Pinkie's Dream Quest

by MadHauk

The Cave

Part Seven: The Cave

All of Pinkies fear disappeared the moment she realized she had finally found what she was looking for. She trotted happily further into the cave and took in its unfathomable size.

At first glance the cave looked natural, made fully out of the same stone as the surrounding mountain, but Pinkie soon noticed that what she had assumed were stalagmites and stalactites joined together over time were actually constructed pillars spread in an intricate pattern throughout the cave. Each pillar was as thick as a big house at the base, and when Pinkie studied then closer she could make out chiseled hieroglyphs covering the pillars from the bottom up 'till as far as she could see in the faint light.

The hieroglyphs did not remind Pinkie of any alphabet of letters or runes she had ever encountered previously, but each symbol seemed to represent an object. Some looked like trees, animals, fishes, squids, dragons or other natural object, others looked like things Pinkie had never seen or heard of before; some seemed to be strange hybrids of ponies and various sea creatures, and some were completely beyond description.

Pinkie wondered what ancient civilization could have made those marks and how old they could possibly be. Then she started to wonder how big the cave was. The magical glow that seemed to emit from every part of the cave felt strong enough to make her expect to be able to see quite far, but still she could not see the end of the cave in any direction, not even the ceiling.

Pinkie tried to make a little shout, to use the echo as a measurement of the caves dimensions, but her voice was still low and timid after her long run. It was very unusual for her to have been quiet for so long, and it took her some concentration to get over it. Soon however, she as back to her old self, and cleared her throat and filled her lungs and let out a clear and loud

“Hello!”

Other than a slight distortion from the pillars, the total lack of echo made Pinkie for a moment wonder if she was still outside after all, and if the sky was just covered in unnaturally ark clouds. She did not have long to wonder this however, for soon the gloom of the cave lit up brighter and a voice boomed trough the cave as if it came from the very mountain itself.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't my little pony friend! Pinkie Pie, isn't it?”

Pinkie instantly recognized who the voice belonged to, yet it was not possible that he should be here! She had been there herself when the Element of Harmony turned him to stone. He stood in the gardens at Canterlot, safely under guard.

As if reading her mind the voice responded:

“Well, you wouldn't expect an omnipotent being to limit itself to a single form would you? Especially not such a vulnerable one; try and see if your precious elements can turn this entire cave into stone!”

The voices laugh made the entire cave shake, but Pinkie was not really scared. Despite being an enemy of Equestria and vastly powerful, Discord had seemed to her more like a loose cannon than actually evil.

“So, what are you doing here anyway?” she asked. “Are you guarding this cave or something? What's so special about it?”

“Straight down to business, eh?” the voice responded. “You ponies are so curious! Oh well, no need in keeping secrets. What am I doing here? That's a big question. Since you're here I assume you know what this cave is and what it does?”

Pinkie considered a moment, trying to remember what twilight had told her.

“It... it creates princesses, right?”

“Ugh. You ponies, unable to see longer than your own muzzle. This cave is the source, or rather the gateway, of all magic in this world. And yes, it created your princesses to bring balance, or, as you say, harmony to the magic of ponies. Now do you know the two ground rules of magic?”

Pinkie just shook her head, and the voice continued.

“Rule one: all magic action has an equal and an opposite reaction.”

“Oh!” Pinkie got that one. “So when the cave made the princesses, creating ultimate harmony...”

“...It also created me,” Discord interrupted. “The spirit of chaos.”

“The second rule is that every magical creation has a purpose,” he continued. “Can you guess what my purpose is?”

Pinkie considered for a moment. Of all the horrible things Discord had done, she could not seem to find a pattern. How could she. The spirit of chaos wasn't exactly predictable.

“To ruin ponies’ life?” She finally tried. “To put friends up against each other?”

“Interesting.” Discord said. “Are you saying I did those things, or are you implying that I failed my purpose?”

“Of course you failed!” Pinkie said “We stopped you. We defeated you by...” Suddenly it dawned on her “Your purpose is to teach ponies a lesson?”

“Bravo!” Discord shouted. “At least close enough; but enough talk, you found my cave, and here is you reward: I will give you the one thing in the world you desire most if you can answer one single question right.”

At first Pinkie was expecting a trick, but thinking back at her experiences with Discord she knew that his only rule was that he would never lie.

“Is it a difficult question?” she asked.

“Oh, not at all,” Discord answered. “It's about you, so it should really be quite easy.”

“And what happens if I can't answer it?” Pinkie asked.

“Nothing at all!” Discord answered.

Figuring she had nothing to lose, and not wanting to return from this long journey empty hoofed, Pinkie made herself ready and said:

“Very well, bring on the question!”

“Okay, listen closely, for I will only say this once,” Discord said slowly and clearly. “Here it comes: What is the one thing in the world you desire more than anything else?”

The moment the question was asked the magic gloom faded away, and the cave seemed to grow colder. Pinkie was suddenly afraid.

“Is that it?” Pinkie shouted into the darkness, her voice sounding shrill and scared. “I can just ask for anything, and then I'll have it?”

But no answer came. She was alone in the big dark cave, and she was starting to panic.

“I want chocolate rain!” she shouted, figuring it was wise to ask for something she knew Discord could deliver, but nothing happened.

In her desperation Pinkie concluded she had asked for too much, and hurried to assert: “I don't want anything! Nothing at all!”

Suddenly a huge boulder fell down from the cave roof, crashing through the floor, leaving a gaping, black hole. A rush of cold air streamed through the hole and the entire cave started to vibrate as more stones loosened from the walls and ceiling, and the cyclopean pillars started to crack.

Pinkie's panic skyrocketed. She started to run around like a terrified mouse in a trap, trying desperately to figure out what she could possibly want more than anything.

“I want infinite friends!” she shouted to the darkness. “I want a party that never has to end!”

But the cave just kept on collapsing around her. The floor was starting to be more gaping abyss than solid floor. Pinkie crept together on the inclining floor, terrified of what would happen when the last bit of floor fell. When she looked up she could spot starry night-sky through the collapsed ceiling of the cave.

“I want the cave to stop falling apart!” she cried. “I want you to come back and talk to me! I want the lights back on!”

But nothing happened. Pinkie felt a sinking feeling in her guts when she concluded Discord had been lying after all. He was probably still here, laughing at her misery. “I wish this would just be over.” She whispered to the floor she was laying on, but soon regretted that decision when the floor fell away under her.

Pinkie held her breath and braced herself for the fall, but none came. She was floating in mid-air, looking down at the floor falling into the endless darkness below her. As more of the cave around her broke down and tumbled into the darkness she felt like she was suspended in an ever increasing empty space.

It took some time before the initial shock and confusion left Pinkie, allowing her to turn her head and look around her. The cave was now almost completely gone and the night sky was suspended over her from horizon to horizon in all directions.

At first the familiar sight of the night sky, and the relief of not falling, calmed Pinkie and made her relax; but then it dawned on her that even with the cave collapsed the sky should be blocked from her view by the surrounding mountains. She did not have to wonder for long where the mountains had gone, for as she looked about her a solitary mountain suddenly crumbled into gravel and fell through a crevasse in the earth. Apparently the crumbling was not limited to the magical cave, but affected all of Equestria.

As more of the world crumbled and fell away from her it seemed, from Pinkie's perspective, that she was floating up into space. Soon Equestria was just a gray and green and blue disc, falling away from her. Soon the moon and the sun appeared on each side of it, and the stars seemed clearer and more alive than she had ever seen them.

Before long, the world had fell so far that she could no longer distinguish it from the surrounding stars and the deep all-encompassing darkness in between. She started to spot other planets, gigantic spheres covered in strange patterns and unfamiliar geometry, and other, stranger objects floating through the darkness.

Dark thoughts started to go through Pinkies mind. Was she trapped floating through space forever? Was Equestria really gone? Had all her friends perished in the catastrophe? Was it all her fault?

Pinkie curled herself together and shed a single tear that instantly froze on her cheek.

“I wish I was back home in Ponyville where everything is ordinary and quiet and predictable!” she whispered.

And suddenly all the stars went out. Total darkness covered everything. Pinkie wondered if she had gone blind suddenly, but when she reached out a hoof she could feel a warm, soft veil packed around her. She pulled the veil away and looked straight at the brightly painted walls of her own bedroom! Warm sunlight and the even warmer laughter of happy ponies streamed through her window, and nothing had ever been more beautiful.

Pinkie Pie is the luckiest pony alive. She just needed some help realizing it.

Comments

[Madbolt]

First off, HUGE PINKIE FAN! second, pinkie is best pony, why? BECAUSE SHE'S PINKIE PIE!!!...
5... wait, no, 3. I love all pinkie fabrics, if anyone has any recommendations let me know.
4. I don't judge but NO clopfics, (one of my good friends is a Cooper, and I admit I got a few boners reading molestia,) so don't think I'm judging them, I actually stand up for them.I've realized that clopping is very similar to regular fapping. In the show, ponies are the domonant species so basicly the equivilant to a human in their minds, now I'm also not saying that I think that cloppers have a mental disorder for those of you who who did this 2+2=-5%x8(9106÷6829)Π(7+2-83)√+(6x9)="42 fish" any way my point I'm trying to make here is I...HATE...SOURECROUT!!!... oh and don't send me.clopfics.
5. It makes me mad that I FELT like I Had to add that in fear people would judge me for judging, and that this will probobly still get bad comments for sticking up for clopers.
6. We as bronies should know by now not to judge a book by its cover. I mark, I get it, you enjoy the shows innocence and you hate how clopers take that away, but hating is not the answer. In the words of a fluttershy peace corps poster "violence will not save us"

[Madbolt]

Uuuugh! FANFICS, NPT FABRICS!
Buck auto correct!!!

[Madbolt]

So. In summery...:pinkieha:

[Madbolt]

So. In summery...

[Madbolt]

1last thing. this... /)^3^(\= this is 20% moar awesome.