Enabling

by Midnight Legend Press

Tape 1 Side B...And Taking You With Me...

        I sighed, turning between Spike and Zecora. "Thank you so much, Zecora, I have no idea what I would have done if you weren't here." I turned to the little bundle of... well whatever Spike was a bundle of and hoped to Celestia he was okay under all that... whatever.

        "It is of little trouble, my friend Twilight. I can have your dragon back you by tomorrow night." She's always surprising me with that consistent rhyming habit of hers.

        I returned home, hoping to get off my hooves and relax for a moment. At least until I had to resume my research for Princess Luna. Admittedly, it's pretty hard to relax knowing that Spike is going through Celestia knows what, but I wasn't going to get anywhere stressing myself out. Perhaps I could relax after a bite to eat, an oat smoothie sounds wonderful. My mind wandered back to what Pinkie Pie was trying to tell me earlier. In my panic, I didn't quite hear what she said. I should apologize. Maybe even share a smoothie. I could feel the blood rush to my face as I thought a little further about the implications of that idea. Although, I bet she wouldn't mind...

        I wandered into my lab, looking for my bit-purse. "Wah! Oof!" I slipped? On what? Shaking my head, I recovered only to find that my lab was a wreck. "What the— Everything's been destroyed! What happened here?!" Nopony answered me, but I wasn't expecting anypony to. Did a thief break in? This is supposed to be a top-secret project. Foreign spies? I've been hanging around Rainbow Dash too long.

        I began rummaging through the mess of broken glass and torn-out wires, and stumbled across my first, and possibly only, clue: a pink strand of curly hair. Pinkie!? What? Why did she go and break all of my instruments?! Nothing about her had ever made sense, but this was downright mean. "Pinkie," I yelled, "if you're still here, you have some serious explaining to do!" Of course, nopony answered. "Fine, just fine. I still have some backup tools in the closet. I'll just use those."

        Hauling out the extra monitors and apparatuses was an exhausting process. They were old, outdated even, but they were still better than nothing. Why would you do this, Pinkie? I tried not to dwell on the issue; I still have my project to deal with, and I'm very behind now. I plugged in the instruments, ready to get back to my research, only to turn around get a face full of some white sticky substance. Frosting? I wiped most of the stuff off my face, only find that my back-up equipment had exploded with frosting. "Pinkie!" Still no answer. Why is she doing this?

        "Great, now I'm a mess and out of tools. I could send a letter to Princess Luna, but Spike is out of commission." My eyes narrowed on the now frosting-covered machine, my forehead wrinkling as my shoulders clenched together. "Stupid... dumb... thingy!" Grind, grind, grind. I found myself grinding my teeth, a very bad habit of mine that only came out when I was really stressed. I decided to let my anger out on the closest thing available, the broken machine, and gave it the strongest buck I could muster.

As my hoof made contact with the apparatus, I quickly learned that my strongest is still pretty weak, as a jolt of pain shot through my hoof  "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" I yelped, hopping  backwards, holding onto one of my back hooves as I tried to maintain balance with the other, when something caught me around my ankle and hoisted me into the air, the world flipping upside-down on me. I looked up and found myself hanging from the ceiling by some rope. "What the hay is going on!" I yelled out as loud as I could,  cursing at the pony doing this. "Pinkie! Come out here and untie me this instant!" I folded my forelegs, glaring at some wall that I expected her to pop out from any moment now, probably with some annoyingly goofy smile and an alliterative quip. Any moment now.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Four Minutes.

Five minutes passed, and Pinkie Pie still didn't show. I must have looked silly now, hanging from the ceiling and staring angrily angry at a wall. I sighed, and focused my magic on a piece of glass just underneath my head. After establishing a connection with it, I levitated it towards the rope, utilizing a sawing motion to get through the slender cord, and completely forgotten gravity in the interest of freedom. The fall was swift, and fortunately my back took the o*brunt of the impact, but I still hit my head against some of the junk sprawled along the floor.  "Owwww..." Although my head was aching worse than my hooves now.

I didn't immediately stand up. I just laid there, trying to take in everything, surrounded by this pink-born mess of a lab. "Piiiinkiiiieeee..." Where is she? Where is she?! I pulled myself back up, my back hooves still aching. My eyes darted from wall to wall, searching for any sudden movements and anything out of place. A shadow played across my vision, "Gotcha!" I yelled out as I projected my magic at something. From the remains of a decrepit newspaper scrap, I dragged out a single white mouse. It stared at me with its condescending beady black eyes, hovering no more than a foot from my face. "Where is she!?"

"Who?" the mouse spat back at me, smugly.

"Pinkie Pie! Where is Pinkie Pie?!" I began to focus my magic around it's little throat, feeling every pull of muscle and pitiful attempt to resist the little mouse could muster. It was positively shrieking at me with its high-pitched shrill, it's nasty teeth visible under its bloating smile.

"Who?"

It's laughing at me! My magic closes in a little more around it's fragile and weak neck. It would be too easy to crush it now, less then a second, and faster than the blink of an eye. Or would that be to easy? It squirmed and writhed in pain as I tightened my magical grip more and more, but that smile never faded. It was still laughing at me, daring me further and further. IT WANTS ME TO! "One last time. Where is Pinkie Pie?"

"Who?"

CRACK

I felt it, the cold snap of it's neck. Its body became limp, my stomach turning as I felt its lifeless body sway within my aura of magic, my pupils shrinking to dots as I stared into its milky white eyes. I... I killed it. I dropped it, letting it fall to the floor, and I stared at it. My thoughts turned immediately to trying to revive it, but every unicorn was taught t never attempt such an act when they first enroll at Celestia's school. I don't think I've ever used my magic to kill something, not even a fly. I lay down, my mouth running dry, as I tried to turn away from the feeble body. I feel... wrong.

"Who?"

"Agh!" I zapped the talking corpse with a bolt of magic, my body breaking out into a cold sweat. It did talk... right? Owlicious flew out from behind me and snapped up the dead mouse. He gobbled it up, whole. "Owlicious, do you think you can do that somewhere else?" I begged, my voice cracking under the pressure.

"Who?"

"Of... of course..."

I spent the next hour trying to clean my destroyed lab, something that wouldn't have been too difficult if it wasn't for my constant fear of triggering another trap. Every time I stepped on something I would squeal and leap back, stepping on something else in the process. This process would repeat itself often. Why is she doing this? My mind was beginning to feel numb from the constant worrying. I kept expecting something to happen, but nothing would and I would be left shaking in a corner, my gaze darting from one end of the room to another. Can't I just let myself relax?

Knock knock knock

"Agh!" I nearly jumped through the roof at the sudden knocking. Who could that be? Pinkie? I abandon the mess, dragging myself to the front door. Every step makes me feel worse, pain bouncing from one point of my body to another, but I still made it to the front door and answered it. "Fluttershy? What are you doing here?"

"Oh good, you’re home. Well, you see, one of the mice in my care, Whisky, is missing, and, according to his little mouse friends, he was last seen scurrying here."

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach and my blood turned into ice. My mind ran from one point to another, almost reliving that cold moment when I... don't really want to think about it. "I-I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I haven't seen your mouse friend." Now I'm lying to my friend? I can barely stand to look at her, or else my guilt might show.

"Are you sure, Twilight?" she asked me with those big glossy eyes that I found difficult to lie to. Difficult, but not impossible.

"S-sorry, but I haven't seen any mice." Another lie.

"Are you... are you okay, Twilight?"

"I'm fine!" And another lie. The thought of Fluttershy finding out that I killed her mouse made me want to run as far away as possible, even to the moon if I could. She just staring at me with her big doe eyes that were so innocent that I felt adjudicated. "I'm sorry, but I really need to get back to something."

"Oh, I'm sorry then." I felt an odd sense of solace pass over me as Fluttershy turned away, a relief that was briefly batted away when she turned back to me. "By the way: Twilight, your mane is... a mess... I'm sorry." She flew off, as fast as her wings would let her.

I closed the door and rested my back against it. I slid down to the floor, feeling tears begin to well up in my eyes. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," I moan into the air as my emotions began to pour out the library floor. I cried silently to myself, curled up in a ball as I recalled every excruciating second of my paranoia fueled interrogation of that mouse, almost vomiting when I recalled the way it felt when its little neck snapped. What am I going to tell her later? That I lied to her is bad enough. A small pool began to form under my face. Trembling, I rose to my hooves and wiped away the last few tears clinging to my face and looked up at the fringes of my mane. Like Fluttershy said, the ends were beginning to split. Shoot, I sighed as I hauled myself up to the bathroom.

I dragged myself in front of the mirror. The sight that awaited me was worse than I could have imagined; my mane was untidy, pointing off in different directions, and even a little greasy, and the bits of frosting were beginning to harden, making these white clumps all over my face and body. "I really need a bath." I turned to my tub and opened the hot water.

With the tub completely full, I lowered my battered and aching body into it, letting the hot water do it's work. "This feels... odd." I looked down at the tub of water, or what I thought was water. Against my better judgement, I tasted it. "Soda? Why is there— PINKIE!" I only knew one pony capable of such ludicrous feats. I forgot my pain in a moment of anger, yelling out again. "Pinkie! I've had it up to here with all this!" I hastily jumped out of the tub, slipping and landing on my head... again.

Like before, I decided to lay there, a decision I ended up regretting when I finally did pull myself up. I detested the sticky sensation all around me, how it made my fur cling to my skin, how it made movement feel sluggish, how it left a few hairs on the floor. A quick look at the mirror revealed that I looked even worse than before. "That's it. You want to play, Pinkie?! We're playing!"

Ha ha ha!

My heart froze for a moment. At first, I turned my head, slowly, trying to discern the direction the laugh came from. I found no sign of Pinkie Pie. It looked like I was alone in this house. I sigh, lowering my head into the empty sink, clenching my teeth. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to calm my mind, and failing. "I heard that!" I finally shouted. "I know you're here, Pinkie!" Grind, grind, grind.

        Outside, the sun was setting, and the weather pegasi were moving storm clouds into position for a monstrous thunderstorm, a flash or two entering through the windows with a loud CRACK! The perfect setting for Pinkie hunting! I giggled to myself as my head buzzed with epiphanies for various tricks and traps I could lay to capture her. I scoured through the library, keeping my head lowered towards the ground, whispering, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, Pinkie Pie."

        Ha ha ha!

        "She's in the walls!" I slammed myself into the closest wall, expecting it to give way and that I would find myself in some secret alcove carved out and inhabited by Pinkie. Instead, It doesn't, and all I managed to accomplish was hurting myself even more. "Just a minor setback," I groan.

        I slinked back into my basement laboratory, thinking that I could start there. The lab I had cleaned just a few hours ago is a mess again. The. Same. Exact. Mess. "Do you think you're clever, Pinkie?!" No response. I extended an aura of magic to the closest bauble, expecting to pick it right up and begin my organized sweep again, but it remained adamant and unmoving. After kicking it, I discovered that it was glued into place. Everything is glued into place! My eyes narrowed as I scanned from one corner to another, my eye began twitching as I examined every inch of it. "Whose hooves did you use for this one, Pinkie Pie!"

        Ha ha ha!

        Again, she's laughing at me. I left the mess behind as I returned to the main library. All that's probably waiting for me there is more traps. Well I wont fall for it!

        CRACK!

        "Pinkie!" I turned around, catching her shadow just escaping the corner of my eye. "Pinkie Pie, I found you!" I sing, skipping into the library's back room. "Pinkie!" I yelled into the empty room. Grind, grind, grind. NO! SHE'S IN HERE! I jumped into the room, lighting up every corner with my horn.

        SLAM!

        "Pinkie!" I turned around, ready to jump at the next thing that moved. The door had slammed shut. "Drats, just missed her." I hung my head low again, taking in a few deep breaths to calm myself down  little. Just keep going, Twilight. You'll catch her. I trotted up to the door, only to find a picture of myself, eating Pinkie Pie's face in the crudest crayon art I had ever seen in my life.

"I've seen better art from a two-year old, Pinkie!" I ripped down the crude drawing and tore it to shreds.

        I tried to open the door, but It was locked. More games, with another trap waiting for me on the other side if I tried to force myself through. "You must have thought that was pretty clever, but I'm not falling for it, Pinkie!" I winked through the door, magically appearing on the other side and back in the main room of the library. "Bet you didn't take that into account, huh, Pinkie!" I looked back over the top of the locked door, and just as I thought, a bucket was tied above the door. "Oh Pinkie, don't think you can outsmart me." I smirked as I gave the bucket a quick tug with my magic. The next moment, I was covered in a brown and warm substance, completely covering my fur and face. I had fallen for yet another trap. I stuck my tongue out and tasted the brown substance. "Chocolate syrup," I groan, taking a look at what was inside the bucket in the first place. "Strawberries and a note?"

        My favourite treat.

        I throw the bucket and strange message behind me. "Chocolate is going to rot out your teeth, Pinkie!" Grind, grind, grind. I must look like a mess: sweaty and sticky fur, messy and greasy mane, and now I have these white and brown clumps hardening over my body. What I would do for a decent bath right now.

        Even though I knew that my bathroom had probably been bugged with all sorts of traps, I settled on dragging myself back up again, hoping that Pinkie hadn't messed with all of my soaps. Along the way, I noticed that Pinkie had taken the opportunity to redecorate my staircase, painting the whole thing pink and leaving a message on the wall.

        Deeper, Twilight. Go deeper inside me.

        She's not even trying! My eyes lingered on the writing that desecrated my wall, my anger growing in the pit of my stomach. Every single thing that has happened to me, she thought out in advance, running around my mind with a lasso around my neck, dragging me wherever she wanted. I screamed, as loud as I could, directing all my rage at the wall. I banged my forehooves against the message, not giving the slightest care to my accumulating pile of aches. "No! I won't go!" I yelled as another tear forms in my eyes. "I won't go and you can't make me!" I turned around, wanting to get further away.

        Why not?

        My breathing grew rapid as I read the message over and over again. Why not? "I don't want to!" I cried, feeling cornered. "Why are you doing this, Pinkie... PINKIE!" Which way am I supposed to go? Which way does she want me to go? I sat myself on the stair, turning away from the messages. Grind, grind, grind. I picked myself up, and started heading for the bathroom again. She wants me to go there, so I'll go there. I'll meet your trap head-on!

        I bucked open the door of my bathroom, breaking the lock in the process; I wasn't going to let her lock me in again. I used my unicorn-horn light to illuminate the room, and there she was, the illusive Pinkie Pie herself, laying in my tub. "PINKIE PIE!"

        Ha ha ha!

        It took a great amount of willpower to resist diving in head-first into the bathtub. This is definitely another trap. I extended my aura of magic to 'Pinkie Pie' and found I could lift 'her' with ease. It's just a cardboard cutout, on the back of which was another crudely drawn picture: myself taking a bath with Pinkie Pie. "I would love to take a bath with you, IF I HAD ANY WATER!" I ripped the drawing to bits and tore the cutout in half, taking out all my anger on the imitation. All that was left of it after a few minutes was it's head, staring at me with half-closed eyes and a peculiar smile. "You look funny," I spat at it before flinging it away. I looked up and found a net. Looks like I didn't fall for this one. I cautiously backed out of the bathroom, afraid that I might set off some back-up trap. I left the bathroom. She's close. I know she is!

        Just a little longer...

        I returned to my room, the most familiar room in the world to me, the one place where I might be able to out-anticipate Pinkie Pie. I gingerly nudged the door open, body aching from all the punishments it'd been put through, but Pinkie Pie was already ahead of me: my entire room had been redecorated. The walls were painted pink and lavender, each color distinct, but meeting in the middle of the room and mixing. More crude pictures were taped onto the walls, with a bust of myself sitting in the center of the room made out of a combination of bits of my mane, hoof clippings, bubble gum, a carrot for my horn, and my trimmed fetlock hair. Where did she even get those? I looked up, finding a message, spelled out with a collage of pictures made from my own scrapbooks. Pictures of myself through every stage of life, mixed together with pictures of Pinkie Pie, from what I could only assume was her own scrapbooks. I love you, it said.

I tore down the collage with my magic, bits of pictures raining all over me. Grind, grind, grind. My blood rushed to my head as I sifted through the pictures. These were so precious to me. More tears stream down my face as I begin to pile the pictures in my forelegs, cradling them, hugging them gently. My mind returns to the message Pinkie Pie left for me. I love you? "What does that even mean, Pinkie... PINKIE!"

        It means everything...

        Chapter 2 End