//------------------------------//
// Mummy is Best. 
// Story: Pinkie's greatest Challenge. 
// by Lethrael 
//------------------------------//

Pinkie chewed her last bite and swallowed it slowly. It was just a delight and she wanted to last it as long as possible. But finally she turned her head to Scootaloo and smiled. A last pancake laid on her plate and she eyed it up with a replete expression. She sighed, pushed the plate away slowly and shook her head finally. The filly smiled first, rubbed her belly then, sighed and shook her head again.
She sensed Pinkie's glance, licked the jam from her lips and wiped it away from her face.
Pinkie cocked her head, as the filly looked down to her plate again and mumbled.
“I'm full, Pinkie.
It's really really good, but...”
An irrepressible belch stopped her apology and the filly covered her mouth quickly. Pinkie's smile get much wider and shook her head quickly.
“I just don't know, if you was very hungry and thought.
Well better too much, than too little.
Like a really good party.
You can't have too much fun, but...”
Pinkie fell silent, as the filly stood up, throw a glance to the clock and sighed again. The mare followed her gaze and saw, that she just had one and a half hour left, She took a deep breath, bounced on the hooves on her own and pushed Scootaloo back into the bathroom.
“C'mon. Wash your face and than we...”
The filly glanced over the table, eyed up every one of the many jam jars and the filthy plates. She thought about it shortly and whispered a question finally.
“Shouldn't we clean up here first?”
Scootaloo drew lines on the ground, but Pinkie just smiled and shook her head. She gave the filly a last push and bounced away from her.
“I'll do it, when I've brought you back home, Scootaloo.
Where would be the fun, if we...”
The filly stumbled forwards, but stopped quickly, raised her head and turned to the table. She opened her mouth to respond, but Pinkie pushed her into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, before she was able to answer.



Pinkie looked around and sighed, as she saw the leftover pancakes, the jams and the spoiled dishes on the table.
“I...I should have asked her, what she likes the most.
But eventually she wouldn't like it today and...”
Scootaloo returned from the bathroom, before Pinkie could finish her soliloquy and towelled her face with the blanket on her back. She stroke her halfway ordered mane, took a deep breath and spoke firmly.
“I just thought, I should help you with that, Pinkie.
I have eaten the whole bramble jam after all and the Cakes are so nice and you are so nice and...”
Pinkie shook her head at first and opened her mouth. The filly stammered along, was trying to stay calm and on a normal pace, but failed and speeded up.
She babbled something inaudible and her tail wagged nervously behind her. She seemed to be so full of vim, that she even blushed. 
Pinkie couldn't suppress a grin, as the filly got more and more nervous and Pinkie remembered something from her own foalhood.




Smaller Pinkie stood in front of her parents, who had their usual stoic expressions and looked unmoved to her. Her fluffy tail wagged very nervously behind her and she tried to calm down, but failed. The disappointment in her eyes made her just more nervous and she tried to explain it in a very stammering way.
“Well I thought, I could surprise you with a breakfast on my own and first I wanted to make waffles.
But I didn't know how to make them, so I have borrowed a cookbook from school.”
She stopped and rethought it quickly. The little filly shook her head finally, before she babbled along and changed the whole story.
“Well, no I've asked Carrot Stick, if he could borrow me a cookbook.
And than I've tried to bake something really, really great from it.
But...”
She stopped again, blushed and her ears went flatter, while her tail wagged even faster. Her parents didn't react, but looked firmly to the little filly. Pinkie stammered further, drew lines on the floury floor and stroke her pasty mane.
“Well I have thought I buy the ingredients with my pocket money and just try to make it...”
Mummy looked away finally, coughed once and directed her attention back to the kitchen. Pinkie glanced slowly over the whole disaster,w hat she had made in the kitchen and she tried an apologetic smile.

From every wall and even the ceiling dripped dough. The floor was covered with a thin layer of flour and sugar and the sink was smudged with a layer of strawberry crème. Directly in front of the sink laid a chair in the middle of a pool of the same crème and a huge dish. Pinkie could sense a few gluey spots on her back hooves and even more in her tail. She blushed even more, as a very quick tail wagging led to a huge red stain on her mothers chest coat. She stammered faster and turned around to the biggest mistake she had made.
A thick black cloud of smoke came out of the oven and the source of it was a burned black lump. Pinkie tried to stammer much more, but nothing audible came out of her mouth instead. She ducked down and pressed her ears against her head, as her father sighed.

“I...I'm really really sorry.
I had forgotten, that I should have make the crème first.
It was the other way around in the recipe, so I thought...”
Pinkie looked to the sink, bit her lips and yelped surprised, as that reminded her on her burned lips. The first tears gathered in her eyes and she sobbed once. She shut her eyes closed to fight back the tears and trembled.
Mummy jumped closer quickly, hugged her and nuzzled her cheek gently.
“Don't worry, Pinkamena.
We're so glad, that you're alright thou.”
Her daddy cleared his throat, sighed again and shook his expressionless head. Cloudy jumped quickly away fro the filly, tried to change her expression into her usual neutral state, but a small smile stayed for a minute or so.
Daddy sounded firm, but Pinkie couldn't hear any anger. The filly wasn't able to fight her nervous wagging tail or her pressed ears, so she ducked down and closed her eyes.
“You know, there is just one real thing to apology right now, Pinkamena.”
The filly swallowed a huge lump in her throat and looked directly into the stallions seemingly expressionless eyes. He approached her slowly, hugged her quickly and whispered encouraging to the trembling filly.
“By helping us to make everything spotless again.
I know your heart was on the right place, Pinkie.”
The little filly raised her head very confused and stared to her daddy. He nuzzled gently over her cheek and whispered a few more words.
“It isn't important how it works out, as long as you did it with good intentions.
You have to help clean up your mishap, of course.”
Pinkies ears went halfway up again and she nodded eagerly. She fought back more tears and nestled closer to her daddy. Finally the filly calmed down and took a deep breath. She yawned for a long time and sprawled herself. Daddy looked to her, thought for a moment and sighed finally.

She had been up quite early to make such a huge mess, or better such a sweet surprise. He looked back to Cloudy and a smile returned on his face for a short moment.
The mare nodded, as Pinkie rubbed her eyes and smacked her lips silently. Cloudy hugged her and whispered.
“You should go back to bed. We will clean...”
Pinkie shook her head, crawled away from the hug and fought down another yawn. She rubbed her eyes again and babbled.
“But...I want to help, Mummy.
I didn't mean to...”
She yawned again and lolled. Both parents shared a worried glance and Cloudy opened her mouth. The filly bounced to the chair and set it up again, before the mare was able to say anything.
Mummy sighed and stepped beside her. She petted over Pinkie's mane and smiled quickly. Pinkie grinned back and heard a last suggestion, before she cuddled groggily into her mother's embrace and dozed off finally.
“Maybe you could ask Carrot Stick for a few lessons, Pinkamena?”




Pinkie nodded and her smile widened finally. She looked down to the filly and sighed.
“Well okay.
You can help me.”
The mare took the first plate, breathed in deeply and started to whistle. She smiled to Scootaloo and bounced around her. The filly took a relieved breath on her own and started to sway her head, as she recognised the song.
Both ponies bounced in the kitchen, danced on the spot, or not on the spot and even bounced into each other every now and then. Scootaloo hummed the song silently, while Pinkie set the rhythm with her whistling.
They cleared the table quite quickly, danced to the sink together and stayed finally there side by side. Scootaloo had to pull a chair closer and stood on it of course, but as long as they were washing up it wasn't a problem. Pinkie whistled a slower melody, while she was washing up and Scootaloo tapped her hoof in the music while she was drying the dishes.
The time went quickly with the music, like it was nothing and finally the kitchen was spotless.

Pinkie's whistling faded slowly and the mare smiled to Scootaloo, who dried the last plate and whistled meanwhile. The filly even swayed her head in rhythm and turned herself swinging, the chair started to wobble and Scootaloo squeaked surprised. She was able to jumped from the chair, before it fell over and banged on the ground. 
The bang startled the filly out of the song and she looked quickly from chair to Pinkie and back. She tried to stammer an apology, but Pinkie waved it aside.
“See, just a little bit of music and we...”
She looked to the clock and sighed, as she saw, that they have just an hour left. Scootaloo sighed too, opened her mouth and hoofed Pinkie the plate. 
The mare put it in a cupboard slowly and turned to the filly again. Scootaloo laid her ears on the head, looked down to the ground and sighed again. She skulked slowly to the knocked over chair, stood it up and mumbled a few words.
“I...didn't mean to knock the chair over, Pinkie.
I'm sorry.”
The mare just smiled, grabbed Scootaloo and pulled the filly quickly upstairs. She cheered and shouted.
“Now I can do your mane finally and we can play a few games.
I just can't let you go home right now.
Uh and you get a parting-present and...”
First Scootaloo looked confused, then strangely pensive and finally she tried to free herself from Pinkie's hug. She got free not until they were in Pinkie's room again.
“But I thought we would just meet, do a sleepover and...I don't have a present for you.”
Scootaloo's voice faded more and more away and she whispered the last sentence. The filly even blushed and drew circles on the floor. 

Pinkie shook the head, pulled the filly back into the hug and nuzzled her warm cheek.
“Don't worry. I just want to apologise,
for well, that I have broken your dolly...”
Scootaloo squeaked scared, brushed away the hugging hooves and galloped to her saddle bags. She pressed it against her nose, nuzzled over the old strap and stared stammering to Pinkie.
“So...I...you know.
Th...this is...just...”
A low sob escaped her mouth and she put her hooves over her mouth. Pinkie was slightly surprised, well totally to be honest and just could look to the filly a little bit dumbfounded. 
Scootaloo chewed on her lips so strongly, that it was a miracle, that they didn't start to bleed. Well Pinkie wasn't able to see the blood, because the filly turned her head away quickly. 
Scootaloo trembled for a while and fought down her feelings once more.
She took a deep breath finally and started to stammer again, after a few minutes.
“Just an old doll and...
That was just...just...”
Pinkie cocked her head, as the filly hugged the saddle bag again and pressed it closer on her chest. Scootaloo nuzzled the bag again and sniffed on it.
The mare cleared her throat, approached her slowly and tried to understand, what happened here.
Had she done something wrong?
Why did Scootaloo cry?




She thought for a few moments, kneeled down a few hoof length away from the filly and licked her lips. Scootaloo rubbed her eyes and looked down to the bag in her hooves and took a deep calming breath.
“You...you know, I wanted to ask you, if...if you know somepony, who could help me...well...”
The filly still couldn't speak clearly and had to fight back another sob. Pinkie crawled closer hesitantly, but remained aloof and tried to find out, what she should do right now.
She just wanted to hug Scootaloo, but there was something in her demeanour what held her back. It was a strange feeling, but the expression on the filly's face let Pinkie stayed. It was a strange lost and at the same time guilty expression. 
The filly bit her lips firmly and nuzzled the bag again. Scootaloo didn't scoot away from her, but she pressed the bag so firmly onto herself, that it seemed like she shield herself with it.
Finally she licked her lips, took another deep breath and crawled slowly closer to Pinkie. She spun the bag in her trembling hooves and opened it finally. 
Pinkie could look inside at last and saw a huge wooden box. The filly mumbled again and nestled guarded against Pinkie's side.
“So do you know somepony, who can help me...repair Mummy's doll?”
The mare breathed in on her own, as she heard how low and even desperate Scootaloo sounded. Finally Pinkie put two and two together in her head, she inhaled surprised and pulled the filly into another hug.
“I...I didn't want to break her, really, Scootaloo!”
The filly sobbed on her side, before she could stammer another apology and Scootaloo continued with one of her own.
“It's totally my fault.
Mummy had told me, that I should look out for her and...
I haven't and just let her lay on the floor...”
The filly trembled again and shut her eyes closed, as her voice almost broke in the guilt.
She sobbed again, pressed her eyes on Pinkie's chest and stammered along.
“First I wanted to repair her myself, but...I couldn't. She broke even more.
Then I wanted to ask Apple Bloom, but she shouldn't  know...
And then...”
Her voice faded away in another sob and her tears started to flow down her cheeks again. Pinkie just could listen, but the filly breathed faster and faster and dried her eyes on her coat quickly. The mare took a deep breath and rubbed her cheek on Scootaloo's.
“I think I know the right pony for that, Scootaloo.
She would be happy to repair...”
The filly raised her head quickly and shook it vehement. She stammered a few more words and fought down a sob at the same time.
“I...I just want to do it on my own, Pinkie.
Mummy would be disappointed, when I don't repair her myself.”

The mare opened her mouth to answer, but as she saw how sincere Scootaloo looked to her she just could nod. For a moment she was tempted to ask a question and even opened her mouth for it. 
But the filly nestled sobbing against her chest again and so she couldn't finish the question easily. Pinkie just caressed over her back and hugged her closely.
“Okay, I'll ask her and she will help you with it, okay?”
Pinkie whispered that finally and the filly nodded relieved. She stayed nestled against Pinkie's chest and fought down more sobs. The mare just could look to the filly and tried to find out, if she could ask her. 
She opened her mouth every now and then, but the lingering question didn't come over her lips.
“M...Mummy would be mad, when she knew.
I should have look out for her much better and...and...”
She stammered a few more self blames and even Pinkie's fondling wasn't able to talk her out of it. The mare tried to find something, anything she could say to calm Scootaloo down, but she didn't find the perfect answer, so just remained silent.

Scootaloo took another deep breath finally and fell silent with a low sob. Pinkie nuzzled her tousled mane and whispered a few encouraging words, who she had scrapped together somehow.
“Hey, when you're sorry and you will look out for her in future...How's her name actually?”
She had to ask that of course and even smiled. Scootaloo on the other hoof kept crestfallen and took a deep breath. She trembled once again, mumbled a name and blushed.
“Tender Heart.
Mummy had said, that she would look out for me forever and...”
Scootaloo stopped again, snuffled and dried her eyes on the mare's chest for the last time. She tried to scoot away, but Pinkie just held her close and petted gently over her back. The filly just sighed relieved, raised her own hooves and returned the hug. She even didn't struggle, but just kept still and sighed relived again.
Pinkie took a deep breath on her own, cleared her throat and whispered.
“Would you mind, ehm tell me about your Mummy?
Well, only if you want to and it wouldn't hurt so much, of course.
Oh or...”

Scootaloo took another deep breath and nodded very slowly.
“Mummy was the best Mummy I could ask for...”