Dark Pony Brotherhood

Pink turns to Red, Part 1

Pinkie Pie’s mane was flat and hung down low. She tried to stifle her sobs. She didn’t want her friends to see her like this. They couldn’t see her like this.

She felt herself breaking at the party so she had excused herself.

The Pink Pony just felt sad for no reason at times. It was difficult to keep it hidden from everypony but she had never let on that she could get so sad and so suddenly.

Part of her wondered if it had anything to do with what happened shortly after she got her cutie mark.

She shook her head violently to cease thinking about it.

She didn’t want to think on such painful memories, especially as sad as she was.

She put her face in her hooves and quietly sobbed some more, trying to cry out whatever the sadness had stemmed from. She had to pull herself together soon, or her friends would begin to worry and come look for her.

She had made the excuse of making some more treats, and they would wonder where they were. All she would have to do is act goofy and they would forget about the treats, she was sure of that. But it was just so hard sometimes to stop being sad.

It was then that she heard the door quietly open, and she turned her head quickly to see a dark pony standing there, before he closed the door again, just as quietly.

The pony she had thrown this party for in the first place was looking at her. She could see him measuring the situation, and he had done it fast enough that he closed to the door to keep anypony else from finding her in this situation.

“L-Luci…. I…. I….” she didn’t know how to say anything at this point.

“Is something wrong Ms. Pie?” asked the dark pony asked her softly.

She sniffed, and while she wanted to say no and play it off, she could only stumble out a, “Y-yes.”

Lucien Lachance came closer to her, “you could tell me what’s wrong if you want,” he told her. “Anything that troubling you, and if you want to keep it from your friends, I wouldn’t tell a soul,” he promised to her.

She looked to him like a trusting little sister would to an older sibling. She looked back down though.

“I, I don’t want to right now, not with all of them here,” she said quietly. But she did seem to perk up, knowing she may be able to share her problems with somepony finally.

Lucien looked to the door he had just come through, the party just on the other side. “Can you keep yourself together till the end of the party?” he asked. “After everypony goes home, you can come back, and tell me all you need to,” he said.

The Pink depressed pony forced a bit of a smile, and nodded, “alright Luci,” she said, already starting to perk up a bit.

It was suddenly then that Pinkie Pies mane “poofed” back into the curly happy mess that it was known for being. The relief of being able to get things off her chest broke her from her sadness.

The Pink Party Pony was back, at least for now. She thanked Lucien and pranced back to the party, forgetting the snacks she was supposed to be making.

Rainbow Dash teased her lightly, and everypony chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie Pie.

The Party winded down, and Lucien bid them all a goodnight, and thanked them for coming, and gave an especially big thanks to Rarity who had put so much work in making him the cloak he had asked of her.

Twilight seemed to be a little embarrassed that she had not gotten him anything, but nopony aside from Rarity had.

Lucien had assured her it was no big deal, and insisted she went home and got some sleep, it was getting late. The ponies had all taken his advice, and went on to their homes to wind down from the small but fun party.

Once everypony was gone, Lucien went back inside and closed the door behind him. Waiting for Pinkie Pie to return.

…….

Lucien was in the middle of cleaning up his new home after the party when there was a knock at the door. He went to it and opened to see Pinkie Pie standing there, her mane back to flat.

“Come in Ms. Pie,” he invited.

The pink pony nodded and came inside, the door closing behind her.

“So, tell me what happened that made you so sad Ms. Pie?” he asked her.

“Please, just call me Pinkie,” the unusually subdued voice of Pinkie Pie sounded.

Lucien nodded, and invited her to sit on the floor, having no furniture to speak of yet.

Once they were both comfortable, or at least not standing, Lucien asked her again, “What happened?” he asked her.

It took her a moment, but she eventually began to speak. “I sometimes get really sad, just for no reason, I feel it coming on, and suddenly I just can’t help but cry like a lost little filly,” she explained.

“It’s like suddenly I think everything is terrible and I don’t want to face it anymore,” she said. She looked down, almost as if the floor may hold whatever answers she may be looking for. “Sometimes it’s just a little case of the sniffles and I can get over it in no time,” she looked at the dark pony now. “But sometimes, like today, I need to cry it out. On worst days I spend all day locked inside my apartment over Sugar Cube Corner, pretending that I’m doing ‘Pinkie Pie Stuff’.” Tears started to build up again, and she looked to the floor as they started to spill over onto her cheeks.

“It’s hard being happy all the time, ever since I got my cutie mark I’ve wanted to only smile and see smiles, but,” she started to sob, “It’s just too *sniff* hard, and I can’t *sniff* take it,” she struggled to get to talking again. Lucien let her take her time as he listened intently.

She calmed down enough that she could speak clearly, “ever since I got my cutie mark, I wanted to throw parties, and make ponies happy.”

She grew silent for a moment. “Starting with my family,” she said.

“I don’t know why, but my family was always sad, my father especially looked at me with a frown, always on his face, and always looked a little mad,” she said.

“I wasn’t allowed in the house, he told me I had to sleep outside and work for my food. He was always nicer to my sisters,” she said sadly, and Lucien noted her tone was as if she was coming to realize this.

‘Did she repress these memories her whole life?’ he wondered to himself as he listened.

“One day, I see a rainbow in the sky,” she said, a smile forming on her face at the memory. “I later found out that Rainbow Dash had made it, and it was so beautiful, it made me smile, and I felt so happy, and I wanted everypony to feel how happy I was,” her smile grew bigger and it seemed her hair would puff up any moment. “I threw my first party for my family, I worked hard all night to put it together, and the next morning they came into the silo, and we had my first party ever.”

Her face seemed in absolute bliss, her hair was fully poofy and one wouldn’t have guessed she was crying just a second ago.

“They loved it, they were dancing, and smiling, even my father. And for a day, things didn’t seem so bad.” He smile started to fade. “I tried throwing another party the next day, and all my father said was…..”

She deepened her voice to sound like an older male pony, “We indulged your silly games once already, now get back to work,” she mimicked.

“I kept trying, and one day…..” She sniffed, her poofy hair falling flat once more, and she seemed sadder than ever. “He trashed it all, broke everything I had set up to have a party with,” her gaze went back to the floor, and then laid down, sobbing, before she collected herself once more. “He told me no more parties ever, and I was just so…… angry.”

She looked up at Lucien pitifully, as he listened intently, giving her a look of pity and concern. “That night, while my Father, Mother and sisters all slept in the house, I…..” her eyes filled with tears, though it was hard to tell with her already tear streamed face. “I set the house on fire…… and, I smiled again, as it burned.”

“I, I enjoyed it,” she said quietly, though clearly horrified by herself. “I know I shouldn’t have, and I should be ashamed but I’m not,” she cried, and began to weep once more, the floor beneath her was stained with the tears.

“They were right not to love me,” she said. “How could I ever be loved? Who could love a monster that kills her family without feeling sad from it?”

Lucien studied the severely misjudged pony.

Pinkie Pie was sniffling still, but she wasn’t crying. Her remembering her childhood for what it was had ended. Now she only rested, seemingly drained from the repressed memory and all the crying.

Lucien suspected her sadness was caused by what she said. She didn’t feel that anypony who had done what she had and not have felt remorse of it was worthy of ever being loved.

‘Well,’ thought the dark pony.

‘I’ll just have to change that view point.’ He suppressed his urge to smirk.

He went to her side, and pulled her close, “Pinkie Pie, you are not a monster,” he assured her.

The pink pony looked at Lucien with surprise in her eyes, trying to understand that he was embracing her even after all she told him.

“It was cruel of them for what they did to you, you must have been very lonely, weren’t you?” he asked her.

She sniffed again, “yes, I was,” she said.

“All that time, sent to live outside whiles the rest of your family, not appreciating what a lovely daughter they had, lived inside.”

She sniffed again; his words warmed her as he spoke.

“Poor Pinkie Pie, nopony showed you the love you deserved back then did they?”

She couldn’t take it anymore. She buried her head into his chest and embraced him as she had one final powerful cry. She felt a little ashamed of herself for being so vulnerable, crying as she was. But the rest of her didn’t care, just happy that somepony was showing her kindness even when knowing her dark past.

They were like that for a moment, before Lucien spoke up once more, “do you want a new Family, Pinkie Pie?” he asked her.

She looked up at him.

His voice darkened, but to her it was light and beautiful, “A Father who would be proud of you, a Mother who would love you?” he asked her. “And brothers and sisters, who would care deeply about you, and not only accept but embrace the darkness in your heart?”

Her heart pounded in her chest. She already felt like he was the brother she never had. Strong, loving and supportive. In his hooves she felt safe, and loved.

Her mane poofed back out almost instantly, and her smile was back full force, and she hugged him tightly, “yes, yes I would, I would love a new family more than anything,” she said gleefully.

Lucien smiled, and held her close, “there is one thing you must do then, and then I will introduce you to your new family,” he promised her.

She looked up to him with all the trust a young sibling could have for their older brother, “Anything.”