Short Scraps and Explosions

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Background Pony - Chapter 10 - Missing Mane 6 Scenes

Chapter 10 of Background Pony is something that should never have happened. I didn't look forward to it a hundred pages in advance. I didn't enjoy it while writing it. And even in hindsight I still hate it. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Pinkie Pie is involved. There's also the fact that I had just... stopped caring by the time I tackled it.

It wasn't so much that I gave up on Background Pony, but my spirit had sort of dive-bombed in general. I had lost my initial lurve for the fanfic; I no longer felt the epic was Nietzsche's gift to eyeballs or wutnot. I was starting to see all of the flaws, and--as horrible as it sounds--I was starting to disregard the comments being given to the overall story. When one gets almost nothing but endless praise, doubts start to float around. If the same folks are saying your story is awesome over and over again, it means that you're pleasing those same exact folks... not necessarily winning any new converts to your literary cause.

Thankfully, chapter 11 sort of revolutionized the fic for me, and the next 9 installments weren't quite as stale and predictable as I had originally set them out to be several months in advance. I dragged my hooves quite a bit in producing material, but I think a lot of the second half of Background Pony is stronger and more provocative than the first half. But that's just me.

Where was I? Oh right, Pinkie Pie chapter. F'naaaaa. Can you believe that this shiet was once a lot longer? That's what a lot of people don't seem to understand about my crap. As huge and tumorous as my stories are, they've been even larger in the past. They get chopped down as part of the editing process. The rought drafts that I make before the loyal lemurs of SATGF tackle them are quite abominable.

For instance, in this chapter, I felt it was absolutely necessary to have Lyra talk to each member of the Mane 6 about Pinkie Pie in order to enrich hers and the audience's perspective of the character. As it turns out, this was a redundant exercise, and it served to do nothing but fatten up a chapter that was already quite inane and pointless from the beginning. So, the conversation bits got the axe. Still, they were easy to write. Anyone can write conversation shiet, so long as there are characters in one's heads who can easily carry the dialogue.

It doesn't always make for a nifty plot, though. F'naaa.

---

What was I becoming? Or, better yet, what was I destined to become? I wasn't always so cold, so joyless, so devoid of any sense of humor or levity. Was the curse such a curse because I was letting it be so terrible?

No. No, it couldn't possibly have been that simple. I just needed to understand things more. I needed to get answers. If I could understand Pinkie Pie, then maybe—just maybe—I could understand everything else as well. There is nothing harder to unlock than randomness. After all, I was dying to know how a pony could live forever in the present, for I realized that I too would soon have to adjust to such an existence.

So, groaning, I turned over and did something I would never have predicted. I lifted the blank journal in my grasp. I opened to the first page. Then—telekinetically grabbing a pen that I had previously used only to write music notes down on sheets—I began chronicling two new quests of mine.

One quest was to break the curse.

The other quest... well... I knew better than to expect solving it on my lonesome.

“Yeah, I know Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed between grunts. She slammed her way through a standing stretch of wooden barn siding. The panels fell uselessly to the ground besides the wooded path. Adjusting her goggles, she spun about and prepared to smash once more through what remained of the abandoned structure. “She's a total laugh to be around. Whaddya wanna know about her?”

“First off, why don't you take five?”

“But I so got this barn ready to cry 'Uncle!' Just gimme a few more tries—”

I whistled at her. Sweating and panting, Rainbow Dash gazed down at me. I shook a canteen full of water in my grasp as I smiled and said, “The barn will learn its lesson soon enough. Take a break and get some water in your system.”

“Mmmmm-Fine.” She hovered down and yanked the container from my hoof. “But only cuz you're paying me. If this was any other situation, I'd be making a perfect crater out of this thing in—”

“Ten seconds flat. Right.” I nodded with a calm smile as I stood before my tent. “So...” I crossed my front limbs casually. “Pinkie Pie?”

“Mmmmm...” Rainbow Dash took a long sip, swallowed, and wiped the sweat from her brow. “Yeah. I dunno if there's another pony between here and Fillydelphia that's both annoying and fun to be around all at once. Sometimes I feel like smashing her face in.”

“I think I can imagine,” I said with a gentle smile. “But you don't, I'm guessing?”

“Heck no!” Rainbow Dash smirked and took another swig before saying, “She's my friend! I wouldn't be a loyal pegasus if I gave her bruises, even if she gave me headaches from time to time!”

“You think she likes being annoying?”

“Ew. Who does?”

I chuckled and waved a hoof. “Let me rephrase that. Ahem. You think she tries to be annoying?”

“Well...” Rainbow Dash fidgeted.

“Because some ponies can't help but be who and what they are.”

“Yeah, but you can't—like—put her in a single dictionary entry,” Rainbow Dash said. She next rolled her ruby eyes. “Not like you'd catch me reading one.”

“Is it because Pinkie Pie is simple minded?”

Rainbow Dash suddenly flashed me a frown. “That's not very nice.”

I bit my lip. “No, I suppose it's not. Ahem. But that's how it comes across with Pinkie at times, don't you think?”

“Yeah, well...” Rainbow Dash gazed down at the fresh rubble thrown off from the barn. “It may seem that way at first. But Pinkie is just... Pinkie. She's happy all the time, and only wants other ponies to be happy. Is there something wrong with wanting one thing at any given point of the day, so that it's all you ever work towards?” She flashed me a grin. “Heck. I'm always going on about joining the Wonderbolts. It's my big dream, y'know? Just because it's not something that could happen right here and right now, does that make what I want any more complicated than what Pinkie Pie wants?”

“What do you mean?”

“She wants to make other ponies happy, and I can't wait to become what I was born to be.” She took another heavy swig and exhaled gladly. “Ahhh... Legendary.”

“At least you want something that will determine the sort of pony you will be in the long-term,” I said as I took the canteen back from her. “Can you say that Pinkie wants the same?”

“If you ask me, Miss Heartstrings, everypony wants to be remembered,” Twilight said with a soft grin as she sat across the library table from me. “Just not everypony needs to be so... so... epic about it?”

“Mmmhmmm...” My left hoof was flipping through an old tome while my right forelimb was shuffling the freshly scribbled notes to Elegy #5, or—as Twilight had told me on the previous visit—what was called the “Waltz of Stars.” I spoke aloud across the sea of research. “But why put all of your effort into making a pony smile? Don't you think it suggests that there's a great deal of joy missing from your own life?”

“Heh...” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I wouldn't be the first pony to suggest that Pinkie Pie is missing something, but joy is hardly it. All she needs to do is trot into a room and instantly I feel better about the day.”

“That's a remarkable gift,” I said. I flipped a few more pages and telekinetically jotted additional notes down while gazing across at her. “But a pony can't be giving all of the time. Have you ever thought about what Pinkie Pie needs?”

“Uhm...” Twilight bit her lip nervously. “Come to think of it, I haven't given it much thought.”

“Why's that?”

“Oh, I hope you don't think I'm being a horrible friend to my fellow ponies...”

“Heh, hardly, Miss Sparkle.” I smiled gently at her. “Is it, you think, that Pinkie Pie is hard to read?”

“I've never really had a reason to ask her much about it,” Twilight replied. “I suppose if she asks for anything, it's simply for attention.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I reckon it's on account that she needs it a heap more than regular ponyfolk,” Applejack said. She planted seeds one at a time across the lengths of the soil to the side of my cabin. “Some ponies are nice and subtle about it. But not Pinkie. Heh, that mare wouldn't know 'subtlety' if it ran up and bucked her square in the keister.”

“That doesn't make her selfish, does it?” I asked as I squatted next to her and studied how she planted the crops. The endless cycle of the “Moon's Elegy” swam through my aching head, but I tried my best to concentrate on our conversation. “What pony doesn't like attention?”

“Some need it more than others, ma'am,” Applejack said. “Why, shucks, you wouldn't guess this from first glance, but I used to be awfully clingy-like.”

“Huh?” I blinked crookedly at her. “You? Clingy?”

She groaned. “The passin' of my folks hit the whole family really hard. Granny Smith tried to be there for the three of us—Big Mac, myself, and lil Apple Bloom, but she was only one mare. I found myself gettin' laughed at while attendin' school, on account that I was askin' for hugs all the time.”

“Awwww...” I smiled painfully at her. “That's so sad...”

“Yeah, well, I learned mighty quick that t'ain't no use fussin' the stuff in life we never did ask for. Even at a young age, I could see that Big Mac was even worse off than I was, and Apple Bloom needed an older sibling to look up to. So I fancied myself up for the job. I sucked it up like an adult, put my muzzle to the plow, and got what was left of our family plantin' apple orchards somethin' proper. I've been doin' mighty fine for myself ever since.”

“You suppose that Pinkie suffered a similar loss in her life?” I asked quietly. “And... And somehow she never recovered from it?”

“I don't hold much stake in what makes that silly filly tick, and I can't imagine why any newcomer to town would want to either. Still...” She stood up from her task and wiped her orange brow. “If I was to sum Pinkie Pie up in one word, I'd say 'Happy go lucky'.”

“Heh, alright.” I gulped and pointed. “But, Miss Applejack? That's three words.”

“Oh. Uhm... I'm sorry.” Fluttershy looked away from me as she scratched her left leg with her right. “I'm just not used to being asked these kinds of questions about Pinkie Pie.”

“Quit apologizing!” I said from where I stood beside her cottage, strumming on my lyre. Several of her furry pets cuddled together, smiling to the rhythmic tunes I produced while I attempted salvaging our conversation. “Seriously! It's okay. If I'm asking too much, then I'll talk about something else.”

“No. No, it's... uh... it's okay,” Fluttershy said with a nervous smile. “You strike me as a pony who's only concerned about Pinkie.” She gulped and glanced anxiously into the babbling brook beside her home. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about her myself on occasion.”

“Oh?”

“Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to have such a cheerful friend in my life. But I feel like everytime I try to do something to make her happy in turn, she only distracts me or takes the conversation somewhere else.”

“You think that Miss Pie is attempting to avoid a dark subject matter?”

“I seriously doubt it's all that dark. We all know about Pinkie's upbringing.”

I blinked curiously at that. I tried to keep my instrumental on-key. “You do? Since when?”

“If Pinkie ever wanted to hide information about her past, she doesn't do a very good job about it. Maybe it's because I'm a year older than her, but sometimes I can read her like a book. She does things so happily and carefree in Ponyville because she can afford to.”

“As opposed to...?”

“She came from a very strict family. From what I understand, the farm community where she was born doesn't get a lot of sunshine. Somehow, Pinkie Pie was able to see warmth and rainbows where the rest of her close relations couldn't. It's a difficult thing to infect others with a happiness that only you're aware of. Uhm... was that too bizarre an analogy I just gave there?”

“No, it's perfectly clear to me,” I said. “If I may be so bold as to ask, Did her parents treat Pinkie Pie poorly for her joyful qualities?”

“Oh, good heavens!” Rarity dramatically exclaimed. “They practically kicked her out of the house without bothering to let her pack! How else do you think she came upon living with the Cake family, renting out a boorish attic for a bedroom no less?!”

“Surely it's not that horrible a situation?” I remarked. I stood in front of her as Rarity paced around me, fitting a fabulous red sweater over my torso and forelimbs. My hoodie lay folded in the corner besides a saddlebag and four freshly enchanted sound stones. “After all, Mr. and Mrs. Cake seem more than happy to foster her!”

“Only because they're trying to hold in all of their groans and sighs, dearie. Don't tell me that the adult inside you isn't aware of that sort of ritualistic pretense.” She winked. “Not that I'm doing anything of the sort at this moment. I'm more than happy to be sewing this dashing sweater for you, darling.”

“You don't have to convince me, Miss Rarity.” I smiled politely. “I seriously doubt you're holding anything in.”

“Quite true. Now where was I? Oh yes!” Rarity paced around me some more, squinting at her job as she levitated several tools about the two of us. “She drove her parents mad with impromptu midnight parties, Pinkie did! I even heard from her sister when she visited us two months ago that Mrs. Pie nearly had a heart attack this one time that young Pinkie stuck a bunch of bouncy confetti serpents into her hoofbag! Uh! Apparently Mr. Pie shouted so loudly that the roof almost fell off. I mean, seriously, when you build a house atop a rock farm, do you put much thought into securing your roof?”

“Uhhh...”

“Anyways, one thing led to another, and Pinkie Pie was sent to Ponyville about two years after her Cutsie-nera. She's been performing practical jokes and throwing parties around town ever since. Not exactly a story worth writing a stageplay about, but it's not without its shades of whimsical charm, would you think?”

“Whimsical to Pinkie Pie, perhaps.” I remarked as my eyes followed the fashionista's graceful movements. “But do you believe she ever stands to think about the past, about her family, about all that she's ever been disconnected from?”

“What ever for, dear? Pinkie Pie is happy where she is.”

“Is it true happiness, I wonder?” I muttered aloud. “What if she was... I dunno... reminded of why she's in Ponyville to begin with?”

“Oh, perish the thought!” Rarity exclaimed, submerged in her work.

“Why?”

“Because despite her occasionally bothersome qualities, I love Pinkie Pie dearly, and I can't stand the thought of her changing.”

I gulped. I said, “But could she do with a change? If it could somehow help her well-being?”

“Tilt your head up.”

I did as I was told.

“There's a good dear,” Rarity murmured, in another world.

I took a deep breath. I realized that over twelve months had passed. I was getting close to understanding the elegies, but I was just arriving at another understanding altogether. “Tell me, Miss Rarity, is it that her parents won't ever let her go back home to the ponies Pinkie knows and loves?”

“Oh, I've said too much as it is,” Rarity remarked with a flippant laugh while trying to focus on her work. She spoke monotonously out the corner of her lips. “Far be it from me to gossip like an old mare...”

“Trust me, Miss Rarity,” I spoke, hesitating slightly upon the bastions of a thoroughly jaded conscience. Gulping, I bravely lisped, “Your secrets are safe.”

Comments

[Harmonic Mendeleev]

I've said before how much I like Chapter 10, and I'll say it again here. I know you said you didn't enjoy writing it but that was my absolute favorite chapter. I read it over and over again and it pretty much motivated me to stick with the story for the next ten. I realize it is an extreme departure from the style of the rest of the story, what with the randomness and humor, but in a way I think the chapter showcases what everyone loves so much about the story. It shows Lyra using her willpower and resourcefulness to overcome her curse's limitations, and live happily despite it all!

I love how you made fun of your own overwrought philosophical introductory journal entries, and how pinkie lampshaded how pretty words alone couldn't actually change someone's lifelong attitude.

I love the continuity, like Morning Dew's flower and Alabaster's revelations. But curse-related aspects were in the background, making this feel like a slice of life between the big, horrifying revelations. It reinforces the idea that despite all hardships Lyra does LIVE, which is a triumph to be celebrated!

Finally, I love how in the end it was Lyra who was dragging along a confused Pinkie Pie, Lyra having swung from the melancholic extreme to the energetic one.
And more Bonbon is always good!

I didn't get even half of the references (EoP is still in my "to read" list), but it still makes me laugh and inspires me every time I read that chapter. I hope you can look back at it more fondly, because it has some of my favorite moments from any story ever, poniponi or no poni..