My Little Higurashi: Friendship is Madness

by TwinkieSpy

You Shared its Magic With Me (Part Two)

My Little Higurashi: Friendship is Madness
First Arc

Despite my reservations, things seemed to turn back to normal as days went by, Pinkie Pie arriving at my home a day after the party with a cupcake in her hoof and a smile on her face. She didn't mention her outburst, and neither did I; I was just glad that she was okay. Rainbow Dash's prediction proved true as we settled back into our usual schedule: Pinkie Pie joked and threw parties, Rainbow Dash performed tricks in the air and provided the group with a healthy degree of snark, Applebloom played pranks and acted the downer, Sweetie Belle counteracted her pessimism with sweet innocence, and I was there to deadpan my way through each of their antics. Life was good.

Of course, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and it seems that the universe's reaction to my happiness was to curse me with influenza. I wasn't deathly ill by a long shot, but the disease did hamper my ability to meet with my friends, and I found myself spending more and more time locked up in the library, sneezing my way through tissue after tissue. But, at least my friends were happy. Especially--

"Twilight Sparkle," called a high-pitched voice to my right, waking me. My head ached, my vision was blurry, and an unfinished letter to Princess Celestia lay on the desk in front of me, covered in what I could only assume was my own saliva. I grimaced and sent the paper floating over to the trash bin; I had to stop staying up so late or I'd never get anything done in the daytime!

"Yes?" I croaked, turning towards the intruder. Well, "intruder" was a bit much; if I hadn't have been able to recognize her by her voice, the puffy mane and cheerful blue eyes would have tipped me off to her identity immediately. Pinkie Pie grinned, oblivious to my grogginess and overall exhaustion. "What's up, Pinkie?"

"Oh, I just realized I hadn't talked to you in, like, forever!"

I wiped my eyes with a hoof and cast a skeptical glance her way as my eyesight returned. "I've only been home sick for three days," I reminded her.

Pinkie Pie hopped closer to me; I could smell her candy-flavored breath as she examined me. Before I had time to wonder why I was making observations on the exact scent of my friend's breath, she cried, "Oh, I know, and it's just been awful! Three whole days without you, Twilight! Three! Whole! Days!"

I shuffled away, a bit uncomfortable at our proximity. "Look, Pinkie Pie, I don't want to infect you or anything, so--"

"Also!" cried Pinkie, disregarding any advice I may have had for her. "This is the library, right? I need a cookbook!"

My ears perked up; ill or not, I had a passion for bookkeeping. Were I not the Princess's researcher, I imagine I would have been happy as a librarian. "Oh, a cookbook? We have plenty of those!" I ventured a few steps towards the nonfiction section of the treehouse, beckoning Pinkie Pie with my tail. "What kind do you need?"

The party pony bounced up behind me, gaze jumping from spine to spine as she read the titles of the books under my care. "Oh, I need some recipes for candy or maybe even pastries..." Her blue eyes gleamed as she caught sight of Discordant Desserts, a cookbook that seemed to detail recipes involving chocolate. "Ooh! Fudge! I'll take that one!"

I nodded, using my telekinesis to extract the book from my carefully-organized shelf and float it on over to her. "What do you need it for?" I queried, trying to make conversation.

"I'm making treats for Nightmare Night!" she announced happily, her tail wagging like a dog's as she flipped through the cookbook. "It's coming up soon, ya' know!"

I sneezed, and was immediately thankful for the spare moment I had been given to plan my reply. Pinkie's mention of Nightmare Night had reminded me of her outburst at my welcoming party, and suddenly I was terrified of upsetting her again. Even if Rainbow Dash had waved the episode off, I couldn't help but worry for Pinkie Pie's happiness. Finally sensing that the time for my reply was at hand, I took the safe route: "It is, isn't it?"

Not the most intelligent sentence ever spoken, but she seemed satisfied.

"Uh-huh! I just can't wait!" Pinkie looked ready to gush some more, but she stopped short and placed a forehoof on her chin thoughtfully, as if rethinking her plans. I tried not to giggle at how ridiculous she looked in that pose. Eventually, the pink mare placed all four hooves back on the ground and shot me another dazzling grin. "Oh, Twilight! I just had the best idea!"

I smiled back nervously, thankful that I hadn't found another way to offend her. The idea of Pinkie Pie being angry or depressed just seemed... wrong to me. "Oh yeah?" I replied, raising one eyebrow in mock-disbelief. "What's that, Pinkie?"

She jabbed a hoof in my chest; I doubled over in a coughing fit. Oblivious, she was still smiling as I managed to recover from her forceful idea-sharing. "You, Twilight! You should come help me get ingredients! You need to get out more, anyways!"

I sighed, picking myself up off of the wooden floor I had just collapsed upon. My throat felt rough again and I had to clear my throat several times before my voice lost its sudden cold-addld edge. "Pinkie Pie, I'm sick, remember? I really don't think I should go outside; it could worsen my symptoms or even mean I'll infect the other ponies of Ponyville!" I looked at her pleadingly, wondering what in Equestria it had been that had made my heart skip a beat and my breathing grow shallow when she had entered. She was cute, sure, but her energy could be... daunting--especially to a shut-in like me. "I'd love to go to the grocery store with you, Pinkie, but I just don't think it's best, okay?"

And that was how I ended up being dragged to Sweet Apple Acres.

---

Sweet Apple Acres was a large apple orchard on the outskirts of Ponyville, not too far from the Everfree Forest I had passed over on my chariot ride here. I had heard of it, of course--apparently it was owned by Applebloom's family, though only she and her grandmother lived there now--but had never actually visited the sprawling farm until now. Having to keep up with Pinkie's bouncing gait, I didn't have very long to sightsee, but still had to take a few moments to collect myself after stepping through the quaint wooden gate.

The first thing that struck me was the grass; it was just so green. The turf was perfectly mowed, each blade at the same exact height, and not one was even slightly yellowed. I would have assumed the grass was fake if I hadn't been able to feel the dew brushing by my hooves as I walked. To one sight was the orchard itself, nothing but a textured sea of green dotted occasionally with the bright red of an apple. On the other side was a large wooden barn, painted red and donning a decorative mural of an apple on its frontmost wall, above the barn doors. I loved the library, but for just a moment I envied Applebloom for living in such an idyllic place. By Celestia, it looked like it was straight out of a picture book!

"C'mon, Twilight!" giggled Pinkie Pie from the orchard, peeking out from behind an apple tree mischievously. "I've got something to show you!"

I shook my head to clear it before cantering after her, the both of us rushing down on of the perfectly straight rows of the orchard. As we ran, I could see her noticeably glancing back every couple of minutes, only to speed up her gait afterwards. Were we racing? I just couldn't quite tell. "W-Wait up!" I stammered, out of breath. We were galloping now, and I found myself wondering exactly how long the orchard extended. Surely we had already traveled a mile or maybe even two!

Now Pinkie wasn't even looking back before increasing her speed, turning from a clearly running pony into an indistinct blur of pink. She could probably outrun Rainbow Dash if she wanted to, I realized. I looked down, at the ground rushing past underneath my hooves, and tried to increase my speed to match, but I just couldn't keep up. As she pulled further and further away from me, my stomach began to develop a sharp ache, until I was forced to stop.

I tripped over my own forelegs, collapsing on the perfect grass in a fit of coughing. I stared after her blearily, but now she wasn't even visible. I hoped she noticed my absence soon, but didn't count on it; when Pinkie Pie got her mind set on something, she didn't stop to check on anypony else in her pursuit of it. Her outburst at my welcoming party was a prime example of that trait.

"Uuugh..." I groaned, picking myself up off of the ground unsteadily. Why did I have to think of that again? Now I wasn't just worrying for my own poor, diseased body, but for Pinkie Pie's poor emotions as well. I was surrounded by nothing but apple trees; I couldn't even tell the direction in which Pinkie Pie had run off, much less the direction from which I had come. It dawned on me slowly that I was lost.

I groaned again, sitting down on my back legs. As much as I loved Ponyville, I had to admit that this would have never happened in Canterlot. There, even if I couldn't find a friendly face to point me home, there was always my assistant, Spike. He was immature, which I supposed came along with being an infant in dragon years, but he was always reliable, and I knew he cared about me. And I cared about him, too, of course. I was the closest thing to a family member he had and, oh, why hadn't he come to Ponyville with me? Why did he have to stay back with Princess Celestia in Canterlot? I gazed downward, tracing circles in the ground with my hoof. I had never had many friends before coming here, and I thought it was because I simply didn't want friends, but... was it possible that they didn't want me? I sighed, cursing my introverted nature.

"Twilight?" The voice was male, a bit rough, yet nearly as high-pitched as Pinkie Pie's... Okay, perhaps not that high, but at Rainbow Dash's level at least-- My ears shot upward, and I whipped around in the direction the voice had come from. That voice wasn't just remarkable because of its timbre; it was remarkable because I knew that voice!

"Spike!" I cried, forgetting all about my illness as I leapt forward to wrap the tiny scaled creature in a tight hug. He chuckled, returning the gesture. "Spike! Oh, how in Equestria did you get here?!"

"Same as you," he replied. "By chariot!" I released him, and he grinned, emerald eyes glinting. "So how've you been doing, Twi?"

"Not bad." I decided it best not to mention the Nightmare Night-related shenanigans with Pinkie Pie yet--at least not until I actually understood what was going on. "Well, I have a cold, but I'll be all right. One of my friends just arrived to cheer me up, actually!" If I could only find her... I gave the trees another quick scan, but didn't see any trace of pink.

Spike raised a scaly eyebrow. "'Friends?'" he parroted, incredulous. "You have friends?"

It was perfectly logical for him to be suspicious of this claim, especially considering my antisocial behavior back in Canterlot, but I couldn't help but feel insulted regardless. "Well, yes," I snapped, my tone of voice sprouting barbs. "I'm not nearly as socially useless as you might think, Spike. I am capable of making friends when I'd like to."

His words had hit a nerve, and I was about to turn my back on the young dragon when he called after me pleadingly: "Hey, wait, Twi! I didn't mean it like that! I mean, you know I'm your friend!"

I glared back at Spike, who was looking down and twiddling his dewclaws nervously. "Then what did you mean it like, hm?"

"I just... I dunno," he said, and I was prepared to walk out right there until he continued hurriedly. "It's just... I've heard about what goes on in Ponyville, right? It was probably pretty judgmental of me--Hey, look, I just used that word in a sentence! 'Judgmental!'" he laughed nervously. "But anyways, I guess I just thought all of the ponies here would be--y'know--crazy."

I had a vision of Pinkie Pie, but pushed it away as I turned back around to face him. "'Crazy?'" I repeated with disbelief. "What in Equestria would make you think that all of the ponies here are crazy?"

Spike managed to go pale, even behind his scales. "You haven't heard?" Earlier he had sounded nervous; now he just sounded scared.

I tried to remove the edge from my voice, but it crept up nonetheless. "Heard what?" It was ridiculous, I knew, but I had the crazy thought that perhaps what he was referring to had to do with--

"It happens every Nightmare Night," he began. Inwardly, I shrieked with frustration. Outwardly, I said nothing, and slowly he continued. "It was first reported on a few years ago, but since then the royal guards have looked in on it, and it seems like it's actually been going on since even before that. There was just, like... a cover-up."

"A cover-up of what?!" I snapped. His head flew up, and as soon as I saw the look in his eyes I felt awful for startling him. Quieter, I repeated, "A cover-up of what?"

Spike avoided my gaze, wringing his hands. "Murder," he explained quietly.

Comments

[TwinkieSpy]

Long time no update. Sorry about that.

Back on schedule now, though, and things are about to get intense.

[Itsasecrettome]

Oh god I read the title and all my nightmares flushed back in. God damn you sir I had these memories sealed away for good............... what the fuck am I saying I have been a /b/rother since age 12 nothing can cause me nightmares anymore.

[Spectrum]

OooOOoooh, stressed out Twilight is best Twilight. She goes absolutley insane im glad you finally updated, i thought this fic was long forgotten.

[TwinkieSpy]

387009
You don't even know, bro. (I use that emoticon a lot in reference to this story, don't I?)
Nah, I had a bit of a writer's block when it came to this story for a while, which, admittedly, is ridiculous because I'm pretty much just ripping off the entire plot. I'm back on track now, though.

[AtrocityEquine]

Update.UPDATE NOOOW.

I finally found someone do a story version of Higurashi with PONIES .You must.YOU MUUUUST !

[yolky206]

MOAR! I DEMAND MOAR !

[Deynarth]

Higurashi + Ponies ? DO WANT !