//------------------------------// // Don’t Mistake My Kindness for Weakness // Story: The Mystery of the Old Ponyville Time Capsule // by GrangeDisplay //------------------------------// “You know a mobster?” Rarity was finally able to ask after picking her jaw off the floor. Fluttershy ran her hooves through her mane. “Well, um no…but um yes. I mean, I didn’t know that he was a mobster until right now.”  “But you know him?” Rainbow prodded. “Yes, I-I saw him standing in the shade a few days ago and he looked quite um…overheated in his big coat. I gave him some water and we talked a little bit.” Applejack was disturbed by Fluttershy’s confession, but the news was promising. She bumped her shoulder against Fluttershy to draw her attention. “What did he tell you?” “Um…nothing really mobby, but when I told him about my um special talent, he told me about his,” Fluttershy mumbled before waiting for more questions. She saw expecting faces as she looked around.  The yellow pegasus sighed and continued, “Okay um well, he has a special talent for aquatic life but …oh it’s so sad! His family wouldn’t let him pursue it because he had to get into the um ‘family business.’ He looked so sad when he told me, s-so I gave him a nice book on marine life the other day to make him feel better.”  Rainbow Dash scooted closer to Fluttershy, staring directly into her eyes. “So, you talk to him enough that you gave him a gift and he trusted you enough to take it.” Fluttershy nodded.  Applejack held her hat in one hoof and rubbed the back of her neck with the other. She cringed as a ghastly idea popped into her head. “Could you tell us where he is now, sugarcube?” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Days spent in Ponyville were significantly longer than those in big cities like Manehattan or Chicacolt. Time seemed to slow down in the quaint little town as the little ponies lived their little lives. The other members were ready to blow this popsicle stand, but Pump Metal found the atmosphere welcoming and charming. He did have to admit that the last few days of standing around and looking menacing felt draining, but it was mainly because he wasn't allowed to explore. He knew that Ponyville and its residents had a lot to offer because he already received kind gestures and greetings from various ponies. Matter of fact, he could detect the silhouette of one of the kind ponies coming into view at that very moment. He placed a hoof above his eyes and squinted at the figure. He smiled as he recognized the yellow pegasus.  “Oh! Good afternoon Fluttershy, it's a pleasure to see you as always.” He received her warmly.  Fluttershy hung back a bit more than she usually did, but Pump could still see her sweet and gentle smile. “And g-good afternoon to you Pump Metal. I hope that you are well.” Pump chuckled as he spun around to look for the book that Fluttershy had gifted him. He proudly presented it to Fluttershy once it was located. “Oh you know how it is, the days are long and hot. Luckily, I’ve got this little ole book to keep me company.” He made sure that Fluttershy was watching before opening the book to his favorite page. “Did you know that tons of fishes have an organ called the lateral lining? It helps them sense motion in the water so they can hunt and hide and stuff.”  “Oh, Pump…that’s wonderful. Thank you for telling me,” she whispered.  Pump did think that it was wonderful and he was happy to share it with his new friend. He smiled at the pegasus while he showed her the page. His enthusiasm evaporated once he saw the sadness in her eyes. “Hey is everything okay there, dollface? You look a little upset?” Fluttershy’s eyes fell to the ground as she listened to Pump’s concern. She knew that there wasn’t much time left. “I-I’m…I. Oh Pump, I’m so sorry!” Pump Metal quirked an eyebrow. “Sorry for wha- mmmmmph.”  The earth pony stallion’s words were silenced when a bag was forced over his head. He didn’t have any time to retaliate before he was knocked over. Rope intertwined itself around his hooves as he heard a collection of voices rushing and pushing each other to go faster. The knots were masterfully tightened as something was forced into his mouth to silence him. He heard multiple ponies grunt and the creak of wheels as he was hoisted into something. He shifted around to no avail as he steadily started to move against his will. The sound of a cart traversing the town, of ponies maintaining the daily routines, and of mares arguing in hushed voices overwhelmed him.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the bag was finally taken off his head, Pump Metal was shrouded in utter darkness. He could hear hooves clopping away from him, then a piercing light shined down on him from afar. He tried to shield his eyes, but all of his hooves were securely fastened to a chair. He grimaced as he turned from the glare. He could vaguely make out the ponies wearing ski masks that surrounded him. All that he could tell was that the one who had turned on the light was an orange earth pony, a blue pegasus was suspended in the air, a white unicorn was standing to the side, and a pink earth pony was holding a slingshot and wearing glasses over the ski mask. He was mere seconds away from becoming genuinely frightened before an even bigger light came on overhead. All five ponies looked at Fluttershy as she switched on the main light, then marched over to the lamp and shut it off. She huffed as she turned to her friends.  “Girls! Isn’t it bad enough that you foalnapped him! There is no need to treat him so poorly!” she scolded as she walked to a corner of the room and returned with a glass of water.  She approached Pump with a sympathetic expression, holding up the glass of water for him to drink. He eyed her suspiciously before taking greedy sips of the water.  “Oh, I’m so sorry Pump Metal. I really wish that we didn’t have to do this to you. Please drink as much as you need and feel free to let us know if you’re hungry or anything.”  The blue pony scoffed and whined at her compassionate accomplice. “Oh come on Fluttershy! This is supposed to be a scary experience for him. How are we supposed to get information out of him if you baby him like that? I’m sure he’s done this to tons of ponies in the past!”  “I am not babying him. I am simply showing him a little kindness. And just because somepony else does something cruel, doesn’t mean that you should do the same.”  The blue pony groaned as she flew over to the orange pony. “Hey, Appl- I mean…Al. Al tell Fluttershy that she’s screwing up our hostage plan.” The orange pony rubbed her head before slowly pulling up her ski mask. A pair of green eyes stared at Pump as he finished chugging his water. “Ain’t no point in tryin’ to follow the plan, Dash. Shy’s already compromised herself. She seems to trust this pony enough, we ought to do the same.” More huffing, groaning, and whining ensued as the blue pony flapped over to the white pony. “Yo, tell Al Capony that she’s screwing up our hostage plan by letting Fluttershy screw up our hostage plan.”  It appeared that the white pony was no more sympathetic to the pegasus’ plight as she also removed her ski mask. A luscious purple mane flowed out of the mask and assumed a perfect shape as the unicorn brushed it with a hoof. “I must say darling, I’m happy as long as I get to take this hideous thing off. I would have prepared better foalnapping attire had I known today’s agenda.” she quipped and cast the ski mask aside.  The blue pony turned to the pink one, her voice lacked the spirit that it had moments ago. “And I’m guessing that you don’t care either way Pinks, as long as you get to keep the mask on?” The pink one giggled as she stuck her tongue out. “Yeppers!” she chirped.  “Ah, Buck! You guys are so lame!” Pieces of a multicolored mane peaked out of the mask once the blue pony forcefully pulled it up. She scowled at Pump as he began to realize what was happening. Once Pump had guzzled down his water, Fluttershy lowered the glass from his mouth. He studied the room that he was in, finding no windows or doors. The only feasible entryway was a slide descending from the roof. The room was full of party supplies and filing cabinets. He looked at his foalnappers and gasped.  “Sweet Celestia! You’re the Elements of Harmony.” He panted and looked around frantically. “Is Princess Twilight Sparkle here? Oh, buck.”  Rainbow smirked as she flew closer to Pump. “Yeah, we sure are and she sure is! Twilight’s gonna scorch your flank unless you tell us what we want to know!”  Fluttershy pushed her hoof into Rainbow’s chest, moving the pegasus back from their poor hostage. “Rainbow! That’s not true and you know it. Pump, nopony is going to hurt you if you don’t tell us anything. We would really appreciate some information, but only if you’re comfortable.”  After hearing Fluttershy’s reassuring words, Pump Metal relaxed in his seat as much as the restraints would allow him. He knew that he should be looking for a way out, but he didn’t know if the life out there waiting for him was any better. At least it was nice and cool in the place he was smuggled into and Fluttershy was here to keep him company along with the other Elements. He studied the faces that he had seen in the newspapers many times over. He thought that he was lucky to meet one of them during his time in Ponyville, but now he had five out of six of them.  They weren’t as extraordinary as the stories made them sound. Not to discredit them or anything, but they looked like normal mares to him. Normal mares that were actively kidnapping him. He tried to match faces with names. He already knew Fluttershy,  Rainbow and Pinkie were obvious, and Rarity was fitting. Since Twilight wasn’t here, that only one left was Applejack, but that wasn’t the name that Rainbow used for her. Pump did a double take when he registered what had been said earlier. He looked at Applejack with wide eyes. “Wait, A-Applejack? Applejack, are you really Al Capony?”  The Element of Honesty blushed. “I guess you can say that, but we all kinda are.” She gestured broadly at the collective. The stallion stared at Fluttershy. “You’re all Al Capony, even you Fluttershy? I didn’t know that you were involved in this type of stuff.” Pump questioned as his ears folded back. He didn’t know why the revelation hurt him so much.  Fluttershy nodded reluctantly. “Yes, Pump. I am Al Capony, and I was involved in this stuff but not anymore.” She studied his features and gasped once she realized what he must be feeling. “But, I didn’t know I was Al Capony until this morning. Oh, p-please don’t think that I only befriended you to foalnap you!” He bit his cheek as he thought it over. He looked up and into Fluttershy’s turquoise eyes, those eyes alone proved why she was the Element of Kindness. “You know what Fluttershy, I believe you. The type of kindness that you showed me can’t be faked, not even by the best actors in all Equestria.”  Fluttershy smiled at him. Rainbow Dash made a gagging gesture with her hoof. “Listen bub, if you like Fluttershy so much, could you tell your boss not to blow us to pieces.”  “Trust me, uh, Rainbow Dash, if I could I would. This tiny town doesn’t deserve all this trouble. It’s an okay place, the type of place you’d want your grandparents to live in. I honestly thought that Bugs was way off when it came to this town, but I guess that he was right.”  Rarity winced at the insinuation that Ponyville was a retirement town, but she understood the meaning behind Pump’s words. “In light of the truth, do you still think that Ponyville is worthy of saving?”  The earth pony stallion frowned in frustration. “I kinda do. It’s really nice here and Bugs’ plan isn’t his best. We’ve all been telling him that he shouldn’t attack Ponyville unless he wants to go to war with Celestia herself, but he doesn’t care!”  Applejack let out a low whistle and wiped her brow. “So y’all know that we practically live right underneath Celestia’s muzzle, and y’all still want to destroy us.”  “Yep. You girls pissed Bugs off that bad. He has totally lost it; he’ll stop at nothing until this whole place is burning.”  Rainbow threw up her hooves. “And you want to be a part of that?”  Pump lowered his head in shame. “No. I don’t. But what else am I supposed to do? This is the only life I’ve ever known. Bugs gave me everything.”  A hoof gently rested upon Pump’s shoulder as Fluttershy spoke, “Pump, I’m sorry that you’ve been given no other options. But, if you don’t want to do this, then don’t. If you want to study marine life, then study marine life.”  “Fluttershy is right Pump. What is the point of living a life, if you’re not living it by your own convictions?” Rarity encouraged. The stallion bit his lip as he listened to the mares’ words. “I-I’m not sure. This is a lot to take in.”  “Of course it’s a lot to take in Pumpy! Because deep down you know it’s not possible.” Pinkie proclaimed cheerfully. The others looked at her in shock as she beamed at Pump Metal, despite the demoralizing nature of her words.  She didn’t let the lack of support dissuade her as she continued, “If Pumpy leaves the family biz he probably won’t be studying the fishes, he’ll be sleeping with them! He can’t just walk away from this and start over, it’s not that easy.”  Pump sighed as a fresh wave of reality washed over him. Wasn’t this supposed to be the funny one? “She’s right, you know? I’ve got nothing outside of this life, nopony to run to for help,” he admitted. “You don’t, or you didn’t?” Pinkie singsonged as she skated toward Pump Metal. “Pumpy, what if we help you get out?”  “But how? Aren’t you guys directly connected to royalty?”  Pinkie giggled while spinning around in circles. She stopped abruptly and brought her still looping eyes close to Pump Metal. “We are, but royalty doesn’t have to know every itsy bitsy tinsy winsy detail of our lives. And you recognized us right away! We know tons of ponies, and tons of ponies means tons of friends, and tons of friends means tons of favors!”  “So, you’ll help me? …Why?” Pinkie winked and jumped back. “Well obviously we want to help you, nopony deserves to live a sad life. Also, just think about it in that nice noodle of yours! Why are we all here Pumpy?” He followed her instructions and thought about everything that he had learned during the hostage situation. He could feel the lightbulb turning on in his skull when he finally realized what Pinkie was teasing at. “Y-you want the information in exchange for my safety? You all are stuck in this too, aren’t you?” “Yeppers, so we can help each other. Some of the best friendships are built on the desire to prevent mutual destruction. You scritcha scratch our back, and we scritcha scratch yours. You tell us what Bugs is planning, and we’ll protect you from the fallout. I Pinkie Promise!”  He watched the Element of Laughter perform a series of odd movements. He raked his brain for the last time he had felt so hopeful. He wanted to cry. This was the best chance he had in a long time, and it was an easy cost to pay. He nodded slowly, accepting the terms of Pinkie’s promise. “Okay, Bugs is gonna take revenge on this entire town tomorrow at 7:47 p.m. exactly. He intends to rain fireworks down from the sky. He outfitted seventy of his best pegasus marksmares to launch fireworks directly into town. They’ll be everywhere and they’ve been outfitted with everything. We’re talking strobes, coconuts, brocades, crackles!”  “Even crosettes?” Rainbow asked gravely. “Yes, even crosettes. Ponyville will be overwhelmed with colorful pyrotechnics.”   Applejack swallowed. “Will there be any ponies stationed on the ground?”  “No, all ground forces are getting the hay out of here. Some of Bugs’ unicorns have mastered the cloudwalking spell. They’ve enchanted a few earth ponies, so that they can stand guard during the ambush.” “Okay.” Applejack mumbled as she rubbed her face. This attack was a lot more than she was expecting. She sighed and looked at her friends.  “And there’s one last thing…The Big Finale. A stallion-sized chrysanthemum.” The mares gasped at the audacity. The biggest fireworks that they made were, at most, the size of a stallion’s head, not his entire body. The number of resources needed to create that monstercracker was unfathomable. The explosion could briefly turn night into day. “Do you know where they intend to drop that monster?” Rainbow muttered, hoping that they could find some good news in Pump’s confession. The atmosphere was grim, and Pump hated to make it worse, but he wanted to tell them the truth. “I’ve only seen The Big Finale a few times, it’s definitely here. Bugs wants to keep it under wraps. Only his most trusted triggermares are allowed to wield it. I’m not important enough to know specific details.” “Merciful Luna.” Applejack mumbled. She looked at the varying degrees of despair in her friends. She sighed and decided to be strong. “Alright y’all, I know this looks bad, but we can’t let them win. We’ve all been on the ropes before, and we’ve always come out of it. This ain’t goin’ be any different. One way or the other, we’re goin’ to save our home.”  Rainbow Dash cracked her hooves. “Yeah! We’re not gonna let him bully our town around. We’ve had to fight our way out of bad situations before.” Fluttershy whimpered as she cowered to the floor. Rarity patted her friend’s back and rolled her eyes. “I would think that our priority is to protect Ponyville, not get into a skirmish with Bugs’ gang.” “The only way to stop this is to rough them up. They won’t go away if we don’t make them go.” Rainbow Dash sneered, growing tired of her friends’ peaceful approach. Pinkie shook her head and looked around. “Dashie, I think that Rarity is right. Maybe Bugs can be reasoned with, there is no need to escalate this from terrible to even more terribler.” Applejack made a point to look directly at Pinkie as she spoke, “Bugs ain’t a reasonable type, not when it comes to this I reckon. He’s lost a lot because of us, and when you lose like that, you just start doin’ stuff no matter how crazy it is. It’s like fallin’ over while bein’ real dizzy. You keep trying to get up and shake it off, but you can’t get yourself steady. You try to get up, but you just fall over and make it worse. You keep doin’ it until somepony steadies you, or you finally decide to lay down and let it pass.”  “See! AJ agrees with me. She’s talked to him, and she knows him best. He won’t let this pass.” Rainbow argued. Pinkie huffed as she removed her glasses. “I can come up with something if you just…give me a second to think! Applejack, I know what you’re saying, but I-I can’t…that way is no fun. I just need to see the threads come together.” Applejack took her hat off and fanned herself. It pained her to see Pinkie this way, but they had to keep moving. “I know you don’t like it, but we might have to handle this a little rougher than we prefer. We’ll try doin’ something clever first, but we gotta be prepared to make it sting. That’ll be our Plan B.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Trixie, I understand that finding and identifying Al Capony has always been a dream of yours, but maybe we should focus on the impending attack on Ponyville?”  Starlight paced around the library as Trixie laid out all of their evidence on a bulletin board. Headshots of ponies were scattered around the board and red strings were used to indicate connections and relations.  Trixie pinned up an unflattering headshot of Twilight before turning to face Starlight.  “There is no need to postpone our search if we’ve already identified Al Capony. We will present the culprit to Mayor Mare when she returns to the castle tomorrow.” “But what if the firework thief was one of those gang ponies! We don’t want to accuse an innocent pony of this type of crime in front of the mayor!” Trixie held up a pair of scissors in her magic as she cut another piece of red string. “Perhaps she didn’t do it, but it is convenient that she was present in Twilight’s castle during the time of the theft.” Starlight rubbed her hooves together. “It just doesn’t feel right,” she mumbled. Trixie slammed the scissors down in irritation. “Why? Because she is your friend? Friendship cannot stand in the way of the truth!”  Taken aback by her display of anger, Starlight stepped away from Trixie.  “B-but Pinkie was with Twilight almost the entire day, how could she have robbed your cart? She didn’t even know about the firecracker?” “The tricky thing about the pink one is that there are no bounds to what she can do. She could have broken in at any time, she could have been present the whole time, or somepony could have told her. They don’t call the rainbow one the Element of Loyalty for nothing.” Starlight didn’t know why she even bothered to argue when she had already accepted what Trixie was saying. She knew that all signs pointed to Pinkie, but the idea was making her brain hurt. When she thought of Pinkie, she thought of a silly mare with boundless childlike energy, not a criminal mastermind. But it was possible that Starlight had been led astray by more than one pony that she trusted.  The purple unicorn sat down at the table containing all of their notes and books. She pushed a pile of papers aside and laid her head down as she watched Trixie plot out their investigation. She sighed.  “Trixie, are you okay?”  Trixie didn’t respond right away, deflating as she thought about Starlight’s question. The last few days had been long and tedious. She wasn’t sleeping as usual, mainly because her mind was occupied with speculation and memory. She thought of the mysterious identity of Al Capony until she began to think of who she was when she first heard about Al Capony. She was a filly, a young mare, with a dream.  A dream that took her far away from everything that she knew and made it hard to find any place to call home. She had to be strong because she had to build her own legacy. A dynasty to call her own, but it’s hard to build an empire and keep oneself fed. She knew what it took to make a great show, but it was hard to scrounge together the resources to execute her wildest fantasies. That’s why ponies like Al Capony were so important. Because they were one of the few vendors that never cheated their customers. If anything, they gave more than what was necessary.  The black market is full of desperate ponies willing to sidestep the law to obtain what they need. It’s easy to take advantage of a pony in that situation, and it’s even easier to take advantage of a filly. Whoever Al Capony was, they were a good pony and Trixie always wanted to tell them that. They also might have broken into Trixie’s camper, which was not appreciated.  But, that was before Trixie knew who Al Capony was, back when the mysterious mastermind was whoever Trixie wanted them to be. Now, Trixie knew the truth, and she didn’t like it. Al Capony wasn’t a Robin Hoof or an everyday average pony. Al Capony was chosen. She, like her friends, never faced consequences or ramifications for her actions. They went about their lives without a shred of awareness of what it meant to truly struggle. They could destroy one’s career in twenty-two minutes without a second thought. Trixie was not like Al Capony, and Al Capony was not like Trixie.  Trixie pulled up the seat next to Starlight and sat down. “Starlight, this whole situation makes the Great and Powerful Trixie quite tired and stressed. I will feel much better once this whole mystery is resolved. I won’t be able to rest easy until it is.” “Okay then. I’m pretty tired and stressed too…I’m not sure if you noticed. Let’s just take it easy today and visit Sugarcube Corner tomorrow. We’re gonna need all of our energy if we expect to get a confession out of Pinkie.” Starlight wasn’t sure what the pink pony was doing at the moment, but she hoped that it at least burned some of her energy. The unicorns enjoyed the calm and serenity of the library, oblivious to the frenzy of activity plowing through Ponyville.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “What is she doin’?” Apple Bloom whispered as she watched Pinkie create yet another hole in the ground at Ponyville park. Sweetie Belle cupped her hoof around her mouth and whispered, “I think she’s digging a hole.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Uh yeah, we see that, Sweetie Belle. But why is she digging a hole?” “Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you just ask her.” Sweetie Belle squeaked out.  “Ugh fine. I’ll ask.” Scootaloo spoke louder to get the pink mare’s attention, “Hey Pinkie, what are you doing?”  Pinkie turned away from the shallow hole to address the foals behind her. Her mane, hooves, and muzzle were covered with dirt. She wore a pair of scuba goggles to keep her glasses from getting dirty. She spit out the gardening trowel that she was holding in her mouth.  “Oh, you know! Just digging holes and burying mini-party cannons inside!”  Apple Bloom looked at the hoof-held party cannon to Pinkie’s side and wondered if she should get Applejack. “What…Why are you doing that Pinkie?”  The start of an explanation was beginning to exit Pinkie’s mouth until she was distracted by Rarity. The unicorn had tied her mane up with a bandana and wore gloves on her hooves. Despite wearing the appropriate attire for an impromptu gardening session, Rarity’s pristine white coat was covered in dirt stains.  “Pinkie darling, go ahead and start the next hole. I’ll finish this one.” Pinkie giggled as she plopped the party cannon into the hole and gave a quick wave to the fillies. Rarity took her place by the shallow hole and shoveled the dirt on top of it. Sweetie Belle gawked at her older sister, uncertain if the dirty mare before her was really Rarity. The dressmaker didn’t seem to care about the mess she was making or who was watching, she smoothed over the former hole with her hooves. A few feet away, Pinkie twitched, looked to the sky, spun around in three circles, then crouched down to dig another hole. Rarity gave the fresh mound a few satisfied pats before addressing the fillies. “Oh, hello girls. Pinkie and I are quite busy. I know it seems…peculiar, but I assure you that there is no need to worry. Go about your day and enjoy yourselves. Although, you might want to play inside tomorrow.”