• Published 29th Dec 2012
  • 12,587 Views, 1,189 Comments

Mother of Invention - zaponator



Awake and alone, Applejack will find a way to survive.

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Where Is My Mind?

"Cross my heart."

Applejack's eyes snapped open at a voice. That voice... it sounded so familiar, but there was something off about it. With a shout of surprise, the farm mare realized that she was no longer laying on the cave floor she remembered curling up on last night. Her eyes grew wide as saucers as she took in her location. She was surrounded by clouds on all sides, as far as she could see in all directions was nothing but an unbroken plane of puffy white cumulus. A strange thought occurred to her, and she tentatively looked down. Sure enough, she was standing with her hooves planted firmly on the fluffy white substance, the same as the stuff all around her.

"Hope to fly."

This time she knew she wasn't mistaken. She definitely recognized that voice from somewhere, but for the life of her couldn't place exactly where. The words seemed to echo all around her in a cold monotone. Applejack knew for a fact she wasn't acquainted with anypony who spoke like that, so she began searching for the source of the voice, intent to get to the bottom of this mystery. She began her search with the only means available, she picked a random direction and set to trotting. A stray thought came to the forefront of her mind; her hoof wasn't hurting at all, it wasn't even a little bit sore. She quickly dismissed the odd thought. Why would her hoof be hurting?

"Stick a cupcake."

There it was! She spotted a figure dead ahead, and sped up her pace slightly. For a moment she thought it strange that of all the directions to trot in, she had picked the one that lead straight to the source of the all-encompassing voice. She quickly shook her head to dismiss the idea. Something about this direction had just... felt right, and now that feeling was paying off. As she approached the distant figure, the details of it became clearer. The speaker was definitely a pony, that was to first thing Applejack was able to tell. Next was the shape, the pony was sitting on their haunches facing away from Applejack, they were a mare, and her mane was large and curly. The final detail—the one that enabled her to identify the strange mare—was the color. Pink on pink; a bright pink coat, with a slightly darker shade of pink for her mane. Applejack knew of only one pony with that coloration. In the next blink, she found herself standing directly behind Pinkie Pie, who was still facing away from her. As Applejack reached a hoof out to Pinkie's shoulder, the pink mare spoke again in that disconcertingly somber monotone that seemed to echo from everywhere at once.

"In my eye."

Applejack grasped Pinkie's shoulder with a forehoof, and turned the party pony around to face her. If Applejack's stomach hadn't been empty, she would have expelled its contents onto the clouds at that moment. Pinkie's face was covered in blood, pouring down in torrents and dripping onto her chest and forelegs. The entire front of her mane was matted down, soaked through with sticky redness. All of the blood originated from a large, vicious gash on the top of Pinkie's head, it was still gushing out of the hideous wound, flowing over her face and the front of her body, but passing through the clouds like they weren't even there. The most disconcerting part, though, was her face. She still wore her trademark grin from ear to ear, but her eyes provided a stark juxtaposition to the joyful expression. They were the glassed over eyes of a dead pony, the grey orbs completely lacking the spark of happiness that had so defined the pink mare in life. Seeing all of this brought Applejack's mind to a clattering halt, causing her to jump in shock when Pinkie finally spoke once more. Her voice was still completely monotone, an emotionless drone devoid of any semblance of the cheer it once possessed, yet somehow managing to keep the party pony's normal voice inflection.

"Don't worry AJ. Everything's going to be peachy keen. You'll see."

Before Applejack had time to react, she felt herself falling as Pinkie's voice echoed around her. Whatever had been allowing her to walk on clouds had apparently decided not to work anymore, and the farmer plummeted through them like they weren't even there. She screamed and kicked as she fell, using one forehoof to keep her hat on her head as she watched the clouds grow smaller and smaller with distance. She was unable to tear her gaze from the hole in the cloud cover where the horrifying visage of her friend peered down at her, watching her descent into the abyss with that same massive grin, and those same dead eyes.

Author's Note:

Edited by Pilate. This was his favourite chapter.