~ The Shadow of Her Life ~

Written by MxTheSlayer

“Ready or not, here I come!”

Pinkie Pie uncovered her eyes, giddy with excitement as she began to search for the hidden ponies. She had spent the first half of the day helping out in Sugarcube Corner, but had decided to take a break and play a game of hide-and-go-seek with the ragtag band of fillies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Even though she was a full-grown pony, she always welcomed the occasional round of a foals’ game. Needless to say, her current session lasted quite longer than a round - precisely, an hour. Pinkie had let the fillies play as the seekers up until this point, and she was ecstatic to finally get her turn to search.

And so the hunt began. Under the table, in the closet, behind the door… nothing. Pinkie had a tougher time finding the girls than she had expected. However, that came to an end when she heard a little giggle from behind one of the cabinets. That giggle turned out to have come from Sweetie Belle.

“Aw, you found me! I should have found a better spot to hide in…”

“That wasn’t a bad spot at all! You’re really good at this, Sweetie Belle!” Pinkie chimed in. Sweetie Belle smiled at the compliment, and opened her mouth to say thanks, but Pinkie was already bounding off to find the other two ponies.

She searched the kitchen next, where she found Applebloom hiding in - repulsively - the trash can. “That sure is a weird place to hide in, but I found you anyway! Now I just need to find Scooaloo.”

Pinkie searched the first floor of the house inside-out, but didn’t find a trace of the remaining filly. She headed to the second floor and searched the bedrooms, but Scootaloo wasn’t there either. The only place left was the attic. Pinkie ascended the creaky stairs, entered the dusty room, and looked around for Scootaloo. Sure enough, a pair of wings stuck out from behind a pile of rusty metal parts.

“Finally! I was starting to think you’d never find me!” exclaimed the young orange pegasus.  

“It definitely wasn’t easy, Scoot!”

“Allright, let’s play again! I wanna be the seeker this time.”

“I think we’ve played enough for now. I gotta help Mr. and Mrs. Cake finish their cookies!” Scootaloo protested for a moment, but agreed to stop playing afterwards. She left the attic to tell her friends that it was time to head out. Pinkie followed close behind, taking her time to peek at all of the ancient-looking artifacts in the storage room. There were so many things that Pinkie didn’t even know that the Cakes had owned. There were, above all, a multitude of quirky-looking baking utensils, along with furniture, books, and… boxes. Lots of boxes. Were there more cool items in those? Pinkie marveled what might be stored within. The Cakes could have generations worth of stuff in these! It would certainly be a neat experience to sift though all of the objects in those packages.  However, time was of the essence, as the pink mare did need to help bake those delicious cookies. Pinkie took one last look at the containers, and finally headed to the stairs.

But something had caught her eye. She glanced back at the last pile of crates that she was examining, and paused in confusion. A familiar looking, broken down cardboard box laid on top of the pile. For a moment, Pinkie couldn’t remember why the box triggered her memory. She stood staring at it, until suddenly she remembered its significance. At the revelation, her eyes widened and she felt like her heart skipped a beat. It was the box… for a second, she considered opening it to reveal its contents, but quickly dispelled the urge, and promptly left the attic. “There’s nothing in that box. Don‘t even worry about it. It’s nothing…,” Pinkie mumbled to herself. That container was best left alone. But there was no point in looking into an old, empty box anyway, right? Pinkie went back downstairs to the kitchen, quickly getting back into the baking swing, where she helped Mr. and Mrs. Cake create their signature chocolate chip and coconut cookies. Unfortunately, even the handwork involved in baking didn’t distract Pinkie from what she had seen up in the attic. Though she didn’t show it on the outside, that box clouded her thoughts and darkened her mood for the entire day.

Pinkie Pie stifled a yawn as she lay in her pink, fuzzy bed. It was late, and she was tired, but she was having a lot of trouble falling asleep. A single thought was imbedded in her mind, which kept her thinking, half from unease and half from the memories that sprouted from it. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Pinkie relaxed and drifted into a light sleep.

Pinkamena stood in the middle of the field, her eyes transfixed upon a hooded figure in a black cloak that stood by a nearby boulder. She had never seen a pony like this before, so she was nervous and afraid of what the stranger was doing at her farm. The cloaked mare stared at the ground, scratching the dirt with her hoof. When she spoke, it was as if she spoke from the sky; the noise filled the filly’s ears from all directions. “Pinkamena… look at yourself. You’re forced to move rocks around all day, you have no friends, save for your sisters if you count them, and there isn’t a thing in your life that makes you happy. What’s the point? Why live like this? You could very easily move on to a new life, a better life… you just have to end the one that you have now.” When the silhouette-like figure finished talking, it raised its head and looked directly at Pinkamena. A gasp escaped the filly as she saw it’s eyes - piercing blue eyes that looked all too familiar. A second later, the hooded pony opened its mouth in a malicious snarl and charged at Pinkie with the speed of a wildcat. Pinkie tried to run and scream, but she silently remained rooted to the spot, and watched in complete terror as the figure rushed at her…

Pinkie Pie woke with a start, her heartbeat accelerated to twice its normal rate. Her mane was drenched in cold sweat. She lay on her bed, breathing heavily, for nearly five minutes before she calmed down. Opening her curtains, the black sky told her that it was still the dead of night, with no sign of dawn. Even though her usual awakening time was many hours later, Pinkie didn’t even bother trying to fall back asleep. She was too shaken to lull herself into a rest, and she was afraid that her nightmares would come back to haunt her.

The next day, Pinkie decided to take the day off from her work at Sugarcube Corner. She thought that it would be best to simply relax and free her mind of the previous night’s troubles. Even though it was simply a nightmare, Pinkie was deeply disturbed by that hooded pony. She knew that it would bother her for at least the rest of the day, and most likely a lot longer. Examining the possibilities of how to spend her day, Pinkie came to the conclusion that visiting a friend would help uplift her spirits. Twilight Sparkle seemed like the perfect candidate, as she would have the soothing words needed to calm Pinkie. After all, she had extensively studied the field of psychology and its related subjects. Basically, she would know how to make her equine friend feel better. Pinkie trotted out of Sugarcube corner, cantered through Ponyville, and finally ended up at Twilight’s  treehouse library in hopes to rid herself of her troubles.

Pinkie Pie hollered at the front door. “Twilight? You there?”

A muffled response followed. “Hold on, I’ll be down in a minute.”

Quickly after her reply, Twilight came down the stairs of the second floor and greeted Pinkie at the door. “Oh, hey, Pinkie. How’s it going?”

“Actually, not so great, Twilight. See, I had a really, really scary dream last night and I wanted to visit a friend to try to calm down.”

Twilight frowned at the statement. She hadn’t heard of Pinkie having any nightmares before. She was too bubby for anything unpleasant, even in her subconscious. Well, except for that time after Gummy’s birthday. That was the only instance of her being out of her normal happy mood, though. “Was it really that scary?” Twilight asked. “Well, maybe you should tell me about it. I’ve read my fair share of books about dreaming, and I might be able to help you figure out the meaning of your nightmare.”

“Okay.” Pinkie sat down next to Twilight on one of the wooden benches housed inside the tree. “Well, it started with me back when I was a filly, at my old rock farm. I was standing in a field, and there was this weird pony with a black cloak standing by a tree. I couldn’t see its face, ’cause it had a hood on. So, the pony started talking to me. It said… well, to get to the point, it basically said that I should ‘move on to a new life’. You know, ’cause I lived on a really boring rock farm. But see, I’m not sure what a ‘new life’ means. And then, all of a sudden, the pony looked at me, and that’s when I got really scared. All I could see was its eyes, but they looked so familiar, almost like they belonged to a person I knew really well… though I couldn’t tell exactly who. Finally, it started sprinting at me, and that’s when I woke up.”

Twilight looked quizzically at Pinkie. It was an odd dream indeed. “I don’t know, Pinkie. It’s strange, but it just sounds like a regular nightmare. Can you tell me anything more about what the hooded pony said, though?”

Pinkie racked her memory for anything else about the stranger. “Oh yeah; it also said that I had to ‘end the one that I have now’… which I guess it meant my life. Whatever that means.”  

Twilight felt a shiver run down her back. She knew exactly what that meant. “Oh, um, maybe it meant that you should have ran away?” Twilight inquired. However, her mental conclusion was quite different. The stranger in Pinkie’s dream almost certainly meant that Pinkie should literally end her life - that is, to move on to an afterlife. Of course, Twilight kept the thought to herself, as that information might seriously strike terror in Pinkie. After all, the fun-loving pony surely didn’t think about death much at all, and any mention of it could send her into a deep trauma, especially if it pertained to herself so closely.

“I guess so,” Pinkie responded. “Oh, I just hope that I don’t dream about it again. It was super scary. I don’t exactly know why, either.”

“Just take it easy, Pinkie. You’ll get over it in no time.”

“Yeah, hopefully. Well, I’m gunna head out and see some of my other friends. See ya later, Twilight! Thanks for the help!”

“Bye, Pinkie! Hope you get better!”

Pinkie Pie exited Twilight’s house, but was feeling just as dreary as she had when entering. Even though she was thankful for the company, she knew that Twilight wouldn’t have been able to help. Pinkie knew exactly what her dream meant the entire time. She didn’t tell Twilight about the whole of her thoughts because she didn’t want to worry the studious mare about her own safety. It wouldn’t do much good, anyhow. Twilight may have been right; Pinkie could get over this within the day. A simple nightmare wasn’t worth getting anyone worried about her.

Pinkie spent the rest of the day visiting her other friends, trying to get her mind off of the nightmare. The diverse personalities of Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash kept her entertained, and in some cases, such as helping Applejack buck apples, it gave her something to keep her mind off of the nightmare. After all of the daily activities, Pinkie was in a much better mood and had mostly returned to her normal, peppy self. When the sun burned a brilliant orange and had halfway vanished under the horizon, Pinkie went back to Sugarcube Corner to rest for the night. This time, she had a much easier time falling asleep than the previous night. Wisps of her previous night’s dream floated about, but they weren’t abundant enough to keep Pinkie awake.

Unfortunately, however, her unconscious thoughts didn’t allow her a reprieve in the slightest.

Pinkamena was exhausted beyond measure, but still she was forced to corral rocks into neat little piles, for seemingly no reason. She wanted to stop right then and there and sit down to a hot meal to fill her rumbling stomach, but she knew that disobedience would surely lead to a painful outcome.

“Let’s go, Pinkamena!” her father shouted angrily. “We’re already behind schedule, and it isn’t helping that you’re working at a snail’s pace!” Pinkamena groaned to herself but pushed on. There really weren’t that many rocks left, after all. Just a few more piles to tidy up…

On the contrary, it was another hour and a half before her father was satisfied with Pinkamena’s and her sisters’ work, and even then her father was still in a bad mood. Pinkamena heaved herself inside the old farmhouse and went up to her room to rest…

Suddenly, the world warped and became a undecipherable mixture of colors and images for a few seconds, before Pinkamena was in a different time and place. This time, her father was clearly enraged, and she cowered in a corner, terrified at her father’s wrath.

“You worthless mule!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “You have absolutely NO respect for anypony in this household! Your sisters don’t complain whatsoever, but here you are, begging for rest after only an hour of work! And you think that you can just stop and try to run away after I blatantly told you to continue working? I’m tired of this, Pinkamena; you better be prepared for one hell of a beating!”

The last thing that Pinkie dreamt of was her father’s hoof accelerating towards her head…

A scream of pain shattered the night silence. Pinkie bolted upright in her bed, wailing, before she realized that the pain was only imaginary. Imaginary, but yet so real. Her scream gradually subsided into a soft whimper, as glass pearls rolled down her cheeks. Yes, the physical pain was imaginary. But the mental pain that had just been unearthed after all these years was more than a flesh wound. It was a blow to her sanity; she knew that the blow wouldn’t be healing over anytime soon.