The Element of Laughter

by The-rogue-shadow

Chapter 8

Pinkamina awoke to find herself tied to a chair, her whole body ached and her vision was blurry. In front of her, she could see a large white shape, and as her vision slowly cleared, she discovered that it was Celestia. Behind Celestia, Pinkamina could make out the rough shapes of her other friends. Celestia bent down to look her right in the eye.
"Pinkie, can you hear me?" she asked, and Pinkamina nodded. "Good, now I'm going to try and bring you back to us Pinkie, I'm going to undo what Duskheart did." Pinkamina looked up at her and smiled.
"Hello Princess, are we going to have some fun together? You know that Pinkie and I love to have fun." Said Pinkamina, laughing. Celestia's eyes were full of fear, and Pinkamina knew it.
"What's wrong Celestia? What are you afraid of? It's just me, Pinkamina." She said. Celestia took a deep breath, and bowed her head. Magic swirled around her horn and into Pinkamina, as Celestia tried to force her way in. Pinkamina forced her out, sending Celestia sprawling along the ground.
"NO! This is my space, you are not allowed in." said Pinkamina angrily. Celestia tried again and again, but the result was always the same. Exhausted and hurting, Celestia gave up, leaving the task to Twilight. Pinkamina smiled at Twilight and played with her, allowing her to think she had gotten in, before throwing her down. She looked into Twilight's eye, now black and featuring a white iris.
"I thought you should know Twilight, that your eye is super creepy. I like it, gives me a warm feeling deep down." She said; her smile and bloodshot eyes unnerving Twilight.
"Why did you kill the Doctor?" asked Twilight, and Pinkamina faltered, unsure of whether to tell the truth and admit that it was an accident, or lie and break her heart. She looked down at the ground.
"I don't like it when people are in my mind." She said, thinking of nothing better to say. Twilight tried again, and Pinkamina allowed her to touch the darkness where Pinkie was being kept, then, with all of her psychic might, pushed back at Twilight and sent her flying out of the tent she was being held in. Twilight walked back in, crying.
"I'm sorry Pinkie; I'm just not strong enough for you. I… I" Twilight couldn't finish, running out of the tent crying. A guard locked Pinkamina's cage and left. Leaving her all alone. Pinkamina refused to close her eyes, lest she have to deal with Pinkie again, and so she meditated to rest her body, rejuvenating it while never having to enter the darkness. Every day, both Celestia and Twilight tried and failed to get into Pinkamina's head. After one session, Twilight sat down in front of her.
"Pinkamina, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" asked Twilight. Pinkamina was puzzled, both that Twilight had used her real name and that she just wanted to talk. She nodded once, and Twilight smiled.
"So tell me, is Pinkie in there with you or are you her, just changed?" she asked, and Pinkamina frowned, not wanting to think about Pinkie.
"We are separate, so yes, she is in here with me; I just don't want to give up control." Pinkamina replied.
"How come?" Twilight asked. Pinkamina's eye twitched.
"Because I am sick and tired of having to deal with that weakling. Her constant parties, always being happy, and now I get what I want." She said loudly and Twilight jumped at the outburst.
"And what is it you want?" Twilight asked her.
"I want to kill griffins, I want to disembowel Minotaur. I want every single one of my enemies to know who I am and that there is nothing they can do to stop me." Replied Pinkamina. Twilight stood, turning away from her.
"Then it's a good thing that you aren't staying Pinkamina. We are going to get Pinkie back, and there will be nothing YOU can do about it." Said Twilight, he voice filled with such determination that for the first time, Pinkamina felt fear.

Pinkamina was meditating when it happened, the psychic presence of somepony very familiar entered, she looked up to see the Doctor, alive, much to her surprise. The Doctor smiled.
"Hello Pinkie, it's good to see you again." He said. Pinkamina smiled.
"Hello Doctor. It is good to see you to. But I must ask that you call me Pinkamina" she replied, truly meaning that it was good to see him again.
"And why is that?" Asked the Doctor. Pinkamina had to come up with something; otherwise he would send her into the darkness.
"Because Pinkie is no longer around, just me" she said, trying to sound malicious and menacing.
"Oh really? Well that's a shame. Because it's my birthday tomorrow and I was going to have a party." Said the Doctor, and try as she might, Pinkamina couldn't help but prick up her ears at the word 'Party'.
"Well then, happy birthday to you Doctor. Enjoy the party." Said Pinkamina nervously.
"That's just it. It needs to be planned, put together, and I just don't have the time. I really need a pony that knows all about parties, do you know one?" He said. Pinkamina couldn't help it, her ears rose a bit further, excited.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. But she isn't in right now. Can I take a message?" Pinkamina said in desperation, hoping that her smile purveyed confidence.
"Actually, I was hoping to speak to her myself." Said the Doctor as he opened the cage. Pinkamina panicked, not wanting to go back to the darkness and face Pinkie.
"No! You can't. You need me! I can win this war for us! Don't you understand! I'm your only hope!" She screamed desperately, as the Doctor placed his hooves on either side of her head. She felt him enter, easily blasting his way through her defences and finding the darkness, finding Pinkie.

Pinkie was ecstatic to see the Doctor, both alive and in the darkness with her. She floated over to him and gave him a massive hug. Pinkie looked behind him, and saw that he towed Pinkamina behind him in a cage of green energy.
"Doctor! It is so good to see you, are you here to get me out?" she asked, and was heartbroken when he shook his head,
"It's great to see you too Pinkie, I'm really here to help you destroy Pinkamina, that way you will be free again when you take control." He told her. Pinkie smiled, leaned close and told him;
"That's already been put into motion." She replied, whispering her plan into his ear as Pinkamina tried desperately to listen. The Doctor smiled, looking Pinkie straight in the eye.
"That's my girl." He said, kissing her on the forehead. "Are you one hundred per cent certain that you can do this?" Pinkie nodded.
"Okay then Pinkie, I will see you when you wake up." The Doctor said, and the cage dissipated, leaving Pinkamina free. The Doctor disappeared, and Pinkie stared intensely at Pinkamina.
"Are you ready?" asked Pinkie, flicking her arm and producing the blade of Pink energy again. Pinkamina shook her head.
"You still haven't fully learnt, I'm stronger than you, I have full control over everything here, and you have no hope." She said, closing her eyes and concentrating. Pinkie gasped and Pinkamina, split into two, then four, then six, all completely identical.
"Are YOU ready?" they all asked as one. Pinkie smiled, floating backwards a bit.
"Do you remember when you took control? What you told me? Well I decided to go exploring, and I made some friends that are just dying to meet you Pinkamina." Said Pinkie, she waved her arms and five ponies materialised. The Pinkamina's were taken aback at the sight.
"How?" asked the original Pinkamina.
"I'm Pinkie Pie." Said Pinkie. "guys, would you like to say hello?" The first, a pink earth pony stallion, smiled.
"Hi, I'm Bubble Berry." The second, a white Pegasus mare with a blonde mane.
"Howdy, I'm Surprise." The third, a Pink unicorn with her hair tied in a bun.
"Greetings, I'm Diane Pie." The forth was covered from head to hoof in a red and black costume.
"Are you ready for the power of Pinkiepool." And the last, a pink earth pony, covered in armour.
"Hail, I am Pinkie of the clan Pie, hailing from Ponyville. Be warned, I am the dovakiin."
Pinkamina looked at them, the Pinkie's from different universes all brought together by Pinkie.
"Do you want to know why they all decided to help me? They all had the distinction of having a version of you. And it was because of you that they all lost someone they loved. This is their revenge." Said Pinkie, as her counterparts produced their own swords. Pinkamina stared daggers at Pinkie.

"If it's revenge you want, then TAKE IT!" she yelled, producing two swords, as did her clones. The two groups clashed, light flashed everywhere. The Pinkamina's looked like they had the upper hand at first, but the Pinkie's were fierce. DovaPinkie was a slayer of dragons, and knew magic that unicorns did not. Diane Pie seemed to be a master of every martial art known to ponykind; she was the first to kill a Pinkamina. The original Pinkamina got worried.
"Time to change the rules!" she yelled, clapping her hooves together, creating a large flash of light. The light dissipated, and Pinkie was amazed to find that they were in Ponyville and that they now had gravity. It didn't matter to Pinkie; she attacked with greater intensity, as did her counterparts. Pinkiepool was chaotic, bouncing around and throwing bladed pie tins. Surprise took to the air, speeding through the group of Pinkamina's and decapitating one. Bubble Berry was skinny, but he had the strength of Big Mac, picking a Pinkamina up by the throat and slamming her into the ground, which cracked from the impact. The Pinkie's pushed the Pinkamina's back, as the three remaining Pinkamina's struggled to defend themselves. Pinkiepool threw her sword onto one of the Pinkamina's, who dropped. The last of the clones dropped their sword, putting their hooves up in surrender. The original looked at it, disgusted that it would do such a thing. Pinkamina killed her own clone, before looking at the assembled Pinkie's.
"None of you understood, I was what made you great." She yelled, still holding her sword at the ready. The Pinkie's shook their heads.
"No, what made us great was our ability to overcome you." Said Bubble Berry.
"And I'm glad we could help out our counterpart in destroying her Pinkamina." Said Diane Pie.
"But you haven't destroyed me yet, any second now, the body is going to wake up and I will never come back here." She screamed, desperate, not knowing she was defeated. Pinkie looked over at DovaPinkie.
"What was that thing again?" she asked. DovaPinkie whispered something into her ear and Pinkie smiled. She turned back to Pinkamina.
"Oh that's right, FUS RO DAH!" she yelled and Pinkamina was blasted off her feet, and straight through sugarcube corner. They all galloped over and to Pinkie's dismay, found Pinkamina still alive. She was crawling away, her back legs looked as though they were broken. Pinkie walked over and kicked Pinkamina onto her back.
"I thought you were 'all powerful' in here. But it looks like I'm the one that is powerful." She had, putting pressure on Pinkamina's chest.
"If you kill me, you will be weak, unable to do anything. Nopony will love you." Said Pinkamina weakly. Pinkie shook her head;
"It doesn't matter, at least I know that I won't be a monster anymore." Said Pinkie. She buried her sword into Pinkamina's chest, and Pinkamina screamed a high pitched scream that made Pinkie's head want to explode, she twisted the sword and the screaming stopped. She looked around as the Ponyville around her melted, and instead of darkness, it was white. Pinkie smiled, knowing she had finally killed her demon. She looked at her counterparts and laughed, they all hugged her, proud to have a strong Pinkie in another universe.
"You realise that nopony in our universes are going to believe us if we tell them about this." Said Diane Pie.
"The ponies in my universe will, in the Mareval universe, this is pretty common." Said Pinkiepool. Pinkie laughed, just happy it was over.
"Goodbye everypony, and thank you." She said, waving her hoof. Her counterparts all faded away, leaving Pinkie to herself. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

Pinkie snapped awake with a deep gasp of air. She tried to get up, but found that she couldn't move. She looked down to find herself strapped to a bed. She screamed, hoping she hadn't been recaptured by I.Q and Duskheart. The Doctor galloped to her bed side and she smiled.
"It worked Doctor, she's gone." She cried happily. The Doctor cheered, undoing the straps and hugging Pinkie.
"I'm so proud of you Pinkie." He said, and Pinkie hugged him tighter. She got out of the bed and took her first shaky steps after not being in control for so long. She walked out of the tent, closing her eyes as the warm sunlight caressed her face.
"It's a brand new day for you Pinkie." Said the Doctor. Pinkie nodded; just glad she was back in control of herself.
"What have I missed since I've been gone?" she asked. The Doctor's smile faded;
"Nothing that is hugely important now." He said. "Just enjoy the freedom." Pinkie heard voices next to her and laughed when she saw Fluttershy, Twilight and Derpy. Pinkie's smile grew wider when she saw Derpy. She looked back at the Doctor, who winked slyly. She hugged her friends, and they hugged back, Pinkie was ecstatic, but one thing bugged her.
"Where's Rarity?" she asked, and the downtrodden looks on their faces made her frown. They told her what happened, ignoring the Doctor's protests. Pinkie collapsed on the ground, shocked.
"Things have changed so much… I… think I need to be alone." She said, walking away. She found her way to archer's stage and sat up there, thinking. Fluttershy found her, sitting next to her and saying nothing. Finally, Pinkie spoke;
"I remember everything Fluttershy, absolutely everything about what happened to me. And I don't know if I can cope in this new world." She told her. Fluttershy put her arm around Pinkie.
"I can't even begin to understand what you went through Pinkie, but what I DO know is that you are strong enough to get through anything, and maybe you just need somepony to talk to." Said Fluttershy. Pinkie looked at her, and a small smile appeared on her face.
"Actually, there is one pony I want to talk to, can you give me some directions?" she said.
Pinkie soon found Rosethorn's grave, her cutie mark had been carved into the tombstone, and Pinkie noticed that roses had grown over the top of her grave, something that hadn't happened to any of the other graves. Pinkie sat there all night, just talking to Rosethorn, expressing all of her love and sorrows, her painful memories and her dark secrets. As dawn broke the next morning, Pinkie was exhausted from a night full of tears and hard memories. She stood, taking one last look at Rosethorn's grave.
"Thank you. And I promise to make up for everything I've done." She said, before turning and walking back to the camp.