Chapter 59: Adventures in...Candyland?
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Right...This part is actually pretty fun to write, don't get me wrong.
And have no fear as even Starfall Is just slightly worried... As i probably mentioned a few times some time ago, I don't like drama so don't expect any heart breaking/devastating moments. Just a heads up XD
Like always ENJOY!!!
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They walked into the empty Treehouse and Starfall led Pinkie into a living room with a Fireplace and a cozy couch in front of it.
He sat Pinkie Pie in front of the fire to help her warm up from the cold that seeped through his spells, (On purpose of course..) and quickly went to the kitchen before returning with two cups of hot cocoa that he gifted one of to the Pink mare that watched the fire In silence unlike her usual self.
He sat beside the mare and sipped on his cocoa in silence, before finally, he started to lightly cares her back.
She shuddered but didn't say anything for a while. Finally though her lips opened and the first words left her mouth.
"...It's hard you know...Always being positive. Always being the center of attention and keep everypony happy....I might have a talent for it, but..." Her eyes turned towards him and he realised that she was on the verge of tears.
"I'm...I'm scared..." She whispered.
Starfall lightly wrapped his hooves around her and let her head lay on his chest not stopping his slow caresses but changing the place from her back to her head.
"Shh...You have nothing to be worried about Pinkie. I'm here for you... remember? No matter what it is, we can get through it together..." He whispered but she shook her head.
"You don't understand... I...I told you my past right?... How I lived on the rock farm a-and never experienced a smile or words of encouragement until that colorful explosion?..." She asked and Starfall nodded.
"Well...I...I think that Pinkie from before never really left...I... I'm scared that one day I'll wake up only to find out that I don't feel happiness, and everything feels dull and sad!...I'm scared that..." Her eyes met with his in a clear desperation. "...that I won't love you anymore, just like I won't feel any positive emotions..." She said with longing and it was clear what the mare wanted from Starfall.
He smiled at her and caressed her cheek with his hoof.
"Silly Filly...If it hurt you so much, you should have come to me a long time ago." He kissed her forehead making her shudder under his gentle touch. She obviously wanted him to kiss her, but Starfall knew that it wasn't the time. There was a much bigger problem here, one that he suspected would have been easily taken care of by itself in the original story if given enough time, but with Pinkie feeling left out for almost a year, the negative emotions finally caught up to her.
He felt that it was a problem that he created by accident, and he should have done something sooner. Seeing Pinkie Pie in this state filled Starfall's chest with pain, but there was no time for idle thoughts as what he was worrying about, clearly already started...
Her emotions fluctuated, jumpstarted by the talk they just had, and he couldn't help but watch with worry as Pinkie's hair slowly started to straighten and she became horrified.
"Please...no! I don't want to... Starfall...help." She whispered in distress and Starfall decided that there was no time to waste.
He quickly stood up and run into the Secret lab before bringing out an unfinished Artifact he was working on for a while now. He momentarily stopped to look at the Elements of Harmony but decided that he would use them only if he had no other choice, because he didn't yet have the ability to control them and he needed precision.
He run back into the room and suddenly stopped in his tracks when he saw the mare sitting on the couch.
She had long straight pink hair and a pink coat but she seemed slightly grayish. Her eyes seemed lifeless as she looked at Starfall and his heart shook in worry.
"Hello...Its...'nice' to meet you..My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie...And you are?..." Said the Mare in her voice devoid of emotions...
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Starfall was trying to keep his calm, but it wasn't easy when one of the ponies dear to him ended up in such a state because of what could only be his own neglect.
He should have taken her on a date long ago, or at least realised sooner that there was more to her dual personality than he originally expected. But now it made sense to him. She somehow developed a second personality when she got her cutie mark because it totally contradicted her previous character or at least her upbringing. Her original emotionless self which she hated as BOTH versions, got easily suppressed and would have disappeared completely or got assimilated if given enough time but her recent doubts and worries must have hindered the process.
Starfall blamed himself for this blunder and he instantly started setting up the Artifact which at the moment consisted of a mix of magi-tech and a bunch of wires connecting two prototype artifacts in the shape of two crowns.
One crown had a symbol of a triangle piercing a circle from its outside on the front, while the other crown had a triangle piercing a circle from its inside. The shapes were to indicate the Import and Export Crown while what was being transported...well, suffice to say that there's no actual spell to enter somepony's mind without endangering both creatures psychic, and Dream Realm or sharing memories was not what Starfall was currently after.
The artifact was supposed to form a safe connection between two minds allowing them to safely access the other one and it was ment to be used as a tool to help mental patients heal from their ailment.
He didn't expect that his first ever patient would be one of his marefriends though...
Pinkie...no... Pinkamena watched him with an expressionless face as he worked on setting up everything before finally placing the crowns on the Mare's and his own head.
"What... are you doing?..." She asked, watching him with no emotions clear on her face.
Starfall looked at the mare and couldn't help but feel as if something wasn't right...She...she didn't seem like she wanted to stop him nor was she in any way unstable...
She was just...sad...
"I'm trying to get you back to your usual self... don't worry... everything is gonna be alright..." He said finishing the setup of the equipment.
Pinkamena just stared at him with her head quirked to the side.
"... You're worried..." She finally said before pausing. "...Don't be...You'll get her back...It's better that way..." She added confusing Starfall, but he didn't have time to ponder her words as everything was ready to go.
He pushed his magic into the device and the crowns glowed with blue light before a beam of magic connected them together and his world went dark...
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When he woke up, Starfall found himself lying on the grass, which for all intents and purposes, seemed to be made from candy. Although he instantly noticed that there was something wrong with it...Mainly, it's colour...
It was gray...
The Stallion looked around, and what once must have been a colorful and lively candy land, now seemed completely devoid of any motion or hue.
He slowly moved forward, taking in his surroundings and found the gloominess eerily disturbing.
The place itself wasn't also a simple plane, because a lot of things could be seen floating in the skies and down underground between the large cracks in the surface.
Everything was gray and seemed petrified but that was just at first glance.
As he watched his surroundings, he noticed that the space folded and converged towards a center point, while some of the misty clouds that permeated the entire mindscape, emanated faint colorful wisps that seemed to cure the petrified land around it before being suppressed by whatever did it to everything.
As he approached one of the clouds, he realized that what he saw were actually Pinkie's memories.
He lightly touched one of the clouds without any special effects and its surface instantly changed to the vision of Sugarcube Corner seen from Pinkie Pie's perspective.
The View showed Pinkie walking into the shop before greeting Mrs. Cake. What followed was a pretty mundane talk which only ended up with Pinkie receiving a grocery list.
"Normal memory then..." He mused to himself before moving to the next one.
The vision showed a teenage Pinkie Pie and who he assumed to be her sisters, working on the rock farm, but they didn't seem bothered with the hard work. Maud Pie was even giving them lectures about different types of the rocks that they were pushing and their properties to which the other sisters rolled their eyes in amusement.
When Starfall looked closer at the cloud, he could see that it was surrounded by a very thin layer of the colourful mist that he noticed on the other clouds.
"Does this colourful mist pertain to happy memories?..." He thought wondering whether he could do something to strengthen the effect.
He looked around and decided to approach one of the colorful clouds trying not to step on some of the petrified candy man and creatures that littered the ground around him. He also realized that the closer he went towards the center of the mindscape, the more his surrounding resembled a barren wasteland...or the rock farm...
That thought made him wonder whether it was going to be the cliche of Evil second personality hiding in the core or imprisoning the good personality...
He finally reached a colourful memory and he could see that the wisp of the colourful fog tried unsuccessfully to return the surroundings to its previous colourful self but we're stopped by something he couldn't see...
He decided to first check the memory before trying to figure out what was the cause of the resistance.
The vision showed Pinkie walking beside Fluttershy in the park excitedly as the two Mares talked about something with smiles on their faces.
"He's so handsome and funny! Isn't he Shy?! I can't wait to see him again!" Said Pinkie as if reminiscing something. at that moment another colourful memory lit up slightly showing Starfall's face giving him the understanding that they were talking about him.
"Umm...Well...Yes." Fluttershy replies before smiling at a memory of her own. "He's also very nice and caring! Even Angel likes him and the stubborn Bunny is very hard to please..." Said Fluttershy happily as the two Mares giggled remembering Angel's usual behaviour.
"Yeah, I can't wait for that Slumber Party he promised. Who knows, maybe we can even get some action from him..." She grinned mischievously as Fluttershy blushed red in embarrassment.
"Pinkie!..." Fluttershy said aghast at what her friend implied.
"...What?" Replied the pink pony in an amused expression."Don't say you wouldn't want some of that shapely buns for yourself." She wriggled her eyebrows and Fluttershy turned crimson despite a small smile emerging on her face.
Starfall watched the exchange and understood that it must have been not long after their defeat of Nightmare Moon. Seems like Pinkie Pie was pretty happy in that memory so that might have been the reason for the colours...
Suddenly though the memory clod started to crumble making Starfall alarmed as the mist started to fly towards the center of the mindscape.
Just as the memory disappeared from his sight, Starfall saw the surroundings get even more petrified, and the area covered by the Wasteland/rock farm increased in diameter!
"It went back to support her..." A familiar emotionless voice said from behind Starfall startling him.
He turned around only to see Pinkie...no... Pinkamena staring at him with her eyes empty and devoid of emotions...
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