The Literal Rise
The Literal Rise
Pinkie Pie held in her hooves three differently colored, deflated balloons to choose from. She eyed them carefully, inspecting each one for any signs of inadequateness. After all, get-well balloons were nothing to be taken lightly.
"Pink," she decided more simply than originally intended.
"Meh, actually yellow."
She smiled brightly, quickly tossing the pink and blue and ones aside and proceeding to inflate the yellow one. Yellow was a more sunny color, anyway. She figured a sick Twilight would probably appreciate a more uplifting color, so yellow would fit the bill perfectly.
Glancing outside as she pumped, she noticed the sun nearing its peak for the day, and that meant she would have to get back to work at Sugarcube Corner fairly soon. Her shifts at the cash register were usually less strict, but everypony must have been thinking the same thing today, because today everypony seemed to be ordering one or two scoops of ice cream. It wasn't usually been a big item at the Corner, but the sun was feeling extra yellow today, so it was definitely understandable.
Keeping in mind that her free time was limited, she started pumping good bit faster. The next few seconds went by in a blur, and she found herself tying a string around the balloon's end. She then tied it around belly and trotted over to retrieve a get-well-soon card that had been hoof-crafted by none other than herself. She gave a proud smile at the amazingness that was her glitter-stained masterpiece. Which was yellow, of course. She knew her trip wouldn't be long, so she just held it between her teeth. She hoped those weren't yellow...
...but for the love of butter, she was just in a yellow mood today!
Speaking of bad traffic, she needed to be somewhere. Quickly, too, so as to not be late for her usually-less-strict shift.
Turning on her heels, which would have been possible if she had them, she made for the entrance to Sugarcube Corner, which she was temporarily substituting as an exit.
Reaching the fresh air of the world outside, she inhaled deeply, and exhaled happily. She also came to know the reasoning behind everypony's decision to go for ice cream lately.
"Wow, it is super yellow today!" she said around the card in her mouth. A few ponies curiously looked in her direction, only to look away and shake their heads, realizing the owner of the voice. Finding it harder to talk with the card in her mouth, she took it and stuffed it into her mane. Convenience!
Pinkie took off in the direction of the Golden Oaks library. The townsfolk seemed quite attached any kind of shade, it seemed. She even saw a few ponies with umbrellas. And umbrella-hats!
Who wears those?
It was a good thing that it wasn't that far to walk, because she was feeling very light on her hooves as she walked. So light, in fact, that she felt like she might actually float away if she stepped too hard on the ground.
She laughed at the thought, and decided a good bouncing stride would help her get there faster. During her bounce, however, there seemed to be something missing...
'Hmmm... I bent my legs, I jumped, I gained altitude, I--'
She gasped a gasp.
"Where's the ground!?" she shouted, searching frantically for the essential part of her bounce. "Oh, there it is." It was, of course, below her, as it should be. Because grounds are just like that. However, she noticed it wasn't as close her as it usually was at this point. In fact, it seemed to be moving quickly away from her, as if it was under the impression that she hadn't showered in a bit. She was about take offense, but was shortly reminded of the string tied around her, tugging her.
She face-hoofed.
Out of all the days she could accidentally over-inflate a balloon, it had to be today? Really? She had a friend to see, and a shift to work. Now was not the time for floating around.
Twisting her neck around, she noted just how much she had over-filled her captor. Quite a lot, really. It was maybe three times a large as her head.
"Well, that's just poopy." She folded her forelegs, but couldn't decide if a huff or a groan was more fitting in her situation. What came out was a mixture of the two, resulting in what she opted to call a "gruff". Oh, wait. That was already a word. She didn't want to use "hoan", though. That was just awkward-sounding.
She was up pretty high now, she noticed. She'd really done a number on that balloon, it seemed. And now it was doing one on her. Pinkie wasn't really afraid of heights, but she was definitely afraid of falling. And, of course, those were two entirely different things. Twilight would tell her otherwise, she knew, but falling but being scared of falling and being scared of being up high were not really the same thing in her eyes.
The thought of Twilight made her wonder if anypony could hear her from this distance. "HEEEYYY!!! she shouted at the ground. "CAN ANYPONY HEAR MEEEE!?!?"
"Well, uh... I can hear you just fine, Pinkie!" came a far too cheerful voice from beside her. She turned and saw the local mailmare right next to her, flying in place. "W-what are you doing up here, anyway?"
The usually-less-airborne mare gave her an innocent smile. "Oh, just suffering from a small mistake I made." Her smile betrayed her words, but her eyes fully supported them.
"Uh..." Derpy glanced this way and that. "...Did you lose a bet?"
Pinkie shook her head, cause her to turn around slightly. "No, silly! I didn't lose a bet! I just accidentally over-inflated this yellow balloon!" She gestured toward her source of travel.
"Ohhh..." Derpy gave an apologetic look. "I hate it when that happens."
"Wait, you do that, too!?"
"Oh, well, uhm... no." The mailmare shifted her mailbag slightly. "But I do sometimes over-stuff my mailbag, and that makes it harder to get around everywhere." She scratched her head for a moment, and then looked back Pinkie. "Heeeyyy... I just realized that we're exact opposites when it comes to that! You're accident makes it easier to fly, whereas mine makes it harder!"
Pinkie giggled. "Hey, yeeeaah!" She noticed Derpy trying to stay level with her, flying higher every little while. "So, what are you doing up here, Derpy?"
Derpy pulled a letter from her mailbag, looking it over for what was probably the fiftieth time that day. "Well, I was hoping I would find somepony who knows where Roseluck lives..."
"Wait, you mean that pony with the cherry-red mane, who sells flowers and bouquets and stuff?"
"Oh, is that her?'
Pinkie nodded. "Without even a smidgen of a doubt. I know everypony in Ponyville. Every. Pony."
"Huh." Derpy rubbed the back of her neck, blushing a bit. "I guess I never remember her name..." She then smiled. "Well, I better take this to her, then. Thanks, Pinkie Pie!" She took off toward the town below.
"Wait! Other way!" Pinkie called after her.
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Derpy corrected her direction. "Bye!"
Pinkie smiled and waved. "B'bye!" She watched as the clumsy mare flew off in the right direction. In some ways, they were like twins. Clumsy, full of surprises, and happy all the time.
Speaking of time, she wondered if she would have to explain to the Cakes why she was late. Because things weren't looking on the bright side with her schedule right now. Being held captive by a balloon was be believable, right?
Right?
She sighed. Maybe they would believe her. It wasn't really a rare occasion, over-inflating balloons, but maybe being taken to the sky by one was.
Oh well.
Looking below, she could now see that her ascent had slowed down greatly, and the ground was now a good distance away. Or bad. Bad distance. Yes, falling from this point would definitely be bad.
Well, what better way to spend your time trapped in the air than to go over her list of mental list of things to give to her sick friend? She had the card, the forelegs for a hug - Twilight had informed her that what she had wasn't contagious - the balloon and--
She gasped another gasp.
How could she? She forgot the encouraging words on the balloon! This must be remedied!
Turning to the cause of her ascent, she pulled a pen out from her mane (in case of "pen emergency"), and began writing on it. "Get Well Super-Duper Fast!" should be a nice note, she decided.
"Get", "Well", and "Super" went by quick. She was quite the mouthwriter, as everypony knew, and it took some super serious skill to write on a balloon, head turned around, while floating in the air. She was proud.
However, when she started on the "D", she barely had time to finish the letter before--
~POP!!~
Brilliant. Her yellow balloon popped, her ascent had stopped, she was now falling rather quickly, and she didn't even get to finish writing. Just brilliant.