Random Ramblings CXLVII - P.D.P. 6 · 5:45am Mar 6th, 2017
IN WHICH I FAIL AT ENDINGS
This is the sixth in a six-part series. Here's Part 1, wherein may be found links to all the other parts. I might get to cross-linking everything later. Or I may not.
So as today was looking to be possibly stormy, I didn't count on doing much of anything except getting a pizza and marathoning Youtube. Well, I got the pizza, ate part of it, and was watching videos when a friend (one of the few I have) called and asked me to go places with her because she wanted company. I agreed, did so, enjoyed myself somewhat. Then I realized I still had a blogpost to write, and since I'm going to be busy for the next two days, I have to do it tonight. After that, well, I guess I should get back to writing real stories -- another Sunset + Rarity one-shot is just sitting on my desktop half-done, waiting to be completed.
Well, let's do this. Follow me past the jump for the mythic climax to the epic of Pinkamena Diane Pie.
I use "mythic" in a very literal sense, because I never actually wrote this one down beyond a few notes, and about 2,000 words worth of an interim chapter in June 2015. Even in my head it's all a jumble past the basics, and I just wasn't sure how I could bring it all together to reach the conclusion I wanted. As a result, this might be more a discussion of themes and how my writing (and failing to write) "P.D.P." influenced the stories I have posted here. Let's see if I can do this justice, shall we?
P.D.P -- PART VI
This continues directly from Part V, where we learn at the very end that Marble Pie sold Pinkamena out to her "husband", Dustbowl Clayhoof. In the present day, he's not looking too great, as he was significantly older than Ponk, and the 15+ years of rage he's carried due to her escaping him have taken their toll, as did the injuries Ponk gave him. He lost his right eye -- it's replaced with a glass orb that's milky white just so he can scare ponies -- and he's balded significantly. Still, the guy controls a gang of angry Tarpanites who have been itching for a fight with the outside world all their lives.
The story opens the day after Part V with Pinkamena trying to explain non-Unicorn magic to Twilight. She says that Earthponies forgot their potential power due to centuries of Unicorn suppression before Celestia finally decided to step in and force the races to get along, but by that time the damage was done. There are, she figures, only two masters of this type of Earth-magic (latent magic, whatever), and Ponk herself is the weaker of the two. As she leaves, she mentions that Maud is coming for a visit, and Babs -- currently recuperating with the Apples -- will move in with her as soon as she's healed. Twilight asks how Maud will react to neo-Ponk. Ponk admits she has no idea but figures everything will be okay since Maud is a nice pony.
How the fuck do I reconcile the fact that Twilight is still a Unicorn in this yet Maud appears?? I have no damn clue. "Alternate Universe" is really my only out at this point -- I just ignore MMC ever happened (her ascension was never a factor in Maud's episodes anyway) and let shit play out differently, I guess.
The next day -- By the way, this is the only bit of Part 6 I actually wrote -- Maud shows up at Golden Oaks after having seen Ponk. I think I'll use my next blogpost to post what I have in its entirety since it's a lot longer than I thought and is technically the less important bit. Long story short, Maud -- the most powerful Earth-magic user in the entire world, it turns out -- is upset and blames Twilight for Ponk's transformation. Twilight basically has to explain herself to Maud and apologize profusely in hopes she'll get out unscathed. It's good enough for Maud to accept. She apologizes for destroying Twilight's front door, but then says she's going to be staying in Ponyville for awhile.
End bit I actually wrote
Fast forward a couple of days. Dustbowl and his cadre of dozens of Tarpanite stallions finally make their move. They descend upon Ponyville as Mayor Mare is giving a speech in front of Town Hall celebrating that she finally convinced Celestia to fund professionals to study and (hopefully) get rid of the fog that's still around from Part V. The Mane 6 and Maud are hanging out in the cafe near Town Hall when the whole thing goes down. Background ponies react pretty much the way you expect -- running around in panic like chickens with their heads cut off, only this time with more injuries due to the low visibility.
Dustbowl knocks the Mayor away from her podium and announces that he and his goons are taking Ponyville hostage unless he gets his "wife" back. As our protagonists approach Town Hall, Ponk (who already recognized Dustbowl by his voice) sees him and has a panic attack. Twilight and AJ argue over what should be done -- Twilight says hide, AJ says face him. The question is answer when one of Dustbowl's goons sees Ponk and she gets forced to the stage.
Where is Maud at this point? She stayed behind at the cafe because she didn't really care to get herself mixed up in one of Ponyville's infamous disasters. She'll be rejoining the cast soon.
Face to face with her "husband", Ponk insults him to his face, whereupon Dustbowl orders his goons to get her. AJ steps up to protect Ponk and gets beaten to within an inch of her life. This get Big Mac (who was watching the speech) involved as he realizes "These are the ponies that killed my pa, aunt, & uncle". As Dustbowl gets angrier, he screams out Ponk's name. That gets Maud involved, as she hears it and connects the dots that her beloved sister is in danger.
Long story short, there's a fight. It's nasty. Angering Big Macintosh and Maud Pie is an extraordinarily stupid idea. They're both ready to kill Dustbowl where he stands, but Big Mac opts to get AJ to the hospital. Ponk and Maud share a silent sister moment before making their move -- Ponk uses her powers to teleport just out of Dustbowl's reach and Maud pulls her moves on Dustbowl, breaking most of the bones in his body and knocking out his false eye, which Ponk smashes.
Maud informs Dustbowl that even under Tarpanite law, the marriage is void because he didn't consummate it within five or seven years (it was illegal under civil law since Ponk was way too young to consent). She also reminds him that true family love and protect each other. Or something like that.
Aaaannnnd that's all I got. A happy ending. Pinkamena is freed from her evil "husband" and can continue the process of healing and trying to become "Pinkie Pie" for real.
Honestly, the only parts of this I actually had concrete in my mind in 2013 were Dustbowl and his goons holding the town hostage in exchange for Pinkamena and AJ nearly getting killed by said goons, along with a happy ending. Everything else (save for the bit about Maud visiting Twilight, which I did write part of) I literally made up just now.
Throughout my stories over the past two years, there have been some recurring themes, many of which started here -- most notable is "You can never escape your past", which both Sunset's Recovery Arc and the Burritoverse deal with in their own ways. Also present is the theme of mental breakdown, empathy, and a slow recovery, which I explored later -- much more successfully -- with Sunset. Another is the idea of family meaning something beyond blood, which of course also applies to the Dazzlings. People often cite the phrase "Blood is thicker than water", but the full quote actually means the exact opposite -- The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. In Ponk's case, she straddles it -- she has her blood-sister Maud, but she also has her friends in Ponyville, and of course the Cakes who took her in when she needed help most, and now she has her adoptive sister back.
Well, that's all I got. Thank you for reading this far and indulging my failure. We all have to start somewhere.
These last couple weeks I've kept getting pulled into the inescapable twin gravity well of work and family obligations, but I love seeing these and I'm gonna give them the proper solid read-through they deserve... soon.