//------------------------------// // The Mystery // Story: Semper Pie // by deathtap //------------------------------// "So you have no clue? At all?" Shining asked incredulously. Pinkie sat down and placed her hoof against her chin as she closed her eyes and tried to recall all the ponies she knew. There was Search Light, Sea Saw, Sweetie Belle, Sparkler, Switch Blade the barber, Stand Up the comedian, and even Semi to who helps out with moving heavy things around, but no matter how hard she tried she just could not seem to remember meeting anypony by the name of Semper Pie. She stretched her mind as far down memory lane as she could, putting names to faces which she was exceptionally good at. Even ponies she did not remember the names to, none of them looked like a Semper Pie, as only the logic of Pinkie could understand. Satisfied that she had gone through every single one of her friends, acquaintances and fleeting introductions, she stopped tapping her chin and looked at her two friends, "Nope. Never heard of him, and I know everypony in Ponyville, and everypony I've ever met! I write so many letters to all my friends all over Equestria! I love getting mail! Just the other day I got mail from my friend from..." Shining could only shake his head as Pinkie rambled on, "I just don't get it. Why would the Semper Pie want to meet with her? Please don't take this the wrong way but, just from his personality, it's... strange! That he would request to specifically meet Pinkie Pie doesn't make an ounce of sense; unless they were related." "Maybe he just wants to meet Pinkie because she's the Element of Laughter," Twilight suggested giving her brother a stern look. "Isn't that more likely?" "But why the Element of Laughter? You don't know him, Twilight. He's not the kind of pony that enjoys parties and-" "He doesn't enjoy parties?" Pinkie shouted, grabbing Shining by his face, pushing his lips together. "How can anypony not like parties?" "That's just the way he is," Shining replied, trying to talk with his lips puffed up. "He's so... and going by your last names, I assume that-" "Shining, I think Pinkie would know who her siblings are. Right, Pinkie?" Pinkie's head was a blur as she nodded impossibly fast. "There's my bigger sister, Maud, my younger sisters Lime and Marble! They're super fun sisters and we always love getting together and having a party!" "Where are your sisters now?" Twilight asked. "Well, Lime and Marble are back home on the rock farm, and Maud's traveling around Equestria." Twilight thought about it for a second. "You know, I've never really asked, but where is your rock farm, Pinkie?" "Oh, near the Badlands." Shining and Twilight's eyes practically burst out of their sockets. "The-the-the-the-the Badlands!" they shouted in unison. Even Twilight's personal guards looked at Pinkie with new found respect. "Uh, yeah. That's what I just said. The Badlands." Twilight put her hooves on Pinkie's shoulders, "Pinkie. The Badlands is the roughest, toughest part of Equestria. It's on the Frontier!" "Well... technically it's not on the frontier anymore, Twily. The Badlands are now well within our kingdom's borders and the Border Guard keep all the really dangerous things away. I heard it took years for them to clear that area out. There was a time where you couldn't even think about venturing out after dark because it was so dangerous." Pinkie giggled, "Naw. That's hogwash. It's safe. I mean, yeah, there were plenty of bad things, but I remember Granny Pie teaching us... well, everything! We learned how to play hide and seek with the mean bears and wolves and, and... other meanies. Mom and dad really didn't like how Granny would take us with her all over the place, but we always had a lot of fun! Just us..." At that, Twilight remembered how Pinkie laughed her way through the Everfree Forest during the Nightmare Moon incident and how she was able to face her fears head on with that addictive smile. There was a new found respect for the pink mare and where her courage came from. If you had to live in such a place, how would you cope? As a filly, how did she face her fears? But Pinkie had other thoughts in her mind. When Granny Pie used to take her out to go look for things, Pinkie was real small and rode on her back. Granny moved on before Marble was born, but she always remembered that there were three of them that would go out into the Badlands. There was always somepony with them. Somepony else. She shook her head. Impossible. A pony she couldn't remember? Preposterous! "You know, now that I think of it, Semper was in charge of clearing that frontier back in the day," Shining muttered, talking more to himself than to the others. "He helped make that area safe... er. Safer," Shining quickly added the last when he saw Pinkie about to correct him. Twilight shuddered. When she was a little girl she would hear tales of creatures in the Badlands, and even read books about them. It made her practically wet the bed. "So, what we know is that Pinkie and Semper share the same name, and that he wants to meet Pinkie personally, but they are not related. Right?" Twilight looked to Shining, then to Pinkie, then back to Shining again. "Am I missing anything?" "No. Don't think so." Shining chuckled to himself, "We've come across quite the mystery, haven't we?" "You could say it's a doozy of a mystery!" Pinkie chimed in flashing a wide smile. "Yes, you could say that," Twilight agreed, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.