The Pink Menace
Winter had finally settled in. Hearthswarming would be arriving soon. The residents of Ponyville had put up their seasonal decorations and the entire town was looking rather festive. In another location deep in the Everfree Forest, there sat a decrepit old castle ruin. Inside this castle a lone figure of a human who sat huddled around his small fire trying to keep warm. Nearby was a little “Charlie Brown” Christmas Tree that Alex had harvested from the forest. It might look rather pathetic, all things considered, but it was better than nothing. He had decorated it with little bits of string and cloth and has made a rather crude but acceptable star out of paper as a tree topper.
Luna had been watching over him almost every night, making sure no harm came to him. Normally she would lay on the roof of the throne room peering through the hole in the roof down at her self-imposed charge, but now she had been using an invisibility spell to actually be in the throne room with him instead of on the roof. She had decided it was a good idea to do so, so that the snow falling would not gather on her coat thus revealing her invisible form or that she wouldn’t inadvertently knock some snow off the roof and down in to the room possibly revealing her presence.
As her sister lowered the sun and she herself raised the moon, Luna watched silently as Alex ate his meager meal and prepared himself for sleep as he crawled into his makeshift bed and drifted off to sleep.
Alex soon found himself in the now familiar Dream Plains. “Sarah? Are you there?
“As always my friend.” Was the ethereal voices response.
“Good! It’s time to deal with that pink menace.” Alex responded.
“What do you have in mind?” Sarah asked. “Miss Pie can be rather random and unpredictable. How do you plan to deal with that?
“Simple.” He answered. “Logic.”
“This I must see!” Luna mumbles to herself as she wove her spell and soon they were in Pinkie Pies dreaming world.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Alex said in surprise as he looked around. “This place looks like Candyland from hell!” He said in surprise. Everywhere he looked the entire world was made out of goodies, pastries, and sweets. “Willie Wonka ain’t got nothing on this!” he exclaimed.
“Who is this William Wonka you speak of?” Sarah asked.
“He was a fictitious character in a book that was a chocolate candy making genius from my worlds literature. He was a lot like Pinkie Pie in a way. Anyway, can you make me look like a pony to her? Here she comes now!”
“As you wish.” Was her reply and it was done.
Alex sat under a candy tree and made himself look sad and forlorn. Soon Pinkie Pie came hopping down the path singing to herself when she spied the grey stallion that was Alex.
Pinkie hopped up to him and asked “HI! I’m Pinkie Pie! Who are you? I’ve never seen you before. Are you new in town? Whats your name?”
“I don’t have a name.”
Don’t have a name? That’s silly! Everypony has to have a name or I can’t put it on the invitations for their party! I’m even planning a Good Bye Human/ Hello New Pony! ” Party right now for some human named Alex. He is going to be so excited I can hardly wait!”
“How do you know he will be happy? Did you talk to him to see? Did you even ask him?”
“No, but It’s true.”
“How is that even possible? Personally I think he will be very miserable.”
The stallion sighed.
“I guess it is time to tell you a story I know, Pinkie. What humanity thinks about life.” Not everyone of course, but she doesn't need to know that.” Alex thought to himself.
“I like stories!” She said and sat down next to the grey stallion. Then she yelped. “Where is the popcorn when you need it? Cant have a good story without popcorn?” She moved her hoof into her mane and quickly produced a box of popcorn. “Want some?” She said holding out the box.
“Uhm, no thanks.” He said, waving a hoof. “Do you how I got here?
“Of course not silly. I just met you!” She replied, taking a bunch of popcorn and stuffing it into her mouth. “Yu didn’t saihd anythphing abot a banana and phstpspspksa and ph....”
Alex couldn’t understand what she said on last part, so he just dismissed it and continued. “Right. After the incident that brought me here, I finally realized what really happened to me, and why I am here now.” He paused for a moment, to see if she was paying attention or if she was going to ask him something. She didn’t and instead, just swallowed what was rest of food into her mouth, and so he continued. “It wasn’t a coincidence that brought me here, Pinkie. Instead it seems that destiny always wanted me to be here for some reason. For reasons that I am still not able to understand.” He looked up at the Mint Candy moon. “That’s why I am here, to fulfill the whim of something more powerful than you or I, to play a game. I’m just a single playing piece on a giant chess board, unable to move by myself.”
“So, what you are saying is that we don’t choose our destiny, but destiny chose us?” Pinkie asked. He nodded. “That’s not true! Everyone knows that you can pick your own destiny! My cutie mark proves you wrong!” She said, throwing down the popcorn box to point at her flank.
“On the contrary, Pinkie.” He stated, pointing at her cutie mark. “That proves that I am right. Tell me, have you ever tried something else aside from party stuff?”
“Uhm… Well…” She was cut off by Alex.
“What I mean is, have you done something as good as you do with the parties you make?” She slowly shook her head in denial. “That’s what I thought, Pinkie, and you know why that is? BECAUSE of your cutie mark. You are bound to do that for the rest of your life, and you will never change that. No matter what you do, no matter what you think of it. No matter how hard you try, life, destiny, fate, or whatever you want to call it wanted you to be that, and nothing more.”
She was speechless. She wanted to reply with something but with no words coming out from her mouth. She knew this unknown stallion was right. She had studied that back when she was a filly. Ponies are bound to do what their cutie marks says to. She never thought of that. So, everything she did was a lie? The parties, friends, the smiles?
“B-but, what about the princesses? They can do every kind of magic… yes! They can do everything they want!” She said, hoping that the answer would be good enough for him.
He shook his head. “Sort of, Pinkie Pie. The princesses are alicorns, immortal beings and they can never die, at least not naturally. Their curse IS their life, at least it is for princess Celestia and Luna, but sooner or later, Twilight and Cadance will also discover the true meaning of immortality. Luna and Celestia? I'll bet they hate being alive for so long. Five thousand years of pain, suffering, sadness and loss. And the worst part is, that after so many centuries, they are not allowed to die. If they do, then this world dies too and every living creature on it. Who will control the moon or the sun? Who will protect the little ponies from the evils of their enemies, and what about future ones? Who will guide the idiot minded politicians and nobles without their princesses? Slowly, this world would die without their continual assistance. They didn’t pick their own destiny, Pinkie. They are bound to live forever alongside their subjects, or die with this world. Imagine, if you will, no more parties because there will be no one left to throw one for. I didn’t pick the option to be instantly torn from home, I never asked for a different life aside from an artist That is all I ever wanted to be. I never wanted to leave my family, to make them think that I was dead. To know that I don’t have the capabilities nor the power to get back to where I belong. And you, a little pony that was purposely invented to only make ponies laugh, to make them happy, ……but nothing more. We both don’t have the ability to change our lives, only the most powerful entities, Celestia and Luna and soon Twilight and Cadence, have little choice in their lives, but at what price. So, what do you think Pinkie?” He finally said, looking down at her to see what her reaction would be.
Pinkie Pie sat in stunned silence as the words of the grey pony sunk in deep. She looked around at her dream world as her poofy mane and tail suddenly went flat and her candy world suddenly began to crumble and collapse into nothingness and her along with it.
Soon everything was the empty white of the dream world once again and Alex stood alone.
“Sarah? You there?” He called out into the expanse.
There was silence for longer than it should be.
“Sarah?” Alex called out again.
“………………….I am here Alex.” Her voice sounded a little sad. “That was rather harsh to do that to Pinkie.”
“I didn’t like doing that to her but it needed to be done. Two wrongs don’t make a right but all of them needed to have this happen to them. They need to understand the hurt they have caused. Doesn’t make me feel very good inside though.” Alex said guiltily.
“Sarah, I am ready to leave this place. I just want to sleep now.” He said as he lay down on his dream bed.
“Sleep young Alex. Sleep with no nightmares. Your journey is almost done.” She whispered. Just before she left she asked Alex a final question. “Alex? What do you have in mind for the remaining ponies? What do you have in mind for the princesses?”
“I don’t know princess?” he mumbled more asleep than awake.
“What!? What did he say!? Luna thought in surprise! “Did he know more than he has been letting on all this time?” She thought.
She quickly exited the dream realm still wondering what he meant and if he knew what he just said. This was becoming an even more perplexing task.
With a deep sigh, Luna once again tucked the quilt up close to his sleeping form, checked on her protection spell and then silently took flight through the roof setting a course for her home.