Birthday Bios: Bell Pepper · 2:54pm Aug 8th, 2016
Hey, guys! I’ve returned from Southern Utah, and I’m going to prepare a nice little journal telling you all about it. In the meantime, I managed to finish this thing for our next Birthday Girl: Bell Pepper!
Does anyone else find it funny that the Bio after the outlaw’s is that of a cop? 
Anyway, more on Bell here after the break. 
Bell Pepper’s birth was a welcome event for her parents. Her father, Tomato Sandwich, was initially nervous about his new role as a parent, but he loved his little filly from the moment he laid eyes on her. As Tomato promised himself he’d be a better father than his own (instead taking cues from his father-in-law and his brother Cheese), as well as her mother taking her new parental role seriously, Bell grew up with no lack of love.
A pout was her default look when she was a little baby. Whether it be a curious one or a grumpy one, baby Bell’s pout was her signature look. However, she often lit up a room when she did smile (or laugh, often courtesy of Uncle Cheese, Aunt Pinkie, or her cousins), which Tomato often mentions as looking like her mother’s (then again, she has her mother’s face).
Her toddler years had her performing a lot of shoving and biting other foals, which led to her playmates’ tears, lots of time outs, and some swats on the behind (usually from her mother). She also threw a fit when her parents had another baby, and ran off whenever they asked her to be a good big sister and help with the baby. And then cause trouble to get Mom and Dad’s attention, which only put her in time out.
She eventually got used to being a big sister, and at least understood enough to know that her parents would be unhappy if her little sibling got hurt. So, she developed a protective streak toward the tyke, which started out as just keeping her parents happy, but grew into a tender affection for them. The years ahead had her taking her big sister role seriously, though her younger siblings tended to annoy her at times, and she picked on them in return.
When Tomato felt that Bell’s aggression had been tempered (she was five), he took her to the home of a mare he was teaching how to run a business in order to keep the lady’s grandson company. Though Tommy worried that he made poor judgment, it was a pleasant surprise to find that the unicorn colt, Saltworth, had easily made friends with Bell with some playful wrestling and messy PB&J making.
She and Saltworth started school together, and the first few days of getting to know other foals were okay. Unfortunately, Bell’s rough playing methods tended to land her in trouble, and her classmates sans Saltworth avoided her like the plague. Feeling ostracized made her temper worse, which led to plenty of fights over the years, which in turn led to plenty of groundings.
Her filly years had her taking a default mood of grumpy and kind of sarcastic, staying cool until somepony had her temper flaring. She was typically happy when spending time with one or both parents, watching her silly younger siblings and laughing at their antics, or playing with them, their dog Buster, and/or Saltworth, whose visits were frequent enough that he was considered part of the family. Had it not been for Saltworth, she would have gotten into a lot more pointless fights—though she still got into them to protect him and her younger siblings from bullies.
Her mother took charge in helping her control her anger. After a cooldown time-out, she let Bell voice any complaints she had, reminded her to do her breathing exercises, and had her release any tension she had with some exercise. Bell let her know that she wasn’t happy because she feels that everypony thinks she’s a bully, which she wanted to prove otherwise. While she was told that holding back the punches and replacing them with cooldown exercises would help, Bell was frustrated that it took a long time to turn the tides.
Still, at age eleven, she managed to get herself cool enough for the teacher to approve of her being the playground monitor. Still, most of her classmates were wary about her in such a position of power, believing that she’d abuse it. Some of the jerks of Bell’s grade even started to act up, seeing how much it’d take for her to lose her temper and lose the monitor job. They got lots of “Naughty Tickets”, but they enjoyed seeing steam come out of her ears.
Luckily, Saltworth convinced the teacher that the playground could use a second monitor, and came to Bell’s side. Though the jerks irritated him, what was important was that conflicts were deescalated and the playground was under control, as well as Bell’s temper.
One day, the jerks started picking a fight with a poor colt that was starving and had stolen their lunch in desperation. While Bell didn’t approve of stealing, she approved of hurting the weak even less, and she bolted in to stop the jerks from harming the obviously malnourished colt. It unfortunately required a punch on the muzzle to get the jerk to listen, which got him and his friends mad. Bell shielded the little colt from harm as that band started to rain their punishment down on her—which she could take and even fight back. Thankfully, Saltworth had her back, and he ended up discovering his strong restraining magic to keep the fight from getting too bad.
The jerks got in trouble—though Bell did as well and was suspended from her playground monitor duties. Still, in sharing her lunch with the little colt, who was named Cremello, she thought about how satisfying it was to keep him from getting hurt, and that it would be something she’d like to do for a living. After telling Cremello that he didn’t have to steal, and that he could ask her or Saltworth to share lunch with him, the little colt pointed out her freshly-earned cutie mark. She also discovered that her best friend also earned his as well.
With both her and Saltworth having earned their cutie marks, they knew exactly what jobs were just right for them: police officer. Bell’s parents, while happy that she earned her cutie mark, were worried that her temper might be a detriment to that job, even if she was getting better at controlling it. It took her a bit (and regaining her school monitor role and keeping her anger in check) to convince them to send her to the city’s police academy when she was old enough.
Even though Equestria is a peaceful nation, there were still some sickos running around the country and causing trouble—hence the need for the police in plenty of Equestria’s cities, with some others like Canterlot having the Royal Guard instead. Bell and Saltworth went through the ins and outs of the classes and the field training together, though they were separated when tribe-specific training came up. By the end of the academy days and the hours spent studying and training, they both had better understanding of the law, knew how to handle their small arsenals on their belts and how to diffuse conflicts, and things like self-defense, crowd control, etc.
They were put out on the field, and spent the next couple of decades serving their community. While keeping the unruly under control, ticketing wrongly parked carts, and nabbing some robbers or vandals were usually what Bell encountered on her duties, she has seen the more ugly side of equinity. She has no idea what’s going on in the mind of the scum she has rummaged through the homes of, but it sickened her to see exactly how horrible murder and other crimes could get. She doesn’t admit that she upon reaching home those nights, she headed straight to the bathroom to vomit after holding back all day.
She’s had to deal with some more unruly ponies and gangs, which sometimes angered her to the point of trying to attack them. Saltworth had to hold her back, and she was berated by the chief for letting her temper get to her. Sometimes, she’s the reason for the public having a sour view on the force at any given time.
Still, most of the time, Bell remains fair. She absolutely adores foals, and is willing to educate them on basic law and safety, and help them when they need help. She sometimes likes to goof around with them when things are slow, with Saltworth happily joining in. And Celestia help the scumbag who dares to hurt a foal, because that’s usually what sets Bell off.
Though her parents worry about her safety (Tomato especially gets sick on thinking about what could happen), they’re proud of her for making their town safer. Her younger siblings are proud as well, and are happy to wave to her when she’s passing on her beat. And sometimes aunts, uncles, and cousins like to pop in and ask her questions about her work.
If anything, she takes her special talent of protecting others very seriously.
Aww, Bell and I share the same B-day. :P
Heh, you managed to do that while not mentioning her mother.
Also, welcome back.
Wow. You are dedicated to keeping her mother uncertain, aren't you?
In any case, good to see that Tomato learned what not to do from his own parents. Bell's temper could've taken her down a far rougher road, but she turned out alright in the end. Er, will turn out alright, since this is taking place in the future relative to your primary stories. Also in multiple concurrent timelines, given the different possible mares who could be her mother.
This is getting complicated.
Your imagination never ceases to amaze me
Good to see Bell learned from her Mother how to look after all those younger siblings!