Twenty Percent Worse

“Wait…what?” The words escaped my mouth before I had even time to ponder what I had just read. There was definitely no other way to react. Dozens of words rushed into my head to help me find a proper word to describe this situation. It was…awful. Revolting. Heart-wrenching. Interesting? I was plagued by the curiosity which has always resided in me. I wanted to know more. This little vague little letter, void of anything but a few simple sentences, had single-handedly turned my life upside-down in the few minutes it had taken me to read it.

A couple minutes earlier

I heard a rustling at the door. I sighed. Who could it possibly be? It’s too early for Derpy, and she rings the doorbell anyways. I threw off my cloud-covers and trotted down the stairs, snorting.
“Whoever you are, you’d better be here for a good reas--on?”

Nopony was at the there. Instead, an envelope was laid half under my door. It looked ripped, as if it were hastily thrown together. On top of that, the wispy part of the cloud was still drifting lazily about.

Think, Rainbow. What would leave that?

I took another look at the clouds.

I’ve got it!

The deliverer had obviously just flown off, leaving the cloud momentarily disturbed.

Heh! Still got it.

I picked up the envelope and shut the door.

It wasn’t even properly sealed. Somepony had been in a rush to deliver this.

Time to take a look inside.

Without further ado, I opened the envelope.

Inside was a letter.

Dear Rainbow Dash,
You probably don’t know me. I don’t even know you. Well…formally. But I must convey a message to you. This is quite hard to put into words. Ponies…well, not ponies, people, write…stories. Involving you and your friends. Hay, sometimes they involve ponies that don’t exist. Characters of their own creation. They think us ponies are fictional. What I’m trying to say, is, well, ahem…the stories, fiction, they call it, involve very bad things. Most of the time, these things only happen to you and your friends. They write about you falling in love with each other, and being in funny situations, such as having incurable hiccups. But, there is a dark side. Some write about you and your friends in wars, killing legions of beings. Oh, and it doesn’t stop there. They make you kill each other.

A shiver ran down my spine. These…people…wrote about my friends and me murdering each other? Why would they do that? This was terrible…and little did I know that the worst was yet to come.
They make some of you witness events that drive you insane. Some depict your friends as having a secret dark side. One such story involves Pinkie skinning you alive to make cupcakes. Another puts Cherilee against her students as she picks them off one by one during a school play. Some of these people even make you commit suicide. Our happy, go-lucky world is turned into a battleground by these so-called authors. Do you want to know the worst part?

I braced myself.
It’s all done for their entertainment.

I couldn’t read any more of this. I threw the letter away and burst out of my house, looking around frantically. I needed to tell someone. Anyone. No one? I walked back in and picked up the letter. “Okay, Rainbow, keep it together,” I muttered to myself. I turned the letter over to read the end.

Not all these are bad. Some are, in fact, quite interesting, even fun.

I stumbled back in revulsion. How could this pony enjoy these stories! They’re sick!

I’m sorry to force this upon you, but I had to tell somepony, and you’re the closest thing I have to a friend.

Now I was confused.

“Wait…what?”

Present

I don’t just want more examples. I want to know why these ‘people’ do this. Why is it entertaining for them to depict us as murderous psychopaths with no feelings? Why do they write horrible, violent stories with no good end, instead of funny, epic, or enthralling stories? These ‘people’ sound cruel. Why would I write a story about Daring Do that involves her splattering brutally on the ground after falling off a cliff? See what I mean? It’s ridiculous. When I start liking a character, I don’t immediately think I should violently murder them in a story. Is this how ‘people’ portray love? Also, how am I the closest thing to a friend that this pony has? He said in the beginning of the letter that I don’t know him. Is he a…secret admirer? A stalker? My mind was overloaded with questions. I looked again at the letter. It was not signed with a name, but rather with a vague picture. It was of a heart with a piece of black yarn circling it. The yarn’s ends met in a knot. Below, there was a poem.

The string and the heart
What do they mean?
The one who plays music will give you the key
She is always found with a tree
Full circle you’ll come
To madness you’ll succumb
Until your sanity as been scrubbed clean.

Dear Celestia, that last part gave me the chills! That was an awful poem, too.
Wait…how’s my sanity going to be scrubbed clean by a tree? Heh, heh. Rainbow Dash and tree: the epic battle. I suppose it is a possibility. I mean, to fight a tree, you’d have to be pretty insane.

Yet, through all these comedic thoughts, I was still scared. That awfully rhymed poem sounded more like an ominous prophecy. That didn't sound good. I couldn't ignore the cold, empty feeling I got while rereading it.

Okay, Rainbow, think. A Pegasus pony lands on my porch and shoves a badly sealed envelope under my door. When it hears I'm coming, it flies away. So...the Pegasus was in a rush. It had to hastily throw together the last part of the letter, and didn't even have enough time to seal the envelope properly. It didn't want me to see it to know who it is, but instead wanted me to find it using the clues it gave me. It wants me to think.

I smiled.

Oh, I'll think more than you want.

(A/N) This is my first fiction, as you have most likely read in the description. I hope it wasn't a bad ending. Also, I know that the poem was awful. I'm really horrible at rhyming, even with an online rhyming dictionary. I apologize for that. I'm not going to post more until I get feedback, because I want to know what to do next! I have a rough plot outline, but it needs refining.