Pinkie bounced along, whistling a little tune to herself, her balloon charm bracelet jingling as she hopped. She went through a maze like this in summer camp when she was a freshman; she knew this was going to be easy. All she had to do was press forward and—
A faint sound was heard to her left. It sounded like…music. More specifically, a dubstep. Pinkie stopped in her tracks; she was reminded of Vinyl Scratch. It sounded like something she'd play. Maybe Vinyl was in the maze, too? Maybe she was with all the others?
Pinkie didn't waste time; she ran towards the music to find a giant space in the maze, set up to be what looked like a giant party. There was a stereo system, snacks, and hundreds of balloons that lined the space and a beautiful drinking fountain lined up with even more balloons and streamers. Pinkie grinned. "This must be the end of the maze!" Pinkie said to herself, laughing. "I knew Discord wasn't such a bad guy!" She made her way to the punch table, but slipped on a rock and fell. Her short skirt flew up to reveal her granny panties. She heard laughter from all corners; it sounded like the cheerleader squad. She looked around to find no one there, but the laughter was deafening. Pinkie's hair stood on end.
"Nice panties," purred a sly voice from behind. "Victoria's Secret?"
Pinkie swiveled to see Discord, grinning crookedly. Pinkie quickly pulled her skirt back in place, her face as red as Dash's hair.
"What's the matter Pinkie?" he asked, chuckling. "I thought you liked a good laugh."
"But…but…. I don't like being laughed at," Pinkie explained.
"I thought you did. Considering…how everyone laughs at you all the time."
There was an ominous silence. The laughter clouding Pinkie's head softly faded away to let her Discord's words settle in.
Pinkie giggled. "Discord, you're crazy. My friends laugh with me."
"Oh. I guess I must've read Facebook wrong then…."
Discord pulled out an iPhone, a Facebook tab driven up. Pinkie frowned.
"They were uploaded this morning."
Pinkie squinted her eyes curiously. Discord walked over to her, and gave her the phone. The tab showed the pictures from the cheerleader party the weekend before, one in which Pinkie was slobbering all over Quarterback. Pinkie frowned. "What the-?"
Discord clicked to the next picture, and then the next one. Pinkie grinding with a beer in her hand. Pinkie singing on the kitchen table while everyone laughed at her. Pinkie laughing uncontrollably as she was drunkenly dancing, everyone pointing at her. Pinkie throwing up in the kitchen trashcan. Each photo was tagged with an ugly remark about "the skank of the squad".
"What… No, these pictures aren't of me…."
"Are you sure?"
"Hunter drove me home before I got too…"
"Do you remember any of that?"
"Nn…no…."
Pinkie's eyes teared up. She sobbed into her hands. Discord wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," he murmured, stroking her curly hair. "I figured that someone had to tell you…."
"What'll my friends think? And the cheerleaders? And the football team? Everyone will think I'm a skank!"
Images swelled in Pinkie's head. Going to school would be a nightmare. The cheerleading team wouldn't take her seriously as a captain. The football players would all try to get in her pants. The laughter was in her head now, but she could hear it clearly. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Apple Jack…. All chuckling, all gossiping behind her back, but smiling falsely to her face. Soon they'd be fine without her. They didn't need a slut to stain their group.
Pinkie Pie let out a series of uncontrolled sobs, and clung to Discord as tight as she could. She sniffled. "What've I done?" she screamed. "Twi, Dashy, everyone…They'll never speak to me again!"
Discord tried to suppress a nasty grin as he held Pinkie's head to his chest. "Poor, poor Pinkie Pie," he soothed. "I thought laughter made you happy."
Pinkie's crying slowly faded as her heart hardened. She rose her head up, and looked at Discord, still holding her. She glared daggers into his eyes, tears staining her face. She pushed him away violently.
"Happy?" she muttered, darkly. Her voice was drained of all its chirp, and her shoulders sunk. "I don't think so."
She turned away from Discord and went out the opposite path. The college dropout grinned. She's cute, he thought, but much too gullible. Then again, I do have quite the talent when it comes to Photoshop….
On her way out, Pinkie bumped into Twilight and Apple Jack.
"PINKIE PIE!" Twilight cried, hugging her. "We missed you!"
Pinkie shook herself out of the hug and pushed her away. "MISSED ME, HUH? Never knew you were the one to gossip, Twilight."
Twilight was taken aback. Pinkie was never in a bad mood. She hardly ever called her Twilight either; it was always "Twi". Maybe the stress of the maze was getting to her.
"Right," Twilight said. "Okay, guys, come on; we gotta get to the center."
Pinkie rolled her eyes, and stomped in front of the two. Twilight and Apple Jack could barely keep up.
"What's up with Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"I didn't notice anything wrong," AJ lied.