Prologue ~ Vengeful Grey Thoughts
~ Prologue ~
Vengeful Grey thoughts,
“Drift in and out of reality,”
Inkialee stared at the quarter waning moon. It seemed huge, a great irregular crescent, cutting up the oblivion like sky; No stars decorated around the moon, nor any clouds blurring it. Inkialee glared at the moon, angry at it for the irrelevant fact that the shadow had covered the moon, and was huffing slightly from the weight of the rocks she was pulling along. “Too good for me, eh?!” She had yelled, as if the shadow covered the moon purposely. “Why hide?!” The sound died quickly across the hard, desert like ground of rocks. The moon had no response, didn’t shine any brighter or duller. The same moon, never changing. Shaking her head, Inkie turned to glare at the floor. That way, there was less of the chance of tripping over and breaking the wheels or her legs from a rock determined to make her day… her night worse.
Once again Inkialee was working past dusk, due to her being the only pony in the family able to work on the rock farm. The workers got their shifts. They ended work just before the sun set so they could get home. But to Inky, this was her home. And the rocks still needed to be transported before tomorrow, so guess who had to do it?
Inkie’s parents were too old now. Pinkamena and Blinkette had gone, years ago. So Inkialee continued pulling the rocks through a steady tread in the half light, under the irregular moon.
“Dreaming of a life ahead,
where this life is as good as dead,
living under the celestial sun,
instead of pulling this dreary ton” She sung exhausted in dreary unhappiness, the anger drawn out of her. She usually did brilliantly in anything that included words, but she was too tired for tonight, and the usually velvet sounding words hung heavily and disastrously rookie-like.
She got to a place near to an empty road that had light dust on it. After nudging a few bricks under the wheels to stop the cart from moving she sat down on her rump, leaning back against it. She felt stressed – sleepless nights made her eyes heavy, and dust in her tail and mane made her itch. After catching her breath she got up and walked back to her house, head and ears low, hooves and her usually straight, but knotted mane dragging on the floor.
She was fed up with her life. She was stuck at a rock farm, she was alone, but most of all she was going no-where. For who else would look after the farm? She shook her head and reared up where she stood, before running back to her house, wanting to get to her bed. Perhaps it would put all these thoughts away, like her mother had said when she was young.
~*~
Inkialee walked into her bedroom, huffing, and her head once again low, eyes hurting, both feeling like they had weights on. She blew her dark grey hair out of her eyes before stepping into her room.
Inkialee hesitated, her left hoof bent, just about to take another step. A sharp contrast to the surroundings outside and to Inkie herself, the room was rainbow coloured. Bright blue fluffy fabric – though, with the occasional ink and food stain – cushioned her hooves and bright watercolours danced on the walls, also stained with ink; partly because of the design, partly because of accidents and partly because of tantrums. Well, she had did have this room from a filly, after all.
Inkialee walked softly and slowly into the room, as her parents were sleeping opposite her door. The main thing that struck her, as if she had never seen it before, was that all of her furniture was a bright pink, or a very light stone blue. She looked down on herself. She saw the ends of dark grey hair, and light grey forelegs and hooves. Under her was a bright pink carpet, highlighted by the moon.
This whole place was making negative emotions strangle her, reaching out like shadows, ready to crush her. She lowered her head in sorrow, an angry expression making its way onto her face. It felt like she had a stone at the bottom of her stomach. She breathed in before holding her head high and letting it out, before trotting to her mirror on the desk, and getting a hairbrush that hid behind it. She brushed her mane that fell to just below her shoulder slowly, and then put it back. The desk was in full light of the moon, just under the window. Ink stains covered the desk, and a pile of new sheets of cartilage paper to her left, and a bunch of messy used ones on her right. Grabbing a new sheet, as well as her writing feather, she sat down and begun writing, as part as her sleeping ritual.
‘Of a feather,
Sharp and soft,
That fell of a greyjay,
What brought you this way?
For as long as I have known,
I have never seen a bird such as you,
That followed winding paths,
That I followed too.
Oh, Dear greyjay,
Don’t follow I,
But follow my past, my shadow,
But careful, ¡cuidado!
For a past can be riddled,
Dark and twisted,
Like black roses afore you,
On a dark summers anew.’
Underneath the writing she doodled artistically. She considered herself an artist, as she believed art was not just in paint, but all around her. However, she was truly talented in ink paintings. So she dabbed, dotted and stroked ink at the bottom of the page, in the form of a jay swooping. Below it, as if in a signature, she wrote her name.
‘Inkialee Greyjay Pie’
She blew, softly, to help it dry. She then checked the page as a whole, adding more ink in places, or blowing as if whispering at the paper in places where the ink was wet. She had been writing with her hoof for a long time, and it looked as good as writing produced with a unicorns magic. She then looked at it. Finished. Once she was done, she put it on top of the other inky papers.
She did think herself talented in that area, and many thought that it would be her cutie mark. But no, and while Inkialee could not be classed as adult just yet, she was quite old to not have her cutie mark. She was not a filly, nor had been for a while. She shook her head of that thought before looking in the mirror.
She was still, and was pale. Wrinkles of exhaustion and stress hovered round her young face, especially round her eyes. A few small scars from accidents down the mine. Once again she spotted the problem between her and the room. She didn’t belong there. For what colours did she have, other than her purple eyes - that were usually lowered to the ground for a reason or another anyway? But the thought struck her mind again. With calmness she considered it. She agreed. She did not belong here.
So she walked with a purposeful tread out of the door of her room. It had been long enough.
In her parent’s room, she saw her parents and two foals in a cot beside them. Her parents had grey streaks in their hair. While Inkialee had no real amount of love for them and their sternness, now days anyway, she was still fond of them. She kissed the head softly of each parent, then walked to the cot, where she Rayla and Rain. They weren’t her actual sister and brother, but for Rain, she wanted him to be.
Ignoring Rayla, she walked over to Rain and kissed his head. ‘I am sorry, Rayray’. She stepped back and looked at them both, both of them too big for a cot, being at the older toddler stage. The farm couldn’t afford the travel or costs to buy a bed, for now. The shadows were deep over them. Rain was hugging his teddy bear tightly, which is what she was there for. Inkie, with a smooth motion, slipped the bear out of his arms. The smart foal. He would remember what it meant. She then turned to walk out, but not before putting her used quill on her parents stool next to their beds. She walked back into her bedroom. She grabbed her pouch of bits, which was full from little donations from the start of her life. It would do her for a decent time. Then she grabbed her grey-brown saddle pack (it had lost all its saturation from the amount of times it was used), which was made of some kind of tough material and put it all in.
Before she walked out again, she grabbed the very top most used sheet of paper, then the bottom most. With a hesitation, she then went up to the mirror with a sudden movement, she picked up her hairbrush and hit the mirror with it, which shattered. Some pieces of glass cut her, but nothing serious, but she quickly, while trying to be silent, ran; hoping her parents wouldn't come after her. She did not know that all they would do was murmur in their sleep. She didn't know about the mark that appeared on her flank as she ran.
A quick grey blur on hard ground, the strong muscles from turning the rock proved its use and got her far away.
~*~
Sue rolled around a bit, as she came out of a deep sleep. She suddenly woke up sharply, thinking she heard a noise, which had actually happened ten minutes ago. Clyde slept soundly – as always – beside her. She got out of bed slowly, something unnerving her. Nothing seemed to be wrong, or disturbed however. She looked at the twins. Nothing wrong, to her eyes, even though she hadn’t got her glasses on. She looked at the calendar. A few days till autumn. A soft smile graced her face as she thought about her daughters. She climbed back into bed, and fell asleep again.
The morning after, the scene would be filled with worry, as the third, final daughter was found gone from her bed.
Author's Note
Okay. Hello. First things first. I am new-ish. I prefered to read and watch for a while, but I am here now.
Next thing, If you are confused It may be because I want you to be. However, feel free to mention it in the comments; I might not have meant to do it!
I am fine with constructive criticism, but, like everyone else, I love random praise!
If you give this story a 'thumbs down' could you tell me why? You don't have to say you have put it down, but I can't fix what I don't know is wrong!
I really hope you enjoy, and reviews are really appreciated! I will answer as many questions as I can in the comments.
Oh, I nearly forgot. I wont post the first chapter until I have got the first few chapters on word. Then I will be posting one, on every fifth day, or something. I'll try my best to hurry up for you! It may take a few days, to a week or so, but I'll try my best, and will probably succeed for updating in less then a month!
Chapter 1 ~ Pink and Grey
~ Chapter 1 ~
Pink and Grey
“Does it start with Sanity?”
Crack. Rustle. Whooshing leaves whispered with the wind.
“Hello?” Inkialee asked. “Is anyone there? ... Well that’s awkward, ah ha ha… AH!”
Inkialee galloped, regretting her choice of coming into the Everfree as a shortcut.
~*~
The chatter and murmur, and occasional shout, was a comforting background noise. Males crawled round a large square glass pane, held up by metal from the roof that had been enchanted by unicorns so it showed screens in other places of Equestria. Of course, at this time, it was showing a live match of Hoofball. Mares and stallions gathered together round tables for dates or dinners with family or friends. Then there was the pitiful ponies wanting to drown themselves in drinks. Inkialee would be one of them, if she could stand the sour liquids that helped you forget. So she just drank water and watched the goings on.
Suddenly a Pegasus flew in, his coat a dark turquoise and his mane a windswept thundercloud grey and dark blue.
“I’ve got some news for you folk…”
~*~
Crackle. Rustle. The sounds and sense of danger was similar to her time in the Everfree. ‘Why did I even join?’ Inkialee thought. ‘This is for Harmony? This is for Peace? This is for Evil. How can the princesses let this happen?’ Unlike the time in the Everfree, the danger right now wasn’t a product of her mind, but much, much more real. A round of crackling and ticking, and hell ensued.
~*~
“How did you survive‽” Inkie giggled as the pine green Pegasus asked. “Well, I nearly ran into a cat, which I thought was a tiger, so I ran, and nearly got stabbed to death from protruding branches ( I swear they were put there on purpose) and… an … ah” Inkie giggled tiredly, her thoughts a mess, before falling asleep. ‘Awe Derring’ pulled the bed sheet over the shaken mare.
~*~
“Awe, to your left!”
“Wah?”
“Ah, err… I meant your right…”
“Ok, oh… Oh Celestia! Run!”
…
“… huff… I need a vacation!”
“Yeah, Ok! … Let’s talk … about this later,… alright?”
“Ok!”
~*~
Twilight put away the ‘few’ books she had been reading, putting away consisting on pushing them away from her, then went back to the six left. Spike rolled his eyes and sighed before taking them and putting them in their correct spaces while Twilight read a bit of one of the books before switching to one on her right. Three candles chased away shadows where she was reading, though an occasional burst of yellow light from the scheduled storm outside helped light the words of the book up. If there wasn’t a storm, it would be dusk at the moment. Twilight yawned, but continued reading.
“Twi, I think I’m going to bed now. I’ve done everything you asked today. Just remember to turn the Open sign.”
“Oh, good, thank you spike. Tomorrow I’ll thi-” Crash! The door slammed open and a pink blur stumbled in knocking over the candles, putting the room into darkness.
“Pinkie? What in Equestria?”
“Oh, hi Twilight! I thought you would be here. Well of course you would be here because its night time and it’s your home but… hey, its kinda weird that a library is a home! Do you dream of words sometimes? I dream of cupcakes in the shop… normal cupcakes not the cupcakes you’re thinking… as in, my normal cupcakes which ponies think are different of other cupcakes but I guess that’s true because I am pinkie… well that’s what ponies say, but what are normal cupcakes like? Oh no! Have I ever had a normal cupcake? What if my cupcakes were infectious and there where only, like five normal cupcakes left in the world? They are going extinct! Cupcakes! Help the cupcakes! They are-”
“Pinkie, can you get back on the actual subject, please? Be a dear and tell Twilight.”
“Rarity?” Spike and Twilight said, shocked.
“And don’t forget me, Sugercubes”
“Applejack? What-”
“I had a big doozy! It was like woooo and I was like ahh because they’re rare. And then I knew it was going to include me and be at your house so I was like… I mean at your Library, ha! … So I was like its Twilights second doozy experience! Is that enough reason for a party?”
“Ah… Ah’m not…”
“Of course! So I’ll do it after the doozy! Hey, Twi, have you got any cupcakes?”
“No I-” Twilight stopped suddenly, waiting for Pinkie to be Pinkie and cut across her. Twilight grinned; she had finally predicted Pinkie Pie!
…
“Why did you stop, Twilight?” Pinkie asked. Twilight sighed.
“Never mind. No I do not ha-”
“Well that’s good! I can share mine then! Just saying, they’re Pinkie cupcakes, not the rare normal ones.” Pinkie pulled out a candle, making everyone realise that they had been standing in the dark, with the door open – which was promptly shut – and Pinkie pulled out a tray of cupcakes from who knows where. Spike shrugged and grabbed one and murmured that he guessed he wasn’t going to sleep just yet; not after her stared at Rarity for a decent amount of time, of course. Everypony else just shrugged and followed spikes lead, grabbing Pinkies Pinkie Cupcakes, which were apparently infectious to normal cupcakes.
~*~
“Have you heard, dears?” Rarity asked. She had curlers in her hair and was flipping through a newspaper that Twilight had yet to read. Twilight had joined Rarity in the mane styling and was using straighteners and a mirror to make sure that no strand of hair was out of place. AJ had escaped what she perceived to be unnecessary time wasting and was reading a book. The girls had decided to have a sleep over because of the storm. A sense of Da ja vu hung over the calm settings. Hopefully it wouldn’t go so bad like their last sleep-over.
“Heard of what, Rarity?” Rarity closed the newspaper and showed the heading. ‘Cloudsdale; Autumn secrets?’.
“It could have a better title, I suppose but… If this is true… It has to be the worst, possible thing, ever.”
“Oh my! I really hope this is just a rumour… look here… a lot of ruckus has been coming from…’” Suddenly a series of bangs came from the stairs as pinkie rolled down them, unharmed.
“Girls!”
“What?”
“Its… wohoohooo! Wow, this is almost as big as when Twilight finally admitted to believing to things she didn’t understand,” Twilight looked flatly at her. “I mean, Brr! Talk about bouncy! Perhaps it’s coming clo-” This time, a huge bang came from the door, and suddenly the previously muted sound of rain and thunder came into the room with vengeance. A dark green pegasus with a dishevelled greyish yellow mane and a cutie mark of a pony silhouette on a hey-coloured quill. One side of the feather, the side the pony was on, was unpreened and messy; looking like the pony was galloping through dead grass. She huffed and fell down huffing.
“The sign said the Library was open” She spluttered out before resting her head on her hooves. The other four mares looked at the huffing mare that was still catching her breath. Twilight couldn’t help thinking that she looked familiar. Just then a clutter of hooves and a grey blur ran in before falling over the green pony. The grey earth pony looked even more familiar then the green one, but Twilight was sure she had never seen them before. They grey mare, even more tired than the pegasus, said something unconceivable before falling onto her stomach. The green one stood up slowly.
“Hello, sor… sorry to intrude like this… My name’s, my name is Derring. Awe Derring.” Suddenly, Twilight gathered where she had seen the green pony before. She was the author of Daring do! Awe recognised that she was known and smirked tiredly, though she tensed.
“You’re the author of Daring Do!”
“Daring Do? Isn’t that the series Dash likes so much?” Rarity asked Twilight. Applejack nodded. All of them had abandoned their previous activities.
“Yes… can I get your autograph for a friend?” Twilight said to Derring.
“Oh, sure.” Awe Derring relaxed, seemingly realising that Twilight wasn’t an enthusiastic fan of Daring Do. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, she’s called Rainbow Dash. She’s going to so sad she-” Once again, as Equestria seemed determined to cut off her sentences, or just Pinkie, a window opened. “Might as well stop talking.” She murmured, annoyed.
“What Pinkie! What’s going on! What’s the matter? Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash, for of course it would be the mare that uses windows as doors, said. Suddenly, Rarity, Applejack and Twilight turned to look at the usually bouncy Pink mare. They now realised that the Party Cannon wasn’t out to greet the visitors. Twilight realised her Library wasn’t a big mess of streamers and balloons. Pinkie sat there, with her mouth wide open staring at the grey mare. They all realised why the grey mare looked familiar. She looked like a Discorded pinkie. A discorded pinkie mixed with a depressed pinkie. ‘Celestia help us.’ They couldn’t help thinking.
“G, G… Girls, what’s going on?” All of the ponies in the room looked behind Rainbow, where Fluttershy flew softly. She flinched and landed on the window sill.
“If you would… If you would like to tell me, that is” She whispered.
“Ah don’t know, ‘shy. Pinkie?” Pinkie just ignored Applejack, and walked up to the statue coloured mare, who was just shutting her eyes in exhaustion, finished catching her breath, and not realising Awe had stopped talking.
“Ink… Inkie?” Pinkie whispered, muzzle to muzzle with Inkie. With that word, Inkie opened her velvet purple eyes that contrasted to her grey body.
“Pinkie? Pinkamena?”
“sister?” They said together.
“Sister‽” All of the mares, with the exception of Awe Derring, exclaimed. Suddenly, Inkialees expression turned from surprise to bitterness.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie. I would prefer it if you called me Inkialee, please.” She said to the pink mare, who responded with an even more surprised face and pulling her head back.
“Pinkie, you have a sister? Why did you never tell us, darling?” Rarity said. Applejack just gulped, in the prospect of two pinkie-like mares in the world.
“Is this the one of the mares you told me about?” Awe asked, and when Inkialee nodded positively, she turned to look thoughtfully at the sister. Then Pinkie came to terms with her sister being here.
“Inkie!!! You’re here! We need to have a party, right now! I can’t believe you’re here! How did you get here? Are mum and dad all right? Did they-”
“Pinkamena, stop.” Inkie said solidly against her sisters fast talking.
“-Oh! We need a song!
It’s been so long, so long,
And you’re here again!
So let’s all laugh and have joy!
Don’t try to hide, stay by my side…”
“Pinkamena Diana Pie! Stop!”
“y… yes?” Pinkie Pie stopped her song, and then looked nervously at Inkialee, but still smiling.
“Look Pinkie, I’m trying to leave my past alone…”
“Yes, ok. A… and? What does that mean?”
“It means I want to forget about you. It’s good and all and you have found all these wonderful ponies so you’re not sad now, and it’s all good. I, and Awe, will be leaving tomorrow. We’re going now.” Inkialee said, looking squarely at her sister, all expressionless but her eyes, which were tensed. Pinkies mane seemed to deflate a bit.
“We… we are?” Awe said. “But… But… It’s stormy!”
“And?” She walked to the door which had been shut by applejack a bit before but no-one had noticed. Pinkie Pie’s friends just watched the scene, concerned. Inkie opened the door and went through it, getting soaked instantly. The sound was an almost flood, and lightning flashed against the sky, crawling across clouds. Inkie stopped outside.
“Awe. You coming?” Inkie said. It sounded like she wanted to say something else.
“Yes… in a minute. I’ll get directions don’t you worry.” Closing her eyes, Inkie reached back to pull the door closed. Awe Derring didn’t know if she chose right or not. Shaking her head she looked back to the mares. Pinkie pie stared back, before her hair fully deflated, looking just shorter then Inkies mane. She then lied on her stomach, put her hooves over her eyes and Pinkie Pie began to cry.
Author's Note
You know, the only reason I am posting this is because people have favorited and liked it. And I know this story is mediocre compared to many other stories, and I know that many other stories have had many other likes and favourites, but I haven't had this many likes or views in such a short time on any other site. It made me feel very happy :) And I would like to put this in a story group. Any recommendations?
My nect chapter might be posted in a week or two. Like this chap', if I see more activity It'll be easier to write, so...
Please comment? And feel free to point out mistakes.
