Harmony Stories III: Outsider
Applejack
When things went back ta normal, It was almost like the whole tone of the room had changed. My anger had subsided and I relaxed back inta my chair. The silence must of confused everypony else because now they were all starin' at me. Nopony said a word, and Ah was the only thing with any attention on it.
“Look y'all, Ah... Ah didn't mean ta get so mad. Ah'm sorry, Twilight.” Lookin' at her again, she still appeared like she was tryin' ta hide from me. Ah'm ashamed ta admit that just made me feel all the more guilty fer it. At the very least, she reacted more civil like than Ah did.
“It's... it's fine, Applejack. You really do deserve to know, but... If word got out... It... It could happen again or... There's just too much weight behind all those words. A contract is just my way of obtaining the trust I need tell you so much about me and... and her.” She kept dodging lookin' at me every time she would pause. Like she was thinkin' of a memory, but had reasons ta withhold anythin' she wanted ta say.
It must be hard, not bein' able ta talk like that. Well, it's probably better that Ah wonder about her than think about what Fluttershy said. Ah can only hope that the last part of her story wasn't true. The less proof Ah have the better.
“That's real big of ya. If y'all were me, we'd probably be in a shoutin' match right now, and Ah appreciate that,” Ah said, tryin' ta take my mind off of that other thin'.
“Well, I'm just glad we cleared that up. Now then...” She turned ta the pony next ta her, whom did her best ta avoid eye contact. “Pinkie, would you mind?” Ah suppose finally bringin' the tension as high as it could go and then lettin it drop must of settled her down a little. She spoke with a little more normalcy in her voice instead of the sorta edge she had in it earlier.
“Uh... Ya know, I would, but... she seems ready to sign doesn't she? Why don't you all clear that up and you can tell her all about those dirty little secrets and we can just forget about me so I can fade into obscurity like normal, 'kay?” Pinkie said. It looked like she was almost pleading with me not ta ask. Ah suppose this is why Rarity told me ta ask specifically.
“If you really don't want to, then-” Twilight began. Ah halted her.
“Actually, Ah really would like ta hear yer story Pinkie. Over the past few years, Ah've obtained a nose fer bullshit, and ya reek of it, if we're bein' honest here. Experience tells me that ya did somethin' ya haven't forgiven yer self fer, and ya wont any time soon. Yer jittery and dodgy when yer past is brought up, and ya practically hide like a foal when yer asked about it. If it's any consolation, it don't look like any of us can take the moral high ground here since we've all done somethin' we regret.” Ah figured that if anypony deserved a push it was gonna be her. Apparently, it worked. She looked to every pony else, settled on me, and finally sighed.
“Well... you're not wrong, that's for sure. But me? I'm the lowest of the low. I... I hurt my own family. And I know that none of you did anything like that to your own blood.” Ah frowned.
“Well, If anypony understands wantin' ta hurt yer 'own blood,' it'd be me.” Pinkie shook her head.
“No, no, no! You just don't understand... I broke my parent's trust, I hurt my siblings, and worst of all... I'm the reason one of my sisters died...” Ah nearly bit through my cheek when she said that. Ah had ta hide my shock, otherwise she might never open up about whatever she did. Now, Ah was thoroughly invested in her story.
“Well... why don't ya explain? Ah doubt ya did anythin' like that on purpose.” And that is where Ah made my mistake. Ah assumed. She looked down and brought her knees in, wrappin' her forelegs around 'em at the same time.
“The... the problem with that is... I kinda did...” The room went silent again. Ah had lost just about all my words, and it didn't look like anypony else had anythin' ta say. Ah suppose this must of activated some kinda damage control mode in Twilight.
“Um... why don't we save this for another time? I'll go get the documents, we can get you in the system, and then I'll just wrap everything up with my story, okay?” She started ta get up, but then Pinkie stopped her.
“N-no... That isn't fair...” She paused ta swallow. “I need to do this. If I don't then I'll just keep hiding from it, and I'll never change like that... right Twilight?” The two shared a look, and Ah swore that was the first time Ah ever saw Twilight smile with any kind of genuine sincerity since Ah got here.
“I'm glad. As long as this is your choice, then you've already made a step toward a better you. Please. Go ahead.” She motioned forward with a wing, and with that Pinkie sat up straight. Clearly there's somethin' Ah don't know between these three and her, but all the same Pinkie had lightened up a little.
“Okay... I'm the third child from a family of six. My parents, and my three sisters, one of which is my fraternal twin. I wouldn't know if any of them have powers, and honestly, I don't think I'll ever see them again. I still count the days since it all happened. Ten years, four months, and thirteen days ago, when the eight year old me discovered I could do what I can.
Pinkamena Diane Pie
“Back then, I lived on a farm that had been in my father's family for generations. It wasn't a normal farm though. My family sold rocks. It was more like we were miners than anything else, but I suppose that's just one way to look at it.
I wasn't normal. While I was a twin, my coloring wasn't anything like what either of my parents had, or my twin sister has. I'm bright pink and the rest of my family is various shades of violet and gray. At most, I at least share eye color with my mother, and that was enough for me. I was always the odd one out when It came to the family. I was energetic and laid back, an extrovert in a family of introverts. I didn't fit or gel well. My sisters are all strong and I'm pretty weak. My parents were really unsure of what to do with me a lot of the time because I was just so... different from them. I'll never know what they really thought of me.
I was treated like one of the family, but I always felt like an outsider when it came to my sisters. Being so different made it hard to talk to any of them about anything, and most of the time, they just found me annoying and avoided me. Sometimes, my older sister and I would get into fights because of it, but my dad was always around to keep things from getting out of hoof. However, this didn't last long. My dad, who really kept all four of us in line, got sick a little before my powers showed up. We didn't really know what was wrong with him, and at the same time, we were never really a family with lots of money, so we didn't have much of an option to get him treated. He was bed ridden for weeks and to this day, I still don't know if he survived or not.
Anyways, this is when my older sister, the one closest to my age, took the opportunity to try and take over for him. My older sisters are four and eight years apart from us, so I guess she was twelve at the time. With my mom busy handling all the paperwork for orders, and my oldest sister handling the really big jobs, the rest of us... were stuck with organization and inventory.
For a few weeks, we literally counted rocks and shuffled them around. Eventually, I got tired of it and my older sister's slave driver nature, so I called her out on it. We got in a fight and... I lost. She threatened to beat me up again if I argued with her anymore. At the time, I didn't feel like I should bother my parents or even ask my oldest sister for help because they were both too busy to bother with her.
The most I ever saw either of them was at dinner, which was the only time my mother wasn't doing paper work or taking care of dad, or my oldest sister wasn't working. So, nothing changed, and I lived in fear of her until the day that my powers showed up. It was a windy day, and I was told to start bringing in the rocks that were over by the quarry. My oldest sister had set up a bunch of carts for us to take with some precious stones in them, but she liked to put as much in one cart as she could, which was way more than I, or any of the younger sisters could carry alone. It was... so windy that day.
On the east side of the Dragon Spine range, the wind blows in full force. With the mountains in the way to the west, the land we lived on right next to them was always hit with hard, whining winds that would twist and turn and blow right back at us. When dad was still healthy, we would use it to play since it could literally pick my twin and I off the ground some days. I went to the quarry to try and pull some of the carts back to the barn. I wasn't strong enough to get it to move. I felt like if I could push it from behind, then maybe it would move. I went back to do so, and that's when the wind picked up.
I was hit with it at full force. I lost my balance and fell into the quarry. If I had to guess, I'd say that the quarry was maybe as deep as a five story building. Either way, a fall from the top of the path was a death sentence. As I fell, something inside me changed. Like it was some kind of trigger to activate my powers. I started to move my legs, and it was like the world slowed down for me. The fall wasn't scary anymore, and with each step I took on the wall, I moved forward more than down. Then I started to run, and I'd stopped moving down entirely. I ran all the way up the quarry and made it back to the carts, and it was like the wind was never there in the first place.
You'd think that being able to run as fast as I can, it would be like everything is all sped up, but really, it's the opposite. When I run, it's like a normal run for me, but the distance I cover and how everything else looks changes like some one put a video on slow playback. Afterward, I was excited and thought I'd try and do it again, but from a safer starting point. I ran up and down the quarry walls for probably a few hours.
That was the happiest I'd been in a long time. Really, since dad got sick. I went home to tell everypony about it, but the first pony I ran into was... my older sister. She had that aggressive tone in her voice and the first thing she asked me was, 'where are the carts, Pinkie?' before I could say anything about my powers. I tried to tell her that I couldn't move them, but that just made her more angry. She hit me and told me to follow her since whatever was in the carts were due for an order that night.
All of that joy I felt started to sour. I got mad. I wanted to hurt her back, but I knew that I wasn't strong enough to do it. And then... I got an idea. A horrible, awful idea. The wind had started to pick up again. It wasn't as strong as it was earlier, but it was definitely enough to affect her, I could see that she was having about as much trouble walking as I was. If I were to... give her a push... then the wind would do the rest for me. Then she wouldn't hit me anymore. She wouldn't hit me ever again. The more I though about it, the more I felt all of those nasty things she did to me over the years.
I became more and more convinced that everything would be better if she weren't around anymore. So I waited. I knew she was stronger than I was, but not so much that she could move the cart on her own either. So after I watched her fail to pull it, she went to the back to push it. When she couldn't, she asked me for help. That's when I made my move. I got up next to her, and then used my new speed to take a few steps back and slam into her.
The hit had knocked her off her hooves, and the wind pushed her to the edge of the quarry path. But then something unexpected happened. She caught he edge of the path and was hanging from there. She asked me to help her. In that moment, I forgot about everything else. My big sister needed my help. I didn't want revenge anymore, I didn't want to hurt her, that was my big sister, and she needed me. I was still for a second, and then her hooves started to slip. I started to run for her, but I was to late. By the time I made it to the edge of the path, she'd already fallen. I raced down the path hoping I could catch her, but... she beat me to the bottom.
I... I can still hear that sound. The sound of all her bones... breaking. That horrible crunching sound... And then the blood, oh goddess, there was so much blood. It all just leaked out and formed a pool. I just stood there, horrified, until my oldest sister had come out of the quarry cave. She didn't have a lot of emotion, and she never made anything but a blank face most of the time, but... when she saw L... she saw Li...” Pinkie looked like she was about ta toss her dinner. She shook the sick away and continued, “saw the corpse... she screamed.
She asked me what happened, and I couldn't respond. It was my fault. It was all my fault. I pushed her. I wanted it to happen. And when it did, I understood just what kind of mistake I made. She took a step toward me and I started to back away. She asked me what happened again, a new emotion beginning to take shape in her face. I turned and ran. I ran as fast as my legs could take me, and I didn't look back. I made a horrible, irreversible, mistake that day, and have not been back home since.
I spent my days traveling afterward. I would wander from place to place, hoping to find my next meal where ever I ended up. And I did that for years. I was sixteen when I finally settled here. A family who owns a bakery on 314th street found me passed out in the city and took me in. They always wanted a daughter of their own, but had difficulties conceiving. I just so happened to fill in the spot. My travels had taught me a lot about the world. How cruel ponies and creatures can be. The evil that hides just beneath the surface, the kind of horrible things ponies will do to each other just to get ahead. But this family, they showed me what kindness looks like. What hope looks like. Both of which, I hadn't seen in a long time.
Later in the next year, after I had moved in with them, they finally achieved their goal. The mother gave birth to a pair of fraternal twins. Seeing that the new family was complete, I didn't feel like I belonged any more, so I set off on my own again. It didn't last as long as I thought it would this time though. Funny thing is, it was actually during one of Marevelous Red's fights that this happened, but one of the bad guys threatened to hold a child hostage.
She was a little gray earth pony with pale gray hair, just about twelve years old, and for a minute there, I thought she looked exactly like my older sister beck before... before I... I guess something snapped inside, and I raced to rescue the girl. The bad guy didn't know what happened to his hostage, and you flattened him into a wall face afterward. I apologized to this little girl over and over, holding and crying over her until I realized that she wasn't the sister I lost. But at the same time, she said something to me, something I'll never forget.
'You saved me! I... I don't know who I remind you of, but... whoever it is, I think they would be proud of you!' and then she ran off to who knows where. Something clicked, and I got the bright idea that I could be like you. A hero to ponies. Somepony who saves others, somepony who could help ponies. But... at first, that wasn't the case. I tried to save ponies, mostly innocent bystanders that would get caught up in fights between villains and heroes, and sometimes I would end up in the way, or ruining another hero's chance to catch the bad guy, or worse, not making it in time. I did this for about half a year before I just couldn't handle failing to save ponies anymore. And then... that's when I met Twilight.
Now I live here and work for her. I still visit that family that took me every now and again to check up on the foals. Every time I see them it makes me hope I can be a good role model for them one day, like you were for me. Maybe one day I can be better than I am, even if I can never atone for the sin that creeps up my back. That noise... it still haunts my dreams. No life is worth the one I took out of spite, out of anger, for pitiful revenge. I'm just like... the jealous brother...”
Applejack
“Oh, Pinkie...” found it's way out of my mouth. None of that was fair. None of that should have ever happened. What kinda messed up world do we live in that makes children want ta kill each other? Ah could feel myself start ta get tense. All of these stories, all this pain and sorrow. Most of it could have been prevented. If it weren't fer the mistakes of others, nothin' woulda spiraled out of control like it did! We were all kids... it just isn't fair...
Ah made my way over and hugged Pinkie too. She was still shiverin', her hooves over her ears. Ah've heard that sound before, the sound bones make when they make contact after a fall, and it doesn't get any better with time. Bein' too late ta save some pony... It just isn't somethin' ya can't get over. Of all the thin's Ah never forget, it's the faces of ponies Ah see right before they die. And then Ah thought about what she said. Ah don't... even remember that fight. Of course, it sounds familiar, like somethin' that happened that Ah should remeber, but Ah don't think Ah ever got paid fer it. Why is it that that's all Ah think about these days? It's always about the money now... It didn't used ta be that way.
All she wants ta do is save lives, atone fer her mistakes. All of them want that. Rarity is the least at fault here, and even still, Diamond was always more concerned with the citizens than the perpetrators. Ah'm no hero... Ah'm just a bounty hunter. Ah don't deserve ta be a role model...
“Applejack? Is there something wrong?” Rarity asked. Ah suppose my thoughts were makin' their way ta my face. Ah straightened my hat and popped my neck.
“Naw, Ah'm just thinkin' is all. This world... this is one messed up place ya know?”
“W-well, that's why we try and make it better... e-even if it's just a little at a time,” Fluttershy said. From somepony so steeped in blood, Ah never thought Ah would hear somethin' so... pure. Ah started ta laugh.
“Heh... he he heh! Ha ha ha hah! You... you all, yer just so... so perfect fer this ain't ya? Mistakes ya cain't ever fix, thin's ya can just never atone fer... and each one of ya has that in common, so who else ta fix the broken world but the most broken that it has ta offer!? Out of all them other heroes out there, y'all want me? Ah... Ah'm no hero... Ah'm just some bounty hunter paradin' around in a damn flashy suit...” Ah leaned back in my chair and got a good look at all their eyes. Confusion, fear, sorrow, anger, all of it here.
“Applejack, you can't truly believe that can you? I've seen you save dozens of ponies before!” Rarity said.
“Yeah! Even though I was there that day, you went to help the ponies who were attacked before you went after the bad guys!” Pinkie said.
“A-and you tried to protect me earlier... I-I don't think a bounty hunter would do that...” Fluttershy said.
“You stuck up for... somepony important to me a while back. I don't know how you've been lately, and really, I can't know what you've been feeling, but there isn't any other hero that I thought would be a better candidate than you for my team. You might not be perfect, and nopony is, but we all believe in you. You're a hero... A hero that your father would be proud of.” Twilight said. Ah could feel it, somethin' breakin' inside me. A warm sensation started ta pool in my eyelids. Ah bit inta my lip and started ta rub my eyes. Ah made a promise that Ah wouldn't do that anymore, and Ah'm not about ta break it.
“T-thanks y'all. It took too damn long fer me ta... ta find ponies Ah could call friends.”
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*DIES OF PURE FEELS*
7629333
I uh... I guess... did you like it?
Not much I can say other than great job on this Pinkie's story. Once again, the exchanges, action, emotional content, origin story wrap-up and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. I particularly liked all of them comforting each other. I'll definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.
Damn these feels!