Silent PonyVille Chapter 3

Pinkie Pie tenderly finished cleaning and wrapping her wounds. Her leg still throbbed from the bite wound, but at least now it would start to heal properly. She tested her weight on it; there was a small bit of pain but nothing she couldn't handle. She could keep moving; she could run away if she had to.

She looked at the note she had placed on her bed once more; it had been resting at the bottom of the balloon's basket, as if it had been waiting for her to find it.

"Laughter and smiles of youth,

Together as they find out truth.

Dreams of the future are held,

As fears of the past are expelled."

She had been dwelling on this note since she'd found it. She knew it was a riddle…she wasn't very good with riddles. But her mind had finally calmed down enough now to start thinking more coherently. Her brain was finally not reeling from horror long enough to take deciphering these words seriously.

"…Well…I guess the first line means foals…foals finding truth? Like…learning?" That word sparked it for her, "Oh! This riddle is about a school." She said rereading the riddle in context of a school and all the lines fit, "So…does that mean I should head for the school?" She asked herself.

She looked around at the dilapidated room, the balloon that was torn apart, the body of half a filly…

"…No reason to stay here." She sighed as she packed the note into her bag before grabbing the lantern and heading outside. She shivered as she hit the cold, snowy air once more. She hadn't realized how warm it was being inside of the buildings…

She turned the lantern off and placed it back in the bag. She then began her gallop towards the school.

-----

She watched carefully from behind a tree as the lumbering form of the monster paced away from the entrance to the school. It looked just like the first monster she had encountered, the three legged groaner. 'If there's more than one of those things, maybe Groaner is a good thing to call them…' she thought to herself.

She had hoped the buzzing of her phonograph wouldn't give her position away, but it didn't seem to notice any sounds unless she made them. It soon began to lumber away into the fog, turning into a dark silhouette of itself. She figured now was the perfect time to move.

She quickly made it to the front door of the school and pulled on the handle, trying to get inside quickly. The door jammed from the sound of it being locked.

"W-What? It's locked?" She said bewildered. She hadn't expected it to be locked, not after that riddle had told her to come to the school. 'Did I get the answer wrong?' she asked herself as she looked at the door again. It was then that she noticed just above the handle was the lock, with the symbol of a star on it.

It felt like a switch was flipped on in her head. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out the key Gummy had left for her, being careful not to undo the ribbon. She placed the key into the keyhole, it fitting perfectly. The door unlocked with a satisfying 'click' that made her smile softly. She went to grab the key to hold onto it again.

The key turned into ash, the tiny pieces quickly falling to the ground.

She stared in shock at the gift Gummy had given her. The only part that hadn't turned to ash was the ribbon that floated down gently, landing on her outstretched hoof.

"No…Gummy's gift…" She said, her lip quivering as tears threatened to fall once more. She shook her head quickly, taking a deep breath of cold air as she calmed herself again. She'd already cried a lot…if she kept crying she wasn't going to get out of this situation anytime soon. Besides, she still had the ribbon from the key…

She very carefully tied the bow to the end of her mane. It still didn't have its frizz to it, but tying it at the end helped make her feel like it was a little poofy again. The ribbon gave her comfort, she felt as if Gummy was right beside her while wearing it.

She opened the school door and headed inside. To her surprise the area was fairly well lit, she had been expecting to need her lantern like at her house. The school seemed to have fared better than her house did, it had a thick layer of dust but the structure wasn't nearly in as much disrepair. Lockers lined the walls as the hallways lead to classrooms, before her an opening to the main auditorium. Signs hung on the wall pointing out the direction to the gym, nurse's office, Principal's office and the numbers of the classrooms.

"Huh?" She said as her ear twitched upon hearing a sound. It sounded like the laughter of young foals. She turned her head in the direction of the sound, simply amazed at the sight. She could see the ghostly apparitions of two young foals playing in the hallway. They laughed and pranced around each other before running down the hallway in the direction of a classroom.

Pinkie watched as they faded through the door to the classroom. She quickly turned her head to her bag and listened for the static of her phonograph…but it was silent.

"…Well…maybe those ghosts aren't monsters like the others…" she said quietly to herself. Perhaps if they weren't monsters, they were a sign. She quickly followed after the foals, opening the door to classroom 104.

The classroom was as quiet as the halls of the school, stagnant air mixed with a layer of dust. But the room gave Pinkie a sense of nostalgia; it was the classroom she had gone to when she had moved to Ponyville.

Memories began to flood her mind.

"Well Ms. Pinkamena Diane Pie, we recognize that you have been home schooled for most of your life, but upon testing you on the Ponyville Standardized Test your score was not high enough to acknowledge a graduate level pony. So we are requiring you to take at least one year of public school here in Ponyville." The mayor explained to her.

"W-What? I have to go to school?" Pinkie said pouting in her seat opposite the mayor's desk. "But learning was so boring!" She stomped her hooves a little in her chair.

"Now, now sis," Octavia said reaching over and placing a hoof on her sister's shoulder, "it won't be that bad. Just think of all the new friends you'll be able to make. You'll have a lot more ponies to invite to your parties." She said comfortingly.

"But…but…" Pinkie said looking at her sister with pleading eyes. She already knew that she wanted to spread smiles as much and as far as she could, but this was her first time finding other ponies to be friends with to host a party for. She was rather intimidated by the thought that they wouldn't like her parties.

"Tell you what," Octavia said with a comforting smile, "if it's alright with the mayor, I'll go to school with you. How does that sound?"

"I don't see why not." The Mayor said nodding with a smile.

"Really!? Oh my gosh you're the best big sister ever!" Pinkie said hugging her dear sister with all her might, a big smile on her face. Octavia smiled in return as she petted her young filly sister.

Pinkie smiled at the warm memory. It was one she hadn't thought about in a long time. When Pinkie had decided to leave the farm Octavia was the one who had been the one willing to help her adjust to life outside of it. Her parents seemed to understand and stayed behind to let their kids experience the world.

Octavia had been the biggest help to her while they were at school. She gave her the confidence boost to meet the new ponies and she made so many friends. She was also the reason she'd met Mr. and Mrs. Cakes and ended up staying with them.

It was after that year of school that Octavia decided to leave on her own adventures, having discovered her love of the contrabass and classical music. She'd been sad to see her sister go, but understood she had to go live her own life. Besides, she'd left her in the care of some very wonderful friends.

Pinkie walked down the rows of desk with a soft but warm smile on her face. The room certainly gave her plenty of happy memories to remember. She stopped before her old desk in remembrance, but noticed a piece of paper lying on top of it.

"What's this?" she asked before taking a quick breathe and blowing the dust off of the paper. Sitting on her desk was a little foals drawing. On it was the picture of a family smiling on a rock farm. She gently placed a hoof against it; it was one of her old drawings. She smiled as she remembered the fondness she had for doodling during class. She could see their old house in the background, her moth and father standing behind their kids in the foreground. She smiled at the cute scribbling of her and Octavia.

"…Wait…" she said suddenly realizing something. She took her hoof away from the picture and stared at it. Something was wrong with this picture. She couldn't put her hoof on it though…

"It's my family…what would give me the impression somethings wrong?" she stared at the happy family of four. She couldn't fight the strong urge that there was something wrong with the picture. But no matter how she racked her brain, nothing seemed to come to mind. She scrutinized the picture carefully.

"…I'm sure if Octavia was here she would know what the problem was." Pinkie shook her head softly, "She always was the smartest of us. If we were ever in trouble she would always bail us ou-" Her words stopped dead.

"Alright fine, I'll play with you, but only because you're so insistent."

Her eyes shot back to the paper as she scanned it and counted the number of people in her family once more.

"One, two, three, four…five?" She counted out loud as she pointed to an empty spot that should've contained her other sister. "Where's Bellamina? Where's my younger sister?" She scoured the picture for any sign of her. She wouldn't have drawn a picture of her family without her…would she?

"…Wait…come to think of it…when was the last time I thought about Bellamina?" she asked herself quietly. She remembered thinking about Octavia several times over the years, but she'd never thought about Bellamina…"Oh my gosh…I must be the worst sister in the world!" She said feeling so rotten for having forgotten about her other sister.

She tried to recall memories of her sister desperately, but the only thing that came to mind was the story of how she got her cutie mark…but beyond that…

She shook her head furiously trying to jog loose any memory, but she didn't remember anything else. She looked down somberly before slamming a hoof against the ground.

"I'm so so SO sorry Bellamina! I promise you; once I get out of here I'll keep you in my thoughts!" Pinkie said determined now. She had to escape the horrors that had befallen Ponyville. She looked around the classroom, her eyes being drawn to the desk next to hers; the one Octavia had sat in during school. On the desk was a red circle with an X through it written with a red marker. She carefully grabbed the edge of the desk and opened the top of it, looking inside.

Inside of the desk was a blue jewel carved into the shape of a contrabass.

"…Wow…it's beautiful…" Pinkie gasped examining the item. She wasn't sure what it was doing there, but she had the strong feeling that it was something she was meant to keep. She picked it up carefully before placing it gently into her bag. She closed Octavia's desk, before realizing she should check her desk as well. She was careful not to disturb the picture and opened hers as well. Inside was a red jewel in the shape of a balloon. She quickly placed it inside of her bag as well.

She closed the desk and looked around. None of the other desks appeared to have anything of significance on them. She headed to the front of the class and checked the teacher's desk. There was a note written on the desk:

"At the eve of the switch from night to morning, the red moon will shine."

"Another riddle?" Pinkie asked aloud to no one. This one certainly made less sense then the last riddle she tried to solve. Off the top of her head she couldn't figure out what this riddle was trying to tell her…

She twirled her head towards the door when she heard the laughter of the foals coming from the hallway once more. She quickly exited the room and looked around the hallway for them. She saw them further down, playing with each other. She slowly approached them, trying to get a better look at the two little foals. However, once she got close enough they began to run down the hallway, she gave chase.

The little foals didn't run too far, they quickly made a turn into another room. Pinkie stopped in front of the door and read 'Janitor's Closet' on the front. She heard a click come from the door, as if it had just been unlocked. She reached for the handle and opened it, walking into the closet.

The room didn't look anything like a Janitor's Closet should, rather than shelves of items for cleaning it was a mostly empty room. At the end opposite the door stood a small knee-high pedestal, then behind it was what looked like a door with a clock and symbols around it, in-between two portraits of the princesses.

"Oh! Is that lantern oil?" she said as she walked up to the small pedestal, noticing a small bottle of yellow liquid. She sniffed it real quick to confirm what it was before picking it up and placing it in her bag, "Good, that should keep me stocked for a while."

She then walked forward to take a closer look at the door. To the left of the door was a picture of Princess Luna, graciously drawn with her body in a circle, surrounding a small hole in the wall. Princess Celestia was drawn much the same way, also surrounding a small hole in the wall.

"Wait…this hole…I know this shape." She said having noticed something about the hole Celestia was surrounding. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out the red balloon jewel and fit it gently into the hole. It snapped into place with a satisfying click.

"Then that means the other jewel must go here." She said placing the blue contrabass underneath Luna's picture. When the second jewel clicked into place, the clock moved forward out of the door a little, followed by the symbols placed in a circle around it. She looked carefully at the symbols; there were six pictures, three of suns, one red, one yellow, one blue and three moons, one white, one green and one red.

"Wait…a clock and a moon…" The words from the teacher's desk came to mind. "The eve of the switch from night to morning…night is pm; morning is am…they switch at twelve…and the red moon will glow at that time." She placed her hand against the dial of symbols and turned it, placing the red moon so that it was directly above the number twelve on the clock. Then she moved the two hands of the clock to point at the number as well.

The clock chimed twelve times as it and the dial moved back into the door, before the door moved up and rose into the ceiling opening the path. Pinkie quickly walked into the next room.

"Huh?" She said as her ear twitched. She heard a very quiet sound, like it was a sound coming from Ponyville itself. She recognized it as a siren, a siren was blaring in the distance. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she had the gut instinct it didn't mean anything good.

She focused on the room before her. She regretted it instantly.

The room itself gave off the stench of it rotting, the ceiling was brown with missing tiles, the walls were a mess of peeling rotted walls, and the floor was covered in dirt, mold and grime. Holes littered the room, revealing a mesh of iron grating behind them, apparently the foundation holding the room together.

Two dead ponies hung from the corners of the room, their bodies wrapped in some kind of cloth, but their blood splattered the wall and floors next to them. They hung by chains and metal that kept them suspended. On the wall between them was a single word written in their blood.

"Run"

She didn't need to be told twice as she ran out of the room. She ran out of the janitor's closet and back into the hallway.

"W-Wait…what happened to the light?" She asked as the hallway she entered was pitch black. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out her lantern. The flame came to life illuminating the hallway. She gasped as the hallway was no longer that of the calm and quiet schools, but instead was made of the same dilapidated materials as the room she'd just escaped.

Everything was rotting, held together by a metal grating. The grime covered the floor in splotches and blood caked the walls. Hanging bodies of ponies were visible at various intervals down the hall. The smell of so much rotting gagged Pinkie; if not for the lantern in her mouth she would've lost her stomach.

The sound of static hit her ears next. Her heart started pounding as she next heard footsteps echoing down the hall. She turned to the direction of footsteps, listening to the hiss of static grow louder as the footsteps grew closer. Her brain was screaming at her to run, listen to the wall and put every force of power into her hooves…

But she seemed stuck, almost glued to the spot. This feeling wasn't like the other monsters. This sensation was piercing down right into her very soul. This feeling was biting into her and was forcing her feet to stay.

The edge of the light hit the creature. It walked further into the edge of her light and she felt her heart stop for just a brief moment.

It was one of the monsters of her nightmare.

It was a tall, slender pony that towered over her. It had no face; its skin clung to its face and body as if they were attached directly to its bones. It was pale, deathly pale, accentuated by the black suit and red tie it wore on its torso. It continued to take slow careful steps toward her; every hoof step echoed in her brain like it was trying to grate her mind.

The Phonograph erupted into its loud high pitched ringing as she felt a pain strike her mind. She finally felt herself no longer glued to the spot and with every ounce of strength she turned around and ran.

Her heart jumped to her throat and beat away a mile a minute as her hoofs connected loudly with every single step she took. She didn't care about the grime or the bodies she passed, she had to get away. Her mind grated with the feeling of a haze that the creature seemed to bring with its presence. The loud ringing of the phonograph seemed to be the only thing that kept her in any state of mind to run as fast as she could.

She rounded a corner with lightning speed. She was putting everything into this; she knew she could run fast, she could keep up with, if not out-run Rainbow Dash at times. She had to be losing the Slender Pony, she had to be escaping. She dared to look over her shoulder.

It was keeping up with her. It seemed to only be walking, somehow the slow paced canter it strutted kept up, and his whole being seemed to slide towards her, as if there was no escaping.

Her mind reeled and she whipped her head forward trying to go faster. She had to turn another corner. Her hoof caught under one of her legs and she nearly fell. She scrambled her legs and took off again.

"SHKYAAAAAA" A blood curdling scream bellowed out before her as she saw half of a white filly start to crawl straight for her. She jumped over it, its tongue passing over one of her hooves as it tried to bite her. The screams of the filly were cut short as she heard the sound of it being crushed by the monster chasing her. Her stomach hit her heart inside of her throat as her lungs burned. Her mind was reeling and the haze was growing.

'I can't escape I can't escape I can't escape I can't escape I CAN'T ESCAPE' the words yelled and flung themselves to the very corners of her mind. She felt it: She was about to die. This monster was about to kill her and there was nothing she could do about it…

Her eyes flung open as she saw at the end of the hallway an open door.

'An exit!?' Her mind screamed as she continued to book it. She raced as fast as she could, trying to ignore the constant looming presence of the threat behind her. She had to get to that door! She was almost there! Just a little closer! Just a little closer! She was going to make it!

She jumped, passing straight through the open door and skidding to a halt inside of the room. Her heart instantly sank as she looked around. The room was a square with one entrance, no exit. She had jumped straight into a dead end with that monster behind her.

She looked around frantically; the room was adorned with party decorations: multi colored streamers, balloons caked with blood, vile looking snacks, poorly wrapped and rotting gifts, hanging ponies at every corner, a seal of blood drawn out on the floor.

She instantly turned around, watching as the Slender Pony gradually walked into the room. The only opening to the room sealed shut with an iron gate behind it. There was no escaping it now. She was trapped in the same room as this monster.

She dropped the lantern from her mouth, no longer able to hold onto it as she panted frantically. The lantern rolled to the center of the room, turning itself up right and in the center of the blood drawn seal. The seal lit up with a red glow filling the whole room with light. She could see the red hued Slender Pony as it walked towards her.

"STAY BACK." She yelled as she ran to the gifts. She began grabbing them one by one and throwing them at the Pony. The gifts struck the pony and seemed to stun him for a moment. But as the gifts hit him, they fell to the ground and burst into a pile of ash. They slowed his walk down for a moment, but soon they didn't even phase him.

She grabbed the last gift and tossed it with all her might, straight at his head. It struck him before blowing up into a pile of ash.

Pinkie cried out in pain as she felt like her forehead was splitting open as her vision hazed into oblivion.

She stomped her hooves down and ran blindly in a direction away from the pony. Her vision returned as she felt blood trickling down between her eyes, dripping off of her nose. He'd opened up a fresh wound on her head.

She grabbed the table holding the vile snacks on top of it and tossed it to the ground. She raised her hind legs up and with all her might she kicked the table straight at the Slender Pony. The whole table struck him and pushed him back. He hit the wall as the table seemed to hold him in place for a moment.

Pinkie panted as she stared at the creature. He got up. He pushed the table gently and the table fell apart as a pile of ash.

Pinkie's legs gave way under her as she fell to her knees. Tears fell from her eyes as she sobbed in pain and exhaustion. She couldn't fight this monster. It was too much. Her mind reeled and wanted to accept her death. Her body couldn't take it, her mind couldn't take it.

She felt her mind begin to hurt worse, the Slender Pony was drawing closer. She couldn't look at him, she sobbed with her eyes closed shut just wanting the horror to end once and for all.

The pain stopped. The hoof steps of the Pony had stopped getting closer. The ringing of the Phonograph was dyeing down.

Pinkie dared to open her eyes and looked up. He was still there, but he had stopped its assault on her. He looked like he was looking away from her, at some something she couldn't see…

That's when she heard it. The siren. The siren was going off again in the distance. The Slender Pony put one of its lifted hooves to the ground and turned to look at Pinkie. She braced for whatever he was going to do, but he just stood there. Then, slowly, he lowered his head into his suit and pulled out a small brown box. He placed it on the ground before turning around and walking away from her.

The light in the room dimmed until it was pitch black.

Light from her lantern began to bring a gentle glow to the room.

Pinkie hiccuped, taking in a huge breath of air that burned her lungs again. She could feel her heart still racing at top speed as she began to get her bearings. The room wasn't the one she had just been in. It looked like a normal basement. It had pipes and fixtures that controlled water and heating throughout the building. Her lantern lay on its side in the middle of the room, glowing with its gentle flame.

The brown box was still where the Slender Pony had left it.

Words failed Pinkie. She didn't have the strength to get up at the moment. She lowered her head and let herself sob again.

Silent PonyVille Chapter 2

"There it is." Pinkie Pie said as she pulled out a map of Ponyville. She'd gone back to the library to find it; luckily she had an uncanny ability to find things she needed very quickly. She took a red marker in her mouth and drew a circle with an X through it at the road with the chasm on it. She then placed smaller X's on several houses she'd tried to gain access to in trying to find anypony. The town appeared to be empty, abandoned.

"What happened here?" She asked herself looking at the map of X's. She'd only investigated a small portion of Ponyville, but there were always ponies either at home or wandering around. On bad weather days they'd be in their homes or there'd at least be a notice of some kind if a lot of the ponies would be leaving. Plus why was there that bottomless pit at the edge of town?

"I need to get to Sugar Cube corner. If I can make it there I can get my hot air balloon and try and see if there's any pegasi in the sky, they might have an explanation for the fog." Pinkie Pie said confirming her plan of action in her head. She also admitted to being worried about Gummy, she hoped he would be alright. She quickly checked her route on the map before packing the map and the pen into her bag. She'd mark anymore unusual occurrences she encountered in Ponyville on the map for her to remember.

She stepped back out into the chilly day when something cold and wet landed on the end of her nose.

"Huh?" Pinkie said trying to see the end of her nose. She shook her head a little, then looked up into the sky. Small specks of snow began to appear as they slowly fell to the ground.

"Snow? But…But its summer…" Pinkie said in shock staring at the white spectacle. She could see her breath but she hadn't realized it was cold enough for snow out. The pegasi controlled the weather, so they must be up there right now! Pinkie headed out in a gallop towards Sugar Cube Corner.

Suddenly Pinkie heard a static sound coming from her bag. Was that miniature Phonograph making noise again? It certainly picked random times to do so.

Pinkie was knocked out of her thoughts when she saw the outline of a figure in the fog.

"Oh! Somepony is here!" She said her hope rising. She quickly ran faster to the figure. As she got closer though, she couldn't help but get the strong feeling that something wasn't right, as the phonograph grew louder…

"Hey, what's going on here?" She instantly asked before even assessing who it was. She stopped shortly though when she got a good look at the pony…and she let out a high pitched scream.

"Ruuuaaaa…ghhuuurrrrrggghhh…" The pony was barely a pony anymore. Its coat and mane was gone, replaced with the look of rotting flesh that was trying to live. One of its front legs was missing, there was a missing chunk of flesh from its back, its eyes looked like they had been gouged out, several teeth looked like they had been knocked out with the holes bleeding, and several lacerations covered its body.

"A-Are you alright!?" Pinkie said taking a step back from the pony. Her initial reaction was to figure out if it was in pain, but her gut told her to stay away, that this thing didn't want her help. The phonograph in her bag started ringing off the hook.

"Gruuuuuh" The fleshy mass lunged at Pinkie, its teeth bearing to strike down. Pinkie cried out and jumped away, as the creature fell where she was standing, its teeth sinking into the dirt. Pinkie took a few more steps away from the creature as it brought its head back up, a mouthful of dirt in its teeth. It growled as the dirt dribbled out of its mouth, soaking the dirt with its blood. It began to slowly lumber towards Pinkie again, growling as it seemed to smell her out.

"S-Stay back! Stay back!" Pinkie cried out trying to back pedal away from the terrifying creature. It growled and moaned, dripping a trail of blood as it was intent on tracking her. The creature terrified Pinkie, it looked like it was on the verge of death, yet it wouldn't die. Instead it was intent on attacking her. Every fiber in her being told her to run away, run as fast and far as you can from this creature.

"Stay away from me!" She cried before her legs finally took action and ran around the creature, quickly galloping away. The creature went to lunge again, its teeth implanting on the dirt once more as Pinkie ran past. As she got farther and farther away the phonograph in her bag began to settle down, before going silent once more.

She collapsed into a sitting position as she breathed heavily; her heart was beating a mile a minute in her throat. What was that thing? Why had it attacked her? Why did it look like a pony? Why had she not seen any pony else but that…thing?

"Sugar…cube…corner…" Pinkie panted trying to calm her nerves. She bit down on her arm, pinching herself to remind herself she wasn't dreaming. She was in control of herself…she could run away from what she saw…this was not a dream. She shook her head and got back to her hooves and began to run again.

-----

The door to her room in Sugar Cube Corner creaked open slowly as Pinkie pushed it. The inside of her room was pitch black. She couldn't see anything past the frame of her door. She carefully dug into her bag and pulled out the lantern, holding it in her mouth as she turned the knob. The wick came to life, the flame shining. She stepped into her room, the light of the lantern illuminating what she couldn't see before.

She looked at shock at the state of her room. It looked like it hadn't been used for years. The wallpaper was rotted and peeling, the wooden floor was splintering and falling apart, the curtains were riddled with holes, dust was thick and the air was stagnant. Pinkie looked around confused, before placing the lamp down gently onto a table so she could see the whole room.

"Was I…gone for a long time?" Pinkie asked as she stepped through the room, hearing the floor creak and groan as it adjusted to her weight. "Twilight wouldn't have used a spell to send me into the future if she was going to help me…would she?" Pinkie said not sure what to think. "The spell did say it would be disorientating…I guess this could just all be part of that side effect."

The Phonograph began to let off a soft static. Pinkie stopped in her tracks as she listened to it. The last time it went off she met that creature and it had gotten louder as she got closer to it. She looked around the room hastily but she didn't see anything that looked like a monster…

"Calm down Pinkie Pie…there's…nothing too serious to worry about. Let's just check and see if Gummy is here…grab the balloon…and head for the sky…you can put this creepiness behind you then." Pinkie said as she grabbed the lantern in her teeth and quickly pushed her bathroom door open.

"Gummy?" She called out despite the lantern in her teeth. She looked into the bathroom and nearly dropped the lantern.

The walls were smeared with blood, bloody hoof prints and hastily scribbled words. The curtains were torn to shreds, the remains barely hanging onto the poles that used to hold them. Caked blood covered the outside of the tub; the whole room looked like a massacre.

"G-Gummy? A-Are you in here?" Her words were muffled, but she had to check, she had to look. Her mind screamed leave but she had to find out if he was in here or not. She took steps into the bathroom, her hooves echoing loudly as she stepped onto the tile. The only relief she was given was that the Phonograph grew quieter as she stepped in further.

She placed the lantern down on the sink and gulped as best she could. The room stank of mold and blood; it made her want to gag. She carefully checked around the tub and the curtains, only seeing more blood. She turned to look at the walls, getting a chance to read what was written in the hastily scribbled blood:

Help me

Pain

He hungers

The words sent chills down her back. What did they mean? 'He hungers?' the words echoed in her head. Was that…referring to Gummy? But Gummy had no teeth; the only thing he could swallow was the mushy gator food she bought for him. What had happened in her bathroom? Why would this have happened here? Her mind was reeling with questions; she desperately needed the comfort of one of her friends right now.

She stepped away from the wall, there was only one place left she had to check and that was the tub itself. She very carefully leaned her head over the edge of the tub, looking down into it.

In the tub laid half of the rotted remains of a tiny green gator.

Pinkie threw her hooves over her mouth as the tears began to stream out of her eyes. It was unmistakable…that was Gummy. He looked like he had been there for a long time. Pinkie's stomach was moving into her throat as she stared. 'Why was this happening?' was the question bouncing around her head again and again and again. She needed answers.

It was then that she noticed a bright red ribbon. It was tied immaculately into a bow around something that was sticking out of Gummy's mouth. Pinkie swallowed as she stared at the item, not sure what it meant. The item was clean…it was free of blood and it looked like…it looked like Gummy was trying to give it to her.

Pinkie gingerly lowered her hoof and took the item from Gummy's mouth, the item slipping out with a bit of ease. She was able to look at it clearly now, realizing it was a key. The key had a symbol of a star on it. She didn't quite know what it meant, but Gummy had given it to her in his last days. She had to keep it. She gently placed the key into her bag, remembering just then that the phonograph was still giving off a quiet buzz.

She carefully grabbed her lantern and stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She placed the lantern down on the ground as she wiped her face again, hiccuping.

"Gummy…I'm so sorry…" She cried into her hoof as she desperately tried to calm down, "I promise…I'll give you the proper burial you deserve one day…" she held back another sob, "Please forgive me for not being there for you…"She said as her shoulders shook. Her attempts at calming down were failing. The tears were pouring out stronger now. She just wanted to sit there and cry…

Her mind snapped aware when she heard the buzzing grow louder, turning into the high pitched ringing. Whatever was setting it off was getting closer. That meant she didn't have the time she needed to sit there and cry her heart out, she had to move or the fate that befell Gummy was going to befall her too.

She hastily grabbed the lantern and ran across her room to the closet where she kept the balloon. The ringing grew louder. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. She grabbed the closet doors and ripped them out.

A high pitched scream erupted as a white blur latched onto Pinkie's face. Pinkie whirled her head around frantically as pain struck all around her face. She scrambled her hooves and rammed her head against the wall, erupting another screech from the blur. She whirled her head and flung it across the room. Pinkie breathed heavily as she felt blood trickling down the side of her face. She turned to look at her attacker, her eyes opening in shock.

"Shkyyyaaaaaaaaaa…" Writhing on the floor was what looked like the upper half of a hairless young filly, its white skin beginning to rot on its bone, its two front hooves grasping for land as it flailed on its back, its eyes covered by a white bandanna as its black mouth opened, a long tongue flickering out as it let outs its wailing cry. The screech of the thing struck her ears harder than the loud ringing of her phonograph.

Pinkie Pie was speechless upon seeing this creature. That thing resembled a filly…her stomach did a flip, a full grown pony was one thing…

The creature found its way right-side up, its wailing screeches quieted down as it seemed to be tasting the air, its tongue flicking about. Pinkie winced as she tried to take a step back, only to find a wall there. The creatures head snapped to look straight at Pinkie Pie. It let out another wail as with shocking speed it began to crawl straight at her. In a blind rush she quickly jumped to the side, the creature slamming its head straight into the wall. It let out a wailing cry as it flailed its head in pain.

Pinkie's heart pounded in her throat as she watched the creature. Its wailing cry made it sound so pitiful. It had left a sizeable bloodstain on the wall and its head was bleeding profusely. It flailed its head back and forth. Pinkie wanted to reach out and help it, she wanted to stop its pain and let it know everything is alright…

The creature let out a blood curdling scream and rushed at her again, its mouth clamped down hard on her leg. Pinkie cried out she flailed her leg trying to get the creature off, but it held on with a tight grip. She began to run around trying to shake the creature, but its grip seemed to get tighter. She couldn't hear anything beyond her screams and the beating of her heart.

She stopped next to a wall and slammed the creature hard against the wall. The creature was still there, she slammed it hard again. She slammed it again and again and again. Warm blood splattered against the wall and onto her coat. She slammed it with all of her might against the wall.

The creature slid off as life escaped its body, collapsing onto the floor with a thud. Pinkie's breath filled her lungs with fire as her body shook with adrenaline. She looked down at her bleeding leg and then at the creature she'd just finished off…

"Oh no…oh no oh no oh no…" Pinkie said in a shaky breath as she stepped backwards from the creature. She hadn't meant to kill it, did it deserve death? It had attacked her but was it the right thing to do? She sat on the ground panting, her body shaking, her mind reeling. She looked down at her body and saw the soft splatter of its blood against her coat. Her stomach flipped again and again, her contents about to come up.

"What have I done…" she gasped trying to cool her burning lungs, "Why did it have to come to this?" She shook her head violently. She didn't want any of this but it was happening…this was no dream that she could wake up from and it'd all go away…this was here and it was real.

She took a deep breath as she tried to stand on her shaking legs.

"Rainbow Dash…Rarity…Fluttershy…Applejack…Twilight…anypony…I need you right now…" she said shakily walking towards her closet. She grabbed the lantern and looked into the darkness. The Balloon was there, the basket holding the deflated balloon. Hope rose in her heart as she placed the lantern down and began to pull out the cloth from the basket…

Large holes riddled the balloon. It wasn't use-able for flight.

Pinkie broke out in sobbing tears, crying into the hole-ridden cloth.

The phonograph had finally stopped ringing.

Silent PonyVille Chapter 1

Pinkie Pie's eyes shot open. Her face was buried in her wet pillow, stained from her tears. She quivered and shook as she very gently tried to lift herself up from the bed. She was afraid of seeing her bed soaked, covered in blood, evidence of a horrific deed she had committed…but her bed was dry, save for her tears.

She gently placed a hoof to her face, feeling the still fresh tears on her cheek. She shivered as her hair moved to cover her eyes, still in shock at the sights she had seen.

"How…How could I…" the vivid images of the nightmare she had just slept through came back in her mind. Horrific cries rang vividly in her ears, her coat soaked with blood, the feel of slicing open another living being…it felt so real. Pinkie Pie shook her head viciously, trying to remove these thoughts from her head.

"Why am I having these dreams!?" She rammed her hooves into her head, trying to stop the images that were assaulting her. For the past two weeks she'd been having restless nights of sleep. She was having nightmares every night, the severity of what they showed were getting worse and worse with each one.

The first dream hadn't been too scary…she was just attacked by a monster, she had shrugged it off easily, and it wasn't too different from a normal day really. From there the monsters changed, one night she was attacked by the Pony of Death who wanted her soul for damnation, another night it was a faceless slender pony whose presence quaked her very being, then the next night she suffered from a disease and starvation as her body had begun to rot but was denied death from the pain…

She could handle those dreams. They weren't real after all; a good party with her friends made all those scary thoughts go away. She'd tried changing her diet for a day to see if the bad dreams would go away, and it worked for a night, but only for a night. The next night she had dreamt of being a monster, one with sharp teeth and claws. She was the monster and she had attacked and eaten herself. She still remembered the gagging taste the dream had left in her mouth.

The next dream had her terrorizing ponies throughout Ponyville; she'd wrecked homes, crops, products and lives. Then the next night she attacked each of her friends, she could feel the berserk rage of the monster as it had slashed and tore them apart indiscriminately, but at least it was a quick death, her friends didn't suffer in that dream.

But the dream last night was different…it was personal. She was a monster again last night…but it was different. She was just herself, no fangs, no claws, no berserk rage, but a monster. In the dream she had captured her friend, her dearest friend Rainbow Dash. She had taken sharp objects and…

Pinkie dashed into her bathroom, before emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet, as the vivid images of what she'd done in her dream flashed before her once more. She felt wretched, how could her mind even come anywhere close to thinking of such horrible, horrific things!? She loved her friends! She loved them more than the sun, then her sweets, then her parties, then life itself! Especially Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash was the coolest, most awesome fun-loving Pony she'd ever met! If she wanted to just hang out and have fun or pull some pranks or share some sweets or help throw a great party it was Rainbow Dash who was there for her.

She wiped her mouth as she groggily looked at herself in the mirror. Her mane was straight, her eyes were bloodshot with bags under her eyes, her coat was dull with a sickly look, and she was breathing quite heavily. She looked terrible.

She ran some cold water and repeatedly splashed her face with it. She really, really, REALLY wanted to go see Rainbow Dash…she had to know she was okay but…at the same time she couldn't do it until the memories of that dream had faded some more…and she had to get out of Sugar Cube corner for the day…she wouldn't be able to hold back anymore of her stomach if she even smelled a cupcake.

-----

Pinkie tried to stay in the shadows of the buildings as she quietly walked through Ponyville. The fresh air and warm sun weren't any comfort today. She didn't want to look at anypony either, worried their faces would trigger another flash of the awful images in her mind. She had nowhere in mind to go, she just had to wander, had to get away from Sugar Cube corner, from her room, from anything that would remind her…

She looked up and around, she had lost track of how much time had passed since she started her little trek, thankful no one had stopped to ask her why she was acting so differently today. She knew the other ponies had started to notice dips in her cheeriness, ever since the dreams she'd been throwing more parties than ever before, but more and more they weren't enough. Twilight had even asked her if something was the matter and she'd done her best to reassure her friend…

Wait! Twilight!

Twilight was a great magical pony! If anypony could figure out a way to stop these dreams she did! She winced at the idea of having to tell Twilight all about the horrific things her mind had imagined about her and her friends…but maybe she wouldn't have to, Twilight might find a solution without having to know what the dreams were of.

She picked up her pace, running straight for the library. It didn't take her long, she figured her body must've been taking her here by instinct; it did have a funny way of working that way. She ran to the door and knocked a little frantically. It didn't take long for the door to creak open.

"Oh, hey Pinkie Pie." Twilight said surprised but happy to see her friend, "Is this an invitation to a party agai-" Twilight stopped as she blinked, noticing the distressed look of her friend, "…Are you alright Pinkie? You don't look so good."

"No…No I'm not good Twilight…Can I come in?" Pinkie said, minding her manners for once.

"Of course Pinkie, please, make yourself at home." Twilight said quickly offering her friend hospitality.

"Thank you…" Pinkie said as she quietly trotted into the house. She quickly headed for the table in the center of the room and sitting on one of the red velvet pillows before it. She rested her head on the table, closing her eyes as she took a soft sigh to try and relax.

"Can I get you something to drink? Perhaps some hot chocolate?" Twilight said remembering her friend's favorite hot beverage.

"No sweets please…if you have some coffee that'd be great…no cream or sugar…" Pinkie softly groaned.

"No sweets?" Twilight said in shock, "Oh my…this really IS serious!" She said as she quickly prepared her friend the hot drink she requested. She levitated it before Pinkie, who groggily took it and began to drink. She grimaced at the bitter taste.

"Pinkie, what's the matter? You can tell me." Twilight said sitting down next to her downcast friend. Twilight could see the signs, her mane was straight, her coat was dull, her eyes bloodshot with bags under them and most noticeable of all…she wasn't radiating the energetic aura of Pinkie Pie.

"Oh Twilight…Its awful!" Pinkie put her hooves over her head, "It's the most awful thing that's ever happened to me! I can't even believe what's happened to me it's so awful! I can't sleep, I can't rest, even parties aren't helping! I need relief, I need to stop this but everything I've tried only seems to make it worse!" Pinkie said her voice was quivering; Twilight couldn't help but be surprised at how terrified her friend sounded.

"Pinkie…tell me, what exactly is this 'awful' thing that has happened." Twilight tried to reassure Pinkie that everything would be alright. Pinkie took a big breath, steeling her nerves.

"I've been having nightmares Twilight." Pinkie finally said, "Awful, horrible, relentless nightmares. I was throwing more parties to forget them, but they kept coming. I tried changing my diet, I tried relaxing before bed, I even tried falling asleep in a handstand with a lemon in my mouth while in the shower. Nothing works…and last night's nightmare was the worse of them all."

"Nightmares?" Twilight said tapping her chin for a moment, "One second." She said as she got up and quickly ran over to a bookshelf. She began to pull out books checking them out, scanning them one by one, "No…no, no, no, not you, you're not right either…" It took about ten minutes before Twilight finally pulled a book and looked at it satisfied, "Ah-hah!" She said as she trotted back to the table and opening the book, flipping through the pages quickly.

"Nightmares," Twilight began after having stopped on a specific page, "A dream of strong negative emotions; a common occurrence that most ponies will experience. However, if the nightmares should persist or become more terrifying with each episode it could be several reasons: external forces such as medication or diet, which we've already ruled out," Twilight added an addendum, "External stress from recent physical or mental events or caused by a psychological event from anytime during the pony's life that left a deep impact. There are several ways to determine what kind of nightmare is being experienced and what the best manner of treating them are." Twilight said before silently reading the next part.

"So, that book can help me stop the nightmares?" Pinkie asked, hope rising in her heart.

"Looks that way, of course it can't stop you from having nightmares for the rest of your life though, they're a normal part of sleep, but it can help you with your constant nightmare issue." She said still reading. "There's a spell in here that'll let me look into your mind and see the memories of your dreams, that way I can see what you've been dreaming about and apply the proper spell to try and help."

The hope that had risen inside of Pinkie fell into her gut like a boulder into a lake.

"No! No no no no no no Twilight!" Pinkie said shaking her head furiously, "You CAN'T see my dreams! They're…they're!" Pinkie covered her face with her hooves, "They're too horrible Twilight! I…I don't want anypony to see what I've seen!" Her voice was trembling; tears were threatening to leave her eyes once more.

She looked up when she felt Twilight's hoof placed against her shoulder, the look of concern on her face.

"I can't imagine what kind of dreams you've been having Pinkie, but I can see the pain on your face. It's effecting who you are and I can't just let this go. You came to me for help and I'm going to help you. Please, you have to let me see what you've seen, so that I can help." Twilight pleaded to her friend. Pinkie lowered her head as she held back the tears burning at her eyes with all her might, swallowing hard as she knew her friend wanted to make everything better and might have the power to do so…

"Twilight…" Pinkie muttered in hushed breath, holding back a sob.

"Yes? What is it Pinkie?" Twilight asked, in a similar hushed voiced.

"Please…you have to promise me…that what you're about to see…w-won't change your opinion of me." Pinkie sniffed deeply.

"I swear Pinkie, I won't think of you as anything but the dear friend I know and love." Twilight said, Pinkie saw her smile, it was so reassuring, so comforting…

"P-Pinkie Pie swear?" Pinkie asked one last time. Twilight just seemed to smile a little amused.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight did the motions of the Pinkie Pie swear, mimicking sticking the pastry into her face. Pinkie took a moment to let it sink in, then squeezed her eyes shut and lowered her head a little.

"A-Alright…I t-trust you Twilight." Pinkie Pie softly muttered, as she did her best to prepare for whatever was going to happen next.

Twilight nodded softly, as she remembered the spell from the book, her horn glowing with light as she concentrated on it. She gently swept hair covering Pinkie's forehead behind her ear to hold it, then gently tapped the tip of her horn against Pinkie's skull.

"LEAVE ME ALONE" The Slender Pony approached regardless, the static screeched at her as it drew closer. Pain shocked her body from one side to the other as blood seemed to splatter and cloud her vision turning the world red. She fell to her knees trying to grasp reality, before the pain and sound became too much to bear.

There was a hole in her body. She could feel the worms wriggling in it, crawling up into her torso. They were eating her, eating her alive. The pain clawed into her very soul but yet death would not come. Her body laid there, unflinching as the insects had their way, feeling every wriggle and slime of their bodies as they slid under her skin.

Bones crunched in her teeth as blood dripped down her chin. The fresh taste of gooey flesh slid down her throat. Sharp teeth bore down again into the side of an earth pony's neck as the pony's head fell from her body, giving her a good chunk of flesh to chew. The taste was revolting, but she craved it. She HAD to have it. She had to have more! Her teeth dug into the pony's skull, crushing the skull as the inner organs began to dribble into her mouth. She had to have more; this one would never be enough.

The screams had died down for now, but that wouldn't last for long.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" It was the pained and frantic cry of Rainbow Dash. She could see her tied down to a table, her wings already sawn off, sawn off by her own hands.

"Oh Rainbow Dash…everypony dies sometime." Her voice betrayed her as she pulled out a scalpel, "It's a simple concept really. You just have to think, 'Did my life meaning anything? Did I die with a purpose? Will my memory be left when I'm gone?' All are important questions you see." She walked towards Rainbow Dash; she could feel the murderous intent grasping at every fiber of her being.

"But…" Rainbow Dash hiccuped through the pain and tears, "I won't have died for a good purpose…if you kill me." She sobbed. "How could you do this to me?"

She raised her hoof and petted Rainbow Dash's face. She leaned in close to her, there was an attraction she could never describe as having felt before. Her breath was hot and her body betrayed her mind, "Oh Rainbow Dash…If you don't know the reason by now, you'll never understand. This is just how things have to be." She stepped back from her prisoner.

Rainbow only looked confused, but she would rectify that look. She gripped her scalpel and placed it at the base of Rainbow's hip, and sliced down her leg. Pain overtook Rainbow's face and voice as she began her delicate slicing operation. After all, she had to prepare the ingredients to be just right.

Twilight stumbled back. Her head kicked back instinctively, wanting to escape from the horrors inside of Pinkie's mind. Twilight crashed into a book case, causing a cascade of books to fall onto her. She was breathing heavily, frantic and panicked. The spell had only taken a few seconds to complete, but the rush of all the dream memories flooded her all at once.

Those dreams were horrific…and so real…she had felt everything in those dreams, even though dreams should not normally contain such vivid feelings. The monster that attacked her…the feel of bugs crawling all throughout her skin and organs…the gagging taste of flesh in her throat…the torturous acts she had committed…she wanted to vomit.

"Twilight?" Came a scared, timid, almost shy voice. Twilight snapped from her thoughts and looked up at her pink friend. She was trembling, trembling with fear as tears streamed down her eyes. That was right…these were the dreams Pinkie was having…the dreams that were terrifying her, the dreams that she had come to her for help with…

"Pinkie…" Twilight finally muttered, swallowing back her own emotions and stomach contents, "I…I had no idea…" she said shakily getting to her feet and slowly walking back to her friend. She had to be strong right now.

"Twilight…" Pinkie sniffed through her sobs, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry you saw them…" she closed her eyes, gasping for air through her sobs. Twilight quickly moved next to Pinkie, taking her into an embrace to hold her tight. Pinkie cried desperately into Twilight's shoulder. Twilight held her dear friend, making sure she knew she had all of her support. The images may have had made her stomach twist, but her friend was more important than that.

"It's okay Pinkie…" Twilight said once Pinkie's sobs had started to calm down, "I can see how much these dreams have been eating at you…the Pinkie in those dreams are not you. So we just have to figure out why you're having them." Twilight said, letting her friend dearly know that she had in fact kept her promise. The Pinkie in her arms was nothing like the Pinkie that appeared in the dreams. Pinkie slowly nodded her head in agreement, before finally being able to stop her tears and let go of Twilight. Twilight turned to her book and flipped a few pages.

"Since we know it's not your diet, we need to determine if it's because of recent events or if it's something much deeper in your psyche…so let's start there. When did the dreams start happening?"

"Well…" Pinkie rubbed her face, trying to dry it some, "The dreams started about a few days after the Grand Galloping Gala…and they've been happening about every night for the last two weeks. They didn't happen one night after I did change my diet, but then they just came back the next day…" Pinkie said trying to recall how often she'd have them.

"Hmmm…Well, the Gala was a pretty big incident. You certainly seemed fine at the Donut Shop…but what about after that? I know you said you had some business to attend to before you headed back to Ponyville, so we didn't see you again till we were heading to the chariot." Twilight wondered.

"…Well…after I'd spent time with you guys, I went and met with my sister Octavia. She was the one playing the Cello on stage during the gala. She was the main reason I was able to get away with my music antics while there. I wanted to go thank her for helping me try to liven things up." Pinkie said recalling the night, "She was a little irked at me at first for the mess I'd caused, but she forgave me and we ended up having a very fun chat about what we'd both been up to since we'd left the farm. After a little while it was time for me to go so we promised we'd keep better in touch."

Twilight pondered this, "Do you think it was that meeting with your sister that could've started the dreams?" Twilight asked curiously.

"I wouldn't understand that if she was," Pinkie said putting a hoof to her chin in though, "We had fun that night…there wasn't anything that she said that was negative."

"Have you gotten a letter from her yet?"

"I did get one, but it was just letting me know that she was going to be performing a concert in Fillydelphia. She said that her band was touring around so that if I wanted to send her letters I'd have to address them to her band since the mail carriers know where they'll be." Pinkie said tilting her head in thought, "Again, there was nothing negative though…"

"Well, what about the last two weeks then? You seemed mostly fine, other than a few instances where you weren't as chipper." Twilight said remembering Pinkie Pie was a little less hyper then usual the last few days. She certainly could understand why now though.

"No…nothing significant. I've been throwing more parties because of the dreams, but it's just been life as usual in Ponyville…" Pinkie said shaking her head slowly.

"I see." Twilight went back to consulting her books, scanning the pages of the book, flipping through some more looking for what would be best to handle this.

"Here we are…it's another spell. This one is a bit more a mind delve; its intention is to find the source of your problems though. It'll let us find out why you're having these dreams, be it a minor or major reason." Twilight said confidently, "So don't worry Pinkie, I'm going to make sure you'll be all better in no time." She gave her friend a confident smile.

"Thank you Twilight…" Pinkie said giving a soft smile back.

"Alright, the book says the spell can be a little disorientating at first, but that you'll get used to it. You ready?" Twilight asked. Pinkie gave her a nod. "Then here goes nothing." Twilight said taking a deep breath as she concentrated once more, her horn flaring up with light. She lowered it towards Pinkie's forehead once more and gently touched her.

Pinkie's mind did a flip and felt like it fell into a hazy fog. She lost track of her surroundings as it felt like she was falling from a very far height. The world was spinning around her as she felt like wind was rushing past her. Her stomach was rolling inside of her as she was inside of this intense feeling. She wondered just how long she was going to feel this way, when she finally felt the world stabilizing with a thud that knocked the wind out of her.

She gasped for breath, coughing a bit before feeling the sensation of a ground beneath her. She lifted her head up and shook it lightly, before slowly opening her eyes. She was still in the library…that was for sure. But Twilight was missing, why would she have left her alone in the library?

"Twilight?" She called out, but the only thing that came back was a hollow echo. This was bizarre; the library seemed eerily quiet, even more so then usual when Twilight wasn't around. She looked onto table noticing two things on it, a bag and a note. She carefully read the words on the note:

You must cross the darkness to see the light.

Pinkie looked at the piece of paper a little confused. Did Twilight write this? If she did…what did it mean? Was she supposed to take this bag with her? Twilight must know what she's doing after all; she wouldn't just abandon her here without a good reason…

Pinkie opened the bag, looking to see if there was anything inside of it.

There were two things inside. The first one was obvious what it was, it was a lantern. Inside was oil with a wick. There was a knob on the side; she assumed it would turn the lantern on. If she was going to use it, she'd have to make sure not to use up all the oil. She gently placed the lantern back into the bag.

"What's this?" She asked as she pulled out a rectangular device. It had a dial on it and an antenna, but it wasn't an object she was familiar with. It had a face like a picture on it, with a circle on it that had holes. In her mind it kind of looked like a miniature Phonograph, but how would this tiny thing play music?

In her hoof it began to spring to life, playing a soft static sound. Pinkie dropped it surprised by the sudden sound. She stared at it as it buzzed; the sound seemed like a bunch of bees being mixed through a DJ table. She poked the device with her hoof. After a few moments the buzzing stopped. Pinkie looked confused, but had the gut instinct that it must be something important. She placed it back in the bag.

"I guess Twilight believed I needed this bag…I'll keep to her advice then." Pinkie muttered to herself as she carefully strapped the bag to her back. She then looked around. The library seemed to hold no more clues for the moment, so she decided to step outside. She felt more comfortable now that she had visited Twilight, so maybe she could go visit Rainbow Dash now…

"Huh?" Pinkie said stopping short of a few feet out the door. A thick fog had fallen all around Ponyville. It was so thick she couldn't even see the buildings next to the library. She'd have to get close to a building if she wanted to see one. Then she started to shiver as a wind blew by, the temperature had fallen a significant amount.

"What's going on? I've never seen this kind of weather in Ponyville before…" Pinkie said confused. "Did Rainbow Dash do this? Why would she?" Pinkie knew she had to find Rainbow and talk to her now. She quickly began to run off in the direction she knew Rainbow's house to be. She was in full gallop, when she suddenly realized she had to come to a full stop. She skidded along the ground and stopped along an edge, a few pebbles getting kicked loose and falling in front of her.

There was a gigantic chasm that had never been in Ponyville right before her. It cut right down the road to Rainbow's House…in fact it cut off the entire way outside of Ponyville if you didn't have wings.

"What's going on?" She asked as she stared into what seemed to be a bottomless pit.

Talking to Roland.

Me: So Roland, I heard your working for Roland. Why?... Why would you work for a man like him?...

Roland: Didn't you ask me the same fucking question not so long ago?

Me: I never got a reasonable answer. All you did was threaten me.

Roland: How in the hell did you know this anyway? Your asking me questions like you already know the answers to them! How?

Me: I know a lot about you. It's just I want to hear the answers come out of your own mouth. Now can you answer the question or not?

Roland: What's the point, you said you already know a lot about me, so answer your own damn question!

Me: Roland, I know we both have our own different answers, so can you please cooperate with me?

Roland: Heh heh heh... Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!... I'm sorry but, cooperate isn't in my vocabulary!

Me: That's odd because, I thought you wanted to become an English teacher.

Roland: Huh?.. Oh shit, you should really stop listening to that bitch.

Me: Which bitch? Sophie, or yourself?...

Roland: Both of them! There both a couple a bitches and should burn in hell for always getting in my fucking way!

Me: Getting in the way of what?!

Roland: YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT GODDAMN QUESTION!!!

Me: If their getting in the way of you murdering innocent people I think that's a good thing!

Roland: DO YOU WANT ME TO MURDER YOU AS WELL?!

Me: Look just calm down, there's nothing to be upset about.

Roland: SHUT UP! You think you know SO MUCH about me, but you DON'T! I can have sex to or murder as many FUCKING people as I like!

Me: But, that's not what you like.

Roland: What did you just say?!

Me: You just want attention.

Roland: What, do you think I'm some sort of internet troll or something?!

Me: No... You just want to give yourself a bad name to as many people as you can by pushing yourself farther from the edge. You don't think you can turn back from that edge do you?

Roland: *eye's start to bleed* You-!... You-... Fucking asshole... You know too much about me... How?... How in the-?... How in the HELL do you know this much about me?... Your eye's aren't even bleeding... I-... I can't even tell who you are... Dammit... My eye's hurt so much... *shivers*

Roland: ... That's it, I think it's about time for me to take my part and leave. Austin... Your a pretty interesting person to know these kinda of stuff about me... But, what my eye is telling me about you is that your no threat to me at all.

Me: So your gonna go back to the other Roland now? That's it? Your not gonna kill me?

Roland: Please... If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead long ago.

Enjoy Joy

What I would do with lemons.

Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade, make life take the lemons back! GET MAD! I don't want any of your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these?! They demand to see life's manager, make life rue the day it thought it could give Austin Carpenter lemons! Do you know who I am?! I'm the man who's going to burn your house down!... With the lemons! I'm gonna get some engineers to invent a combustible lemon that BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN!!!

Another Day in the Court.