Mark

by xCRAZYxFACEx

Ch.4: Flipping the Coin

Sugarcube Corner was silent.

It was an odd occurrence, one that warranted the glances given by curious ponies as they walked past the normally inconspicuous bakery. There had almost never been a time when the bakery was silent. One could always hear the banter of ponies inside as they indulged themselves with Pinkie’s treats, or the clang of pots as said mare worked feverishly to produce more sweets. Even when the pink mare was out and about with her friends, the sounds would continue as Mr. and Mrs. Cake continued on with their day, either baking goods or caring for their crying children. Failing even that, when it was a peaceful day at the confectionary, the subtle roar of the ovens could be heard and identified even from the outside. All of it was a reminder to the citizens of Ponyville that a sweet treat was only a second away.

Sugarcube Corner remained silent.

Mark, at that moment, was enjoying a particularly savory cupcake that failed to disappoint him in any way. Surrounding him were the Cakes, quietly and happily enjoying their lunch; Pound and Pumpkin, who were seated in high chairs and munching on cereal their parents had set out for them; and Pinkie, who was slowly chewing her food while looking down at the table. She was still struggling with her emotions, and was deep in thought trying to subdue them.

All in all, it was quiet and peaceful at the table as the ponies ate - a rarity, considering Pinkie was at the table.

Mark was concerned. He had only been in Ponyville for a day and a half and he could already tell Pinkie was acting very strangely. He didn’t know what to say or do, so he worked through his misgivings the only way he knew how.

Come on, Pinkie. Talk to me. What’s got you down? Please, tell me something, anything! Give me some sort of clue, I want to help. Mark was thinking at a furious pace to Pinkie, trying in vain to get her to open up, or even acknowledge that she heard him. Instead, she continued to stare at the table as if she were trying to bore a hole into the wood with lasers that shot from her eyes.

Pinkie looked up for a second and brought her hoof up to her chin. “Huh, that would be pretty cool...” she muttered, more to herself than anyone in particular.

Mark threw her a look of exasperation. The last of his patience running out, he began to speak to her directly, striking up the first conversation to take place since he had walked down with Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, what was. . . uh. . .” he began. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say; he didn’t want to attract attention to her, since the Cakes hadn’t noticed or commented on the pink mare’s state. But now that he had begun to speak, he couldn’t simply peter out without making a coherent thought. You stupid foal, think! His mind raced, trying to come up with even the feeblest of conversation starters. It managed to latch onto something, and Mark threw it out as quick as he could.

“. . . So, did Applejack come by just to sell you apples? From last night, it sounded like she was a friend.” He hoped he hadn’t paused too long. Ponies already think you’re weird, no reason to give them fuel for the flame. 

Pinkie sat up from her lethargy long enough to give his question some thought. “Well, Applejack’s one of my closest friends, so of course she stops by whenever she gets a chance. Not to mention we have a friendly trade going on, where we buy her apples and then use them for some of our goods. It’s worked out well so far, and our friendship has only grown as a result.” She paused in her lecture as she took a bite out of her cupcake. “Anyways, Applejack is the most trustworthy ponies I know. Her apples are guaranteed to be good, and she’d never take advantage of somepony through her control of the apple orchards. You know, I think you would like her if you two met.” She stopped talking, and then promptly swallowed the remainder of her cupcake whole.

Mark wasn’t about to waste his opportunity. He had gotten Pinkie to open up again, and he planned to use it to his advantage. “I’m sure I would. Is she still around? Maybe you could introduce me to her - actually, why not all of your friends? It would be like a ‘Welcome to Ponyville, say hi to all my friends!’ party. I’m sure they’d like that.”

The moment Mark had mentioned, “party”, Pinkie had bolted upright in her chair and acquired a very familiar smile. “Ooh, you’re right! I could throw a party later tonight and invite all of my best pony pals! There’d be cake and streamers and confetti and signs and punch and music and dancing and fun and. . . and... you!” Pinkie yelled out, flinging herself in front of Mark. The dull red pony scooted back in his chair a slight amount, having not expected his plan to get Pinkie Pie to talk to work quite so well. Pinkie continued on, unperturbed.

“You would be the guest of honor, and it would be super-duper awesome because everypony would be like, ‘Hey, it’s a new pony! Howya doing?’ and you’d be all, ‘Hey, what’s up? My name’s Mark!’ and just be plain awesome! Ooh, I should go and give them their invites for tonight!”

By this point, Pinkie had been pacing around the room and was simply oozing with enthusiasm. Pound and Pumpkin had gotten excited and were tossing their cereal everywhere while Mr. and Mrs. Cake got up to try and calm them down. At the same time, Pinkie popped up in front of Mark again, well within his personal bubble of space.

“So Mark! I’m gonna be gone for a few hours while I get everything ready! You do your thing and help the Cakes out! See ya soon!” With that, Pinkie bounded out of the store in three leaps. The pink mare was well on her way before Mark could comprehend what had just happened. He shook his head in bewilderment before looking at the Cakes. Carrot was having moderate success in calming his children while Cup was matching Mark’s gaze. She shrugged and said, “She does that alot. She’ll be back soon, don’t worry. In the meantime, be a dear and get to the front of the store and flip the closed sign. Lunch is over for us, but ponies all over Ponyville are going to be walking in soon with empty bellies!”

Mark stood ramrod still, unsure of what to do. He glanced at the door, then back at Mrs. Cake. She gave him a slight nod. He sighed and slowly made his way to the store proper.

He could work a magic tongue when it came to selling ponies delicious treats, but he’d be in Tartarus well before he got used to interacting with so many different ponies in a single day.

Hours had passed since Pinkie had left Sugarcube Corner. The sun was fast approaching the horizon, and the bubbly mare had yet to reappear.

In that time span, Mark had helped dozens of customers, each unique in their orders and personalities. It had been a challenge for him to not enter a near-catatonic state every time a new pony had walked through the door, which had been every few seconds. Mrs. Cake’s prophecy of the lunch rush had proven to be true, unsurprisingly.

Mark’s day was wrapping up quite nicely, despite the challenges associated with his work. His last customers of the day were a stallion and a filly - Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara. The burgundy earth pony didn’t even need his abilities to see they were father and daughter, but it nonetheless painted a strange picture for him.

Filthy seems a decent enough fellow, but that Diamond Tiara? Sheesh! What a piece of work! I already feel sorry for any kid that has to share a classroom with her. Mark stepped out from behind the counter as the door to the bakery shut close. Makes you wonder how a guy like that can have such a brat. I mean, I know you’re not supposed to comment on anyone’s kid, but the reality of her personality is painted as clear as day. Ugh, I need a donut. . .

After snatching one of the donuts that hadn’t been sold by the end of the day, Mark ran up the stairs to his room. He shut the door behind him and flicked on the light while balancing the donut on his hoof. He took a bite, and then about-faced towards his bed. Instead of seeing an empty, neat bed, though, he saw it all crumpled up and occupied by a pink intruder. He could hear very light snoring coming from the intruder. Mark let out an annoyed sigh as he thought of a way of waking Pinkie Pie without completely startling her. As much as I want her to just get out of my bed, there’s probably a reason she’s nodded off so early this evening. I can’t imagine what it would take to wear out Pinkie. 

Mark stood there for a few more seconds, trying to come up with a plan. He let out a small groan as he realized it would be much simpler if he simply slept in Pinkie's room for the night and let the mare sleep uninterrupted. He walked out of the room, flicking the light and shutting the door again.

He quickly stepped across the hall and entered Pinkie’s room. The only light was coming from a small lamp that was seated atop a nightstand next to a very light blue bed. He took one last bite of his donut before setting it down on the table. He plopped himself down on the bed, and quickly found that it was extremely soft - so soft that he felt himself sinking into the mattress. He felt exhausted from the day and found that he didn’t care as much as he normally would have about the painfully comfortable bed. He turned onto his side, ready to flip off the switch of the lamp. He found two large, purple eyes staring straight at him. Mark blinked, taking a closer look at the strange sight in front of him. He suddenly recognized what the creature in front of him was.

“Huh, an alligator. Alright then.” With that, Mark turned off the lamp and rolled over onto his side. Five minutes later, he was out cold.

Mark was standing inside a brightly lit room. He saw streamers, balloons, and a large, decorated table in front of him. He looked around the room. To his shock, it looked very familiar. He had been here before.

It was Sugarcube Corner. Specifically, Pinkie Pie’s room. It was modified, the bed on the other side of the room and all the furniture shoved aside. The reason for the design change was to make room for the red table that was dominating the center of the bedroom.

What in the name of Celestia am I doing here?

Mark looked around the room with what little autonomy he had. He noticed several stools surrounding the table. Standing on one of these stools was the alligator he had seen not minutes before. On the rest of the stools were various objects - a bucket of turnips, a pile of rocks, a dust bunny, and even a sack of flour. The scene set in front of him was certainly odd, but one fact in particular disquieted Mark. All of the objects (and alligator) were wearing party hats.

Mark felt his fur stand on end. Whatever was going on here was most likely off-kilter, if not completely racked by insanity. He fervently hoped that he could wake up so that he didn’t have to witness whatever was about to unfold.

His wishes went unheeded as he felt his face contort almost painfully as he was forced to smile. His mouth opened, and he began to speak.

“Thank you all so much for coming! It means SO much to Gummy!”

It dawned on Mark that he was once again living through Pinkie’s dreams. He mentally kicked himself.

Of course you’re going through her memories! This always happens when you meet friendly new ponies! What, did you expect to simply ignore what you are for once? You’re as deluded as she is!

His thoughts were drawn to another troubling fact as Pinkie’s charade with the inanimate objects continued.

The effects are wearing her down much quicker than any other pony I’ve seen before. With her ability to ‘read’ the past, present, and future, maybe she experiences some sort of feedback loop. . .

He grimaced internally. That would explain a lot.

Mark continued to watch with growing trepidation as his host continued her deluded fantasy, going so far as to imagine the voices she gave them were real and not a product of her own voice. Gradually, the world seemed to close in on the table and the imaginary conversation. His mind, as well as Pinkie’s, was entirely focused on the random objects she had brought in.

He was becoming scared - not only for his own sanity, but for Pinkie’s as well. He had grown to care for the bubbly mare, and desperately hoped that he could find a way to right the catastrophe that was on his hooves. However, he could only watch as the nightmare continued. He glumly noticed the alligator named Gummy was turned around, facing a completely different direction. Mark was slightly peeved at its indifference to everything.

And of course, the alligator gives absolutely zero fucks about what’s going. I need to talk to Pinkie about this. . . pet. It cannot be doing her any favors.

Throughout the bizarre scene taking place in front of him, Mark became aware of a high pitched whine in the back of his head. It slowly increased in strength, becoming quite noticeable. He realized they were thoughts - Pinkie’s. As he concentrated on them, he became aware of another, deeper voice, that seemed to come from both Pinkie and... something else. He listened to the words.

Tee hee! My friends don’t care. They don’t like me. They’re just meanies. Tee hee! I’m unhappy. I’m lonely. But I’ve got new friends! Tee hee! It’s fine now. Everypony’s smiling. Even Mark! TEE HEE HEE HEE!!!!

There was an audible snap in the air. The whine stopped. Mark waited, unsure of what was going to happen. She had mentioned his name, and now he was unsure if it was a dream anymore.

The sudden silence was broken by a loud knock at the door. Mark felt his mouth open again.

“Who could that be?”

Mark’s head was craned toward a door on the other side of the room. Outside it, a light blue pegasus with rainbow colored hair stepped inside, coming from a small balcony.

“Hey there Pinkie Pie. Sorry I was  . . . . .”

The rainbow mare trailed off, staring at Mark. She slowly opened her mouth, and began to speak again.

“You. . . shouldn’t be here.” She enunciated her words with a slow precision, making Mark feel uncomfortable. Furthermore, he was dumbfounded. Did this mare really just speak to me, and not Pinkie Pie? What in the hay is going on!?!?

There was another loud snap, much louder than the first one. Mark found his head twisted at a very unnatural angle, at a position that should have been impossible in real life, yet he felt no pain. He felt a consciousness upon him now, something that was aware of his presence. His body went cold. His mouth opened again, and Pinkie spoke to him.

“So, what are you doing, Marky?”

The room went black, and the red earth pony suddenly felt air rushing past his face. He was falling. He heard an equally high and low voice yelling at him, near demonic in nature, that drove all other thoughts from his mind.

HAVING FUN? WELL?? ANSWER ME!!!

Mark could only yell soundlessly. There was an endless, black void surrounding him, and he was suffocating under its pressure. He was close to blacking out, and he realized that he wouldn’t be able to tell when his eyes closed for the last time. His heart, already beating at a frantic pace, accelerated until all he felt was rushing pain. Suddenly, the pressure stopped. There was a bright light, and he opened his eyes. He saw only blue skies, and Celestia’s sun right above him. However, he was still falling. He looked down, and saw his legs dangling a mile over Ponyville. He screamed as he approached the ground, wishing he could look away from his impending doom.His eyes refused to cooperate, as they were glued to the rapidly approaching ground. He finally got close enough that he could see individual blades of grass on the ground, and felt a lurch in his stomach as he fell the final few feet. He blinked, and -

Mark sat up in the bed, gasping for air. He brought his hoof up to his throat, trying to steady himself and reign in his raging heartbeat. He breathed heavily, gradually slowing his breath.

What in the name of Celestia’s flank was that!?!?

He heard the door open. He looked up, and saw Pinkie Pie standing right next to the bed. Only, her appearance was off. Her hair was down by her sides, very straight and in contrast to her normally frizzy hair. Her entire body looked dull. But her eyes were another story entirely. She was glaring daggers at him, and looked ready to strangle somepony if it struck her fancy. Mark gulped.

Pinkie reared up and slammed her hooves onto Mark’s chest, knocking his breath away. As he was coughing and struggling to catch his breath, Pinkie brought her muzzle close to his face and whispered to him in a sinister tone.

“Start talking.”