Introspection

by -Hidden Identity-

We're in your mind, Pinkie

Pinkie blinked. Slowly she forced her eyes open and took in what was around her. She appeared to be lying in a grassy field, a bright blue sky above her with…giant pink bubbles? She blinked again and then giggled. She moved to her hooves and felt a gentle breeze upon her face, moving through her mane. She smiled and looked around again. The field seemed to stretch on in all directions, with no intention of ever stopping. The sky didn’t seem to have any change to it either, just the blue expanse with pink bubbles in place of clouds. It was bright out, yet she couldn’t see the sun anywhere. The grass was quite soft, perfect for waking up in. She took a deep breath and sighed contently. The air smelled nice, a mix of pleasant scents.

“Hello?” Pinkie called off into the distance. Her voice echoed somehow. She laughed and tried again. “Hello?”

“Hello?” her echo resounded. It was not identical to her own though, as it seemed stretched and deeper than her utterance.

“Hah! My voice sounds silly!” she exclaimed gleefully.

She knelt down and looked closely at the grass. It was a very vivid green; the color itself seemed to be alive. Pinkie shrugged and began to bounce off in her usual manner in no particular direction. She took note of everything she passed: grass, grass, pink bubble cloud things, and more grass. The landscape never showed any sign of change. Even the pink bubbles in the sky were stationary. It was like a dream, yet she was reasonably sure she wasn’t dreaming. There were too many senses to be a dream.

“Hmm. How did I get here?” she pondered aloud without slowing her stride. “Where is here-WOAH!”

Pinkie felt something snatch her hooves, causing her to fall flat on her face. Pinkie had done this enough that it didn’t hurt, but for some reason it did cause her to become slightly dizzy momentarily. She regained her ground and turned to investigate. Upon turning, she found herself once again questioning whether this was a dream, yet something within her confirmed it wasn’t. Wherever she was, it knew her.

“But…” she said softly. Before her stood a small stack of rocks wearing a party hat. The same one she had created during the time she was certain her friends had no interest in her parties. “You?”

“Yeah, Pinkie. You were in a hurry so I had to get your attention somehow.” The pile said.

Pinkie stared at the rock pile before giggling once again. “You can’t be here, silly. You’re back home with the radishes!”

“No, the radishes are somewhere else. The sack of flour sent me to meet you.”

“Well tell her thanks!” Pinkie smiled, not completely processing what the pile had just told her. “So where am I?”

“Take a guess.”

“I’m…” Pinkie looked up and down, near and far, high and low, right and left…yet she did not recognize anything about the strange, yet wonderful place she was now in. “… not sure.”

“We’re in your mind, Pinkie.”

“My mind?”

“Sure. What did you expect your mind to look like?”

“I don’t know. But I like it here.”

“Course you do. You seem to be happy enough usually, you should like it here. In this part, anyway.”

“What was that?”

“Nothin’. Say you should follow me, I’ll tell you the rules around here.”

Pinkie frowned. “There shouldn’t be rules inside my mind.”

The pile of rocks chuckled. “Oh, I think you’ll like these well enough. For now, anyway.”

Pinkie followed the rock pile as it slid along the ground, the party hat wobbling. She looked around again, thinking about what the pile had told her. That it was her mind. Something didn’t seem right to her. If this was her mind, then why wasn’t anything pink? Where were the candy and cupcakes? Where were her friends?

“This can’t be my mind.” She thought aloud, still following the rocks. “There should be more here than just this.”

“Don’t worry, Pinks. There is.” The rocks confirmed.

“Really? Like what?”

“Patience, Pinkie. Although that is something that has been incredibly hard to find lately. We’re not sure exactly where it scampered off to.”

Pinkie cocked her head to one side and gave a very confused look.

“Don’t worry, it will all become clear. Oh, we’re here already. You must have wanted to be here.”

“What?”

“Pinkie, you will find that because this is your mind that if you want something, it will generally appear quickly. It won’t always be in front of you, but it will be around anyway. Now then…tell me what you see in front of you.”

Pinkie looked; there was no more field. There was only the vast, unchanging sky ahead.

“Look down.” The pile commanded.

Pinkie glanced down and gave a gasp. She seemed to be standing along the rim of a cliff, the side of which was coated in an equal amount of grass as the field she currently stood on.

“I don’t like heights.” Pinkie informed her companion, again in a confused manner.

“You think you don’t?” the pile seemed to laugh. “I’m a pile of rocks; how do you think I feel around them?”

“I wasn’t thinking about a cliff.”

“Then what did you want?”

“I don’t know…a change?”

“Jump.”

“What?”

“Jump off the cliff. See what happens.” The rocks seemed to gesture towards the edge.

“What?” Pinkie exclaimed. “Are you loco?”

“Not here anyway. I might be later. That clump of fluff is crazy though.”

“You really think I should jump?”

“Sure, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Pinkie made a high pitched whistling noise, followed by a ‘splat’ sound.

“Oh, don’t be crazy.”

Pinkie glanced at the pile, back at the cliff, closed her eyes, and took a leap of faith. For a moment she was falling, then she felt the incredible softness of the grass. She opened her eyes and blinked. She was standing in another field, much like the previous one, yet there seemed to be some sort of hills ahead. She smiled, laughed slightly and turned back around, expecting to see a cliff. Instead, she saw the still sky.

“Hello?” she called out, a bit worried now.

“Look down.”

The pink pony looked down to see another cliff. Yet it was not the cliff that got her attention, it was the fact that the pile of rocks seemed to be sitting just over the lip, stacked straight out, yet nothing fell away and the pile remained as it had been.

Pinkie looked back, down, up, behind her, and back at the rocks.

“I thought you didn’t like heights.” She said.

The rocks laughed. “Of course I don’t, Pinks. Come back on over.”

“What? How?”

“Just step over the edge.”

Pinkie, compelled to act, stepped over the edge and found herself walking onto the field where the rocks waited. She turned and looked down; the cliff stretched away.

“What in the hay is going on here?” she cried out, rubbing her head with her hooves.

“It’s your mind.” Said the pile. “You figure it out.”

“How can that, whatever it is, happen?”

“This coming from the pony who manages to slow herself down in mid air and enter a pool of water almost silently so she won’t disturb a friend. Really Pinkie, did you expect your mind to not have something amazing in it?”

“I’m still not sure this is my mind. My mind would have balloons, cakes, candy, and my friends would be here with me.”

“You want a party? I thought your friends didn’t like your parties.”

“Of course they do, they just were throwing a party for me.”

“Well there should be all the things you need for a party somewhere around here. Remember it’s your mind.”

The pile of rocks moved towards the lip of the cliff and passed over. Pinkie followed suit, only to find herself once again just stepping onto another field. She kept her eyes open this time, hoping to catch what was happening. She felt something happen, yet there was no sign before her to hint at what had happened.

“I have to go, Pinkie.” The rocks informed her. She started to pout; she didn’t want to be alone. “Don’t worry, we will meet again. Enjoy the party you wanted that should be around here somewhere.”

Pinkie raised a hoof to stop the rocks as they started away towards the hills off in the distance, but something held her back. The air still smelled nice. As strange as this place was, it was very nice.

“Oh, one more very important thing, Pinkie.” The pile called back towards her, “we are in your mind, whether you believe it or not. But remember this: if you stay here too long and do not manage to leave you will be trapped in your mind forever.”

“Forever?”

“Forever! You know, the amount of time a friendship will be lost if you break a promise. So try to find the door.”

“Where is it?”

“Don’t know, and that is one thing you can’t want to have and it will come to you, you have to find it on each level.”

“Each what? Wait! You didn’t tell me any rules!”

“Why should there be rules in your mind?”

“I thought you said there were!”

But the pile had moved on out of eyeshot and earshot. Pinkie looked around and shivered. She suddenly felt very alone, but happy all the same.

Comments

[toastman]

that was weird. neat, but weird. i think this may be the start of something inspirational. keep your wits about you, author! you'll need them as you delve deeper into the mind you've helped to construct.

[Just Some Random Guy]

Is this like Inception? It sounds like it might be like Inception... I don't really have time to read this, I'll give an upvote for the idea and I'll read it later.

[Tangerine Blast]

Prediction: She will meet.......
Why didn't you just call the pile of rocks Rocky? That's his name after all.

[-Hidden Identity-]

1738103
I like "pile of rocks" better.

[CartsBeforeHorses]

Looks like it takes a bit to get started, but I will read more of it when I get the chance.