//------------------------------// // Laughter and Woe // Story: So, You've Grown Wings // by Steel Resolve //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie followed Lokey with interest, she wondered what the pony was like, what kind of cupcakes she preferred, if she liked pin the tail on the pony. She decided the best way to find out might be to ask, but the pony did not seem to be stopping anytime soon. She continued flying for a bit, then decided this was no fun after all. She blinked and suddenly Lokey found a pony riding on her back. Pinkie leaned down. "Psst, what kind of cupcakes do you like? I thought I could just make them all but that seemed silly when I could just ask you instead. Then I can make more of the type you like. My name is Pinkie Pie do you like parties? I bet you like parties, Twilight says you're the element of laughter, just like me, so you must like parties. Wow thats a neat cutie mark! Why are those masks laughing and frowning? How come the frowny mask seems bigger than the smiley one? That's weird... Oh, Twilight says sometimes I have to stop talking or other ponies can't answer. Okay, I am going to stop talking for a bit, you talk now!" Pinkie looked around... she had been riding sidesaddle on Lokey, but now she found herself riding... nothing. She glided on for a bit before Gravity suddenly demanded to know what the hell she thought she was doing and began pulling her to the ground. She recovered quickly of course, but she could not figure out what had happened to the pony she had been talking to just now. She looked around in confusion, and finally spotted the mare sitting casually on a cloud some fifty hooves away. She grinned and flew towards her, and that's when the whale fell on her. The whale thrashed its tail about futilely trying to swim in an environment it was quite clearly not designed to live in. What a whale was doing in midair was anypony's guess, but it was a very uncomfortable thing to have fall on you. Pinkie looked at the ground rushing up to meet her. While she normally enjoyed meeting new friends having one fall on her head was not the ideal way to do so. My that is getting close isn't it. We should probably do something about that. Pinkie looked up at the whale, and turned it into a bowl of petunias. There, thats better. Much easier to carry. Now, about the ground... she reoriented her body so her hooves were pointed up, and her fall slowed, and stopped. She began to fall upwards, aiming for the cloud that supported the pony with the interesting cutie mark. She landed softly, setting the plant down, where it stayed. Gravity and Logic looked the other way, they had met this pony before, and wanted nothing to do with her when she was acting like this. Logic left the scene, she was needed elsewhere. Gravity called Physics and Common Sense over for a game of cards. Pinkie peeked down, or rather up, at the gray pony. "Hi again! Was that some kind of prank? That wasn't very nice to the fish you know, somepony could have been hurt! Pranks shouldn't hurt anypony you know, it's not funny if somepony gets hurt." Lokey looked down in sorrow. "Oh, I am so sorry, I never meant to hurt anypony." Her expression changed, an evil grin lit up her face. "I did, however, mean to hurt you, you ridiculous pink powder puff!" Pinkie scratched her head, then the cloud exploded. "Hey! What are you doing?" She looked down, or rather up, and found herself falling into the sky. She turned around again, that should sort the ground out. Lokey waved at her playfully from another cloud. Pinkie flew to the cloud only to see the pony vanish. She heard sobbing from the distance. "Pinkie I am sorry if I hurt you, I really am, it might be best if you flee." This was followed by mocking laughter. "Yes, flee before I decide to do something you'll regret." Pinkie cocked her head in confusion, this was one crazy pony, laughing one second, crying the next. This wasn't happy laughter though, this was the mocking hurtful laughter that had made her turn into Grumpy Pie during Discord's last escape. "You shouldn't laugh at somepony else! You laugh with them, not at them!" The pony began to weep again, then flew up to her and poked her in the snout. The evil grin was back. "Somepony can't take a joke? Here, perhaps this will make things better." She pulled out a bouquet of daisies and shoved them into Pinkie's face. The flowers exploded into a cloud of bees. Pinkie sputtered and waved her hooves around to fend off the insects. She blinked and the bees turned into butterflies, which flew off gently in the breeze. Lokey howled laughter, and as she did so Pinkie noted something interesting. Her cutie mark changed, the smiling pony mask was bigger now. Lokey stifled the laugh and began weeping. "Pinkie I am so sorry, but you cannot be around me when I am like this, I may hurt you badly!" The cutie mark shifted again, the frowning pony mask was larger. Pinkie mused for a moment. "So you don't want to hurt me, but you also do?" Lokey cried. "Yes, I don't want to hurt you!" Lokey laughed evilly. "Oh yes, I would love to hurt you." The masks had shifted again. Pinkie's head turned quizzically. She mulled this over. Finally her brain arrived at an answer. "There's two of you in there! A crying pony and a meany pony!" Lokey grinned mockingly. "Good job, here's a cigar!" She shoved a cigar in Pinkie's face which promptly exploded, leaving her coat blackened. Pinkie shook herself and grinned. "I'm going to call you Weepy and Meany! I need to throw a double party for this, do you both like different food? What games do you like? Oh this will be so much fun to plan for!" Pinkie bounced in midair, looking for all the world as if she had forgotten she was supposed to be flying. Common sense whistled and asked for a new card, Gravity dealt, and Physics folded. Physics glanced up from the card game at the pink pony bouncing in the sky, and decided things were still a little too weird to get involved with. The next hand was coming up soon after all. Weepy looked horrified. "Pinkie you don't understand, I want to kill you, well not me but the other me. You need to run." Meany smiled. "Yes, please do, I love a good chase." Pinkie beamed her best smile. "OOOO a challenge! I love those! Weepy, you seem nice, how do I make Meany smile?" Weepy shook her head sadly. "I don't think you can, not when I am like this. I am always of two minds, but its far far worse now. I used to just pull harmless pranks, now I want to hurt ponies." Pinkie rolled that around in her brain, the die landed on a critical hit. "I know, Twilight taught me a spell for this, hold still!" Lokey dodged the pony and threw a box of weasels at her. Pinkie caught the weasels and attached a bunch of balloons to the box. They floated gently to the ground. Weepy cried. "She can do anything, don't you see? It's impossible to win against her." Pinkie smirked. "Nothing's impossible silly filly!" Meany laughed. "Well, perhaps you're right, but its very very improbable." Pinkie bounced excitedly. "Oh! Oh! How improbable?" Meany chortled. "Infinitely." That's when the shoe hit her. It was a large shoe to be sure, sleek and white. A door panel opened on the side of it and a pony in a bathrobe looked out. "Zaphod, I think we missed, this doesn't look like Eroticon Six." A pony with two heads and five hooves poked his head out the door. He looked down at the pony his ship had just crushed, then looked over to Pinkie. "Oh, hey Pie. How's it going? Everything cool and froody?" Pinkie smiled. "Yeppers! We still on for drinks next week?" Zaphod nodded, and put on two pairs of shades. "Gotta go now Pie, got a date." Zaphod stepped back inside. "Eddie, try again, I think you divided by zero or something, that is not the planet we wanted." The ship disappeared with a loud pop, leaving an unconscious pony lying on nothing at all. Physics called Gravity a damn cheater and stormed off. Pinkie flew to the grey pony and touched her with her horn, casting the memory spell. Common sense tried to dictate this alone wouldn't work, but then threw her hands up. Whatever you want Pinkie. Lokey stirred. Her coat was a brilliant golden hue. She laughed, a throaty heartfelt chuckle. "Did anypony get the number for that shoe?" Pinkie hugged Lokey. "Are you feeling better now? Can we have a party?" Lokey smiled. "We can have a big party to celebrate after we play with Discord. C'mon, this is gonna be fun!" The element of laughter began to shine like a miniature sun. The stone formed into a bright blue balloon shaped gem set in gold.