• Published 6th Nov 2012
  • 15,387 Views, 3,324 Comments

The Abundance - defender2222



Sequel to Faith and Doubt. Twilight must save Equestria from her friends who've become alicorns

  • ...
80
 3,324
 15,387

PreviousChapters Next
The Punchline

Screams.

Agonizingly painful screams that would make any pony shiver in horror. The cries of the dying, the damned, the tortured. They were the kind of cries that would make even the blackest of hearts tremble and the strongest wills falter. They spoke of agony and distress and the destruction of not just the body but of the mind and the soul.

All of these rumbled along the mindscape, echoing through the vastness of the empty world. There were only three there to hear them, and it was Cadence alone who shuddered at the sound, backing away from the horrific scene. At that moment, she would have preferred to be locked in her body, watching the original Doubt use her as a puppet. The screams were terrible and horrible…and made all the more horrific by the fact that it wasn't Laughter who was screaming.

The pink alicorn squealed in delight as Doubt threw back his head, raw energy racing through his body and leaving his nerve-endings fried. It would have been funny, the way his skeleton was occasional reviewed like an x-ray and how his mane stood on end, if it weren't for the dying cries he let loose. He trembled and shook like he was having a seizure, unable to pull away as his own magic rebounded on him.

"Stupid baby brother!" Laughter exclaimed, mocking Doubt as he was sent flying, his broken form crumpled in a heap next to Cadence's hooves. "You think I wasn't ready? You think for a moment I would appear to you without backup plans? My backup plans have backup plans! I admired Discord, baby brother, but I am not him: he is chaos without any thought of what happens next; I am Laughter and I am always setting up the joke! My mind is filled with all sorts of traps and failsafes to keeps the likes of you out! It's like a jack-in-the-box, except instead of a Jack it is PAIN!"

Cadence cried out as the pink abstract broken free of the now weakened chains, bouncing on top of her and pulling on her mane until the love goddess was staring the deranged mare in the eye.

"Please... please..."

"You like spreading love, don't you? The pleasure and wonderful feeling that come with it?" Laughter touched her horn to Cadence's and giggled as she sent a jolt of magic into her. "Well, let's have some fun, ok?" She took out a feather and tickled Cadence's side, the princess screaming in agony. Cadence bucked and thrashed as if the feather were a hot poker, crying out for mercy. "I just reversed your pleasure and pain receptors," Laughter said darkly, summoning a knife and jabbing it into Cadence's side. The alicorn of love’s screams died in her throat, a smile forming on her lips as she cooed, pressing her hooves against the bleeding wound. Her eyes rolling back in her head as she coaxed the bleeding gash open wider and wider. Laughter could tell that Cadence was trying to fight the twisted pleasure she was getting but was simply not strong enough. "What a way to die..." Laughter teased, watching as Cadence began to stab herself over and over, screaming now in unadulterated bliss.

She then trotted over to Doubt, who was still twitched as his brain was fried. "BZZZZ!" Laughter mocked, shaking like she had also been electrocuted. "BZZZZ BZZZZ!" She kicked her braindead brother before turning to her right, a portal opening up for her. "Don't worry... I'll tell your corrupted little friend Twilight... hello."

~Days Later....~

Laughter rolled about the charred remains of Sweet Apple Acres, giggling in delight. "Come on now, Applejack, you have to think this is funny! Give us a chuckle!"

The farmer didn't say a word, mostly because she couldn't It wasn't even correct to call her 'Applejack' anymore, since everything that made her her had been torn away. Laughter had converted the poor mare into a machine, merging AJ with the Flim Flam Brother's Cider Squeezer. Her metallic face stared out blankly as she worked, the spark of intelligence having been ripped away from her, making her only able to follow her new mistress' orders. She didn't even see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, each aged till they were more like corpses than living, their bodies infected with the cutie pox. All she did was keep moving along, sucking up trees and making cider for Laughter.

She was a great contrast to Big Macintosh, who now had to keep talking or else his heart would stop. Every once and a while his eyes would droop before he would hurriedly begin speaking about anything he could think of. Laughter watched him and knew he would be day within a day… she hadn’t decided if she would alter his curse to prolong the fun.

The pink abstract glanced lazily at Rainbow Dash, the mare silently screaming at her. Every time the speedster tried to move towards the abstract or her friends, she suddenly found herself speeding up, her body moving so quickly it was intangible.

"Why is she so upset? She is always on the go!" Laughter asked the hoof puppet she wielded... which looked exactly like Pinkie. "Yeah, I don't get it either. Twilight, make a note of it!"

"Of course... have to record it, Princess Celestia!" Twilight said, fumbling for her quills. The purple alicorn would have had an easier time taking down 'Celestia's' notes if she still possed her eyes... but in their place were merely empty dark sockets. “Spike, we need to take a letter!” She reached over, bumping the frozen baby dragon, not realizing that he was unable to move and could only watch on, not even able to scream as he stared at the bloody face of his friend.

"Good girl," Laughter said with a smirk, reaching over for her chocolate milk. Discord had been so smart to come up with that-

Laughter frowned, her giggles subsiding. Her legs weren’t moving properly. She tugged, pursing her lips... it was almost like she was back in her-

"What?!?" Laughter screamed, seeing the dark chains that held her fast.

"Hello again, big sister," Doubt said, leaning in from behind. Laughter turned, but in the split second it took for her to meet her brother's eyes, the world had shifted and she suddenly found herself back in his mindscape. Twilight, Applejack and all the rest were gone. "Do you get the joke?"

"How... how?!? I killed you!"

"Did you?" Doubt said. "Is that what you saw this time?" At her confused look, Doubt laughed. "I keep forgetting that your memory gets wiped each time we do this." He sighed happily. "This is the 20th time you've snapped out of a dream, dear sister. The last one involved pirates, apparently." Laughter's mouth went dry and her heart plummeted. "Do you understand now?" The pink abstract turned, eyes wide as she stared at her brother. His color had returned to its normal silver shine, his wings restored and his magic once more a perfect blend of light and dark. The only thing that even came close to connecting him with his fallen form were his eyes; the same mix of sadness and rage that had filled Doubt's pupils now swam through Faith's. "Do you understand big sister?"

"A joke," Laughter whispered, swallowing. "It's all a joke. None of that happened..." her brow furrowed. "And is this really happening?" Faith merely smiled and his sister shut her eyes. “Is this a dream too? No… yes… you would…or…” She looked at him and Faith smiled at the fear her saw in those orbs. "That's the punchline, isn't it?"

"It is why the chicken crossed the road and why fireponies where suspenders." Faith dissolved his sister's chains and the mare fell to the ground in a heap. She didn’t bother to get up… there was no point. "You stole a thousand lifetimes from me, Laughter... so now I will steal a thousand from you. You'll never know when the dream has ended and when it is beginning again. Maybe all of it is real and I am merely warping you back, to live in an eternal loop.” Laughter shuddered and Faith let out a dry, half-hearted chuckle. "Yes, for somepony that thrives on originality and spontaneity, that would be hell, wouldn't it? To live the same life over and over? Buck up... maybe these are all just a series of dreams and you are doomed to forever live through one nightmare only to awaken in another."

"Doubt..."

Faith' scowled. "Yes... that too. Doubt or Faith? I suppose you can't believe anything when it comes to me either, as I have shown." He leaned in close, nuzzling her. "I forgive you for not understanding, big sister... I made the same mistake until Twilight and her friends showed me the truth: I am Faith and I am Doubt... or, Doubt is my past, something I will never be able to purge myself of."

He pulled back and the pink alicorn stared at him with red eyes. "How... how long?"

"Forever," Faith said sadly. "I'll torture you forever, Laughter. Of course, for us time is very subjective... a lifetime in a second and a second stretching on till Judgment Day." Faith turned and began to trot away. "And don't worry... if I am anything I am creative... you'll never be bored. How does the old curse go? "May you live in interesting times"?”

"There... there must be something!" Laughter screamed in a panic, giving chase. "Something I can do-"

"What can you do?" Faith asked blandly, his body fading away till only his eyes and teeth remained. They floated around Laughter, taunting her, his leering smile darting away from her. "You've gone down the rabbit hole, sister, and now up is down and down is sideways. I might be just another illusion Doubt is casting... that's the punchline, remember? You can never know for sure."

Laughter trembled. "Brother... brother I'm sorry!"

"No you aren't." Laughter whipped around as hundreds of statues popped up around her, each one shaped just like the dream foal she had forced him to have and lose. "Well, you are, but for the wrong reasons. You are sorry that you were caught and sorry you suffer... you aren't sorry for what you took from me... what you stole from Trixie... what you've done to Twilight and the rest of our friends. None of that you are sorry for. You aren’t sorry for killing my son!” Each statue exploded and the world trembled around Laughter. “You betrayed everything, Laughter, on the word of the real Doubt. And now...well... you must pay the price, much as I was forced to for my perceived 'crime'. Don’t worry… I’ll be as merciful to you as you were to me…"

Laughter looked about as the world began to shift, turning now into Celestia's throneroom. She panted, tears in her eyes as she began to wonder if she had merely dreamed up her brother being there or if this was now the illusion.

"Wait!" Laughter screamed. "There... there has to be something... there has to be..." She stammers and stumbled and racked her brain…

And then she smiled.

"Yes... yes there is a way... yes brother... one thing I know is real... that I can still control." Laughter shut her eyes and sighed. "If I am to dream forever, then I choose to go to that final sleep... dreamless and peaceful." Laughter felt her body twist and turn and the pink alicorn laid down, shutting her eyes. "I choose the path you almost took… I hope it will be enough to satisfy you.” The smiled even as she began to dissolve. “Say goodnight, Faith."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Goodnight, Faith," the silver alicorn said softly, tears in his eyes.

"Faith?" Clyde called out, confused. He and his family, along with Apple Bloom, Granny Smith and Cadence, had watched as Laughter taunted Faith and Trixie over the loss of their dream foal. Pinkie had been prepared to give Laughter a 'talkin' to!' when Faith had suddenly broken out of his depression and leapt up and pressed his horn to hers. The pony that had been wearing Pinkie's form had twitched then gone still, both her and Faith's eyes going black.

For six minutes Faith and his sister had stood there, unmoving. Trixie had snapped out of her despair and rushed towards them, only for Cadence to hold the blue mare back, fearing what would happen if she interfered. The others had shifted and twitched and licked their lips as they nervously watched the strange staring contest, wondering what was happening.

And then, as suddenly as it had began, Faith had spoken.

"Faith?" Cadence whispered, only to let out a gasp when Laughter's body turned to dust, the pink abstract letting out a peaceful sigh before she was blown to the winds.

The silver alicorn shut his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Find Loyalty on the other side, sister... and be happy." He turned to the others. "It's time."

"Time?" Sue asked.

Faith nodded. "Yes." His horn glowed and with a blast of light all but Cadence and himself were gone. "Time to go home.”

~MC~MC~MC~

Apple Bloom groaned, rubbing her head. "What... aw man!" She leapt up and inspected her little legs in annoyance. "I'm a filly again!"

Sue and Clyde looked over at each other, seeing that the gray hair and wrinkles had returned. And they smiled, for while it had been nice to be young again, they had earned every crease. It was a badge of honor, showing they had lived long, full lives.

"Yeah," Pinkie said, bouncing up and down. "Though, when he is feeling more up to it, Faith could always make you an alicorn."

"Really?!?" Apple Bloom squealed.

Granny shook her head. "Not till her chores are done, ya hear me?"

The filly looked at the old mare and pouted. "Granny, that isn't fair!"

“Don’t you be arguin’ with Granny,” Applejack said, slowly standing up. “You need-OOMPF!”

“You’re ok!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, hugging her sister. “You all are!”

The rest of the group nodded, shaking themselves as they rose from the ground. “What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Laughter… Laughter happened.” Honesty turned to his left, his wings falling. “Faith… oh no…”

“Faith?” Twilight whispered taking a step forward towards the stallion. The lord of the gray turned and the others gasped at the sight of him.

He was covered in blood.

“Two…” Faith whispered. “I think two is quite enough.”

Before any of them could answer a blast of silver exploded where Faith had stood, his own variation on the Sonic Rainboom bathing the world in light and dark. They all blinked and rubbed the spots from their eyes, looking to the sky just in time to catch a glimpse of the alicorn’s trail leading North.


“If we shadows have offended, think but this; and all is mended that you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear and this weak and idle theme no more yielding but a dream.”

-Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

PreviousChapters Next