The Element of Laughter

by The-rogue-shadow

Chapter 1

Pinkie Pie was awoken by Twilight, and Pinkie looked at her, still thinking she was dreaming. Even in her armour, Twilight was one of the most beautiful ponies in Equestria, but Pinkie was much too afraid to tell her. She had grown up being lectured about the evils of Fillyfooling, and was ostracised from her family when she had come out to them. She got out of bed, the tension in the air was thick, and everypony was scared. The first day of war with the griffins. Pinkie took a deep breath, clearing her mind as doubts and fears flooded her consciousness. She armoured up, and marvelled at the metal, the way that it bent light, making her harder to see. The girls left their tent, and Pinkie was intimidated by the rows and rows of ponies, all covered in armour and weapons ready. Pinkie and the other elements, as well as Princess Celestia marched onto the battlefield to meet the griffin emperor. She was disgusted as she looked at the horrible mess that was Gregor, no smile, just a consistent scowl on his face. Before she knew it, the griffins turned and left and Celestia teleported the ponies back to their camp, instructing them all to get ready for attack. Pinkie and the Doctor were part of the special ops team, assigned to do work that fell outside the normal ways of warfare. But since the fight had just started, Pinkie was required to go through some training to gauge her abilities. As Fluttershy's archers rained down arrows on the Minotaur that the griffins had sent out, Pinkie walked to the back of the camp, a small training field so the warriors could keep in shape. Pinkie's commander, Duskheart, was waiting for her, one of the teeth still missing from the day before. She stood at attention in front of him; he waved his hoof in an irritated way.

"Take it off." He said, the dislike on his voice was unmistakeable. Pinkie was shocked.

"What?" she said, giving Duskheart a look.

"Your armour, take it off. You won't need it for this training." He explained, and Pinkie complied, removing her armour. Duskheart did the same. He stood face to face with her and Pinkie almost gagged at the smell of his breath.

"Firstly. I'm going to test your combat ability." He said, before punching Pinkie in the face, who fell down. "Now defend yourself." Pinkie stood, staring down Duskheart, before leaping at him. Duskheart saw her coming and grabbed her, throwing her onto the ground hard. Pinkie recovered quickly, throwing punches and kicks, all of which were blocked by Duskheart. She kicked out with her back legs, but they were grabbed by Duskheart and she was dragged along the ground and physically thrown into some mud. The rage burned in Pinkie's eyes, and Duskheart smirked as he looked down his nose at the Pink earth pony.

"Fine, if that's how you want to party, then I'll show you how I party, Pinkie Pie style." She yelled, jumping out of the mud and suddenly producing a small cannon, seemingly out of nowhere. Duskheart's eyes went wide, as Pinkie fired. Duskheart was forced backwards into a small climbing wall on the training grounds. He was covered in streamers and his face was covered by a large cake with pink frosting. Duskheart wiped it off his face with his hoof.

"Pie! Just what in the hay is that thing?" He boomed, as he blew pink frosting out of his nose. Pinkie smirked.

"Oh I never leave home without my party cannon." She said, gloating. Duskheart sighed, angry at her.

"Let's move on." He said, picking up a wooden training sword and throwing it to Pinkie. She picked it up, trying to get used to the weight and feel of it. She looked up as Duskheart swung his sword, it hit Pinkie in the side and she coughed as the air rushed out of her lungs.

"Learn to keep your guard up Pink. Otherwise you won't last long, of course, I'm okay with that. I don't want you here." He said, kicking Pinkie in the ribs as she lay on the ground, gasping for air.

"You think life is all fun and games, that responsibility is something everypony else needs but you don't. You just want to sit back and let ponies do everything for you. You don't care what happens to anypony, as long as you get what you want. You are a pathetic bimbo." Duskheart shouted, kicking Pinkie again as she tried to get up. She screamed as she felt one of her ribs break, and held her chest, crying as the pain took hold of her whole body. Duskheart spat on her before turning and putting his armour back on. She lay on the ground shaking with pain. Duskheart walked back to her, rolling her over with his hoof, which he then used to press down on Pinkie's broken rib, and smiled as she screamed again.

"See? Look at you, weak, if you were a real warrior, you would have gotten up and broke one of my ribs by now. But no, that's not you. That will never be you. I honestly cannot believe that you are an element of harmony. You have two options right now; Go home, or work in the kitchen; you are not welcome on my battlefield. Oh and just so you know, I won't be calling a medic, have fun crawling to the medical tent." He said, releasing the pressure on Pinkie's rib. He walked away, leaving Pinkie quivering on the ground. Pinkie eventually managed to drag herself to the medical tent, every movement a huge effort. The doctors wrapped up her chest in bandages and gave her something for the pain. She went back to the main tent, looking over at the battlefield as Duskheart gave the order for the earth ponies to charge. Pinkie lay down in her bed, popping one of the pills and waiting for it to take effect. She soon felt drowsy and fell asleep, awakening when she heard the sounds of the others. For some reason, Fluttershy was crying and Rarity was comforting her, Twilight walked over, a tiny glint of guilt in her eyes.

"I'm glad to see that one of us had a good day." Twilight said, looking at Pinkie. Pinkie had the sudden urge to blurt out her feelings, but repressed that, instead telling her about Duskheart. Twilight shook her head in disbelief, before telling Pinkie that he can't have been that bad. Pinkie nodded repeatedly.

"But it's true, do you not see the broken rib?' she said sarcastically.

"Pinkie, I know you dislike war, but that is no excuse for you to make up wild stories about ponies, especially if that pony is your superior officer. Now stop making things up." Twilight said, frustrated. Pinkie gave her a look, before turning over in bed and shunning Twilight, who sighed and walked away. Pinkie was fed up with ponies not believing in her. She vowed to herself to prove them all wrong, especially Duskheart. The next day, she went back to the training grounds, her chest still wrapped in bandages. Duskheart was there waiting, but still looked surprised to see her.

"You don't know when to quit, do you pink." He said, scowling. Pinkie shook her head, before removing her armour. The training began and ended similar to the first, except that this time, Pinkie walked away, albeit with a black eye. It went on like this for about a week, Pinkie adding a new wound to her body with every session. Duskheart even admitted that she had some skill, but lacked the instinct or the will to use it properly. Pinkie kept pushing herself, not giving the satisfaction of letting Duskheart see her cry anymore. Finally one day, Pinkie managed to get some punches past Duskheart, they connected and sent him sprawling. The same day, during the sword session, Pinkie hit him in the head, and a small amount of blood trickled down his face. Duskheart got angry, he grabbed Pinkie's mane and dragged her over to a water trough. He dunked her head and held it as Pinkie struggled, fearing for her life. Duskheart lifted her head, and Pinkie took an enormous gasp of air.

"You still don't understand, do you? I am the sun and moon here. If I want you broken, You WILL be broken." He said, before forcing Pinkie's head into the water again. He let go and Pinkie removed her head, falling on the ground, panting as she tried to get her breath back.

"Why do you do this to me?" she asked. Duskheart narrowed his eyes at her.

"Because I've had recruits like you, they end up either dying, or betraying us because they are weak. And I have no faith in your ability to do anything. And from what I heard, during the saga with Discord, you were willing to let him continue." He explained. Pinkie shook her head angrily.

"That is not true; I fought my hardest to stop Discord." She said, standing up.

"Exactly, and Discord still managed to wreak havoc on Equestria didn't he?" said Duskheart. Pinkie couldn't take it anymore, her mane deflated halfway and she pounced on him, beating him furiously as she let all of her pent up rage out on her commander.

"I AM NOT WEAK!! I AM PINKAMINA DIANE PIE!! AND NOPONY WILL BREAK ME!!" She yelled, as Duskheart lay underneath her, unconscious, his face torn and bloody. Pinkie calmed down and her mane returned to its original state. She looked at him, and suddenly panicked, worried that she had killed him, then she noticed that he was breathing. She ran to get a medic, tears in her eyes. Duskheart was rushed to the hospital, and Pinkie followed, guilty over what she had done. Celestia walked in and admonished her for her actions. Pinkie didn't say anything, just looked at the ground. She slept outside on her own that night, unable to face the others.

Pinkie was called into Duskheart's room the day later when he had woken up. She entered thinking he was just going to stab her with a knife. Instead, he handed her a dossier, entitled, confidential.

"Your first mission. Don't screw it up." Said Duskheart.

Comments

[oopsloops]

Go pinkie! Screw the others, they don't care about you! *Intermission between the fourth wall* PINKIE! I BELIEVE IN YOU!