//------------------------------// // Super Pinkie N' Me // Story: Escape to Realms // by Flutterwhy4 //------------------------------// Escape to Realms Chapter 2: Super Pinkie N' Me By Flutterwhy4 I begin to perceive gravity as my faculties return to me. I’m on my back, I’m dizzy and everything is still a fog. I start to feel a trembling sensation. “Wake up! Wake up Token!” a worried, high-pitched voice begins to seep in as the ringing in my ears subsides. My eyes fix on a grayish figure standing over me, shaking me from my delirium. The shape unblurs, my senses now almost at one-hundred percent. I can’t hold back giggles at the sight of Pinkie Pie in a full body suit of iron armor, her pink face poking out from beneath a cumbersome visor. I’m not sure exactly why it’s funny, maybe it’s the unexpectedness or it could be the irony of hoppy, sugary sweet Pinkie restricted by such a warlike garment. “Huh? Hey! What’s so funny?” she asks. “You… in that armor!” I say between hilarious snorts. She purses her lips into an ‘o’ and turns her head to look at her poofy tail wiggling behind her iron-clad body. “Hehehe, I guess it is pretty funny.” The pink pony giggles, “You look pretty silly yourself!” I sit up and gaze upon my hooves; they too are wrapped in plates of dull iron. Where did this come from? I puzzle at my pony greaves and gauntlets, standing up for the first time since I came to. I’m wearing a full body suit of armor just as Pinkie and I don’t know how, but what’s more fascinating is the lightness of it. I’m flexible and impossibly unencumbered for carrying what I would guess to be at least fifty pounds of metal. I suppose it’s not important, just odd. I take a look around. The sky is black as soot, penetrated only by dead trees with twisting branches like sharp, brown veins. The grassy landscape is uneven and dotted with coffins, black as the sky and jutting up from the earth. The darkness is manageable; it’s almost eerily bright considering the gloomy sky, but I chalk it up to the burning lanterns spread around in the mouths of gargoyle faces carved upon cobbled stone pillars. “Are you okay Pinkie? Where are the others?” “Oh, I’m fine! I don’t know about everypony… else” her final word is hushed. “Umm.. Token?” she says weakly. I turn around. Pinkie is backing away from a coffin; the black, ankh-faced casket stands vertically, having apparently unearthed itself just moments ago. It opens. A ghoulish figure steps towards us: a red haired, bipedal zombie in tattered blue clothing. Panic hits me like a bucket of water as Pinkie passes behind me. I’m just standing there, drenched in fear. I don’t care how I got here, all that matters anymore is the fiend inching towards my friend and I. A brief survey of the ground around me reveals a javelin, long, sharp and uncanny. The ghoul skulks towards us. I retrieve the weapon and hurl it with all my might. BWEW! The creature disappears in a brilliant fireball. I scan the area for my javelin, but realize that it has returned to my hoof, as if by magic. Nothing is making sense. I’ve never been more confused, and yet this place seems strangely familiar. More coffins begin to pop up around us. I grab Pinkie and start running. I have no idea where I’m going; I just know that I can’t stay here. “What’s going on??” Pinkie yells as we gallop through a maze of stone pillars and undead. “I’m not sure, just keep running!” My footing falters and I stagger as the ground shifts violently, rising upwards with a loud rumble. Pinkie vibrates next to me, her legs stiff and seemingly unphased by the traumatic upheaval. The creak of coffin doors opening all around us fills me with dread. I throw my javelin at one of the creeps, but it’s soon replaced by another. Options are running thin and a river of adrenaline is flowing through me. At the height of the chaos something brushes my armor; it’s Pinkie. “We have to jump Token!” she says. I fail to follow her logic. There’s no way one could jump over the approaching army of the damned so I dismiss her comment as ‘Pinkie being Pinkie’ while I assess the situation. Closing in, gotta think fast. I turn to the pink pony to see her take off into the air, leaping towards a stone pillar three times her height. No! This isn’t how I wanted things to end! “Pinkie!!” I scream as she starts to fall towards the crowd of mindless cannibals. Just then, she jumps again, pressing her hooves into nothing more than thin air and gaining the extra height she needs to clear the pillar and land safely on top. She turns back, zombies almost upon me. “C’mon Token! You have to jump, you can do it!” Pinkie yells adding “Trust me!” as if anticipating my next thought. Nothing in this haunted graveyard has made sense so far and I’m frankly out of options. I bow my legs then push with all my might, driving my body into the air. The sensation I feel is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced; I can only describe it as an invisible hand lifting me from the ground. As I’m flying upwards, I can feel the constant, unmistakable pressure of a surface underneath my hooves. At the apex of my jump I push downwards with my legs and sure enough, I gain an incredible height equal to my original leap. Landing next to Pinkie on the pillar I look down, breathless as the shambling horde comes together, engulfing the spot where we were just standing. “H-how... did you… know that would work?” I ask, my lungs greedily consuming air. “When you were asleep, I hopped over to you and found out I could jumpy-jump!” she explains. I can’t argue. It's the first thing today to make sense; Pinkie sure loves to hop. It’s funny, when you’re a kid you jump and play all the time, but as an adult, your hooves almost never leave the ground. Think about it, when does anyone have reason to jump? It never crosses your mind, well, unless you’re Pinkie. I chuckle to myself. “Well, I’m sure glad I have you around!” I tell her. Pinkie tilts her head, closes her eyes and gives me the cutest smile I think I’ve ever laid eyes upon. Even surrounded by darkness and danger, she knows just how to make me grin. “Should we keep going?” She nods. I take the first leap, double-jumping over to a grassy ledge away from the majority of zombies. We gallop, still unsure of our destination, only that we’re making progress. Coffins are still popping up around us, but not in great enough numbers that my trusty javelin can’t handle them. Everything seems under control now. A disturbance ahead causes me to slow. A pile of bones on the ground shakes and rattles and I plant my hooves. Smack! Pinkie slams straight into my backside, obviously not prepared for my sudden stop. The bones begin to burn and assemble into a monster, a flaming skull atop flaming bones dancing like a charmed serpent and towering over us. It rears back and spits a ball of flame which I narrowly manage to avoid. My javelin finds the flaming creature’s body, but it seems to have no effect. A burst of giggling fills the air. I turn my head, struck by shock to see Pinkie Pie on her back laughing without a care. The creature screeches in pain and its flames flicker into extinction, the suspended bones falling back into innocuous piles. Did Pinkie just do that? Incredible. “Pinkie! What in the world is so funny?!” I shout. “Hehe... did you see that snake thing? It built itself out of bones! Do you think it was a... Boa Constructor?” she says comedically. “No-no-wait! How about a Bone-a Constrictor?” Such a corny joke but watching her roll around like a little girl makes me start to laugh too. “Come on Pinkie, we’d better keep moving.” I remind while chuckling with her. As we plow through monster-filled madness, I’m realizing more and more that I’m actually having fun. I’m enjoying myself way more than I should and it’s all because of my pink friend. She seems to see the world, even this world in a different way, through a prism of innocence and optimism that I can’t help but envy. I remember a time when I was more like her, a better time. I used to think that in the end, good things would come to good ponies. That was before I started to doubt if that was really true. Why did I ever do that? These aren’t the only things on my mind. A feeling of déjà vu is constant and sharp. I swear I’ve been in this place before. Everything is so familiar, the jumping, the javelin, the monsters. The more I see, the more convinced I am that it isn’t just in my head. As I pass certain trees I notice random white sacks embroidered with the same symbol I saw in the marketplace in Ponyville. Were I not distracted byPinkie Pie's innocent goofiness I'd find these sights and thoughts unsettling. The oddness fails to stop. I seem to be able to predict obstacles we’ll encounter before we come to them. It’s a helpful ability, but how is it possible? The clairvoyance is strange, but even more remarkable is the music, a haunting fanfare that fills my head. It’s not coming from any external source and I can tell from Pinkie’s manner that she doesn’t hear it, but it’s crystal clear to me. It’s very much like when you get a song stuck in your head and it keeps looping over and over and you can’t get it out. Pinkie and I come to the edge of a body of water. I look down from the precipice on which we stand and see grassy platforms just big enough for us to jump to. They appear to continue across the lake. “I think we should cross.” I say aloud. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie says as she leaps down to start the voyage. I follow. I’ve never thought about how helpful it would be to be able to jump twice; these aren’t the kinds of things the mind idles with when there are bills to pay. The extra distance is cool, but the precision is really what makes it handy, I’m finding. I can jump once and then depending on where I push off next in my arc, I can control exactly where I land. I can do it at the peak of my first leap for maximum height or I can milk the arc until I’m about to hit ground for the best horizontal distance. We both leap towards a stone pillar, jutting from the water like a buoy. I can feel something isn’t right. Pinkie gasps in midair. “Token don’t jump! My tail!” the pink one shouts, her voice serious for once. We land on the pillar and just then, the lake rears up like a bucking bronco and a wall of water descends on us, soaking us both, yet we hold our ground. “Whoa! Good call!” I’d never tell her that I sensed the same thing, there would be no way to explain, I don’t even know how myself. When the lake returns to normal I take my next leap and Pinkie follows. The lake proves a not so formidable obstacle and we reach land again; more monsters are there to welcome us. Honestly, between the help of Pinkie and my trusty magic javelin I’m feeling invincible. We’re plowing through everything in our path. Pinkie and I, an unstoppable force, the very thought is a laugh riot. “What’s so funny?” Pinkie asks. Apparently I’d been snickering and didn’t realize it. “Oh, nothing.” “Awww, c’mon tell me! Pinkie loves a good laugh!” “Well, it’s just… you and me, armored up together… all these scary monsters don’t stand a chance!” "That is funny!" she says, letting out a porcine snort and giggle. BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK! We both look up and freeze. A gigantic bird, ten times our size swoops down and lands with an angry squawk. Its face is menacing. Its feathers are fire-orange and its head is topped with a crest of green, webbed spines. The creature’s neck extends from a tuft of white feathers to a miraculous length. My eyes, however, fix on the razor sharp talons and pointed beak. “W-what do we do now?” Pinkie asks, the massive bird staring at us. The invincibility I’d felt just moments ago has been washed away. “I don’t know!” I begin to chuck javelins at the bird as fast as I can throw them, but they only seem to anger it. The beak plunges down at me and I jump backwards twice to get away. The enormous wingspan flaps, sending the monster hovering into the air. The beast gags for a second before spewing a giant egg from its mouth. The pony-sized egg rolls along the ground towards me as I pelt it with my weapon. Finally it shatters and I refocus my attacks on the bird. Pinkie is standing beside me, still as stone. It's so unlike her. The bird rears again and sends its heavy beak towards us. I tackle Pinkie clear of the onslaught. “C’mon Pinkie, snap together!” I say, getting off of her and offering my hoof. “But, that thing is ginormous! Like Ursa Major ginormous!” she replies. “It’s still just a slow, dumb bird! We can beat it! I need your help though.” Another egg hurtles towards us and I pound it to pieces with my magical javelin. “Okay, I’ll try.” Pinkie looks up and contorts her face, trying to force out a laugh, her weapon of choice. Meanwhile, I draw the creature’s attention with my constant attacks. I’m leaping into the air to reach the bird’s most sensitive areas with my javelin throws. Another thrust from the bird’s beak. I try to dodge, but I’m too slow. The wind is knocked from my chest as the heavy head impacts me like a freight train. My armor shatters into a hail of a hundred pieces, leaving my body bare. I’m still armed and as soon as I can, I resume my fruitless attacks. My javelin does little more than ruffle the beast’s feathers. “Pinkie!!” I shout. She continues trying to laugh, but it’s forced. One more hit from that leviathan and I know I’ll be a goner. I need her help more than ever. I dodge to the left as the bird tries to put me down with a finishing blow. Time is running out. “Pinkie! If you don’t laugh our goose is cooked!” “Hehe... goose!” The bird screeches as Pinkie begins to giggle. At first it’s a trickle, like a leaky faucet, but soon the air is filled with uproarious guffaw. The monster flaps its wings violently, sending a chilly draft across my flanks. Its pain is obvious; the head thrashes from side to side and its talons curl and extend sporadically. Pinkie’s laughter doesn’t stop. She’s so out of the moment, consumed by hilarity that it brings me with her and I find myself giggling as well. MRAWWWWWWWWWK!!! The bird ignites in a blaze so ferocious I can feel it on my skin. The fireball consumes my vision and forces my eyes to close from both brightness and heat. That chilling tune that was stuck in my head is finally forced away. We did it! We are victorious, but what will happen now? I hear the bird take its final ragged breath as it disappears in flames so blinding my eyelids can’t block their brilliance. Suddenly silence. I see nothing, taste nothing, feel nothing. It’s happening again.