Finding a Reason

by Lyingsmile15

Chapter Two - We Meet Two Ponies and a Bunny

We walked for a long while. I started to get tired of walking.

"What if you tried to fly?" Austin suggested.

"And crash land on my face again? No, thank you!" I was feeling pretty annoyed by now, annoyed with his less than helpful suggestions.

"I'm just trying to be helpful." He said, clearly as annoyed with me as I was with him. The only difference was that he was trying to not let it show.

"If you want to be helpful that badly... go run into a tree and give yourself a concussion... maybe it'll make you shut up for once." I said sarcastically.

"Ha.ha.... Very funny." He answered in an equally sarcastic tone of voice. "You are... SO... NOT... cute."

"Jerk." My tone became very rude and annoyed.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Idiot."

"Weirdo." I turned my back to him and walked ahead of him. Funny, I actually thought ignoring him would help our already hopeless situation.

He suddenly warned me. "Caitlyn... look where you're walking."

I turned my head to look at him. "Oh, come one... I'm NOT that clumsy." Then, I stumbled and fell into a hole in the path.

Austin started coughing to avoid laughing at me. "Need a hand?"

"No!" I snapped at him. Now, not only was I annoyed, I was embarrassed. I climbed out on my own. "I don't need your help." I said trying hard to keep my voice level but my anger was still evident.

"Okay... whatever you say." He rolled his eyes at me, for the 15 billionth time.

"Will you stop that?" I demanded.

He played innocent. "Stop what?"

"Oh. My. Gosh." I heard my own voice go up an octave. "Shut. Up." I was on the verge of yelling at him.

"Okay. Fine." He motioned like he was zipping his mouth shut and stayed quiet.

I sighed. "Thank you."

We walked in silence. A long, aching, awkward silence. He occasionally looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut. The silence started to unnerve me. It was bugging me, a lot.

Suddenly, a bunny went flying across the path in front of us. No, not flying... running really fast. A yellow pegasus pony came after it. "Oh my goodness!" She chased it, but stopped when she saw us. "Oh my goodness."

Austin looked at her in surprised recognition. "Fluttershy?"

She blushed and hid behind her pink hair. "Y-yes. That's me. Who are you... that is if you don't mind telling me."

Austin spoke calmly. "I'm... um... Sureshot... and this is.... uh... Sunshine Heart."

I blinked. What kind of made up names are those? Sunshine Heart? Was he trying to be ironic?

"Oh. N-nice to meet you." Fluttershy said softly.

"Is... um... Ponyville nearby?" Austin asked.

"Yes." She nodded. "I could show you... that is if you don't mind."

"That would be awesome." Austin smiled at her.

"Oh, Okay. It's this way." She turned and started walking back in the direction she'd come from.

The bunny, as cute and annoying as it was, took up residence on my head. The temptation to shake it off was strong, but I chose to simply ignore it instead.

After a few minutes of walking, we stopped on the edge of a town. "Here it is... Ponyville. Now, um, I should be going... that is if you don't mind." She started to back away from us slowly.

"Thanks." Austin smiled at her happily.

The bunny jumped off me and onto her. "Thanks." I managed a weak smile. "Bye."

"Bye." She smiled shyly at me.

I followed Austin quietly. So, cute and shy... is something he likes? Geez, why do I care anyway? Oh please, don't lie to yourself... he's cute. No way! Yes. No. Yes. No. I shook my head to clear the conflicting thoughts.

"So, Sunshine Heart..." He looked at me.

I did my best to cover up my internal confusion and contain my returning sense of annoyance. "Yes?"

"What do you think of Ponyville?" Austin motioned to the surrounding city.

I searched for the right words. "It's... um... cute?" I hesitated. "And... pink?"

Speaking of pink, a bright pink pony stopped in front of us and started bouncing around. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Do I know you? IdontknowyoubecauseifIdidIwouldknowbecauseIknoweveryponyinPonyvillewhichmeansyourenew! What's your names? Where are you from?!" She spoke rapidly.

My head started to spin from trying to keep track of what she was saying.

"Hi, Pinkie Pie." Austin smiled at her. "I'm Sureshot and this is my friend Sunshine Heart."

She bounced up and down. "Oh boy! This means I have to plan TWO parties or maybe one big party... What colors? Oh, and what about food?" She bounced off, looking preoccupied with her thoughts.

"What was that all about?" I asked Austin once she was out of earshot.

"That's just Pinkie Pie." He shrugged it off.

"Weird." I mumbled.

"She's just really cheerful." He offered, trying to be nice.

I frowned. "TOO cheerful."