It Came From the Internet!
An oppressive atmosphere was following him. As he frantically made his way to the high-rise office building, the color in his vision began to fade. He knew exactly what it meant. She was coming. Pushing through the large glass doors, walking passed uninterested receptionists, and nodding at idling security guards, he finally got to the elevator. The interior of the elevator was bland and sterile compared to the rest of the building, but he knew it would be his only place of respite. She couldn't get him while he was inside. "I'm safe in here," he lied to himself. He pushed the button for his floor and waited. But the wait for the doors to shut became unbearable. Under normal circumstances this wait would be negligible for even the busiest of business people. But these were not normal circumstances. Looking out at the lobby, he realized how faded his vision had become. The color was almost gone, and the energy seemed to be draining out of him. She was too close. After what seemed like eternity, the doors closed shut and the elevator begins to rise. He let out a great sigh of relief as he leaned his hands against the door and allowed his head fall. Gazing down at the floor, he thought about the upcoming meeting. He also thought about what were to happen if he were to be caught alone. He went through all the scenarios in his head. Before he could imagine the worst, a small sound echoed from the elevator's speakers and the doors opened.
The hallway in front of him looked no different than lobby below. It was as if someone stole all the color from the paintings and the warmth of the light. There was no time to lose. He wandered through the empty corridors and found the door he was looking for. He stood in front of it for a moment to collect himself. Then knocked. His eyes shifted to the familiar placard he's seen so many times before.
Sandra Winters, Ph.D.
Psychologist
She had been able to help him through so much. And like the one's before her, she'd be able to help him now. The door started to open. He was home free.
"Oh, good afternoon Alan. You're early. Are you sick? You don't look well."
What he should have seen was a warm smile that complimented the doctor's brown hair and hazel eyes. But the total loss of color even afflicted the doctor's visage. He suddenly remembered why he was in such a hurry. And why he was so frantic. He glanced over his shoulder to check one last time. He was too close to be taken by surprise.
"Alan?"
"Oh! S-sorry doctor. Am I, uh, too early?"
"Eh..." She glances at her watch, "We can start fifteen minutes early if we end fifteen minutes early."
"That's, uh, okay I guess."
"Alright, come on in."
She smiles as she lets her unusually neurotic client pass through and closes the door shut. The inside of the room fared no better than the outside. Despite this washed out feeling it was still as welcoming as ever. Much better than being outside, or anywhere where his pursuer could take him by surprise. Skipping formalities, he immediately took his seat on a couch on the far side of the room. Noticing that Alan seemed much more distraught than usual, the doctor likewise took her seat on a large leather chair positioned in the middle of the room, obscuring Alan's view of the door.
"Something's bothering you quite a bit. I can tell. Why don't we just start from there, shall we?"
"Well... I, uh..." He hesitated, how was he supposed to explain what was going on? "I've been having these, uh... nightmares."
"Nightmares?" She said incredulously.
"Yeah, uh... like, everything is normal, right? Then everything turns to black-and-white. Then I uh, start running away. I'm afraid of this... thing that's chasing me. Some sort of… monster that wants to, uh, eat me."
"Eat you, huh? Let me ask you something. Have you been watching any scary movies?"
"No. I mean, not lately."
"Hm. What about T.V.? Or any disturbing books?"
Alan thought for a moment. Would she take him seriously if he told her the truth? "That's not it at all." He said in an almost defeated voice, letting his head drop.
"To be honest that's what I figured. You come here early looking like just escaped with your life and more than eager get in here and start the session. So what's wrong? What's out there? You're not being bullied are you?"
He kept his head down, twiddling his thumbs a bit. He contemplated telling her the truth. Going back in forth in his head between keeping up a lie or just spilling his guts like he's done with the others before her. He slowly lifts his head and decides that there was nothing he would be able to hide from her anyway. If she knows you're hiding something she'd badger you until you didn't have anything to hide anymore. He took a deep breath and began.
"Uh, okay. So, uh, you know those nightmares I told you about?"
She nods.
"They're, uh, not nightmares. They're real. It's happened to me before. It's happening right now. I, uh, don't know what to do." His voice cracked as he tried to choke back tears. He was more afraid that he ever was at that point. Dr. Winters, on the other hand, was taken aback. Like with her other clients, she had a great deal of sympathy for the young man sitting in front of her. But she was still a professional, and she knew when she when the situation was now outside of her expertise. She was a doctor, yes, but not in the medical sense. She worked with people's minds but this kid needed more than someone to talk too. He needed medication.
"So let me get this straight." She shifted in her seat, now leaning forward a bit. "You're saying that they're something chasing you right now? Something that wants to eat you?"
"Yes... yes and all the colors gone." His voice trembles. She's near. He knows it. It's too late now.
"And this monster. What exactly is it?"
He lifts his head and begins to think about an answer. Explaining what this monster was wouldn't be easy. But before he could say anything, his heart dropped. The door was opening behind the large leather chair, unbeknownst to Dr. Winters, who was free of the monster's curse. Slowly creeping through the door was the living vortex that was sucking all the color out of Alan's life. It absorbed all the light within her radius, and reflected none. Except for one color. One color that was pouring through the opening door. One color that made Alan sick to his stomach. One color that made him fear for his life.
Pink.
As the door silently closed, pink light filled the room. The doctor was still intently focused on her client. She was completely unaware of the danger lurking behind her chair. Alan, wide eyed and trembling, slowly raised his hand and tried to point out the immediate danger. He tried to speak, but no words came out. Anything he tried to say came out as a shuddering nonsense. He finally managed to combine a few syllables into a coherent phrase.
"Behind you."
Her concerned face twisted into one of great confusion. She slowly turned her body and took a look to the left, behind her chair. "There's nothing here Alan." She tried to explain. "Other side." He said in a feeble voice, covering his eyes and curling his legs onto the couch. Puzzled, she turns to the other side of her chair and comes face to face with a small creature with big blue eyes, an impossibly large grin, and a layer of pink fur covering it's body.
"What the Christ!"
Sandra jumped out of her chair and stumbled to the floor. Frantically she scrambled to her feet with her back almost to the window. The pink creature hops into the chair that the doctor previously occupied and started to giggle. Her full form revealed, she looked like some sort of small equine with an outlandishly curly mane and tail.
"Teeheehee. Alan, you're always with the silliest people when I show up to visit!"
Alan seemed not to react at all when directly addressed. He was now cowering in the fetal position, seemingly praying that the adorable pink creature would disappear. The doctor made her way to the couch and tried to shake him out of his hysteria.
"Alan. Alan! What the hell is that thing!"
"Oh! I'm so sorry. I usually make bigger entrances than this. My name's Pinkie Pie! I'm Alan's only friend. What's your name lady?"
Dr. Winters turned her attention to the little pink equine standing in her chair. From what she gathered, this Pinkie Pie creature was probably female, and by no means as lethal as Alan's ramblings described.
"I'm Sandra, uh, Doctor Sandra Winters." She replied instinctively.
"Well nice to meet you Sandra Doctor Sandra! I- OOOOOOOHHHHHHH! What's that?"
It seemed that Pinkie had her attention broken by some trinkets displayed on a bookshelf at the other side of the room. The doctor took this time to get some answers out of Alan.
"Alan, what is that thing?"
"That's Pinkie Pie." He said in a quivering half-whisper. "She's a pony."
"What the hell kind of pony is that? She looks like something out of the girls aisle of Toys 'r' Us came to life!"
"Exactly."
"What?"
"What do you know about My Little Pony?"
"I used to play with that crap as a kid but that doesn't really... wait." She took a closer look at the pink pony. She noticed the colorful balloons that graced both of her flanks. She started to piece together that from now and her childhood the designed has probably changed a few times.
"Well then how does a cartoon character make it to my office? And why are you so terrified of it?"
Pinkie Pie, knowing she was being talked about, snapped her head around and dropped some of the knick knacks she was playing with. She bounced from the end of the room onto the couch Alan was on in a single bound. Landing almost on top of him she pulled him in closely to her chest, as if to console him, and began to tell her story.
"Our friendship goes way back to two years ago! We-" She was cut off as Alan gave a terrified plea.
"Pinkie… Don't you think, uh, it would be better if, uh, I told the story?"
"Okiee Dokiee!" she said nonchalantly. "It probably makes way more sense if a human explains it to another human. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna see if I can't open that shiny little box over there." She darted a way as quickly as she jumped on the couch.
"Anyway." Alan began, rubbing his neck, "We, uh, 'met', about two years ago like she said. It was just another typical Friday night in my apartment. I think I told you that I, uh, had the room to myself. I mean, I never really had anything to do. Practically all my friends back then were, well, online. Can't say I was ever really close to the people at my univer-"
"Can you just skip to the part where she pops into existence?" She interrupted.
"Okay okay. Uh, it was late, and I was looking for creepypasta stuff."
"What exactly is a creepypasta?"
"Alright, it's, uh, like an internet ghost story. Like, a scary lost episode of a popular kids show that makes, uh, people kill themselves. I didn't have anything better to do, you know?"
"Sure, but that doesn't explain that thing." Said the therapist, who nervously looked over her shoulder to see Pinkie distracted by a decorative locked box.
"Okay okay. I'll get to the point. So I stumbled on this video. Like, I don't even remember where I found it. Or even how I found it. But it had one of those, uh, stupid titles. Like 'if you watch this she'll get you' or something stupid like that, I don't remember."
"So like if someone published the VHS from 'The Ring' on the internet?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right. So I started watching it and, uh, I guess I'll admit it was a little creepy. I mean, I don't really remember any of it though. Except the end." Alan's voice became more somber. "At the end of the video, my computer froze on a picture of that… thing." Alan points his finger at Pinkie, who was presently examining a softball trophy. "And like, her mouth open and her tongue was pressed against the screen and everything. Then… uh…"
Pinkie Pie, deciding she could be a better story teller, jumps back onto the couch to finish Alan's story from her perspective. "Oh oh oh! Let me finish the story Alan! I was at Sugar Cube corner by myself when another portal opened. And when a portal opens, it means only one thing: Lunch time! So I hopped through and landed right on top of little Alan right here." She proceeded to bear hug him like she did earlier, allowing him little room to rebut any of her details. "So there I was, about to make a meal of this poor, miserable human." The doctor took a step backwards, not liking the direction of the story. "But just as I opened my mouth to gobble him up like a delicious cake, he started begging for his life! But not the normal kind of begging where you say you have a lot to live for and that you're too young to die. No, his kind of begging was special! He kept going on and on about not wanting to die before making a mark on the work, not wanting to die in general, but most importantly, not wanting to die alone! If he's saying he's alone, then that clearly means that he has no friends!" she cried with a heartbroken tone in her voice. "And as I looked down on this pathetic, quivering human I thought, 'I can't just let this poor human die with no friends'. So we made a promise, a Pinkie Pie promise, that as long as I was his only friend I wouldn't eat him!"
The doctor stared dumbly at the pink pony, who was proudly sitting with her chin up as if nothing she's said or done was in any way strange. She tried to form a coherent sentence to ask a question, as if this whole situation could be cleared up with a simple question and answer. But before she could say anything, Pinkie's attention was taken by more trinkets on a small table on the other side of the room. She darted past the doctor to play with her new finds. Alan, who was quivering in fear almost the whole time, finally looked up at the doctor to speak.
"So yeah, that's the story. I'm, uh, honor bound to not have friends, I guess."
"But you do have frie-"
"SHHH!" Alan quickly cut her off. "She doesn't need to know that." He said in a hushed voice. The both slowly turned around to find that Pinkie was preoccupied with clear acrylic globe. Relieved that she didn't hear anything incriminating, Alan sunk back into the sofa.
"I'm guessing she" Sandra motioned towards Pinkie, "is the whole reason you need therapy. The constant threat of a cartoon character from the internet coming to kill you and all. But it doesn't seem like she wants to harm you now though." She looked back again to see Pinkie playing with a snow globe. "I mean, she just said that she made an, um, Pinkie Promise? That's a big deal right? If she made a promise not to hurt you then I can't understand why you're so scared right now. In fact, I still don't understand why she's in this room at all."
And just like that, a little signal went off in Pinkie's head. "OHMYGOSH!" She gasps. Before Dr. Winters can even react to Pinkie's sudden exclamation, she's forced on her back, looking straight up at the pink pony's face from the ground. "I almost totally forgot why I was here! Thank you so much for reminding me!" She had pinned the doctor to the floor with her hooves. "Uh, no problem, but could you get off me now?" Pinkie giggled at the question. "No silly, you're the reason I'm here!"
"Is that so?" The doctor asked as she struggled to free herself from Pinkie's pinning force. "Yep!" She replied gleefully. "See, I made a promise, a Pinkie promise, that I would be this lonely human's only friend!" She looked up and smiled at her visibly shaken human friend. "But that means if he makes any other friends then we'd both break the Pinkie promise because I'm no longer his only friend and nopony has ever broken a Pinkie promise. EVER!" She said in a single, breathless sentence. "Soooo I come to town ever so often to make sure our promise to each other remains unbroken by stopping him from making any friends and eliminating potential friend candidates!" She giggles a bit to herself. "Usually I'm responsible for friendships, but with my good name on the line, this Pinkie promise will remain unbroken!"
"That's all well and good," The doctor said as she struggled under Pinkie's surprisingly strong pin. "but you should know I'm his therapist and not his friend."
"Oh, you don't need to lie to me Sandra doctor Sandra, I've heard it alllll before! 'I'm just his therapist', 'I'm just a swimming coach', 'I'm just a plumber'. You don't fool me "Sandra", I bet that's not even you're real name!" She yelled as she pressed her nose to the doctor's forehead, looking her in the eyes.
The sudden shift in the pink pony's tone and temperament caught Sandra by surprise. She froze when her vision was obscured by the big blue eyes that introduced her to the foreign creature. "Wha-? N-No my name is Sandra. It says so right on that piece of paper on the wall, see?" She tried to turn the creature's attention to a diploma on the wall with her credentials on it, but it never broke eye contact with her.
"Hmph. Likely story "doctor". You're just trying to trick me into eating my friend, aren't you?"
"I- what?"
"I bet you get your sick kicks out of watching people getting eaten, don't you?!"
"Please you have it all wrong. I'm just-"
"Well I've had enough of your excuses for one afternoon, missy!"
Suddenly, Pinkie shifted her to move her body slightly behind the doctor while still keeping her pinned to the ground. She smirked menacingly, then opened her mouth and let the therapist see right down her glistening throat as her dripping tongue rolled out. Before Sandra could even begin to put up a fight, Pinkie's tongue had slid under her head and worked as a guide for the predator's mouth. Any attempt at a scream was quickly muffled as her head effortlessly slid into Pinkie's mouth. That's when the real struggle began.
Alan once again curled into the fetal position as Pinkie slowly began to devour his therapist in a scene that has played out in front of him too many times before. Meanwhile, Sandra's desperate struggle continued as Pinkie managed to force her shoulders into her mouth. Her head became a visible bulge traveling towards the pink pony's midsection. With her hooves now at a resting position on the ground, Pinkie would force the weight of her body forward on the struggling doctor. She would lightly bite down and apply enough pressure to drag the woman's body backwards a bit, the lunge forward to take in more of her prey. Pinkie's flesh was stretched taut by the writhing human that she slowly getting down her gullet. Sandra was clearly tiring out as the kicks became less and less violent. The doctor's survival instinct would soon kick in again as Pinkie got to her hips. The adorable predator changed tactics and sat down on her rump while managing to lift the valiantly struggling human almost vertically. The devious party pony now turned to the power of gravity, as well as her throat muscles, to finish her meal off. With bird-like reflexes, she methodically swallowed down her prey. She had no problem getting down the doctor's hips and began to lap at the human's thighs with her long, wet tongue.
There wasn't much of a struggle to be had anymore. That last thing that Sandra managed to do before the creature wrapped it's tongue completely around her legs was to accidentally kick off one of her shoes. If anything, it would have made her more appetizing.
Meanwhile, Sandra's desperation was getting the best of her. She tried to force her legs out the way they came in, but the strength of the creature's throat muscles make it clear that this was a one way trip. Being slick with digestive bile didn't help her out either. Her entire body was drenched in the disgusting acids. In what little space she had, she pushed a hand out each side of the stomach wall to give herself some balance and once again tried to inch her way out of the slimy passage she came from. With more leverage, she started to have a bit more success. But this did not go unnoticed by Pinkie, who realized that the strong, athletic thighs she just forced into her mouth were making their way back out. She silently scolded herself for thinking she could rely on the laws of physics to help her. She then balanced herself on her rump while she lifted her forehooves to her mouth and, with the help of her tongue, took control of the situation by forcing the last of her human prey into her mouth. With a few strong swallows she had finished off her living meal. The once great bulge writhing inside her neck slowly sunk down into its final destination. In a food induced trance, she sighed in satisfaction as the entirety of her meal slid into her stomach. Using her newly expanded belly as leverage, she clumsily rolled herself forward, slipping and almost falling flat on her face. This didn't bother her in the slightest, as she lazily laid on the floor and enjoyed the struggles of her meal. But Pinkie quickly snapped out of her blissful post-meal daze when a hearty belch escaped from her mouth. And then she started laughing.
As Pinkie was giggling to herself, Alan let out a sigh of relief. The worst was past him. Though the situation was for the most part defused, he yelped when he opened his eyes to see the pink monster's big blue eyes staring down at him. Before he could react the pony's forehooves had wraped around his neck and squeezed tightly to the point where he could barely breath.
"Oh Alan. I'm so glad I came when I did. Who knows what that weird doctor lady was gonna do to you!"
"It really means a lot to me that you care so much but… I can't breathe."
Seemingly ignoring his plea, Pinkie took her time releasing her human friend from the death grip. She slowly moved back, trying to keep her balance with the new load she was bearing inside her.
"I…"
That was the only thing the pink pony could manage to say before a low-gurgling sound came from deep inside her. She grimaced. Her cheeks puffed out and her eyes revealed that she was in pain.
"Uh… Pinkie? You alri-"
*Blech!*
The therapist's remaining shoe, which apparently became lodged somewhere in Pinkie's esophagus, was now sitting on Alan's torso. Along with a generous amount of digestive slime.
"Awww I'm sorry Alan." she said as she wiped her mouth. "What I was going to say before I was rudely interupted!" She glared and prodded at her full belly, "was that I really enjoyed our visit this time! But I really have to go now. My lunch break ends in 5 minutes. And I don't want the Cake's thinking I'm not a hard worker. Not that they would ever think that. I mean, I've worked at the shop alone soooo many times. I even babysat their-"
"That's great Pinkie," Alan said as he carefully picked up the slime-covered shoe and tossed it aside, "But uh… you only have 4 minutes now."
"Oh my gosh you're right! Bye Alan. see ya next time!"
Without any sort of constraint she began hopping out of the room as if there wasn't 150 lb female psychologist inside her. Astoundingly, she still seemed to be light as air; defying most all the laws of physics as she bounced out of the room taking the pink aura with her. As she bounced through the doorway, her tail hitched around the doorknob. With one swift motion she slammed the door shut as she left this plain of existence.
For a moment, Alan laid still, fearing that Pinkie would make a surprise reappearance and finish him off. Slowly, however, the color in his vision was slowly returning. This made it clear that she was gone for good. Or at least, for the time being. With great relief he sat up on the couch and surveyed is surroundings. A few display pieces from the shelves were scattered across the floor. But more strange than that, his therapists shoes were lying on the floor without any hint of what they've been through. Her black leather shoes were completely free of Pinkie's digestive enzymes. He immediately got chills as he suddenly realized what Sandra was going through right now. That is, if she was even still alive at this point.
He tried his best to suppress any memories of her and quickly got up to leave. Opening the door, he paused for a moment to turn and look at the discarded leather shoes on the floor. He thought about how it was because of people like her that he was still alive. He silently thanked her, and any other powers that be, before leaving. This was one more traumatic episode with Pinkie Pie that he had survived, and one more traumatic episode that he would need a therapist for.