The Wild Laughter of Stone

by dah884

Chapter 1: Flames and Tears

Pinkie was sitting around the family table with her friends and family as they were celebrating her birthday. Everypony was laughing and singing, as she looked around she caught a glimpse of a pearly face and auburn hair. She looks back between her ma and pa but the face is gone. As the laughter continues the sky outside goes from early night to mid afternoon. The walls fell away but instead of the rock and dust covered on the plain of the rock farm they were on a mountain, both familiar and unknown to her, overlooking a valley. From her location, she could just barely make out a few pools with bamboo stocks sticking out of them. A shiver running down her spine at the sight was unnoticed as the mountain itself screamed danger. She tried to laugh, as sweat started forming on her brow she kept trying to laugh the fear away, but the fear just kept building, kept telling her something really bad was about to happen. When Maud had started walking over Pinkie couldn’t help but smile despite her growing concerns. As she reached her hooves out to take her sister in a hug, a glint of light caught her attention. She turned and to her horror saw her family engulfed in flame. As she watch them burn, their laughter growing eerie and strained, their faces stretched and merged with the flames. Terrified she turned to Maud only to watch helplessly as she fell into the flames. Pinkie immediately reached a hoof into the flame only to feel something wet and cold. As she pulled back her hoof, there in her hand was a heart. Horrified she looked up just as the full moon washed the flames away to see Celestia there with moonlight flowing through the hole in her chest.

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Ponyville was quit and peace. Not a creature was stirring not even Twilight’s pet owl. When all through the town with the silence set there, lit only by the glow of the beautiful full moon. Arose such a scream that air did vibrate. Windows shattered, dogs hollered, everypony awoke, and the source they did strife to find.

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Mrs. Cake, a sky blue earth pony mare with brilliant rose eyes, a striped pink mane and tail styled like frosting, and a three cupcake cutie mark. After checking on their twins, both of which were awake and crying at the top of their lungs, Mrs. Cake sent her husband to help find what caused the noise, as she calmed them down. Then, after they were back a sleep, she headed to the guest room. By the time she reached the door the sound had been quiet for a while but still she had to check on Pinkie just to make sure she hadn’t slept through that noise. As she opened the door she noticed the bed was empty and the room appeared to be void of anypony else. Figuring that Pinkie may have went to check on the noise like everypony else she turned to leave when she heard it.

A slow quiet sob.

Upon closer examination she found something pink and crying in a corner. Mrs. Cake was surprised there in that corner was the usually over enthusiastic and happy pink pony. She was curled into a ball, her usual brilliant pink fur was dull and grayish, her cotton candy hair was flat and straight, and the sobs as she held herself were heart-wrenching. Over and over again, she whispered the same sentence.

“I’m a good pony.”

As Mrs. Cake reached out to hug the distraught pony, Pinkie looked up and saw the ghostly apparition of Celestia from her dreams once more reaching out to drag her to the bowels of hell. The scream that followed confirmed where the earlier scream had come from.

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In a castle, hanging impossibly on the side of a mountain, in a room decorated in a solar motif laid an white alicorn princess. As her rainbow ethereal hair flowed, she dreamed of cakes and deserts. Her former student and fellow princess was there with all her friends. Her sister and niece were there and the problems of the world were but a distant memory. There was only one word for how she felt right here and now…

Bliss. Pure bliss.

The only thing that could ruin this beautiful, wonderful moment would be the end of the world. So naturally…

It started with a rumble in the distance and the ground shaking apart. The ponies around her remained oblivious as the rumbling and the fissures widened. All of a sudden there was a loud blast and all Celestia could see was white…

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Celestia awoke with a start as an explosion tore through her room sending into the far wall. As she regained her composure she bore witness to the manifestation of one of her worst nightmares for the second time in her long life. The ethereal cloud of a moonless night slowly formed into long ebony horn illuminated by a glowing cyan aura. From within the cloud, Celestia could make out the silted turquoise eyes of…

“Nightmare Moon.”

As she reared to attack, Celestia closed her eyes and prepared for the assault. With her eyes closed she missed the cloud’s eyes snap from the predatorily slits to the soft and confused eyes of the navy blue alicorn with the ethereal mane and tail of a spring night littered with stars. Looking around the confused pony was wondering why her sister room was destroyed and how she got here. “Sister, what is going on?”

Hope filled Celestia’s heart as she looked up and saw her sister. “Lulu,” she called as dived into Luna giving her a fierce hug.

“Um, I’m happy to see you to but what is going on,” asked an even more confused Luna.

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Sometime and a very embarrassing and disorientating explanation later…

“I don’t know what happened. All I was doing was watching the dream realm, when…” Luna had gone silent.

“What is it?” asked Celestia.

“It was a dream,” she paused letting it sink in. “The realm was normal, when a miasma spread from a single dream engulfing the entire realm. I tried to seal and contain it. However, I saw the image of something wielding the sun incinerating innocent ponies and them laughing and smiling as they were consumed. I…” another pause as she was deep in thought, “it’s… the same deep from a thousand years ago,” she ended in a whisper.

“I fear, that until this is resolved you can’t watch the dreams of our little ponies. For your own protection, as well as theirs,” Celestia said with remorse. “I’ll see if Twilight and her friends can…”

She was interrupted by green dragon smoke swirling in and materializing into a letter. “Speaking of which…”