Reunited once again
Even though the princesses are gone, their castle in Canterlot is far from deserted. The wealthiest ponies in Equestria have taken the task of peacekeeping and justice upon them after many a day of discussion.
When they just began, their vision was just and fair. But after a few days, they turned greedy and corrupt, enforcing laws to their own win.
Their reign was absolute, their leader demanding. And he, the one who thought himself far above the others, crowned himself king on the 74th day.
Now, if only one of the peasants on the street would say his name, he would be thrown into the dungeon. If one of the peasants insulted his name, he would be banished. If one of the peasants dared to insult him in his face, he would be killed.
These, and other laws, were approved and executed under pressure of the King. The King, who is sitting where Celestia once sat, high above the others in the throne room. Luna’s seat was taken away.
Every day, somepony would commit a crime, and however small that crime was, it would be judged by the King with his counselors. Depending on the crime, the outlaw will receive a punishment. Of course, this wasn’t the fairest of trials.
But today, a most peculiar crime was committed, one you didn’t see every day anymore. Spreading mirth and joy? Nopony wanted joy anymore. The King still wanted to discuss it with his counselors.
“Gentelcolts,” he began, “We are here today,
To see what another outlaw has to say.”
The councellors huffed.
“Those outlaws, your excellence, if I may,
Shouldn’t have anything at all to say!”
Nods from various sides of the throne room. Noises of approval filled the King’s ears – but he wasn’t pleased at all.
“Silence!”
Immediately, the room was quiet once again.
“Bring him in.”
The great doors flung open, and two guards came in. They were pulling a filthy brown stallion, his manes flat, his poncho torn. The guards threw him down on his knees. The stallion groaned of pain.
The King stood up.
“What is your name?”
“Cheese… Cheese Sandwich.”
“What is your crime?”
Silence.
“I said, what is your crime?”
Cheese didn’t respond. Instead, he lifted his head to look the King in his eyes. That was a serious crime itself – but Cheese didn’t care anymore. All he wanted was to learn the King a lesson. That he isn’t a King. That he isn’t better than others.
That he can feel joy as much as peasants.
“A smile for a dime.”
This outraged the king. He huffed, but before he could say something, Cheese continued in a much confident tone than ever.
“In past times, a Ponyville shone.
But it will shine once more.
If you get off that throne,
The joy will be like before.”
Gasps from the counselors. Some of them quickly stepped forth and began their objection on a quick note.
“That what you say is flagitious!”
“Yes, it surely is atrocious!”
“It is monstrous!” “oh, it is heinous!”
“Throw him in the dungeons!”
But Cheese was unmoved by these heavy words.
“In past times, a Ponyville shone.
Nopony was alone;
But nowadays, in several ways,
We all live on our own.
“In past times, a Ponyville shone;
But all that rests is a sorry tone.
And I, for spreading happiness,
Am getting something less.”
More counselors stepped up.
“Oh, you think joy is a good thing, huh? Well, for your information, it isn’t!”
“Joy is a bad thing, joy is mad!”
“Joy is a weakness, joy is bad!”
“Joy will only make you sad!”
“Throw him in the dungeons!”
Cheese knew he had to do something. He knew now what was keeping them back – now he only had to try and make them laugh.
“In past times, a Ponyville shone
And it will shine once more…”
Cheese stood tall now. He had to believe in it to make it happen. And for the pink mare who inspired him, he will make it happen.
“Yes, it shone bright
Like the sun’s light –
And it will shine again!”
He pulled out his accordion and began to play.
“Because…
A super-duper-party pony, that pony is me!”
But the counselors wouldn’t give up that easily.
“NO! Joy is bad, joy is sad!”
From out of nowhere, he pulled out a ball and balanced on it – playing all the while.
“So go on smile now for a while, set your feelings free!”
This only made the counselors angrier.
“STOP IT NOW! Joy is outrageous!
Joy is bad, joy is contagious!”
“TRHOW HIM IN THE DUNGEONS!”
Two guards stepped forth, but before he could react, he pulled out his old party howitzer and began to decorate the hall with streamers.
“Oh, when I throw a Cheese party be sure to not be lame!
And miss my pie fights, wacky kites and streamers in your mane!”
The first smile appeared on one of the counselors. It evolved into a grin – and even a laugh! More counselors followed.
“Yes I’m a super duper party ponies, we party all night long!
And if you’re tired of crying, well, then listen to this song!”
Cheese Sandwich was now performing as many tricks as he could – which resulted in making the whole hall laugh! Well, except for the king. He was just staring, dumbfounded, at the raging party pony.
Finally, the king facehoofed.
And Cheese knew his work here was done.
With one last blow of his howitzer, he fled the castle and galloped over the wastelands surrounding Canterlot. Even though he was still ecstatic of his victory, there was still a large hole in his heart that kept his hair from leaping up. That hole could only be filled by one mare.
Pinkie Pie.
Finally, after so many twists and turns, she saw a blinding light at the end of the tunnel. Standing in the shadow of the cave, she squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness of the sun. Panting, she looked at her surroundings.
Well, there’s not much of them. Everywhere she looked, was rock. It reminded her of the rock farm she grew up on.
She breathed in, and out, and started to run for the sun.
Finally, after many, many miles, she reached a small town. Or rather, something that used to be a small town. She slowed down, trying to locate any inhabitants – but there were none.
“Where did everypony go?” she wondered out loud. She got no reply. She slowly trotted through the town. “Hello? Is anypony there? Can anypony tell me where I am?”
It remained silent. The only thing she heard was the howling of the wind and the creaking of the loose doors. The paint on the walls was pale and dirty and the windows were broken or secured by wooden planks. She had to conclude that the ghost town was deserted.
She sighed and started to walk on, her head hung low, her mane and tail drooping.
Behind her, a barrel fell over, startling her. She looked around, searching for the cause of it, but found nothing.
“Hello? Who’s there?”
She slowly started to walk to the barrel. A small, blue-grey unicorn filly with golden eyes peeked out to see who was there. Pinkie smiled and tried to comfort the filly with soothing words, hoping she would know a bit more.
“Hey, there, little one
Do not be so scared
Everypony has gone;
Surely you know where?
The little filly’s eyes got a bit bigger when heard her singing. Her yellow muzzle went a bit further out of the barrel; her curly, purple mane and yellow tail were dirty from the road. She swallowed, and with a small voice she replied:
“Hi, miss, yes I know
Where we are right now
But you should stay low
There are guards in town.”
The little filly pulled her in the alley where the barrel stood, looking out for the guards. When they were safe in the shadow, the filly continued.
“Well, miss, we are now
In a quiet little town
Appleloosa was its name,
But it got punished for its fame.”
The filly began to cry over the memory. Pinkie pulled the filly closer to comfort it.
“Hey, there, little one
What’s the matter now?
Please, do not cry, but smile!
I will show you how.”
The filly stopped with crying and shook her head wildly. “No!” she exclaimed – and covered her muzzle with her hooves. She looked around to see if she had drawn too much attention to herself.
“No, miss, you can’t smile
Not in here – the guards are vile
Smiles, here, are forbidden
They must now forever be hidden.”
Pinkie frowned. “Now, why on earth aren’t you allowed to smile? That’s just silly!” she said – too loud. A guard looked around the corner and spotted the two. He ran off to raise the alarm.
The filly squeaked and tried to find a place to hide – but instead ran directly into the arms of a guard.
“There you are, you little rascal! Now you can join your parents!” He tugged at her arm and pulled the crying filly behind him.
Pinkie was shocked by the scene.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” – but the guard just rolled his eyes.
“We warn you, pink mare – one more time being such a loudmouth, and it’ll be the dungeon for you, just like this one.” He tugged the filly’s hoof again, harder this time.
The little filly was screaming out of pain. This made Pinkie really angry.
“Stop it. Now!”
The guard snorted. “And what are you going to do against it?”
“I’m going to… uhm…” Pinkie thought for a moment. “I – I’m going to make you… smile!”
The guard frowned. “Smiling is forbidden in this country. Any self-respecting pony doesn’t even try to smile now, so I suggest you don’t even try either.”
He threw the filly into a cart nearby and chained her, so she couldn’t run away. She was crying all the while. The pegasi that pulled the cart took off before Pinkie could do anything.
“Now, get out of my face.”
The guard spat in front of her hooves. Pinkie, weary of all the frowns in this small town alone, decided she’d put her hoof down.
“No.”
The guard looked up, annoyed.
“What was that?”
Pinkie huffed. “I. Said. NO.”
The guard shook his head.
“Bad, bad decision, miss. Bad, bad decision.”
He position himself in fighting stance.
“Now, I’m giving you one last chance, because I don’t like to attack mares. But if I have to, I will. So, turn around and walk away, and nopony will be hurt.”
Pinkie positioned herself as well.
“Bring it.” she spat.
The guard charged – Pinkie jumped aside. She pulled out a ball and began to balance on it.
The guard charged again, his spear stretched in front of him.
Pinkie dodged it, making a back-flip from the ball, over the spear, on the ground. She pulled out three rubber chickens and began juggling them.
The guard was smarter than to charge again immediately, so he galloped around the mare to see if there were any soft spots. When he thought he found one, he charged.
But Pinkie jumped on the ball again and the spear didn’t find its target.
And so on. Pinkie jumped on the ball, over and over again. Neither of them seemed to get tired. It truly was a funny sight.
Cheese Sandwich was still running. Through wastelands, forests – and now a desert.
The hot sun burned on his back where his poncho was torn. His throat was as dry as sandpaper and the hot, dry wind blew in his side, urging him to go another way.
A funny feeling shot through his body. It started by his hooves, than all the way up through his legs, his stomach and his head, making funny noises all the way.
His Cheesy-sense. He had to help throwing... a party?
“Appleloosa.”
And so, against his common sense (who told him a party in the works was impossible around this time), he turned and rode with the wind, letting it guide him to his destination.
And once he got there – he couldn’t believe his eyes.
It almost was a déjà vû. A pink mare, her, poofy mane bobbling with every move she made, juggling rubber chickens while balancing on a ball.
He was snapped out of it, however, when he noticed the guard who was attacking her – so he pulled out Pinkie’s party cannon (he kept it for her when word came out she, along with her friends, had disappeared) and blasted the guard away.
Pinkie gasped. “Cheese!”
By hearing his name, his flat mane jumped up immediately and grinned as wildly as he could. He ran to her and embraced her, holding her close.
He sniffed. “I… I missed you, Pinks… I missed you so much…”
Pinkie hugged him back and smiled. “I missed you too, Cheesy…”
Almost crying, they kissed. A tear from both of their eyes fell down their cheeks and landed on the ground, shaping a heart. It glowed pink for a short moment.
Finally, they broke the kiss.
“You wanna go spread some joy together, Pinkie?” Cheese said.
“With you, always.” Pinkie answered.
And together they galloped for the sun, the moon and twilight, their goal clear before their eyes.
From far away, a shadow lurked in the darkness. Through an enchanted mirror he saw everything that happened in Equestria, but there was one thing his eyes had set upon.
The Element of Laughter.
He growled at the sight of her. Love? Was love all it took to break the spell he set upon them? He hadn’t imprisoned her in a cave, far away from population, for nothing! There was no way she could go spread happiness unpunished.
He turned away from the mirror and summoned a guard.
“Make sure the others are secure.”
The guard nodded and left.
He was so close to his goal: destroying Equestria and raise a new kingdom, ruled by him: his Kingdom of Shadows. That foolish King had helped him a lot, but he was still far away from success, if those elements were to escape so easily. He had to find a more effective way to imprison them.
He had to imprison all the ponies that were dear to them. It was the only way.
Not that he had any problem with that, however.