Family Roots (Cake Side Story)
Blinkie had questions. When she and her sisters went to Ponyville they didn’t even step inside the farmhouse to gather their things, and Blinkie wanted to tie up loose ends. Maybe even uncover things her parents hid all those years.
“Why would ya wanna go back there? We can’t bake without ya!”
Applebloom said while Blinkie packed her bags
“I just gotta. Don’t tell the others about this, I don't want them to bitch about it.”
Blinkie said without looking at the young filly. Applebloom knew there was no changing her mind
“….you won’t be gone for long...right?”
She said, Blinkie broke her cold exterior and patted Applebloom on the head trying not to look into her big sad eyes.
“Few days. Tops. How’s that?”
Applebloom giggled at that and nodded, Blinkie left out the back door as Applebloom waved goodbye. Hopefully, the filly would keep her secret. She traveled the road towards the farm as quickly as she could hoping the faster she returned to Sugarcube Corner the fewer questions her sisters would have, and Blinkie hated explaining herself. Passing her old village it felt like every pair of eyes was on her, scared people recognized her from the past. The feeling only got worse from there when she approached the farm…..Blinkie could even see the cave from here, every detail reminded her of trauma. She stepped inside the farmhouse, noticeably dusty and graying from missing its residents. As she slowly looked around remembering her childhood she stepped into the kitchen and saw the cellar door. Knowing what she did now this froze her in place. This was Minkie’s childhood. She lit a lantern and slowly opened the door…now she would get a good look. The stairs creaked and the floor was cold, she scanned around the room seeing a raggedy blanket and rats gathered around a dark spot on the floor, scattering as she stepped closer. The sight stunned her…an outline of a pony, with the outline of a filly in the center. This is where Minkie lay as she grew. The shape changed along with her. Blinkie teared up, she was just a filly….every day just sitting in the dark. “Fuck!” She stomped on the floor, slightly cracking it. We could’ve been happy! Parents are supposed to love their kids so why didn’t you love her? Blinkie rushed up the steps of the cellar and quickly upstairs to her parent's room. There had to be an explanation. She DESERVED an explanation. As she scavenged around the room she discovered something strange, an old safe. Of course, she didn’t know the code but she could guess. She tried her birthday, and Inkie's birthday, but neither worked. With a bit of thought, she gave an angry exhale and tried Pinkie’s birthday. She felt a click and it opened with a creak…of course. The fucking favorite. Even though Blinkie wouldn’t dare say it deep down she was always jealous of Pinkie, she could do whatever she wanted and even got to leave the farm! But then again…if they left with her they would have never discovered Minkie. Inside the safe was an old bouquet, a few books, and a small diary. “Igneous Rock” marked the cover, papa. As she opened it a locket fell out on the floor and opened. The melancholy tune of Spring Waltz brought her to the floor as she lay at the foot of it, the locket containing a picture of her mother. This was the first time she found anything beautiful looking into the face of that witch. But it was truly beautiful, and she wanted to know why it was locked away. She read the first page of the diary:
“Today I am to be wed. Truthfully I don’t know much about her but I want to…she is beautiful but refuses to accept that we have been arranged. Hopefully, if I treat her the best that I can she’ll see the colt I truly am.”
If Blinkie was honest, she had never thought her parents loved each other. But Papa was always nicer than Mama…even when he was angry. The second entry was nearly 5 years after the first.
“Today I had my daughter, Obsidian. She had such beautiful eyes. After the birth my wife yelled to get the baby away from her…like it was a monster.”
So her mother had a hatred for Minkie from the beginning. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was sad and ate at Blinkie as she read further
“we welcomed another daughter into the world today, Marblestone. Cloudy Quartz was all over her. I still don’t understand why Minkie was different…she stood in the hallway watching my wife meet the baby. I wanted to tell her something but I didn’t know what. I just want Cloudy to be happy.”
What was different? Papa, why didn’t you tell her she was your daughter too?? Blinkie was getting angry. The kind of sad frustrated anger that would make you cry, and it only got worse from the next entry…
“Minkie is in the cellar. My wife put her there, I don’t know what to do as of now. I argued about it with Cloudy last night and she struck me. Of course, she didn’t mean it but it scared me all the same, she hasn’t been sleeping since she put Minkie down there making her eyes red and crazed…perhaps she’ll allow me to let Minkie out soon, but until then I’ll leave it be.”
this was a shock…papa was always quiet but Blinkie never thought mama was hitting him, why didn’t he tell someone? Why would Mama hit him..?
“The days are hard, it seems the rocks get heavier every year. Some days I’ll take my wife’s extra pair of glasses with me out to work the fields as she rests so I can look at them and remember who I’m working for. I'm even getting a locket made for her to celebrate all of our children, we’ve had 4 now and Pinkie is very special. She brought joy into my soul for the first time in years. I wish Minkie could have met her…I love my children, but I love my wife most….I don’t think she ever wanted children. And it seems the only reason she agreed to have them is because she wants to hurt them. This will be my final entry”
The locket's music came to a halt as Blinkie’s tears dropped onto the pages. Oh, papa…why did you let her have us? Why didn’t you love us more? There were many questions stewing inside her as she flipped through the pages trying to find what she was truly looking for…a conversation she had with her father more than 10 years ago. Blinkie told him that she wasn’t a boy, but he just blew it off and told her not to mention any of these crazy delusions to her mother.
“I was telling the truth papa…I’m a girl, please tell me you wrote about it here…I just wanna know how you felt about it.”
Blinkie loved her dad. And she wanted her dad to love her for her, at least before he died. Why that bitch that hurt us so badly? What was so much better about her? Blinkie stomped the locket into a broken pile of metal. She stood there for a while just trying not to cry, then she made her mind up and took all the things hidden away in the safe outside to burn. As her father’s diary entries and locket wasted away in the flames she was just glad none of her sisters had to know this feeling. Maybe she shouldn’t have come here at all.
Author's Note
This story was supposed to shed light on the relationship between Cloudy and Igneous and its complexity. No person is perfect, neither party has to be completely innocent. We all deserve love and support in toxic relationships as imperfect as we are.
