//------------------------------// // Chapter IV - Empty // Story: Memoria // by Takarashi282 //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie flipped the notes front and back for the hundredth time that minute, but nothing changed. The pages were blank, their contents gone as if no one had touched them. Dumbfounded, she slammed into the opposite wall. She didn't know Maud besides the little she told her, but Pinkie felt a connection after seeing the rose. A connection so strong and profound it was like losing a limb when this event had come to pass. Pinkie tried digging into her memories, anything she might've gained at the last second between her and the Messenger. Sadly, it was only close enough for the split second it had... it had... Pinkie Pie clamped her mouth shut, bringing a hoof up to her muzzle to muffle her erratic breathing. It couldn't have... killed her? Pinkie remembered every bit and piece of it; her legs broken up to the point where she had been stabbed by the Messenger's barb were still fresh in her memory. She stroked her chest, feeling for any damage, but there was none. It was then Pinkie realized what the Messenger had done in whole: it gave her a memory. It was abstract, mostly pathological, but it as indeed a memory. Her head felt like it was floating when she rolled forward in a sort of upright fetal position. That was the only thing she could think about: the blank letters, and the rose. Pinkie Pie felt something when she was in that dream—she knew it, and she wasn't going to let this discouragement get to her. Pinkie Pie once again gathered her writing supplies, and wrote on the paper again, praying that she would get something back from her sister—anything, be it a small symbol or some sort of sign that she was still in contact. But that's when fear struck through Pinkie Pie's heart. Could it be possible that the Messengers got to her? she thought, almost immediately shaking the thought from her head afterward. No, she would still be alive like me. Or at least, I would think. Pinkie rubbed her chest once again, the feeling like white noise in her chest. I haven't asked her if she knew where I was. Pinkie thought, picking up the small roll of paper and started writing. It took her a moment to think up what to write, and she didn't want to get her hopes up for a reply back from her. So she wrote down a simple message on the blank piece of paper, the nearly calligraphic mouth-writing on the edge of illegible: "Where am I?" Just as last time, she set the letter out at the center of the hall's intersection. She made sure to make plenty of noise to gather the Messenger's attention, and galloped back to the office, flipping around the door frame, waiting for its anticipated arrival. But other than the rabid thumping of her heart, nothing came. In fact, she was almost sure she could hear the echoes of the galloping still bouncing off the walls in the empty rooms and halls. She didn't hear the death-like clumping coming near by, she didn't even hear the sniffing that the Messenger did constantly as it wandered through the halls. Out of impatience and stone cold anticipation, Pinkie sneaked a peek outside the cracked door frame, looking beyond into the intersection. As dreaded, the letter still lay there, the bubbles of the ink still visible from a couple yards away. Pinkie pushed herself away from the door frame, her heart rate spiking. She didn't know why she was still frightened by the thought of going back there. She didn't hear the sounds, so the Messenger couldn't be there. However, she was still apprehensive, perhaps for what didn't happen. Regardless of her boiling fear, she kicked herself out of the doorway to a full sprint down to the intersection. She skidded to a halt at the end of the 'T' intersection, and studied the letter. The writing was still there, and everything seemed just the same as she'd put it, prepared for the Messenger. But, there was a clear absence of the dreadful beast, and Pinkie's heart sunk through the Earth. Sulking, she looked to her right and to her left. Just the halls sprawling out either way, to open doors that she grew all too familiar with. Pinkie was on the verge of collapsing and breaking into sobs. Her knees buckled when she remembered the things Maud told her, about being there for her through her hardest times, about her meetup with her friends, and it all seemed so real. Horrifyingly, in some cases, it sounded like her. And with every passing seconds she realized how similar she and Maud were, and how much they cared for each other, even through a tough childhood. And... and... That was it. Pinkie Pie slammed into the floor, tears flowing like out of a floodgate from her eyes. She then let out the most guttural bellow she knew she'd ever done, punching the floor until it crackled. I was so close, she thought. And then I lost all contact with her. She just lay on the floor now, her sobs melting into the nearly alive dark carpet, the only cold thing that could ever console her in this situation. But even then, everything was empty, and she could do nothing about it. A few moments passed before her sobbing subsided, transforming into small coos into the carpet below. She just needed a release. She wanted to sleep, yell, punch, kick, anything that would alleviate this suffering from her. But alas, sleep would not take her; she was void of feeling exhaustion, as she figured through tedious waiting periods for the letter to return. And there was nothing else to punch at. Nor was there anything to injure herself with. She had nothing to exchange for this horrible feeling, and she just couldn't stand feeling it anymore. She stood once again, feeling a hundred times heavier than before. She ground her teeth. All this time, she had been trying to learn about her sister and the place around her. All this time she was locked in fear. All this time, she'd been waiting for something glorious to happen, and this was the result of her passiveness. She shuddered, a stern hardness gathering about her. It was time she did something to escape this place, be it through the Messenger or through some other way. The thought of waiting to receive something through the Messenger's memoria sickened her. Without a second's thought, she stormed through the halls, iron determination settling in her chest as she made way into the room she'd been before the Messenger did away with her. That was the closest thing she had to an answer now. She wasn't going to waste any time. She galloped through the crooked room and jumped through the hatch into the porthole, dragging herself until she felt the drop. She then stood up and jumped down the entrance, barrel-rolling on impact. Except, the room was now different. Instead of the small lights peppered all over the walls, the blue light shed all around. Pinkie grimaced, and closed her eyes. Not that she needed to adjust to the light, but it looked so surreal. When she looked at the wall, she looked past it, like one would do when looking at the sky. It all gave her a big headache. That was when she stopped in her tracks. She felt pain, physical pain rather than heart-wrenching feeling from earlier. She no longer felt sedated. Rather, she felt like she was finally waking up from a horrible dream, but the effects of it were carried over, causing an all-out war within herself: whether to fight or fly, and whether to stay angry or wallow in depression. Pinkie shook her head of the thoughts. I will continue on, she decided, walking to the edge of the blackened platform from shadow. Swallowing down her fear, and steeling herself up for an impact, Pinkie jumped again, this time, angling herself differently from last time, twisting herself in mid air, chin up to make her start to flip backwards. Her back made slap-contact with the wall, knocking all the breath out of Pinkie. She slid until she reached the bottom of the spherical room, the nearly-mat material slowing her down. Trying to catch her breath, Pinkie Pie stood, her skin still tingling after the impact at the bottom of the room. Shaking spots from before her eyes, she focused forward. The same organic-looking thing was there, the transparent tissue producing the blue light pulsating, almost like a heart. Pinkie approached the source of the light like a tiger to its prey. It took her a moment to realize she was snarling, a horrible feeling of anger blanketing her. She could feel her sentience fading before her, and she was just a small moment from becoming an animal. It might've been the close proximity to the organism, but Pinkie Pie had a last moment of fear when the anger took complete hold. She charged at the organism, turned around and bucked it. The whole thing shuddered, the blue right becoming red for a moment. This didn't call for a moment's hesitation from Pinkie; she charged and tore at the tissue around the organism, Pinkie's actions no longer becoming hers. It was horrifying, and it was like she was watching from afar but up close what her body was doing. And the most terrifying thing of all—she couldn't stop herself. Before she knew it, she tore off a chunk of the tissue surrounding the organism, green blood splattering in Pinkie's face. The stream was so strong that pushed Pinkie backward, finally snapping her out of her hellish daze. But, like the Messenger, but times one hundred, memories popped in her mind suddenly and all at once. Pictures, moving, but actually with information. She remembered her friends: Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight. She remembered mostly everything they did together, and even remembered them meeting Maud. When the intake of memories subsided, she felt many things at once. Happy and jovial, but then quickly overcome by sadness and confusion. Out of all the memories there, none of them were about Maud. Besides the application of the name to the pony, that was all she had, beside what she had told her. That was when she heard a stirring from up above. It was a clumping sound, against metal this time. The sniffing was constant and sharpened by the composition of the porthole. Pinkie Pie looked up, nearly dreading about she was about to see. A head like a lizards, but somewhat like a cat's stuck out from the porthole she'd come from, the singular red eye staring down at her. A pang of horror hit Pinkie in the chest. It wasn't anywhere! she denied, mouth agape. How did it... That was when she realized, The other room! The Messenger must have been in the other room! The Messenger didn't even waste a second. It jumped from its perch up high right in front of where Pinkie Pie was standing. It propped its tail up again, its barb relinquishing black mist like before. Pinkie Pie wanted to run, but something clicked in her mind. Something that she dreaded. But, Pinkie thought, in order to do that... She didn't have a choice. She had to, if she ever wanted to remember her sister. Pinkie approached toward the Messenger, swallowing the lump in her throat down so she could breathe. "I know what you can do," she gasped, her voice raspy, and broken up in tears. "I've seen it before. But please... please help me remember." As she inched closer, the Messenger bowed closer to the ground, propping up its barb, the dark mist starting to fume out of the tip. Pinkie Pie didn't understand why she talked to it. Her second demise was inevitable, even without the speech. But her heart wrenched and ached all the while. She had to say something, anything to alleviate that feeling before it happened. Pinkie closed her eyes, flashes of memories she didn't understand appearing then disappearing to the dusty recesses of her mind. She braced herself, for the longest time until she knew something was wrong. She opened her eyes, realizing the Messenger had straightened up entirely. It hesitated.