//------------------------------// // Ocean of Tears // Story: Twilight in Wonderland // by AppleJackDaniels //------------------------------// BYR: This is MY crazy story. Expect the crazy and nothing else. She wasn’t sure how long she was crying, but eventually Twilight’s sobbing subsided. Wiping away her tears, she let out a little chuckle. “Now do you feel better?” she asked herself. “All that crying over what is surely just a dream. Let’s get it together Twilight. No need to cry gallons of water all over the place… oh Celestia!” The room was flooded with water. My crying did all that? But the pool of tears looked strange. From above, it closely resembled an ocean during a storm. It was dark, coming up in miniature, frothy waves. Paint from the green and red door had peeled off, giving the impression of seaweed and tiny little red fishes darting through the water. There was even a little teacup floating like a boat with a napkin sail and spoons for oars. A small, fluffy creature was rowing frantically against the current. Twilight watched in amazement. “Well, I suppose this isn’t the strangest thing I’ve seen all day,” she muttered to herself. “But what in Equestria is that pink ball of fluff supposed to be?” Twilight tried to lean forward, but the slightest movement sent the water crashing violently. A yell of surprise came from the mysterious creature, and the giant pony froze in terror. I could have killed that thing; I need to be more careful at this size! She continued watching the creature and its little teacup-boat, wondering how she should approach it. Moving to pick it up would only scare it at best or drown it at worst; that much was clear. However, calling out to it may get its attention, and maybe it may even help her out of this predicament. Twilight figured if the little thing was smart enough to make a boat and travel through an “ocean”, it should be smart enough to communicate. The unicorn took a deep breath. As she did, the small boat drifted quickly towards her and bumped her front legs. She winced, which of course sent huge waves all over the room. That makes no sense, her brain yelled frantically as the pink fluff cried out. It’s impossible that such little movements are creating such violence! NONE of this makes sense. Keep it together Twilight Sparkle! This makes NO sense, and trying to make nonsense into logic is only going to create stress. We don’t want stress right now. We can deal with that later. This is step one, and step one is to get out of this room. Her head somewhat assuaged, the pony tried to focus on the task at hand. One wrong move, and this creature could either run away in fright, or die. As gently as she could, Twilight spoke. “Excuse me?” she whispered gently, making sure to maintain how much she breathed out as she talked. First relieved that the boat had only swayed, her anxiety came back in full swing as the creature turned around and let out an earsplitting scream. “A JABBERWOCK!” Frantically, the little ball of fluff started rowing away. “HELP!” “No wait!” Twilight cried out. The room thundered as her voice echoed around, and the pink creature stopped in terror, big blue eyes staring up at the giant pony in front of it. She began trembling terribly as the “Jabberwock” opened its giant jaws and gave a gasp. A giant hoof came down to her, scooping her up and bringing her close to her face. Twilight stared at the terrified creature, mouth still agape. “…Pinkie? Pinkie Pie? Is that you?” Other than a long thin tail and whiskers, this looked JUST like her friend in Ponyville, right down to the balloon Cutie Mark on her flank. Pinkie blinked in surprise. “Pie? I’m not a pie! I’m a mouse. Pinkie Mouse!” She laughed, sounding rather hysterical. “Jabberwocks don’t eat mice! They eat pies. I’m not a pie. I’m a mouse, so PLEASE DON’T EAT ME!” Twilight’s heart sank. “Pinkie, please, it’s me, Twilight!” she said as quietly as she could. Tears were starting to run down her face again. Pinkie Mouse’s eyes narrowed, as his she was studying the unicorn for any signs of recognition. “… Nope! I don’t think we’ve met.” She giggled and gave a little scoff. “Like I would forget a Jabberwock.” “Please, can you tell me what’s going on here?” Twilight pleaded. “Why am I so big?” And WHAT is a Jabberwock, and WHY does that name ring a bell? “Did you drink that bottle of rainwater?” Pinkie asked. “Rainwater?” The unicorn struggled to remember what was in the bottle. “I thought it was chocolate milk.” Pinkie Mouse face-hoofed at this confession, which brings up an important question: Why would a mouse have hooves? “Didn’t you go to kindergarten, or am I going to have to explain the rain cycle to you?” Twilight flushed hotly. She didn’t much appreciate the condescending tone Pinkie was using to her, nor was she used to being treated like an ignorant filly. “Please…. Could you tell me? I… forgot.” Pinkie chuckled darkly. “Okay,” she said, as if speaking to a baby, “rivers of milk are on the ground, right? Then sometimes, they get really bored and go play in the sky. As they do, the sun cooks part of them into chocolate and the cotton candy clouds freeze others into strawberry snow. Then they get homesick and go home.” Twilight, completely bewildered at this, forced a little smile. “Oh... erm, yeah, I remember that! Hehe, um, thanks.” Pinkie laughed. “You idiot, that was just a lie! I can’t believe you fell for that!” The pony-mouse fell over laughing, rolling around on Twilight’s hoof. “You’re so stupid it’s hilarious!” “Pinkie, that’s not nice! You can’t laugh at others like that, it’s… mean.” She stopped laughing, rolling over to face the unicorn. “Oh please, it’s only a joke. Calm down. Here, how about I make it up to you?” She pulled a plate out of nowhere with one shiny pink cupcake. “Here, take a bite. I made it just for you!” Twilight eyed it suspiciously, and gave it a cautious sniff. It looked just like a cupcake Pinkie would have made back home. Not bothering to wonder HOW she summoned the cupcake from thin air (Wouldn't her Pinkie do that too?), she dipped a tongue in the frosting. “AHH!” she screamed, spitting out the little still in her mouth. Her tongue felt like it was on fire. The icing had been the spiciest thing Twilight had ever eaten, and no matter how much she tried to scrap it off, it wouldn’t stop burning. Pinkie was cackling hysterically. Tears started welling in Twilight’s eyes. This sounded and looked so much like Pinkie, but while the Earth pony had always been a laugher, she didn’t any sort schadenfreude personality. Other pony’s sadness made her sad. Where in Equestria am I? “Hee-hee-hee! I haven’t laughed this hard in almost ten minutes!” Pinkie cackled. Suddenly, her voice cut off with a yelp. “Holy SMOKES! You’re shrinking!” Twilight couldn’t even let out a gasp of surprise, because as soon as Pinkie Mouse said it, the unicorn shrunk down to the same size as the “mouse” in her hoof. With a splash she landed in the water, her side hitting hard against the waves. Twilight lost her breath as she sunk deep into the black ocean of her own creation. I’m going to die here, aren’t I?! Calm down young mare! It’s JUST a dream! Pinkie being here proved that! That proved nothing! Oh look, those really were red fishes. Why have I got the feeling someone is watching me? I should never have left my house. Twilight’s head swirled with thoughts. She was getting more and more dizzy as her lungs screamed for air. The current swirled her around, pulling and throwing her through the water like she was a rag doll. Before long, her eyes fluttered shut. The last thing she saw was the tiny door and the beautiful garden outside.