> Pink Tentacles > by Ponyess > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Tentacles are Prologue: 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- . ”Hmm, I know it isn’t morning, any time soon!” I told myself, as if I tried to convince my body to agree to go back to sleep, I failed, and miserably. Of course, there is no way back to sleep, right now. Besides, my mane is curling up. Something told me I was to find a new friend out on the street, roaming. Who ever it could be, I had to find her. No time to waste here. The blue and yellow balloons glaring down at me as I slip out of my bed. Then I noticed the one pink balloon, daring a glance at me as it poked out from under my bed. It gave me the impression, it had something to tell me, but how can I even hear the words? I arm myself with the one flashlight, standing beside my bed, strategically waiting for thew moment. It felt as if it had been placed there, for just this one odd occurrence. But that would be impossible, by any normal standards. Just that I am not the one normal Pony, I am Pinkie Pie. Things doesn’t work in the normal manners, not to me. I know I have been bothering a few and more so on the case of Twilight Sparkle, than the most. Her failure to understand me had frustrated her on many occasions, particularly the one time, when she tried to understand how my Pinkie Sense works. She failed miserably, naturally. Had I been a different Pony, maybe I had been laughing at it, and her. Yet, I never really did. I had enjoyed her following me on the day, yet I never made anything to make her feel bad about it. With the darkness, and the early hour in mind, I quietly sneak out, merely stopping to open the door, slipping out, before I close it behind me, before I float down the stairs in fluid, yet quiet motions, before I move to the outer door, opening it, slipping out and close the door behind me, leaving no trace to my escape. . Originally, I had no idea, as to where this new Pony could possibly be. I just realised, she couldn’t be in the middle of town. Then I merely followed my senses and hunches towards where she ended up being. As the beam of light finally hit her, I had gone almost all the way out of the village. Maybe this should have been expected. Aside from her mane and tail, she appears to be a fairly normal little filly. Her mane is more glossy than the standard mane would be, and it did show well in the weak light of the flashlight. Yet, it looks as if the strands are clumped together into what looks like tails of small snakes, rather than free flowing hair. “Hiya, I am Pinkie Pie!” I exclaimed in a bubbling greeting, just as I locked eyes with the new Pony, as strange as she may be looking at first glance. I could see the little filly withdraw into herself as she stopped dead in her tracks, while her mane started to wave, as from an unfelt breeze on the early morning air. Now she looks more lonely and afraid than cute. Then I noticed how the snake like tentacles cling to her hindquarters, where she stands, looking up at me, not knowing what to do for a moment. Then she obviously thought better of it. Was it the flashlight in my mane? “Hi, Pinkie!” she squeaked. Now I noticed how her eyes were focused on my flashlight. Whatever the significance, but I am the only Pony in Ponyville would could perform the trick. Only she had no way of knowing that. “Your mane? But, but. You are not a Tentacle Pony?” she stammered quietly in her still squeaky voice. “Of course not, silly. I am an Earth Pony. You never saw an Earth Pony?” I enquired. “An Earth Pony? You do look like an Earth Pony. Yet, no Earth Pony can hold on to a flashlight with her mane the way you do. At least, that is what I was told!” she responded. “I know. Earth Ponies can’t do this, either!” I suggested as I stretched my neck out, almost touching her muzzle with my own, from where I stand, looking at her from three yards away, where I had stopped. “Hay, I can’t do that either. No Pony could do that!” she gasped in disbelief. “Of course not, silly. Just like no Earth Pony could do this?” I continued as I suddenly floated up to the height of a foot up in the air. Apparently, I was enjoying myself too much to realise how odd and scary it would be to a little filly. “Pinkie, could you make up your mind? Who and what are you? I am starting to feel confused here!” she exclaimed in agitation. “Nopey, dopey. I’m just being ridiculous. No Pony can be as silly as me. Hay, not even I could be that silly. I am just too silly for that!” I countered. “Okey, Pinkie. I guess I could agree with you on that point. You are too silly. You sound as if you were compensating for something, like too short tentacles?” she pointed out. “I don’t have tentacles, I never had tentacles. But, I guess my tentacles are too short for you to see me as a tentacle Pony? I just try to compensate for too few parties and too little partying. Oh, but aside from way too few friends. I never seem to have enough friends!” I responded. “Sounds like good enough a reason. Too short tentacles is a serious handicap. It is still too early to have a party, at least to me. You don’t have enough friends? I guess I could be your friend!” she responded. “Thanks, I really needed that. My friends rarely understand me. If you like to, you sure can!” I pointed out. “My name is Tenacious Reach. Sorry, I forgot to mention. You are the first Earth Pony who wanted to be my friend. Or the first Pony of any kind who isn’t a Tentacle Pony, for that matter!” she responded. “It slipped my mind too, amongst all the silly antics. How could a Pony ever have enough friends, Tenacious? Even if the entire village of Ponyville is my friends. On the other hoof, I think I need to throw you a Welcome to Ponyville Party. Preferably some time later today!” I proclaimed. “You know, Pinkie? You are the first Pony I could respect enough to call my friend, who isn’t a Tentacle Pony. Even with all your antics, but you have enough control of your mane, not to be a total outcast and utterly shunned and ridiculed, back home!” she pointed out, head downcast and eyes glued to the ground, just before her fore-hooves. “We initially reacted much in the same way, when the first Zebra came to our small town. She was so weired and acted so strangely, when we first saw her, wearing that hood of hers. Thankfully, we soon learned that Zecora is quite the nice Zebra. She is one of my bestest of friends!” I responded with a silly giggle. Then I landed, only to bounce up and down, several feet up into the air. “You did? Zebra, what is a Zebra? I have never even heard the word before. Bestest? You really are a silly Pony. Maybe that is why I like you so much?” she responded, with a slight giggle and the seed to a smile on her muzzle. --- --- --- > Tenacious Reach: 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- . I had just stumbled into a small village. Slowly trotting along the street as this pink mare bounced up and stopped a few yards before me. Aside from being pink, there wasn’t much special to her, aside from the tightly curled up mane. Then I noticed how she was holding a flashlight in the very same mane. Despite her being an Earth Pony. . She giggles, much more than the common mare ever would. She scared me. Maybe it is in how she holds the flashlight in her mane. She isn’t menacing or threatening in any way. It is just the way she is so utterly out of place. How she did, what no Pony should be capable of doing. Everything about her spoke of an Earth Pony mare. Yet, no Pony is bouncing, and certainly not in this hyper manner. Then she showed me trickery of Unicorns and Pegasi, aside from her very own brand of antics, as she called them. Then she couldn’t stop herself, muzzling me from yards away. As good and comforting as the touch was, the way she did it. Just sent shivers down my spine. She made my tentacles all stand on end. I lost even the last of the control of them I usually do have. . Apparently, her name is Pinkie Pie. The village is called Ponyville, how quint? She even admitted to them having a Zebra close by. What ever a Zebra is. I never heard of them, or what ever a Zebra is? Apparently, she is a friend of said Zebra too. Besides, she has an insane amount of friends, from what she had told me. Either she is all the way out there, or she has a problem with what is reality. Unless she truly did have all this many friends. There is something about her. She made me want to be her friend. Despite herself, and myself, she managed to make us into friends, with little to no effort. . Aside from the outwards antics she sprinkle the room with, there still is something to her. I could as well admit it. She may be my first and only friend who is an Earth Pony, or any Pony other than a Tentacle Pony like myself. At the end of her show, she convinced me to follow her. I am itching to touch her with my tentacles, but something holds me back, maybe the warning of the previous encounter with Earth Ponies. To us, it is a sign of attention, it feels good to know you are not ignored. Oh, maybe that is why. The way she is holding the flashlight with her mane. It is as if she was like me in ways I couldn’t put a hoof, or tentacle on. . I had seen Ponies with styled and stylish manes and tails, but none quite like the way she kept hers in. On her, it isn’t feeling as if it was outwards styling or forced upon her. Maybe it is Magic since there is no other way to put things. What I had never seen, is an Earth Pony like the Pinkie Pie I had before me. What was I to do? I just could not pass up; what was so obviously offered to me. As she started to bounce, and bounce off in a new direction, I could but follow her, towards where she was going. Even as a Tentacle Pony, I was poorly prepared for what was coming to pass. To see her bounce by my side, with these strange squeaking noises is one thing. I had seen it one already. Maybe I should have known, maybe I should have realised, but I did not. I had already seen her with the flashlight, the very one she still pointed squarely before her, lighting the way for the both of us as we move on, to where ever she was going off to next. . If she had been strange and unpredictable before, she soon was before me, only galloping backwards before me, as if to say something, in order to make a point. “I see you!” she merely exclaimed, making eye contact, making something strange with her eyes, emphasising the words as she spoke them. What ever did she mean, and how could she possibly know? The actions so fluid, as if she had been a river flowing by my side. It is as if it had been choreographed and rehearsed in advance. Yet, she could never have known of me and my existence before she set eyes on me? I know I never told her, just as I have no reason to assume any other Pony did tell her about this. Yet, after a while, I feel a few strands of her mane moving along my back, almost as if she had been one of us, rather than one of them. Who and what ever is she. I almost missed a step as I realised what she was doing. Knowing it was her, and that it was on purpose threw me off. In both a good and a bad way, both at the same time. The fact that she knew me and of me, trying to console me in my time of need and solitude feels surprisingly warm. Yet, the way she knew these things are scary. I had no explanation as to how she knew of it. For now, I dare not speak of her to any Pony. If she already knew, I guess it wouldn’t really matter what I told her. Unless I was pissing her off, thus causing something bad to happen to me, and my kin. I couldn’t take that chance either. . I can see that she clearly knows where she is and what she is doing. Just that, it is still as if she doesn’t have a clue as to how or why it actually works. Like; hay I have a horn, I work magic, but I have no idea what magic is or how it works. Which kind of reminds me of my tentacles, I don’t really know how or why they do what they do. Even if I notice them directing towards where I look, and what I focus on. I just don’t like to think of it, not like this. To see a Pony at full gallop is one thing, but when this mare is doing it backwards before me, how am I to react? To see her with the flashlight was one thing, but now she is clearly caressing my back with her main. As if she had been a Tentacle Pony. She gives me the impression she is experienced and knows what she is doing. Her antics had initially made her come out as an airhead, yet now she proved that assumption wrong, dead wrong. If it was merely the knowledge, I could have seen her as an elder mare. Just that the way her words came out, makes her into something more, something else. Maybe she could be considered an Oracle as well, while I am at it. At least, that would explain how she knows, what she clearly had no reason knowing. Looking at her face, I see an excited Pony, once who knows all things fun and enjoyable. She can be both sensitive and dramatic, in ways I couldn’t quite grasp. Of course, she isn’t old. The vibrant spirit about her gave me the impression of a Mare who barely moved out to her own home. Oh yeah, speaking of Spirits, the spirit feels as if it could have been both immortal and timeless. . Even though she kept staring at me, as if to say that I was at the centre of her world and attention, she clearly knows exactly where she is. The twists and turns she made. Only to stop dead in her track, a mere yard from the door of what had to be a castle. They have a castle like this in such a small and seemingly irrelevant village. I would never have entered a community large enough to have a royal castle in the first place, not if I knew of the castle being there in the first place. --- --- --- > An Unexpected Visit: 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- . ”Hiya, Pinkie. Who is your new friend, assuming she is actually a new friend and not just an old friend of yours I never saw before?” Spike prompted in a cheerful greeting. “Hiya, Spike. She is a Tentacle Pony by the name of Tenacious Reach. If you could prompt Twilly to perform a spell before we get to her for me and my friend!” Pinkie Pie prompted. “Hiya, Tenacious. Nice to meet you too. Every friend of Pinkie Pie is a friend of mine. I just can’t keep up with her or keep track of more than a few, I don’t have the capacity to recall details the way she does!” Spike complained, but with a slight hint of a chuckle on the end of the response. “How many friends do you really have, Pinkie? Tenacious inquired in an insecure tone of voice. “Aside from every Pony in Ponyville, and the other citizens of the village?” Pinkie put forth, giggling in amusement. “In effect, you are friend with entire communities? My head hurts and I am starting to feel dizzy!” Tenacious moaned in a queasy tone, looking down at her hooves. “I guess that comes with being the element of Laughter, but you should never question Pinkie Pie, even Twilight Sparkle gave up on that fruitless pursuit, Tenacious. Pinkie, what spell did you need her to perform, before she enters the room?” Spike inquired. “Let’s see how about that?” Pinkie suggested, pointing a hoof towards her new friend. “Wait, you want her to feel more at home, by making her stand out less among you Pony folk?” Spike then inquired. “If any Pony could perform the spell, Twilly would be her, you know!” Pinkie pointed out in no uncertain terms. “Oh!” Spike groaned; “You certainly got me there!” he then continued in a more clear point. “What was that all about, Pinkie?” Tenacious asked. “Some Ponies have been gifted with special and very potent magic and the power to use it for good. Even if they may stumble, in the beginning!” Pinkie cleared the floor. “That would be Twilight Sparkle!” Spike put forth as he scurried out of the room in search of the Pony. . “Oh, there you are, Spike. I was about to send Owlowiscious to find you!” I pointed out. “Pinkie Pie was looking for you, Twilight. She just prompted that you use a certain spell, before you go. A new friend of hers is apparently a Tentacle Pony by the name Tenacious Reach. If you presented yourself as that type of Pony, she claims the filly would feel more at home!” Spike pointed out. “Oh, Pinkie did, now did she? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try that spell. We have gone wrong more times than not; when it comes to what she says and her predictions. The thrice damned little Parasprites were too close to get us all; if not for that insidious mare cunning and wits!” Twilight pondered. “Owlowiscious!” Spike hollered, for the junior assistant to show his beaked face, as he was needed. “Who!” the bird put forth as he appeared as if from out of nowhere. “I need that book on transformations between Pony forms!” I then instructed him, only to see him fly off, once again. Minutes later, he reappeared from a new direction, book in beak, just to drop it as I clasped it with my purple magic. “Who, who!” he then responded. “Thank you, Owlowiscious!” I responded. Now I just opened the book and red through the tables of content in search of the spell I had been requested to use. Once I found it, my horn lit up and covered me in the glow of the intended spell, turning me into the form of Pony I had in mind. I just had to make a double-check in order to ascertain that I could revert the spell myself later. . Once the spell had taken effect, I turned towards Spike. I soon found him exactly where I had last seen him. “How do I look?” I inquired, as I faced my assistant. “Exactly like Twilight Sparkle, but with these strange tentacles for mane and tail!” Spike responded. Then I got the right spell, this was the look I was going for. I just have to get used to the tentacles hanging down my neck and flanks in place of the hair my usual mane and tail consisted of!” I pointed out as I started to move out towards the door. “From the looks, you need to flex these tentacles of yours, or you will blow your cover!” Spike pointed out as he walked behind me. “Speaking of which, you still better go and hop up on my back, just like you used to. I don’t expect to need you for opening doors, I could open them the traditional way if I can’t use my mane for that!” I responded as I stretch forth the tentacles that used to be the bangs of my mane towards the handle of my door. “Sure!” he merely responded as he jumped up to what was his customary place on my back. . “Greetings, Pinkie and Tenacious!” I exclaimed as I saw them where Spike had told me that they would be waiting for us. “Hiya, Twilly. You do look great, today!” Pinkie responded as she saw me approaching. “Greetings, Twilight!” Tenacious filled in as greeting, the next moment. “I hope you are comfortable among us here in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie was nice to you, and not confusing you more than she had to?” I continued. “The pink Earth Pony mare? She has been very nice, even if she seems to be incapable of being any less than confusing at every turn!” the filly responded, looking funny at the pink mare with tightly curled up mane. “She is unsafe at any speed. Then she is bouncier than the most elastic rubber ball. Of course, she is also liable to throw all the parties in town, including the very best once a Pony, or Dragon could ever experience!” Spike teased. “You mean; like this?” Pinkie Pie inquired as she started to bounce like crazy, up and down between floor and ceiling. “And then, she swallowed an entire large cake, like a frog catches a fly!” Spike retorted with a grin all over his face. “Wait, you can do that, Pinkie? I didn’t know a Pony could be like that!” Tenacious pointed out. “Of course, silly Tenacious. Just like I can do like this!” Pinkie proclaimed, stopping on the ground and started to fly with her tail. . “Oh kay, Pinkie Pie. That is enough!” I pronounced as I patted her on the back with an outstretched tentacle. “These are the prettiest tentacles I have seen on a mares head!” Tenacious gasped. “Thank you, Tenacious. Some of us work hard on maintaining style and finesse. Even though much of my times is taken up with my studies. Otherwise, I do have a few friends I love hanging out with. Spike is a great help in maintaining this place, with some help from my pet Owl Owlowiscious. Aside from Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy use to hang out with me too. You will see them soon enough if you stick around in town!” I pointed out. --- --- ---