//------------------------------// // Welcome Home // Story: Madame Mel // by Prince Solstice //------------------------------// “Are you crazy?!?” Twilight and Pinkie were in the balloon really far in the sky. “You are going to get yourself killed!” Pinkie just looked back at Twi and smiled. “Don’t be silly! I’ll be fine.” Pinkie told Twilight. She then put her flight goggles and crash helmet on. “See, safety first!” She then hopped into her party cannon. “Plus rainbow Dash is flying around to make sure nothing goes wrong.” Pinkie gave Twilight a reassuring look. Pinkie then attached her helmet cam and began to record. She crawled into the cannon, and gave Twilight a nod. Twilight reluctantly prepared behind the cannon and was ready to pull the string. Pinkie hit the big red button on her camera, and pointed towards the open sky. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Jackass!” Twilight pulled the string and with a loud bang, Pinkie flew into the air screaming out of joy. “Best. Idea. Ever!” her voice trailed off in the distance, and with a twinkle, she was gone. Twilight freaked out, the pressure in the cannon was too high and she already overshot her target. Pinkie was soaring through the air and soon began to realize she had way overshot her target of a hay pile. She pulled the cord on her harness, and soon realized it was stuck. She was hurling through the air and the ground was closing in. She hit the tree line and soon began to slow down, only to be hit in the leg by a branch. She flipped and lost some of her momentum. She screamed out in pain as her leg had broken. And soon she was in the depth of the Everfree forest. She hit the ground pretty hard and may have broken a rib because there was a sharp pain in her side. She landed in some naturally occurring mushrooms. They had sprayed a powder all around her. She looked up, and was woozy from the landing. She got up, to only recoil from putting pressure on her hoof. She had a broken front leg. To make matters worse, her vision began to morph the things around her. The mushrooms powder was taking its effect on her. She slowly looked around at the trees as they all began to move away from her and twist and turn. Out of the trees, there were shadows beginning to move, and then the mushrooms grew and began to engulf her. She moved as quickly as she could out of the mushroom patch, aware that the sharp pain in her side was not a good sign. She had blood covering the center of her face from a gash above her right eye. Everything was comfortably numb in her body as the neurotoxin invaded her blood stream. The world around her was just morphing in and out. Pinkie knew she was going to have to stop moving to at least wrap up and stabilize her hoof at the very least. She had some supplies in her back pack, but not a lot. “Okay Pinkie, you need to rest.” She sighed and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and the world felt like it morphed around her. She then laid down so she could think this through. She looked around, but she was unable to really get her bearings. Everything kept changing, shadows kept moving, trees would switch positions, and things kept popping up randomly. In her head she heard a voice. “Pinkie,” The voice called to her. It was distant and almost ghostly. “Pinkie, we love your smile. Your smile Pinkie, give us a smile.” The voices called out. Pinkie gave a smile to the shadows that had begun to shape out of the trees. They teased and laughed at her. Pinkie’s smile quickly faded. She got an angry look. “Why are you laughing at me? I want to be your friend.” She called out. The shadows continued to tease and laugh at her. Then they began to morph into shadows that looked oddly like her. They engulfed her, and the laughing had become echoes that bounced around in Pinkies head. Everything was becoming dark and twisted as the landscape faded to black, and now Pinkie was floating through space. “Pinkie, the element of laughter.” The ghostly voice said. “Wha-what?” Pinkie was frightened, never before had she faced death. She had a hunch to believe this was the end of her existence. “Do not fear, this is all in your mind. I am the other part of you.” The ghostly voice had become rather familiar to Pinkie. Then there was a sudden flash. It was Pinkie, only as a filly still. The filly smiled at Pinkie. “Where am I?” Pinkie was trembling. “Do not worry. Your physical body is just passed out from exhaustion. Your friends will soon find you.” The filly came closer to Pinkie. “So, what is exactly going on?” Pinkie began to calm down a little. “Well, you are here to play with me” The flat haired filly said and smiled a big smile at Pinkie. “Um, okay. Sounds like fun!” Pinkie began to become happy. She may have been in a dream state, but at least she could enjoy herself while waiting for her friends. “Yay!” The filly jumped up and down in the air, smiling a big smile with her eyes closed. “Then come with me!” As soon as she said that, the black that surrounded Pinkie began to fade away. It revealed that they were back on her old rock farm. Pinkie began to be her normal self again. She was ready to play many games the filly Pinkie. “What are we going to play first?!?” Both Pinkies hopped around the old farm in rhythm. “I know! We should play tea time! I don’t get to have live guests very often.” The filly Pinkie exclaimed. “Sounds fun! So Ms. Pie, shall we be off to indulge in our tea?” Filly Pinkie stopped hopping. “Don’t call me that.” She lost her smile and furrowed her brow. She looked frustrated. “Oh, I’m sorry. What do you want to be called?” Pinkie gave a reassuring smile to show her sincerity. “It’s okay, please call me Pinkamena.” She then smiled again. The filly was just as happy as she could be. They both hopped off towards the house, smiling the usual Pinkie smile. Pinkie was excited to begin playing with her filly self. She remembered it being lonely and boring on the old rock farm. There was never much to do, even if this was a dream world. Pinkie somehow felt obligated to give her younger self some much needed company, even if it was with her older self. They reached the front door to the house, and Pinkamena unlocked the door. Pinkie thought to herself ‘that’s weird, why would she lock the door?’ The door opened with a creek, and the inside of the house was extremely tidy. It had every floor sparkling, every wall bright and cheerful, and the furniture looked near new. The place had a reclining sofa with a long coffee table placed in the middle of the living room. There were paintings of Mrs. and Mr. Pie, along with some portraits of skylines over various cities. Even over the fireplace there was a picture of Sugar Cube Corner. The only thing that seemed unusual to be in her mind, was a picture of some pony she had never seen before. The pony was a dark grey with a black mane and tail. It had a certain motherly appeal to her, and she even had a cutie mark that was a stitched heart. Pinkie was so baffled by this pony. She moved closer to take a look. The pony had to be a little older, because she had glasses and streaks of grey running through her mane. Not enough to make out from afar, but it was noticeable. Pinkie was confused; she turned to Pinkamena with her curious look. “Who is this pony?” Pinkie asked “That’s grandmother, don’t you remember?” Pinkamena gave Pinkie a ‘matter of fact’ look. “That’s not Gram Gram. She didn't have that cutie mark, or coat color. Her cutie mark was a ball of yarn.” Pinkie got a weird feeling in her throat. Gram Gram had died when Pinkie was extremely young. She has fond memories just speaking about Gram Gram. “No, silly, don’t you remember. This is our other grandma. Our nanny, remember how much she cared for us?” Pinkie was even more confused. She didn't have a nanny as a filly. Why would her mind suddenly create this mysterious figure? Pinkie remembered that she was here for tea time, and shrugged it off. “Are we ready for a cup of tea madame?” Pinkie smiled at Pinkamena, who nodded and smiled at Pinkie.