The resonating sound of your hooves stomping is overshadowed by the damp mildew that's stench wafts through the stagnant air. It makes the bottom of your stomach feel weird. You feel the decrepit walls of the old library as your mane, matted and gnarled, brushes against it and you tail drags behind you, picking up dust from the wooden steps. Every strand of hair on your body accumulates together to form one big jumble of bright pinks, muted by the dark colors of dirt and grime. Your curly hot pink mane is riddled with twigs and feels as if it was soaked with leftover kitchen grease from this mornings breakfast, which can currently be found in the librarians trashcan.
For a normal pony, it wouldn't take very long to get to the libraries basement; it's even faster for you because you practically fly as you bounce down the steps three at a time. Today, however, you choose to actually walk down the steps up, due to an overwhelming sense of foreboding shook through your bones, literally. Your Pinkie Senses tell you that you're going to see something you shouldn't, but you have to go down to the basement. This is the only place left in the entire library that your friend could possibly be. You haven't heard from any of your friends in a long while. Perhaps they're ignoring you? Or maybe they forgot about you and found a new Pinkie Pie to be Pinkie Pie and they don't know that you're the real Pinkie Pie because they have the new Pinkie Pie?
You stop in your tracks, almost tripping and falling down the stairs. You shake the thoughts out of your head. They would never do that... Right? Maybe they're avoiding you because they're planning a Surprise Birthday Party for you like last time. But, wasn't your birthday about a month ago? They all missed it, and you partied all by yourself with Gummy. He ate all the cupcakes, you remember they were red velvet, your favorite. Maybe they had found a way to make it up to you? They could possibly all be waiting in the basement, so you can turn on the lights and they can surprise you!
Man, you really wish you would have taken a bath or something before you came here...
Then again, your Pinkie Senses proved otherwise, so did the dead feeling that hung through the air. Maybe it wasn't a good time to think about parties.
You could finally feel the naturally cold gray stone of the basement floor, it had a much different feeling from the creaky wooden stairs that had lead you down here, or even the soft pink carpeting of your bedroom floor.
"Twilight?" You can feel your voice get caught in you throat and threaten to crack as you gaze into the pitch blackness of the librarian's basement. You haven't really talked in a while, mainly because you hadn't had anyone to talk to in a while, but you've also been stuck in your room for the past few days because of a nasty flu that you caught. You could notice that your voice was off as soon as you tried telling Ms. Cake that you were going out for a bit this morning. She had noticed too, and made you sit down and have some hot vegetable broth before you left.
A rotten stench replaced the smell that had previously been not pleasant but not bothersome. It rests in the back of your throat and you start coughing a nasty hacking noise to clear it up. It was totally not a nice smell. It smelt about as nice as that 3 week old bowl of cereal that you had found hiding behind the microwave of the kitchen. Said bowl was then tossed into the trashcan and carried as far away from Sugar Cube Corner as possible. You can still see the mold in your dreams. You close your eyes and try to wipe that memory away, pushing it far in the back of your mind. You try to imagine the nasty smell away. Maybe, just maybe, you could pretend? You could pretend that there was no bad smell in this room and you could trick your brain into thinking that the smell wasn't there. Then you wouldn't have to deal with the smell anymore, right?
The thoughts currently swimming through your head are all pushed to the very back of your mind when you hear the sharp sound of hooves click-clacking against the concrete. You blink your eyes and recoil from a bright purple light that suddenly illuminates a good portion of the basement. Shadows run across the walls, dipping in and out of your peripheral vision as the holder of the light moves out of her previous spot by the back corner. You turn and look into the corner, your eyes finally getting used to the light. Your friends are there all sitting next to each other. Applejack and Rainbow Dash seem like they're about to start bickering, Rarity appears to be talking to Fluttershy.
Somethings not right with this picture. All the poses seem to be forced and lifeless, as if they were mannequins or dolls resting behind glass in a display window of an antique shop.
The first thing that gave you an idea that something was very wrong with them was that all of there manes and coats were flat and dull, all of the prior beauty had been replaced with a much more muted version of the bright colors that were once there. You squint at the and see that their eyes had suffered the same fate, all dull and lifeless. They looked dead. You begin to think they are dead.
The second thing you notice is that Spike was nowhere to be seen, he hadn't been in the library, and he wasn't down here, either. Where could that baby dragon be?
The last thing you noticed was when you looked at Twilight. That's when you realized you should have listened to your Pinkie Senses. Her eyes were very much alive, but they were filled with some madness you couldn't even begin to comprehend. Her mane was in the same state as yours, and she was smiling such a terribly scary smile.
"Well, hel-hello there, pink lil' Pinkie Pie." Twilight squealed and bounced over to you. A few years ago, when you had been visiting the rock farm, the night of Heart's Warming Eve, your sister Maud had gotten really sick, and had started to hallucinate. She was bedridden, and sometimes you would come check up on her. She would always giggle at you and call you 'Lil' Pink', you had thought it was a cute nickname, but now it sounded threatening.
"Twilight? What did you do to our friends?" You manage to say, despite most of your body being frozen in shock. You try to move your left foreleg, you put all energy into moving it. Then focus on the other foreleg, and then finally your two other legs. Now that you can move, you bound to the four mares.
"Don't touch them!" A force of magic knocks you back and you feel yourself connecting with the wall. Your moan in pain as you lie on the floor. "If you touch them then they could get upset at me again. Here, just talk to Applejack, and you'll understand." You blink and turn your head to look at the unicorn as she trots over to the mares.
"Well, 'hay' there, sugarcube. Geddit, hay?" The voice was clearly not Applejack, but a bad impersonation. On the other side of the dusty room, you spot the farm filly. Her moves are mechanical and her eyes look sad, as if she wasn't controlling her own body. You feel sad looking at her, and notice that your other friends are all sitting in a row by the wall and clapping, as if they were proud of Applejack as she performed the vile dance.
You hear more giggling, and your sadness morphs into fear.
"Don't you get it, Pinkie Pie? They're fine! Perfectly fine. Aren't you girls?" The other mares surrounded by purple nod their heads. "See, they're all fine and dandy, and they're not even mad at me anymore!" Applejack resumes her spot next to Rainbow Dash. All four of them turn their head to look at you, their dead eyes will most likely be ingrained into your mind forever.
You struggle to stand up, but your legs give out under you and you fall to the ground. Tears stream down your face and you choke back sobs, giving up and covering your face with your hooves.
"Oh no, Pinkie Pie! Are you hurt! Why are you sad? Are you mad at me? I think I have an idea that will make you feel better!"