//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: The Lost Laughter // by Pinkie Wannabe //------------------------------// "Are we there yet?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "My wings are giving up!" The six were headed towards the rock farm, where Maud had claimed her sister, Pinkamena, to be living at. The train to the farm was delayed because of the Nightmare Moon incident, so they all had to walk. Everyone was getting very tired, except for Maud, who just bounced all the way. "Goodness gracious, Sugarcube," Applejack panted. "How are you not tired?!" Maud giggled. "Oh, girls! You make such a big deal out of the smallest things! We haven't been walking that long." "Yes, if you say that 7 HOURS isn't a long walk!" Rarity wheezed. "I'm going to faint from all this sweat! I give up! The bad guys have won!" "Maud rolled her eyes and kept bouncing. "Don't give up now! We're almost there!" "As if you didn't say that 30 minutes ago," Rainbow murmmered. "Can we at least take a break?" Fluttershy said, trying to keep Rarity from falling over. "Yeah," Twilight agreed, breathing heavily. "I think we all need a break." "Alright." Maud sighed. "But it doesn't have to be for long; we're here!" Like she said, right in front of the group was a tall, worn out building. It looked as if it hasn't been cleaned in years. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get that Pinkamena!" Rainbow said, zooming towards the door only to fall back down. "After a quick break." A few hours earlier "That's weird," Limestone said, looking out the window. "The sun should be out by now." It was almost 9AM and the moon was still out, as full and bright as ever. Marble opened her mouth to reply to Lime's question when Pinkie interrupted. "Yeah, maybe it is daylight savings. Wait, is that even a thing in this world?" Marble nodded at Pinkamena's response. "Whatever it is, it's really keeping us inside." Lime added. Pinkie sighed. "I'm tired." She took her pet rock and went upstairs. "I'm gonna take a nap." Pinkie sat on her bed and stared out the window, looking at the starry sky. "I'll admit," Pinkie said to her self. "It is pretty weird that the sun isn't out yet." Pinkamena locked her gaze on the sky, unaware of the darkness slowly approaching from behind... Present Knock knock knock "Hellooooooo!" Maud sang, knocking on the door of her house. The other five ponies waited patiently for a response. The door suddenly creaked open. "Hello? Gasp! Maud!" Maud smiled, pouncing on her sister and embracing her in a tight hug. "It's soooooooo good to see you again, Limie!" "Please don't call me that," Lime murmured under her breath. "What brings you back?" "Long story." Twilight said, stepping up. "Have you been wondering why the moon is still out right now?" "Yeah, actually I have!" Lime exclaimed. "Well, the reason is that a villain named Nightmare Moon has come into Equestria and has cursed the land with eternal night. The only way to defeat her is that we get the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and Maud believes that one of your sisters is one of them." "Pinkie!" Maud added to Twilight's explanation. "Pinkie is one of them!" Lime looked bewildered. "Are you sure about that?" "Well, she's definitely sure as sugar," said Applejack, referring to Maud. Dash was getting impatient. "Well, where is this Pinkamena? Or Pinkie. Whatever the hay you call her!" "We last saw her going upstairs." Lime replyed. Maud went over to the staircase and looked up. "PINKIE!" Maud calls. "PINKIE, IT'S ME! YOUR BEST BIG SISTER FIVE-EVER! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN COME DOWN?!" No response. "PINKIE, DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE AND DRAG YOU DOWN!" No response. "I'LL GIVE YOU FIVE SECONDS TO COME DOWN!" Five seconds passed. No response. "YOU'VE GIVEN ME NO OTHER CHOICE, THEN!" Maud ran upstairs to Pinkie's room, leaving her sister and friends. The two groups stared at each other awkwardly. "So," Twilight said, filling the gap of silence. "Come here often?" "Um, yeah. We kinda live here." "Wel, if you're going to call this place a home, you could try to tidy up the place," Rarity said, eyeing the house judgingly. "It's not as bad as Applejack's barn, though." "I heard that!" Applejack snapped. "OH MY CELESTIA'S BUTTERCREAM COAT AND CAKE!!!" Every pony turned to the sound of Maud's yell. They all ran upstairs to see the problem. "Maud? What's wrong--" Twilight started, but was cut off by the sight of the room. A giant, dark gash in the wall was oozing of a dark purple and blue liquid, a slimy substance covered the floor, making it look like a picture of the night sky was pasted onto the floor. Pinkie was gone. "O-oh...m-my..." Fluttershy stammered, eyes widened." "I know!" Rarity responded to Fluttershy. "Now there's more cleaning the Pies have to do. So sorry." Rarity looked back at Lime and Marble, who were originally looking at the scene with horror, stared at Rarity with annoyance. Cackling started to fill the silence as a purple gas came through a window, morphing into a screen that showed Nightmare Moon smiling wickedly at the camera. "Looking for this?" Nightmare stepped out of the way to reveal Pinkie in a cage, looking at the camera with a pleading look. "PINKIE!" Maud called, running up to the screen. "YOU BIGOL' QUEEN MEANIE-PANTS! BRING MY SISTER BACK!" "Want her back? Come get her in the Castle of the two sisters, or else something...unfortunate might happen to her." Nightmare said darkly, cackling as the screen faded away. "NO!" Maud screamed. A few seconds of silence went by. Maud hung her head, looking at the floor. Slowly, her bouncy, messy mane started to deflate flatly on her head. Her front mane created bangs that rested on her forehead. Her back laid gently on her neck. "Maud...?" Twilight said, slowly walking up to Maud. Maud didn't even look up. Twilight looked sympathetically at her friend, her face turning into a determined expression. "Girls," Twilight said sharply. "We need to save Pinkamena."