The garden stood silent, as the various structures of stone and marble rested in its earthy embrace. The Autumn breeze flew through the green maze, and slithered about the lone monoliths and statues. Each one of these behemoths of granite portrayed some form of virtue, in its own image. Some for victory, some for friendship, and even one for love.
But this one simply baffled the pink pony.
Pinkie Pie and her friends had arrived at the Gala, and were ready to go about fulfilling their dreams and having the most fun one night would provide. She, herself, should have been upon the main dance floor, and showing these Canterlot ponies how to really party.
And yet, she found herself outside, in this strange garden.
Something had pulled at her ever since the six of them had arrived. Call it an urge, call it a trance, she wasn't really sure. All Pinkie Pie knew is that something told her to be here, and she wanted to listen. And listened she did.
The pink mare found herself standing in front of a very strange work of art. It was a creature of unseen proportions. It had the head of a goat, with on fang hanging out of its mouth. Its torso was that of a pony, with a griffon claw as its left hand, and a lion's paw as its right. It sported two wings on its slender, lengthy back. The left being a blue pegasus wing, while the right was that of a bat. The left leg of a dragon, and the right leg of a buffalo. The lengthy serpentine tail completed this demonic visage.
Pinkie couldn't even begin to understand what this statue exactly was. If it was continuing the theme like the others, it was some sort of virtue. What kind of virtue could come from a statue so crazy and random.
From a statue so chaotic.
Her journey to reach this point had caught some eyes. Everyone was wondering what had gotten over her since they arrived. She was quiet, as if in a trance. It was abnormal, to say the least, and it began to worry them.
Even so, they had their own plans for the evening, and left Pinkie to her own devices. And whatever device had trapped had led her here.
She still felt very light-headed, as if she was dreaming. Only when her gaze was forced upwards, towards the demon's eyes, did she become fully conscious. A sudden shock of dread slithered down her spine, as her legs almost buckled from underneath her.
Her body became weaker and weaker, before she found herself lying on the soil. She tried desperately to stand back up, to run away from whatever horror she had come across. All she managed was to look up at the statute now glaring directly at her, before she fell asleep.
* * *
A soft breeze gently nuzzled her awake. Her head pounding, Pinkie suddenly became aware of her surroundings.
She was back at her family's rock farm.
She took a quick glance around, absolutely baffled as to how she ended up back here. An unintentional glance towards her flank revealed she had her cutie mark, but on a much smaller body.
Had she been turned back into a little filly?
She caught a glimpse of her sisters off in the distance, and raced to join them. As she drew closer, she noticed the two of them had looked much more lively than before Pinkie had acquired her cutie mark. She was meant with the pleasant and greeting smiles of her siblings.
Something seemed to click into place inside her mind. It was obvious Pinkie had been here before, but it wasn't until she saw her sisters did she realize she was actually watching a memory. She wasn't sure exactly which one in particular yet, but it indeed was a memory.
“There you are, Pinkie! We've been waiting for you,” Limestone said happily.
“Been waiting? Waiting for what?” Pinkie asked the two of them.
“Why supper of course!” A voice chimed from behind the entrance to the old farm house. An older grey mare made herself known.
It was their mother, wearing a very serene, very genuine smile on her face. She led the fillies into their quaint little dining room. Pinkie Pie was shocked to see her father sitting there at the table, with no food anywhere in sight.
That's when everything came flooding back to her.
She remembered this night. She remembered coming inside for dinner, but there was no food. Her parents had the most serious expressions on their faces since her sudden party. Her sisters were just as trepid as she was.
Much to her relief when it was all just so the family could play a weird version of Oubliettes & Ogres. It was really odd how serious her parents were about it, but it was all in good fun.
But something begged for attention in her mind, something that sent a shiver down her spine as the memory replayed itself in complete accuracy.
“Sorry girls, but supper is going to have to wait for a spell,” Her father stated, complete focus in his words.
“Why's that, Papa?” Marble asked, Pinkie and Limestone giving him curious glances, as their mother shut the door cautiously.
“Your father and I have something we wish to show you,” She said, her excitement a sharp contrast to her father's stern demeanor.
As if on cue, a strange dark stallion came out of the kitchen. His coat an bark-brown and his mane as white as a cloud. His mane trickled down the side of his face, forming sideburns. What was so odd about this pony was how he moved into the room. He cantered only on his hind legs.
“Hello little one,” The stallion greeted, staring directly at Pinkie Pie and no one else.
This brought Pinkie to a sobering realization. This stallion shouldn't have been here. She didn't remember any sort of pony other than her family being there that night. The fact that this stallion suddenly appeared, only frightened her, and he was staring directly at her.
“Wh-Who are you?” She asked, as the stallion strode up to her in that strange way of his.
“My name isn't important right now, what is important is that you listen to your parents carefully.” The stallion shifted his gaze towards her father.
“Come, it's out on the West Field,” Her father commanded.
The group trotted outside and followed him, Pinkie keeping a close eye on the odd stallion beside her.
She remembered all of them stopping at a clearing, with other members of her extended family they're to greet her. Why they were all there to play this very intricate game, she never understood.
There was no way there were this many of them though. The entire field had to be filled with ponies. Most of them she didn't even recognize. Pinkie had heard of memories becoming skewed as time went on, but she swore there wasn't this many of them.
Her father silenced them all with a raised hoof, all of the indifferent eyes settled upon them.
“This is where things get juicy...” The strange stallion said under his breath.
Her father's voice boomed through the crowd. “It has been too long since we have last gathered here! My heartfelt condolences to those who were unable to make it here this evening.”
Pinkie felt her heart sink. There was something terribly wrong here.
“We have reached the ripe generation. In our lifetimes, and the lifetimes of our children, history will take many unpredicted turns. It is our most crucial point.” He continued.
Pinkie found herself being pushed forward. In her memory, she recalled being giddy about this really big and fun game they were playing, and loved how immersed her parents seemed to be in it.
Out in the spotlight once more, she felt something sinister slither around her.
“My daughter, Pinkie Pie, has just recently earned her mark, that this society seems to praise. She has begun the first step towards her part in this elaborate play...”
In the memory, Pinkie trotted around, showing off her cutie mark, thinking it was some strange form of a cute-ceañera, and she completely dismissed her father's next words.
“Soon she shall go and meet the others. With their union, Nightmare Moon will fall.”
Pinkie's mind came to screeching halt. She had remembered those words clearly now. She had completely disregarded those words, and the connection had never made itself clear until now. How could her father know about Nightmare Moon?
She giggled at herself. That was obvious. Twilight knew about it, because she read it in a book. Maybe her father did too. Pinkie let go sigh of relief.
“She will be the first to fall, once Pinkie Pie joins the Elements of Harmony.”
She sigh was cut short. There was no way he could have seen that happening, in the past. She was starting to wonder how she had completely dismissed this all when she was a little filly.
She turned to the strange stallion, convinced that he was the culprit. “What's going on? Who are you? What did you do?”
“That doesn't really matter, now does it? You should listen to what he has to say, Pinkie Pie.”
“He didn't say this! You changed it, somehow!” Pinkie shouted in protest.
“Did I? I might have made a few errors, but I promise I only meant for it to be as clear as possible.” He said, before turning back to the crowd.
Her father continued. “Once the Elements of Harmony have new bearers, Celestia will be worthless. Her imprisonment of our Kindred will be lifted, with my daughter as his liberator.”
Pinkie stopped him, poking at his hoof. “Papa, what are you talking about?” She asked him, her sisters beside with matching curiosity.
The congregation of ponies seemed to surround them, as their father laid down to match their gaze. “Let me tell you fillies a story...”
Pinkie was highly confused, as this did not happen in her memory. Everything beyond this point was utterly new to her.
“There was a time before Equestria, a time before ponies even.”
“A time before ponies...?” Marble mumbled.
“Yes, but there was life. A civilization in fact. They were quite different from ponies today. They didn't have magic, nor could they fly.”
“So they were like Earth Ponies! Like us!” Limestone chimed.
“In a way, yes. However, they didn't look like ponies at all. They were tall beings, who walked on two legs, two arms that had rounded claws on the end of them, like a dragon. They didn't have a muzzle and their faces were flat.”
“Flat faces? Papa that's silly!” Pinkie said, despite the morbid curiosity pecking at her.
“It's true! Despite all this, they were very smart. They built wonderful machines and even created light without the use of magic or fire. They were a very intelligent and very peaceful race.”
“What were they called?” Limestone asked.
Hey, Pinkie.
“They called themselves humans.”
“What happened to them, Papa?” Marble asked, knowing what was on the others mind. Pinkie noted the smile that grew on the strange stallion beside her, before her father continued.
“Well, ponies came along. The humans tried to be nice to the ponies, but they didn't listen. All the ponies wanted was their land, and they would do anything to get it. Ponies starting hurting these people, and hurting them a lot. They tried to fight back, but the ponies were too strong, and almost erased them from the face of the earth, but the humans had a plan.
When the humans first started fighting the unicorns, they learned how they could get magic, and use it. When the ponies were destroying everything they worked for, the remaining humans hid away. Around ten thousand of them. They casted a spell to turn them into ponies, so they could hide among them. That's when they tried to figure out how they would punish the ponies for the horrible crimes they committed.
As the generations went on, the remaining humans, created a being of untold power. A strange creature that was a mash up of all kinds of things. They wanted him to be the one who hurt the ponies for hurting the humans all those years ago. He made sure the ponies paid for what they had done And he did so, but it didn't last very long.”
Are you okay?
“Why....W-Why not?” Pinkie asked, absolutely enthralled and horrified by the tale her father was spinning.
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came up with a plan to hurt him. They used a spell on him to turn him into stone, so he couldn't bring back humanity. They took the throne for themselves, and made sure ponies thrived, while the humans suffered for crimes they didn't commit. The creature the humans had created was our last hope against them, but that was before you were born, Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie, wake up!
Her eyes widened, as two thousands eyes suddenly fell on her. The strange stallion grinned a menacing grin, with a fang hanging out the left side of his mouth. He seemed so excited. “Wh-What?”
“You are going to become one of the Elements of Harmony, Pinkie Pie. The same thing the princesses used to lock up our savior. Once Celestia loses responsibility of them, Discord will return, and help bring back humanity once again.”
* * *
“Pinkie!”
A sudden jolt woke up the pink pony. She looked around the garden, still bathed in the night. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, before she found Twilight looking down at her with concern.
The uncorn helped her to her hooves. “Are you okay, Pinkie?”
The mare stood on shaking hooves, trying to regain her balance. It took a minute for her to remember what had happened, and where she was. The Grand Galloping Gala seemed to still be going in full swing, but she was still confused as to why she would suddenly fall asleep out in the gardens.
She couldn't remember any sort of dream or anything. One moment she was ready for the Gala, all excited to join the party, and now she was laying down in the grass of the garden, looking up at Twilight.
“Yeah, I'm fine...” She muttered. “I guess I was just really sleepy.”
“Why did you come out here then? Why come out to the garden?”
Pinkie turned her gaze toward the statue, a strange sense of purpose washing over her. “I don't know, it was just so inviting.”
Pinkie follwed Twilight back inside. She had tried desperately to remember what her dream was about, but nothing came to her. She simply shrugged.
Oh well, she thought, it was only a dream. Oh, I hope I didn't miss out on all the sweets!