//------------------------------//
// Leave Her Alone! 
// Story: To Find Your Smile 
// by FlashKenshin77 
//------------------------------//


To Find Your Smile

Chapter 3 - Leave Her Alone!



"Everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for."



~;~


"Hey there little guy, what are you doing out here?" Inky asked, holding a hoof out for a small green hummingbird.
The bird hovered for a moment, looking at him before hesitantly landing on the proclaimed hoof. "There we go little buddy." He said, smiling.
It investigated his new perch, hopping along his hoof. He tilted his head, his small eyes staring into Inky's.
It's been several days since the party Pinkie threw and he's bumped into Derpy a few times, mostly at Sugarcube Corner in the morning. They'd sit at a table near the door and talk about random things, like the weather or Daring Doo's latest adventure over muffins. They haven't talked about his breakdown, never even mentioned it, which he was thankful for, again. But when he wasn't looking, she would stare at him, trying to think of something to say or do to try and help him.
"Oh there you are Mr. Hummingway, I’ve been worr-” A quiet voice said, ending with a squeak.
He looked up, spotting a buttered colored pegasus hiding behind her pink mane. He tilted his head as the hummingbird turned to look and chirped, flapping over to the new pony, rubbing the mare's cheek affectionately. He saw her wearing a pair of saddlebags, both filled to the brim. It looked quite heavy, her hind legs slightly shaking.
“Oh is he your pet miss?”
She eeped and sunk lower to the ground, blushing as she nervously kicked at the dirt. Her mane still hid most of her face.
He looked at her for a moment as Hummingway chirped in her ear. He was quiet, trying to think of something to say but she beat him too it.
“M-mr... Hum-hummingway said yo-you were nice to him... thank you.” She whispered. He had to struggle to hear her.
“It’s okay, he looked quite tired.” He lowered his voice, figuring she would like it quieter. “I don’t believe we’ve met, I’m Inky Scribbles.”
“I’m Flutt-...” She mumbled, kicking at the ground again.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
“Fluttershy...” She whispered.
“Fluttershy?” She nodded. "Well it’s nice meeting you Fluttershy." He looked at the hummingbird nestled in her mane. “He seems to like you a lot.”
“Oh... w-well, I’ve been t-taking care of him since he ha-hatched.”
He nodded. “So are you a veterinarian? Or an animal caregiver?”
“Y-yes, I love taking care of animals.” She said, faintly smiling.
“Me too, I used to get in trouble, bringing every stray animal home.” He chuckled.
She seemed to relax a little, a bit of tension slipping away. “Really?”
“Yeah. Back in Manehattan, I lived next to a park and there was always so many animals around. My mom finally got fed up with it and told me that I could only keep one.”
“Oh, how could you choose only one pet?”
“I couldn’t so I gave them all away to good homes.” He itched his head. “That took forever.”
“Oh, that’s so nice of you.” She smiled at him. She fidgeted for a moment. “Um... I hate to be rude but I have to get Mr. Hummingway home or else I’ll miss Angel’s lunch. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s quite alright Fluttershy.” He looked at her overfull saddlebags.”Would you like some help?”
“Oh no, I couldn’t impose...”
“It’s alright, I don’t mind helping.” He smiled at her. “I insist.”
“W-well... if y-your sure....” She blushed, taking off the saddlebags as his horn glowed and they were encased in a ruby aura. They floated right next to her as she looked at it terrified for a moment.
“Please lead the way.” He said, grabbing her attention.
She hesitantly nodded, walking towards her cottage, Inky right behind her. It was silent, Fluttershy too nervous to say anything and Inky didn’t want to pester her.
“S-so... um... Inky? You don’t mind if I ask you a question. I mean, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Go ahead Fluttershy, I don’t mind.”
“Um... I-I haven’t seen you before... d-did you just move here?”
“Yeah, a few days ago actually.”
“O-oh... um... welcome to Ponyville then.” She said, turning to look at him briefly before flinging her head back to stare at the ground.
“Thank you Fluttershy. Have you lived here for long too?”
“Oh yes, I’ve lived here for...” She paused, thinking. “I think around seven years now.”
“Wow. Were you born in Cloudsdale?”
“Uh-huh and lived there up to the end of flight school. When I got my cutie mark, I thought it’d be easier to be on the ground so I could meet so many critters that I couldn’t have met in the sky.” She smiled.
“I see.”
It went back to being quiet, the hummingbird had fallen asleep in Fluttershy’s mane, a speck of green. She kept looking at her floating saddlebags, making sure they were still there.
The sun was still shining brightly, Celestia making sure the town felt the summer warmth. The town had faded and they were heading towards that one forest, the Everfree Forest, that he had heard so much about. He was surprised such a timid pony would decide to live so close to the forest but it’d probably be the best place to meet animals.
They paused just on the other side of a small wooden bridge, their hooves clopping on the wood. Her cottage was enormous, it’s second story hidden mostly by the tree roof. Bird cages and windows surrounded the outside, flowers and bushes scattered by the door.
“Wow...” Inky said, stunned.
She blushed, heading towards the door. She pushed it open as he floated the bags inside. “You can put them in the kitchen and I’ll take care of them, I mean, if that’s alright with you.”
He nodded. “Alright.” He floated the bags into the kitchen and sat them gently on the ground. “There you go, a pair of saddlebags safely delivered ma’am.”
She blushed as animals rushed around in the living room. Inky turned and watched the commotion.
“Wow, so many animals...”
She nodded. “Y-yeah, I ran out of food for them and had to run by the market... W-would you like s-some tea?” She stuttered, her face hidden.
“Oh no, I don’t want to overstay my welcome.” He said.
“W-well, i-if you're sure...” She mumbled.
“It’s alright. I should get going and out of your mane. Have a good day and nice meeting you Fluttershy.” He said, hoof on the door handle.
“Y-you too...”
He smiled at her before leaving, shutting the door behind him. He trotted happily back into town, its inhabitants finally awake. Shops were abuzz as ponies wandered around, browsing the owner’s wares.
 Now, to find some breakfast... 

=

“Inky!” A high pitch voice yelled before I saw nothing but pink. “How are you this morning?”
He blinked, trying to get his ears to stop ringing. “I’m fine Pinkie, how are you?”
“I’m super duper now that I have a friend visiting me!” She giggled, hopping off him and helped him to his hooves. “What are you doing up this early? Most ponies sleep in super late.”
“Well I had to run to the market and try and scrounge up some breakfast, the motel doesn’t have any.”
“Did you find any?”
“No, all the stores were closed but I can go- Pinkie, what are you doing?” He asked, Pinkie grabbing his hoof.
“No friend of mine will go without breakfast! It’s like, the most important meal of the day, or at least that’s what Momma Pie always said.” She continued to ramble, Inky only able to pick up every other word or so.
He sighed, letting Pinkie drag him back all the way to Sugarcube Corner. She stopped and said hi to everypony that crossed their path, Inky literally dragged by her abnormal strength.
They were a street away when they both heard somepony yelling. She paused, letting him slip out of her grasp. "I wonder what’s going on." He said, slightly worried. They trotted closer to the voice, it only getting louder.
Finally they turned and saw an earth pony, easily double the size of both Inky and Pinkie. He had a dull blue coat, his mane and tail a shade darker. He had amber eyes, burning with fury as he looked at Derpy. His cutie mark was a pair of eighth notes.
"Look me in the eyes and tell me this even remotely looks like my address!?" The grey colt advance on Derpy, throwing a package at her chest as she backpedaled. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, you can't can you? You loopy eyed freak! You can't even see three hooves in front of your face. 'I just don't know what went wrong.'" He taunted viciously. "Can the half assed excuses. If you had half a mind, maybe you could see that what went wrong is that you are a pointless excuse for a pony who 'fails' miserably at being even slightly useful to society! At least when you were burning half assed muffins you were only a threat to yourself! What am I supposed to do with..." He waggled a vicious hoof at the package, "...THIS?! I need my reed! I needed it two days ago when you screwed up that delivery too!"
Derpy jumbled out a stuttering of teary eyed apologies but was cut off by the grey colts ceaseless ferocity. "You can keep your apologies! They are as pointless as you are. It's a wonder you are still even a mother! I would worry for the safety of your filly if I wasn't convinced she had a hopeless future with you as a role model."
Before he could say anything more, Pinkie flew and tackled him, his head bouncing off the ground. He looked up to see Pinkie’s usual happy blue eyes gone, replaced with burning fire sapphire orbs.
"How dare you insult Derpy like that!" Pinkie screamed, the colt’s mane flew backwards.
“Bu-”
“NO BUTS! If I could, I’d make Gummy-”
“Pinkie... that’s enough.” Inky said, holding Derpy. He patted her back, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
“But Inky, he made Derpy cry. He went way too far! Sure, Derpy has some accidents.”
“I know Pinkie...” He said, motioning for Pinkie to get off him. She sighed, getting off him, growling as she walked over to Derpy. She pointed at her eyes before pointing at the colt with her hoof before Derpy flung her hooves around Pinkie’s waist.
Inky walked over to the colt staring down at him. 
"You should thank your friend there you low class psychopath!" The grey colt stood, dusting himself off indignantly. "Ponyville's 'premier party pony.' Give me a break. What your talent amounts to is so useless you've been condemned to a life of being a minimum wage jockey, and a slave to mediocrity. It's no wonder you throw parties every chance you get, I'd want to forget my life too if it was as depressing as yours."
Inky’s horn glowed as it grew brighter and brighter. Suddenly, a brick flew in from nowhere, shattering against the grey stallion’s face. He crumbled to the floor, Inky furious.
Inky glared at the stallion. “How dare you say that about Derpy or Pinkie! If I had the powers of Celestia, I’d send you to rot on the moon, with just enough air to slowly starve to death! But I’d make sure you’d survive, because death is too easy as a solution for a scumbag like you.” He paused, his horn going even brighter as the stallion was lifted up. Inky looked around, picking up a grain of sand and hovered it right next to him. “Or how about I ignite this piece of sand and shove it down your throat, letting it slowly burn you away from the inside out. Maybe bury it deep inside your stomach lining where it’ll stay until it finally eats away at the stomach, letting your own body dissolve itself.” He said, the sand particle starting to glow an ember red. Inky threw him harshly on the ground, the sand following, hitting him in the face. “Scum like you aren’t even worth that much.” He picked up the package next to Derpy and made it smash against his head, ripping through the cardboard. “You can bill me for it later.” He said, turning around and walking over to the girls.
“What in tarnation is goin’ on here?” A southern voice yelled, an orange cowpony galloping towards the four ponies. She had a Stetson hat, along with a yellow mane tied in a braid. She paused, noticing the grey stallion’s head replaced with a box. She turned to look at Pinkie. “Pinkie, what in the name of Cele-” She noticed Inky, who stared blankly at her. She quickly jumped in front of the girls, pushing Inky away. “And what do ya think yer doin’ here?”
He gulped. “H-hey AJ, how’s it going?”
“Don’t be all sweet on me Inky. What do ya think yer doing back here?”
“AJ, how do you know Inky?” Pinkie asked.
AJ laughed dryly. “Know him? He was mah coltfriend while Ah was in Manehattan till he tried ta kill me.”
Both Pinkie and Derpy’s eyes flew to Inky. “L-look, I can explain-” He was interrupted as Pinkie latched onto him and he fell, not ready for her sudden weight.
“You tried to kill AJ? You’re no better than that stallion over there!”
“Pinkie, I-” He turned and saw Derpy, staring at him in horror as she scrambled to her hooves and flew away. “Derpy, wait!”
AJ walked up to him, blocking his sight of the fleeing pegasus. “Ah’ll give ya five seconds to explain why yer here before Ah buck ya outta town.”
“Because Moonbeam cheated on me!” He yelled, startling both Pinkie and AJ.
“Wha? Ya mean that unicorn from Canterlot?” He nodded, closing his eyes against the tears. AJ sighed and sat down next to them. “It’s alright Pinkie, ya can get off him.”
Pinkie nodded, looking at AJ and Inky. “I think I hear the Cakes calling me. I’ll let you two be alone for awhile. No kissing now...” She said, smiling before hopping away, towards the giant cupcake.
They stared at each other before AJ sighed. "Come on sugacube, let's take a walk. We seemed ta have drawn a crowd." She said, noticing the growing ponies. He nodded and they quickly walked away, a pony rushing towards the hospital for the unconscious stallion.

=

They sat near her farm on a small hill, overlooking the apple trees. He turned to look at AJ, scooting away from her. “Look AJ-”
“Save it Inky, Ah’ve heard all yer excuses before.”
“Not this one... please, let me try something.”
She looked at him skeptically. “And what’s that?”
He gulped. “I can access my memories and share them with you but you have to consent to it. I can’t just invade your mind...”
“Well ya could, ya just know Ah’d buck ya to next week.”
He nervously chuckled. “That too... So?”
She was silent, staring at him impassively before sighing. “Alright, I guess it won’t hurt. But if it looks like yer tryin’ ta mess with mah mind, yer gonna wake up in the hospital. Got it?”
He nodded and closed his eyes, his horn lighting up. He hesitantly walked up to her, his horn a dark ruby. “Are you ready?”
“Guess we’ll find out.” She said
“Okay, just close your eyes.” She did and he lightly tapped his horn to her forehead. Her mind seemed to rush back to when she was a filly, heading off to Manehattan before it fast forward to when she met him and his friend Regal, how awkward he was. How he showed her around town, helping her find her aunt's and uncle’s house. They played together every day, Regal always following them around.
She saw his memories, his emotions. How they were confusing when she was around, the sadness when she left, the pain when he got home and had to deal with his mother. The happiness when he found his teacher’s hidden book, locked in the desk. Him and Regal going out to the middle of Orange Parks and trying a spell. He could feel the energy surge through him, the plants around him dying, giving up their own energy to make him stronger. His horn was on fire, his aura becoming too strong. He tried to tell Regal to run but his mind was overloaded as he noticed her walking towards them, drawn to the bright light.
All she felt was the pain as her hoof was set on fire and the explosion that sent all three of them flying. She remembered crashing against something then darkness. Then her eyes opened up, seeing the fire around her, the barren earth. She saw herself lying there, unmoving. He got closer, making sure she was okay. 
He yelled for Regal, with no answer before he turned and saw his charred friend lying back towards the center. He rushed to him, as ponies converged to investigate the noise. The final sight she saw before the vision faded was Inky pushing against Regal, crying as he tried to wake his friend up.
She opened her eyes, staring into Inky’s eyes. She blinked a few times, still feeling his pain, his guilt for everything. “S-so ya didn’t mean ta kill me?”
“No, of course not! I couldn’t control it and when I saw you, I panicked and it fired at the ground. I didn’t even get to see you again to apologize... They took me away to Canterlot...” He sighed, staring at the ground, his ears flat against his head. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Regal...” He looked up.  “Look Applejack, I’m sorry-”
She sighed and took off her hat. “No Inky, Ah’m sorry. Ah thought ya didn’t want to be mah coltfriend anymore and thought you were tryin’ ta get rid of me...”
“I think that’d be a bit extreme... but I loved you AJ, I’d never want to hurt you.”
She nodded. “Ah think both sides kinda misread quite a few signals." She chuckled. "Ah think we should start over.”
“Alright, maybe one day I’ll earn your trust back.”
“That ya might cowcolt.” She paused. “But there is one thing that’s been buggin’ me all these years?”
“Oh? What?”
“Why did ya steal Mr. Prism’s book anyway?”
He sighed. “Because Mother thought it’d be a good idea to study early and get ready for Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorn’s entrance exams. Thought I wasn’t ready for the test and should ‘train’.”
“Oh... uh... Ah see.”
“Yeah...” He sighed, holding a hoof to his head.
“Ya alright?”
“Yeah, just the spell is exhausting. Gives the user a blasting headache too. But that doesn’t matter.”
She looked at him for a moment. “And what was this about Moonbeam cheatin’ on ya?”
He looked at her before sighing. “I’d rather not talk about it now AJ...”
She sighed. “Alright but if ya need somepony ta talk to... Ah know Ah’m here for ya.”
“Thanks AJ...” He looked up into the sky. He quickly got up. “It was nice catching up AJ, but I gotta go tell Derpy and Pinkie...”
“Don’t worry about Pinkie, Ah have ta head over to Sugarcube Corner ta pick up a cake for Big Mac’s birthday.” She said, getting up as well. “Just take it easy with Derpy, she looked mighty spooked.”
“Will do, see ya around.” He said, galloping after the grey pegasus.