Castlemania: Aria of Pinkie

by FullMetalFurbee

Return to the Castle

Hurtling through the air alongside Princess Celestia felt like, well, hurtling through the air alongside Princess Celestia. The ruler of day had taken on a startlingly serious attitude when Twilight recalled her misadventure at the castle. She'd canceled her day's events and instructed Twilight to follow her immediately. A light rain had only just begun as the duo rushed into the depths of the Everfree Forest.

“Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?” pressed Celestia.

Twilight puffed and panted in effort to keep up. Her wings already ached in protest. “I'm sorry Your Highness, I had no idea how serious this was! I thought Pinkie's 'powers' were just a new form of magic and that you'd permit me to research them!”

Celestia shook her head. “Three days... I pray we're not too late.”

“What exactly is going to happen if we're too late? Pinkie will be okay, won't she?”

“I sure hope so. Enough talk. We need to get there post haste.”

On they sped. The alicorns zipped over the trail in a reckless charge of barely contained urgency. By the the time they landed at the seedy entrance to the cryptic castle, the rain had intensified into a steady drizzle. Celestia wasted no time in stomping straight into the stone tunnel.

“Keep up, Twilight. You've been here before. I need you to navigate.”

Twilight willed herself to match Celestia's strenuous pace. “I have no idea where Pinkie is, though.”

“That's alright for now. Just take us up, please. I sense an immense source of power coming from somewhere higher in the castle.”

“Do you think it's her?” Twilight asked.

“I can't say. Let's just hurry,” Celestia replied.

Unfortunately, further progress halted. They spotted a huge gray skull hovering in front of the cave's only probable exit. The disembodied cranium was suspended upside down with noises coming from inside. Out of the mouth and dusty eye sockets emerged three wriggling worm-like appendages. Each fleshy tentacle possessed a single eye at its tip.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and cringed at the disgusting thing. “Eeyuck!”

Celestia summoned her magic and prepared for combat. “The monsters in here are a lot more dangerous than anything you've ever faced, Twilight. Stay on guard! Help me slay this beast. Zap its eyes!”

Twilight loosed a shot of magic at the beast. It missed the tentacles and only succeeded in blowing a small hole in the cheekbone.

The skull floated forward and wildly swung its tentacles about. Its eyes pulsed with a white light.

“Watch out!” warned Celestia.

She and Twilight leaped out of the way just as the thing's eyes launched a trio of rippling lasers. The bolts of energy sizzled past and exploded on a mossy wall.

“Now's our chance! Take out its eyes!” said Celestia.

Twilight seized the opportunity by focusing intently on her targets. She locked on and fired off three quick shots of magic. Two of them landed direct hits. The fleshy ropes writhed about and shriveled, receding back into the skull. Celestia swooped down and blasted the last one just before it shot another laser. The giant skull, now devoid of tentacles, fell hard to the stone floor and split apart.

Twilight walked over to the pile of cracked bone fragments and gave them a kick. “That thing was positively revolting.”

“Just be glad it had a weakness to magic,” said Celestia. “We might have to get physical.”

“Jeez...” breathed Twilight.

Celestia flew toward the exit. “Come on. Let's go.”

The caverns quickly disappeared behind the two princesses. Beyond the ancient stairways and up from the cistern sat many well-furnished corridors. Hordes of abominable beings stalked the halls after Twilight and Celestia. As the ponies approached a wooden door to another wing of the castle, an enormous floating eyeball descended from the ceiling and almost sent the rescuers careening off into a wall. Celestia instinctively zapped the eye and watched it disintegrate in a cloud of magic vapor.

“The monsters in here just keep getting more and more disturbing,” Twilight said as she smacked a skeleton away.

“I concur,” said Celestia with a shiver. “That thing must have been peeping on us from afar, waiting for us to get close enough.”

A pair of insidious merponies lumbered up to them, which they simultaneously felled.

“They keep coming,” stated Twilight in dismay. “It's like there's an endless amount of them!”

Celestia kicked a mud demon in the face. “It must be the castle's magic. I'm willing to bet they'll spawn endlessly as long as the castle has power.”

They both stood with their backs against the door as legion of dark forces crammed into the hall. Each creature hissed and groaned, trying to get at the two ponies. There were all manner of skeletons, amorphous blobs, bats, and multiple morphologies of zombie. Twilight and Celestia wasted no time in bolting through the door.

Once on the other side, they found themselves in an extravagant foyer with four different stairways trailing into the castle's bowels. Tapestries dangled from every wall and drooping chandeliers of pearl and gold dotted the ceiling. Twilight immediately noticed something else in the room.

“What the? Rarity? Is that you?” she called.

Sure enough, the seamstress sat at a makeshift vendor's table with racks of clothing designs displayed behind her.

“Oh my!” she cried in delight. “Twilight, Princess Celestia! What are you two doing here?”

The princesses looked at each other quizzically.

“We're looking for Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said. “But uh, what are you doing here?”

Rarity grinned and stood up. She lifted her hooves up to her designs. “Why, I'm turning a profit!”

Celestia walked over to her stand. “You're selling your wares here? Of all places? This isn't exactly a bustling center of commerce. In fact, I'm not quite okay with you being here at all. Have you sold anything?”

“Not yet,” Rarity explained. “You two are the first customers I've had all day.”

“Why exactly are you selling things here instead of Ponyville?” Twilight asked.

“Are you kidding? This place is wonderful!” exclaimed Rarity. “There are so many fabulous garments just lying around! Can you believe there are full sets of clothing that are completely unused? At first I thought that somepony must live here, but there isn't a soul around! Surely nopony will mind if I gather up the beautiful clothes I find and offer them at a small price. It's not stealing, technically. I've also found spools of cotton, silk, and even cashmere!”

Twilight examined the racks of clothing. “Exactly how much are you planning on selling? I think your clientele might be pretty limited here.”

“I'm not expecting any miracles,” said Rarity, “but I'm awfully disappointed that nopony else has come along so far.” She huffed dramatically. “You two will help me out, won't you? Please? Princess Celestia? I'll sell you a wonderful set of armor for a great price!”

Celestia did her best to sound enthusiastic. “Now really isn't the best time for shopping, Rarity. Twilight and I are on an important errand.”

“All the better!” chirped Rarity. “You could use some armor! How about this one?” She pushed aside her rack of clothing and revealed a chest stuffed to the brim with breastplates and gauntlets. With a hopeful gusto, she extracted a brilliant silver plate with blue strips of fabric faceted in. “I call it Eversing!” she said happily. “It was just lying at the bottom of a fountain, for some reason. How about it, Princess Celestia?”

Celestia shook her head while keeping up a polite smile. “No thank you. I haven't the bits to spend anyway. My budget is very tight.”

Upon hearing her offer rejected, Rarity took on a genuinely dreadful expression. She plopped into her folding chair with a pout.

“I'm sorry, Rarity,” said Twilight. “I wish you best of luck with your sales, but we have to get going. Pinkie is around somewhere and we need to find her immediately.”

“So, you don't even want to look at the weapons I've gathered?” whined Rarity. “I have a glittering sword, a giant scythe, some kind of future weapon that fires energy beams, and even a really scary teddy bear. I think it's filled with iron sand or something, so you could really dish out the damage if you -”

“No, good luck though,” Celestia cut her off. “We'll come back and buy something if we get the time.”

“Alright, I understand,” said Rarity as she slumped into a depressed heap.

Celestia and Twilight trotted away toward one of the multiple exits. Rarity gritted her teeth and muttered, “I thought for sure they'd go for the bear...”

Twilight picked a random door and stepped through. Celestia followed behind her and they began a quick canter down the hall.

“I can feel Pinkie's presence growing closer,” Celestia said. “We're moving in the right direction.”

A sinister laugh echoed throughout the corridor, alerting both ponies. There weren't any monsters in sight.

“That laugh sounds awfully familiar,” said Twilight.

Celestia swallowed and narrowed her eyes. “Discord.”

The laugh sounded again, reverberating up and down the hall.

“Show yourself!” seethed Twilight.

The bright flash of a teleportation caused both ponies to halt and shield their eyes. A grotesque creature now stood before them, blocking their access. The nightmarish biped stood much taller than Celestia. It had small tattered wings jutting out of its back, and a smooth green head reminiscent of an octopus. Writhing tentacles hung from it's face, and its soulless yellow eyes kept careful watch on the ponies.

Twilight was horrified. This new creature was much scarier than the insect infested skull. It just stood there staring.

Discord's voice rang once more. “This is Malachi. He's one of my favorite pets! He won't play rough if you treat him nicely. In fact, he's going to bring you two right up to us. The Dark Lord and I have been watching you since you entered the underground reservoir, and we're eager to talk to you both in person. Hurry up now, you two! We don't like waiting!”

Twilight's brow furrowed and she looked expectantly at Celestia. “Dark Lord? Is he referring to Pinkie Pie?”

“He must be,” Celestia replied. “Our time is growing short. If we want to save her, we need to cut her off from the castle's magic right now. I suppose we have no choice but to follow this... Malachi.”

“Are you sure? I don't trust that thing,” stated Twilight.

“I don't either. Keep your guard up and be ready to fight at a moments notice.”

Malachi's tentacles flopped around idly. It slowly turned its back to the ponies and began lumbering clumsily down the hall.

Twilight and Celestia followed its footsteps with the utmost caution. The thing stomped up several sets of stairs. It wound all around the castle in a seemingly random path. It crept along at a molasses pace. Twilight eventually calmed down enough that she no longer felt threatened by it. At long last, it lead them to a heavy wooden door. Sensing its mission was complete, it howled menacingly and teleported away.

Celestia looked at Twilight. “Well, no use waiting. She's close. I can feel an astounding amount of magical energy.”

Twilight nodded and tugged open the door. It lead outside, somewhat. Beyond the door was a churning gray dimension, free from the restraints of time. Tendrils of gray swirled about infinitely in every direction. In the distance, a single cubic chamber lay in a gravity-defying state. A marvelous red carpeted staircase stretched all the way down from the chamber, connecting it with the rest of the castle. Up at the top, Discord exited the chamber and waved at Twilight and Celestia. He motioned for them to approach, then reentered the floating room.

The princesses looked at each other, then bounded up the staircase. Levitating orbs of flame ignited on each side of the stairs as they ran, accentuating their otherworldly path.

“I'm really nervous,” Twilight said as she ran.

“It's okay. Don't forget, we're dealing with Pinkie Pie,” said Celestia. “Maybe she'll listen to us and willingly abandon the power.”

They ascended to the top. The grand chamber loomed high in front of them. Celestia opened the heavy door and entered, followed closely by Twilight.

Pinkie Pie sat happily atop a golden throne. Discord was coiled beside her, grinning delightfully at the newcomers. Behind Pinkie, thin curtains drifted softly through the air in an unseen breeze. The room was smaller than it looked from outside.

Pinkie stood and smiled wide. Her ruby eyes glowed in the dim light of the room. “Oh my gosh! You're finally here! Boy Princess Celestia, I haven't seen you in like, forever!”

Celestia calmly approached Pinkie. “Yes it's wonderful to see you too, but you're in a lot of danger right now.”

“Danger? What are you talking about?” Pinkie laughed and licked her serrated fangs. “There's no danger here. Right Discord?”

“Absolutely not,” asserted the draconequus. He waltzed over to Celestia and bowed before her. “You and Twilight are completely safe. You have my word.”

“I'm sooooo glad you guys are here!” Pinkie squealed. “I watched you fight all the monsters on the way up here. I also watched Rarity pick up all the useless clothes and stuff lying around. Can you guys believe how much stuff is in this castle? There's meat hidden in the walls...”

“Pinkie Pie, I need you to listen to me for a second. Your powers aren't what you think they are,” Celestia started. “They come from a dark place and whenever you use them, they take a little piece of you with them. You need to give up your powers and come home with us right now.”

Pinkie sat on the floor. “Aww. Why? That's boring. I love being the master of the castle! All the monsters listen to me and I can do anything I want!”

Twilight looked at Discord. He raised his eyebrow mischievously.

Pinkie's flippant lack of cooperation was making Celestia extremely uncomfortable. “You didn't just inherit powers. There's a reason this castle recognizes you as its master now.”

Pinkie scratched her chin. “What might that be?”

Celestia's words startled both Twilight and Pinkie. “The old master is inside of you. You inherited his soul! You're carrying the soul of a very very evil entity. Eventually he will consume you completely and vicariously reign once more. Twilight and I hare here to save you from that fate.”

This set Pinkie in a deep thought. “Hmm. Well, shoot. That complicates things. How long do you think it will take until this 'evil entity' consumes me?”

“That's not the point!” shouted Twilight.

“Hey, no need to yell,” scolded Pinkie.

Discord chortled and summoned a bag of popcorn. He for one, was having a marvelous time. Celestia walked up to Pinkie and examined her altered appearance. “Oh my. It's already started. Please come with us back to Canterlot. We just want to save you.”

“I'm sorry Princess, but I'm really not interested,” admitted Pinkie with a sigh. “This is much more fun than going back to my old life. No offense or anything. Besides, I'll come visit you guys all the time!”

Discord loudly slurped on a soda and belched.

Twilight took her turn at trying to persuade Pinkie. The desperation in her voice was obvious. “Aren't you scared of what you'll become?”

Pinkie looked at her seriously. “I'm not evil, Twilight. I'm Pinkie Pie. I'm not going to do evil things. Ever. Honestly, it kinda hurts my feelings that you'd assume that of me.”

Twilight smacked herself face. “That's not what I meant at all. These powers don't really belong to you, anyway. They -”

Pinkie interjected. “Princess Celestia, Twilight, look. I appreciate that you care about me. I care about you two a whole lot too. But, I said I'm not coming. This castle is amazing, and the monsters love me! We throw parties all the time! You should see how happy the merponies are when we party. It's like they've never tasted cake before! The skeletons are magnificent cooks, and the demons have some pretty wild party games. So, just let me be, okay? I'm happy here.”

“We can't, Pinkie,” said Celestia quietly. “You'll become dangerous. You'll threaten all of us one day, even me.”

“Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there,” stated Pinkie firmly. “Now if you two will excuse me, I have a lot of planning to do. I'm going to ask Rarity to help me redecorate this place. It feels like a dungeon.”

“Should we use force on her?” Twilight whispered to Celestia.

“It won't do any good now,” was her somber answer. “She's too strong. It may have something to do with that ring she's wearing.”

Pinkie stretched and told Discord to fetch Rarity. She then turned to the princesses. “I'll visit you every week. No, twice a week. Three times a week! It will be fine. I'm just moving, is all.”

“I'm not okay with this at all,” asserted Twilight.

“I know. I'm sorry.” Pinkie summoned her magic. A black aura seeped up from her body. “I'm going to give you two a gift. Like a souvenir.”

In front of them, a large teddy bear popped in from Pinkie's summon. Twilight attempted to lift it, but could only do so with immense strain. “Gah! This thing is heavy!”

Pinkie giggled. “Yeah, it's filled with iron sand. I want you two to take it. As a symbol of my totally-not-evilness. I'll even invite you guys and the rest of our Ponyville friends to my first party once I get the castle redone!”

“There's really nothing we can do to convince you?” Twilight questioned with a touch of sadness.

“Nope. Sorry, Twilight. You know you're welcome here anytime though. I'll tell all the monsters to treat you like royalty.” She laughed. “Oops, you are royalty! Silly me. Now if you two will excuse me, I have important business to attend to.” She summoned her Bone Ark and hopped up onto the chariot. “Jean Pierre, Federico, chop chop!”

Celestia and Twilight watched as she rode her skeletons out of the chamber and down the illuminated staircase.

“Should we go?” Twilight asked blankly.

“I suppose so,” said Celestia. “Maybe she really is immune to the darkness that comes with her powers.”

“Maybe. She is Pinkie Pie after all.”

Celestia started walking. “We'll keep a close watch on her. I don't trust Discord as far as I can throw him. I'll bet he's trying to worm his way into Pinkie's mind.”

Twilight languidly dragged the bear along with her, as it was too heavy to lift with magic. “Alright then. What a confusing day. I'm not sure what to make of any of this. This castle, the dark magic, I don't know...”

“I still know precious little about this place,” said Celestia. “I'll have to make frequent visits with my sister to learn more about it.”

“Same here,” said Twilight. “I guess all in all, it could have been worse right? At least Pinkie is 'okay' in the loosest sense of the word.”

“Oh yes,” Celestia agreed. “It could have been much worse. Pinkie is apparently alright, we have a new area to study, and the best part is, we didn't have to deal with any of those awful humans. This place used to belong to them.”

“What are they?” asked Twilight.

Celestia shuddered. “Maybe later, Twilight. Let's just get out of here. This place is making me paranoid.”

As the alicorns descended the stairs, a giggling Pinkie shaped shadow stalked their hoofsteps. Just to make sure they got out alright. After all, they were very important ponies and she wouldn't have her monsters harassing them. She only wished she could see them out herself. There was just so much party planning to do.

Comments

[link4588]

An Aria of Sorrow Crossover? Where do I put this?

[Saltyoven]

I am so happy that this story exists. I mean, this seems like a very difficult crossover to pull of successfully, and you did it.

[FullMetalFurbee]

4273066 I think you meant to post Soma's theme.

4273578 Many thanks, comrade. There's no crossover like an obscure, socially irrelevant crossover.

[Saltyoven]

4274323 want to know another crossover I haven't seen done that I strongly wish to be done, a Dark Chronicle (dark cloud 2) one. By far my personal most underrated game of all time.