Introspection

by -Hidden Identity-

Not As It Seems

The voice had receded into the gloom of the long hall. Pinkie Pie waited in baited anticipation for a reply, yet none came. Another color, the voice had claimed. Grump had mentioned how she wanted color. How her world was all too grey to live in, and how color had been forced underground. Then there was that bit about something living in the dark. Pinkie hadn’t really paid much attention to that bit. Whatever it was probably just wanted a friend, or to make amends, or to know what it means to smile. The voice was not one a benevolent sort; the hostility was far less than subtle. The lamp burned dully, the air was damp, the stone floor colder than it should be. The hall stretched from her imagination into the depths of her mind she wished didn’t exist. Anger. Sorrow. Pain. This was not just a house of irritation and moments of heated words. Anger stems from much more, planting seeds to be watered by small arguments and hurt feelings. Anger. Sorrow. Pain. This cave had no name, needed no name, was familiar. How could that be, though? Grump had claimed that she was no more than a state of mind, Joy to be exact. If her being and existence was no more than a state of mind for her body to house, then how could a cave of a different state of mind be familiar? Then again, they did all share the same body. Grump knew her name, and where she had come from. Yet, from this, arose another question: if she was no more than a state of mind then why was she able to leave her own mind and travel into another state? Should she have not just regained her conscious world? Would that even be optimal? If Grump was correct, then she had been the ruling consciousness for enough time that she had forgotten herself. Her true identity. An identity of love, and smiles, and carefree wishes. Anger. Sorrow. Pain.

Casting glances about the room, she rolled the discovered cage ahead of her, marking each moment of travel with a metallic clink as the metal cage struck the hard stone floor. The hall yawned ahead of her. Ancient stones, their eternal meditations interrupted, seemed to watch her pass, and watch her go until the light she carried had gone. Little changed in the scenery. No speleothems presented themselves to improve the view; no bats clung from the ceiling, and no voiceless being presented itself to her.

Eventually she happened upon the gaping maw of another passage stretching off towards the north, sloping downward and away. Pinkie moved over to the passage, thrusting her lamp within, taking care not to fall. Something shiny glistened further down the passage.

“Hello?” she called out. She heard herself answer back. “Where did you go? I’m looking for some colors!”

Something shiny glistened further down the passage.

Pinkie turned, her hoof catching a rock in the process, throwing her balance asunder as she collapsed onto the rock floor. Her hind foot kicked out in the effort to keep steady. She felt it strike something metal. Clink, clink, clink. Pinkie rose picked herself up, dusting off while glancing about to see if anything had changed. The cave behind looked strange to her, as strange as that ahead. True she really hadn’t gone anywhere to become lost in, yet chills managed to find her courage. How many had been lost here? How many had been forced to call this pit within Anger home? She didn’t know. No wonder they were so angry. Anypony would be angry if they had to live in a dark hole. Pinkie found herself alone within the passage, save for her lamp. The cage had vanished.

“Ooh, I liked that thing.” She frowned briefly before pulling a smile. “Hey! Maybe that shiny spot was my cage! Wait, no…that couldn’t be. I had the cage before I saw the shiny thing.”

Pinkie glanced over. Something shiny glistened further down the passage.

“Or did I? Yep, definitely did.”

The long hall stretched into the blackness of the cave, the small passage bid her entrance. A small lure of sparkling unknown wished her discovery, and her very being felt alien within the cavern. Pinkie moved into the small passage, slipping on the mud-covered rocks. Eventually deciding that sliding down on her back would be far faster and reduce the need for balance, the ground became flat and far less slippery quickly. Moving forward into the passage, it quickly became evident that Pinkie could no longer see quite as well as she had previously, and the glistening lure had disappeared. The shadows did not flicker, nor part to ease her passage, and this was only a few feet from the slope she had just descended.

“Ah! My lantern!” Pinkie cried, spinning around and flinging herself a rather impressive distance to land partially upon the slope, only to slide back down again amidst the sickly “squelch” the mud made as she disengaged her body from the sticky mess. Pinkie regarded the various methods she could use to ascend the slippery slope. Straight up seemed like a good idea.

Upon her quick return to the bottom of the passage, and another meeting with the mud, her lantern danced into view, teetering on the edge.

“Just a little bit closer! I’m down here!” She called up to the object.

If the lantern had heard her, it made no motion to indicate it. Simply standing upon the edge of safety and adventure. Pinkie’s bright eyes shimmered. The lamp moved slightly closer to the edge and tilted forward, keeping a solid grasp on the solid rock before backing up again.

“Nonononono! Wrong way!”

Closer.

“Yes!”

Farther.

“No! Hey! Since when can you even move? I don’t remember you telling me that!”

The air turned uncomfortable. The shadows moved a bit closer. Pinkie placed a hoof upon the muddy slope, her eyes fixated upon the opening above her. Off to the left, she watched as a very pale, almost ethereal, version of herself glide into view, regard the lantern, despise it, and knock it down the slope. Pinkie watched the light bounce once, twice, and land with a crash as the blackness of the cave consumed the contrasting color. In the hall above her, something moved away.

Comments

[Tangerine Blast]

This is getting intense!