarity rested her hoof on Applejack. “Darling you just woke up. It would be three days at most,” Rarity said, almost at a whisper. AJ put on a puzzled look, staring at her friend. “Well gosh darn it, I didn’t know that one bad day is so serious.” AJ threw her hoofs into the air. Her motion to get out of bed had been replaced with complaining. “I swear, I just was affected by the pressure of a celebrity coming to our town, that’s all. Nothing serious. A day, for Celestia’s sake! Now let me get out of bed.” AJ returned to her previous action. Rarity continued to rest her hoof on AJs shoulder. “Applejack, you’ve been here for over a week.” Applejack was stunned into silence. Her mind stopped to process the information she took in, and was consistently hitting gaps. That wouldn’t make sense. She struggled to find words, trying to tell Rarity that was impossible. Rarities tone did not waver, not even for a second. “Slim has already left, you missed her. You were stuck in a coma almost the entire time. You wouldn’t respond to anypony. You would open your eyes for maybe five minutes, but you wouldn’t say anything. And I’m guessing you don’t remember any of that.” AJ shook her head, her throat extremely dry. She couldn’t breathe, each breath was a trial. She had sun strokes before, many times in fact. She would hallucinate sometimes, but not as serious as last time. And this confirmed it. There was a voice. It had to be. Sun strokes don’t put you in comas, let alone a week. And she didn’t remember anything after Big Mac asked for water. Water. She needed water. That’s all she wanted, water. Everything began spinning. The hoof resting near her neck became itchy and irritable. Water. Thirsty. That’s all Applejack could think of. She could barely hear Rarity, her voice muddled, screaming if she was ok. If only I could get some water. AJ convinced herself that to fix this, all she would need is something to drink. I doubt I ever got that drink. That’s what it was. I needed water! Finally, something that made sense. Rarities hoof left AJ, and the white pony’s voice was shrill and loud. All Applejack could think of was water, and the shrill voice of her friend was gone. It stopped and there was silence. It was all silent. Nothing made a sound. Woah. Applejack weakly waved her hoof in front of her face. It seemed to make trails behind it, making AJ giggle. She glanced over at her now silent friend, who was now making her way out of the room. Applejack didn’t know why. Maybe she realized her voice wasn’t working. AJ stared at the ceiling, tired and drained. Her surroundings still seemed to slosh around, like the snow she would scrape off the barn. The idea of a barn became very funny to Applejack, and she began to giggle again. At hearing an echo, she listened intently. She began to remember a pony that came in before, an hour ago or so. She forgot her name, but looked to the doorway, where the friend left many moons ago. There stood a pony. If it could even be called that. It was all black, almost like those black holes Twilight would talk about. There was no mouth to be seen, but the eyes were a dark, bloodshot red. The pupils were orange, giving the eyes a sinister effect. It stared at AJ, and through this, she could make out a necklace on the ponies’ neck. It was the same one she wore to fight off Nightmare Moon, and now it rested on the dark, void pony. One Applejack was suspicious of. It stared at her. That’s all. Just stared. Applejack was frozen in place. Her surreal environment faded away to a more chilling one. She wasn’t drugged anymore, no, she was injected with pure fear. And then the thing revealed its mouth. The skin kept gliding around like constellations, never stalling. The mouth was pure orange, with strings of its starry skin sticking to the two sides of the mouth. It was smiling. I apologize for having to do this to you, but you were too boneheaded to listen. AJ realized the mouth wasn’t going up and down. When it spoke, it would simply just hang open, and the voice seemed to talk right inside her head. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t find her will to. The thing continued. Explaining will make things easier. I am what is known as the Element of Honesty. My sole purpose was to help the wearer be true to oneself, and an inanimate object would do no such thing. Starswirl, our creator, put in the absolute versions of our given virtues. However, the wearers were misguided and flawed. I took it into my own hands, as well as my fellow brethren. We were put away for this reason. It seems we have been chosen to return once again, and history repeats itself. I cannot stand by while you continue to dirty the virtue of honesty. Again, Applejack couldn’t move. Her body was stuck to her bed. The atmosphere was cold, and AJ’s dry throat returned. The Elements should be good. Everything the thing was saying was the exact opposite. She couldn’t take in any information, as it spoke again. I did not expect you to be this strong, mentally at least. Celestia must have chosen well. Applejack found she could talk again, and her thoughts were blurted out. “Who are you? What do you want? Why should I believe a single word you said?” She was hostile ready to fight, despite the fact she was still paralyzed. The thing seemed to laugh. I would not lie, it’s not in my nature. It is in yours, however. You say you tell the truth, but your feelings are built on lies and fantasies, built on friendship. That struck a chord with Applejack. Nobody insulted her friends. “You hold your tongue! You were built to help friendship, not condemn it. Even if I do believe you about your existence and all that!” AJ snorted. It was at this time that she realized she was in a world of black, everything was gone. The thing scoffed. Friendship? We were not created for friendship. We were simply used for that point. We represent ourselves, and only ourselves. You are weak, Applejack. You give in to stupid ideas in hope of being friends. You despise that celebrity, but you hide it away. Don’t lie, your friends are annoying, and you would be better off alone Your stupid routines, your stupid ideas, your stupid family, everything is a lie. Don’t you see? Give in! Only then you will be free! She hated everything it was saying. Everything. Her blood began to boil at this thing that was standing in this pit of emptiness. It hated her. It despised her. She couldn’t let it win. “You shut up about my life. You’re an idiot for believing your shit. I don’t know where I am, I don’t know quite what’s happening. Everything is moving too fast. But I do know one thing, and that your full of horse malarky! Go back to where you came from! Leav-” ACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT ITACCEPT IT It screamed, at the top of its lungs. It filled every crevice of the void, and it wouldn’t stop She knew the only way out of this black prison was to listen to it But she couldn’t. She knew she couldn’t. She mustered up all the courage she had. “No.” It stopped suddenly. And then there was silence. The cold voice spoke once more, its shape now lost in the black prison. Then stay here forever, until you accept. AJ sat down, at least she thought she did. Her mind was conflicted, and she had no idea what to do. She focused on the first thing to pop into her head: friendship. And so it was decided. She would wait. Her friends would do something, they have to. Prove it’s wrong, and wait. And wait she did, waiting for somepony to care, somepony to come. Anypony.
LAUGHTERDespair. Darkness. Pinkie felt all of this at once, seeping into her like water into a sponge. It was quick too, the rapid succession of guilt and sadness. Feelings like this usually eluded Pinkie, but now, as she sat in her bed, mulling over the night’s events, she wept. It was almost one when the group went to the hospital. Applejack was stuck in a bed now, stuck in another coma, this one seemingly worse. She looked so peaceful, Pinkie remembered, except for the giant breathing apparatus keeping her alive. When the doc checked her eyes, she said they were glossy, the outer rims a light emerald green. The Apples were present too, and that was all. 8 ponies gathered around one who had been everyone’s rock for the last few months. She was always there. A little hot-headed, sure, but she was counted on. And she always pulled through. In her previous coma, Pinkie couldn’t concentrate on Slim’s party. Her friend was asleep. And now, well, she couldn’t do anything. Pinkie finally kicked her legs from under her to fall on the bed. It must be for something now. Sadness never reached Pinkie, never. Her period of laying down was cut short, as Pinkie popped up once again, looking outside the window. Yup, pitch black. The only sound was the wind, howling, or almost crying, weeping. It was sad, it had to be. It struck Pinkie with even more sadness. Her gaze moved away from the window, and toward her big toy box. She didn’t play with the toys too much, but the Cake twins loved it. She moved here to bring cheer and moved from her family to start a new life. The Cakes took her in. She was forever grateful. She baked, she threw parties, and she played with the twins. Everything to let them know she was grateful. But is it enough? Pinkie shook her head, whispering, “Thoughts, stupid thoughts, no no no. I help them always. Always!” Pinkie still felt doubt. She was changing. She didn’t know why or how, but she was. She never felt this way. Never. “No siree. Never for good ol’ Pinkie!” Doubt. It was in her voice. And she still didn’t know why. It was at this moment of self-confusion that Pinkie felt a presence in her room. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy filled the air. Carnival music slowly faded in, nice and soft, not too loud. There were the soft sounds of rides and machines. And of course, there was laughter. This was sudden, but Pinkie stood stunned for only a minute. She became instantly intrigued. She might be throwing herself a party. She usually does these ahead of time, as to shock herself when it happened. “Well, me, you outdid yourself. I don’t even remember getting music to secretly play, with a laugh track, and get air fresheners on wind blowy thingies to get this smell of deliciousness!!!” Pinkie tapped her chin. “Niiiicceee one, me. Point one, me, zero points, also me.” She giggled at her own jest. Now, time for the surprise. Her sad feelings melted away in favor of unrealistic perceptions. She ignored the creepy factors because it was better than feeling sad. She always replaced her sad feelings with happy ones, and she would make anything positive to get away from sadness. She didn’t want to remember her guilt and sadness tonight, no, she’ll rather feel happy. She didn’t want to think about how years of pent up feelings and sadness culminated tonight. Tonight when she saw her friend sleeping for an unknown time. Tonight when she might have lost her friend. Tonight when she felt bad, terrible, everything. All of that. Pushed aside. It pushed her over her limit. Make things appear, make things happen. Make them laugh, make them giggle, make them forget. When it goes over the limit, forget. If she let up now, she would never recover. She never wanted to feel sad again. Tonight was terrible. Never again. So Pinkie created an illusion that everything was normal. Simply a party. She made it too easy. The sounds of happiness and laughter were still low and soft. She propped herself off her bed and trotted around the room. The smells intensified. It smelled so good. Pinkie jumped up and down with excitement. She was so excited! “This will be the bestest surprise, ever!” Pinkie kept her voice low. Her planned party was enough noise, she didn’t want to wake up all of Ponyville. Horns and drums were playing a happy and silly little tune, causing Pinkie to move back and forth. “Oh, I’m grooving!” She cheered herself on, squatting down and doing perfect moonwalks, in her own not so humble opinion. She wanted to enjoy this party. It was the best one she ever had. She threw the biggest parties, ones with thousands of attendants. And yet this was her favorite one. The own by herself, alone in her room. Because of the day, it was welcomed. It needed to shield her from the last few hours. It had to. This party needed to. She needed it to. She jumped up and down once again and hopped over to the door. She would need to be quiet, sure, but might as well celebrate in the main dining room. “Awesome. I’m like, the best!” She squeed in delight. Party, that’s all she needed to do. Shell be so drugged on happiness, she won’t feel anything. Numb. She bounced to the door, and as she passed the toy box, she shuddered. Something was in there. Waiting. She did not know how she felt it, but she simply did. She stared at it, for who knows how long. She became frightened and wished to check that Gummy was ok, as well as her surrogate family. They had to be o- BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM The toy box moved with every pound and scratch. Something was trying to get out, furiously. It had to get out. Pinkie felt her legs collapse underneath her, and she scooted away from the door and box and put her back to her bed rest. The sounds got louder, as well as the music and laughter. Only a higher volume. Let me out. The voice seemed to scratch against Pinkie’s brain. It repeated itself. Let me ou.PLEEeeeeaasee. It scratched her ears, it scratched her soul. The voice was grating and shacky. It continued, politely asking please after every sentence. “ALRIGHTALRIGHTALRIGHT!!!” In a surge of emotion, Pinkie lept to the box, opened the hatch, then dove back to her previous position. The door opened, but nothing emerged. Nothing. Pinkie was puzzled. “Who is that? You can come out.” She went to her failsafe. “We’ll have a party! Don’t you hear the music and laughter? We’ll celebrate together!” She smiled as if the unknown creature could see her. “DID SOMEONE SAY FUN!” A voice that was distorted thundered from the box. A flash of blue, white, red, and brown flew for the box. In front of Pinkie was a small toy. Bobo the Clown. The fake pony had red circles around the eyes, his face white, with blue diamonds on his cheeks. The plastic smiled moved, causing Pinkie to jerk away from him. His smile immediately turned to a frown. “Awwwww, you don’t like me.” He kicked at the ground. The plastic toy looked at Pinkie, expecting sympathy. He got what he wished. Pinkie scooted over the small toy, which could easily fit in her hoof. “No no no! I’m sorry! Just, toys don’t often come to life. Plus, your voice was kinda scary.” She shuddered back. The toy shook his head, now filled with a grin. “Oh, I can fix that!” He hit two hooves together, and suddenly, he was a real pony, the size of Pinkie Pie. All of his features remained the same, including that wide smile. He giggled in such an exaggerated way that Pinkie fell over herself with laughter. The toy turned on a sad look again. “I can’t do anything about the voice though. Sorry.” He looked down, mock crying. Pinkie shook her head. “That’s okay, you just caught me off guard. Nobody does that!” She could still smell the carnival, hear the carnival, and practically see the carnival. She had a moment of clarity. “Did you make this party?” His grin spread again “Yes, I did! Hope you like it!” “Oh do I do I?” All aspects of previous fear were now gone for utter excitement. “Well,” life-size Bobo continued, “want to continue?” Pinkie nodded her head speedily. All she wanted was to have fun. The thought of Applejack and her depressing thoughts were nowhere to be seen. Bobo pointed to the window, and Pinkie hurriedly rushed to the place. Everybody was down on the street, waving, and cheering her name. It was still nighttime, but the ponies could only think about rooting for her. She spotted her friends in the crowd, wide smiles on their faces, cheering her name. And wow, a Pinkie was there too! Applejack was there too, feeling better overnight. She looked back to see Bobo was gone. She shrugged, and quickly raced down to everypony. She got there and was awarded with cheers from all ponies. They stomped their feet for her, but she didn’t know what the point of the party was. “Thanks everypony! But why?” Twilight spoke up, grinning from ear to ear. “Why, you are happy all time. You are the best! You’re never sad. Right?” Pinkies previous thoughts reached her for only half a second. She thought she saw everypony frown for half a second when the thought crossed her head, but when she went back to being joyous, the crowd followed. “Of course! I can’t be sad!” And she felt a twinge of sadness, and again, she thought she saw the crowd wince. Her happiness returned. The crowd cheered, and they danced. Ponies showed off their moves in pure ecstasy, excited by this late-night bash outside Surgarcube Corner. She spotted the Cakes, and the twins, dancing with the crowd. Even Trixie was there, showing off her moves. Everypony was so happy. The music intensified, and so did the smells, despite no food being present. Pinkie felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find its Rainbow Dash. “Hi Dashie, what’s up!” Dash was grinning, brimming with excitement. “Well, we got a surprise for you at the treehouse. Come on!” And with that, Rainbow raced off towards the library. Pinkie followed Rainbow. Her friends cheered her on. “Goodbye everypony! Thanks for the great party!” “YOUR WELCOME!” They all shouted. With a final wave, Pinkie began to follow Rainbow. She was excited and incredibly naive. She was bouncing without caution, as the houses passed the pink blur. She couldn’t see Dash at this point. “Classic Dashie. Flying off ahead. I’ll catch up!” Pinkie joked. As she naively bounced, there were giant amusement park rides off in the distance. Pinkie oohed and wowed at the giant structures that seemed to be a million miles away. She eventually arrived at the treehouse, the lights inside brightening up the night. She stared at the door for a while, a sudden rush of fear running through her body. She did not know the reason, but her Pinkie Sense was going off the rails. She began to step back. The door flung open, and Bobo the clown was in the doorway. Behind him, Pinkie could see a stage with curtains closed, and one seat in front of it. A show? Pinkie looked curiously at Bobo. “Pinkie! I’m so glad that you could make it! We’re going to have so much fun!” Bobo was smiling down at Pinkie, and his smile had a hint of madness behind it. Something about this place made Pinkie uneasy. She continued to back away. “No thanks, Mr. Clown. I think I java to get home to go to bed, it’s late and I need to work tomorrow, so-” “NONSENSE!” yelled Bobo, who grabbed a refraining Pinkie and led her inside. The inside was lit with lanterns and candles. The girls were nowhere to be seen. Pinkie was scared now. This wasn’t fun. It was fake fun. “Bobo, it’s super scary! Sorry, but I…” Her voice trailed off as she turned to see nopony. Bobo was gone, the door shut. Pinkie just knew it was locked, and from what she was picking up now, she was afraid of what might happen if she tried to open that door. Pinkie hated this sudden change. It was happy only a while ago. Now, everything was different. In the blink of the eye. It made her uneasy something can change over such a short time. Gradual change is scary, yes. Such as the changing of trends, the new fashion lines. But the sudden change of plans? That is what’s terrifying. The fact that there is no long story drawn out. No setup, no nothing. The worst fear is the fear that happens without warning, or with all the warning in the world, and you still don’t see it. Pinkie thought she sounded like Twilight, worrying about sudden changes of plans. But instead of laughing, Pinkie grew scared. With nothing else to do, she sat down on the chair. The curtains opened up to reveal all her friends, beside herself. They were wearing smiles too wide, and Pinkie now felt scared instead of happy. “Hi Rainbow, how are you today?” asked Twilight in a robotic tone. “Thanks for asking, Twilight. I’m doing fine! Great! What about the others!” The others robotically answered together in unison, “We are great too!” Fake laughter came from the 5 ponies, and Pinkie shuffled around in her seat. Her hair was boinging up and down. She knew it wasn’t good, whatever was happening was bad. Very bad. But her fear of what might happen if she tried to escape outweighed her current feelings, so she stayed put She just now realized that the laughing and music faded, and it was silent except for the drone of fake laughter coming from her friends. She then saw herself walk on the stage. Pinkie 2 was frowning. Pinkie would usually try to cheer her up, but she got terrible feelings about Pinkie 2. She stayed in her seat. Twilight turned to face the copy. “Oh, hi Pinkie! Are you feeling great today?” Pinkie 2 grunted, then loudly proclaimed, “No!” The 5 gasped, shocked at the realization that their friend was sad. Their smiles turned to intense frowns. The 5 looked at each other, and exclaimed, “NOW WERE ALL SAD!” The five began to fake cry, while Pinkie 2 turned to Pinkie and shrugged with the same frown. Pinkie 2 then surge forward and slit Twilights throat with a hidden knife. Pinkie usually prided herself on being random, and never one to stop talking. Up until now, she was unable to do this. She felt weighed down by her fear for herself. This was no longer the case, as her friends got hurt. Killed. She rushed forward, able to speak now and no longer fearing for her life, that did not matter now. “WHAT IN THE FRICKING CELESTIA HAY DID YOU DO!?!” As Pinkie surged forward with no fear, her movements were slowed to a stop as she was close to the stage. Her friends continued to fake cry as Pinkie 2 advanced on the remaining five. Pinkie screamed. “WATCH OUT! BAD PINKIE! GIRLS, PLEASE!!!!!” Pinkie 2 slashed the knife across Applejack’s stomach. 4 friends. “STOP! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? HELP! GIRLS!” 3 friends. “STOPPPP! STOP CRYING! I’LL MAKE A PARTY! JUST RUN!!” 2 friends. “PLEASE, THEYRE ALL I HAVE! I DONT WANT THEM TO DIE! PLEASE!” Her voice was shrill, hysterical. Tears were streaming down her face. 1 friend. Pinkies voice now resembled only a whisper. “Ple...ase. Don’t take them a...way. I’m sorry your angry. Just leave them alone. Ple...ase.” No friends. Pinkie choked on her tears, stuck in a mid-run Pinkie 2 turned to look at Pinkie Pie. She couldn’t breathe. Her friends were gone. And it was her fault. She looked up to see Pinkie 2 right in front of her. Pinkie would have stumbled back if she could move. Pinkie 2 began to talk in a low and broken voice. “They died. From us. Because we were sad. We were sad and ruined their days. Now they’re dead.” It was quick, it was informal. It was all Pinkie had to hear. Pinkie 2 spoke again. “Pinkie, we can’t do this ever. We cant do this to them. We love them. We need them. When we feel,” Pinkie 2 pointed at the bloody corpses of her friends, “they get hurt. Don’t you see? We need to hide it down. We can’t let anybody know we feel. Cause we’ll hurt them.” A sane pony would have said bullshit. That was wrong, untrue. That you couldn’t kill your feelings to not hurt your friends, that friends need to know your feelings. Pinkie just saw her friends get brutally murdered by herself. She wasn’t exactly sane right now. Plus, to her it made sense. She always kept her feelings hidden, it couldn’t be that much harder to have no feelings besides happiness. She could do it. She had to do it. “Ok,” Pinkie whispered. Pinkie 2 nodded. She then guided the knife she held into Pinkies hoof and without resistance, guided it into Pinkie 2’s stomach. She smiled as she fell, and Pinkie was now able to move. She fell back, laughing and crying, her psyche broken. She wanted this dream to end. She did not wanna be here anymore. She wanted to leave. “WHY WON’T IT END?” shouted Pinkie. She turned to go through the door to find Bobo the clown. His smile was hanging slightly off his face, and his throat looked slit, as well as his chest. He looked at his wounds, then at Pinkie. He flashed a wide set of sharp teeth. “Good girl.” Pinkie braced herself as he pounced, and she went into black. ____________________________________________________________________________ 3 Days Later Lyra sat on her small couch, glancing at the tv in front of her. Her favorite show, The Ponymooners, was playing. She was observing everything that was happening in the past days. Lyra was sure Twilight would break by now. She needed to wait for that moment. It would be easier to inform her than out of nowhere. When she’s at her most vulnerable, is when she will listen to anything. “That’s what they did to those poor bastards.” Lyra continued to watch her show. It wouldn’t be long now. Only 3 weeks or so until the Gala. It wouldn’t be that hard. Lyra let her mind wander to other places She and Bon Bon were going on another date tonight. It would be hard with a maniac Pinkie on the loose. Lyra wasn’t surprised Applejack fought against it, but she knew Pinkie wouldn’t stand a chance. She knew what it was like to have it in her head. “Oh wait, here’s the best part.” Lyra interrupted herself to watch the part of the show where the stallion would accidentally slam his hand with the hammer. Lyra chuckled, then went back to thinking. She would talk to Twilight, go on the date with Bon Bon, then basically make sure everything that needed to happen would happen. She told Celestia not to do it, there had to be another way. “Sorry toots, looks like I was right on this one.” Lyra floated a chip up to her mouth. After chomping down, she got out of her chair and used her magic to make a hologram of Twilights treehouse. The OCD pony herself was there with Spike. Although there wasn’t any audio, Lyra could tell Twilight was about to write to the princess. “Welp, time for me to calm her down.” And with that, Lyra went on her way to the treehouse.
