Pinkie Pie set out into the morning, smiling as Celestia’s sun brought the warmth of sunlight. She smiled a bit bigger, taking in the rays for a moment before continuing with a satisfied sigh.
“It’s such a great morning~!” she sang happily to herself, trotting from Sugar Cube Corner and into the street of bustling ponies.
She wore a simple, but nice brown saddle bag on her back, a bag of bits hanging from it. The saddle bag itself was empty.
Pinkie hummed to herself, waving and giving a happy ‘good morning!” to anypony that passed by her. She looked at the buildings around her, looking at every small detail there was to make absolutely sure she hadn't missed anypony or anything to say good morning to.
“Hm~.” she said out loud. “Seems I forgot breakfast again--shoot!” she snapped at herself. “Why do I always forget the little things...?”
Frowning slightly, she continued on and rounded a corner, the Ponyville Capitol building coming into view, recently repaired from the damage Ponyville’s local ditzy mare did on it.
Pinkie Pie curiously looked around, stopping for a moment. She located a steaming cart and smiled, the wind changing as if knowing Pinkie’s thoughts and brought the steam to her, the smell of freshly baked apple pie and cinnamon apples hung in the air. She licked her lips and began in the direction of steam, not able to see the cart from the many ponies on their own way.
Not too long after wading through the ponies did she see the cart, Applejack standing behind it.
“Well hi there, Pinkie,” the apple mare announced as she got closer. “Forget breakfast again?” she asked with a small chuckle.
Pinkie nodded happily.
“Good thing, too! This looks delicious!” Pinkie replied, licking her lips as she looked over the food.
“Apple fritters, apple pie, cinnamon apples, apples! It all looks so good!”
Applejack waited patiently, smiling as she looked at Pinkie.
“Since I’m in a hurry, I’ll just take a cinnamon apple,” she told her, looking up and smiling.
The work-horse gave her what she wanted and Pinkie paid her two bits.
“So where are y’all off to in such a hurry?” she asked, pointing to the pink party pony.
“I’m going to Zecora’s,” she began. “I go to her once a month and get all sorts of berries and herbs to use in sweets. It’s also really fun to talk to Zecora!”
“She is a very interesting mare.” Applejack told Pinkie, smiling at her.
“I also gotta visit Twi. I haven’t seen much of her lately.”
AJ shook her head. “Me neither. I wonder if she’s sick. Give’er mah regards!”
Pinkie nodded and said, “Good luck on the stand, seems to be going great so far!”
Applejack chuckled and pointed behind Pinkie. “Seems like it by the looks of the line you’re a’ holdin’ up.”
Pinkie turned and looked into the faces of some annoyed ponies, smiling and waving to them all.
“Sorry everypony, I won’t be much longer!” she smiled brightly at them all and whirled back around to Applejack. “Anyway, I gotta go!”
She smiled at the orange mare once before picking up her apple in her teeth and trotting off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, happy to be moving again.
Though, she didn’t get far up the road before a very familiar blue pony flew up to her landing close next to her.
“Hey Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said, smiling wide at her.
“Hey Dashie!” she returned, lightly bumping up against Dash, giggling softly.
Dash blushed lightly and said, “I’d like to stay and chat--especially to you, but--there’s a big storm coming, so wherever you’re heading you better get there fast.”
Pinkie Pie nodded. “I’m going to Zecora’s right now, then Twilight’s after. Ya think I have time to get to both before the storm hits?”
Rainbow Dash looked down and to the side, thinking silently to herself. “Well...” she said slowly. “You’ll get to Zecora’s in time at your current pace and have a few minutes to spend with her. And after that you’ll have to rush over to Twilight’s if you don’t want to get caught up in the storm.”
Pinkie smiled brightly at her and nodded. “Alright, I won’t spend that much time at Zecora’s. I can always come back tomorrow or whenever I get the chance to talk to her.”
The mare picked up her pace, as did the pegasus, and Dash asked, “What are ya going to Zecora’s for?”
“For herbs and berries and such to put into new recipes,” the baker mare said happily. “Hm, a random question Dashie.”
Rainbow nodded and waited for her question.
“If your mane and tail are rainbow colored, does that mean it too is spicy?” she asked, giggling.
Dash looked at her quizzically and shrugged. “I--don’t know. Why?”
“I dunno, just curious.” she giggled. “Let me taste!”
Dash stumbled backwards a bit as Pinkie placed a hoof on her back and rose to her mane, nibbling on it. The pegasus blushed and chuckled.
“Ew~, Pinkie!” she said happily. “That’s gross!” after a moment, she continued. “Well, is it spicy?”
The pink mare hopped down and giggled. “Nope, but it tastes good!”
“How can hair taste good?”
“I dunno, just does.”
The rumbling of thunder in the distance told them both it was time to go. Pinkie looked up at the clouds and frowned a bit, the sky slowly growing dark.
“It was such a beautiful day, too.”
“Sorry Pinks, the Weather Team had to do it. Every two weeks, ya know?”
Pinkie nodded and broke into a soft run. “We better hurry if we want to get there in time.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “Sorry Pinks, but I have to go back to the Weather Team and help them keep the storm on track. I just paid you a special visit because I love talking to you.”
“Oh,” Pinkie said, trying to hide her disappointment as best she could. “Well--alright. Have a good time up in the clouds!” she ended on a happy note.
Dash nodded and hugged her. “Will do.”
Without another word, she took off and flew up into the gathering storm clouds, leaving only a slight impression in the cloud she flew through. Pinkie watched her and looked at the clouds a few moments with a confused and almost said frown on her face before breaking into a run.
Not long after, she exited the town, the Everfree Forest on the horizon. She allowed herself to smile wide, not stopping. Thunder boomed in the distance, louder and closer than the previous time.
Ten minutes later and she reached the eery and mucky edge of the Everfree. She trotted in without a doubt in mind, following the trail she always followed, looking around her with a smile on her face.
The farther she got in, the darker it got. A dark force hung in the air, but Pinkie didn’t seem to notice, just bouncing with a happy smile upon her face, looking into the dark and creepy forest.
“Why do so many ponies dislike the Everfree?” she said to herself. “It’s not that bad of a place!” she giggled and continued, a flash of lightning and the crack of distant thunder told her to do so.
She looked up at the swirling overhead clouds with a happy smile, her face lit up by lightning. “Oh~. I better hurry!”
She broke into a run, the wind picking up soon after. She continued to look into the forest with a smile, almost oblivious to the storm rumbling above her.
“Aha, there it is!” she whispered to herself, Zecora’s home coming into view. Zecora herself sat on her porch, drinking tea with a soft smile as she looked ahead at Pinkie.
She ran up to the zebra with a big “Hello, Zecora!”
“Hello, Pinkie,” she responded. “There is quite the storm coming.”
Pinkie nodded. “Yep!” she looked up at the clouds. “I don’t have much time to talk it seems, think I can come back tomorrow?”
“The storm is getting close, though I think we have time,” Zecora began. “But we must return before the clocks chime.”
“And by ‘clocks chime’, you mean before the storm hits?” Pinkie asked slowly with a confused look on her face.
Zecora nodded and finished her tea, placing the cup down and rose to her hooves. She looked at the pink mare sternly and asked, “Are you ready to enter the Everfree? Though I beg of you, be wary and heed my plea: There is a tree, dark and eerie. Sick it makes, a being it awakes. A balance at stake,” she looked into her eyes. “So avoid it, for everypony’s sake.”
Pinkie looked at her oddly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Pinkie, listen to me,” Zecora said seriously. “I have had not the time to get rid of it. Stay away from the tree.”
Lightning flashed in the distance behind Zecora, lighting her back. She looked up at the clouds and back to the pink pony.
“Okay,” Pinkie said slowly. “How will I stay away from it if I don’t know what it looks like?”
“The strangeness of the tree will show, through this you will know.”
“Uh huh,” she said slowly. “Alright, if you say so!” she giggled. “Lets get going!”
Pinkie smiled wide and began to trot into the woods.
Zecora allowed herself to relax slightly and picked up her saddlbags in her teeth, placing it on her back. She caught up with Pinkie Pie on the trail into the woods and attempted to strike a conversation.
“How is everyone in Ponyville?”
“They’re doing great!” Pinkie responded. “Er, well, we don’t know about Twilight. We haven’t seen her in a few days and I’m going to pay a visit to her a visit after we get done here.”
“If she is sick, I may have the trick,” the zebra began. “Though it is hard to surround until the sickness is found.”
Pinkie nodded. “I’ll come back to you if she is.”
Zecora nodded to the mare and looked back ahead, the forest growing darker as they left the trail. A light drizzle began to patter against the leaves of the trees, dripping slowly down to the ground. A flash of lightning close by cracked with a flash that blinded. Quickly after, another the sound of a cracking tree echoed through the forest, ending with a low boom.
“Here.” Zecora said and motioned to a small blackberry bush. Pinkie nodded and smiled, trotting over the now damn ground and picking the ripe and juicy berries, placing them in her saddlebag carefully, making sure they rested on the cloth she had them wrapped in.
“Hm~, I think we have enough,” Pinkie said after minutes of picking. “I know what I need.”
“Berries of all kind are scattered around here. Anything you need will be near. I will be looking for a few things myself, I will not be far.”
Pinkie nodded and walked away from the bush, scanning others in search for interesting things to add to her saddlebags. She searched each bush that came in sight, most having a common berry such as blueberries, strawberries, and others. She picked them, but had not much need to do so, considering she had enough of the common berry at Sugarcube Corner.
“I thought Zecora meant ‘different’ berries, not this boring stuff!” Pinkie said quietly to herself and pouted, frowning a bit. “I’ve looked all around the area Zecora said, and nothing interesting has been seen.”
Pinks kicked at a small rock, her head down and began walking, glancing at bushes as she went. Nothing showed itself to her, no colorful and vivid berries. Every bush she looked at only made her more dissatisfied and troubled.
Though, something did catch her eye, a lightning strike it was. But the forest hung over her like a dark and thick blanket, the view of the sky not able to be seen. She curiously looked in the direction to her left and began walking towards, the closer she got, more she saw.
A crack in the cover shone through, the dark and quickening cloud cover peaking through.
“Hm~,” Pinkie hummed to herself and pushed a branch out of the way, curiously blinking as it revealed a large clearing.
Her eyes were drawn to the center, curiosity soaring to a whole new level. She scanned the small and black tree in the middle, looking over its sickly looking leaves to its dark red berries with full curiosity. Even the ground looked as if it was screaming for help. The sight made her shudder.
“I wonder if this is the tree Zecora told me about...” the party pony began. “It’s very ominous and--different. I like it!”
She took a few steps forward, unable to control herself.
“It doesn’t look too bad. It almost looks like somepony tried to burn it.”
Pinkie glanced around the clearing, making sure Zecora was out of sight and made her way slowly to the tree, keeping a distance of at least half the clearing in between.
“Zecora didn’t say what was wrong with the tree, only to stay away from it. Are the berries harmful?” she thought to herself. “If that’s it, then I can go to it--just not touch the berries!” she smiled happily and trotted the rest of the distance, the forest growing darker as she neared.
Lightning flashed close by, lighting the darkened forest. A breeze ran through the clearing, the tree swaying to the wind as it did, groaning as almost if in pain.
“Hm. Maybe I can collect some of the berries and have Twi study them.” she said to herself, looking at the tree oddly. “There is something creepy about you, tree!” she said to it. “Something that shouldn’t be here!” she giggled and trotted up, pushing her hooves on to the trunk and reaching up, grabbing a few berries and dropping them to the ground.
Zecora hummed herself a happy tune as she picked her herbs and fruits. She placed them in her own saddlebags went on her way, continuing to another usual spot she came to, to collect her needed things.
A wind swept through that carried the unpleasant echo of a groan. She rose her head and frowned, slowly turning in the direction of the unusual sound. The mare placed the rest of her herbs into her bag and began trotting, the wind growing stronger.
After minutes of walking, she pushed back a bush and looked into the familiar clearing. A deep unsettling frown creased her muzzle, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at the unpleasant tree.
The light drizzle of rain slowly began to turn into a hard downpour, quickly drenching everything.
Zecora turned as something pink emerged from the side of the tree, bobbing up and down. She curiously looked back to see a pink and puffy tail wiggling by the side of the tree. Zecora opened her mouth, stunned and rubbed her eyes. As she opened them, the pinkness of her tail was gone.
She sighed in relief and let herself smile, chuckling to herself softly.
Moments later, a giggle was heard as the pony at the tree emerged, unknowingly showing herself to the zebra.
Zecora, stunned, looked at Pinkie in shock.
“W-Wha-,” she stuttered. “P-Pinkie! What have you done?!”
Pinkie’s ears perked up and she looked around the tree, smiling nervously.
“Oh, hi Zecora.” she said with a nervous chuckle. “I know you said to stay away from the tree--good advice--but I think I can help!”
Zecora’s eyes widened and she took a shuddering step into the clearing, hesitant to approach the mare.
Lightning flashed close in the distance, lighting them both. Pinkie jumped and gasped, her head brushing a limb of the tree, a few berries falling and landing safely in her mane.
Her eyes went wide as on began to roll off her head. She shakingly opened her mouth and yelled, “SPIDER!”
Pinkie darted to the left as she screamed “GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!”
She threw herself around the tree and went for the forest.
“Pinkie!” Zecora yelled after her, but the mare was long gone.
Pinkie Pie ran in between two trees and the berry finally rolled off. She stopped instantly to look down.
“Oh,” she giggled. “Silly me--it was just a-” she froze as she felt the other berry began to roll out of her mane.
“TO MANY SPIDERS, GET IT OFF!” she yelled and ran around a corner.
Pinkie smashed into something and fell backward with a thump.
“Oof!” she looked up. “What the buck was that?”
She cleared her eyes and blinked, seeing nothing but the trail in front of her. She looked side to side with a curious look and got up.
“Huh...” she rubbed the back of her head and mumbled under her breath, “Stupid walking trees...”
By the time Pinkie Pie had made it out of the forest, the storm had hit. Wind battered her as she pushed down the road. The wind carried stinging rain that quickly soaked her. Pinkie grunted and knocked on Twilight’s door, a crack of lightning striking a building in the distance. The door slid open slightly and two eyes peered out.
“Oh, Pinkie--it’s you.” Twilight said to the pink mare.
“Hey, Twilight!” Pinkie responded happily. “Mind if I come in?”
“Not at all,” she said and opened the door fully, quickly letting her in. Twilight looked out her door with a frown, glancing from left to right before slowly closing it.
“So what’cha been up to, Twi? No pony’s seen you in awhile!” Pinks said and ended with a small, sad frown.
Twilight gave her a dark smile and mischievous chuckle. “I’ll show you.”
The party pony’s eyes widened slightly at the smile, one she had never seen from Twilight. Something must be very wrong with her! Of course, considering she had locked herself in her library, Pinkie thought she may have gone insane--and insane ponies are never fun. So she kept her thoughts to herself for the moment and followed Twilight into the next room.
“Behold!” Twilight boomed with a thrusted hoof into the air. “The largest, most powerful telescope in pony history!”
Twilight smiled widely. It was large, had many buttons (all of which Pinkie wanted to press), and maybe best of all--books! Books indeed, many stacked neatly around it, notes and findings Pinkie presumed.
“I’ve already found numerous comets and planets! Apparently instead of seven planets, we have nine in our solar system!” she tackle-hugged the satellite, nuzzling one of the buttons. “I love it so much~.” she even blushed--and that made Pinkie a bit creeped out. Knowing Twilight, she would do anything with knowledge--anything.
“It took me forever to build and get the right parts. I even had Celestia help me with a lot of it, as well as Luna and Cadence. I would have had Shining help, but he wouldn’t stop staring at Cadence’s butt..” she frowned slightly and shook her head. “Anyway,-”
“Who’s that?” Pinkie asked with a normal, almost uninterested tone, pointing at a stallion off to the right of the room, close to the back-right corner.
“Oh, him? Don’t know. He wouldn’t leave, and honestly I didn’t want him to. Anypony who’s as tall as Celestia and has no face should be studied.”
Pinkie didn’t realize it at first, but sure enough, the pure-white stallion had no face! As well as a rather nice business suit, which both confused her and made her want to compliment it. But, she had other things on her mind at that time.
“Well, you don’t see that every day.”
Twilight went back to rambling about her new toy, and Pinkie went back to ignoring her and only pretending to hear her, as all ponies did when she rambled on about books or other things with big words.
Slendermane stood in the far corner and shifted his weight to his right side with a lean, continuing to stare down at the pink mare. Once in awhile, he would look over to see what the purple one was doing, but would quickly look back to the other. After all, the purple one was not his target.
Pinkie saw that he was looking at her, and looked back with a smile. When she found that he wouldn’t look away, she wouldn’t either. The persistent Pinkie Pie against the paranormal Slendermane in a staring contest.
She soon found that they would stare at each other forever if somepony didn’t stop them. So, she trotted up to him and stopped when their chests were but an inch apart.
“I think me may be taller than even Celestia. Which is something, because she’s tall as buck!”
Twilight stopped her ramblings and looked over. Pinkie was practically looking straight up, and he looking almost straight down. Lightning struck and the light flashed in the windows, rain still slamming the windows.
“Why do you say that? He’s tall, but I don’t think that tall.”
“Well, I’ve been this uncomfortably close to Celestia before, and our noses would touch if she didn’t quickly back away like she always does.”
“Why would you get that close to h-”
“Because I like making her feel uncomfortable!” Pinkie giggled.
After a quick moment of thinking, she shook her head slightly. It was Pinkie, anyway.
The pink mare continued to look up at him with her usual smile across her face. Twilight shifted slightly.
“He creeps me out,” Twi said, forgetting what Pinkie said.
“Twilight!” she looked back at the purple mare. “I can’t believe you would say that right in front of him!”
Pinkie placed a hoof on his chest and, with an “eep!”, hopped a foot off the ground. When she landed, she looked at her hoof as if in pain for a moment and shook her head She looked up at him and said, “You’re weird.”
“Oh, so you can call him weird, but I can’t say he’s creepy? I see how it is.” Twilight smiled at her.
She giggled. “Touche.”
She backed away from him and sat down next to Twilight, looking at the telescope. Twilight smiled widely, ready to begin again, but frowned when Pinkie quickly stopped her.
“I wonder how long the storm is gonna last.”
“Well, you’re happy to stay until it stops.”
Pinks smiled. “Thanks, Twilight.”
The storm continued well into the night. The two friends passed the time with scary stories and fun games. Slendermane continued to sit in his corner, watching them. A single candle beside them was lit. It cast eerie shadows and dim light around the room. It combined with the patter of rain on the library, roar of wind, and crashing thunder made it a pleasant atmosphere.
The two mares sat playing a game of cards.
“They really went all out on the storm, huh?” Twilight pointed out.
“Yeah. I’m glad Dashie warned me about it before hoof.” Pinkie replied, setting down a card on the floor.
There was a pause in the conversing as cards continued to be set down.
“So... You and Rainbow seem to spend quite a lot of time together,” Twilight said.
“Of course!” Pinkie said back happily. “We’re friends, why not spend time together?”
“You seem more than just friends...”
To even Pinkie’s surprise, she blushed.
“W-Well...” she began, not quite sure how to respond. She shook her head and continued. “We’re just friends, Twilight.” Pinkie gave a not-so-real smile. “Besides, why does it matter?”
“So, you’re saying there is something there, huh?” Twilight teased with a smile, making Pinkie’s blush grow.
“No!” she blurted back.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”
Pinkie set down her last card and rose her hooves into the air in victory.
“Aha! I won again!” she giggled.
Twilight looked down at the cards in awe, then back up at the party mare.
“You’ve won every game!” she frowned.
“Well, I cheated on the first three.”
After about an hour, the storm finally died down and Pinkie said her goodbyes. She trotted out the door and into the cool night air, stifling a yawn. She didn’t know the time, but know it must have been late, for the party mare was all partied out (even though there were no parties--a shame, she thought), and that takes a lot. She assumed it had to be around three in the morning or so, maybe later than that.
Pinkie made her way down the street, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Yet another yawn forced its way from her, unable to be stopped. Luckily Sugarcube corner wasn’t very far away.
Some of the buildings of Ponyville were still lit with some sort of light, and some were as black as the sky itself. The clouds began to fade away, revealing shining stars and a brightly lit moon that cast down and eerie light.
Pinkie looked up at the light and yawned. If it was any other night, she would have enjoyed the lovely sight that played out before her.
A shadow in an alley next to her caught her attention. She blinked and looked over into the alley--all she saw was the sides of the buildings--nothing more, even the shadow was gone. She shrugged and continued on.
After another few minutes of walking, and another few shadows along the way, she made it to Sugarcube Corner. Happy to be there, she smiled and rubbed her eyes and trotted the rest of the way. Though when she opened her eyes, a sight she didn’t expect. The nicely dressed stallion from back at Twilight’s blocked her way.
“Hi,” Pinkie began, smile growing wider. “I thought Twilight was going to give you her guest room?”
No reply.
“Um... You don’t talk much, do you?” Pinkie asked, completely disregarding the fact that he had no mouth.
Slendermane turned and slowly walked to her right and down an alley beside Sugarcube Corner. She watched him go and shrugged when he was out of sight.
“Oh, um, okay--bye, then!” she yelled after him, waving a hoof.
Tired and relieved she opened the door and walked in, pushing the door closed behind her. She trotted up the stairs and into her room, smiling wide at the sight of her warm and soft bed. Without another thought, she dove under the covers and quickly fell into a deep, relaxed sleep.
Thank you all for being so patient with this, it means a lot. This chapter was originally going to be much, much longer, but I decided to break it into two separate chapters, so you don’t have to read so much. Also, this chapter’s end was kind of rushed, and I apologise for that--but it needed to be done. Future chapters won’t take as long--I hope. I’ve lost my will to continue this, and I’m sorry for that. But, I’ll try my best to continue it--they will be much better than this chapter, I assure you. Thanks again for being patient.