//------------------------------// // Chapter Four- Not feeling so Pinkie Keen // Story: Brave to the Soul // by Allen H //------------------------------// “Oh dear,” a voice echoed in a world of empty white. Though its power and presence had graced the ear of the black lamb Bo, it no longer held the god like qualities it had before. Its unisexual booming voice now sounded like that of a small girl, as a result of changing into a smaller form. “I didn’t expect this monstrosity to manifest…this is quite unsettling.”            Even though the glowing being in the vast emptiness of the white void had told Bo that she was entering a world for an untold purpose, it had been the half-truth of things. In fact, it had pulled her soul to the world of Equestria and gave it physical form for Bo’s own sake. It just didn’t want to watch her die at the hands of that evil force of that shrouded and twisted being. A demented girl that had struck Bo with her gnarled lollipop lance, causing her to have severe blood loss.            It had been observing other worlds and realms since the spark of life filled its shell. It had witnessed the rise of futuristic lands, the love between two couples, and even betrayal with trusted comrades through the many gapping magic portals it could create. The realm of Harmonia had been one of the many it cherished in watching, the way that its people continued providing another world with its pleasures unknowingly and not asking for anything in return. This power of observation was limited though, for each world could only be observed through one selected being’s eyes…and Bo had been the one picked for Harmonia.            There were over a hundred eyes it could peer through, but the lone being felt happy and a place in its heart felt filled with positive emotion when watching through Bo’s eyes.            When Bo had been lying on the verge of death, it had panicked; it didn’t want to lose something it thought precious to itself. With all its power, it reached across the vastness of the dimensional barrier, ripping and breaking itself while it followed the life line, the magical chain that had connected the observing being with Bo. Bo’s body might be dying, but her soul, her essence; her spirit was still intact and full of life. The whole event had drained the observing beings powers substantially, leaving only enough strength to send Bo to the closet world, which had been Equestria. It seems though that something had attached itself to Bo before the observing being dragged her off to its ever empty void. The walking shadow that now stalked the lands of Equestria had concealed itself within Bo’s brave heart and emerged when she came into this world, seeking to fill its hunger on its desired food. The anger and sorrow of other beings. The observer didn’t have to see the shadowy figure to know it was there. It could feel its presence through its link in Equestria, with the pony’s twitching body giving evidence to it too. “I need to warn Bo before it’s too late,” the glowing orb said in a small girl’s voice, filled with anxiety about what events may happen, and that it could have unleashed something that would damage the land of Equestria. ------ Twitchy-twitch, twitchy-twitch Pinkies whole body had been twitching and shaking all evening. She had thought that the funny looking lamb had been the source for the full body pinkie-sense twitch, which meant that there was going to be a doozie, but it had only lessened her pinkie-sense which had made her think one thing. There must be stranger, unexpected things to go find. Pinkie had her hooves full though and could not go looking about, she had pinkie-promised to take care of the shop and the Cake twins for Mr. and Mrs. Cake while they were away on a special delivery.            Though babysitting for Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake hadn’t been that difficult over the past few months compared to the first time, it was still difficult to keep track of the little foals. Pound Cake would fly around sometimes, and Pumpkin Cake would do some amazing feats when her magical outbursts happened.  Luckily there were no customers about when Pound Cake had landed in a blueberry pie, and started playfully splashing the filling all over the counter and floor.             Twitchy-twitch, twitchy-twitch The bell on the door of Sugarcube Corner rang out as a dark blue stallion unicorn trotted in; a faint smell of mechanical oil filled the front room when he had entered.            Pinkie finished cleaning up the blueberry mess that had been on the counter in an impossible split second when she saw him come up to the counter; it had been quite a mess still just as he had opened the door. Throwing the blue soaked cleaning cloth behind her without a glance, it landed perfectly in a bowl of water, causing only a small ripple as the cloth sank to the bottom of the bowl.            “Hello! What sweet yummy treat would you like…hey are you new here?” Pinkie gave the blue stallion a quizzical look; the orange goggles he was wearing reflected her expression. “I know everypony in town, and I don’t know you, so you must be new!” Pinkie said, while her pink body and mane began to bob as she starting to hop up and down cheerfully.            “eh…yeah you could say I’m new,” the dark blue stallion said, as he left his goggles on top of his shaggy brown mane, with metallic gray strikes going throughout it. “I’m here on a business trip and-“            “My name is Pinkie Pie. O, where you from, what you here for, o I need to throw you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” Pinkie giggled and laughed as she bounced about even faster.  Pound Cake, which had been placed behind the counter after the pie incident, joined in her joyful movements as he mimicked her.                 The unicorn stallion stared at Pinkie awkwardly, looking like he wasn’t sure how to take the strong joyfulness of the seemingly hyperactive mare. “Ok...?” he said as he watched her bounce up and down, her gleeful smile causing him to be hesitant “eh...Anyways, I came in to see if you have any apple cinnamon muffins. It’s been a long journey and-” “What's your name Mr. Pony that’s new to town,” Pinkie leaned over the counter closer to the dark blue unicorns face.   “If I give you my name would you please promise me that I can just get my muffins,” he said as his right eye started to twitch with frustration.   “Sure will do,” Pinkie reassured the unicorn, as she went through her Pinkie-Promise ritual. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” she ended with a happy filled smile.                 Twitchy-twitch, twitchy-twitch                 “My name is LewaBolt...and are you ok, you're shaking quite strongly.” Despite his frustration of her interruption every time he tried to get something to eat, her strong jittery shaking was really concerning and worrisome.                 “Oh that’s just my Pinkie sense acting up,” Pinkie said. “Now let’s get those muffins for you.” Giving off a small giggle of amusement, she looked in the glass display case next to the counter. “Let see, blueberry, lemon, triple chocolate...” Pinkie went on as she looked through the stock of muffins in the case. “...Hmm, it seems we are out of apple cinnamon. Let me whip up a fresh batch for you.”                 LewaBolt still eyed the pink mare; his face showed that he didn’t quite believe that Pinkie’s shaking was something minor. “Forget the muffins, are you really sure that you’re ok?”                 “Oh don’t be a silly, you came for apple cinnamon muffins, and you will get them. Don’t cha worry about my Pinkie sense, because this one sure is for a doozie, who knows what might happen?” Pinkie’s further comment on her shaking only left LewaBolt confused, as she went to the back to make his muffins.                 Letting out a sigh, LewaBolt said out loud to himself, “why didn’t I just ask for a different muffin instead of asking about her weird shaking, and what in Celestia’s name is Pinkie sense?” Pound Cake stared at the unicorn from behind the counter as LewaBolt gave himself a face hoof, causing the young foal to giggle.                 Pinkie Pie was beyond happy; in just one day she had met two new ponies she would be throwing a “Welcome to Ponyville” party for. Well one pony and a strange black lamb. None the less though, doing parties for new ponies in town had become a rare occasion for the fun loving pink mare, as new arrivals to Ponyville had become less and less. Even before one of her best friends, Twilight, came to Ponyville from Cantorlot, a new face would only be seen a couple of times in the past few years.                 “Hmm I wonder what sheep like to eat,” Pinkie thought for a second, while she started mixing up the batter for the apple cinnamon muffins. ”I wonder if she would like cake, who am I kidding silly, everypony loves cake.” She giggled once more as she placed the batter filled muffin pan in the oven. While she waited during the time it took the muffins to bake, she decided to decorate some cookies she had baked earlier. “I need to do something; I’ll be right back soon.” Pinkie heard the unicorn call out before the door opened and closed with the ringing bell on it.                 As Pinkie squeezed some rainbow icing, which she had been told by many ponies to be spicy, she watched Pumpkin Cake play with a pile of plush animals. Just as the little filly was about to put on of the plushies in her mouth, Pinkie called out in a gentle commanding voice. “Now now Pumpkin, only food and sweets go in your mouth, not stuffed animals.” Pinkie turned back to icing the cookie when Pumpkin had spit out the head of the plushie she was going to chew on.                 Just as she was about to squeeze some more of the multi colored icing onto more cookies, a familiar elegant voice rang from the front. “Pinkie dear, are you here? We need your help with something urgent.” Concern laced the words Pinkie heard. ------ Twenty minutes earlier                 “Oh Bo, please cheer up,“ Fluttershy said as she walked close to the gloomy black lamb. “I’m sure there is a way to get you back home.” Fluttershy really did want to make her new friend happy, but Bo’s sense of being dragged to Equestria was hitting her hard.                 Rarity looked between the two as they were on their way to Sugarcube Corner; she could see that her dear friend Fluttershy’s caring manners was the only thing keeping Bo from falling deep into a pit of despair. One thing had been nagging at the white unicorn’s mind; Bo had mentioned someone else by name. This name had seemed important to Bo, and only when she had mentioned it did she sink deeper into her current sadness.                 “Say Bo,” Rarity started, as they continued trotting down the road. “Who is this Hansel you mentioned, is he your coltfriend?”                 Bo’s face slowly turned to face Rarity. It was still a touch red from tears, but her eyes could tell you that she felt sad inside. “What's a coltfriend?” Bo asked in a low audible voice.                 “A coltfriend is your special somepony that you have feelings for,” Fluttershy said with her quiet voice.                 Even with her sad eyes, Bo’s now red blushed cheeks made her look happy. “Well, we were best friends before we both went to Brave Academy...” The blush had faded away when she paused in her speech. “But he has always had deeper feeling for Princess Ginger as he had been with her since she gave him life him. He thought it was his duty to comfort her since her mother's death since she was little. He was a special gingerbread man to the both of us.”                 Rarity and Fluttershy were astonished by what they heard, not that she had feelings for a baked good, but that it was alive.                 Rarity moved closer to Bo as the slow walk went on. “I’m sure you will be reunited with your gingerbread friend, I promise that you will get back home somehow dear.”                 Getting back to a rather old subject, Fluttershy asked, “Did the spa help you relax, I hope it did.” She gave Bo a sheepish smile in return for the small one on the lamb’s face as they looked at each other.         “Yes, it did help.” Bo tried her best to give them a bigger smile, but her depression was still weighing her heart down.         Even though she had begun to feel incredibly sad after her thoughts about never being able to see her friends and loved ones again, Bo had continued on with both ponies in their spa treatments. Her aura of depression had made the experience not as mentally soothing as it should have been, but physically she felt beyond great. The massage and herbal bath she had, despite her embarrassment of no clothes, loosened all the tight muscles she had had since waking up in the EverFree forest.         Bo wished though that she knew why she had come to this place, what force dragged her here. These thoughts only made her chest hurt         “Wait, my chest really does hurt.” A growing stab of pain could be felt. Bo let out a gasp of pain as she clutched the front of her poncho and fell to her knees. She saw her two new friends stop walking when they heard her cry of pain.         Both Rarity and Fluttershy looked concerned as they kept asking “what's wrong.” and “are you ok?”         None of their words were received, as the pain had increased tenfold knocking out any other reasonable senses. Bo tried desperately to keep herself from going unconscious from the now blinding pain in her chest.         The only thing the two ponies could do as they watched the lamb was see the depressed expression that had been on her be replaced with agony as she kneeled over on the ground.         “Watch over her while I try to get some help!” Rarity told Fluttershy in a panicked manner as she charged off in the direction of Sugarcube corner.         Fluttershy was going to protest; she wanted to get Bo to a safer place before any of them ran off for help. Fluttershy didn’t want to just leave Bo in the middle of the street while she was in pain. Rarity was gone before she could say anything though, and Bo had become unconscious now. The pain had overwhelmed her, causing her to fall into a sleep in natural defence against the pain. This only made things more dire as Bo could no longer move on her own, and Bo’s situation could now be even more serious. Most ponies that had witnessed the scene were in shock, unable to comprehend as to what just happened, but a grey pegasus with a blond mane had approached asking if she could help. Seeing the good gesture, Fluttershy asked if she could help her get Bo to the hospital. Even though Rarity had told her to watch over Bo while she went off for help, the black lamb needed to get to the hospital now, or something worse might happen to her health. ------         Bo’s eyes opened up wide. The pain in her chest was no longer there, and she could now breathe normally without its blinding pain, but something wasn’t right. The foggy chaotic landscape that had been in her dream previously was laid out in front of her once again. This time though, there wasn’t a scene playing before her, there was nothing around except the black rocks and the thick fog.  “Feed, must feed,” Bo heard a voice whisper, almost sounding familiar. Whatever was talking she could not see it, everything was around her was almost impossible to see through this cover of fog. “Must fill empty hunger,” it whispered again, louder this time, indicating that it was getting closer. Bo wanted to run away from the creeping voice, but her nature of being a BraveHeart made her keep her ground. A small figure, about the same height as Bo, could now be seen walking towards her, its red eyes piercing the veiling fog. “There is nothing you can do sister.” the voice said as it gave out a howling laugh, its voice now sounding almost identical to Bo’s. “I should know, I’m you after all.”