The Pony Version's Better: Maiden in the Moon

by Sunset Reed

Chapter 6 Part 2

Chapter 6

They had been walking in silence for too long. The path grew slick with dew that had never had the chance to evaporate. The sound of splashing water suggested a bog nearby.
“Eugh.” vocalized Rarity. “My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck.”
Right at that statement, the flashlights went out. There was a moment of chatter and confusion.
“Well, I didn't mean that literally.” Rarity said amidst it all.
Tania started waving her pink glow stick around, trying to find the other girls. Was this the moment? Maybe now was the time to expose her secret. She had just decided to give in when another glow stick snapped into existence. Fluttershy waved her hand around and streaks of yellow shot from between her fingers. Glows of other hues snapped into the dark, but the forest was still dim. Applejack was about to hand off another one when she held back.
“Oh wait, I think I stepped in somethin'.”
Tania glimpsed Fluttershy’s yellow face just long enough to see her shriek.
“It's just mud.” said Applejack, and then she let out a yowl herself.
A jolt of adrenaline shot through Tania and she echoed the call. Right behind Applejack was a hideous face, gnarled and hollow-eyed in the glow. The other girls around her shrieked too. Tearing her eyes away from face, Tania saw another, and another. Each face appeared more suddenly then the last. They never ended. The group must have been surrounded by an army! And the shrieking went on and on, echoing off their attackers, and didn’t quit. They didn’t quit, until a giggle cut through the air.
Pinkie laughed.
The sound exposed a face for what it was, a carved tree with jagged teeth. The girls stopped shrieking, but the urge to fly was still prevalent. Then there was Pinkie. She made faces back at the tree. Tania didn’t wait for it to come to life and attack. She expected nothing less from this forest.
“Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run!” Tania cried.
Pinkie just laughed again.
“Oh girls, don't you see?”

“I’m no stranger to feeling scared
To feeling sad
Or unaware
Of how others saw the tangles in my hair.”

Pinkie word’s leapt into verse and melody. Here, of all places and times!
“Tell me she's not...” winced Tania, her eyes never straying from the faces.

“But you can bring more to your life
So don’t keep things
Crammed deep inside
Turn it into something bright!”

“She is.” replied Rarity.

“Listen to Pinkie Pie
Take that hurt and say goodbye
Let the laughter be a light”

Tania could have sworn the acoustics of the forest turned each vocal note into its own chord, like some kind of woody back-up music.

“And if it’s gotten inside your head
Let it show!
Find a way bring the lessons that you’ve learned
Into your world
If it’s gotten inside your heart
Let it grow!
Take this joy, it’s just the water that you need
To tower in these trees!

“I’ve found that laughter here
In this world
Is crystal clear
Others will see your lack of fear
Instead of forcing people back
Because they hurt
They might just lack
Some sunshine in that dreary world of theirs”

“Hey girls!” called Rainbow Dash. “These faces are just molded on! They’re not even moving!”

“Listen to this law
Your world can only stand in awe
When all you say is “Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Pinkie faced a tree and laughed right into its horrifying face. The molded piece then proceeded to…disappear.
Tania couldn’t take it. “WHAT!? But that’s-”

“And if it’s gotten inside your head
Let it show!
Find a way bring the lessons that you’ve learned
Into your world
If it’s gotten inside your heart
Let it grow!
Take this joy, it’s just the water that you need
To tower in these trees!”

The girls laughed to the time of the music. Tania couldn’t believe it, but the faces disappeared into a cloud of smoke if she flooded it with mirth. And even more amazing, she couldn’t stop laughing! Bubbly shrieks of joy instead of terror bounced off the trees now. Each terrifying face, human and tree alike, washed away one by one.

“Take this joy, it’s just the water that you need
To tower in these trees!”

On her back in the mud, laughing with these strangers who were quickly becoming friends, Tania had never felt so happy.

Comments

[Atlantis Productions]

Are you going to finish this story? I really want to see more.