//------------------------------// // Six: A good day ends in worry // Story: Stereoheart // by FimFan14 //------------------------------// "I am so gonna get you!" Twilight laughed gently from a distance. No, Stereo was not part way through killing his friend. The seemingly vicious comment was actually a playful 'threat,' caused by a sneaky Aquaflow catching Stereo out in a game of hide-and-seek-tag. Ahhh, a lesson in context, Twilight thought. She cheerfully rolled up her newly written scroll. "Stereo!" She called out, getting his attention. "Yeah!?" "I'm going back to the library to send this letter. Don't stay out too long, Rainbow may get worried," she yelled, before adding quietly, "contrary to popular belief." "Okay, seeya Twi!" Seeing her walk off, he turned back to his friend, who was no-where to be seen. "Aqua?" He called out. Looking around, he began to get worried. "Have I been ditched?" Less than a second later, he heard what could be described as some sort of battle cry; before being knocked to the ground. He was surprised for a moment, before realising who it was, and breaking out into a grin. "Not a chance!" Aqua said. Aqua relinquished his hold on Stereo. "Okay, you win," Stereo said, catching his breath. "What now?" "Sugarcube Corner?" "Sure thing!" "And what do two of my favouritest colts want today?" Stereo raised an eyebrow. It would probably take more than a few days to get used to Pinkie's crazy behaviour - and total disregard for the equestrian language. Aqua, however, seemed unfazed. "I'll just have an ordinary cupcake," he said. "Not your usual?" Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow of her own. "I don't even have a usual! Besides, I only have two bits." "You don't need to make it official, I make it a point to remember everything about everypony!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "And don't worry about bits! I still owe you from that time you helped me clean up!" "Pinkie, you don't have..." Aqua didn't have time to finish, as both he and Stereo were pushed into a seat. "Just go with the flow, Flow!" Pinkie said. "I'll get one churro special, and one bowl of vanilla-coconut tapolicious for Stereo!" "But, I haven't even ordered!" Stereo protested. How do you know I'll like it?" "Don't worry!" Pinkie replied cheerfully as she skipped away. "I know you will." Of course, who can deny the infinite wisdom of Pinkie Pie, at least where her friends are concerned. While Stereo didn't yet really call her a close friend, he knew that he probably couldn't hold out for long. Stereo broke out into a grin when he saw what Pinkie brought out but a minute later. Sago. No matter what flavour, sago was, in his opinion, hands-down the best dessert in the world. Telekinetically scooping a generous amount of the small globes into his mouth, he took note of the flavour. "Coconut milk and vanilla?" He said. "Pinkie, how did you know what my favourite dessert was?" "I have my ways," she said, a mischievous undertone in her voice. "And how are your churros, Aqua?" Quickly swallowing, he replied. "Great, Pinkie! Thank you so much!" "Anything for you guys!" Pinkie said. "You both went through a lot recently, so you deserved a break anyways." "But honestly Pinkie," Stereo said, "how did you know about my favourite dessert, and my favourite flavour? You even used the right sized sago-pearls! Only one pony knows how much I don't like the big ones, and that's Fr..." He paused for a moment, turning his head to look through the narrowly opened kitchen door. What- or rather who he saw didn't surprise him in the slightest. "Frisky, why are you wearing an apron?" "Pinkie gave me a job here!" His brother replied. "She loved my cooking so much, so she just asked the Cakes and they said yes!" "That's great," Stereo said. "This is Aqua, I met him at the park. Aqua, this is my little brother, Frisky." "Hey!" Frisky said. "I'm Frisky, we just moved here!" Stereo resisted the urge to facehoof. Obvious much, Frisky? "Hi... nice to meet you," Aqua said meekly. Frisky turned his attention back to Stereo. "Rainbow said we needed to be home at five, which is really soon!" Aqua seemed slightly alarmed. "I need to go too!" He said. "Mom and Dad'll kill me! See you tomorrow, okay?" "Yeah, sounds good!" Stereo said. Aqua galloped out the door, and the other two walked off slowly in the other direction. As they approached the bridge that crossed over the Ponyville River, they noticed a figure moving towards them. As they got closer, they began to make out details; yellow coat, and a long, pink mane. As they got closer still, they saw that she was a pegasus. Soon enough, they passed each other, the two colts briefly acknowledging her with a curt nod and a "hi." As they continued, they heard a short squeak. Turning, Stereo realised that it came from the now stationary pegasus mare. Seeing her look quite afraid, he approached her again. "Excuse me Miss," he said as politely as he could. "Are you lost?" The mare shuffled uncomfortably. "Oh... no, I'm quite alright boys; you see, my best friend lives up here, but..." She seemed to make a quiet whimper, before continuing. "Are you the boys living with Rainbow Dash?" Stereo nodded. "That's us, Stereo and Frisky." "Hi!" Frisky yelled, causing the mare to cringe. "Oh, thank goodness!" She cried, after recovering. "My name's Fluttershy; Rainbow and I were so worried that something happened to you!" "We aren't that late, Miss Fluttershy," Stereo said. "And Rainbow panicking over this? Are you sure we're talking about the same pony?" Sarcasm as a form of humour this was not; Stereo was seriously wondering. Rainbow Dash was always so... impassive, letting them merrily enjoy their newly-found freedom while clothed with a spirit of non-chalance. Not the type that implied negligence, of course; but this still seemed... highly out of character for her. "Oh, I was surprised too!" Fluttershy said. "She's usually so calm and... and she was just freaking out when I got there!" Fluttershy paused for a moment. "She must really care about you for... for some reason." Stereo noted how comfortable Fluttershy now seemed around him - and how observant and caring she was. "What's Rainbow doing now?" "I calmed her down, and told her to get ready for dinner tonight," Fluttershy began, before suddenly panicking. "Oh, did I forget to tell you about that? We're all going to eat out tonight. I'm so sorry for forgetting! Please don't get upset!" "Don't worry, Miss Fluttershy." Frisky said. "But we should really get home before Dashie gets upset again." "Oh... of course!" Fluttershy said. "Nice meeting you, boys!" She said, before taking off and flying low-altitude away from the reservoir. "Dashie?" Stereo asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother. "Ask Pinkie," Frisky replied defensively. "I dunno where it came from!" As the two young colts walked through the front door, they immediately noticed something. "Look how clean it is!" Stereo gasped. "Yeah!" Frisky agreed. "It's, like, a GAZZILLION times cleaner than it was this morning!" The comment earned Frisky another raised eyebrow, but Stereo decided after a few seconds to just focus on the matter at hand. Rainbow always kept her house acceptable... but never really clean. It looked as if she was trying to impress somepony, or maybe something else had happened. Then again, it could have just been Fluttershy... Suddenly, a heavy thump was heard from the staircase. Snapping their heads to the side, they saw a rather flustered looking pegasus. "Rainbow?" Stereo said, with a chuckle. "How did the BYFC champion fall down the stairs?" Standing up and brushing herself off, Rainbow replied, "oh... I just tripped over something." She immediately turned her face away, its sides beginning to redden. "But how?" The ever-indiscreet Frisky asked. "The house is uber-clean! Whaddidya trip on?" Beads of sweat began to form on Rainbows forehead; she obviously was withholding something. "Rainbow," Stereo said, concern in his voice. "What's happening?" A\N: I am beginning to write another story. Stereoheart was only ever meant to be a learning experience; so I may slow down my writing. And if no-one shows any interest in reading it, then I may just stop completely. Just a heads-up.