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// Twilight's Assistance 
// Story: Pinkie's greatest Challenge. 
// by Lethrael 
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Pinkie stayed silent and pondered for a few minutes. She looked around, her eyes stayed on one particular crayon drawing with two earthponys and she took it into a closer inspection. The colouring of their coats was known by her, first vaguely but finally she made a hiss, as she finally recognised the ponies, the Cakes. 
Scootaloo had painted them as she was a little foal?

She looked over the walls and recognised more and more ponies on the drawings. She saw on the second glance more diverse couples and a few pictures were even with just one mare, but none of it was actually with her colour. Pinkie sighed and looked down to the ground. She dove deeper into her thoughts and began sweating heavily, but she couldn't find any answer.
Scootaloo frowned sullenly, rolled her eyes and waited. A few nagging minutes later she brushed more tears away and shook her head. She pushed than Pinkie Pie away from herself and whispered one sentence.
“When you can't even think about...”
Pinkie looked back to the filly, who started to scoot away from her and turned her face against the wall. The mare took her into a tight hug and babbled an answer hastily.
“No, I...I want to give the absolute perfect, strongest and truly truthfulliest answer of all.
So I can show you, that I'm really really really serious about it, but...I can't find one.”

Scootaloo tried to struggle away from the hug first, but as Pinkie's voice got more and more weaker and a sob got stuck in her throat finally, Scootaloo reconsidered. She stopped and nuzzled the chest of the older mare slowly. She opened her mouth, but Pinkie hadn't finished to talk yet.
“Well beside of this one here.
Every little filly and colt just deserves a family.
And we Pies are the very best family of all.”
Pinkie fell silent quickly and looked around conspiratorial. Finally she pushed Scootaloo away from her chest and looked directly into her eyes. She whispered and beamed at the same time.
“Please, don't tell Apple Bloom, that I've said this. Or else....”
Scootaloo snickered and completed the sentence, after she sniffled once and rubbed her nose with one hoof.
“She will tell Applejack and she makes it into a competition.”
Pinkie nodded, her grin became more widely and she hugged the filly again. Scootaloo smiled more  wistful, but continued to nuzzle the coat of the mare slowly. She cleared her throat, as she raised her own hooves and returned the hug. She whispered a question.
“Is this enough?
I mean...”

Scootaloo stopped and sighed very low. She let loose Pinkie Pie at the same time and looked away. Pinkie took a deep breath and hugged her tighter. She whispered a question on her own.
“Is it enough for you?”
She emphasised the you very strongly and Scootaloo sighed again. The filly brushed over her eyes and pressed them back into the mare's coat. She thought about it for a long time and nuzzled her coat again in the meantime. She snuffled and sighed again, as the sweet smell of the the mare mixed with a more subliminal one of cakes and the warmth of the mare calmed her down.
She opened her mouth, but somepony knocked on her door and startled her out of her thoughts. She pushed away the mare quickly, jumped from the bed and back at her hooves. Scootaloo ran so quickly and sure hoofed through her chaos, as it wasn't there in the first place and stopped directly in front of the door. She brushed over her eyes again and ordered her mane after that. The filly looked back to Pinkie on her bed doubtfully and drew nervous circles on the ground.
“This is...I mean it's lunchtime and we have to help. So...uhm...”

Pinkie nodded quickly, turned her head and saw where she was lying, so she jumped on her hooves hastily and down from the bed. She stumbled through the chaos more insecure, bounced beside Scootaloo and landed with a loud creak beside the filly. Scootaloo looked appealed down to her hooves, opened her mouth, but the pony outside knocked again and she slouched her shoulders. She pushed the door open and sighed. First she cried to the pony outside and turned then around to Pinkie.
“I'm coming. I've to go, Pinkie.”
She sounded a little bit disappointed or even angry for a moment and Pinkie looked down to her own hooves. She was stepped on a very old, now broken, doll of an earthpony. She raised her hoof from the toy slowly, but there wasn't any free space on the ground. Everywhere near the doll lay other toys and she just hold the hoof up in the air. Pinkie opened her mouth, but Scootaloo sighed again and drew her out of the room quickly with herself. Pinkie tried to stammer an apology, but the filly just slammed the door shut and followed the other little filly.
She stopped before she was out of the line of sight, turned around and raised a hoof quickly. She waved to the mare, bit away a smile and put on a disappointed frown for her last expression.
Finally she turned around and ran without Pinkie around the corner, as she would flee from her. The mare stared after the filly and shook her head really confused.


The way out of the orphanage led Pinkie back to Caring's office, but the mare wasn't there, probably she had all her hooves full with the preparation of the meal. First Pinkie thought about to help them, but as she pondered around her own tasks, she realised that she had Pinkie promised Twilight something. 
She had promised to help her by the rearranging of all the books in the Golden Oaks Library and was almost tardy. She checked the clock on the tower again and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Pinkie was running through Ponyville, her thoughts still lingering in Scootaloo's room. No matter what, she couldn't get it out of her mind. 
Chaos wasn't unknown for Pinkie of course, it was necessary for a good party in some degree. She grinned wider involuntary and bounced whistling closer to the big tree in the centre of Ponyville.
But her thoughts drifted again back to Scootaloo's mess and she remembered the broken doll. Pinkie sighed and shook her head. When the chaos was so messy, that somepony wasn't able to look out for what was important for them, it was not the good or funny kind of chaos. And Scootaloo had this  bad kind of chaos in her room.
Pinkie sighed again and took a deep breath. She stood finally in front of the door and tried to free her thoughts from Scootaloo, but even as she knocked on the door her thoughts stayed in the filly's room. A halfway convincing smile was all she could muster to appear on her face, but Twilight wouldn't mind that hopefully.

Purple magic opened the door finally and Pinkie's frowning face looked to a huge pile of books and a sweating Twilight beside of it. The unicorn levitated a few books around her head and looked to one in particular. She mumbled something and put it back on the highest shelf of the empty library. Pinkie sighed loudly as the mess in the library reminded her strongly to the one in Scootaloo's room. She drew Twilight's attention onto her with that sigh and a small smile appeared on the mare's face, as she turned. But it disappeared quickly, as she saw the expression on Pinkie's face. It was a strangely serious, even refrained expression, which didn't change in the slightest, as she entered the library.
Even her mane wasn't quite as fluffy as it supposed to be and Pinkie bit her lips very strongly. Twilight opened her mouth, but Pinkie was way ahead with her talking. She bounced aside the unicorn, landed on a few books, but not one slipped away and the mare claimed.
“Do you think I'm the right pony to adopt Scootaloo?”
Twilight cocked her head very confused, lost her concentration and all the levitating books rumbled down to the ground. She faced Pinkie and closed the door with her magic. Twilight sounded truly confused and didn't bother to tone down her voice.
“What, you want what?”


Twilight and Pinkie sat on a few cushions in the second floor of the Golden Oaks with a few cups of tea and Pinkie finished her story recently.
“You know, I would never imagine, that she would wish the Cakes, or even the Apples as parents and even paint them or all the other families here.”
Pinkie fell silent, as Twilight put down her own cup and cleared her throat.
“Well, I wouldn't either, but what has this to do with my question, Pinkie?
Why do you want to adopt Scootaloo in the first place?”
Twilight smiled, for the way into smiles Pinkie somewhat between pitying, interested and bashful but she tried to dissemble any kind of understanding expression and what she felt about that kind of smile. She looked directly into the mare's questioning eyes, sighed and turned her own cup in her hooves. She had drank the very tasty tea from Twilight a while ago, but turned the cup in her hooves to past the time. She needed this time to search for a good answer, but the only one she was able to find was the one she had given to Scootaloo.
“Because, every little filly and colt just deserves a family.”
Twilight reacted different than Scootaloo and shook her head. She took a cookie from the plate between them, took a bit of it and chewed on it contemplative. Pinkie saw, that she pondered around for words and her smile faded more and more away.
Finally, as it disappeared completely, she swallowed the bit and stroke nervously over her mane with one hoof.
“Well, you know, that's...good and very kind...yes kind of you, that you want to help Scootaloo in this way. And I agree, that she really deserves a family.”
Pinkie grinned first, but the stammering Twilight shook her head and cleared her throat again. She drew circles on the ground with one hoof and whispered an answer. Pinkie laid her ears against her head and ducked down a little bit, as she continued.
“But how in Equestria did you come to the conclusion, that you would be the right pony for this?”
Pinkie cocked her head, opened her mouth, but Twilight raised a hoof and stopped the mare with a few other words.
“What do you think would happen?
Would she simply stay with you in the Cakes room?
Don't you think that would be...”

Pinkie shook her head quickly, stopped Twilight and whispered an answer. She looked directly into the nervous eyes of her friend.
“I have to look out for a house, Twilight.”
The seriousness in her voice let Twilight fall silent quickly and she simply could gaze at the party pony. Pinkie just took a cookie on her own, took a bite too and chewed on it. She mumbled a few more sentences.
“But I could really use your help with that.
Would you please make a checklist for me, for the thinks I should think of?
I don't want to miss something important.
And can you make me a task list, so I can see, what I should be able to do as a mummy.
What I should think about and how I...hello Twilight, are you listening?”
The pink mare had jumped back on her hooves in the middle of the words and crossed through the room. As she got  no answer from Twilight, she bounced back to her and waved with a hoof in front of the mare's astonished staring eyes, but there was no response, other then the staring. Twilight just gazed with an agape mouth to the spot where Pinkie had sat and didn't moved until Pinkie shook her.
“Hey, Twilight, what's the matter with you?
I just want to...”
Twilight shook her head and a wide grin returned to her face. She hugged Pinkie, well she even nuzzled her and spoke with a proud voice.
“You're really...incredible Pinkie.”
She cleared her throat again, as the party pony cocked her head again and put on an inquiring expression. She then shrugged it off simply and joined into the hug.
“Well thanks, but why?”
Pinkie's question was the last thing Twilight could here before the strong hooves of Pinkie hugged her closely and both mares just shared the hug for a few moments.


The now following talk between the both mares was very different. Pinkie asked, where she should live, what she should do first and if Twilight had an idea, with what she should prepare herself first.
Twilight advised a few books of course, but didn't stop there. She recommended a few talks with the Cakes or especially with Applejack. But Pinkie nodded simply, wiped of her mouth and took a deep breath.
“First I should talk with Ma and Pa.
They wouldn't become grannies uhm I mean Granny and Gramp Pie, or are they?
Oh and I have to tell Maud and Limie and Marble.”
Twilight was long lost into making a list for Pinkie and mumbled something quietly to herself.
“Healthy food, uhm Applejack could help you surely with that.
Oh and homework would be my part of...”
She realised just now, that Pinkie had asked a question and looked to her. She opened her mouth, but somepony opened the door of the library and a young voice sounded through the whole library.
“Why it's still so messy here?
Twilight I thought Pinkie would help you with the rearranging?”
Spike seemed to stumble across the pile of books slowly and Twilight frowned after she realised, what kind of mess she had left behind. She looked to the clock and galloped quickly downstairs. Pinkie bounced back on her hoof and ran after her.