Darkness enveloped the entire land inch by inch. Ponies everywhere looked on in fear as the shadows swallowed their homeland. Ponyville was engulfed in the darkness, as was the ruined Cloudsdale, Manehattan, and every other city in Equestria. Soon, the only place where any light shone was Canterlot, and that light was slowly dimming away… along with Celestia, who collapsed to her knees.
"Princess!" Twilight called to her mentor. "What's wrong!? You look so… weak!"
"Nightmare Moon has…" Celestia began, her breathing heavy. "She's blocked out the sun… The sun is the source of my power… Nighttime is… okay for me, because of the moon's light, but…" It didn't more than that for everypony to get the idea: the longer the sun remained obscured, the worse Celestia will get.
"Hey!" Rainbow shouted angrily at Nightmare and the Aspects. "You'd better move the moon right now, or else!"
Nightmare just laughed as if the young pegasus had just told a joke. "Oh? And what are you going to do? Make me your newest 'friend?' Turn me to stone? Banish me? Face it, brats. You've already lost! Aspects! Do as you wish!" With that command, Dusk's horn began to glow that vile shade of red, and all six of the Aspects of Chaos teleported into the throne room, directly behind the Mane 6 and Discord, the latter keeping his focus mostly on Nightmare Moon.
"Now then, Aspects," Dusk began as emotionlessly as ever. "Choose your victim." Then, her horn glowed again, and the others vanished in red flashes of light… as did Twilight's friends.
The lavender mare looked around in shock, completely caught off guard by this. "What did you just do? Where are my friends!?"
"I transported them and my colleagues to different parts of Canterlot," Dusk explained. Each will face their opposing force, just as you must face me." She went into a stance that looked as though she were ready to launch an attack. Shaking off her surprise, Twilight did the same, her horn glowing with a faint purple light.
-o-
Pinkie Pie skipped down the now empty streets of Canterlot, giggling all the while. She had never gotten to see Canterlot like this before! She felt like the only pony in the world, but knew for a fact that she wasn't, so that made it all better! Soon enough, however, she encountered another pony, one that looked just like her in fact. The only real differences were that her coat was slightly duller, and her mane and tail were flat. Obviously, Pinkie's initial reaction was to laugh.
"Quit laughing at me!" the other Pinkie shouted angrily. "I hate laughter!"
Immediately, Pinkie stopped laughing and gave her double a curious look. "But… how can me hate laughter? That's my Element!"
"Well, my Aspect is hatred," Evil Pinkie stated in a snide tone. "I hate laughter, I hate you, I hate other ponies, and I hate everything else! I just want everything to burn away! And before you start calling me 'Pinkie,' my name is Pinkamena, you idiotic foal!"
Pinkie was, needless to say, taken aback by this. She never once thought that there could be somepony in the world who legitimately hated everything. Was she like this before she got her cutie mark all those years ago? Would she have turned out like this if Rainbow Dash hadn't managed that first Sonic Rainboom? Was this what she was like when she thought her friends were abandoning her on her birthday? All of these questions and more… didn't even occur to the pink Earth Pony. She was laughing too hard.
"I said quit it!" Pinkamena shouted. "Stop laughing already!"
It took several seconds for Pinkie to oblige. "I'm sorry…" she said, her eyes watering from laughing so hard. "I'm sorry! You're just such a grumpy old grouchy-grumpy pants that it's hilarious!"
Pinkamena stared at Pinkie in confusion. "W-what?"
"But it must be sooooooooo boring being so grouchy all the time! Come on! Smile!" Pinkie beamed at the Aspect of Hatred, who continued to stare at the other mare with obvious disbelief. "Oh, come on! You can do it! Give me a big ol' grin!"
Pinkamena growled in frustration. "Will you just shut up!? I'm not going to smile! End of story!" Pinkie just laughed. "What are you laughing about anyway? Equestria's being enveloped in darkness as we speak! Why are you laughing!?"
Pinkie giggled. "Because laughter makes everything better in the end, silly!"
"No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does!"
"Oh, yeah?" Pinkamena challenged. "How?"
"It makes ponies happy! It gives them hope and motivates them to work towards a future where we can all laugh and have fun all day! I know there are some ponies that are hard to make laugh, but they love to be happy, too! And deep down, I'm sure you want to be happy, too. You just have to laugh first!" And with that said, she continued giggling.
Pinkamena couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was this some kind of joke? Was her counterpart just toying with her? Was this just some plot to get her to be just some mindless fool, too? "Stop it!" she shouted in vain. Pinkie just kept laughing like an idiot, not stopping for a second. "STOP IT!"
"Laugh with me and I will!" Pinkie replied between chortles. She kept giggling, chuckling, and even whinnied at one point. The dark Pinkie's snarling scowl shrank into a regular scowl. It was tempting to just join in and…
She shook her head. She couldn't just give into the idiot's giggles! She was the Aspect of Hatred for crying out loud! She knew nothing but hate for all things! She especially hated ponies who didn't know when to shut up, just like the pink mare in front of her.
Her scowl became a lesser frown.
She hated joy! She hated friends! She hated everything that exists!
Her frown became a straight expression.
She hated everything!
Soon enough, she found herself snorting in a very laugh-like manner. She couldn't stop herself. Pinkie Pie's laughs soon brought out… her own. Pinkamena laughed out loud for the very first time, her mane inflating and her coat brightening so that she looked exactly like Pinkie. She giggled, guffawed, chortled, and every other variant of laugh. "S-stop it!" she said in a far happier tone. "I think I'm gonna pee!"
Pinkie then spontaneously stopped laughing. "Hey, now that you know how to laugh, you wanna be friends?"
Pinkamena stood on all fours, grinning excitedly. "Sure! How about a party!"
"Okay, but after all of this is fixed up and we get the moon back where it's supposed to be, 'kay?"
"Okey-dokey-loki!"
At that moment, Hatred gave way to Laughter.