//------------------------------//
// Bad Company 
// Story: Pinkie and the Bandits 
// by BronyDad 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2


Bad Company


With a heavy sigh, Pinkie Pie slowed to a halt as the Golden Oaks Library came into view.   She didn't even want to visit Twilight anymore; to risk ruining her final friendship.  She'd much rather go back home, climb into bed, and hide under the blankets until tomorrow, but she had promised Twilight that she would be there, and knew that she couldn't break the promise.  Besides, if she didn't go to Twilight's, and then Twilight heard from the others, she would worry about her, and the last thing Pinkie wanted was to make her friend worry.

She kept her head down as she walked, not even sparing a glance at any of the ponyfolk that waved and called out to her.  The smiles dying on their faces, the ponies stopped and stared, several of them still holding a hoof in the air, all shocked at the sight of Ponyville's most lively and high spirited resident reduced to the moping, silent pony that was trotting among them.

Pinkie ignored the stares as best she could.  She knew that she was creating a scene, but couldn't bring herself to care.  It wasn't her fault that they all relied on her to brighten their day; maybe they should try doing it themselves for a change.

What's their problem, anyway?  So what if I'm not all smiles today?  I'm allowed to have a bad day.  Whenever they're feeling down, I go out of my way to cheer them up, but when it's Pinkie Pie that's sad, all they do is stare.  

Her sudden anger surprised her, but instead of shying away from it, she embraced it.  It wasn't her responsibility to bring smiles to this town.  She had always done it because she'd enjoyed it, but she didn't want to today.  That was her right, and they could all get over it.

Fuming, Pinkie reached the library, but just as she reached out to open the door, she thought better of it and knocked.  After a few short moments with no answer, she growled with annoyance and began banging her head against the door.  

"All right, I'm coming," came Twilight's disgruntled voice from further within.  "Why are you even knocking, anyway?"  The door swung open, and Twilight blinked at her.  "Pinkie Pie?  What are you doing?  This is a library, it's a public place.  You don't have to knock."

"Don't tell me what I'm supposed to do," Pinkie grumbled as she pushed her way past Twilight and stormed into the library.

"Uh...Pinkie," Twilight hesitated.  "Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong?  Nothing's wrong?  Why would anything be wrong?  Does it look like something is wrong?  I'm fine.  Great even!  I'm peachy keen jellybean!"  Pinkie scowled at Twilight.  "Can't you tell by my smile?!"  

"Pinkie...you're not smiling..."

"Well, that's not my fault!" Pinkie yelled.

Pinkie saw Twilight shy away from her shout, her face a mixture of surprise and hurt, and felt a shudder in her heart.  Why did I just yell at Twilight?  She hasn't even done anything!  What's wrong with me today?

"Pinkie," Twilight began slowly, "you need to talk to me.  I can't help you if you won't tell me what's wrong."

For a long moment, Pinkie just stared at her friend, then her vision blurred.  Blinking rapidly, she felt the tears trail down her face.  "I've ruined all of my friendships!"

"What do you—"

"I launched Scootaloo over Ponyville, almost turned Angel into a bunny pincushion, and set Rarity's hair on fire!"

"On fire?!"  Twilight gasped.  "Oh my gosh, Pinkie, is everypony all right?"

"Yes, but they all hate me now," she blubbered.  "They'll never forgive me and everypony in town won't quit staring at me because I'm not trying to make them happy, and I don't want to, even though I love doing it I don't want to do it and they expect it and soon they'll hate me too!"

"Pinkie, nopony is going to—"

"And then they'll talk to the others and find out what I've done today and hate me even more and then they'll start forming Pinkie Pie hate conventions!"

"They're not going—"

"They'll meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and once a month on Friday too!  And soon they'll be chasing me through town with pitchforks, torches, and garlic and trying to drive a stake through my heart and...and...and..."

"What?"  Twilight cocked an eyebrow as she watched her friend pant for breath.  "Have you been reading The Vampony Diaries again?"

Pinkie nodded with a sniffle.  "It's a good book."

She felt a flash of indignation as Twilight began to chuckle, but it was quickly forgotten as her friend engulfed her in a tight embrace.  "Nopony is going to hate you," she spoke gently into Pinkie's ear.  "Everypony is entitled to a bad day, especially you, and come tomorrow, this will all be behind you."

"You...you think so?" Pinkie asked unsteadily.

Twilight smiled as she released her.  "I know so.  I wouldn't even be surprised if they sought you out to apologize for their reactions."

"They shouldn't apologize."  Pinkie shook her head.  "They have every right to be mad."

"And you have every right to make mistakes," Twilight replied.  "We all understand that, and will continue to love you no matter how badly you mess up."  She gave Pinkie a playful wink.

Pinkie grinned despite herself, and her smile widened as Owlowiscious swooped in through the open window to land on her back and nuzzle her cheek.  

Twilight laughed.  "See, Owlowiscious thinks so too."

A stack of papers on the desk in front of the window caught Pinkie's eye, and she quickly spotted Celestia's name on the top page.  "Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed.  "Is that your assignment?  It's like twenty pages!"

"Twenty six, actually," Twilight corrected with apparent pride.  "It's a report on the fluctuations of oscillation in time travel and how they can affect perceived reality.  Since I dabbled with that time spell last month, 'a bit recklessly' as Princess Celestia put it, she wanted me to do this research to ensure that I understand the dangers that accompany it."

Pinkie made a face.  "Eww...sounds like you got in trouble."

Twilight dismissed her concern with a wave of her hoof.  "No, she just wanted to take the opportunity to teach me something rather advanced."  She headed toward the staircase leading to the second floor.  "I'm going to make myself some tea.  Would you like some?  It's Zecora's special blend."

"That sounds great!" Pinkie exclaimed with an excitable hop.  "I love Zecora's tea!"

As she landed, Pinkie's left hind hoof came down on a stack of books that promptly collapsed under her, causing her to stumble.  Owlowiscious hooted in surprise and painfully tightened his grip on her back as he flapped furiously to keep his balance.  As if in slow motion, the gust of his wings seemed to scoop up Twilight's twenty six page report and carry them out of the open window.

"My essay!" Twilight cried in dismay as she hurried toward the window.

Frantically, Pinkie rounded on the window, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them sitting unharmed on the road.  "It's okay, Twilight," she assured her friend as Twilight reached her.  "They're right there, perfectly fine.  I'll just go on out there and..."

She trailed off as Mr. Greenhooves galloped past with his wagon in toll and splashed mud all over the papers.  

As Twilight moaned in misery, Pinkie shook her head.  "No, no, we can fix this.  I'm sure if we just wipe the mud off, they'll be good as new!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Cheerilee came into view, leading the schoolhouse marching band down the road.  Twilight's mouth slowly opened wider and wider as she watched somewhere between forty to sixty little hooves trample her beloved report.  

"Uh..." Pinkie spoke just above a whisper, "they could still be..."

A construction pony riding a steam roller passed by, smiling and waving to them as he went.

Swallowing hard, Pinkie turned to her friend.  Twilight was staring out of the window with a horrified expression that Pinkie was sure could get no worse if a dozen zombies arose from the mud and began shambling toward them.  Slowly backing away as Owlowiscious hopped onto the desk and began to wave a wing in front of Twilight's face, Pinkie silently exited the library and then broke into a gallop.  

How could this be happening to me?  This was the worst of all the worst days in all the history of worst days in the whole world!  It was the baddest of the baddest of bad luck!  This isn't my fault, how could it be?  Why can't the others understand that?  Why are they being so unfair?!

Pinkie came to a sudden halt.  Her eyes widened as her breath caught in her throat.  She knew what this meant, but never in a million years thought it would happen.

It was time.

When she had left her family's rock farm, Pinkie had intended to travel all of Equestria, and do her very best to spread smiles and laughter throughout the world.  But when she had arrived in Ponyville, something about the small town had just felt right about it.  The ponyfolk had all been so easygoing and pleasant, and the town itself had been so comfortable and peaceful that she had quickly decided to extend her stay.  Soon after, she had landed the job at Sugarcube Corner and became a permanent citizen.  

A sad smile formed on Pinkie's face as she recalled meeting Rarity on her first day in town.  She had been going from store to store greeting all of the shop owners and had felt herself inexplicably drawn to the clothing store.  It hadn't taken long for Pinkie's good humor and enthusiastic curiosity in Rarity's trade to charm the beautiful unicorn, and although Pinkie had been unable to remain still long enough to be fitted for a new dress, Rarity had nevertheless invited Pinkie to return the following day, stating that her marvelous disposition would undoubtedly bring endless inspiration to her work.

It had only been a couple of days later that she had met Applejack at the marketplace, and the two of them had hit it off instantly.  Pinkie had been thrilled when Applejack had invited her to visit Sweet Apple Acres, the farm her mother used to journey to once a month to bring home those amazingly juicy apples, and the two of them had quickly become friends.    

After befriending Rarity, Applejack, and with a whole lot of care and even more patience, Fluttershy, Pinkie had known without a doubt that Ponyville was her new home.  Her real home.  But all of that had changed now.

Pinkie understood that it was time to move on, to return to her previous plan of traveling Equestria.  She had had some great years here in Ponyville, and would never forget the amazing friends she had made here, but she was sure that she would have equally great experiences in other places.  

With a firm nod of her head to affirm to herself that she absolutely agreed with herself, Pinkie started off once more.  

She needed to leave right away.  She knew that any delay would cause her to stay, and she could not let that happen.  Mr. and Mrs. Cake would get along just fine without her, and even though she felt a pang in her heart for Gummy, she knew that Mrs. Cake had taken a liking to the little gator and would take good care of him.  Besides, this wasn't a permanent goodbye, she was certain she'd return to Ponyville in a year or so.  She just hoped that she wouldn't be forgotten by then.

Rounding a corner, Pinkie caught sight of the First Ponyville Bank.  A large, plain two storey building that barely stood out from the shops that surrounded it, the First Ponyville Bank was often a site of brisk activity in an otherwise easygoing community, and a favorite spot for Pinkie to frequent.  There was nothing she loved more than bringing smiles to the faces of the overworked tellers.

Despite the fact that she visited the bank nearly every day, Pinkie actually didn't have an account there.  Mrs. Cake kept a special ledger of how much Pinkie earned and whenever she needed some, she simply got it from her.  

The two of them had agreed on this system after the fiasco of Pinkie's first check.  Pinkie had taken her pay and spent all of it within twelve hours buying gifts for random ponies around town.  She had felt elated as the townsfolk accepted her gifts with surprise and glee, but had quickly ran out of bits and fallen into a depression after realizing that she didn't have enough for everypony.  Mrs. Cake had then given her a long talk about the value of money, and the two of them had come up with the current system.  Even after she had learned her lesson and became responsible with her bits, she had continued to allow Mrs. Cake to care for her earning.  After all, why change a system that was working so well for the both of them?

Pinkie didn't mind leaving her savings behind.  In fact, she was already planning on writing a letter to the Cakes to tell them to use the money for the renovations they had been discussing for the last few months.  She had left her rock farm with nothing, and saw no reason not to do the same here.  A new beginning for a new town; it sounded just fine to her.    

Just then, Pinkie spotted three stallions emerging from an alley behind the bank.  Each of them were carrying three large money bags, and as Pinkie watched, the smaller red one that was bringing up the rear dropped one of the bags from his back.  Pinkie's eyes widened as the red stallion continued hurriedly down the street, completely oblivious to the fact that he had lost one of his sacks.  

"He's going to be missing that later," Pinkie said to herself.  "I'd better take it to him."  She giggled to herself as she imagined the look on his face as she returned his money.  "Won't he be embarrassed when he realizes what almost happened!" 

Humming happily to herself, she snatched up the bag in her mouth and hopped nonchalantly down the road after him.  At the end of the street was a large covered wagon, and she could see the three of them quickly tossing the bags into the back.  Wondering what their hurry could be, she picked up the pace, worried that they would leave before she could reach them.

"You've got to be the clumsiest dolt I've ever met," a blue stallion grumbled as he watched the red one toss his last bag into the wagon.  "It's coming out of your cut."

"Hi there!" Pinkie greeted gleefully, causing the three of them to start.  "I think you dropped this."  She playfully poked the red stallion in the chest.  "Could you imagine how silly you'd feel if you had gotten to your next stop and realized that you were missing this many bits?"   

All three stallions stared at her as she dropped the money bag on the ground.  An all black stallion with piercing blue eyes that was easily a head taller than Big McIntosh was the first to recover.  "Yes...we definitely would have felt...silly."  His voice was so deep that it made Pinkie think of rolling thunder.  "Thanks for bringing it to us."

"It was no trouble at all!"  Pinkie beamed.

The blue stallion stepped forward and eyed her up and down.  "What's your deal, eh?  You wanting a slice?"

"Oh, yes, I would totally like a slice!  What do you have?  Cherry pie?  Apple?"  Pinkie gasped loudly.  "Is it cake?  Do you have cake?  I really hope it's cake!  With lots and lots of icing!"  She began to lick her lips.  "I love icing."

The blue stallion blinked.  "What are you, daft?"

"What he means is; are you expecting payment for bringing us this bag?" the red stallion said.  He had very pretty green eyes that seemed to be soaking in every detail of her face, a blue silver mane, and a goofy smile on his face.   	

Pinkie would have frowned at the clarification, but found herself grinning at the silly smile on his face.  "Oh, no no no no no."  Pinkie shook her head violently.  "It's your money, why would I expect any of it?"

"You're darn right it's our money!" the blue stallion spat.  "So why don't you scram before I lose my temper?"

"Oh...okay...I'm sorry..."  With her ears drooping and her tail dragging on the road, Pinkie slowly turned away.  She'd done it again!  She didn't even know what she'd done to anger them, but whatever friendships could have come from this chance meeting had somehow already been ruined.

"Do you wanna come with us?" the red stallion suddenly blurted out.

Pinkie froze mid-step, then turned and looked at his hopeful face.  With a glance at his friends, she saw that the blue one looked outraged, but the black one looked indifferent.  

"You really want me to come with you?" Pinkie asked hesitantly. 

The red stallion nodded his head vigorously.  "Yes, please."

"No," the blue one answered simultaneously.

The blue stallion turned on his friend.  "What the hay is wrong with you, Red?  We don't know who she is.  She could be anypony!"

"I don't think it's a bad idea," the black stallion interjected.  "Another set of hooves for our Manehattan job could be useful."

"That's two against one, Percy," Red stated.

"I've told you before, boy, do not call me that," the blue stallion growled.  He scowled at Pinkie for a moment, then stomped his hoof in frustration.  "Fine, she can come, but you're sharing your cut with her.  She's not getting any of mine."

Red beamed at Pinkie.  "Don't mind Percy," he said as the blue stallion hopped into the wagon, "he's not as bad as he seems."  He held out his hoof.  "So, you wanna join up with us?"

Still a little surprised by the proposal, Pinkie took a moment to mull it over.  She had been planning to leave town, and it sounded like they were heading to Manehattan next.  She had always liked Manehattan and it seemed as good a place as any for her to start anew, but then suddenly felt a twinge in her heart.

Frowning at her hesitation, Red asked, "You wanted to join us, didn't you?  Isn't that why you brought the money bag to us?"

"Well...I..."  Pinkie looked back at the looming branches of the Golden Oaks Library.

Just a few moments ago, she had been prepared to leave Ponyville, but now that she had a clear path laid out for her, she couldn't quit thinking of her friends.  Did she really want to leave them?  Sure, she was a little angry with them right now, but she knew that would pass, and it wasn't her anger, or even theirs, that had motivated her decision.  

Maybe it was her destiny to travel Equestria as she had planned, and she wondered if her staying in Ponyville for so long had caused this awful morning to occur.  Perhaps fate had gotten impatient with her and decided to give her a little push in the right direction.  If that were the case, then she needed to be on her way, but how would she know if she didn't try?  She didn't know if leaving Ponyville would help her fulfill her destiny, but she needed to find out.  She needed to know the truth.

Pinkie suddenly smiled very widely at Red.  And what better way to do that than to leave with a group of new friends?    

Reaching out, Pinkie snatched up Red's slowly lowering hoof and shook it enthusiastically.  "I would love to join your little group!"

Red grinned back at her, and for just a moment, she could have sworn that his cheeks became slightly more red.  "That's great!"  He cleared his throat and glanced quickly at the black stallion, who slowly shook his head and walked around to the front of the wagon.  "Um...I mean, good.  That's good to hear.  Uh..."  His eyes began to dart around, looking at anything but hers, then he gasped.  "Oh, we haven't been introduced—"

The blue pony stuck his head out and glared at them.  "Cut the jabber and get into the wagon," he snapped, angrily brushing his brown mane from his eyes.  "They're gonna be all over us if we don't get going now."

"Right, right," Red agreed quickly.  He lowered his body and smiled at her sheepishly.  "Allow me."

With a slight giggle, Pinkie stepped onto his back and easily entered the covered wagon, then turned to watch him jump in and shut the hatch.

"About time," the blue stallion huffed from his spot lying on the bags of bits.  "Now, if Loverboy here is finished with the flirting..."

"I wasn't flirting," Red mumbled weakly as he glanced at Pinkie and hastily looked away.

"Nah, of course you weren't."  The blue stallion rolled his eyes.  "Get us outta here, Torque."

"Right away, Bossman," Torque's thunderous voice replied, and then Pinkie was rocked off of her hooves as he took off at a dead gallop.

Carefully sitting up and bracing herself, Pinkie studied this strange group of stallions for a long moment, then asked, "So...your name is Red, then?"

"Yeah...well, no...uh..."  Red scratched his head and laughed nervously.  "Actually, my name is Roy G. Biv—" he pointed at his cutie mark, a palette of paint, "—but my friends call me Red.  I'm a painter," he added, as though trying to justify his name to her.

"I guess I'll be calling you Red then."  Pinkie grinned.  "I'm Pinkie Pie."

"What a wonderful name."  Red stared into her eyes for a moment, then shook his head and indicated the blue stallion still lying on the bags.  "This is our fearless leader, Cut Purse, and the stallion who is the current source of our horsepower is Torque, who is also the pony that provides all of the tools we use for our jobs." 

Pinkie made a face.  "Cut Purse?  What kind of name is that?"

"What kind of name is Pinkie Pie," Cut Purse countered.

Fair enough, Pinkie thought to herself.  She turned and watched as they quickly left the small town of Ponyville behind.  Bye girls.  You truly were the best friends that I ever had, and I'll never ever ever ever ever forget you.  And that's with four evers.


***


With a heavy sigh, Twilight began to pluck the scattered essay from the mud.  Of the twenty six pages, Twilight could only see four of them, and they were not in good condition.  This was going to be a very arduous task.

"Twilight!"  She heard somepony shout from a distance.  Turning, she found Rainbow Dash racing toward her, followed closely by Applejack and Fluttershy, all of whom were wearing expressions of concern.

"Has Pinkie been here yet?" Rainbow asked as she landed by Twilight's side.

Applejack skidded to a halt and studied the pages in the mud.  "I'd reckon she has."

"Oh...the poor dear," Fluttershy said with a sniffle.  Twilight noticed that her eyes were red and the fur on her face was streaked with tears. 

"Is everything okay?" Twilight asked fearfully.

"We're not sure."  Applejack fidgeted with her hat.  "Pinkie stopped by Fluttershy's earlier and caused a ruckus, and the two of us said some things that we regret." 

"Oh, Twilight," Fluttershy whimpered.  "I was just so horrible to her."

"No, you really weren't all that bad, Fluttershy," Applejack gently disagreed.

"Anyway," Rainbow took over, "the two of them felt bad and were heading to town when they saw me.  They told me what happened and then I told them that I'd kinda lost my cool with Pinkie too, and when we realized that we had all yelled at her..."  Rainbow's ears drooped as she scratched her head.  "Well, you know how Pinkie can get."

Twilight nodded.  "Yeah, she was pretty upset when she came here, but I managed to cheer her up some.  At least, until this."  She indicated what was left of her report.

"What happened?" Rainbow asked.

Slowly shaking her head, Twilight replied, "A statistical impossibility."

Just then, they all turned to the sound of galloping hooves and watched Rarity, wrapped in a hooded cloak that hid her head from view, approach.  Glancing at the pages in the mud, then at their worried faces, she inquired, "Pinkie?"

"You guessed it," Rainbow said unhappily.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow.  "What's with the getup, Rarity?"

"I had a bit of an...accident."  Rarity pulled the hood tighter around her head.  "Ordinarily, I would never go out in such a condition, but I knew how upset Pinkie was and wanted to apologize to her."

Twilight grimaced.  "You yelled at her too, then?"

"Oh, heavens no," Rarity answered.  "But I did overreact just a teensy weensy little bit."

Applejack gave her a look.  "You fainted, didn't ya?"

"Indubitably."  Rarity poked at the ground as the others sighed.  "I couldn't help it.  Once I saw my ruined mane...it was just too much."  

"W-what happened to your mane?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, it's too horrible to say!"  She glanced around at all of their concerned faces.  "Do you all swear not to ever mention this again?"  She waited for them all to nod their agreement, then, after checking to ensure that there was nopony nearby, she pulled back her cloak.

The ponies gasped in unison as her charred and mangled mane was revealed to them.  Quickly pulling the hood up once more, Rarity fell back onto her haunches as Fluttershy rushed forward to comfort her.

"So, Twilight..." Applejack said hesitantly, "did you overreact too?"

"I don't think so," Twilight replied with a frown.  She hadn't said or done anything at all, she had just stared at her mud covered report in shock.  "At least, I didn't until now."

"C'mon, Twi, I know you."  Rainbow rolled her eyes.  "You probably acted like it was your precious foal getting trampled in the mud."

Twilight hung her head.  Rainbow was right; she had put her essay before Pinkie, and when she had ran off, she had tried to salvage it instead of going after her distraught friend.

"We've got to find her," Twilight said.

"I'll see if I can spot her," Rainbow called as she rocketed high into the sky.  Almost immediately, she swooped back down to hover just above their heads.  "Something's going on over at the bank.  There's a crowd forming over there."

"Pinkie loves visiting the bank," Fluttershy stated.  "It could be her.  She may need our help."

Twilight nodded.  "Let's go."  As the others started off, Twilight glanced at Rarity.  "I'm pretty sure I've got a spell that can grow back your mane.  I'll look it up once we know Pinkie's okay."

"Oh, that would be ever so delightful," Rarity said gratefully.           

The five friends raced through town, but slowed to a stop at the sight of the crowd milling around the street.  

The bank was a scene of confusion.  Everywhere Twilight looked were ponies straining their necks for a glimpse of the building while further ahead a line of police ponies were holding the crowd back.  Above them hovered several pegasi who were busy shouting what they saw to their friends below, and she even caught sight of a small group of mares on the roof of a nearby shop.  

"What do ya reckon happened here?" Applejack asked.

"I have no idea," Twilight replied.

Rainbow gave her a worried look.  "I really hope this isn't a Pinkie Pie related incident." 

"Miss Twilight Sparkle?" a police pegasus spoke unexpectedly from above.

"Umm...yes?"

"Mayor Mare has requested your assistance," the police pegasus said as he landed beside her.  "She is just outside the bank.  Please, follow me."

Twilight turned to her concerned friends.  "Wait here, I'll be back as soon as I can."

She followed her escort swiftly through the crowd, smiling nervously at the line of police ponies as they broke apart to let her pass.  She climbed the stone steps that led to the bank's entrance two at a time and came to a halt before the mayor just beside the door.

"Oh, Twilight, thank goodness you're here," Mayor Mare said as she turned away from a large police stallion wearing sunglasses.  "I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia, posthaste."

A wave of indignation washed over Twilight.  "I'm sure that, whatever has happened here, Princess Celestia would prefer you to report it correctly and officially."

"Yes, yes, of course," Mayor Mare replied with a sheepish grin at the large police stallion beside her.  "I actually had another reason for wanting to speak with you."

"What is it?" Twilight asked, unable to hide her annoyance.  She wanted to get away from this mess and resume her search for Pinkie Pie.

"The bank was robbed about half an hour ago, and—" Mayor Mare began.

"Robbed?!" Twilight exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, robbed."  The mayor nodded.  "Now, there were several witnesses who spotted the thieves escape.  There were four.  Three of whom were stallions that nopony recognized, but the fourth...oh dear...you're not going to believe this."   

"What?" Twilight demanded, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest.  "What won't I believe?"

"The fourth bank robber has been identified."  The mayor swallowed hard and adjusted her glasses.  "It was Pinkie Pie."