It was stuffy, cramped, and itchy. Itches weren't boding well for Earth-Chan. She'd begun to understand how random these sensations were. It was a mix bag of delight or aggravation or some new feeling all together. Itches told you something was wrong, but that's about it. Details were left for you to find out. You had to investigate, evaluate, and dictate your own choices on how to handle that itch. Or, simply put, you scratch when you can. And Earth-Chan couldn't.
She was a little huffy at that, not use to denying her instincts like this, but any wrong move would tip them over as they walked and honestly, she wasn't sure she could find the spot to itch under all this hay either way. Not willing to take another huge risk quite yet, the earth pony feel in line and keep up the pace.
Together Earth-Chan and 'Chaotic Pink' had stowed away in a squared bale of hay. The fit wasn't ideal, but they had somehow snuck past patrol after patrol of ponies, slowly meandering along with the shuffle of their hooves.
Earth-Chan couldn't figure out where they were going. 'The pink one' had refused to spill the beans, it was impossible to see through the hay, and her face happened to be slightly buried inside that cotton ball tail of hers. 'Pinks' seemed to think nothing of it, but Earth-Chan couldn't help but blush at being so intimate towards a tail. It wasn't like this was her first experience, but tails were private. They were kept in the back for a reason and this felt like a huge invasion of 'the Pinkers' privacy.
It didn't help that she'd taken a sniff and liked the aroma from such a tail. She couldn't determine too many smells yet given her sniffer still hadn't been used enough for her to have a repertoire to base anything on, but sweetness was too universal to miss. And it became a guilty pleasure to sniff every other chance she got, trying to keep it on the down low that she'd started in something rather embarrassing.
Nothing was said and Earth-Chan refused to be the pony to speak out about it. Her cheeks starting to grow flushed as she realized it was probably time to stop. Besides, it was better to keep herself distracted with keeping pace rather than... doing that.
They walked in unison. A small shimmy combined with the rhythm of a march. 'Panks' even kept the pace with a slow, methodical chant of numbers.
"I, 2, 3. I, 2, 3. I, 2, 3."
It was actually quite relaxing to follow along. The rules of threes always there to keep the world in balance. Earth-Chan figured they'd gone a good while. The danger was bound to be gone, whatever danger a group of slightly passive aggressive ponies could be. There was nothing to hide from, yet here they shimmied. Continuing to do so as if on the run from sunshine itself.
"S-So, where are we going?" Earth-Chan quietly whispered as they stopped at the sound of hoof steps, laying and waiting for the next chance to move.
"Shhh, we're sneaky ponies right now." 'Pinkers' hushed back at her, brushing more pink tail in her face in what Earth-Chan wanted to believe was an unintentional act of excitement. She'd started wagging it more often though, and it was getting harder and harder to buy into those think hopes. Did she know she was sniffing?! Oh gosh, was she encouraging it? Was it blissful ignorance?! What game was this pony playing?!!
"Mmmph, look... I appreciate the help, but this is taking forever." She lamented the fact that the tail had been discovered to be the source of her newest mental itch. "And it's r-really stuffy in here. Can't we just walk normally?"
Before the Earth-Chan could even blink, she was met face to face with her pink accomplice. Staring straight at her, the pony gave her a very sour frown before sighing. How had she turned so quickly like that? Gah, more unnecessary questions! She ran away from the Police pony for this exact reason darn it!
"You are really bad at playing along, aren't ya?" She said with bemused expression.
That gave Earth-Chan a bit of a wince. She'd not thought of it as a game. Heck, she didn't even know where she stood on the scale of maturity. Who was she to be a party pooper? That said, this felt a lot more complicated than just playing along. This felt like she'd missed an undertone or too. Maybe a signal had been lost on her. Why were they still in the hay bale though? The question was on the tip of her tongue, but suddenly she thought better of it. She was already being chastised here for not getting the game, clearly too many questions weren't called for, right?
"I guess I'm trying to understand is all. Everything is kind of crazy for me still." She trailed off in a mutter, feeling several layers of confused.
'Pinkers' rolled her eyes and giggled, reaching up a hoof gave her a small boop. "Silly, I'm not actually mad. We just have a lot to teach you, don't we?"
"About what?" Earth-Chan asked, her eyes crossed lightly as she looked at the hoof booping her.
"Hehe, well, for starters, how to greet ponies. I'm guessing that's why Brighty is after you."
Earth-Chan blinked from her small trance and let out a scoff. "Wha- A Pony Hunt over not saying 'hi' properly?!"
"Well, why else would he do it? Brighty only goes after either criminals or unfinished business. If he's not out to clear some air, then that would make you a bad pony. And you're not a bad pony. I know bad ponies. I've met a few. I've met bad ponies turned good ponies by other good ponies. And good ponies turned bad ponies who wanted to be better ponies, but only came closer to being bad ponies, so a bunch of good ponies had to come to a weird pony village to tell the bad pony that communism isn't okay."
Finally letting out a breath after that stream of consciousness, 'Mrs. Pinkie Winkie' polished her hoof off on her own chest tuft and examined her appendage like a work of art. "But yeah anyway, I wouldn't call myself an expert or anything, but if you want an experienced opinion, you've come to the right place."
"Ugh, where is the right place, by the way? We've been stopped for a while now."
The pink pony threw the hail bale up over both their head and let it fall to the side, reveal them as well as revealing where they were after all this time. "Welcome to the cupcake emporium of ponyville, Sugar Cube Corner!"
Earth-Chan gawked at being in-doors. She hadn't even noticed the switch from stone tiles to wooden boards. Heck, now that she looked at it, the door had a bell. How did she not hear the bell?!
"W-When did we?" She stuttered, mentally tripping over herself at the leap in logic. She'd been flabbergasted enough to not realize what the term cupcake emporium had meant before the smell suddenly took her. "Oh my gosh, what..." She sniffed her nose into the air and began following the scent, eyes fluttering closed as she chose to concentrate more of the sweet sniffs than anymore of this confusion. "...Mmmph, what is that?"
Her nose lead her to the counter. So she promptly sat in the stool presented so she could get closer to the warm scent. The pink pony quickly joined her, sitting the seat next to Earth-Chan as both enjoyed what the chief was cookin'. She'd all but forgotten her need to hide as that delicious, nose tickling smell threw caution completely out the window. She didn't care if this cook saw her. Heck, maybe that'd be good if she did. With a little luck, maybe she could get a sample~
"Morning Mrs. Cake! How's the baking?" 'Pinkers' greeted happily.
The fore mentioned 'Mrs. Cake' turned from her oven and smiled warmly at her visitors. "Oh, Pinkie Pie. It's been wonderfully slow today. Just catching up on a few treats before the rush hits soon. How's your day off been and who's your new friend?"
Mrs. Cake checked to make sure her timer was set before discarding her oven mitts on a rack above her stove. She turned with confidant posture that only a proud creator could muster. Something Earth-Chan greatly appreciated to see. It made her warm up to the pony before she even had a chance to say, "Hi." She wasn't going to mess this one up. She'd learned from her mistake.
"Hello deary." She beamed before looking back to 'Pinkie Pie, apparently' for an introduction.
"Oh, well. That's actually a good point, Mrs. Cake. I hadn't asked yet." Pinkie answered with a thoughtful frown. "Weird, cause I usually get all over that."
The blue, elder mare was just as perplexed, shaking her head at the answer with her own expression of confusion. "That's not like you, Pinkie. And I've heard nothing about a party for this pony eith-"
She was interrupted rather quickly as Pinkie Pie flagged up her hoof, giving her a pleading look all the while. "Ah ah ah, ixnay on the artypay, Mrs. Cake. Shhhhhhush~"
It took a moment of pure staring before it all dawned on the confectionery cook and she gave a small nod of realization before giggling into her hoof. Earth-Chan wasn't an idiot though. She could catch on to a secret as well as the next pony. She just wondered who the party was for. She hoped that whoever it was had a fun time. She on the other hand had a few more questions to deal with.
"Um.... right. So, I guess names are in high demand around here." Earth-Chan looked rather apprehensive at keeping on subject, but it seemed right to avoid spoiling the party for whichever pony, so she wanted to get use to ignoring the topic so she didn't let anything slip.
Mrs. Cake tilted her head at that and gave a reassuring smile. It was hard to tell if she was making an effort or if every smile this pony gave just happened to feel reassuring, but she couldn't help but smile back. Her good mood was infectious. "It's not demanded from you, deary. It's just another way of saying 'hi'. I won't prod you if it's a difficult topic, no matter the size of the issue at hoof. We can talk about something else if you'd like."
Oh, that didn't help. She wanted an out, but that was nice enough to make anyone spill the beans. This could be a case of blatant reverse psychology and Earth-Chan wouldn't care. The mare just had a presence about her that screamed.... Oh what was it. Motherly? Yes, oh sweet universe that was it! This pony had every signal characteristic of a mother at the ready. Ready to listen. Ready to comfort. Ready to help.
"N-No, it's nothing like that. I just.... um." How do you explain the lack of a name to beings that use names and titles as if they're everything?! Earth-Chan was called Earth. Dirt. She was the latin equivalent to the word literal. How does one make a name out of something like that? "Well... My name comes from far away. It's a little hard to explain. But um..."
Earth wasn't horrible. She'd accepted that humans and celestial just calling her that. It was easy to identify with, she'd heard it more times than what was worth counting. But, the question really needed to be asked, was it worth hanging on to? She had a whole new world to discover. She had possibilities now. She had something more than just a conscious now. She had a voice. She could make a decision.
"My name is what I want it to be. I guess. And I want to be known as something different than what I was. I haven't really decided what that is yet." Earth-Chan liked to open her thoughts up. It felt kind of relieving to share a thought like this. Something more than just small talk or questions. It was nice to feel some connection for once. It was too easy though. She had some reservation still creeping inside. She shrunk back a little on her stool. A feeling of smallness starting to take root. Insecurities started to flood in. What if she said too much? What if it happens again? What if this is just another beginning to an even worse failure?
Mrs. Cake broke in though, filling her mind with a soothing voice in place of some of those bad thoughts. "That makes sense, deary. I can completely understand." The mare reached a blue hoof over and held Earth-Chan's comfortingly. A mothers touch. She was good at this. "Names can bring a lot of value to who we are. It's important to be the one that gives that value to yourself. I know it might not compare well, but I had something of the same kind of crisis you're having when I was younger. But, a good friend helped me through that. Give it some time, and maybe a few more hellos, and I'm sure you'll have ponies there to help you too."
Earth-Chan nodded at that, agreeing whole-heartedly to everything the plump chef pony said, caught up in the delight of having someone so intimately care. It brought back memories of her night with 'Brighty'. Memories of her time with her humans. Memories of warmth. As sparse as it was back then, those warm fuzzies were nothing new to the planet turned pony. Finally, another familiarity.
Earth-Chan sniffed, having not realized she let herself get so teary. She hadn't meant for her first real hello to be sad, but it'd also worked out far better than she could have hoped. These weren't bad tears. But, they weren't happy tears either. They were tears that needed to happen. For the second time, Earth-Chan was allowed to cry. And she did.
Walking with a purpose, Mrs. Cake briskly walked around the counter to go meet Earth-Chan for a hug. She was a little late though, as Pinkie Pie had already scooped her up, but that didn't stop her from joining.
Together they shared a moment of sniffles and warmth. Leaving quite the impression on a very damaged pony.
Once the moment passed, the hugs broke apart. It was reluctant, but Earth-Chan knew it was silly to hope those moments would last forever. She knew better than any pony that they never did.
"So, how about a place holder? Something to call you until you choose what name you want?" Pinkie Pie offered. She was a somber pony when the time called for it. It was clear that any zaniness and disapproval earlier was all for the sake of fun. It made Earth-Chan smile when she was finally struck with the question. She didn't want to say anything permanent, and that's what Pinkie was offering. A short term solution to her thoughts and issues.
"Mmmmm, hmmm, well. It was initially Earth." She said, pondering the taste of that word and how it left her lips in the equine dialect.
"Right, Earth Pony... Wait, you use to just go by Earth Pony?" Pinkie was confused just as much as she was confusing.
"Wha? No, just Earth..."
"Pony*"
"Earth!"
"Pony*"
"Pinkie Pie!" Earth-Chan whined out, exasperated.
"Present!"
"No, Pinkie.... My title use to be Earth."
"And it kind of still is."
"What, why? I thought we were exploring new ideas! "
"No no no, nothing to do with that. You're an Earth Pony! Like me! And Mrs. Cake... And Brighty..." The Pink pony tapped her chin in concentration. "Actually, I kind of wonder if you've really stopped to smell the Unicorn and Pegasi yet."
"The what and what?!"
"How about Earth-Chan, keep things original and a little fresh!"
"That... Defeats... The purpose.... Of our conversation. Go back a second though, what were you saying about Unicorns?"
"And Pegasi!" She chirped happily.
Mrs. Cake let out a chuckle as she made her way back around the counter into her kitchen, seemingly unaffected by the wackiness happening before her. She knew something Earth-Chan didn't. It was unfair for her to keep from warning her, still It was rather self evident. Even now as Pinkie listed off different versions of Japanese styled Earth names. That there was some battles you just don't fight.
"...-Sama. Earth-Sensei. Earth-Kun! I like Earth-Kun!"
"Uuuuugh, Pinkie, you're the sweetest terror I've ever met.... Just... Chan. We can stick with Chan for the moment?"
The pink pony cheered as a temp name was finally decided on. As exhausting of a process as it had been, she was just glad it was temporary. There was no way a name like Earth-Chan was ever gonna stick. Soon she'd get her thoughts straight and see about a new name. A pony name. What would it be?