Giggle at the Ghostly

by MyHobby

Guffaw at the Grossly

Pinkamena Diane Pie shivered in the darkness. The night had come once again, leaving the filly feeling very alone. A breeze ruffled the curtains, and the moonlight cast long shadows on the walls.

She was certain that she saw one shadow moving. It came creeping along the floor, drawing closer and closer to her bed.

Pinkie desperately shoved her poofy-maned head beneath her pillow, hiding her pink body from the night terror that was haunting her. She shivered under the covers, keeping as still as she possibly could. She hoped that the shadow would lose interest and leave, or never even notice the frightened filly.

She could have sworn that the shadow had actually started to creep up onto the bed, when the waking nightmare was interrupted.

“Pinkie?” a voice called out of the darkness. “Pinkie, are you awake?”

The familiar voice of her older sister broke the dark spell of night, and Pinkie Pie was able to pry herself out of her hidey-hole. “Yeah, I am,” she whispered, making sure that she wouldn’t wake her mother and father.

The grey filly, Mince Meat Pie, walked up to Pinkie’s bed and hopped on. “I’ve been having nightmares, how about you?”

“No, but I don’t like how the house gets so dark.” Pinkie shivered as a cold chill ran down her body. “I know I’m old enough to have a Cutie Mark now, but I want my nightlight back.”

“You won’t be getting it back as long as Dad’s on his ‘character building’ kick.” Mince Meat giggled a bit. “It’s like we all have to be grown-up, now that you’ve found your Cutie Mark.”

Pinkie smiled with a grin that lit up the dark room. “Yeah, I guess so.” She shifted out from the covers and sat next to her sister. “So what are your nightmares about, Minnie?”

“Remember last year’s Nightmare Night, when we all got lost in the corn maze?”

Pinkie grinned again. “That was a-maze-ing! Also, a-maize-ing!”

Minnie Pie shook her head. “Don’t you ever get tired of puns?”

“Anyway,” she started on her story again. “I was lost in the maze again, but this time I was alone.”

Pinkie scooted closer to her sister as she continued. “I thought I would be lost forever, but then a shadow started chasing me.” Minnie chewed her bottom lip apprehensively. “It was Nightmare Moon, coming to gobble me up.”

Pinkie glanced around the room, suddenly noticing the shadows had started creeping around the walls again. “Well, it’s just a dream, right?”

Minnie nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Nothing to be worried about.”

The two fillies glanced around the dark room, both putting on a brave face. Minnie abruptly stood from the bed and walked out the door. “Well, thanks for listening. See you in the morning, Pinkie.”

Pinkamena crawled back under the covers, pulling them over her frizzy mane. “S-see you in the morning…”

The pink filly pushed yet another rock across the field, nudging it forwards with her snout. She glanced ahead at the pile of rocks already in place. Six rocks in two hours, not bad. She gave the stone a final nudge, setting it neatly alongside the others. She turned to see her sisters, Mince Meat and Chicken Pot, also setting their burdens in line. She waved them over, grinning from ear-to-ear.

The two sisters walked up to Pinkie with inquisitive looks on their faces. Chicken Pot Pie spoke up first. “What’s up Pinkie?”

“C’mon, guys, look! Look, look, look what I made!” She pointed to her gaggle of rocks, arranged with three set in a triangle on top, and the other three in an arch below.

Minnie and Chickie looked at the rocks for a moment before shrugging. “What is it?”

“Duh!” Pinkie raised her hooves in declaration. “It’s a smiley face!”

“Well, isn’t that precious?” The three fillies looked up to see a pink-coated earth pony. She trotted up to give the three little fillies a massive bear-hug. They giggled as they were lifted off of the ground by the mare’s strong arms. “Just like you three!”

Pinkie hugged the mare’s neck, burying her face in a big, curly, purple mane. “Granny Pie!”

Chickie Pie ran off to get her parents, while Pinkie and Minnie talked with their grandma. Pinkie was a blur of motion as she tried to cover every special event that had taken place since their granny had been there last. “Granny! I got my Cutie Mark, ‘cuz there was a huge explosion! Then I threw a party to make everypony happy! And Chickie got hers when she was baking pies, and she fell off of a stool into the batter and momma said that she should be in a pie cuz she was so sweet! And I threw her a party in celebration and everypony smiled again!”

Granny Pie adjusted her glasses, examining the pink filly closely. “Well, isn’t that wonderful, dear? I’m so proud of you all!”

Pinkie’s mother and father followed Chickie to greet the visitor to the farm. Her dad kissed Granny on the cheek and hugged her tight. “Ma, what a surprise! I didn’t know that you’d be comin’ by this month.”

Granny Pie smiled, looking very much like her pink descendant. “Oh come on, Lemmy, you can’t write to me about two of my granddaughters gettin’ their Cutie Marks and not expect me to come runnin’!”

Lemon Meringue Pie scratched at his head and gave his mom a nod. “Yeah, I guess not.”

The family took an early lunch to get themselves reacquainted. Sweet apple pies and savory shepherd’s pies were placed around the table. Lemmy Pie smiled as he bit into a choice morsel.

Granny laughed lightly. “Haha! I haven’t seen you smile that big since you started rock farmin’. You look so handsome when you smile.”

Pinkie’s mom, Sweet Potato Pie, gave Granny a wink. “I thought so, too.”

“You can thank Pinkie for that,” Lemmy said, looking at his daughters. “When she discovered her Cutie Mark, it just felt like the world got brighter for all of us.”

Pinkie beamed, soaking in the praise. Her smile dimmed some when she caught her grandma staring at her intently again. Granny Pie gave her a grin, and all unease melted away.

Lemmy looked out onto the field and sighed. “There really hasn’t been much chance to smile around here; the harvests have been getting smaller.”

“Oh, come on, Lemmon Meringue!” Granny admonished her son. “Where’s that sense of idealism that led you to start a rock farm in the first place?”

“It’s just… been hard.” Lemmy placed his hat on his head. “We… we lost the largest boulder. That one on the ridge, remember?” He stood up and carried his pie tin to the sink. “That was gonna account for half of our profits this year.”

Minnie Pie spoke up. “It was split right in half, and all of the jewels were gone. It was like somepony took them!”

Granny nodded. “Yeah, I went up there to see it right before I visited.” A mischievous gleam caught her eye as she continued. “I can tell you this much, whoever took those gems needed them a lot more than you did.”

Sweet Potato Pie gasped. “Granny, you’re not making excuses for burglars, now, are you?”

Granny Pie turned to her grandkids. “Girls, why don’t you go play while I talk to your ma and pa?”

Pinkie leaped into the air and seemed to sparkle as she shouted. “Woo-hoo! Who wants to play Pin-the-tail-on-the-pony!?”

The three cheering fillies fled, leaving the three adults alone. Granny folded her hooves on the table and grinned at her son and daughter-in-law. “No, I’m not makin’ any excuses. All I know is that there was magic all over that boulder.”

Pinkie’s mom frowned at this news. “So it was a unicorn that stole it?”

The old mare shook her head, curls bobbing to-and-fro. “No! No, Sweet P.! This wasn’t any namby-pamby unicorn magic.” She peered over her glasses as her voice took on a mystical tone. “It had an air of destiny about it!”

Lemon Meringue stuck a pipe in his mouth and began puffing. “Destiny? What in the hay are you talkin’ about?”

“Powerful magic, Lemmy,” Granny continued. “More powerful than even the princess. Somepony found their destiny on that very spot not too long ago…”

Granny stuffed the last piece of pie into her mouth whole. “Mm! And Pinkie is covered in that exact same magic right now!”

Lemmy spat his pipe out, and it landed in the sink. “H-what!? What are you goin’ on about now, ma?”

Sweet P. backed her husband up. “Now come on, momma, surely if Pinkie was covered in magic like that, we’d have seen it.”

“Would you? Would you, really?” Granny shook her head. “Anything new happen? She had never seen a party before she threw you one, did she?”

Sweet Potato thought for a moment, before conceding. “We’ve never really had enough money for more than a trinket on their birthdays, so I guess not really.”

“And that mane…” Granny pointed at her fuzzy purple hairdo. “Remind you of anypony?”

Lemmy coughed. “Yeah, I guess that’s new, too.”

Granny smiled. “Don’t you see? She’s the first full-blooded Pie since Puddin’ Head! Before you know it, she’s gonna be seein’ things before they happen, doin’ things nopony can explain…

“Whatever it was that busted open the rock was deep, deep magic. And Pinkie…” Granny let out a belly laugh. “Our little Pinkamena’s gonna change the world, I know it!”

Pinkie lifted the blindfold off of her eyes to find the tail placed perfectly on the pony’s butt. “Wow, Pinkie!” Chickie exclaimed in amazement. “How do you get it so perfect every time?”

Pinkamena polished a hoof on her chest, smirking slyly. “Oh, it’s just a skill I have.”

Lemmy Pie walked out of the house, eyebrows knitted. “Alright, girls, back to your chores.”

Pinkie trotted towards the field. “Okay, poppa! Let’s” —a yawn interrupted her answer—“let’s get back to work.” Another yawn escaped her mouth as walked off.

Lemmy tilted his head, his mind alert for any changes in his daughter now that Granny had made her case. “Pinkie? Are you alright? You sound tired.”

Pinkie looked back at him, betraying no sign of weakness. “I’m fine, poppa, really!” She stotted her way to the field, singing a song with no words.

Lemmy sighed, raising destiny’s child was gonna be harrowing.

The next day, Pinkie stood silent in the middle of the field, her rock untouched. Granny Pie walked up to her and gave her a nudge, startling the filly awake. “Huh? What? What?”

Granny frowned, an unfamiliar expression for her soft face. “Pinkie, were you sleeping standing up again?”

Pinkie shook her head, but her tail drooped all the same. “I didn’t mean to, Granny! I’m just…”

Granny placed a hoof on Pinkie’s forehead. “Pinkie, are you getting enough sleep?”

Pinkie hesitated, eyes darting all over the field, anywhere but her granny’s eyes. “Yeah, I guess.”

The older mare leaned down to hug the pink earth pony. “You know that if you have anything you need, you just have to ask, right? Your ma, your pa, and I all care about you very much.”

Pinkie nodded. “I know, Granny. Thank you.”

Granny Pie waited, letting Pinkamena build up the courage to tell her what was wrong. It was just a few moments before the filly spoke up. “Granny, if I need you tonight, will you come by me?”

The elder Pie nodded solemnly. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Granny’s eyes twinkled. “And that’s a Pinkie Pie Promise.”

The night came once more, the eve of the full moon. Pinkie lay in bed, keeping every part of her body under the covers. The shadows were even scarier tonight, sweeping and floating around the room like ghosts. She even thought that she saw wings and a horn on one poltergeist, before she rolled herself up in a comforter cocoon. Now she shivered and cried quietly, not wanting to draw undue attention to herself. A cold wisp drew its way up the sheets and to her leg, startling her and prompting a scream. “Granny!”

A light shone brightly as Granny Pie entered the room, carrying a firefly lantern. She glanced around the now well-lit bedroom and found nothing unordinary. “Pinkie, what’s the matter?”

Pinkie’s frizzy head poked up from under the pillow, and her eyes pleaded to her granny. “Will you sleep with me tonight?”

Granny Pie smiled; covering up the twinge of hurt she felt when she saw the bags under Pinkie’s eyes. “Of course, dear.”

She set the lantern on the nightstand, and the fireflies settled down. The glow of their buggy bums dimmed to a gentle buzz. Granny sat next to the bed and placed a calming hoof on Pinkie. After a few minutes, it seemed like Pinkie had fallen asleep, and Granny got ready to head back to bed.

That’s when the moon peaked out from behind a cloud.

Granny saw it in all of its lunar glory, that brilliant orb hanging in the sky, that dark shape alighting the surface. The Mare in the Moon could be seen very clearly that night.

The light of the moon cast shadows on the wall.

The shadows waved and danced as if by candlelight, rather than moonlight. They seemed alive as they teamed around the room, all converging on one little filly’s bed.

Pinkie began shivering. She had not fallen asleep after all, and was now hiding under the covers. Granny felt a sudden urge to join her.

She looked at the moon, it seemed so close. Close enough to touch. A twinge of fear ran down her back as a shadow crawled its way around her. These were no ordinary shadows.

These were living nightmares.

An alicorn appeared out of the darkness, black as the night and fierce as the tides. Her fangs twinkled like the starlight, and her eyes glowed like fire. Pinkie let out a squeak of terror, and fled into her granny’s forelegs.

Granny squinted at the night terror, her anger boiling hot. I know you; you’re Nightmare Moon, or at least a shade of her…

The alicorn said nothing, only walking slowly forwards. The other shadows followed, gathering behind her like an army of the void. Granny pushed her glasses up on her nose, and hugged Pinkie close. Great destiny always meets great opposition, doesn’t it? You are the opposition, and you want to take out the competition before it’s time, don’t you?

The alicorn let out a dark laugh. It sounded like every nightmare in the world laughed along with her. Granny lowered her eyebrows and gave the ghostly thing a dastardly grin. Well, you’re too late, monster. She already bares the Element!

“Pinkie, listen to me…” Granny looked down at the frightened filly in her arms. Pinkie looked up hesitantly. She turned to look at the nightmare, but her grandma grabbed her face in her hooves. “Just look at me, Pinkie. I need to tell you something important.”

Tears sprung up in the pink filly’s eyes as she answered. “Ok, Granny.”

“You’re afraid, I know,” Granny said. “Everypony gets afraid. Everypony. And I know you just want to hide under your pillow and hope it goes away.”

Pinkie nodded, and the nightmare drew closer. Granny shot a glare at the shade as she continued. “But that’s not the way to deal with your fears at all. If you hide from them, they’ll just sit inside you and rot, taking all the joy out of life.” The shadow laughed, a sinister, raspy sound.

“But… then how do I deal with it?” Pinkie pleaded, shaking as her fears-made-physical approached. “What can a little filly like me do?”

At this point, Granny Pie smiled. A big smile, filled with all of the warmth that only years of being a mother and grandmother could fill a pony with. “Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears. You’ll see that they can’t hurt you, just laugh and make them disappear.”

She turned Pinkie towards the nightmare and whispered in her ear. “Try it.”

Pinkie stood up, four little legs planted on her grandma’s lap. She looked right into Nightmare Moon’s eyes and gave a small, unsure giggle. “Ha, ha?”

The shade stopped, pausing mid-step. The darkened alicorn tilted her head, eyebrow raised. Granny saw the opportunity and whispered to the filly again. “Remember how you felt when the explosion happened? Try to feel the same way again. Keep that moment in your heart always.”

Pinkie laughed again, stronger this time. “Ha, Ha!”

Nightmare winced, appearing to be in physical pain. The shadow growled and lunged forwards, teeth and ambitions bared. Granny spun Pinkie onto her back and began to tickle her fiercely.

The burst of happiness and laughter hit the shadow like a freight-train.

Pinkie was laughing on her own now, absolutely glowing with the joy that she felt. She didn’t even notice when the shadows dissipated, sucked back into the very moon that cast them. Granny and Pinkie sat there, breathing a sigh of relief. Granny Pie smiled down at the pink filly and giggled. “See? Just tell that big, dumb, scary face to leave you alone!”

Pinkie smiled, a brilliantly bright smile. She hugged Granny Pie close. “I love you, Granny.”

Granny Pie hugged her back. “I love you, too, Pinkie.”

The moon had shrunk back to its normal size, receding into the heavens. Granny Pie gazed at it from her own bedroom’s window, contemplating the story of The Mare in the Moon.

“’And the stars shall aid in her escape,’ that’s the story, isn’t it?” Granny pulled a nightcap over her head and sighed. “You’ve fallen quite the ways, Nightmare Moon. Scarin’ little fillies in their beds, crushin’ their spirits, where did you lose your way?”

She pulled the covers up to her neck, still addressing the moon. “You really think that we won’t be ready for you when you get back? You still don’t understand the power of the Elements, do you? You don’t understand that there is just no fighting something as strong as friendship.

“I may never see you come back, but I do know that little Pinkamena will be waitin’ for you, and she’ll be ready to face anything you throw at her. Her and all of her friends.”

Granola Pie closed her eyes and let the warm embrace of sleep come over her. “When that happens, maybe you’ll finally understand the true meaning of friendship.”

“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?” Twilight Sparkle smiled as the five other mares poured into the room. “Well, you’re wrong!”

Pinkie stood facing the shadow from her darkest nightmares once more, and just like the last time, she was not alone. “Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!”

Pinkie watched as her new friend Twilight gave the most awesome, fantastical, triumphant-est speech ever to Nightmare Moon. Pride swelled in her chest as she was revealed to be the Elements of Laughter. She just couldn’t help giggling as the sparkling crystals surrounded her in a magical burst.

The time came, and the Magic of Friendship grew to full force. The Elements spoke to her, and to each other; sharing memories, feelings, and love. “The spark ignited in me, when I realized that you all… are my friends.”

As the power grew, Pinkie fed her own experience into it. The explosion of color that was her inspiration, her first party with her family, her first cupcake with the Cakes, her dozens upon dozens of friends in Ponyville.

And one mare who showed her that there was nothing to fear.

Granny Pie smiled in Pinkie’s mind’s eye as the spell shot forth. It enveloped Nightmare Moon in a rainbow of magic, drowning out the alicorn’s yells of protest. A bright light shined as the sun rose, and Princess Celestia appeared in her full glory.

Pinkie looked on amazed as the princess approached Nightmare Moon and called her sister. She asked for friendship, and offered a bit of forgiveness of her own. A tearful reunion signaled an end to nightmares everywhere, and a reunited family could begin to make amends. Pinkie herself was overcome with emotion in a way that she rarely experienced.

Then an epiphany hit.

“Hey! You know what this calls for? A Party!”

“And that’s the story of how Equestria was made! Er, I mean saved.” Pinkie grinned sheepishly. She thrust her chest out, showing off the magical necklace that was the physical manifestation of the Element of Laughter. “See? Here’s the Element! Princess Celestia wants to keep it in Canterlot for some reason, but it’s still mine!”

She stood on her back legs and danced about. “Haha! Now Twilight’s even living in Ponyville, so we never have to leave our friends behind! It’s gonna be so awesome! Parties every Friday, adventures every other week, cake at irregular intervals…

“Aw, who am I kidding? There’s nothing more regular than my consumption of cake!” Pinkie patted her belly. “But I’m keeping up with that exercise regimen you taught me, Granny Pie! Not a lick of fat on me! Well, maybe a lick of fat, we just had a really huge, entire-town party in celebration!”

Pinkie lay back in the grass, looking up at the sky. “I had lots of friends before, but it feels like Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle are my friends on a whole new level, you know? Like I wasn’t really good friends with anypony before them! I was more like a ‘Hi, how are you?’ ‘Fine, thanks’ friend, not an ‘Oh, hey let’s spend all week having fun and doing things together’ kinda friend.”

Pinkie rolled onto her belly and sighed. “You know, Granny, I never would have gotten this far without you. You were more than just my grandma; you were my mentor, my role-model, and my first real friend. Thank you for all that you did.”

Pinkie looked up at the sky, and the now-shadowless moon. A certain star twinkled brightly for a moment, and Pinkie felt an incredible feeling of love come over her. “I love you, Granny, I miss you.”

A tear fell out of her eye, but Pinkie never stopped smiling. “I’ll see you again, one day. We’ll all be together, and we’ll all have such great stories to tell.” She sniffled, and her pearly-white teeth parted in laughter. “I know that no matter how bad things get, there’s always a reason to have joy, there’s always a reason to have hope!”

Pinkie heard a voice call out to her, it sounded like Twilight wanted to talk to her about something. “The world will always need joy, right Granny? And it’ll always need a Pie to spread it around.” She turned her head to answer the purple unicorn. “I’ll be right there!”

Pinkie looked to the sky. “Good night, Granny. Sweet dreams above the stars, and say ‘hello’ to Papaw for me.”

She walked into the library, eyes sparkling. Her five friends waited with matching smiles, and they came together in a group hug. Heart soaring, she belted out her heart's song, the very thing that made her Pinkamena Diane Pie.

“Sooo, giggle at the ghostly..."