The Smiles, The Frowns, The Rocks and The Pies

by Leafall

Fear

What a strange sight it is. It seems so clear, yet the image is blurry. There are little snippets of a black path. The path is covered by thick coal-like branches. Or are they flowers? Dark trees tower above, and cover up the sky. But are those trees? It’s hard to tell. The only thing that’s in the image for sure is a little pink pony. It walks without stopping. But it sees something. A light gleams before it.

It's so bright...

Dark shapes walk before it. One of them is a mare. She came from the moon. The pink pony covers its head. The darkness laughs at it. It hates it, and yet loves it. The pony tries to say something, it lifts its hooves, opens its mouth. But nothing happens. And before the pony can do more, the darkness consumes it leaving only a dark pit.

She’s gone.

Pinkamena opened her eyes. With her heart pumping like crazy, she wiped away the tears that streaked her small face. She burrowed herself deeper in the blanket, wrapped tight around her body. Glancing at the broken mirror before her, she could see her mane tangled up in several slight curls, something so unusual in her everyday life. Sweat covered her coat, and her bed-sheets were wet. And yet, she refused to lift up her covers. Something might have been hiding in the corner.

“Maudie,” Pinkamena whispered, turning around to face her sister. “Maudie! Wake up, Maud!”

There was no answer.

She climbed off her bed and walked up to her sleeping sister. “Wake up.” Pinkamena nudged the blanket. “Wake up, please, Maud.”

The blanket slightly moved. Muttering came from underneath, “Oh my...”

“Maud!” Drops of tears fell down from Pinkamena's face.

“Shh...” The checkered blanket fell off, revealing Maud's shimmering blue eyes . “Ponies are sleeping, Pinkamena.”

“But, Maud–”

“Shh!”

Pinkamena clasped her hooves around her mouth. “Sorry.”

“What is it? It’s the middle of the night, Pinkamena.”

Pinkamena hopped onto the bed. “Well...I had a dream, and… And there was this forest, and I was there!” She lifted up her forearms, wildly gesturing. “And then this black...thing appeared, and it tried to eat me! And I'm really scared!” She hid her face in her sister’s violet mane.

They both sat in silence. The only audible noise was the breeze outside, and Pinkamena's soft sobbs, slowly dying out after a couple minutes.

Maud brushed her hoof through Pinkamena's coat. The tears on her face had long dried out.

“But, Maudie, I can’t sleep.” Pinkamena lifted her face up.

“Of course you can. You just close your eyes.”

“I can’t. I don't want to sleep. I don't want to see that... Blackness again.” Pinkamena shook her head.

Maud’s eyes were set in a stony glare. “You need to sleep.”

“But I can't, Maud. I can’t!” Pinkamena stared at her sister with little tears in her eyes. “And I'm thirsty... Can we get some water?”

Maud nodded, sighing. While sticking to her sister like glue, Pinkamena stepped down the stairs and into the kitchen.

It was a small, gray room, with only two wooden worktops by the walls. A tiny patch of moonlight shone through the broken window, being the only thing that kept the kitchen from staying pitch black. In the corner stood a table for six ponies, but hardly fitting all of the family at once. A dead flower from Parents' Day stuck out of a white vase, with no water inside.

Maud lighted up a candle. The flame illuminated a small patch on the walls. “Water?” Maud made sure.

“Yes.” Pinkamena nodded.

Maud took out a glass from the cupboard above her. “Can you see if we have anymore of it in the bucket?”

Pinkamena glanced to the side. “Some.” She pushed the bucket to her sister's side.

While filling the glasses up, a noise flew above the sisters’ heads.

“Maud, did you hear that?” Pinkamena asked in a hushed voice

“I–”

Another noise resounded.

Whispers.

Chills ran down Pinkamena's spine. Every last bit of her mane straightened out. “Did you he-”

“Don't say anything,” Maud whispered, shutting her eyes.

Pinkamena clutched to her sister's leg, not daring to lift up her eyelids. Thoughts flashed in her head. The forest. The pony. The dark. The two sisters stood in silence and listened. More whispering came from above.

“Maudie, I'm scared!” Tears fell from Pinkamena's face.

There was no answer.

“Maud!”

More whispering.

“What's behind us?”

“Nothing.” Maud shook her head. “It's just wind. It has to be wind.” She nudged Pinkamena’s side. “Just… Let's just go get that water out of the well.”

Goosebumps formed on the sisters’ coat, as they walked into the night breeze. Pinkamena clenched to her sister’s body, walking between the various igneous rocks on the ground. She knew they were igneous rocks. Her father had told her. They were his favorite. Normally, the rocks looked welcoming, but not tonight in the bright moonlight. It felt as if they watched her each and every step, waiting for the right moment to jump on poor Pinkamena. She eyed them carefully, making sure they would not do that.

Pinkamena looked up at her sister. Maud kept looking straight, hardly blinking at all. Was she not afraid of the outside? Pinkamena took another glance at the rocks. The sedimentary rock section started. Those were a lot less intimidating. And better, it meant they were close to the well – their destination.

Sure enough, when Pinkamena looked up, the well was right before their eyes. It was a bit of a scary sight. One time, her Granny told her, that when she was young, she knew a pony that fell inside one of those. But Granny didn’t reveal what happened to the pony inside. I wonder why?

Pinkamena decided to stay a few steps away from the well, just in case. Maud let the bucket fall inside it. Were they ever going to see it again? Pinkamena held her breath, until the bucket came out, completely unharmed, and better, full of water. Carefully, Maud lifted the bucket and put it on a cart next to the well. She used it as a tool to drag along the bucket inside the house.

A gust of wind whipped through the sisters’ manes. More whispers. Pinkamena squeaked, and rushed to her sister’s side, nearly pushing her into the well.

“Pinkamena, watch out!” Maud glanced down at the shaking filly.

“But I heard something. Again!”

Shaking her head, Maud assured, “It’s just the wind, we’re outside.”

Pinkamena felt a strange poke on her back. Something scraped her coat. With trembling lips, she turned around. Just an inch away stood…a tree. That was it. Pinkamena sighed with relief. Really, there was nothing to worry about. Like Maud said, the noises were just the wind, and the poking was just a dried branch of an old tree.

“Let’s go,” Maud ordered.

Pinkamena stepped to her sister’s side. They slowly walked  towards their house, dragging the bucket on the cart. Maud hung her head, not bothering to look up or around her. The wind whistled in Pinkamena’s ears, making her squeal even more. It’s just the wind... With every step, dead leaves crumpled beneath their hooves, making loud crackling noises. Just leaves... Those are just leaves... Pinkamena looked up. She noticed a pony on the moon. She recognised it from her dream. But it was a lot worse in real life. She shut her eyes. Maybe it was better not to see anything? She knew where to go. She could spare herself the looks of the crooked trees and the ever-present rocks around her. The only thing that gave Pinkamena some sort of comfort was the sound of the two more pairs of hoof-steps beside her.

What made her panic was the fact that the hoof-steps had stopped.

She slowly lifted up one eyelid, and after a second, she dared to open the other one. It was still dark. And she could see no one around her. Not even a single pony. Worse yet, she was standing in the sedimentary rock west-section. Or at least she thought it was the sedimentary rock west-section. Or maybe it was east? Or maybe these were igneous rocks…?

But that wasn’t the point. She was lost, and no pony was around. She didn’t like that. Everyone crumbled around her at home, worrying that she’d run away or get lost. Like she just did. But it couldn’t be her fault. She always had to stay at home, while Mother, Father and sometimes Maud worked outside. But Granny always talked to her then. She would stay with Pinkamena and talk a lot. But Pinkamena didn’t really like talking. She didn’t really like doing anything. Especially getting lost in the west-east section of the farm, filled with sedimentary igneous rocks. She wasn’t even sure where she was.

With tears in her eyes, she decided to move forwards. Wherever forward was. This time, she had her eyes wide open. Every now and then, she quietly called out her sister’s name. She didn’t dare to shout, or Maud would get mad at her again, saying, “Be quiet, ponies are sleeping!”

But how come Maud didn’t notice her going in the other direction? Maybe it was because Maud got lost, not me. Yes, that had to be right.

Still walking, Pinkamena noticed no signs of her getting closer to the house. It seemed as if she was getting even further. More tears welled up. Instead of walking forward, she was walking backward, if that made any sense. She could definitely hear clattering in the distance. It was like that one time, when Granny decided to make oatmeal in a much larger cauldron than usual. It was too heavy, so Granny dropped it. It made that same clatter when it hit the floor.

Maybe some pony was making some oatmeal? Pinkamena had to admit, she was getting hungry. She trotted in the direction of the noises. A definite smell of something burning filled the air. Burned oatmeal?

Pinkamena stood before some big bushes. She moved the branches out of her face, and stared into the dark. A little house with a flashing light in its smallest window stood at the corner of the clearing. Her heart pumped faster. What could it be? Combined with the smell of burning oatmeal, the whole sight was quite peculiar. Most importantly, though, it did not look like her house at all.

Not thinking about the danger she could face, Pinkamena walked closer to the house. The only thing about it that seemed to resemble her own house, were the old wooden planks, covering the whole building. The rest of it was a lot different. Pinkamena’s house wasn’t that crooked and weird smelling. Of course, there were times that her home did need some refreshing, but it never came to such a point.

Pinkamena peeked through the broken glass of the window. A bright light made her eyes squint. Apart from the constant flashes, she noticed something moving. A blurry figure whipped before her eyes, obscuring the light for just a second. She could feel a strange choking in her throat. Tears slipped into her eyes. It was just like her nightmare. She took a step back. The smell wasn’t burned oatmeal.

It was the smell of burning wood.

The flames stung her coat, even though the fire was far from her. The white light that had flickered before went off completely. Instead, orange wisps of fire began to fill the room. Pinkamena looked at it from afar, crying at the sight. She stepped further back, but tripped over her hooves, landing on a pile of dried up leaves. As she looked up, she noticed the bare branches forming a great dome above her. Its black bark seemed even less inviting than the igneous rocks – and that had to mean something. Tears welled up in Pinkamena’s eyes. It was getting hard to breathe. She coughed. Once, twice, five times. Her eyelids felt heavy. Suddenly, everything went black.

“Miss? Are you fine, miss?”
 
Pinkamena lifted up her eyelids. Before her, stood a white pony in a bright orange coat. He had a strange red helmet, and his face wore a confused expression.

"Miss?" he repeated again. His eyes glanced straight into Pinkamena's. They were red, as if fire burned inside. "Oh, pony feathers... I'm asking one last time. Are you okay, miss?"

Pinkamena shook her head and turned it away.

"Would you mind telling me what's wrong?" the stallion leaned closer.

It was getting dangerous. Surely, the pony had bad intentions. Otherwise he wouldn't be so cavil. He leaned even closer and nearly whispered, “Kid, I need to know.”

And that was it. Mother and Father always told Pinkamena not to speak with strangers, or else something bad could happen.

Therefore, without thinking too much, Pinkamena sprung up and galloped forward, far away from the shed and the stallion in the strange red helmet.

“Darn it, now I know why Red Tart doesn’t want a foal.”

Yes, he was a strange pony.

After a few minutes of non-stop running, Pinkamena’s heart pumped as fast as the speed of lightning. She took many short breaths, but they didn’t help. Still, she didn’t stop running. A constant feeling of someone watching followed her in every hoofstep. The pony on the moon still stared at her with that angry expression, and the darkness seemed to swallow up her whole. But maybe she was getting close, and finally moving forward.

"No, no, no..." Maud paced around the front porch.

One hour has passed since Pinkamena disappeared. Just gone, no sign where or why. Maybe all of those whispers weren't just the wind? Shivers ran down her spine. But that was impossible, ghosts didn't exist, right? Right? 

Oh,couldn't this night just end?

Maud sighed, letting her head down. Oh, Pinkamena, why do you always get lost?

"Maud! Maud!"

That voice... It sounded so familiar...

"Pinka–"

"Maudie, go inside!" Pinkamena galloped closer and closer.

"Wha– Ough!" Pinkamena tumbled down on her sister breaking down the half opened door.

"I'm so scared!" Pinkamena hid her face in her sister's mane.

The wind howled outside, the floor creaked. "Me, too."

It took only one glance for the two sisters to instantly understand each other. They both rushed up the stairs, entering the first room on the second floor. After a short while, they both realized where they were.

“Granny!” They jumped on their grandmother’s bed.

“Who is-- Girls, what are you doing here?” Granny asked, as the two sisters got under the covers.

Pinkamena raised her hoof. “Ooh, ooh, I’ll explain. First, there was this forest and then I woke up and I was scared, and then I woke up Maud, and she wouldn’t let me not sleep. And then we got water, but I trailed off, and there was oatmeal and this pony in a red hat and then I fou–”

“That’s enough explaining.” Granny smiled jokingly.

“Fine, but I will tell you the rest later.” Pinkamena snuggled into her granny’s coat, making a long yawn.

“You fillies better get to bed.”

“We are in bed, Granny,” Pinkamena said.

“Not in our own bed,” Maud corrected.

Pinkamena widened her eyes. “No, no, no, I don’t want to be scared ever again. The pony on the moon stares at me when I’m in my bed, and I don’t like the pony. It gave me a nightmare. And then on the way back home, it kept watching me.”

“The pony on the moon? You mean the Mare in the Moon? Oh, that’s a very interesting story. Do you want to hear it?”

“Ye–”

“No!” Pinkamena interrupted. “I don’t want to hear stories! I will never go to sleep.” The wind blew into the room, causing the door to slam. “I will never get out of this bed!” She hid her head under the pillow and burst into tears.

“Oh, Pinkie… You’ve got to stand up tall. It’ll be alright.” Granny petted her mane.

“Can we go to sleep?” Maud asked.

“I will never go to sleep!” Pinkamena's muffled voice came from underneath the pillow.

“Would it help if I sang you a lullaby?” Granny nudged it.

Pinkamena peeked out and nodded.

“Alright. Lay down and close your eyes, girls.” With that, Granny started a quiet song.

“What’s lau–”

“Oh.”

“I love you, Granny.” Pinkamena’s heavy eyes closed.  
 
Granny gave her kiss on the cheek. “I love you, too, Pinkie.”