//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: Laughter // by Derpyx0 //------------------------------// Illusions By Derpyx2 The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the pink party pony was arising from her slumber, ready to take on a new day. This party pony, Pinkie Pie, yawned as she trotted towards her bright pink bathroom. She turned on the shower and when the water was just right, she hopped right on in. She let out a sigh as the warm water rushed over her bright pink coat and mane. After taking the shower, Pinkie happily hummed a song as she dried herself off. Continuing her morning routine, Pinkie grabbed her purple brush from her drawer. Pinkie's cheerful smile was minimized with each glance at the brush. Pinkie shivered, knowing what she would have to do with it. Although she was acting as if she were going to war, a faint, playful smile was on Pinkie's face as the brush got closer to her mane. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself as the brush approached her mane. Every morning, Pinkie had to fight a battle. A battle she normally won. A rough, excruciating task. She had to brush her rats nest of a mane. Pinkie slowly applied the brush to her mane, dragging it through the knots. She winced as the brush ripped apart her pieces of hair, making them separate. Finally, after ten minutes of pain and torture, Pinkie was finished with her mane. "Phew! That was a hassle!" Pinkie exclaimed as she gratefully put her brush away. Pinkie giggled at herself. She loved exaggerating things and making stuff up, and having a "fight" with her hair was no simple task! It's not like that was a real battle and real pain! Pinkie suddenly felt a pain in her chest, but it wasn't like the pain she felt while wrangling with her hair. It was a heavy pain, a pain of burden. Pinkie quickly shook it off. There was no time to be unhappy! Especially if there wasn't a reason to be unhappy. Although she had shook the feeling off, Pinkie still felt as if a bit of that heavy pain was still clinging on, like the few knots she couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard she brushed. Pinkie shook her head in response to her thoughts. She would just ignore it, as always. Still, for some reason, Pinkie found this unknown pain to cling on as hard as possible to her mind, making it hard to forget. Pinkie could usually just shake off this feeling, but today she couldn't. She didn't know what made the feeling so strong today, but she was determined to ignore it and not let it bring her down. Pinkie focused on other things for the rest of the day, like her job and her friends. Pinkie worked at Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery in Ponyville. Pinkie worked there in return for housing and food, as the shop was a home as well as a bakery. The shop belonged to the Cakes. The Cakes were middle-aged bakers with two wonderful children whom Pinkie adored. Pinkie was an employee, apprentice, and even family to the Cakes. Pinkie Pie didn't get to see her real family often. Her family lived on the edges of Equestria on a rock farm. Although she loved her family, Pinkie couldn't throw parties and make ponies happy there, so she moved away at sixteen. Not that her family didn't make her happy! Pinkie loved her family, it was just the atmosphere they lived in that made her sad. Pinkie flinched. There was that pang of sadness and pain again. Pinkie almost let out a groan. No matter what she did, what she thought of, Pinkie Pie couldn't seem to shake off this feeling of pain and sorrow! For the next hour, Pinkie served customers and baked delicious goodies at Sugarcube Corner. But Pinkie wasn't paying attention to anything around her, and this showed when she almost let a batch of cupcakes burn. She was getting Derpy's order of muffins ready when she smelled smoke. She dropped the muffins on the counter and ran into the kitchen. Pinkie knew that was no way to treat a customer, but this was an emergency! Plus, with her recent thoughts, Pinkie was feeling a bit discombobulated. When she reached the oven, the beeping had stopped, and the smoke was clearing up. Mrs. Cake was holding a batch of slightly burnt cupcakes with a mad look on her face. Seeing her expression, Pinkie's eyes darted away, and her ears flattened against her skull. Pinkie hung her head, ashamed. Mrs. Cake''s expression softened when she saw the distressed look on her apprentice's face. "Oh Pinkie. Are you okay? I'm not mad! I'm just... surprised! That's all!" Mrs. Cake tried to reassure Pinkie, but Pinkie felt the shame building up. Her face was bright red and hot, and she could not believe what she had just done. "I- I'm sorry Mrs. Cake. I don't know what I was doing! The cupcakes just slipped my mind, and I was helping Derpy, and then the alarm went off, and-" "Oh, Pinkie, it's okay. It was only twelve cupcakes! You do seem a little... off today though. You know what? How about taking the rest of the day off." Mrs. Cake offered with a smile. "Oh, no Mrs. Cake! I couldn't! I wouldn't be fulfilling my duties, and-" Pinkie tried to protest, but her boss shushed her. "Oh, no no no Pinkie. I shall have none of that. You will take the rest of the day off, alright? You just need a little time to gather yourself!" Seconds of silence seemed like hours, before the silence was broken by a reluctant, pent up sigh. "Oh, alright. Fine. I'll take the day off. But only because you're making me! Promise me- no Pinkie promise me that you'll let me work an extra shift when I'm done "gathering myself". It is only fair!" Pinkie insisted until her boss agreed. Satisfied, Pinkie trotted out of Sugarcube Corner. After helping out a frazzled, shocked Derpy, of course! Five helpful minutes later, Pinkie was on her way. To help herself relax, Pinkie decided to take a dip in the lake. It was about a mile long walk to the lake, and Pinkie's walks were normally uneventful. Pinkie's mind began to wonder, and she started thinking about her life as a filly. Pinkie grew up with her mother, father, and her three sisters. Her mother, Cloudy Quartz, was strict, but that was just because she was always worried and she cared for her family. Her father was like that too, but he loved fun, and he wasn't afraid to get his hooves dirty. Pinkie's sisters were always willing to play with her and cheer her up. Well, until the day. Pinkie shivered. When she was a filly, her sister Maud Pie died in a rock climbing accident. Around then, nopony was there to cheer Pinkie up. Nopony had cheer to share. Everypony was sad and depressed. She remembered when her mom was moping around the house, and Pinkie had asked her if she wanted to play a game. Her mom looked at her, and had opened her mouth as if she were about to scold her. Then she shook her head. "No, Pinkie," she said with a flat voice. Pinkie had asked everypony in the house, and they all replied with a sad, dejected "No, Pinkie". To Pinkie, it seemed as if she didn't have her family as her friends and playmates anymore, so she invented some. Pinkie had many imaginary friends, and she even remembered a few. Pinkie remembered Grey Rock, who was always causing trouble. She also remembered Red Tail, who was the peacemaker of the group. Something nagged at the back of Pinkie's mind. There was another friend, but she couldn't seem to remember it. Pinkie realized that the heavy feeling was back. She quickly averted her thoughts. Thinking about her past was not helping. Pinkie decided to think about the awesome party for Diamond Tiara she had recently thrown. Soon, Pinkie was at the lake, and the heavy feeling wasn't as strong. Pinkie approached the water, and stuck a hoof in. "Agh!" she screamed. The water was cold! Pinkie quickly pulled back her hoof. She looked back down at the water that was rippling. Pinkie giggled, her reflection in the water looked funny! She started making funny faces and funny gestures with her hoof. When the water stopped rippling, Pinkie looked down at her reflection once more. Pinkie's eyes widened, and she fell backwards into the sand. Her reflection in the water... wasn't her reflection. ~~~~~~ When Pinkie got up, she looked into the water. Her... other reflection was gone. When she stared into the shimmering pool of clear liquid, all Pinkie saw was her own smiling face looking up at her with its big, ocean blue eyes. Now, the pain was back, and much heavier than before. Pinkie shivered at the thought of the reflection. Something about it was just creepy. The reflection scared her. But what scared Pinkie the most was the feeling of recognition. Pinkie recognized the reflection. The reflection looked just like her, but the reflection's hair was straight, not poofy. The reflection also had dark bags under her eyes, and she looked sad. The reflection's eyes were blue, just like hers. However, the reflection lacked the gleam in her eyes that Pinkie had. It was if her eyes were just a covering, and there was nothing behind them. They looked empty, alone. Pinkie Pie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shove the memory towards the back of her mind. During this fight inside her mind, Pinkie Pie yawned, realizing how tired she was. She stretched out on the sand, and fell asleep. ~~~~~~ "H-hello?" Pinkie asked nervously. She was in a white room, with nothing but a door and a metal table to keep her company. "Is anyone here?" Pinkie's voice echoed in the empty room, falling on deaf ears. Pinkie Pie felt a growing sense of dread in her stomach. The heavy feeling appeared once more, but this time, it was different. The feeling wasn't a pain anymore. It felt more like she was anxious, waiting for something. Although she felt scared, Pinkie felt a tad bit of longing thrown into this feeling soup. She didn't know why she was longing for whatever was coming, but she was. Suddenly, the door opened without a sound. Pinkie was startled, since she hadn't heard the clip-clop of anypony's hooves approaching. Through the door, came the reflection. But this time, it wasn't one dimensional. The reflection had been turned into a pony; a pony who was beckoning Pinkie. Despite the dread weighing her down, that feeling of longing made Pinkie trot towards the reflection. The reflection left the room and trotted down a dark hall. Pinkie followed her through what seemed to be a maze of hallways and doors. After they walked around what seemed like the millionth corner, the reflection stopped abruptly. Pinkie followed in suit, halting quickly. The reflection's dead eyes were focused on a spot in the hall. Pinkie peered at the spot as well, seeing nothing. She looked away, then looked back. Standing there was Grey Rock. Pinkie gasped, but she made no sound. He was just like she imagined when she was a filly! Short, spiky grey mane, and a grey coat with three pieces of coal as a cutie mark. At that instant, another one of her imaginary friends appeared, this time it was Red Tail. Just like Grey Rock, Red Tail looked exactly like she imagined him as a filly. Red Tail's mane and tail was bright red with a black streak down the center. His coat was charcoal grey, and his cutie mark features a small blaze. More and more of her imaginary friends appeared. And one by one, Pinkie recognized them all. Throughout the whole ordeal, the reflection stood in one spot, still looking at the same spot as it was before. However, the spot was now filled to the brim with all of Pinkie's imaginary friends from her past. When it seemed that no more would appear, the reflection shuffled over to the crowd. It stood between Red Tail and Fallen Leaf. As it walked over, it had been staring at the ground. When it found its spot, it looked up, locking eyes with Pinkie. In an instant, nothing else existed. The imaginary friends may as well have disappeared. All that remained were Pinkie and the reflection. Fear coursed through Pinkie's body, making it so that she was unable to move. Eyes wide in shock, Pinkie Pie was stuck to the ground. It was as if somepony had taken glue and glued Pinkie's hooves to the concrete flooring. The reflection's dead eyes stared at Pinkie. Though they seemed hollow, it was as if they were a drill, full of evil as they tried to dig up everything in Pinkie's mind. Pinkie felt that feeling of recognition again, but she couldn't place exactly what she recognized the reflection from. She didn't know what had caused her to conjure it up. As its eyes bored into her, Pinkie felt her strength slipping away. The reflection was eating all the strength out of her like she was a cherry pie. Pinkie felt herself slipping away into nothingness. She was almost gone. She was falling, falling into a black hole of nothingness. A hole that never ended. The once silent reflection was laughing quietly. Its laugh sent shivers down Pinkie's spine. Although it had jumped into the hole much later then Pinkie, the reflection was getting closer and closer, until Pinkie could feel its hot breath upon her cheek. The reflection grabbed her with its hooves and started squeezing her neck. "No!" Pinkie screamed, but she didn't make a sound. She couldn't talk. She couldn't scream. She couldn't breath. The reflection squeezed harder as its mane and coat got darker. It had soon turned into a shadow, and it almost had Pinkie Pie. Pinkie screamed and screamed, but nopony could hear her. She went limp, accepting her fate. When it seemed as if she would pass out, Pinkie looked down and saw the ground. It was approaching faster and faster, and Pinkie braced herself for impact. She couldn't get the image of her body hitting the ground out of her head. She could hear her bones splintering into tiny, tiny pieces. The blood would gush out from her head. And the monster reflection would stand over her triumphantly, proud to have killed its prey. Its blood-stained mane would sway in the wind, and it would laugh that evil laugh, knowing Pinkie would be gone. Nopony would be able to help Pinkie, just like when her sister died. Pinkie and the reflection were about to hit the ground, when suddenly- ~~~~~~ Pinkie woke up.