//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Where Pink Hooves Have Trodden // by SanityLost //------------------------------// “Salt Lick City was nothing like I imagined it,” the little pink pony hopped upward and took a bite of apple pie. “There were only a few big buildings and the air kind of smelled like sour punch. The reporter took a small bite of apple pie himself and wrinkled his nose, “That doesn't sound like a place I would want to be.” “It wasn't for me either at first, but I got used to the smell, sort of. Every time I walked outside I thought of someone throwing up in punch, but I would just think about chocolate cake, and everything would be alright!” The reporter grimaced with mention of upchucking into punch, Pinkie munched away happily at her pie. “When I first got there I was so confused. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know where to go. I was so scared the first night in my motel room. I wondered if my parents were right and if I should have just stayed back at the rock farm.” Familiar visions of he and his newly eloped wife in a tiny apartment filled Top's head. He could empathize with the bouncing pony across from him. “Well I found a little place on the outskirts of town that smelled like hamburgers and cat pee. It was a run down apartment, but it was a place to live. I never really had any problems, except for a couple of mice and a creepy light blue unicorn that wore an old trench coat that spied on me from his apartment with a telescope.” “By Celestia, you did have the sense to buy curtains didn't you?” “Nope,” Pinkie grinned broadly, “to take care of that problem, I rented my apartment out to a burlesque company so they could use it to host their gay erotic burlesque dance practices. I would always schedule it when that creepy pony was home.” The reporter smirked, “I bet he didn't spy on you any more!” “Noper loper! He moved to another apartment, though a bunch of perverted old earth mares moved in so they could watch the dancers.” Top thought he could feel the beginnings of a smile, “Why doesn't that surprise me. Well, that had to be a nice source of income at least. All you had to do was stay out of your apartment for a bit and come back when they were done.” Pinkie giggled, “Who said I left the apartment while they were there?” Top straightened in his chair and his eyebrows went up, causing Pinkie's giggles to increase. The Cake's were looking over and shaking their heads at the dumbfounded reporter. Once her giggles subsided, she continued. “I tried to find a job during my first few weeks in Salt Lick. Renting my apartment out to that company was profitable, but I still had to find something so that I could pay for food and the occasional cleaning bill.” “The occasional cleaning bill?” “Yeah, sometimes the dancers made a mess, and they did a terrible job of cleaning up. It sometimes took a helping hoof to make sure things were clean.” The reporter puffed out and gritted his teeth to keep from grinning, “So did you find work?” “Oh yeah, I did this and that, but I didn't find anything permanent. I was a waitress, dish washer, window washer, and a cosmetics salesperson. If I hadn't been around so many things that were super duper breakable, those jobs would have lasted more than a few days.” Top momentarily admired Pinkie's aggressive attack on a piece of pink frosted strawberry cake, not having any difficulty in seeing this pony being destructive. He cut himself a slice of cake, “Were you able to find something?” “Yes I was,” she gulped down the last bite of her cake, “I started talking to one of the stallions that danced with the burlesque group in my apartment one day, and he said they had a job available at their office.” "What kind of job did they want to give you?" “Take a guess,” Pinkie said with a sly smile, “they did more than stallion on stallion stuff you know.” “Well, when you first start out, sometimes you have to do things that you aren't proud of, I knew a young mare or two that had to do that kind of stuff,” Top Story said consolingly. “What kind of stuff?" Pinkie tilted her head sideways. “Huh?” “My first job with the company was doing secretary work. Why? What were you thinking?” Her eyes twinkled as she grinned wickedly. Despite his best efforts, the reporter suddenly found himself with a smile on his face as well. It had been a while since he had truly smiled at a joke. “My job was to mainly make appointments, take and write letters, make notes, all that secretary stuff. The work was hard, and I got things confused. One time I accidentally scheduled a live 'mare madness' show at a basketball game half-time instead of the theater where it was supposed to be. The front page headlines the next day were hilarious!” Top story coughed, “Were you fired?” “My boss was going to fire me, but since the news story gave the company a lot of free publicity he kept me on. I even got a raise!” “You are one lucky mare.” “I thought I was,” the pink pony beamed before picking up a strawberry drop in her hoof and tossing it backward into her mouth, “I loved working at the office. My bosses were nice, the people I worked with were really nice, I even made friends with some of the performers. But it didn't start out that way, it was actually kind of a stuffy, depressing place to work.” Visions of Top's first job washing dishes at a diner flashed in his mind, “What made it better?” “A great big hearty helping of Pinkie goodness is what made it better!” “Would you care to elaborate?” “Well, a small number of the performers that worked there were really sad about what they had to do, and there were some people in the office that wished they worked in a 'more respectable' industry. Don't get me wrong, some of them loved their job, some of them just thought of it as their job, but some were just really sad about what they had to do. I liked talking to them, I talked a lot back then, to anybody that would listen.” It's nice to see that some things never change, the reporter thought to himself. “But I would also listen to them. A lot of them were really sad. Their parents hated them, they were in bad relationships, or no relationships at all. Some of them didn't have anyone that loved them. There were even a couple that wished they were dead.” Pinkie pie bit back a quivering lip, “It's still sad to think about sometimes. I listened to their problems and helped them feel better about themselves. Most of the time, all they needed was a little self-confidence. I was able to give it to them, I was always able to make each person smile, and it made me feel really happy. I helped those that hated their jobs get out and find others that did make them happy. I was able to help those people that didn't have anyone find someone special.” The reporter nodded, “That is truly a good feeling, it's wonderful to have a person that cares about their fellow workers in any workplace.” The mare sitting across from him smiled, “Thanks, and it sure is. It was also while I was there that I started hosting my first parties, not counting the ones that I threw for my family.” “Did those go well?” “They were small, I honestly didn't know that many people to invite, mostly just people around the office where I worked. Oh, I even invited those perverted mares that liked to watch the stallions perform their dances at my place. They actually didn't turn out to be creepy like I thought they were, just perverted old mares. There weren't many people there, but those that were there had fun. It kind of felt empowering, I kind of felt like I was becoming my own mare.” Top smiled when he thought of the first apartment he and the mare he ran away with had. It was a cramped efficiency. Even though they didn't have much, what they had was theirs, and that was something they were both proud of. “Sounds like everything was going your way,” he finally said. “It was, and I was happy. Until the day that Starstud showed up.” “Starstud?” “Starstud was this really sexy, dark blue, suave Earth pony, you know the type?” Top sighed, “Better than you think, go on.” “He was a hot shot in that world, and thought he could get anything he wanted. When he was first hired to do some dances for our company, my boss showed him around the office. He got the attention of all the mares, but for some reason he got all interested in the Pinkie Pie. I smiled and said hi like I always did, but he was sending me the signals. I didn't pick up on it though, as I was still young and inexperienced.” “I getcha,” the reporter nodded. “Silly me, he asked me out and I said yes. I didn't really know what was happening, I thought he just wanted to hang out or something. I thought this might be a chance to make another friend, So, we went out, and had dinner. It was really good too, lobster, crab cakes, and oh my gosh you will never believe me, but the chocolate mousse made me do a cartwheels. I was about to do another but the waiter said I had to stop because I was scaring the customers, breaking chairs, and upending tables.” “I'll bet.” “Dinner was fun, despite being a self-centered jerk, he actually was kind of funny. He walked me home, and just as I was about to unlock the door to my place, he kissed me. I was kind of freaked out but I didn't say anything. I just got the key out and tried to put it in the door, when he kissed me again, this time a little more forcefully. Kissing someone with a key in their mouth had to be super duper nasty, but he did it! I started shaking and the darn key wouldn't go into the lock. He quickly pressed me against the door, holding my shoulders to the door with his forelegs. He kept kissing me and...” Pinkie wrapped her hands around herself. Top Story's face softened, he gripped the table to keep himself from placing his hoof on the mare's shoulder, “You don't have to go on.” “No,” Pinkie squeaked, “no, it's okay. He had me pinned against the door and I told him to stop. He asked me how long had it been since I was with a real stallion, I said never, and he said that night was my lucky night.” “Skies above...what happened?” “Well I was able to slide one of my hind legs between his and knee him right in the sheath. He fell down squealing like a pig.” “No less than he deserved.” “I got the key into the door and was about to run inside, but he quickly got up,grabbed me in his forelegs, and threw me face first to the floor. My ears were ringing and my nosey wosey stung and started to bleed. Once the ringing in my ears died down he whispered in my ear, 'You're about to find out how I got famous little filly.'” “By Celestia...” “That is what he said when I quickly slipped out of his grip, jumped on his back and grabbed his neck with my forearms. He was bucking around like a bronco trying to get me off. When he was in the right position I plated my feet against the ground and pushed him face first against the wall. I made his nose bleed like mine.” “Wow, awesome job!” “Hey you better think before you mess with the Pink...ie Pie!” Top smiled and Pinkie Pie continued, “Well my victory was short lived. He was able to spin around and slam his big hoof into my face and send me to the ground. He leaped on top of me and pinned my shoulders down. His face was screwedup into a twisted smile. He looked really bedraggled, not like the handsome stallion he did on stage. A moonbeam from the hallway window fell across his face and made him look like one of those creepy serial killers.” “His face was all wrinkled up. With blood dripping from his nose on my chest, he pressed down on my throat. I felt like my lungs were going to burst when he said, 'I'm gonna love squeezing your throat while I buck your pretty pink brains out.'” “I wanted to scream, but I couldn't, all I could do is gurgle while he pressed his hooves down on my neck. I flailed around and tried to punch him, but I couldn't get near his face. The world got fuzzy, my lungs were screaming for air. I thought I was going to pass out. He started to press down harder on my throat and relieved the pressure at the other end of my body. I guess he didn't think I'd give him another kick in his prized possessions, but I did. Actually I gave him two, just for good measure. “His face screwed up and he fell sideways. I could breathe again. Cat pee stained air never smelled better in all my life.” “Did that do it?” Top was leaning forward in his seat. “I don't know, it might have done it, but I was really mad at that point. The next thing that I can remember, I was sitting on his stomach punching him in the face when two police officers, both white pegasi, pulled me off of him. We both got arrested and taken to jail. I was all alone in a cold, gray cell that entire night.” “It had a tangy stale smell, like old orange juice, if that makes any sense. I tried to lay down on that hard wooden bench and sleep. I closed my eyes but I kept seeing Starstud's face and that freaky smile, over and over again,” Pinkie swallowed hard, “I was afraid that if I went to sleep I would have nightmares. I was a tired pink mare when they drug me out of the cell the next morning.” “A large yellow stallion started to question me. I told him what happened, I told him I couldn't remember some parts, and I showed him the bruises on my neck and arms. I heard they talked to Starstud and he said something completely different. Luckily they believed my truth and not his lies, though.” “I was able to get the next couple of days off. I barely slept, and I hardly ate anything. I was too sick to. All I wanted to do was lay in bed and stare at the blank walls in my dark room. After a couple of days though, I was able to motivate myself to get out of bed and go to the office. It was terrible. I smiled and said hi to everyone, but no one talked to me. I thought that I put on enough pink foundation on my body to hide the bruising, and I thought that was the problem. However, about an hour after I came into work, I found out why the other employees were avoiding me.” “The big boss, a fat red stallion with huge glasses called me in and told me to sit in front of his desk. He told me that the company loved having me with them but that they had to let me go. I was shocked. I asked why but he only said that they were 'downsizing.' I asked if it had anything to do with the Starstud incident and he said no, but I could tell he was lying. The jerk.” Top Story sat in silence. He saw an old green mare yelling at him for breaking a dish at his first job, or for accidentally stacking the dishes the wrong way, but he had never endured anything like this mare had. He shook his head,“I'm really sorry.” “Oh it's okay,” a bitter edge was in Pinkie's voice, “I testified at his court hearing and found out he had done this thing to other mares. They gave him three years for that little incident. When he came out of prison, they said he wasn't walking as straight as he used to, if you know what I mean.” The reporter just nodded, and Pinkie continued, “I had my little moment of victory, but all in all things were bad for me. The company decided to stop using my apartment for their practices, so I had no money coming in. On the day I was thrown out of my apartment, I felt like there was nothing left for me. I felt kind of betrayed. None of my old friends would lift a finger to help me. I had spent all of my time making people happy and all they had done was stab me in the back. I didn't think I was going to ever be happy again.” “I slowly lugged my saddlebag on my back as I walked down the street. The world around me was black. I didn't see color, I didn't see faces. All I saw was a sea of black that I was drowning in. I took a detour into a grocery store. I had a few bits left in my pocket, so I thought I'd pick up a sarsaparilla to clear my head. As I walked through those doors, I vowed that the only person that I would ever want to make happy again was myself. Then, life told me to quit being a sad Pinkie and start being a Pinkie Pinkie.” “I'm not sure I follow you.” “Of course you don't follow me silly, you don't have to follow me. I'm sitting right here.” The reporter shook his head. “I mean, I don't understand what you are talking about.” “You should have said that,” Pinkie's glum face instantly perked up. “But anyway, I was about to meet a very fun pony.”