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// Laughter and madness 
// Story: The Force of the Elements 
// by LuminousRabbit 
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 Chapter three: Laughter and madness 
Nightmare Moon soared through the sky, on her way to more civilisation. Killing the red pony had not made her satisfied- it had just increased her hunger. Nightmare Moon needed to kill a lot of ponies, and soon. Preferably older ones, who knew exactly what was happening to them, and the concequences. It was her therapy, her salvation, the only way to stop Luna resurfacing, and Nightmare Moon would do anything to achieve that goal. 
Soon her sister would be gone, and Nightmare Moon would rule Equestria for all eternity, as the last remaining alicorn. The closest place with a lot of ponies was Fillydelphia, and that's where Nightmare Moon was headed. When she arrived, Nightmare Moon went directly to a small house with no lights on. She was going to be discreet this time, more sneaky, and see if it took longer for some guards to arrive. The house was unlocked, and Nightmare Moon slipped in silently. In the house was a single mare, living alone. If a mare dies in a house and nobody hears it, did it ever happen at all? The second house was deserted, as this was a run-down part of town. So was the next, and the next. 
Nightmare Moon was getting frustrated. Losing the sneaky act, she crashed right through the wall of the closest bar, where about thirty ponies were partying the night away. They saw Nightmare Moon, and tried to run, but it was too late. Using magic, she sealed off every entrance and exit to the bar, making it totally cut off. There was not a crack, nor a pinhole to let anything in or out. 
Some of the ponies frowned at Nightmare Moon's seemingly uninterested composure, but forgot her completely when a huge stream of water gushed into the room. Nightmare Moon smiled. But there was a question: if water is made of magic, can ponies still drown in it? The water was up to Nightmare Moon's neck now, but she wasn't worried. She had the capabilities to hold her breath for far longer than any other pony in the bar. The water enveloped her. It reached the roof of the building, and the ponies swimming in it found that they could no longer breathe. After about two or three minutes, Nightmare Moon felt a need for air. 
Anypony nearby would have seen the bar explode outwards in a burst of water. She checked the bodies of the ponies. They were all dead. When she felt like it, Nightmare Moon split open a pony's chest, and a gush of water came out. These ponies last breaths had been watery ones. Experimenting with some more magic, Nightmare Moon walked the streets of Fillydelphia and exploded the buildings behind her. Once, a burning pony was launched into the air, and landed in front of her. 
'Help....me,' he whispered. 
'Me? Help a lowlife like you?' she hissed. 'But... If that's what you want, I suppose we can come to some terms.' She entered his mind and drank his soul. 
She loved therapy.
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Celestia and Dragonsilver, accompanied by the royal guards, headed on course to the element of laughter. 
It was out of the way of most of Equestria, a small and secluded villiage on the border of the land. The buildings were greyish and dull, all squares and rectangles. The paint on the buildings had lost it's colour a long time ago, and was peeling to reveal the cement beneath. Some of the cement was crumbling and falling away, and the windows had been cracked and spray-painted. 
It was, all in all, not a welcoming town. Nopony was about, and the village's largest building had bars over all the windows. Celestia felt Dragonsilver shudder beside her. She had become tired from the flying and healing, and decided to ride in a carriage with him. 
The pegasus guards drifted softly to the ground, and landed with a soft crunch on the gravel pathway. Celestia and Dragonsilver exited the carriage, and headed to the large building. Sounds of screaming and loud moans issued from it. Dragonsilver stopped abruptly, shivering. 
'What is it?' Celestia asked. 
'C-can't you f-f-feel it?' 
'What is it?' she repeated. He shook his head, and his horn glowed. Celestia saw no evidence that his magic had done anything, but he relaxed a bit and continued walking. 
'I'm sorry. I have... A condition. That's why I lived in isolation. But I'm okay now. If I faint, it's just from lack of energy. It would also be best to get me out of that building,' he told her. 
'Okay. But what was it?' 
'Hah. Ever inquisitive. Don't worry. You'll see.'
They.' They walked into the building. The entry way was also a reception room, of sorts. There was a desk, and a mare was snoring softly behind it. Celestia shook her gently awake. The mare groaned, then saw Celestia.
. 'My apologies,' she mumbled. 'Are you here to see an inmate?
?' 'Yes, please. Any that... Laugh?' Celestia inquired
'Oh, yes, plenty. But I think I know the one you're after. Please follow me.'
They walked along a corridor. On either side, there were cells, rows of ponies screaming and tearing their manes out. Some sat, rocking back and forth. The pupils on some were so large, their eyes seemed to be black. Some laughed, crazy, malicious laughter. It made Dragonsilver shrink back.
'What. 'What is this place?' he asked Celestia
'Some. 'Some ponies aren't exactly... Stable. They need a place, somewhere they can be secure, and not cause any harm,' she explained. 'It's called an insane asylum.'
Dragonsilver shuddered again. At the end of the corridor was a different kind of cell. The door, instead of bars, was made of solid bronze. The mare in charge of the asylum produced some keys out if nowhere.
'I'll. 'I'll have to warn you,' she said. 'This pony... Isn't right. She's... Worse than the others. We usually don't let anypony have direct contact, for fear she'd infect them with her insanity.'
'Thank 'Thank you,' said Celestia. 'But we need to see her.' The mare unlocked the door. Behind that door was another, made of solid iron. This door required another key to unlock.
. 'Um.. Just so you know? . We call her Shadow Laughter.' 
'Thank you,' Celestia said again. The iron door swung open. The room was larger than the other cells. It was padded, and in the centre was a single chair. Somepony had melted the legs of the chair into the ground, and it was unmovable. 
In the chair sat a pony. Or rather, a pony had been forced into the chair and restrained with a straightjacket. 
The pony was bound, with ropes, gagged and blinded by cloth over her face. The gag was a piece of thick cloth, secured by grimy ropes that looped around her head. 
'It was the only way to get her to shut up,' said the mare in charge. 
'Ungag her please,' Celestia. 
'I'd really rather not. In fact, I have some other matters to attend to,' the mare galloped off. 
Celestia sighed, and her horn started glowing. The ropes untied themselves, and the gag lifted out of her mouth. The blindfold came off. The pony had black fur, and a dirty pink mane, all tangled from the time of imprisonment. The pony opened her eyes and blinked a few times, getting used to the light. Her eyes were a deep turquoise. 
'Do you know me?' Celestia asked. The black pony's face spread into a smile, wider and wider. 
'No! No, no , no! Talk to me!' Celestia said, desparately. The pony started giggling. Quiet at first, louder and louder, until her entire body was shaking with laughter. Celestia screamed in frustration, which only increased the pony's laughter. 
'Talk to me! I know you understand, why don't you just SPEAK?!' The pony laughed and laughed. 'Shadow Laughter,' Celestia murmered. 
'Huh?' Dragonsilver asked. 
'I know this pony,' she told him. 
'I-I'm sorry. I'm afraid I don't understand.' Dragonsilver was in a bad way. Celestia hollered for the receptionist mare. 
'Can you please take my companion outside? Tell the royal guards to take care of him.' 
The mare nodded, clearly glad to have an excuse to get away from Shadow Laughter. And Celestia was left alone. She tried everything. Silent treatment, laughing with the crazy pony, shouting at her. But nothing could break this pony's state of crazy happiness. 
Without warning, Celestia was filled with an overwhelmingly strong desire to hurt her. To kill the crazy pony. She snarled, and leapt up to strike. 
Shadow Laughter fell silent. Celestia narrowed her eyes. This pony wasn't just silent, she had gone tharn. 
tharn was a state a pony could enter if they became too traumatised. The pony's eyes often glazed over, and it could take several hours to return them to normal. Celestia coaxed and softly spoke to the broken pony for an hour and a half. After a time, Shadow Laughter let out a moan. 
'Shadow? Can you hear me? You're going to be okay. It's all okay.' 
'Celestia?' Her voice was filled with pain and heartbreak. Sorrow now found true meaning in Celestia's mind, and she wept for a pony who didn't know what she had done to deserve her fate. 
Dragonsilver came in, and comforted Celestia. He took Shadow out of her straightjacket, but fainted again when he saw what lay beneath. 
This pony had no cutie mark.
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It wasn't possible. It just wasn't. A pony this age, with no cutie mark? 
The pony looked to be about the same age as Dragonsilver, and he had gained his cutie mark years ago. How awful it must be, to not know your purpose in life. To walk around every day with no identity, no true meaning of self. You'd have to go mad. And it seems that was exactly what had happened. 
Celestia had calmed down. She took Shadow and Dragonsilver to the guards. Once Dragonsilver had regained conciousness, Celestia explained it to him. 
'When we were children, Shadow and I attended school together, with Luna. My parents wanted us to have an education, so that we could make better choices about how we ruled Equestria. Luna and I got our cutie marks around the same time as everypony else in the class. Well, almost everyone... 
'Shadow was my best friend, but as much as I tried to help, we could never figure out what her cutie mark should be. The other ponies teased her a lot, which didn't make it any easier for her. I suppose I should have seen it coming. 
Anyway, two years after everypony had got their cutie marks, she still didn't have one, and she was extremely depressed. And a laughing stock. 
She tried to kill herself, but I stopped her just in time.' 
'And?' Dragonsilver asked. 
'After that, I think it just became too much for her to handle. She started laughing, and hasn't stopped, until now. I think a part of her hates me, for trying to stop her, you know - ending it,' she said. 
Dragonsilver nodded. 'They had to lock her up, of course. She was a great pony, always making a good joke, then she lost it. Silence. Nothing but the wind. 
'But now I need her trust. More than ever.' Dragonsilver nodded again. There wasn't much you could say to a story like that. Especially a story like that delivered by a princess.   
AN: Heheheh. I hoped you liked that one. The next one may be boring, it may not. It will probably be a larger chapter, or I might split it into two or three chapters. Any comments, good or bad, I'll be happy to hear.