• Published 29th Feb 2012
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Rising Sun - Jet Howitzer



OC(2nd person) is introduced to Equestria, and finds new friends, and enemies

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Chapter 33: A Demon Inside us All

(Howitzer's Mind Studios is proud to present Chapter 33: A Demon Inside us All)

With an agonizing slowness you wake from your slumber once more. You feel a presence to your side, leaning against you slightly. You open your eyes, expecting to see Pinkie, or one of the others, but instead it is Lyra. You reach out a hoof, gently, and stroke her mane. Her eyes flutter open, when you touch her mane, and she sits upright quickly. You offer her a small smile, and she returns it.

She grabs her notepad, and after writing briefly she shows it to you. The others were all exhausted from staying here, so I offered to wait with you.

“Thank you, Lyra. Although I am a grown stallion, capable of taking care of myself.”

She raise one eyebrow, and writes on her small pad. Yeah, well you got yourself stabbed when you were on your own, so you’ll have to forgive our unwillingness to leave you alone.

“Fair enough.” You lay back down, and Lyra just starts to draw on her pad. An hour passes with only a few words shared between the two of you. Eventually a doctor enters the room, and you sit up when he enters.

“I’ve got good news for you, Storm. Last night, while you were still asleep, we took another blood sample. Short of any other grievous wounds your red blood cell count will rise at a normal pace, and you’ll be perfectly healthy within a few days. As for right now? Well, as far as I am concerned, you’re free to go. Just eat a healthy diet, and avoid strenuous activities.”

“Wow, already? I was expecting a significantly longer wait.”

“Well, with Pinkie’s blood donation, along with what we had in stock, you got almost half of what you lost back in your system. Now,” he hands you a stack of paperwork, “fill this out, and you’ll be free to go.” You quickly begin filling out all the paperwork, and after a grueling half hour, you sign the last form.

“Well, Lyra, shall we go.” She looks up from her pad, and then she flips to the next page, before she shows you what she wrote.

Sure, let’s go. So, with a groan, you heave yourself out of the bed, and onto your hooves. A few joints pop, but there is no pain to speak of. Lyra walks by your side, and soon you get to the nurse’s station at the end of the hall. The nurse looks up from her desk, and she takes your paperwork. She reads it all over, and then she gives you a warm smile.

“Well, Storm, you’re free to go. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d rather not see you here again.”

“Hell, you and me both. I’ve had my fill of the hospital for quite a while.” You give a small wave, and you and Lyra exit the hospital. You walk in silence for a short while, before your curiosity gets the better of you. “Lyra, what were you drawing while we were in the hospital?”

A blush spreads across Lyra’s face, and she gives you a smile. She holds out her notepad, and on the page you see a drawing of yourself. Rather than in bed, as you would think, given where you were when she was drawing, it was, instead, just you standing there. It’s quite well done, and it captures your appearance perfectly.

“Wow, Lyra. That’s really well done. I had no idea you could draw as well as play the lyre.” She blushes further, and takes the notepad back from you. She writes quickly, and you read it.

It’s not something that I really do that often. It’s kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing. Anyway, I need to get going. As you finish reading you look up, and Lyra gives a small smile before she dashes away.

You give a small shake of your head, and you let out a small sigh. You begin the walk to Sugarcube Corner, figuring that you’ll go pay Pinkie a visit first. Given your weakened condition you take your time to go there, and so it takes you almost half an hour. The trip is a peaceful one, and you just take the time to enjoy the scenery.

You open the door to Sugarcube Corner, and you see Mr. Cake behind the counter. You offer a small wave, and he returns it. You approach the counter, and you address Mr. Cake.

“Hi, Mr. Cake. Where’s Pinkie? I was hoping to see her.”

“Well, when she came back last night she seemed somewhat upset about something, so she went right to bed. This morning, though, there was a note from her on the counter, something about needing some time to think about her feelings. Oh, and there was also an attached note addressed to you. I guess she knew that you’d come by.” He hands you the note, and you open it. There’s just a few words, but they tell you all you need to know.

“Thanks, Mr. Cake. I’ll make sure that Pinkie is okay. I’ll come back later, and get some treats, but for now I have some important things to deal with.” Mr. Cake just gives you a knowing smile, and you head out the door.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

You make your way through Ponyville, heading for your home, and soon you stand outside your door. You raise a hoof to the knob, and for a moment you are uncertain of just what you’re going to do with the likely depressed Pinkie inside. You steady yourself, and you open the door.

You don’t see anything at first, but after a moment you see Pinkie sitting on the floor in front of your grandfather clock. She’s motionless, save for her eyes, which follow the pendulum. You make your way over to her, and you take a seat next to her. A tiny sob escapes her, and you place a hoof around her shoulder.

Not another sound, save for your breathing, and hers, is heard for the next hour. Then, Pinkie finally speaks.

“I got you hurt.” Her voice is flat, lacking any of her usual emotion. You don’t say anything at first, simply pulling her a bit closer to you. She doesn’t resist, but she also doesn’t lean into you. You know that Pinkamena is who you are with, so you adjust your word choice to match.

“Pinkamena, you need to share with Pinkie now. I have to speak with both of you. We need to deal with this problem, before it gets worse.” You don’t look at Pinkie, but you continue. “This separation of your mind will only get worse over time, and you need to come to terms with both sides to who you are. I did it, and trust me, it was one of the hardest, but most liberating things I’ve done.

“To accept who you are, the good, the bad, and the neutral? It’s the embodiment of the phrase, ‘easier said than done.’” You heave a great sigh, and continue. “Inside all of us, Pinkie, is a monster. A demon that feeds on all of our misgivings. Every mistake we make feeds that demon, and makes it stronger. For me, it’s my past. Whenever I think of what I did, I shudder on the inside. I did terrible things to people, but I’ve come to accept that.

“I know it was wrong, and so I have learned from it. You need to do the same thing, Pinkie. Your father managed to look past his mistakes, and see you for the beautiful mare that you are. The only pony who hasn’t realized just how beautiful you are is you.” Finally, you turn to look at Pinkie. There are tears running down her face, and she has a smile on her face. “Pinkie, Pinkamena, there needs to be no separation between the two of you. You are one pony, and so your minds must be as one.

“You may have suffered in the past, and created Pinkamena from the depths of your depression, Pinkie, but she is a part of you. Accept her into who you are, and you will be a better mare for it. Anypony can run from their problems, but a real pony, a truly strong pony, would face their problems, and come to terms with them. Do what I did, Pinkie. Accept your faults, and know that you will be made stronger by accepting them.”

Pinkie gives a small nod, and you watch her. Over the course of a half hour Pinkie’s facial expression goes from happy, to sad, to angry, and to almost every emotion you can think of. Finally, she opens her eyes, and there are tears running down her face. She opens her mouth to speak, but she closes it before saying a word. This happens a few more times, before she just throws herself at you, and she hugs you.

You fall onto your back, but Pinkie doesn’t relent in her hug assault. You listen to her breathing, as she holds you, and finally you hear her speak. “Thank you.” You push her up, and she lets you. Her tears mar the beauty of her face, but the spark in her eyes draws you in. In that moment, you could see Pinkie had been healed. She would still need to take the time to fully realize it, but the horrible wound in her psyche had been healed.

You spent the next few hours simply enjoying each others company, not saying much, but communicating all the same. Lunch comes, and goes, and you find yourself lying on your couch, your head resting on Pinkie. A gentle knock comes from your door, and you sit up, upset that somepony came along, and ruined the moment.

You open it to find Twilight, and the other four Elements of Harmony. You welcome them in, and they gather in the living room.

“So, girls, what brings you by?”

Twilight takes the initiative, and answers your question. “Well, we came by to see how Pinkie was doing, and I got a letter from the Princess.” They all look to Pinkie first, though. “So, Pinkie, how are you doing? Did you resolve the issues with Storm?”

She just nods in response. That, and her smile widens just a bit. “Well, that’s good. Storm does seem to have a way with ponies. Anyway, I assume that both of you are curious about the letter from Celestia?”

Pinkie nods, once again, and you answer. “Yeah, although I am curious as to why she didn’t say anything when she came by earlier. Then again, she had other concerns at the time.”

“Yes, she was more concerned with the pony who wanted to kill your grandmother. Understandable, don’t you think? Anyway, the letter was an invitation.” Twilight seems really excited about it, but the significance is lost on you.

“An invitation to what, exactly?”

Rainbow answers this time, her voice dripping excitement. “To the Grand Galloping Gala! The Princess promised that this one would be even more exciting than the last one! And the Wonderbolts will be there again!”

“Hate to be the confused one, but what’s the Grand Galloping Gala?”

(Thanks for reading, and be sure to go here, and leave a comment. Thanks for reading, and taking the time to appreciate my words.)