//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 - Melancholy // Story: Fear Within // by VirtualCipher //------------------------------// "Rarity?!" Pinkie Pie screamed, her lungs almost detonating. "Rarity, where are you?!" Constantly, the ghost-grey mist crawled over Pinkie Pie's skin like spiders, reminding her that she was lost, alone and scared. Just like that, Rarity was gone; vanished with no trace left behind. Her mind began to malfunction; her thoughts of optimism were jammed. However, her doubts ran through her system like a river, rapidly flooding her confidence. She was finally grasping the situation that she was in, she was alone in a fear-inducing fog that could break her mind. "Rarity?! Fluttershy?!" Her screams failed to make contact with any life. No pony was with her. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Princess Celestia. No one, not a single soul. "Anypony..." She whimpered, her body beginning to tremble. This wasn't usual for Pinkie Pie, she would have at least pumped herself up with enthusiasm or motivate herself to save those she loved, but she couldn't. Rather than being jovial and determined like she had been in her past adventures, this time she was scared. As her body was brought to a halt, Pinkie Pie deeply inhaled and exhaled. "Relax, Pinkie..." She softly murmured to herself. "You can do this..." Startlingly, a crushing pain streamed through Pinkie Pie's head, throbbing with agony. Tightly, her eyes shut as she produced a yelp, the whole of her body sinking to the ground as both of her hooves secured her head as it continued to crowd with agony. It felt like her skull was cracking to the thoughts of her worries. Surprisingly, it wasn't long before the soreness within her head had extinguished. The pain that she had felt was unexplainable and somehow different compared to an ordinary headache. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she investigated her surroundings. Once again, nothing but fog, however, something caught her attention. Floating before her was a red balloon, slowly drifting away from the pony. "Follow... Me..." A voice whispered. "Hello?" She responded, rather panicky. Startled, the pink pony examined her site, expecting to see somepony... or someone near her. Despite the whisper sounding close, no one was around her, nothing but the bright, red balloon that lightly drifted in front of her. The moment her eyes targeted the balloon once more, the whisper slipped into her sense of hearing yet again. "Follow... Me..." Pinkie Pie simply blinked as the balloon slowly began to depart, trying to lead her. "Are you talking to me?" She questioned, tilting her head. "Do you know where my friends are?" "Follow... Me..." Confused, Pinkie Pie was desperate for answers, wanting to know who was whispering to her and how along with where the balloon came from, however, she couldn't help but bring a smile towards joyful party decoration. It continued to float away from her. Like a moth to a flame, she was absorbed by the balloon, following it through the fog. Her confidence began to steadily rise as the balloon guided her. For a while, she continued to follow the balloon through the silver mist, it was at this point she began to question what she was doing, however, a spark of hope ignited within her heart the moment she heard a voice, no, she heard multiple voices. Not a second thought was needed, she recognised the voices as her friends. Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. She could hear them talking and laughing. The balloon had guided her to her friends. In the distance, her eyes managed to penetrate through the mist and witness her friends all grouped up. Never before had she felt relieved and joy mix together. Pinkie Pie wanted to scream with joy and hug each and every one of them, but she contained herself, "Oh, thank you, my balloon friend!" Pinkie Pie thanked, bouncing over to her friends. As she progressed, hopping over to them like a rabbit, she greeted them with the voice of jubilation. "Hi girls!" Instantly, her setting dashed by in a blur and before she could grasp what was happening, her body made contact with the ground. Everything went by so fast that she couldn't even produce a scream or yelp. Her body felt suspended, not by pain, but by shock as it was unexpected for the pink pony. Luckily, she wasn't hurt, however, the impact caused her heart to race; beating rapidly as she tripped. Not a single word came out of her mouth, even if she had spoken, the sound of laughter would have cut her off. Her head elevated, looking up at her friends tower over her while laughing. This wasn't the type of laughter she would expect from her friends... They were laughing at her. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and even Fluttershy... They all laughed at her as she tripped. Already, Pinkie Pie shot herself up from the ground like a flare, presenting her facial expression as downhearted as well as appalled. "What gives?" Pinkie Pie asked, her voice sounding hurt. "What's the matter, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked through tears of laughter. "I thought you always wanted to make us laugh?" "Well, yeah... but..." Her words trembled. "You're laughing at me..." Twilight responded with laughter yet again, "That's no different!" Pinkie Pie merely tilted her head in response, looking unclear while trying to process what her friend had just said. Rarity continued to laugh, "We laugh at you all the time, Pinkie! You didn't seriously think you were funny, did you?" "Wha... What?" The pink pony said, her heart wrapped in layers of sadness. "Are ya deaf?" Applejack asked. "Ya not funny, you just make a fool of yourself all the time, not our fault if we can't help but laugh at ya immaturity." "If anything, you've grown more annoying since the day we met you," Rainbow Dash commented, looking ignorant towards Pinkie's feelings. "How... How could you say that?" Pinkie Pie sniffled, wanting to burst into tears. "Becuase it's the truth," Twilight told, oblivious towards her feelings. "Honestly speaking," Rarity came forward. "I would prefer that toothless alligator over you." "I'm sorry, Pinkie," Fluttershy apologised. "But you really don't know when to be quiet and... It does get annoying..." "I mean, the way you go on is absolutely infuriating. How do you expect to gain friends when you're constantly aggravating those around you?" Twilight questioned. "But... But we're fr- friends..." Pinkie Pie reminded. "Friends?!" Rainbow Dash scoffed then bursting into laughter once more. "Who'd want to be friends with a freak like you?" Once more, everypony burst into laughter, tearing up. Pinkie Pie just observed her friends laughing at her. It was cruel, booming and painful to hear as they continued to snicker at her. Their smirking became a taunt, their laughing roughened her ears and her heart felt like it was being massacred. "Stop... Stop laughing at me!" Pinkie screamed, tearing up. It continued to erupt her ears thick and fast, causing her to fall to the ground and cover them as she pleaded them to stop, however, the laughing got louder and more was heard. All the ponies she made laugh in the past came back to haunt her, laughing at her misery. "STOP!" She cried. Laughing and insults were heard which continued to poke fun at the depressed pony. "Annoying!" "Stupid!" "Fool!" "Dimwit!" "Useless!" "STOP IT!" Pinkie Pie screamed, covering her ears as her teeth clenched together. Alternating, the fog around her began to thicken, transforming into hard, heavy walls that boxed her in. She was trapped inside a box, there was no exit; the walls prevented her escape. Left and right, up and down, faces formed into the boring walls around her. Their eyes were wide and black, their pupils were white as snow and like daggers, stabbing into her as she remained still. With great horror, the faces produced a wide smile towards Pinkie Pie, gritting their crooked teeth. Slowly recovering from what she had just endured, she finally observed the doorless and windowless room she was trapped in. The faces screamed at her with laughter, the sound was unpleasant, disgusting and traumatic. Pinkie Pie began to crumble down into fear as she desperately looked for a way out, but only the repellent faces were present, resuming their high-pitched laughs that mocked her. Laughter, insults and chanting barged into her eardrums as she helplessly looked around for an exit, crying in pain. "Stop laughing at me!" She screamed. Ignoring her cries, the entertained and abhorrent faces continued their laughing, the ringing noise of torment dawdled within her mind. Without warning, the confined room she was placed within began to grow smaller, the walls along with the ceiling pushed themselves towards her; closing in on her. The discomforting faces continued to laugh at her desperation as she tried to push herself against the moving walls. As they motioned closer, Pinkie Pie felt cramped with the laughs now breathing down on her. Her tears burst forth like a rapid stream, dripping from her face as she screamed from dread. "HELP!" Her distressed scream echoed as silence suddenly fell upon her. Fluttering, her eyes opened with caution as to what was going on, she dried the remaining tears that idled within her eyes. Furthermore, the faces that mocked her had faded from the walls, no longer were they laughing, no longer were they present. Pinkie Pie was in a lifeless room, however, she felt something that she hadn't felt before. A breeze. Not processing a single thought, Pinkie Pie felt something tight around her stomach; something gripping her. Tied around her was an itchy and strong rope. Quickly, she looked up to uncover that the ceiling had vanished which left her exposed to the lifeless fog running through the air. However, that's not what caught her attention. Peering down at her was a disgusting, abhorrent face with stitches sewed into his mouth. Worryingly, the rope that was tied around her stomach was being held by the colossal version of Fright that towered over her. His fingers began to pull the rope which caused the pink pony to elevate into the air and bringing her up close, face to face with the hooded figure. Everything disgusting about his remnant face was visible, it burned her eyes. Overflowing with anxiety, her body began to shake like an earthquake as his demented and crazed voice crawled delivered dread. Her scared expression fed him with satisfaction. "You seem troubled, Pinkie..." Fright spoke. "I thought laughter was the best medicine..." Through her constant shuddering, Pinkie Pie stammered, "Pl- Please... N- No more..." Agonized and agitated, her head lowered down to see an endless abyss that echoed laughter of mockery and endless torment, the worst of it was that she could hear the laughing of her friends, family, the ones that she had cheered for and comforted. Her worries forced her to look back up at the colossal sized devil, begging for this nightmare to stop. "Please!" She sobbed, her tears drenching her own fur. "I don't want to be made fun of anymore! I don't want to hear laughter again! I want to be alone!" "Here I thought you cherish laughter... It appears I was wrong..." Fright disregarded her cries and snapped the rope that held her, his cold, grey eyes following her as she descended rapidly into the abyss of insanity, where crazed laughter would break her mind piece by piece. The pink mare screamed in terror as she fell into the void with the teasing and taunting laughter becoming louder by the each second ticking away, her cries grew stronger until everything went black... No light... But the laughter slowly dampened as Fright's quiet and foul voice spoke. "Your mind will deteriorate to the sweet sound of laughter..."