MLP: The Conjuring. Part 1
There was a dark and decrepit wilderness surrounding and consuming the environment, reaching as far as the eye could see. Dried grass, rotting trees, and an absurd abundance of scattered rocks. This paints the image of an unimaginably dismal rock farm, owned by the equally dismal Pie family. This family consisted of the dutifully regimented father 'Igneous', the stern and tasteless mother 'Cloudy', and their four daughters.
Maud Pie, the eldest of the siblings, had dedicated her life to study, learning what she can, whenever the opportunity was available, about the world outside of her current residential habitat. Limestone and Marble, both sisters of identical age, were both largely uninterested in the family's business, but were unfortunate to find no alternate attractions for miles around. Three of the sisters had eventually succumbed to the atmosphere and isolation that their establishment had provided, but one had not.
"Pinkie Pie?"
Maud Pie wandered through the hollow to the west of their home, searching curiously for her younger sister who had left the house in the hour prior. Eventually, Pinkie Pie was found meandering in circles around a particular tree, before Maud wandered to her side. "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing all the way out here?" Maud asked curiously, while somehow remaining inscrutable of tone. Pinkie Pie sighed in dismay and answered "Nothing". Pinkie Pie then stopped pacing and simply sat underneath the decaying shade of the overhead branches; "Looking for something to do… as usual".
Maud neglected the remorse in her voice and replied "Well, don't stay out too long. It's starting to get dark", before staring upwards at the vast number of stars emerging from their periodic invisibility. Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes and retorted "Darker than it already is?" in her best attempt at sarcasm. Maud's eyes widened as she was surprised by this question, unknowing of how to respond. Maud had always been foreign to the concept of sarcasm, or any form of amusement for that matter, and could only answer an awkward "Yeah... See you inside", before swiftly taking her leave.
As soon as Maud was out of sight, Pinkie Pie lay her hooves against her forehead and grunted "I can't take this anymore!" She arose from her sitting stance and continued "I have nothing to do, my parents and sisters are total bores, and I…" before abruptly pausing. She hung her head as she concluded her rant on a truly sour note; "I don't have any friends". Tears formed in the filly's eyes as she sighed "I have nopony to talk to… My sisters won't listen, they never would".
She threw her arms in the air and screamed "So I'm just stuck here by myself!" before falling to her knees in despair. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind that immediately drew her attention; "Myself… Maybe… myself?" After some consideration, she came to realization and desperately shook her head, attempting to banish this ridiculous thought as she grimaced "No, that's stupid. What the heck would that even look like?"
Experimentally, Pinkie Pie jokingly greeted herself, "Oh! Hello, Pinkie Pie; you're talking to yourself like a complete loony"; to which she then replied to herself "Oh, Pinkie Pie. There's nothing silly about that at all". She then folded her arms and pouted "Oh, yes there is!" before replying once again "Oh, no there isn't! There's nopony better to talk to… or about". A smile beginning to stretch across her cheeks, she asked "Really?" before complementing herself "You are the most fun thing the whole world".
She giggled to herself and waved the comment away, "Oh… Thank you very much", to which she continued "And the prettiest, by far". A content smile emerged on Pinkie Pie's face as her eyes gently shut; "Oh please, I'm flattered", soon followed by an exclaimed "You are the best girl anypony could ever be friends with!"
However, as Pinkie Pie slowly returned to reality, she realised the tender warmth that began spreading through her cheeks. She held them gently and questioned "Wait, did I…" before pausing in disbelief; "Was I really just blushing?" she wondered in surprise, "At my own complements?" As utterly strange as this series of events had been, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but smile to herself from how amusing they were to partake in. "This… This is actually pretty fun" she thought to herself in delight, "What else can I talk about?"
"Pinkie Pie, what are you doing out there?!" suddenly echoed throughout the hollow, immediately seizing the filly's attention. Recognising the deep, gravelly voice, Pinkie Pie shouted "Oh! Nothing, daddy!" into the barren wilderness. Sure enough, Igneous stepped forward from the cover of darkness and commanded "Quick! Come inside before it gets dark!"
Nodding in obligation, Pinkie Pie ran to her father's side as they made their way back to the farm. All the while, Pinkie Pie whispered secretly to herself "That was actually pretty cool. Maybe I should talk to myself more often". Giggling to herself, she whispered "Night, Pinkie Pie", to which she answered "Goodnight" and shook her head in a fit of impulse.
"Hehehehe! If I can't find a friend, I can just make one!"
The next day, Pinkie Pie left the house sleepily and clumsily made her way through the wooded hollow. After a search, she managed to find the tree that she sat under the previous day, quickly developing into her private retreat from her home, as well as her responsibilities.
She sat comfortably in between two of the tree's roots and began her newly created routine. "Morning Pinkie Pie! Did you have a good sleep?" she asked herself, to which she glumly responded "Nah. it was pretty cold last night". She snickered sympathetically to herself and admitted "Yeah, it was a bit chilly" before beginning "So, Pinkie Pie…"
A silence fell upon the hollow as Pinkie Pie's mind went blank; until she mumbled "I can't think of anything to say". She sighed in disappointment and rested the back of her head against the tree trunk; "Talking to myself isn't as fun as it was yesterday" she thought to herself, "I need something new".
"Pinkie Pie?"
Upon hearing her name emanate from the left of her current position, she leapt to her hooves and watched as her elder sister swiftly approached. From behind Maud Pie, Limestone stepped forward to accompany her, the duo staring in confusion at their sibling's unnatural actions. "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?" Maud asked curiously, her head tilted to the side.
The flustered and nervous filly couldn't help but utter a panicked "Oh! Uh- Sis!" Maud squinted her eyes and questioned "Who are you talking to?" Pinkie Pie's shoulder's slumped as she sighed in resignation, confessing a stuttered "My… myself". This only proved to confuse Maud further, prompting her to ask "What? Why?" Pinkie Pie simply shrugged and answered "Because… I think it's fun". "Fun? You shouldn't talk to yourself, Pinkie Pie!" Maud lectured knowingly, followed by Limestone's personal addition to the conversation, "Yeah, you can go crazy if you do".
Pinkie Pie's reaction was a simple roll of her eyes as she muttered "Me going crazy? Well, that'll be about as entertaining as it's gonna get around here". Surprised by this, Maud exclaimed "Pinkie Pie, don't say that. I mean…" before pausing to cautiously consider her next words. Maud then admitted "Yes, it can be pretty dull… But I don't want my little sister to be insane. That would be horrible". Pinkie Pie considered this and finally conceded "Yeah… I guess you're right".
Unlike the rest of Pinkie Pie's relatives, Maud Pie was always aware of Pinkie Pie's dilemma, but was unable to find a way to aid her, as she herself found no particular desire for amusement. However, at no point did she realise that when left to her own devices, Pinkie Pie would enact a disturbing series of actions such as these. She began to believe that from Pinkie's Pie's point of view, the bar for entertainment to be found under these circumstances was set so unbelievably low, that even succumbing to insanity would seem beneficial.
Pondering this, Maud returned her attention to the matter at hand and explained "Well, anyway we need your help back home". "Alright" was Pinkie Pie's only response; a response so shallow and bleak, even Maud couldn't help but cringe internally. To Maud, Pinkie Pie seemed to be in a truly tragic situation. Somepony as extroverted and addicted to action couldn't, and shouldn't, endure this redundant and repetitive lifestyle.
As they wandered back home, Pinkie Pie thankfully laying out of her sisters' hearing range, Pinkie Pie whispered to herself "It's still not enough". She huffed in despair and continued to mutter "I want a friend to be real. I can't just talk to myself forever". Heeding Maud's advice, she admitted "Sis is right, I could go crazy from it". From considering this possibility, Pinkie Pie immediately rejected the heinous thought and growled angrily "No! She's wrong! What do they know!? They don't even really care!"
A sudden onslaught of irrational hatred flooded her mind as a fit of rage clouded her train of thought. When she realised her actions, she held her breath in shock from her own words and exclaimed "Whoa! What was that?" She stared ahead to make sure that her sisters remained oblivious to her spiteful cussing, before stuttering to herself "I've… ne- never felt so angry… before".
The next day, as was the typical agenda of yesterday and the day before, Pinkie Pie escaped the confines of the rock farm and swiftly made her way back to her favourite place to hide from reality and relax. Finally, she sat beneath the sickly tree and continued her operation from where she had left off since yesterday.
However, to aid her in her creation of her best friend, she had taken the liberty of borrowing her mother's hand mirror from her dressing quarters. She stared into it to find her own reflection, as was predicted; a pair of glistening eyes, a small frown, a flow of lank hair and a layer of radiant pink skin.
"I need her to be a nice girl" she spoke into the mirror, as if such an action would help to imprint this desire into her memory. She began pondering what alterations she would make to her own appearance, in order to create a typical identity for her imaginary friend to acquire. She finally came to a realisation of her first alteration to make, exclaiming aloud "How about… a new voice!" She swung her left arm in a 'Eureka' gesture and screaming "Yes!" with joy, the only choice left to make being what voice was preferred for her anomalous acquaintance.
"Let's see… maybe…" she muttered in deep thought, before questioning "More high-pitched?" in an emphasising increase in her voice's pitch. The mere act of speaking three simple words in this tone was not only enough to cause Pinkie Pie's throat to throb in pain, but also hurt her own ears to hear the resulting sound. She held her neck in discomfort and grunted "No, that's gonna hurt too much".
Considering a contradictive approach to this choice, she muttered "Deeper?" whilst decreasing her tone; the tone itself becoming too alienating for even Pinkie Pie herself to appreciate, "No… too weird". Eliminating her variety of options, she instead decided to alter not the tone of the voice, but the way it would be spoken instead.
"Perhaps… kinda quiet… and soft" she whispered to herself, a smile emerging as she spoke in this manner. "Ooh, I like that!" she beamed gleefully, before continuing her endeavour, "Something else; a bit… calm and… soothing". Hearing her own voice in this specific style was enough to fill her body with a newfound sense of delight. How ridiculous she may appear to the outside world, or to her family, no longer mattered to her. After smiling with accomplishment over this latest piece to her 'best friend' construction, she gazed into her mirror and beamed a devious smile.
"Thanks for my voice, Pinkie Pie" she complemented, a smarmy expression staring back from the reflection. In response, she replied "You're welcome" and shut her eyes in blissful satisfaction. Pinkie Pie leaned back against the tree and giggled to herself, "Wow, I'm really getting into this". Despite this, she opened her eyes and mumbled "But no… I'm not finished yet".
She sat up and lay her head on her wrist in a ponderous stance, asking "What do you need… um…?" before slapping her forehead in sudden realisation, "A name; Duh! Of course a name!" she exclaimed. "Pinkie Pie, you're such a silly" she jokingly teased herself in her friend's newly acquired voice of choice. Pinkie Pie then announced "Let's name you…" before abruptly falling silent.
Try as she might, no matter what name came to mind, she couldn't think of one that she found suitable; "I can't think of one" she grimaced. She frowned in disappointment before asking herself "What names can you think of?" Pinkie Pie shuffled uncomfortably before answering "Well, there is one name… that would be good".
She looked back into the mirror and explained "Well, I like having 'Pinkie Pie' as my name, but I do have one other name". She tilted her head curiously, asking "What's that?" to which she answered "My real name. You can have it, if you want". "Your real name?" she questioned in expectation, before smiling to herself for finally completing her new best friend.
"Pinkamena".
To be continued…