//------------------------------// // Why so Glum? // Story: The Pie of my Eye // by Azure_Shadow //------------------------------// It was now the day after Monday in Canterlot. The weather in the morning was the same as it was the previous day, mostly cloudy with some bits of the sky peeking out. Much like the previous day, Swift was walking to school on foot again, the only difference being that he left for school a little later due to eating breakfast. As he was coming up to the school, he saw a plethora of students exiting school busses and entering the school. While walking into the oncoming crowd, he spotted a familiar pink poof of hair coming into his vision. Knowing full well of who it was, Swift slowed his walking pace so the person could catch up. After walking slower for a few seconds, he glanced over to see that Pinkie was walking besides him.         “Oh, hi Pinkie!” Swift said in an attempt to act like he had only just noticed her. He looked to her with a smile on his face, but quickly spotted something off with the pink haired junior. She was looking down to the ground while walking, which by itself didn’t seem all that strange, but something else seemed weird. Swift couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something seemed off about her smile. To him it seemed more...somber than usual. Wondering if anything was up, Swift decided to speak up again. “Umm...Pinkie?”         “Huh?” Pinkie blinked as she noticed that Swift was walking besides her. “Oh! Morning Swift! How’s you?” she asked in her usual peppy tone.         “I’m doing well. How about you?” Swift asked.         “Oh you know, feeling Pinkie-keen as always!” Pinkie exclaimed as she gave him a wide grin and two thumbs up. “You ready for another super-riffic day at school!?”         “Heh, I guess I am.” Swift said as he and Pinkie walked into the school. “So, do we still have party planning committee today? Or no, because it’s the week after the dance?” he asked as he looked away from Pinkie to wave to some friends he passed by before looking back to Pinkie; who was now standing upright and clutching the straps on her backpack as she looked around the halls at each of the group of students.         “U-Umm...yeah! I’m pretty sure we’re still having the meeting today, same as always.” she answered rather quickly as she stood up on her tippy toes in order to get a better look at some of the students.         “You okay Pinkie? You seem...off.” Swift said with a note of concern in his voice.         “Yeah, I’m fine, what makes you think I wouldn’t be fine? Huh? Does something about me seem off?” Pinkie asked as she dug a pair of binoculars out of her hair and quickly moved between several different hiding places, including behind the lockers, behind a water fountain,  and even inside of a trash can, each time peeking out with her binoculars to look around.         “.....Well...umm...n-not completely.” Swift admitted, as what she was currently doing could be counted by some people as Pinkie being Pinkie.         “What do you mean then?” Pinkie asked, poking her head out of the trash can with a confused look on her face.         “I just mean that...you seem a bit more...jittery than usual, is something up?” Swift asked. Pinkie stared at him for a few moments before grinning a very wide grin.         “Heh, nope! Nopers! Still doing a-ok! Well, I gotta go find somebody Swift, it was nice talking to you, i’ll see you later, BYE!!!” Pinkie exclaimed, and before Swift could react, she jumped out of the trash can and sped down the hallway, leaving a trail of dust in her wake. Swift just stood motionless as he stared at the hallway Pinkie ran down.         “Something...still doesn’t seem right.” he said to himself. *********************************         At the end of the school day, Swift was walking through the near empty halls of his school. Party planning committee had just ended for the day, it was nothing really special. just Mr. Sandwich saying how well the dance turned out, and how the school got a lot of money for it due to the ticket prices, money the committee would use for future parties. That was the main topic at the meeting, along with some talk of what the next event would be, though nothing was decided on yet. It was a normal meeting for most, save for Swift, for he knew, a key piece of the committee was absent; it’s club president Pinkie Pie.         Pinkie wasn’t at the committee meeting today. Swift thought to himself as he walked down the halls. I knew something was probably up with her with what happened earlier this morning, acting all weird. Whatever it is, it must’ve been pretty bad to make her skip out on the meeting. he continued to think as he went forward in the direction of his locker. As he kept walking though, he began to hear something. The further he walked, the louder and louder the noise became. To Swift, it was somebody playing an instrument very poorly. He kept walking as the “music” became louder, looking into any classrooms he passed to see if he could find the origin of the song, however as he kept walking, he found that the song became harder to hear. Perplexed, he walked back, where the sound became louder once again.         “Where on Earth is that coming from?” Swift muttered to himself as he kept pacing around the hall, looking for the source of the music. He must’ve walked around at least five times! He didn’t get it! All that was in the hall besides empty classrooms were the rows of lockers lining the walls. Swift took another look around before realizing something. He stopped walking before looking over at one of the lockers in particular. He slowly walked up to it and put his ear to it. After listening for a moment, he realized that this locker was the source.         Wait...this is… Swift thought to himself before knocking on the locker’s door a few times and stepping back. A few seconds after doing so, the locker door creaked open, revealing its sole occupant.         “Heya Swift…” Pinkie Pie greeted from inside her locker. She gave him a rather somber look before looking back down at the clear pink recorder she had in her hands. “What brings you here?”         “Umm...Party Planning Committee just let out a little bit ago.” Swift pointed out.         “Oh yeah, that was today, huh?” Pinkie asked in a sad tone.         “Yeah...I was surprised you didn’t come.”         “I didn’t feel like it I guess…” Pinkie said as she continued to stare at her recorder.         “So...you’ve just been spending the last forty minutes in your locker playing the recorder?”         “That sums it up…” Pinkie said with a nod.         “Okay...why?” Swift asked. Pinkie being Pinkie was one thing, but her sticking herself in her own locker and playing sad music seemed weird for someone of Pinkie’s usual demeanor. Pinkie herself took a few moments to answer the question.         “Because...if I went to the Party Planning Committee meeting today...I’d be nothing but a big party pooper.” she explained as her hair seemingly deflated again, a clear sign to Swift that she was upset.         “Mmhh...I see…” Swift said with a nod. “Would you...like to tell me why?” he asked gently. Pinkie continued to not look at him.         “Well...mmhh...today hasn’t really been the bestest Tuesday ever...and...last night wasn’t any better.” she muttered quietly. Swift took in what she said and thought about it for a few moments before speaking again.         “Today and last night...today and last night…” Swift repeated to himself before his eyes widened. “Last night?...Pinkie?”         “Hmm?” Pinkie hummed in a less than enthusiastic tone.         “This is a shot in the dark, but...would this...have anything to do with your date with Caramel last night?”         “M-Mmhmm…” Pinkie nodded before sighing. “I messed up Swift...I messed up super duper bad…”         “O-Oh Pinkie...I-I’m so sorry to hear that.” Swift half lied. “How did you mess up?”         “Well...Caramel and I went to the movies yesterday...and I...may have done some teeny weeny things that may have made him upset…” Pinkie said sheepishly.         “What counts as ‘teeny weeny’?” Swift asked as he raised an eyebrow.         “Well...there were some times during the movie where I’d get a bit too over excited and shout at what was happening…”         “Oh.”         “And some of those times when I shouted I had a mouthful of popcorn...and sprayed it on some of the other movie goers…”         “..Oh.”         “Eventually after I pointed out some really weird plot holes in the movie, everyone in the theatre got really really mad at me...and Caramel and I needed to be escorted from the premises…” Pinkie explained as she hung her head low.         “........Oh.”         Pinkie sniffled a little before some of Pinkie’s possessions began spilling out from under her feet. As the items began spilling onto the floor, Pinkie too began sliding down with the pile,  eventually sitting down on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs. “I’m a loser Swift…”         Swift’s eyes widened. “W-What? Pinkie, no, you’re not a loser! Not at all! So you had one crummy date, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world!”         “I didn’t just have one crummy date...I had a lot of them.” Pinkie claimed. “And each and every one I’ve messed up somewhere along the line…”         “Come on Pinkie, I’m sure that’s not true!”         “I mess up a lot of my dates Swift...and not just with Caramel, with lots of guys. From talking in a movie theatre to accidentally taking a boy’s eye out in a really unlucky mini golf accident, I’ve gotten dumped for lots of stuff…” Pinkie explained with a note of sorrow in her voice. “Some guys break up with me because I accidentally hurt them...or made them embarrassed, that I understand...but other guys don’t say why, and just leave me to figure it out on my own, and...that makes me really sad.”         Swift cringed in surprise, and hurt for Pinkie. “Did...you accidentally hurt Caramel?”         “No...but when I talked to him about maybe going on another date today...he said that he thought it’d be best if we tried elsewhere…” she said with a sigh. “Which really stinks...at the dance, I thought Caramel and I were having a great time together...I mean, I talked with him a lot...and when we danced together, I didn’t step on his feet during every song…I thought he would’ve been a keeper…”         “Well that’s okay Pinkie! All you need to do is get right back on the saddle! Right!?” Swift asked, desperate to find words of sympathy for the girl.         “I keep trying to get on the saddle, but the horse keeps pushing me off…” Pinkie said sadly. “I’ve never even really gotten past the third date with a guy when they want to call it off...so I don’t really know what to do past the first few dates.”         “I see...yeah...I feel your pain Pinkie, dating isn’t really a thing you can practice with as easy as your swimming.”         “Yeah, if only it was that easy…” Pinkie said with a nod. Swift felt bad for her after hearing her plight and seeing her when she’s not being her normal plucky self. He would’ve never guessed that Pinkie was having dating issues, and why would he? He thought Pinkie was a perfect girl, and any guy would have an amazing time with her! But, apparently with what she told him, this wasn’t the case, and it clearly made her upset. Swift continued to stare at the defeated girl with neither of them speaking for a few moments.         Poor Pinkie...I wish there was something I could do… Swift thought to himself as he continued to look at Pinkie. He wanted to give her some words of encouragement, but he was worried anything he could tell her would just make her feel more down in the dumps. He thought about possibly telling her how he felt, but decided against that, thinking if he did, Pinkie would reject him because of her aforementioned history with guys, some he assumed asked her out. He was at a loss, if only there were some way he could help Pinkie with dates.         “Well...I guess I’ll see you later Swift, I’m going back into my locker now…” Pinkie told him as she put the items that fell out of her locker back in before stepping inside herself and shutting the door. Wait… Swift thought to himself for a brief moment. Pinkie...doesn’t know much about dating...or...what to do on a date...she’s inexperienced...hmmm………………..GASP!!! “Pinkie! Hey Pinkie! Open up! I think I know how I can help you with your problem!”Swift claimed as he pounded on the locker door. The door opened as Pinkie looked through with one eye. “I don’t think I’m ready to get back in the saddle again Swift...I might want to wait before trying to date somebody again.” Pinkie explained as she began to slowly close the locker door again. “But that’s the thing Pinkie! I think I know how you can prepare for dating!” Swift said excitedly. At that moment, Pinkie stopped closing the door and looked at Swift again. “R-Really? How?” Pinkie asked as she opened the locker door more. Swift looked at her for a few seconds before breathing deeply and clenching his fists to ready himself. “By...by going on a practice date with me! That’s how!” Swift exclaimed as he pointed at himself with his thumb. He felt nervous after saying that, as Pinkie opened the door completely and stared at him. “Practice date? What’s that?” Pinkie asked while tilting her head slightly. “W-Well, it’s in the name. A practice date, you and I will go on a fake date, where we can work on what you do during dates, so you can do better on real ones?” Swift suggested sheepishly, thinking the idea sounded better in his head. Pinkie blinked. “So...even if I do bad on this practice date...we can find out what didn’t go so great...and I can try being better in those areas?” Pinkie asked, to which Swift smiled and nodded. “Y-Yeah! Exactly! It may take some practice dates to get it right, but I bet if you keep trying, you’ll definitely get better at it!” Swift assured her. “And...you’ll help me through it all? Even if stuff goes wrong sometimes?” Pinkie asked with a note of worry in her voice. “Of course! You know me, I’m always willing to lend a helping hand!” “Even if you may get some bodily harm on the practice dates?” Pinkie asked. “Hey, if I can take a headbutt from you getting blasted out of a cannon, I think I can take anything a date can throw at me!” Swift said with a confident grin on his face, prompting a small smile to form on Pinkie’s face. “So...umm...what do you think of that idea?” Pinkie looked down to her hands and fiddled around with her recorder for a few moments before looking back at Swift with that usual cheery gleam in her eyes. “W-Well...if you’ll be there to help me...I guess I can give it a shot!” she answered with a grin. Her grin caused Swift’s own to widen. “Awesome! Tha-ay mean, alright! This is going to be great! Pinkie, I promise you, once we get through this, you’ll be able to go on an awesome date with any guy you want!” Swift assured her. “Heh...well if you have so much faith in me already, then maybe I really can get better at dating!” Pinkie stated, sounding more excited. “Pinkie, I know this will work out great. How about this Saturday, we meet up and go out for our first “date”? Say...noon-ish?” Swift asked as he made air quotes with his fingers. “Hehe, okay Swift, Saturday sounds awesome! We can meet up at the entrance to the mall! See you on our ‘date’!” Pinkie giggled as she made air quotes with her fingers too. With that, Pinkie stepped back into her locker and grabbed her backpack before stepping out and closing it. “Thanks Swift! I’m feeling super nervouscited now! I’m gonna go back home and pick out what I’m going to wear for out ‘date’! Umm...is that weird considering it’s Tuesday?” “I...don’t think so.” Swift said with a shrug. “Okay, cool! Sayonara Swift!” Pinkie said as she skipped through the hallway and out the exit door, seeing which brought a smile to Swift’s face. He stared at the door for a few minutes while thinking to himself. I kind of have a date with Pinkie...haha, YEAH!! I kind of have a date with Pinkie!! he thought to himself as he pumped his fist. With a newfound spring in his step, Swift strutted towards the exit himself, excited at the idea of going out once more with Pinkie, this time all alone. Sure, it was only a practice date, but perhaps maybe, just maybe, it could be the start of something more for him and Pinkie. He could only hope.