Curse of Pinkamina

Clay slowly awoke, his head throbbing with pain. He groaned as he struggled to get to his four legs, his body was wracked with pain, but nothing he couldn’t shrug off. As soon as his vision cleared Clay could see that the cart was crushed, but mostly intact. Clay slowly made his way out the door which had been smashed open from the inside.

“Hoofwork of the others no doubt.” Clay muttered as he ducked under a caved in wall.

Clay shook his head as he got his first breath of air, and began looking around. There was no sign of the other three, and assumed that they made a break for it. As Clay walked he suddenly realized that he could walk normally. Looking down he saw that his legs were still cuffed, but the chain itself was broken allowing him to move freely.

“Convenient.” Clay thought to himself as he began moving again.

Moving away from the destroyed transport, Clay took a moment to look up at the cliff-side that he had just fallen off of. It wasn’t terribly high, but the fact that he and the others survived the fall left him baffled. Still he decided not to question his luck and began to put as much distance between him and the transport before someone came to investigate. As he walked Clay began to think about what his next step was.

“Alright… you didn’t break out, the guards panicked and your cage was broken. None of it was your fault.” Clay was starting to get nervous as he realized that he was now an escaped convict, and that guards would no doubt be looking for him soon. Where would he go? Would his sentence be extended? Who could he trust if he decided to flee? Clay’s mind was swimming with questions as he kept walking. His head was throbbing slightly from the crash, though he seemed fine as far as he could tell. There were no cuts, no bruises, and no broken bones. In fact it was almost as if he wasn’t in the crash at all. In fact all things considered he was very lucky right now, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling he was getting from the lightning storm that had caused the crash. Crimson Hoof was right about it not being a normal storm, he had learned a great deal about the weather from his mother, and the one he just lived through didn’t seem like a weather ponies handiwork. It had a sense of purpose behind it, like it was trying to get them to crash… but that was impossible.

As Clay pondered the phenomenon he failed to realize that the field he was walking through had suddenly began to be shrouded in a thick fog. So thick that he couldn’t see more than two feet in front of his face. Clay looked around and soon realized that he had become enveloped in the fog blinding him in all directions.

“Ah shit!” Clay muttered as he realized that he was now totally lost, “First a freak lightning storm, and now this?” Clay was starting to feel weary, as he slowly continued forward through the fog.

As he walked at a slow pace he kept his ears open for anything that might be lurking in the fog like a Timber wolf. Thankfully he heard nothing as he continued on his way. Still not being able to see anything, Clay was beginning to get worried. Was he just walking in circles? Where was he? The answer to the second one came sooner then he thought when Clay spotted a sign hanging just outside a bridge. He couldn’t make out the words so he moved closer causing the words to become readable “Welcome to Ponyville”

“Oh crap!” Clay cursed as he saw the sign, “Ponyville? Of all places?” Clay shook his head and turned around trotting away, “No fucking way am I going back there.” Before long the sign was hidden from sight as he ran, the further away from Ponyville he was the better.

He continued wandering around aimlessly, his view still obstructed by the fog, until he came across another sign “Welcome to Ponyville”

“Fuck!” Clay shouted as he once again tried to run away, only to end up at the sign once more, “What the hell is this? There is no way I could have ended up here three times in a row!” Clay kicked the ground in frustration, he knew that if he entered he ran the risk of getting caught and being turned in. Not to mention running into one of his remaining family members. Yet it seemed no matter where he ran he was destined to end up at Ponyville, “Well… maybe I’ll get lucky. This fog is pretty thick, so maybe no one will see me.” Clay thought for a moment as he looked at the sign one last time before crossing the bridge that would take him to town.

Welcome to Ponyville

Ponyville was silent. The streets were empty and devoid of any signs of life. Where once homes and shops were filled with life and joy, were now replaced by empty buildings with broken windows, boarded up doors, and dark streets. Clay had never seen Ponyville like this before. Everything from his childhood that he loved was replaced by a dark empty version of its former self. Still he couldn’t be distracted by its current state, he had to get to the other side and get out before he was noticed. He looked down and cursed as he realized how much noise his shackles were making on the road; if he didn’t remove them soon he would no doubt be spotted and recognized for being a convict. As Clay walked around the center of Ponyville he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. It may have been ten years since he was here, but he still remembered what was ahead of him on this street; the bakery that started that nightmare all those years ago, Sugar Cube Corner. The thought of being anywhere near that building brought shivers down his spine, and he immediately turned around to find an alternate route.

After several minutes of wandering Clay was beginning to get frustrated as he realized that he was once again lost. He was beginning to get disoriented from the changed town and the fog that he swore was getting thicker. He sat down on a nearby bench and rubbed his temples in the hopes to relieve some of the tension he was feeling. He was getting nowhere, and the towns emptiness and decaying state was starting to unnerve him. Clay looked around at the town before him, for it was almost nothing from what he remembered and he was beginning to wonder what could have caused this, when he heard a noise in the distance.

“Hello… somepony there?” There was no reply, “Must have been a bird or something…” But as he said the words aloud he realized something. The town was devoid of any sound, no birds, no crickets, not even ponies in the distance. It was so quiet that Clay could hear the blood rushing through his ears, causing him to shake his head slightly, “What happened to my home…? it’s so different.” He looked straight ahead “Can someone give me an answer!” He shouted forgetting he was supposed to keep a low profile, when Clay got a response. But it wasn’t what he expected. In the fog he heard a giggle, a laugh that he knew all too well, “Pinkie!?” He stood up and kept his eyes peeled for any hint of the pink mare. After a few minutes of silence he eased back into the bench.

“Get a hold of yourself Clay… She’s dead… you saw it yourself… she’s dead.” Clay muttered as buried his face in his hooves, “I need to get out of here. The town is messing with my head.” He sighed and looked around from where he was sitting, when he spotted something beside him. It was a strange small item on the bench next to him from what he could see in the fog.

He was sure that it wasn’t there before when he sat down and it piqued his interest. He reached over to pick it up and discovered that the object was a freshly made cupcake with blue frosting. Clay glared at it as if it were alive. He had lost his taste for cupcakes since the incident at Sugar Cube Corner which had been named Slaughter Cube Corner by the superstitious ponies. He contemplated chucking it in anger when he noticed the pink frosted writing on the cupcake “Giggle at the ghosty” Clay felt his heart stop as he read the words. They had been spoken by the late Pinkie Pie before she and his mother became by the elements of harmony. The fact that those words would be found on a cupcake sent a shiver to Clay’s core.

He didn’t have much time to be disturbed by this as he heard another sound in the distance. But it wasn’t a giggle like last time, in fact it sounded like a mare was crying somewhere. Clay got up from the bench and made his way to the crying; it was hard to pinpoint as it sounded like it was coming from every direction. Not being able to see the mare in distress he decided to call for the mare and see if that got him somewhere.

“Hello? Miss? Where are you?” The only reply was the mares weeping, “I hope she’s not hurt.” Clay said to himself as he followed the weeping. Before long the weeping became louder indicating that he was getting close, he kept his eyes peeled until finally he saw a purple mare sitting in the middle of the street letting out heart wrenching sobs with her back turned to him, “Miss… are you ok?” The mare continued weeping as he approached as if she had not heard him, “I won’t hurt you, I just want to help.” He said trying to calm the mare. But the mare continued sobbing which was now starting to unnerve him. As he approached the mare he saw that she was covered in blood and open wounds as if she had been attack, no doubt the cause of her crying, “Oh goddess… do you need help miss? I can get you to the hospital.” Clay was now inches from the mare when she suddenly stopped crying.

Clay was still as the mare stood up her body covered in cuts that belonged to a blade. Something was very wrong, and Clay sensed it as he slowly started to back away. The mare began to slowly turn to face him, every inch he saw was more gruesome then the next as he saw that her cutie mark was completely gone. Not like a blank flank where the mark itself was missing, but there was a crudely cut circle on her flank revealing blood soaked muscle. The mare was now fully facing Clay revealing the true horror. For where sad tear filled eyes should have stared at him were actually empty eye sockets stained with blood tears. Her mane was disheveled and covered in dried blood. She was apparently a unicorn, though the horn that should have resided on her head was removed as if it had been snapped off leaving a jagged nub. And on her chest was a giant scare as if she had been sliced open and sewed back up.

Clay’s mind reeled as he saw the abomination before him. He backed up as his breaths became ragged, his fear only increased as the creature began to walk towards him giving off the same sobs he heard earlier. He was so focused on the monster in front of him that he failed to notice the other that had appeared behind him. He barely had time to turn around and see a pegasus pony version of the other monster, her eyes empty dripping with blood, a chunk of her flesh missing along with jagged nubs where her wings used to be.

Chased by Ghosts

“Oh fuck!” Clay yelled as he tried to run in another direction only to see that more of the creatures were filling the streets. They consisted of unicorns with missing horns, pegasi with missing wings, and earth ponies with nails drilled in their hooves. Clay realized that he was quickly becoming surrounded and bolted to the nearest opening putting as much distance between him and whatever those creatures were. As he ran he could still hear their wails as they followed him down the alleyway, the sounds they made driving his heart to pound like a jackhammer from the sheer terror he was feeling.

“Run! Run! Keep running!” Clay told himself as he rounded corner after corner only to see another group of the weeping ponies forcing him to turn. He managed to evade them for a short time, but he could still hear their cries approaching, “Think! Think damn it!” Clay looked around frantically for anything that could help him get away or escape, but he found none. They were getting closer, he could hear them just feet away, and he was growing tired, “Can’t give up… can’t…” Suddenly Clay began to feel really tired, as if all his strength was being zapped away from his body.

He struggled to stand, but his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. He had never felt so weak or so helpless in his life as the swarm of creatures swarmed around him, and it seemed as if his time had finally come; when suddenly the creatures stopped in their tracks. Clay looked at them in confusion as they all began to look around with what could only be described as terror. He didn’t understand what had the monsters so afraid… until he heard a sound. A scrapping sound accompanied by rattling chains could be heard in the distance. It was faint, but it was enough to cause his attackers to start running in fear forgetting the vulnerable earth pony. Clay didn’t know whether to be thankful or be even more terrified by what had saved him, but he didn’t have time to ponder what had transpired as he got up and woozily made his way down the street. His strength failing him, Clay once again fell to his ground and his head hitting the floor. Feeling absolutely exhausted Clay struggled to keep his eyes open as he faded in and out of consciousness.

“Of all the times… my body decides… to quit on me…” Clay murmured as he finally passed out and fell into a dark void of sleep.