A few days had passed in Ponyville.
The remains of Cup Cake's Bakery had been picked, by a mix of authorities and Cup Cake herself, for anything remaining. All that was left undamaged were a few bits of silverware and china, but it had been determined that the remains of the building were not very stable and beyond restoration. Much to everypony's surprise, she and Carrot Cake were both staying over at the Apples' farm; Cup Cake was sleeping in the guest room, at the request of Carrot Cake who was just as happy to sleep on the couch in their living room.
The mystery stallion (identified as one Gold Hoof) was awaiting his court hearing, with charges of murder, kidnapping, attempted rape, and contemplating murder/suicide. He had spent much of his time since regaining consciousness screaming that he was innocent, and that he was being framed, however, completely unaware that enough evidence had been gathered to all but confirm he was the culprit.
The Apple family had spent much of that time being closer than ever; the passing of Alexander Apple had been tough, but nearly losing Applejack had been one of the scariest things to happen to any of them. Many ponies noticed that Big Mac became particularly of his little sister, much to her own irritation.
Pinkie, however...
**********
"Pinkamena, it's dinner time!"
"Coming, mother!"
Pinkie turned from her work of digging stones from the ground to trot back towards home. That night was the single worst night in her life, far as she could tell. She had ruined the bakers, nearly killed Applejack, and in the process had endangered her sister and friend. The very next day, without telling anypony besides her sister, she had boarded a carriage to return home.
And there she had been for two weeks.
She stepped into the small farmhouse and sighed. Now that she was home, it was so... different. So dull, so empty, so...
Boring.
But it was home. It was the only place where she had not failed anypony. It was where she was born, and far as she was concerned, it was where she would die. That was the way it had to be. So, she sat at the table, with her father, mother, and little sister. They said grace, before gently eating into their meal; vegetable stew, with a side of potatoes. Nopony spoke, but Pinkie noticed that every once in a while, each member of her family would eye her; she pretended not to of course. Her sister would only smile, elated that her elder sister had come home, but her parents...
"Pinkamena?"
Pinkie looked up quietly. "Yes mother?"
"... Dear, have you been feeling alright?"
Pinkie smiled. "Yes, mother, I'm fine. Just a little tired after a hard day's work is all. Thanks for your concern."
Father Pie looked to his wife and grimaced some. The two knew something was wrong; her sudden decision to return home, her reserved, quiet attitude since... this was not their daughter. This was not Pinkamena Diane Pie.
"... Child... you can tell us..."
Pinkie set her silverware down and looked up to her family. "Did you know unicorns aren’t actually bad ponies? Well, not all of them?" The room fell silent. Pinkie's little sibling held her hooves over her mouth, eyes as big as saucers. Her parents, while seeming surprised, did not seem as surprised as said sister. "Yeah. I made friends with a unicorn, and she was just like us, accept she had a lot of money, and her dad was a real jerk, and--"
"Pinkamena Diane Pie! I will not have you talk like that at this table!"
Pinkie looked to her mother. "It's true! She was a really nice unicorn, and--"
"No, I mean talking about her father like that. I feel we did not teach you about gossip?"
Pinkie stopped herself and frowned a bit. "... And... you're not mad about me having had a unicorn friend...?"
The parents looked at Pinkie with utter confusion. “Pinkie... why would we be mad at that? The community doesn’t dislike Unicorns... just... unicorn magic...”
A knock at the door distracted them, causing Father Pie to look to his youngest daughter. "Sweety, be a dear and answer that?" The filly nodded, and hopped out of her chair, making her way to the front.
"... Pinkamena, what is this all about?" asked Father Pie, a look of both concern and confusion brought to his features.
"Octavia!?"
The entire family seemed to shift. The filly returned, beaming, trotting in place. "Eldest sister Octavia is home! She came home! She came home!" Octavia slowly stepped into the room, wearing a simple white collar with a pink bow on it. She let her gaze trail, taking in the sight of her entire family; she was clearly quite uncomfortable, an understandable situation given it had been years since she had seen them.
"Octavia" said Father Pie, almost coldly, but not quite...
"F... father..." Octavia's voice was clearly very nervous.
The tension in the room was so thick you could taste it. Mother Pie simply stared in utter disbelief. Pinkie let her attention shift between her eldest sister and her father, wondering what was going on. Why was Octavia here? Would there be a fight? Of course not; her family is peaceful... but that did not mean they had to be happy with her choices.
"... I'm... sorry to intrude, father... but I came here to speak with Pinkamena..." said Octavia, whose sudden determination showed she was trying to push back whatever emotions were threatening to ruin whatever she had planned. "... It's very important."
"Then do speak to her."
Octavia seemed a bit confused, but she simply nodded. "Pinkamena... can we speak in private?" Pinkie turned towards her father, who nodded approvingly towards her. With that, she stood from her seat and trotted towards her sister. The two sisters Pie made their way from the house, and around the back.
"... Nice Bow Tie... where did you get it?"
Octavia blinked and looked down, smiling. "It's a little something I got from Rarity... she had said it suited me... simple, yet elegant... I admit, I rather like it." Pinkie nodded, looking at her hooves. Octavia grimaced a bit. "Pinkamena... why did you take off so quickly?"
Pinkie did not bother turning her attention from her hooves. "... I'd rather not talk about it..."
Octavia furrowed her brow. "... Please Pinkie... I... I know things seemed hectic, but I didn't think it was any reason to leave... please, just give it one more chance to--"
"To what? To suffer as I nearly bring the whole town down!?" Octavia reeled some, staring at the angry, frustrated eyes of her youngest sibling. Pinkie placed her hooves over her mouth after realizing just how loud she had spoken, and sighed, shaking her head. "... No... no, I can't... I can't face everypony again..."
Octavia stared incredulously at Pinkie, her mouth moving to form silent words before she shook her head and gathered her wit. "What? Pinkie, you can't really blame yourself for--"
"Can't I?"
Pinkie looked her sister in the eyes as she spoke. "I'm the one who made Ms. Cake make that mean comment about things named 'Carrot.' That made Carrot run to talk to Applejack, only to end up scaring a crook into killing Applejack's dad... I set up the party where the killer would drug her and kidnap her from, and to top it all off, I burned down one and a half bakeries in the process!" Pinkie stomped her hoof at the end to emphasize her point, her aggravation slowly shifting to sadness. "I... I caused so much trouble... I ruined the lives of two bakers and a whole family..." Pinkie sniffled a bit, her lip trembling. Octavia stared at her younger sister, jaw hanging open, before gathering herself and grabbing Pinkie into a hug; her younger sister returning it, sniffling gently against her. "... I hurt so many ponies..."
"Pinkie... you really don't blame yourself for all of that, do you?" Pinkie nodded slowly, choking a bit into her sister's mane. Octavia stared at the wall for a minute, and then gently pushed her sister away. "Pinkie, you need to come with me, and I won't take 'no' for an answer... let's go back to Ponyville."
Pinkie shook her head. "But Octavia, I--"
"Pinkie, I already said I won't take no for an answer." Octavia stared at Pinkie with pleading eyes. "Please... for me.... just for one night. Then you can come home and I will never bother you again..."
Pinkie sighed a bit, looking at her hooves. "Fine... we should tell mother and father first..."
Octavia winced at this; she had just barely managed to scrape through the last encounter with her will intact. Still, she knew she couldn't just take Pinkie with her without explaining anything to her parents. Steeling herself, Octavia nodded, and the two ponies made their way inside.
The Pie family had sat back down to eat their meals, and looked up to Octavia and Pinkie. "So... will you be staying a while, Octavia? Or will you be returning to Ponyville?" Octavia steeled herself once more, opened her mouth, and...
"Father, I wanted to take Pinkamena back to Ponyville."
Silence hung in the room. Father Pie's expression was... hard to read. He did not look upset, or happy, or sad... and yet his expression was not flat either. "... Well, I'd be alright with it, if you'd tell me how long she was to be away?"
"Just for the night... assuming she didn't want to stay." Pinkie felt annoyed by that last part; of course, she was smart enough to know her sister was going to pull something like this. What other reason would she have to take her back?
"... Alright, Octavia. I'm fine with this, as long as you be sure to take care of her and keep her safe."
"Father, I know that... wait, really?" Octavia blinked, confused. "No arguments? No claims of me losing my ways? Nothing?"
Father Pie quirked a brow, taking his hat off to scratch his head. "What? Why would I do that, Octavia? When have I ever argued against you...?"
Octavia seemed to search the walls for answers. "But... but when I told you I was leaving... you said you were disappointed... and told me that you wished I would change my mind! And you never replied to any of my letters until Pinkie's journey came up..."
Father Pie stared at her confused. "... We... replied to every letter we got from you... you can't expect much when all you do is tell us where you're living..." Slowly, the youngest sister began to move from the room, looking extremely nervous.
"I wrote you every week for a year!" said Octavia, her emotions slowly getting the better of her, sadness, and frustration. "I... I wanted to let you know I thought of you all every day... and then I got tired... and.... and I stopped writing.... I was surprised you even wrote me for Pinkie..."
Father Pie, at this point, seemed lost. He scratched his chin with his hoof. "That.... is a mystery..."
Octavia's eyes began to water a bit. "... you said you were disappointed, and I thought you hated me... and.... and...." Suddenly, Father Pie trotted towards Octavia and placed a hoof on her shoulder, staring into her eyes with nothing but kindness.
"My dear, sweet daughter... I was disappointed, yes... but not because I hated you.... I was sad that my little girl was going away... I could never hate you..." Octavia stared at her father for a few seconds, and then turned to her mother, who was biting her lip. Pinkie seemed to be staring at the event, wide-eyed, as of on the edge of her seat. Slowly, Octavia turned to face her father.
Her lip quivered, and she threw her hooves around him, much to his surprise. She choked and sobbed a bit, but kept herself from crying too much. He gently returned the hug, patting her back. "There there... it's alright, child..."
"... I... I was so sad... for the longest time, I didn't... I couldn't..."
"... It's okay... you didn't know any better..."
"... S... so you're not ashamed of me...?"
Father Pie gently eased his daughter away, looking at her as if he was offended. "What? How could I be ashamed that my daughter wanted a new life? Why, if I were to be ashamed, I'd say it was a dumb idea to send you off on that little venture, wouldn't you agree?"
Octavia choked a small laugh, wiping a tear from her eye and nodding.
Father Pie hummed. "Though, that does leave to question what happened to all those letters... I mean, I could understand missing a few, but an entire year's worth...?"
"I'm so sorry..."
Everypony stopped and turned around towards the youngest Pie daughter, who gazed up at them with sorrowful eyes, carrying a bag that she had dragged along. A tear revealed a few envelopes had fallen from it. Everypony stared at the sight before them, confused, alarmed...
"... I... I missed Octavia so much that I wanted to k-keep her letters... I-I was afraid if anypony else read them, they'd throw them out, or dislike her, and make her stop sending or something..."
Father Pie moved towards his daughter. "But... but why? You had to know she would stop sending messages if she...."
"I... I didn't think of it like that... " she sniffled a bit and rubbed her face, cleaning it (relatively speaking) of the building of tears and snot. "I.... I just didn't want to forget her..." Octavia trotted towards her youngest sibling.
"... You really missed me that much...?" The filly nodded a few times, sniffing again. Octavia wanted to be angry. She wanted to be mad at her youngest sister; after all, she was the reason she had, for the past several years, thought her parents had given up on her, forgotten her, and forsaken her.
But the more she tried to muster up her anger, the more her heart sank at the sight of the sniffling filly before her. Octavia gently wrapped her forelegs around her youngest sister. "Oh... dear sister... I'm so sorry... I didn't know..."
The youngest Pie sibling began to gently sob into her sister's chest. "I'm so, so sorry, Octavia... I... I didn't mean--"
"Shhh... it's okay... you were just sad, little Photo..."
Pinkie watched the touching reunion when a thought crossed her mind that she was surprised had never done so before; where did her parents get the idea to call her 'Photo Finish?' They shunned technology (seeing it as little more than a replacement for unicorn magic) so it was always kind of odd they'd name their daughter something like that. She simply shrugged it off, and enjoyed what felt like the first happy moment in the Pie family in a long, long time.
**********
Pinkie Pie could feel all the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as the carriage approached Ponyville.
She had left here just a couple weeks ago, and had believed she would never come back. To be proven wrong so soon was a lot; especially because it also meant that the wounds she had left were still fresh in the minds of everypony involved. The only thing keeping Pinkie Pie from abandoning the carriage and running back home herself was the presence of her sister, who she promised she would return for whatever it was she was pulling her back for.
It didn't mean she was comfortable though.
And the astounding silence that seemed to run through the town didn't help either.
It didn't become obvious until they had neared the center of town that Ponyville was surprisingly quiet. Ponies weren’t milling about, doing business and talking like they did normally. No, tonight they were all in their homes, or gone somewhere, or something; Pinkie wasn't sure which, all she knew was they weren’t doing what she was used to them doing.
Eventually, the carriage stopped, and Octavia stepped from it, turning to her sister and gesturing with a hoof for her to follow. Pinkie sighed and, uneasily, climbed from the carriage.
"Walk with me, Pinkie."
The two mares began their trot down the street in silence. The sun was nearing its exit on the horizon, welcoming the night. Pinkie's eyes stayed on her hooves for a bit, but she was growing nervous. She had to distract her mind, and after several minutes of walking, she figured her sister was not going to converse with her.
"... I talked to mom and dad today... about Unicorns... and they set something straight..."
"Hm?"
"... They said that our community doesn't hate unicorns... they just don't like unicorn magic... apparently, not all unicorns use it, even if they have it..."
Octavia quirked a brow. "Interesting..."
"Yeah... they said it trivializes hard labor and perverts the world... though, I don't know, I still think it's handy... "
Octavia chuckled. "Yes, it is... I dare say, unicorns view their magic in much the same way we do our hooves..." She grinned toward her sister. "Did you know that unicorns are more delicate than Earth Ponies by nature?"
Pinkie quirked a brow. "Really?"
"Mmhmm. Their bones and muscles aren’t as strong as ours. This doesn't mean they can't exercise to gain equal or greater endurance... but we're naturally born with more... in a similar fashion, I think I heard that Pegasai have hollow bones so that their wings can hold their body weight."
Pinkie was quite fascinated with all this; at least it was a pleasant distraction from the terrible silence that ruled the town. At this moment, however, she realized they had trotted into Sweet Apple Acres.
"Some ponies attribute it to magic... but a local doctor told me that the differences between the tribes are as much scientific as it was magical... I think a lot of it is the growing knowledge of ponykind. What was once magic is now becoming scientific fact..."
Pinkie hummed. "Does that mean unicorns aren’t really magical?"
"What? Oh, no, magic DOES exist; Pinkie... what I mean to say is that a lot of things we thought were the cause of magic are becoming more mundane..." Octavia chuckled. "I mean, the only ponies who might argue unicorn magic is not 'magic' might be some of the friends Vinyl hangs out with on weekends..."
"You mean the ones that play that game with the warriors and monks and stuff? The one where Vinnie's the only mare?"
Octavia smirked. "The very same...."
"And that one keeps getting drunk and telling you he'd like to show you his Plus 1 Rod of--"
"Okay, Pinkie, that's enough of that."
The two ponies stopped just short of the barn; the barn where it all began. "Why are we here, 'Tavi?"
Octavia nodded and gestured to the door. Pinkie looked at the barn door, more afraid than she had been in a long time (well, not as afraid as she was when she was tied up by a crazy pony... but yeah). Slowly, she reached a hoof forward, and pressed the door open.
"SURPRISE!"
Pinkie stood there, in utter disbelief.
The barn was packed full of ponies, staring at her, smiling.
There were games everywhere; pin the tail on the pony, bobbing for Apples, horse-shoe throwing, there were even ponies with a stick ready for playing limbo! Balloons littered both the floor and the ceiling, from which hung a banner that read 'We Love You, Pinkie Pie.'
Pinkie's mouth moved wordlessly, eyes wide as saucers as Octavia walked around in front of her.
"Pinkie Pie... are you okay?"
Pinkie shook her head, regaining her composure. "Bu.... but how... why?"
"Allow me t' explain."
Applejack stepped forward, smiling. "Y'all left so fast that nopony had any chance t' thank you for all you'd done fer us since you came t' Ponyville! We talked t' yer sister, 'Tavi, n' she told us ya jus' packed up n' went home without tellin' anypony! We thought it was plum shameful of us t' do nothin' fer ya in return fer all the brightenin' up ya did fer us!"
Pinkie frowned. "Brightening up...? I threw one party and nearly hurt a lot of ponies..."
Applejack furrowed her brow. "What? Yer party was th' best hoedown this here town has seen in a long time, missy!"
"Hootenanny."
"We're not gettin' into this argument again, Big Mac. Anyway, yeah, adding all that to the fact ya plum saved mah life, well, Ah figured that we all owed it to ya t' get ya back here an' throw you a party just as great!" Applejack looked behind her and then towards Pinkie again with a somewhat shameful smile. "Afraid it aint as good as th' one you threw... Ah gotta say, y'all have a natural sense about throwin' parties..."
Pinkie stared at all the ponies who were staring back at her; none of them seemed angry. They all seemed happy, hopeful, and joyful.
"... But... Applejack..." Pinkie looked to the orange mare and took a deep breath. She would have to tell her now; it wasn't fair for her not to know.
"... I'm the reason your dad died..."
Applejack blinked. Everypony began to chatter back and forth, wondering what this meant, and Pinkie noticed Big Mac seemingly becoming tense, which worried her.
"What...?"
Pinkie sniffled. "I... I'm the reason Ms. Cake made a mean statement about her carrot cakes being better than anything else with the name 'Carrot'... and... she ran away and ran to the farm, and scared the killer into killing him..."
Applejack seemed to try to piece the things together in her head, but smiled. "What? Pinkie! Y'all got that story all wrong! If anythin'... you saved somepony..."
Pinkie blinked, her eyes wet with tears that had just begun to build up, before Carrot Top approached.
"When I left the bakery, I was going towards Applejack's house to talk to her... our families are friends of sorts, and she and I have known each other since we were fillies..."
"We're practically sisters!" Said Applejack with some cheer.
"Well... when I stepped inside, I bumped into that pony and knocked something from his hooves... it happened so fast that I didn't notice that at that very moment, Alexander--"
"Mah pa!" said Applejack proudly.
"-- had leapt into action to save his filly! The killer had pinned me against a wall when Alexander attacked him, and he stabbed him and ran off!"
Pinkie stood there, trying to piece things together. Applejack smiled and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Pinkie Pie... th' killer had mah baby sister, Applebloom, intendin’ t’ foalnap her and threatened to hurt her if mah family ever said anythin'... Carrot Top showin' up may have saved her life..."
Pinkie Pie stared into nothingness. "B... but the bakers..."
"Brought a cake!"
Pinkie turned to see a sight she did not expect; ponies began to make a path as a cart wheeled past them, on it a big, pink cake, with a wax mare at the top smiling and rearing up on her hind legs, and it was being pushed by not one, but both of the local bakers. Pinkie slowly trotted towards the cake and looked at the words that had been written on the side.
To everypony's favorite party pony,
Pinkie Pie!
Pinkie's lip quivered. "B... but I burned down your bakeries... your homes..."
The two Cakes looked to each other, then back to Pinkie. "You also gave us the best friends we could have ever had."
Pinkie seemed to be dumbfounded. "... I.... BURNT.... DOWN.... YOUR--"
"We know, dear..." said Cup Cake. "I... I admit it was jarring at first... but when we found out about the kidnapping and the struggle... we couldn't be mad."
Carrot smiled. "Yeah. The Apples were kind enough to repay us by letting us stay over at their house while we sort things out with insurance."
Pinkie let the wheels in her head turn as she tried to make sense of everything. This was all what she was trying to do, but it had gone totally wrong! She had.... she had.... what did she even do!?
"Yeah! And thanks to you, Fluttershy is almost 100% more outgoing!" shouted Rainbow Dash, who now hovered among the group, followed by Fluttershy, even though the pegasus was walking, hiding behind her mane and looked like she was trying to shrink away again. "She totally doesn't cry when she's in crowds anymore!"
"B-but Rainbow Dash... I never cried when I walked into crowds, and I haven’t been doing anything differently..."
"Psh! Details, details..."
Pinkie stared at everypony, words failing her. Octavia sighed. "Pinkie Pie... I know you love it here... and I know that on any given day, you'd choose Ponyville over the community... so please, forgive me if I'm being too blunt, but we rehearsed this and I'd hate to see all that effort go to waste..." With that, Octavia turned to face the crowd and threw a hoof up, and then, everypony in the room spoke all at once.
"PLEASE STAY, PINKIE PIE!"
Pinkie continued to stare as if she were about to be hit by a truck, and her eyes began to water a bit. "... Y.... you really love me that much...?"
All at once, everypony shouted a loud "Yeah!" with one particular white Pegasus seeming to stick out a bit more than others.
Octavia turned to her sister, placing her hooves on her shoulders. "So... Pinkie... will you stay here? In Ponyville?" Pinkie only stared at the sight before her as it seemed she had still been failing to piece everything together. As tears continued to build up and pour down her cheeks, Octavia feared the worst.
And then Pinkie smiled.
"I... I will... I will, 'Tavi... I'm staying... I'm coming home..."
Suddenly, the entire room let out a collective cheer and hoofstomps of approval. As if on cue, lights illuminated the stage that had been set up again in the back, with none other than Vinyl Scratch at her turn tables.
"Well folks, let's wave goodbye to this mushy stuff and bring in some music!"
The music began to play, a fact that many ponies could respond to only with dance. Even Applejack seemed to be enjoying it, even if it was not her preferred music type! Pinkie immediately got to mingling; it wasn't hard, after all, she was being swarmed by ponies she didn't even know, telling her how great her party was, saying she was a hero, and asking her lots of questions, like what her favorite flavor of cupcake was. As she enjoyed the party, she couldn't help at one point seeing the two bakers outside of the crowd kissing.
Wait. They were KISSING?
Pinkie withheld any gasp she might have otherwise let loose; did that actually happen!? She couldn't help but grin inwardly; after all, she had only tried to make them friends! This was a success greater than anything she could have anticipated!
And so, Pinkie Pie partied with her friends, family, and acquaintances alike well into the night. Eventually, however, all good things must come to an end, and with that, Pinkie Pie, along with her sister, Octavia, and her best friend, Vinyl Scratch, returned home.
To her PONYVILLE, home.
And fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time in weeks.
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TO BE CONTINUED