Our Mutual Epiphany

by Grisaille987

The Price of Atonement

Our Mutual Epiphany

by Grisaille

Rated E for Everyone

---

“Get out of here. Now.”

Those were the first words that Pinkie Pie would hear from her sister Inky, when the two and Blinky reunited with each other in the cold month of December. They were words not expected from either of the other sisters, filled with a bitterness that should've been reserved for a mortal enemy. They would be the starting point for a heated argument with screaming, tears and blind emotion. In the end, Pinkie would find herself leaving with Inky's glare and Blinky's weary stare bearing into her hindquarters, her head hung low and her curly locks straight.

What had been in mind was a simple and impromptu visit to the old rock farm where Pinkie and her family had resided. The two parents had caught a severe case of silicosis due to the constant rock farming. Despite a hospital's helping hand, they were simply too old to endure the damage done. All it took was the touch of tuberculosis and a few weeks to finish them off. Although their funeral had came and went long ago, it was only recently that Pinkie herself had discovered their passing. Against the winter storm that was beginning to sweep the landscape, she brought it upon herself to trek the path that led to her old and abandoned home. She didn't have to be a witness of the burial to know that was where the graves were. After all, she and her sisters had been well informed ahead of time, long before the first stages of the disease began to settle in.

She hadn't expected Inky and Blinky to be the new residents of the home, and in turn, the two sisters hadn't expected Pinkie to show up. Inky had found Pinkie in their backyard, sitting over the graves in lament. It was the spot where the rift would be opened up for the three to see, hearts would be broken, and a year-lasting bond would shatter to fragments. All of this was due to a mixture of justified reason and emotional irrationality, brought on by Pinkie's lack of presence in the event of the burial. The party mare's immersion in Ponyville and her new friends caused her to cast aside her sisters and parents. She had forgotten about them, and so Inky took this act of carelessness as a sign of ungratefulness and betrayal. When she expressed these feelings to Pinkie in a barely restrained rage, she ended up crushing her target's heart underneath a landfill of guilt. Despite Blinky trying to calm Inky down and keep Pinkie's spirit intact, it was clear that she felt the same.

Thus began the journey back home, leading to where she was now.

If Inky's rage had not been enough to destroy Pinkie, then the snow storm would be. The wind blew a wall of white in front of her path, constant blinding her with both the falling snow and her own mane. Every time she took a step forward, she could feel the unpleasant chill of the frosty sea as her leg sank into it. The only protection she had was her fur, a blue thick knitted scarf wrapped snugly around her neck, and a resolve that was steadily failing. It didn't help that she was showing signs of sickness such as bursting into coughing fits on occasion and stumbling out of momentary loss of her motor functions. These conditions only increased the pent-up anger and frustration she held towards both herself and her siblings. She could almost feel Inky's satisfaction.

As she trudged her way through the dominating winter landscape, she cast a glaring glance upwards. The sky was completely enveloped in the grayish-white of the clouds, which clumped together so tightly that not even a speck of sunlight would've been able to get through. It was a time where the weather pegasi had worked extremely hard to make up for excessive slacking. It was also a time in where Pinkie found herself resenting them. Who could craft such a universal hazard and still be considered sane? Did they not consider those who absolutely had to push through the weather in order to make a living? Was it assumed that everyone would stay indoors?

Of course, it was a rational assumption. Nobody in their right mind would've been one foot away from their houses for any reason, let alone visiting the graves of the deceased. Had her friends known what she was doing, they would've scolded her for even thinking about such a foolish gesture. She was definitely scolding herself right now, agitated at the carbon dioxide-turned-vapor she huffed out. If she knew that the visit was going to turn into a disaster, she wouldn't have come. She would've been safe and cozy in Sugarcube Corner, playing with Pumpkin and Pound Cake beside the fireplace while Mr. and Mrs. Cake tended to the final stages of the workday. She wouldn't have had to worry about wasting her time and leaving with a broken heart afterwards.

But was it really a waste of time? That was the main question running through Pinkie's mind as she did her best to ignore her own labored breathing, her shaking legs, and the increasing difficulty of moving through the frozen garden. Did it matter that, at the very least, she had even considered the thought of visiting the grave? Maybe that would run through Inky's head after she had calmed herself down. Maybe then, she would begin to believe that she had overreacted, and in the wake of her fury, drove away her own blood like a villain. Maybe she too would feel guilty over what had happened, realizing that she had just sent her sister into this natural disaster.

Another stumble, and another coughing fit.

Pinkie's vision was starting to blur, her head becoming more and more muddled with each and every step taken. Even through the loud howling of the wind, she could hear the wheezes every time she took and gave a breath. She could feel her heartbeat slow down in the wake of time, stopping the relentless pounding it had started upon the beginning of her trek. Now, it wasn't just the snow alone that was preventing her from moving freely, but the growing stiffness of her joints as they succumbed to the freezing temperatures. She felt so tired, so exhausted, and so sleepy that she simply wanted to fall down on the snow and close her eyes.

Oh, she was so close to her home! She only had so little distance to cover before she was finally out of this blizzard. She had to push forward, get to her home and back to her friends. Then, she would be able to enjoy the warmth that waited up ahead. These thoughts were her drive, and even in her fading mind, she clung on to them like a leech. Her limbs, stiff and frozen as they were, continued to push through the snow and fight against the current. Her determination to get home started to override her grievances, her inner pain and her fury.

That is, until her head collided with the bark of a tree.

Her eyelids retracted, and she reflexively took a few steps back from it in order to visually take it in.

Yes, this was indeed a tree in her path.

Reflexively, she spun her head around with the hopes that she wouldn't see what she was expecting to see. But to her shock and growing despair, all she could see was the faint silhouettes of the trees surrounding her. She could not see the clearing that she had been walking through before, the curtain of white allowing her only to see so far. In her disoriented state, she had allowed herself to walk straight off the path leading her home. Now, in the desolate and cold storm, she had nowhere to go and no place to take shelter. She was lost, and she didn't even know when she had stepped off the road to safety. For a moment, her heart began to resume its harsh beating against her rib-cage.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Her only word was repeated in a frightened and slurred mantra, her hooves stomping in the snow in an instinctive attempt to drive out the growing anxiety. She turned her head behind her in an attempt to find her own hoof prints and use them as a means to pull herself back onto her old trail. But the curtain of snow was so thick, she could tell that most of the prints she left behind had been filled up. She pushed her limbs forward, stumbling and wheezing in a blind effort to relocate the path. But no matter where she went, she simply could not find her way back. She was as blind as a mole without any of its other five senses.

Another stumble, then a fall.

She collapsed on her side, the sting of the cold and wet frost shooting through her nervous system. She was becoming more and more desperate as she felt the veil of darkness suffocating her mind. She started thrashing around, trying to get back up on her hooves. But it was no use. She had completely lost control over her locomotive functions, her nerves too numb and her body having lost too much of its strength. All she could do was throw herself about in vain like a turtle on its back, unable to recover itself.

Then, after engraving a malformed snow angel in the ground, she curled her legs up to her, shut her eyes, and started sobbing quietly. Any resolve she had to bring her home was destroyed, along with her dignity and chances of a happy ending. It wasn't supposed to end this way. She wasn't supposed to be cast out by her own blood and die on a miserable trip back home. She wasn't supposed to stop so far away from where her friends were waiting for her. But she was, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. She was going to have her life ripped away from her, and her body would be buried, frozen and forgotten in the snowy sands. It was a terrible ending to a horrible day.

“G...goodbye, girls...” She managed to whisper. “I'll...m...miss... y...y...you...”

Her mind surrendered to the darkness shortly after.

~Grisaille~

“What do you mean, she's gone?!”

“I mean it like I say it, Rainbow!! Gone!! As in, vanished!! The Cakes haven't seen her, the rest of us haven't seen her, and no one else has, either!!

“Obviously, you weren't checking hard enough!! She wouldn't do something so stupid as to just go out in this storm!!”

“Now, see here--”

“ENOUGH!!”

Twilight's thundering yell resonated within the library as it silenced the squabble between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Predictably, this earned the shocked and frightened gazes of all four of her friends. But she paid no mind to anything but the ones who had started the argument in the first place, fixing a rather harsh stare on the two rivals. “Pinkie could be lost in this storm, and you all you guys are thinking of doing is wasting time bickering?!”

The fire within both of the debaters was extinguished, and they were quick to look away from each other in shame.

“Sorry, Twi.” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Pointing hooves at Applejack isn't going to bring Pinkie back from... wherever she is right now.” Her eyes flickered with worry at the last bit of her words, and she anxiously pawed at the ground with one of her hooves.

“Yeah.” Applejack agreed. “But, in any case, I haven't seen hide or hair of Pinkie Pie.” She frowned, biting the inside of her cheek in worry. “I don't know why in the world she would go outside in the middle of a fierce storm like this! Did she even tell you all where she was going?” She looked over to Rarity and Fluttershy, hoping for a positive response.

“She didn't grace me with either a word or even her presence!” Rarity spoke up with a slight indignation, following it up with a light stamp of her hoof. “I can't imagine why she would keep a secret from us in a situation this dire!”

“She didn't come to my house.” Fluttershy said. “Or rather, she didn't tell me about her leaving...”

Twilight let out a groan, plopping herself onto her haunches and placing a hoof on her face. Pinkie's randomness had always been an irritation. But now, it served as the primary reason of their helplessness. What exactly had their pink friend thought when she set off? Did she assume that they would've thought less of her if she had spoken about the reason why she would risk herself in such weather? “Great. Just great. I don't even know the first step in trying to look for her!”

“I'm sure there's some way, Twi.” Applejack said gently, walking over and placing a reassuring hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “If she left Ponyville, the only way she could've gone is the pathway leading in. She couldn't have gotten too far away, considering the blizzard outside.”

“We could just try going out there and looking for her--”

“No, that would be too risky.” Twilight was quick to cut off Rainbow Dash's suggestion, earning a glare of mild annoyance. “Going out there runs the risk of us getting separated and lost. There would be no way of getting back or finding Pinkie if that happened--”

Then, she stopped herself. A look of realization came across her face, and she quickly stood up from the floor. Her mouth slowly stretched into a smile – something that garnered the attention of her friends.

“Unless... wait here! I've got an idea!”

She ran off, racing upstairs and out of sight before any of them could question her.

“Sheesh...” Rainbow Dash was quick to prevent what would have been a silence. “What's with her all of a sudden?”

“Whatever idea she has, I can only hope it works.” Rarity muttered, turning her attention to the window. She walked over to it, pressing a hoof against the glass. She was slightly disturbed at the wind's ferocity and the amount of snow that had accumulated on the ground. “Wherever Pinkie is, she's not going to last very long out there. I mean, just look at this!”

“I hear you...” Applejack muttered, walking over to stand beside her. “I don't think we've seen a storm this bad since... well... ever! Think the weather ponies went a bit too overboard this time?”

At this, Rainbow was quick to regress to a sheepish attitude. “Yeah...” She muttered, turning away when she saw the majority of eyes on her. “The weather management schedule has been going through last-minute changes in order to suit the holiday. We've had some talk about a mild frost, others about a mild snow storm, and even more wanting stuff like this. It's been causing a lot of stress in the staff trying to figure out what would be best. The only reason this blizzard is in effect is because they realized they were wasting time arguing about a choice of winter--”

“Found it!”

All eyes turned towards an excited Twilight as they heard her voice. They would see her carrying a transparent and indigo sphere as well as a pair of goggles within her magical influence. She trotted towards them, levitating the two objects within the view of her friends. “Took me a while to get to them, considering I haven't used them in so long. But here they are!”

“What's it supposed to be, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“It's a tracking device for weather pegasi for situations like this.” Twilight was quite ready to jump to the explanation. “The goggles can track a target via the magic signature they give off. Pegasi, unicorns and Earth ponies give off their own unique signature, making it easier for a group of weather pegasi to find each other in case they get lost in a storm like this while working. It also allows for easier location of finding citizens unfortunate enough to get caught in the storm.”

The last line she spoke seemed to lighten up their spirits.

“To set the beacon, all I have to do is channel just the right amount of energy to the orb in order for it to power itself.” For emphasis, Twilight levitated the orb and goggles in full view for everyone to see. “Then, a pegasus wearing these goggles will set off to find their designated target. On the outer rim of the inner lens, there will be several arrows inscribed within the glass. One arrow on each lens will glow, indicating which direction the target will be in. The pegasus has to keep a mental image of what she's looking for at all times for the arrows to actually point to it. Otherwise, they'll lead offtrack.”

Once Rainbow Dash saw Twilight shift her gaze to her person and walk over, she knew what was coming next.

“Rainbow, we're counting on you. Find Pinkie Pie and bring her back as quickly as you can. I don't think anyone can withstand this storm for very long, so don't push yourself, all right?”

“You got it, Twi!” Rainbow Dash followed this confirmation with a quick salute. She reached out, retrieving the goggles from the unicorn's magical grip so that she could slip them on.

“What about the rest of us?” Rarity inquired, drawing Twilight's attention to her.

“There's not really much the rest of us can do,” The response was given with a slight bit of sadness. “Other than make sure that our houses are fully enclosed and protected from the snow. We'll just have to hope that Pinkie's all right... wherever she is.”

“She'll be okay.” Rainbow Dash was quick to assure them, giving a confident smile. “I'll have her back here before you know it. Now get that beacon set up!”

~Grisaille~

It had only taken a minute before Rainbow Dash was soaring through the skies over the Evergreen Forest – the immediate target in the event one wanted to look for another lost in the snow storm.

When they spoke of the weather, they did not take anything lightly. She could feel the sting of the chilly winds as she flew through them, gritting her teeth at the wind trying to sink into her pores. If not for the goggles, she was certain that the temperatures would've turned the water of her eyes into solid ice. As she pressed on, she could already feel the bones of her joints ache slightly. The only thing that kept her from pausing or stopping entirely was the entirety of her system, which was on overdrive. One of the catalysts was, ironically, the conditions of the weather itself. She couldn't waste time, lest she or Pinkie wanted to become part of the snow that made up the ground.

Another was Pinkie herself. Who knew how the mare was faring in such weather? She certainly wasn't the athletic time, or at least a physically capable pony able to compete with her and Applejack. That, as well as the fact no one knew how long she had been out here, brought about a feeling of anxiety that just wouldn't go away. What could have possibly convinced the party mare that going out in this storm was a good idea?

A bank from an incoming tree, a turn to the left, a turn to the right.

Rainbow Dash continued to fly through the treetops, avoiding branch after branch. For anyone else, this would have been considered to be a suicidal and reckless approach. The clusters of branches and the next-to-zero wind visibility made that very clear. But she had the bravery, the experience, the equipment and the prowess to perform the daredevil method without batting an eyelash. While part of it was the desire for better visibility, another part was her own desire for a challenge. It would have been far too easy to just fly over the trees and--

“Wait!”

Abruptly, she stopped when she saw the arrows within her goggles abruptly point downward from their continuous forward position. She looked around in confusion for a brief moment before bringing herself down to the ground. As her hooves sank into the snow, she bristled at the chill that jolted through her body. She might as well have been walking through a shallow river, what with the snow nearly up to her kneecaps. It was a minor inconvenience. She had to focus on finding Pinkie.

She took a few steps forward, taking in a deep breath and ignoring the frosty winds that went down her throat. “PINKIE! ARE YOU OUT THERE?!”

No response.

“PINKIE! IT'S RAINBOW DASH! IF YOU'RE HIDING IN A TREE OR SOMETHING, STICK A HOOF OR HAND OUT OR SOMETHING, WOULD YOU?”

It wasn't an entirely irrational statement. Considering Pinkie could hide various items “throughout all of Equestria” in case of “emergencies”, Rainbow Dash couldn't overlook the possibility that she had taken shelter within a hollow tree. Following that thought was the rather humorous scenario of her accidentally angering a raccoon or bird that happened to be taken refuge within the same tree. She couldn't help but snicker a little at the thought of Pinkie and a raccoon complaining to each other about living space, with a few bites from both sides.

So lost in her slight mirth, she almost didn't notice what she was stepping on.

When she felt something within the snow, she stopped and looked down. Although all she could see was snow, she could feel the sensation of something stringy under her hooves. Her eyebrow quirked in confusion, and she raised a front hoof to paw at the snow. It only took her a few seconds for her to push away the snow obscuring whatever was under it, and when she did, she squinted her eyes and lowered her head down to inspect it.

It was a pink tail.

She only knew of two ponies it could belong to – and one of them was back in Ponyville.

“Oh, no...”

Without hesitation, Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, bit down on the tail, and moved herself backwards to drag what she hoped wasn't her friend out of the snow. But when she saw the three balloons on the hindquarters and the raspberry pink fur, she knew her fears were confirmed.

“Pinkie?!” She exclaimed, quickly moving over to Pinkie's front and holding the head up. She raised a hoof to roughly slap the mare in an attempt to stir her out of her presumed unconscious state. But as with the vocal call, the only response was the howling of the winds. Once again, the amount of time that Pinkie possibly spent outside occurred to her, and as a result, her heart began to pound viciously against the rib-cage. “Come on, Pinks, this isn't funny! You gotta wake up!” Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes, stopped by the combination of her fading willpower and the icy winds. It took all she had to turn away from the possibility of tragedy.

She had to hurry.

Knowing panicking wouldn't solve anything, Rainbow stood up and positioned herself beside Pinkie. She lowered her head, pushing her nose in the gap between the body and the ground. After getting far enough under, she lifted her head upwards and rolled the body onto her back. “I promised Twilight and the others that I'd bring you back home. You're not going to die on my watch, got it?!” Although she knew Pinkie couldn't hear, she said those words with a fierce passion that expressed the extent of her desperation. With a spread and flap of her wings, she took off into the cloudy skies in order to complete her objective.

“Hang on, just hang on... I swear, you're gonna be all right...”

~Grisaille~

Comments

[BlackBox]

More Please!
(FIRST STRIKE)

[Grisaille987]

1545519 As you command, my reader. -bows and retreats into the shadows to write more-

[Shadow_Wolf]

More!

[Clemerl]

[sudofox]

Woah.

[Grisaille987]

1548053 Pinkie shock face in a row? Wonder what about my story could've caused that.

[Platinum Rose]

I'm liking the start and look forward to how it evolves and develops. Thumbed and stared.

[Tyek]

Rainbow Dash must be a pretty terrible weather pony if she didn't even know what the tracking goggles were.

Btw, what do you mean here? "She was definitely scolding herself right now, agitated at the carbon dioxide-turned-vapor she huffed out." When the air is cold enough for you to see your breath, you aren't seeing clouds of carbon dioxide. The clouds you see are from water condensing out of your warm breath into the cold surrounding air. Colder air holds less water vapour and so the water condenses into visible clouds.

[V-Pony]

Loving the tracking goggles concept
Onwards!

[lele0101]

Awesome