//------------------------------// // Conversations // Story: Pinkie Personalities // by Drebom //------------------------------// "Oh, Lieutenant! Can I talk to you for a moment?" Swift Strike turned at the call, before sinking into a brief bow upon realizing who it was. "Of course, Princess. What can I do for you?" he asked. Twilight hesitated for a moment. "Well...I was wondering if you'd found anything. You know...about the fugitive?" she asked nervously. "Nothing yet, I'm afraid." sighed Swift. "I'm afraid it's looking likely that he fled into one of the more dangerous parts of the Everfree. That being said, there's still a lot of forest we can safely cover that we haven't checked yet. I'm not willing to risk my men until we have a better idea of where to look." At his words, Twilight sighed, obviously downcast at the news. "Thank you, Lieutenant...I'm sorry to bother you, it's just I was getting worried. It's almost been a week since the escape..." "Don't worry, Princess. We'll find the guy." Swift Strike said confidently. Twilight smiled at this, and turned to go. "Thanks, Lieutenant." she said. "You're welcome Princess...Oh, wait! Princess Twilight!" "Huh? Is there something wrong?" asked Twilight, turning around again. Swift hesitated for a moment. "Well...I wouldn't say wrong as such, but...well...The men that have been guarding Miss Pie have come back with some rather...strange stories." He said awkwardly. Twilight sighed. "Let me guess. Pinkie Sense?" She asked, smiling slightly. "Pinkie what-now?" Swift tilted his head, confused. He hadn't heard anything about a 'sense'. "You know, those twitches that let her predict the future?" Swift's eyes widened. "She can do what now?!" Twilight frowned. "You don't seem to know a lot about Pinkie's 'abilities'...Wait, so what were you talking about?" "Uhh...some of the guards claim she can stretch...like rubber...and can seemingly teleport without magic..." He trailed off. What was he thinking? There was no way the Princess was going to believe that- "Oh, that! Don't worry, that's normal. It's best to just accept it, I'm afraid." Twilight giggled. "Just try not to think about it too much, alright?" "W-wait...so Miss Pie can really...and she predicts the future too?!" Swift Strike, understandably, couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yes, that's right...didn't Princess Celestia tell you about Pinkie's abilities?" asked Twilight. Swift shook his head. "I'm...afraid not, Princess." Even as he said it, however, something occurred to him. "Although..." He thought back. Actually, there had been something... "Is there anything else that I should be aware of, Princess?" asked Swift Strike. Princess Celestia smiled. "Well, Miss Pie is a very...interesting pony. I'd recommend your men keep an open mind when dealing with her." She smiled serenely. But for a moment, Swift Strike could have sworn there had been some amusement in her tone...As if there was a joke here that he wasn't aware of... Swift Strike groaned. 'Interesting'. A teleporting pony with the ability to stretch like rubber and who apparently could predict the future. Oh, not to mention all the ridiculous 'stories' about Pinkie Pie pulling something out of her mane...especially things which shouldn't have fit in there...like that one about the cannon...Poor Iron Hammer had become a bit of a mess these last few days...Yes, that would all count as 'interesting', wouldn't it... "Is everything alright, Lieutenent?" asked Twilight, slightly worried at the abrupt silence. "...Why me?" "Whoops... I guess I should have said something to them, huh..." Pinkie scratched the back of her head, and smiled a little awkwardly. Twilight had visited Sugarcube Corner soon after her conversation with Swift Strike, coincidentally just as Pinkie started her break, and the pair had easily fallen into conversation. After a while, Twilight had relayed the story of the Canterlot Guard's recent 'difficulties'. Twilight sighed. "I think it's Princess Celestia that's to blame here...never thought I'd say that...I mean, she didn't tell anypony about your 'abilities'. Quite a few of the guards are a little freaked out right now...but I'm sure they'll be fine. And hey, it could've been a lot worse-remember when I tried to figure out Pinkie Sense?" Pinkie giggled at the memories that came to mind. "Yup! That was funny!" Twilight frowned. "Pinkie, I ended up in a wheelchair!" "That was slapstick, Twilight! Haven't you ever heard of slapstick?" Twilight sighed and shook her head, smiling slightly. She leant back in her chair. It was a little funny in hindsight. And Pinkie was right, it did fit slapstick comedy. "I suppose....come to think of it, Surprise and Pinkamena can use Pinkie Sense too, right? "Yup! They can do everything I can do!" "Really?" Twilight leant forward, interested. "Even the more...strange things? Like that thing you do with your mane?" "My mane? Oh, yeah! Yeah, they can do that too. Pinkamena doesn't like to though, it can give her a preeetty nasty headache sometimes." "A headache? Why?" Pinkie thought for a few seconds. "It's kinda hard to explain. I think I have to think about things a certain way to get things to work, and Pinkamena can't do that too well. She's too logicalistic." "You mean logical." corrected Twilight. "So, logical thinking...does that mean you have to think 'illogically' to do your...thing? How does that work?" Pinkie shrugged "I dunno." Twilight resisted the urge to hit her face against something (like the table). She had been so close to getting an actual explanation for Pinkie Pie! "But if you don't know how it works, how can you do it?" she asked desperately. "Not a clue!" beamed Pinkie. This time, Twilight did not resist the urge. Rainbow burst into laughter. Pinkamena rolled her eyes. "Come on, it wasn't that funny." "Sh-she facedesked!" snickered Rainbow "Of course it's funny!" "She could've hurt herself!" "By facedesking? Nah." Pinkamena huffed to herself, slightly irritated. Looks like Rainbow wasn't budging on that topic. But still, how was Twilight's pain funny? It was probably something like slapstick. Hilarious as long as it wasn't you. Which wasn't really fair to- urgh, this wasn't getting her anywhere. Looking for a change in subject, Pinkamena looked down at the piping she was holding in her hooves. "So, remind me again how this is meant to be funny?" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "How can you not know? Pinkie's the one who came up with this prank!" Pinkamena shrugged. "To me, getting a facefull of water doesn't sound like fun for the victim." Rainbow sighed. "Trust me, it'll be cool. Besides, if you didn't want to prank ponies, why'd you agree to do this with me?" "I dunno, to get to know you personally? We haven't really talked a lot, and I tend to just be an observer, you know. The mane's kinda hard to explain, after all." Pinkamena gestured to her straight mane. Rainbow eyed it for a moment, having a few flashbacks to a certain birthday 'party'. "Yeaahhh...I can see how that could...not turn out well." Rainbow said slowly. She checked the telescope again. "Oh- Heads up! There's somepony there!........Oh, come on!" "What? Is it Fluttershy again?" asked Pinkamena dryly, thinking back to the last time this prank had been attempted. "Nope. It's Daisy." "Daisy?" Pinkamena tilted her head to one side for a moment, confused. "You know, she's-" "Magenta coat, lime mane? Freaked out over a bunch of bunnies?" interrupted Pinkamena. "Yeaahh...How'd you know?" asked Rainbow, looking at her friend. Pinkamena rolled her eyes and tapped her head. "Pinkie told me." "Oh, yeah, right..." Rainbow said. She'd forgotten about that particular detail. "So, are we giving up on this?" "No way. I'm waiting until I get somepony who can take a prank." "How long do you thi-" "LLLIIIIILLLYYYY!!!!" Pinkamena and Rainbow's heads whipped up at the sudden scream as it echoed across the lake. "THERE'S A FAKE WATER-SQUIRTING TURTLE HERE! SOMEPONY'S TRYING TO SOAK ME!" This was, of course, Daisy. "THE HORROR! THE HORROR!" came the answering holler. Rainbow groaned and facehoofed. "Oh, great. Come on, we'd better get this cleared up before they start a stampede or something..." Twilight groaned. "So that's what all the fuss was about?" In front of her hovered a quill and some parchment. Unnoticed by the alicorn, a small blob of ink flicked off the quill and landed on her cheek. "Yep." nodded Pinkamena, looking away from the spot. "Rainbow Dash's gone to apologise to them, so hopefully it'll be sorted out soon." Twilight shook her head, exasperated. The motion messed up her manestyle slightly. "Those three..." The two sat in silence for a moment, the library around them as quiet as usual. "Hey, what're you working on there?" asked Pinkamena, looking curiously at the parchment in front of Twilight. "Oh this? This is just a report to the Princesses about the guards in Ponyville. Nothing much, really. Just about how they're fitting in." she smiled. Pinkamena smiled back, looking at Twilight: A smudge of ink, a mussed mane, a happy smile. '...Oh Celestia she's cute...'