Laughter/cider squeezy
Spike paced around in circles at the castle halls. The more he paced, the more it looked like he wasn’t even paying attention to where he is. He continually paced and muttered out things like “hope everything is good” or “should have helped her”. He kept this up for a while before he bumped into Luna’s body.
“Oh, Princess! Sorry about that...” Spike said.
“Ah, Spike. You haven’t gone with Twilight?” Luna asked.
“Not really. I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened recently...” Spike said.
“Recently? You mean the wedding?” Luna asked.
“No. I mean the National Dessert Competition. Of course I mean the wedding!” Spike suddenly snapped at Luna, though she wasn’t taken aback. She kept a stoic glare to him. “Sorry,” Spike let out a sigh. “I’ve been thinking so much about this... You ever have that feeling where you just don’t... fit?”
Luna gave him a slight nod. “Yeah... Ever since I got back from the Dragon Migration, I thought I had a sense of belonging. That I was more than just some ‘pet’.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “... Yeah, long story there... But... with the wedding... I just felt like I didn’t belong. Like I didn’t serve any purpose.” Spike said.
“But you must have at least done something.” Luna said.
“No. I didn’t. I didn’t stick up for Twilight when she was ditched by her friends. I didn’t assist in the battle against the Changelings. I didn’t even hold a bachelor party!” Spike threw his arms up in the air at the last item he listed.
“At least you were there. I missed the entire thing. I even missed the wedding.” Luna said.
“Yeah... That does suck... But I was in the same room as the Queen! I wasn’t bounded or brainwashed! I could have roasted her! I could have done something! Anything!” Spike clawed the sides of his head before Luna placed her hoof on Spike’s head.
“You forget that not even Celestia could have defeated her. I hate to belittle you like this, but there wasn’t anything any one of us could have done about what happened.” Luna said.
“Yet why do I feel like something could have been done to prevent that?” Spike said. The two doors heard the doors slowly opening and some small hoof-steps echoing through the hall.
“Hello? Can you two tell me where Rarity is?” Sweetie Belle’s voice cracked around ‘Rarity’. She entered the room and stared at Spike. He noticed small trembles in her legs when she walked, the small cracks in her voice, and her pupils being a little smaller than normal.
Something could have been done to prevent that. Was all Spike could think of when he saw Sweetie Belle.
Mare Do Well placed the Element of Laughter onto Pinkie Pie. Pinkie gave her a glare as the Element glowed brightly.
“As I expected, your Element and Kindness’ Element are the ones that pull the punches.” Mare Do Well said.
“How come you keep referring to us by our Element names?” Pinkie, despite the cold glare, spoke rather normally.
“When you became the Element Bearers, you made a promise to your Element. That promise being that you won’t go against what you stand for. If that promise ever got broken, your Element would cease to function, and only through determination and practicing what you stand for would your Element forgive you. In a sense, you became your Element.” Mare Do Well sighed.
“Which leads me to my next point. You have rarely gone against your Element, Laughter. Your cause is a noble, if silly, one. You could have very well caused the Princess of the Moon to become the Mare in the Moon again, but you’ve made the children smile in the process. You pestered and annoyed a travelling donkey, and in the end you’ve made him smile. You left your friend at the altar, but only to comfort a crying, if fake, princess. Your cause to make ponies smile falls in line with your Element.” She said. The shield dimmed slightly, though only slightly.
“There is one thing that the Element has against you... but it isn’t enough to make it dim like Kindness’.” Mare Do Well said. That’s when Pinkie raised her eyebrow.
“Huh?” She asked.
“Do you recall Cider Season?” Mare Do Well asked.
“Oh yeah! I remember that! Oh man, it was so much fun getting all that cider... It was more fun making that cider!” Pinkie Pie said.
“Do you know that the latter couldn’t have happened without the former?” Mare Do Well asked her.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Pinkie Pie looked confused.
“You buying a ton of cider led to a cider shortage. Yes, while the cider wouldn’t be enough for everypony, your actions helped accelerate it.” Mare Do Well said.
“And... this has to do with me why?” Pinkie asked.
“The shortage caused a certain duo to garner popularity. Enough to make the Apples gamble with their livelihood. That’s what led to you making the cider... And what led to the Apples nearly losing their livelihood... Do you remember?” Mare Do Well said. Pinkie’s mind went blank as she recalled that day the Flim-Flam brothers came to town. How the Apples nearly leaving Ponyville drove every pony to tears. Her legs shook. Suddenly, the weight of her own body wasn’t enough for her legs to support, and she crashed down to the floor with tears in her eyes. However, it wasn’t the audible crash that made Mare Do Well pay attention to the impact she made on Pinkie.
It was the sound of a balloon blowing out air. She saw Pinkie’s mane go from bright and fluffy to dull and straight. Mare Do Well couldn’t help but gave a smirk under the cloth mask.
“Even at your lowest point, you make me smile, Laughter.” Mare Do Well twitched a bit. Pinkie could hear her let out a few “hehs”... Was this funny to her? She got up and punched Mare Do Well in the face. Mare Do Well was knocked her towards her own shield and her impact shattered the shield like glass. That’s when Applejack and Rarity looked towards Pinkie’s hairdo. This wasn’t the first time they saw her like this.
“Pinkie!? Wha- What did she do!?” Applejack asked her.
“Applejack...” Pinkie Pie glared at her. After that, she ran to her and held her tightly. “I’M SO SORRY!” She cried out.
“For what!?” Applejack asked.
“For causing the Flim-Flams to come and take over Sweet Apple Acres and almost causing you to leave and drinking all the cider and-” She went a mile a minute telling Applejack of all the things she was sorry for on that day. That’s when Applejack put her hoof on her back.
“Sugarcube, you didn’t ‘ave anything to do with it! We would ‘ave ran out of cider anyways... There was nothin’ you or I could do about it...” Applejack stroked Pinkie’s back. Her weeps ceased, though her hair remained flattened. Applejack glared at the injured Mare Do Well. The punch from Pinkie caused a slight tear on Mare Do Well’s mask, though much like her outfit, not enough to reveal anything underneath.
“Is makin’ us depressed what gets ya off?!” Applejack asked.
“No... Counting up your crimes is what gets me off. Go now, Laughter. See the consequences of your friends’ actions first hand.” Mare Do Well said.
“...” Pinkie trotted off.
“Wait! Pinkie! Don’t go!” Applejack shouted to her, but she couldn’t hear her.
“I got the easy ones out of the way. Generosity. You’re up next.” Mare Do Well said.
“I won’t let ya continue this!” Applejack ran towards Mare Do Well. Mare Do Well simply lifted her hat and from her horn, she created a wall of green fire in front of Applejack. She tried to back away, though another wall blocked her as well. She was encircled by the fires.
“You’ll come after Generosity. Don’t you worry about that.” Mare Do Well said. She turned to Rarity. “Are you ready?” She asked. Rarity had been mostly quiet the whole time. She got up and glared to Mare Do Well.
“Let’s get it over with.” Rarity said.
Twilight and Blitzkrieg entered one of the districts of Canterlot and the two saw for themselves the desolation of broken buildings, scorched pavement, and hardened green sludge, some of which looked to fit a Pony. Twilight gave a shudder while Blitzkrieg covered her with his wing.
“Relax, Twi. Just stick to the plan.” Blitzkrieg muttered to her. A pony walked by and spotted Twilight. Twilight looked at the green unicorn and recognized her as one of the former bridesmaids before her friends replaced them...
Something inside her twitched though once she thought about that. They were bribed... She shook her head. No! I was acting like a spoiled foal! They would have ditched me regardless!
“Hey! I know you!” The green Unicorn said. “Hey guys! Guess who came over!” As she said that, several ponies trotted out some of the unscathed buildings and chattered amongst themselves.
“Ooooh! It’s Twilight!”
“Has she come to tell us she’s a Princess?”
“I dunno... I don’t like change.” Twilight turned to the pony who gave that comment, Blitzkrieg. As she shot him a glare, Blitzkrieg looked away sheepishly and whistled. Twilight looked to the crowd. Most of them seemed alright, some even smiling, but Twilight looked at their eyes. A few of them were quivering. She picked out one pony in particular to analyze: a yellow pony with poofy orange hair and green eyes. This pony trembled, though they were just small enough to pass off as her standing straight. Her lips shook more than her entire body, and it didn’t help that the eyes looked like they’d leak tears.
She didn’t understand. They seemed so happy at the wedding. Almost all the members in the crowd attended the wedding. They all just seemed... calm. Even then, these were just a small quarter of the mob that formed at the castle. A million thoughts clouded her mind, but she had to focus on the now. Twilight cleared her throat.
“My fellow ponies, even though Celestia stated I’m not ready, I can’t just sit idly by while you ponies worry. Until further notice, I’ll help all of you ponies in any way I can as temporary Princess.” Twilight said. The ponies cheered at her, though some of them actually gave that for a reaction. The carrot-haired pony, for instance, still looked like she was about to break at any moment. She looked to Blitzkrieg, who nodded and motioned his head to the crowd.
“I think the first pony I want to speak to and support first is Coal. I need to focus on the children first, after all. Can I speak to him?” Twilight said. That’s when the blue Unicorn walked out of the crowd to look at Twilight.
“Ah, Princess-” Twilight lifted her hoof.
“Twilight’s fine.”
“Ah, right. Of course. My name is Mindy Reed and I’m the caretaker of Coal. Coal’s... Well, Coal’s a little too traumatized to speak right now.” The Unicorn said.
“I just want to say a few words of support, if that’s okay.” Twilight said. Mindy chuckled a bit.
“Well... Coal’s a little shy and untrusting at the moment... I mean, isn’t everypony?” Mindy said. Twilight shot a glare. “Alright,” Mindy sighed. “Come with me. We’ll chat at my house.” And with that, she trotted down the district. Twilight and Blitzkrieg followed her towards her house. As they passed by an intersecting pathway, Twilight could have sworn she saw Fluttershy... But she needed to find out about Coal and uncover something, anything, to disprove any need for Celestia to step down.
To disprove Mare Do Well.
Fluttershy walked down the district with her Element on her. She ignored the ponies who looked at her with awe and wonder. She ignored the chatter of them hailing her as “the sane one” or “the one who learned her lesson.” She felt just as guilty as her friends. That’s when she saw someone. A small gray foal that was trotting around by himself.
“Coal?” Fluttershy flew towards Coal. Coal looked at the Pegasus streaking towards him and let out a small cry as he ducked and covered. Fluttershy landed a few inches from Coal and covered him with her wing. “Shhh... Don’t cry... Why are you out here by yourself?”
“My... My mummy’s...” Coal shuddered. Fluttershy inched towards Coal and nuzzled him, though she could feel him squirming.
“I know... It’s alright.” She felt Coal trying to force himself off of her.
“G-get off!” Coal began to cry out. Some of the ponies looked towards Fluttershy. “Don’t hurt me like they hurt mummy!” Fluttershy bit the bottom of her lip. How could she have allowed this to happen? How could anyone just allow someone to lose their parents?
Something could have been done to prevent that. That was what was going through her head. “I’m so sorry... I’m sorry for being so weak...” She softly wept. She clutched onto Coal. Eventually, the squirming stopped and she could hear weeping as well.
“Why... why did they hurt her?” Coal said. Fluttershy simply flexed her wing in a patting motion. She sighed. In a way, she was glad that Coal focused more on the Changeling attack than the events preceding it, but she also felt guilty for that feeling.
“I... I wish I knew...” Fluttershy said. That was when she noticed Pinkie Pie. Her walk was slowed down, but the thing she noticed most was her deflated hair and a dull-colored Element of Laughter. “P-Pinkie! What happen-”
“I don’t wanna talk about it...” Pinkie trotted along and observed a building. Considering that they were in the downtown portion of Canterlot, it was hard to say if the building saw better days. All that could be said for sure was that the green sludge was a new addition.
See the consequences of your friends’ actions first hand. Pinkie Pie gritted her teeth. She stopped in her tracks. She continued looking at the building. She wanted to see the consequences. She really did...
But something clouded her mind.
The preparations that she and her friends made once the Queen made her “exit”. The wedding celebration and party... Especially the party. Heck, she even got a good laugh out of Spike. She sniffled.
“Why... Why can’t things just go back to the way they were? Why did that killjoy rain on our parade!?” And broke down into tears. Fluttershy really wanted to comfort her, but she was stuck holding onto Coal.
“...” Fluttershy didn’t want to speak. You’ll just make the situation worse. She thought. Her lips, however, were unable to hold themselves from forming a smile. Wh-why am I smiling!? Fluttershy thought. She has two crying ponies to take care of and she’s smiling about it? Why? She tried to stop, but eventually she figured out why.
“Pinkie...” Fluttershy spoke and grabbed the depressed Pony’s attention.
“Y-yeah?” Pinkie asked. Fluttershy just blurted what she was thinking out.
“Who cares about what that killjoy says? She’s just a huffy-puffy Pony who hides behind a mask.” Fluttershy said.
“H...heh... Yeah.” Pinkie began to smile.
“She might be right about the Changeling attack being preventable, but you were also right. We were having a good time before she showed up!” Fluttershy said. Do you wish to party through the night and neglect your broken kingdom, not knowing that at least one foal’s life was changed for the worst? Fluttershy shook off that thought. She was not focusing on her regret of not speaking up. She was not focusing on the damages that were caused yesterday. Pinkie and Coal were busy thinking of other things. They weren’t upset or regretful about what happened before the invasion, but rather what happened during and after. She did gulp a bit. Mare Do Well raised a good point about not ignoring the pain and anguish of Canterlot’s civilians, but she remembered how nobody was complaining or crying during the wedding and party.
“Yeah! We just gotta sit back and smile!” Pinkie Pie said. In an instant, her hair puffed back and her Element of Laughter glowed bright blue. “Oh! Maybe throw a post-wedding-party party!” She said.
“That’d be wonderful.” She looked to Coal, who stopped his sobs. She could hear a slight breathing. She unfurled her wing and saw that Coal was now sleeping. It may be the best wedding to you, but to poor Coal, it will be nothing but a bad memory that he will be lucky to repress.
Don’t worry. We will make sure he represses it. Fluttershy’s Element also glowed, but in a bright pink color.
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...yeaaaah, I can't help but think that Fluttershy's reasoning is somewhat borked.
I'd not be surprised if someone's using mind muckery here, I'd also not be surprised if 'Mare-Do-Well' is a changeling back to cause trouble or a possible attempt by someone else to muck things up for the group.
I mean, yeah Pinkie hogging the cider didn't help keep things going, but you'd think the Apples, being small cart salesponies and farmers primarily, would keep better control of their stocks and actually ration things if they thought they were going to run out. I mean, is Pinkie's bit more valuable than Rainbow's or is Berry's bit better than Lyra's? Add to that, if we presume that there's two in working state and two on light, why not have things set so they could get resupplies while things were being sold?
Way I see this 'event' that Mare is using is barely anything to do with Pinkie. The only thing she did was overbuy the stock the Apples had making them run out faster, most of the blame is purely in the Apple's court for not preparing better and maintaining better business practices and fairness in the town. Yet… while Pinkie wore the Element of Harmony, she pretty much believed whatever came out of Mare-Do-Well's hidden mouth.
Suddenly I get the feeling these 'Elements of Harmony' are either twisted or fake with a 'suggestion' on them.
I'd need to double check with Fluttershy's thing, but if it is something where Kindness isn't really involved or isn't really related to what actually happened in a meaningful way, I'm thinking that Mare-Do-Well is someone trying to force the Princesses off their thrones by guile and is using corrupted/fake Elements and speechmaking to do so as opposed to straight up conflict.
I agree with Ghrathryn, Mare Do Well being a changeling seems like a strong possibility to me.
I also think Pinkie has done A LOT MORE that she needs to own up to then was stated this chapter
This isn't a good thing, why are you trying to make it look like a good thing...
4287058
Huh, I didn't think of it like that.
4289341 You honestly didn't see the problem of having someone repress a bad memory? That's a psychological no-no.
4313095
Well, to be more truthful, I had no idea where I was going for Fluttershy's and Pinkie's scene surrounding Coal and my only idea was to involve them acting in turn to their Element.
In a sense, I did know it was some sort of no-no. Like, you don't just throw a party and hope everything's gonna be fine, which is exactly what Mare-Do-Well stated in the first place. I think I had this feeling when I was writing it, especially they're doing the exact thing Mare-Do-Well was talking about.
Nice! Please write more!
This is an awesome story. I wanna see how Rarity gets taken down a peg.
I see one of three possibilities for the identity of Mare Do Well. First, and least likely in my mind, is Chrysallis trying to cause discontent for the real invasion. Second, maybe Twilight's mom wanting to punish those who hurt her daughter. And lastly, a physical manifestation of the Element of Magic. Even if not one of these three I hope to see who it really is someday as I love this story so far. Kind of funny that I found the story on the one year anniversary of the last chapter's post date. Really hope to see it updated sometime soon.
I don't think Pinkie buying a lot of cider was really significant. After all ponyville has a population of at least 1000 ponies so her buying a few liter doesn't really make a difference.
Also how could she have possibly known that? I don't think it's going against your element if you had no idea what your actions would lead to. With Cranky she followed her element, it didn't turn out well for her but she didn't go against it at all.