> The Lost Laughter > by Pinkie Wannabe > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seemed like another day on the rock farm. All four sisters working hard to harvest the rocks in the field. Though, as much as they work, they all seemed depressed all the time. The four sisters didn't seem to care about their hard, boring work. On the inside, however, they all wished they were far, far away from the farm. Their parents came out of the building. They signaled for them to come inside. It may have been lunchtime or a quick pep talk, but whatever it was, they knew they were wanted. Limestone, Marble, and Pinkie were the first ones to come in. Maud stayed behind. Her sisters and parents looked at her, wondering if she was ever going to follow. Maud saw how they looked at her. "I'll be inside in a moment, " she said, unenthusiastically. The door slammed closed, leaving Maud outside. She sighed. She wanted to do something other than harvest rocks. She wanted to go somewhere, make friends, and try to smile. Yet no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't happy. No one in the family was happy. No one in the family had friends. The Pie Family was probably the loneliest, saddest ponies in Equestria. Just then, Maud heard a boom. "Huh?" She exclaimed as she looked up. An array of colors started coming her way. A strong gust of wind almost knocked her over. "WHOA!" Maud yelled, blocking the wind with her hoof. The wind was so strong it made her mane get all messy. "What was that?!" Maud looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow. Her eyes widened. She locked her eyes onto the colored arch. It was so amazing. She didn't even notice the movement of her mouth until her teeth were exposed. "Whoa... wait, what's my mouth doing?" Maud felt her lips. They were curved upwards. She felt her mouth drop open in shock. "Am I... SMILING?!" Maud exclaimed excitedly. "Oh my gosh. I'M SMILING!!! It feels so good!" But then, Maud's face got serious. "It's too bad that Mom, Dad and the others won't see this. They won't be able to smile..." Maud pouted as those words came out of her mouth. Then she perked up. "WAIT! I have an idea!" Maud rushed to another building on the field and started preparing something. A few minutes later, the rest of the Pie family was outside, doing more work, when they suddenly heard music coming from the other building. "MAUDALINA DAISY PIE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?!" yelled the mother (I forgot her name). All five ponies walked towards the building. They opened the door to see cakes, balloons, party cannons and more. They were all shocked to see it, but the only one who seemed to dislike it was Pinkie. She walked over to a nearby corner and kept a straight face. Maud came out from under a table. "SURPRISE!" she exclaimed. "Do you like it?" The family was silent for a few seconds. Their mouths started to twitch. What was this feeling? They thought. Maud saw their reactions and her big smile turned upside down. "You don't like it do you?" She said sadly. Maud turned around, her head hung low. Suddenly, their mouths started curving up into big, bright smiles. Maud turned around and her eyes lit up. " I knew you'd love it!" They started dancing. Well, except one. "Pinkie!" Maud yelled over to the little pink pony standing in the corner. She was frowning, unlike the rest of her family. Maud walked up to her. "C'mon, Pinkie! Come party!" Pinkie crossed her hooves across her chest, not even looking up at her sister. Maud looked a bit confused. Why isn't she smiling? She thought. I thought she would love a party! "Come join us, Pinkie! It'll make you smile!" Maud curved Pinkie Pie's mouth upward, into a giant forced grin that was way to big for her face. The smile slowly drooped down to a very droopy frown that made the ends of Pinkie's lips hang from her face. She shook her head to make her face go back to normal, which means making her mouth frown normally. "We don't have time for parties, Maud," Pinkie said. " We have work to do, you know." She pointed outside to some stray stones in the rocky field. Maud pouted. "But working all the time is BOR-ING! C'mon! This is way more fun!" Pinkie looked at her family. They looked like weirdos. But they didn't seem to care. She had to admit, they looked like they were having a lot of fun. Pinkie shook her head. She knew work was more important than these silly parties. "There's no room for fun here. This is a rock farm, not Party City. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm actually going to do work." She walked out of the building and slammed the door behind her. Maud was trying so hard to make her sister smile, that she didn't even notice a blinding shine coming from her flank. "Hey, Maud," Limestone came up to her. I'm not usually the type to point this out, BUT LOOK AT YOUR CUTIE MARK!" Maud looked down at her flank. Her cutie mark was a big, sapphire blue balloon. Maud's eyes grew of excitement. "EEEEEEEEEE!!!! I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!!!" She bounced up and down and even rolled into a ball and bounced all over the place. Her sisters were weirded out by the action, but didn't say anything about it. "You know what, I really like your cutie mark! It's pretty cool!" said Limestone. "Mm-hm." Marble agreed. Maud joined the dance with the rest of her family, who were proud of her cutie mark. Pinkie was outside looking at her family through a window. She sighed. "Even with Maud's cutie mark, I can't believe they would chose some silly party over work." muttered Pinkie. She started harvesting some of the rocks around her, not noticing the three rocks that appeared on her flank. > Chapter Two > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Years Later Maud had been throwing parties for her family almost every week. It seemed to be one of the only things that made her family happy. Without them, they seemed emotionless. But, Pinkie was always quite miserable, even at parties. She avoided them the best she could. Pinkie even thought of Maud as annoying sometimes. But no matter how grumpy Pinkie was, Maud loved her more than anything. Maud had been visiting other towns to make ponies there experience happiness at its greatest. One of the towns she visited was Ponyville. A quaint little town not too far from Canterlot. Maud loved going there, so it was no surprise that she chose to move there. "Gonna miss you, sweet tooth," Limestone said jokingly. Maud was preparing to leave the farm, and her sisters were bidding their farewells. Marble opened her mouth to speak, but Maud stopped her. "Let me guess," Maud exclaimed. "You're gonna say goodbye, you'll miss me, and that I'm the best party thrower ever?" Marble nodded. "Mm-hm." Pinkie was sitting at the kitchen table, petting a small rock. "Awww!" Maud cooed, looking at Pinkie. "You and Boulder look so cute together!" "Mm-hm," Pinkie Pie grumbled. Maud ran over to hug her. "You're the best little sister ever! I'm gonna miss you so much!" Pinkie seemed to have trouble breathing from her sister's tight embrace. "Yep." She wheezed. "I'll miss you, too." Maud made her way back to the front door. "I'll miss you all! Don't forget to write, cuz I won't forget either!" Just like that, she ran out of the house, bouncing her way to the train station. A few hours later "Ponyville station!" The conductor cried. Some ponies got off the train to come to Ponyville, including Maud. Maud looked to be the most excited. This is amazing! she thought. I'm finally gonna live here! Maud bounced her way into Ponyville and looked at the ponies around her. They seemed to be having so much fun with one another. Then, Maud saw two ponies that seemed to be arguing. "Oh yeah?" said an Orange pony. She had yellow hair, green eyes, and a brown Stetson on her head. "I bet no fashion of yours could match the country life!" A white unicorn with purple hair and dark blue eyes retorted. "Please, Applejack! Even with your... interesting fashion sense," she regaurded her clothless body. The orange pony face-hoofed. "How many times do I have to tell you?! PONIES ALMOST NEVER WEAR CLOTHES!" Maud smiled. "Ooh, an argument? This I've gotta be a part of!" She walked over to the pair. "Argue! Argue! Blabber! Blah blah..." The two stopped fighting and looked at Maud like she was crazy. "Darling," the white unicorn said. "What are you doing?" Maud paused. "I just wanted to join in on your argument. It looked like fun!" The earth pony and unicorn look at each other and back at Maud. "Sorry to ruin your fun, dear, but arguing isn't very fun." "Really? Well, my family doesn't really talk to each other much, so there isn't really any arguing. By the way, I'm Maud Pie!" "Well, it's mighty nice to meet ya, Maud." The orange pony said, lending out her hoof for a shake. "I'm Applejack! This is my friend Rarity." She signaled at the unicorn. "Pleasure to meet you, darling," Rarity said with a bow. "Would you like for us to show you around?" "Sure!" Maud said, bouncing up and down. "Where to first?" "...And that's my boutique." Rarity pointed to a big, fancy store. "Fancy-shmancy! Is there anything else?" Maud asked. "Well there's Sugarcube Corner." Applejack answered. "It's just around the corner." The trio trotted their way to the sweet store. To Maud's surprise, a giant cake was in her view. "Whoa!" Maud exclaimed. "How did you guys get this big of a cake?!" Rarity giggled. "That's Sugarcube Corner, dear." Maud's cheeks turned red. "Oh." The two giggled. "Would you like to get a treat from here?" Applejack said. "Would I? I'm always up for a treat!" The three walked up to the door of the cake-like building and opened the door. The bell rang as they walked inside. There were already to customers inside, eating cake. "Oh, hello there!" A plump, blue mare behind the counter noticed them walk in. "What can I get for you?" Rarity and Applejack ordered their desserts. When Maud came up to the counter, the blue mare was quite surprised. "Why, hello!" she said. "You must be new in town! I'm Mrs. Cake." Maud smiled. "Howdy, Mrs. Cake! I'm Maud. Now let's see..." Maud closely examined the pastries laid out under glass at the counter. "Ooooh! Those cupcakes look good! How much?" "5 bits," Mrs. Cake said as she pulled out a tray of cupcakes. "Help yourself!" Maud faceplanted onto the tray. It looked like she would've been covered in icing if she brought her head back up, but somehow, her mouth opened wide enough to eat all cupcakes in one gulp. "MMMMM! These are soooooo good!" Maud said excitedly. "Is there any more?" "Er, no." Mrs. Cake said, backing up as if the grey pony was going to jump on her. "I didn't expect for you to eat them all. Sorry, dear." Maud trotted over to her two friends who were still eating. The two other customers, both of them being pegasi, saw what Maud did and they were staring at her, wide-eyed. "Wow." said a blue pegasus with rainbow hair. "Even I couldn't eat cupcakes that fast." A yellow pegasus with light pink hair who sat next to her nodded. "I'm not sure how she even did that. Pretty weird." "Oh, c'mon!" Maud said to the pegasi. "It's natural, isn't it? I was able to do it ever since I was a filly." "Really?" the blue mare said. "Didn't look like it without eating cupcakes." Everyone, even Maud, chuckled. "Anyways, you're a newbie, aren'tcha? The names Rainbow Dash. This is my friend, Fluttershy." The yellow mare hid behind her long, pink mane. "Hi," she said softly. "Well, I'm Maud! And I hope we can be good friends!" > Chapter Three > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the past few months, Maud has been throwing parties for every occasion she can. Every pony in Ponyville loved her parties. The Summer Sun Celebration was coming up, and she was already getting the town hall ready for the occasion. Soon, Maud found herself bouncing through the streets of Ponyville, looking for something exciting, when something caught her attention. A purple unicorn and a baby dragon? she thought. This I've gotta see! She bounced up to them while they were talking to each other. Then they both looked at her. Maud quickly looked them over. They weren't familiar to her. "Hi," the unicorn said, dubiously. Maud gasped loudly and bolted off into the opposite direction. "A pony I don't know?" she said as she ran. "She must be new! That might mean she's alone and doesn't have friends." Maud pouted. "Oh! I know what to do!" Maud had thrown a Welcome to Ponyville party for the purple unicorn, whose name was Twilight Sparkle. To Maud's surprise, Twilight didn't seem to appreciate it. Well, I'm sure the Summer Sun Celebration will lighten up the night, right? she thought. ...Right?! Turns out she wasn't right. A fiend by the name of Nightmare Moon had kidnapped Princess Celestia, and was going to make an eternal night. After Nightmare Moon dissapeared, Twilight ran away, back to her home. Rainbow Dash was the first to see it. "Girls! That Twilight girl's goin' somewhere!" "Should we follow her?" Rarity asked. "If she knows about that Nightmare gal, she might have something to do with it." Just like that, she zoomed after Twilight. "Rainbow!" Applejack called after her. "Gosh, that pony sometimes..." They all ran after Rainbow Dash, except for Maud, who stayed behind for a bit. After a moment or two, she follow the group. Twilight lived in the Golden Oak Library. Since it was public place, it wasn't hard to track her down. Rainbow found her rummaging through books. "How about you tell us how you know about Nightmare Moon!" Rainbow said as she let herself in along with the others. "Are you some kind of spy?" Applejack got between the two. "Now, now Sugarcube. I'm sure she ain't a spy. But I think she does know what's goin' on, don't ya, Twilight?" She turned to the purple unicorn. Every pony had their attention on her. Twilight sighed. "I've read about Nightmare Moon. And unless we can get the elements of harmony, we won't be able to defeat her." Maud scrunched her nose. "Elements of what-the?" "The elements of harmony. From what I can remember, they are honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and loyalty. There's also a sixth unknown element." Some of the ponies jolted a bit when the elements were called, one by one. Maud didn't budge, however. "All of the elements are in the Castle of the Two Sisters, which was built in the everfree." Everyone gulped at mention of the everfree. It was a forest close to the town, and no one dared to go in, because those who do, don't come out. "I-isn't there a d-different way of defeating N-Nightmare Moon?" Fluttershy stuttered. Twilight shook her head. "Sorry Fluttershy. It's the only way." "Don't worry, Flutters!" Maud exclaimed. "You're auntie Maud's gotcha covered!" "I'm a few months older than you." "C'mon, guys! It can't be that bad, right?" Rainbow said, cockily. "Nevermind," Rainbow gulped. "It's gonna be bad." All six ponies were on the road that led into the Everfree. They were just outside of the forest. All of them stared at it frightened. The one who looked the most determined was Twilight, being the first to take a step closer to the forest. "Now, what do ya think yer doin' Sugarcube?" Applejack exclaimed, stopping the Unicorn. "If you're goin' in there, so are we!" Applejack had put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight took it off. "I don't want you guys to get involved in this. You guys will be safer in Ponyville." "Safe is boring!" Maud exclaimed. "Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "Plus, we don't wanna leave you out for the manticores! If you die, you're taking us with you!" "D-die?" Fluttershy stuttered. Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but closed it immediately after. Even though she bearly knew about these ponies, she felt a strong bond with them. But, Maud's bond wasn't as strong. It was good, but not as good as the others. Twilight didn't question it. Twilight sighed. "Alright, but if something happens to any of you, don't blame it on me." As the six went into the forest, events occurred. Applejack helped Twilight when she was about to fall off the side of a cliff. Fluttershy calmed down a manticore, Rarity generously helped a Sea Serpent, and Rainbow Dash chose friends over fame when needed. Maud, however, didn't do anything. Aside from Twilight, all of her other friends had shown their element, but aside from her bubbly personality, she didn't show hers. Soon, they all got to the Castle of The Two Sisters, and Nightmare Moon seemed to have triumphed, until something happened. "Without the elements, the night will now be eternal!" Nightmare exclaimed with a cackle. Twilight, who was in the room with Nightmare smirked. "I don't need the elements. They're right here!" The other five ponies came into the room, triumphant looks on all of their faces. "Honesty!" Twilight pointed at Applejack. "Kindness!" She pointed at Fluttershy. "Laughter!" Maud. "Generosity!" Rarity. "Loyalty!" Rainbow Dash. "And most importantly..." Twilight pointed at her self. "Magic!" All of the ponies glowed brightly. "We are the elements of harmony!" Everything was going perfectly. Even Nightmare Moon knew, because she braced for impact. This is it, Twilight thought. We're going to defeat her! Then suddenly... "OOF!" Maud had stopped glowing and hit the ground, taking the others with her. Nightmare, whose eyes were closed, opened. When she saw the defeated looks on each of their faces, she smiled and cackled. "Wow! Such a anti climatic moment! You pathetic ponies must be so embarrassed." She remarked, mockingly. "B-but," Twilight stuttered. "How?!" "Turns out the elements really were destroyed!" Nightmare laughed. "I guess the night will be eternal after all! I can't wait to see my new subjects." Nightmare Moon teleported away, laughing maniacally. Once she dissapeared, Twilight stared in disbelief. "It can't be...everything was going perfectly! How did we mess up?" "I'll bet we didn't pose cooler enough!" Rainbow said, breaking the silence. "If we're gonna have a hero moment, we're gonna have to have a cool pose! They all stared at her shaking their heads. "What? It's gotta be true! If I don't do cool pose at my hero moments, it never turns out good!" "No, I don't think it's that." Twilight disagreed. "I think it has to do with Maud." Maud perked up. "Me?" she said innocently. "You were the only one aside from me who didn't show you're element when we were in the forest. Plus, I felt a bond with everyone, but yours wasn't that strong. Something tells me that you aren't the element of laughter." Everyone gasped except for Raindow Dash, who looked unimpressed. "Still think it's the poses." "Well, how?" Rarity asked. "Maud has been the most happy..." "Most funniest..." Applejack added. "Most excitable..." Fluttershy muttered. "Most kinda annoying..." Rainbow said. "Pony we've ever known!" The four said in unison. Maud thought for a moment. Happy, funny, excitable, maybe not annoying... All of those character traits took Maud to one pony. "I know who the real element of laughter may be!" Maud exclaimed. "My sister, Pinkamena! I sometimes call her Pinkie for short. She isn't always happy, but is happy about rocks! She can be funny sometimes, even when she isn't joking! She gets exited when rocks are involved! I wouldn't say she's annoying, but still!" "It sounds like she really likes rocks." Fluttershy said. "Let me guess, she has a pet rock?" Rainbow remarked jokingly. "Wow! How did you know?" "I-I was joking." "Where does Pinkamena live?" asked Twilight. Maud smiled. "On a rock farm!" > Chapter Four > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Are we there yet?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "My wings are giving up!" The six were headed towards the rock farm, where Maud had claimed her sister, Pinkamena, to be living at. The train to the farm was delayed because of the Nightmare Moon incident, so they all had to walk. Everyone was getting very tired, except for Maud, who just bounced all the way. "Goodness gracious, Sugarcube," Applejack panted. "How are you not tired?!" Maud giggled. "Oh, girls! You make such a big deal out of the smallest things! We haven't been walking that long." "Yes, if you say that 7 HOURS isn't a long walk!" Rarity wheezed. "I'm going to faint from all this sweat! I give up! The bad guys have won!" "Maud rolled her eyes and kept bouncing. "Don't give up now! We're almost there!" "As if you didn't say that 30 minutes ago," Rainbow murmmered. "Can we at least take a break?" Fluttershy said, trying to keep Rarity from falling over. "Yeah," Twilight agreed, breathing heavily. "I think we all need a break." "Alright." Maud sighed. "But it doesn't have to be for long; we're here!" Like she said, right in front of the group was a tall, worn out building. It looked as if it hasn't been cleaned in years. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get that Pinkamena!" Rainbow said, zooming towards the door only to fall back down. "After a quick break." A few hours earlier "That's weird," Limestone said, looking out the window. "The sun should be out by now." It was almost 9AM and the moon was still out, as full and bright as ever. Marble opened her mouth to reply to Lime's question when Pinkie interrupted. "Yeah, maybe it is daylight savings. Wait, is that even a thing in this world?" Marble nodded at Pinkamena's response. "Whatever it is, it's really keeping us inside." Lime added. Pinkie sighed. "I'm tired." She took her pet rock and went upstairs. "I'm gonna take a nap." Pinkie sat on her bed and stared out the window, looking at the starry sky. "I'll admit," Pinkie said to her self. "It is pretty weird that the sun isn't out yet." Pinkamena locked her gaze on the sky, unaware of the darkness slowly approaching from behind... Present Knock knock knock "Hellooooooo!" Maud sang, knocking on the door of her house. The other five ponies waited patiently for a response. The door suddenly creaked open. "Hello? Gasp! Maud!" Maud smiled, pouncing on her sister and embracing her in a tight hug. "It's soooooooo good to see you again, Limie!" "Please don't call me that," Lime murmured under her breath. "What brings you back?" "Long story." Twilight said, stepping up. "Have you been wondering why the moon is still out right now?" "Yeah, actually I have!" Lime exclaimed. "Well, the reason is that a villain named Nightmare Moon has come into Equestria and has cursed the land with eternal night. The only way to defeat her is that we get the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and Maud believes that one of your sisters is one of them." "Pinkie!" Maud added to Twilight's explanation. "Pinkie is one of them!" Lime looked bewildered. "Are you sure about that?" "Well, she's definitely sure as sugar," said Applejack, referring to Maud. Dash was getting impatient. "Well, where is this Pinkamena? Or Pinkie. Whatever the hay you call her!" "We last saw her going upstairs." Lime replyed. Maud went over to the staircase and looked up. "PINKIE!" Maud calls. "PINKIE, IT'S ME! YOUR BEST BIG SISTER FIVE-EVER! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN COME DOWN?!" No response. "PINKIE, DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE AND DRAG YOU DOWN!" No response. "I'LL GIVE YOU FIVE SECONDS TO COME DOWN!" Five seconds passed. No response. "YOU'VE GIVEN ME NO OTHER CHOICE, THEN!" Maud ran upstairs to Pinkie's room, leaving her sister and friends. The two groups stared at each other awkwardly. "So," Twilight said, filling the gap of silence. "Come here often?" "Um, yeah. We kinda live here." "Wel, if you're going to call this place a home, you could try to tidy up the place," Rarity said, eyeing the house judgingly. "It's not as bad as Applejack's barn, though." "I heard that!" Applejack snapped. "OH MY CELESTIA'S BUTTERCREAM COAT AND CAKE!!!" Every pony turned to the sound of Maud's yell. They all ran upstairs to see the problem. "Maud? What's wrong--" Twilight started, but was cut off by the sight of the room. A giant, dark gash in the wall was oozing of a dark purple and blue liquid, a slimy substance covered the floor, making it look like a picture of the night sky was pasted onto the floor. Pinkie was gone. "O-oh...m-my..." Fluttershy stammered, eyes widened." "I know!" Rarity responded to Fluttershy. "Now there's more cleaning the Pies have to do. So sorry." Rarity looked back at Lime and Marble, who were originally looking at the scene with horror, stared at Rarity with annoyance. Cackling started to fill the silence as a purple gas came through a window, morphing into a screen that showed Nightmare Moon smiling wickedly at the camera. "Looking for this?" Nightmare stepped out of the way to reveal Pinkie in a cage, looking at the camera with a pleading look. "PINKIE!" Maud called, running up to the screen. "YOU BIGOL' QUEEN MEANIE-PANTS! BRING MY SISTER BACK!" "Want her back? Come get her in the Castle of the two sisters, or else something...unfortunate might happen to her." Nightmare said darkly, cackling as the screen faded away. "NO!" Maud screamed. A few seconds of silence went by. Maud hung her head, looking at the floor. Slowly, her bouncy, messy mane started to deflate flatly on her head. Her front mane created bangs that rested on her forehead. Her back laid gently on her neck. "Maud...?" Twilight said, slowly walking up to Maud. Maud didn't even look up. Twilight looked sympathetically at her friend, her face turning into a determined expression. "Girls," Twilight said sharply. "We need to save Pinkamena."