//------------------------------// // Shared Emotions // Story: Welcome to Ponyville! // by CharcoalShift //------------------------------// The party went on until Celestia raised the sun. Some of the ponies ended up trotting home tipsy due to some random idiot spiking the punch bowl. Vinyl already packed her gear and was on her way out. "That was another great party Pinkie" she said with a grin "Those ponies went crazy!" "That's because somepony put vodka in the punch" the pink pony huffed "Now I have to clean up the place since most of them trashed all the decorations. I mean, I may be 'Party Pinkie Extraordinaire', but even I won't hang off the ceiling like Derpy...” "Who knew she'd go nuts after drinking a half a cup of spiked punch?" Vinyl scratched her chin. She hugged Pinkie and turned towards her equipment. "Well, I gotta go. I have to prepare for a rave in Fillydelphia. Won't be back 'till next week, but I'm gonna stop by and see Charcoal before I go ok?" the DJ pony smirked "Ok! See you later!" Pinkie giggled. Once Vinyl was out of sight, Pinkie's smile began to fade. She trotted inside where a large mess was spread about in the room. Tables were flipped, punch was all over the floor where the buffet stood, and all of the streamers were torn and scattered about. The only thing that was clean and empty was the trash cans, which stood at the back of the room. Every move she made crushed a paper cup from under her hooves. She gave a sigh, hauling the trash cans to the center of the room and started to pick up all of the shredded decorations from the floor. A paper cup suddenly taps the back of her head. The saddened pony turns to see a silhouette in front of the door. "Let me help you out" said the silhouette, revealing to be Shadow as she trotted in. "Oh... Hi Shady, you don't have to--" Pinkie was shushed by the purple pony as she began to pick up cups and tossing them in the trash can, Even if she said that she didn't want any help, Pinkie couldn't deny that she did want it, not just for the fact that it would be much easier, but she would enjoy the company of another pony too. Time after time she would be the one to clean up the mess after throwing such big parties. After all, 'I do love to throw parties for everypony!' she would say to herself, but it dwindled down to nothing more than a compulsive habit, and it finally caught up with her. Being the element of laughter isn't easy if you don't have anyone to laugh with. Shadow looks at Pinkie, who was in her own world, trailing off from picking up the food crumbs and streamers. "So uh, that was a great party Pinkie" she said, breaking the lost pony from her trance "O-oh yeah! It was a riot. Literally..." her voice began to go to a whisper "Do you always do this on your own?" Shadow asked, concerned about her obvious crush "Do what?" "Cleaning up the after party" "Oh that. Well, yeah I guess" Pinkie chuckles lightly "Somepony has to do it or Mrs. Cake would throw a fit!" They both laugh at the thought of that and look at each other briefly in the eyes. Pinkie's ocean blue eyes were just mesmerizing to her. All of her free-spirited emotions, her overzealous attitude, and her pain all crashing against one another like a wave, hiding her true feelings. Shadow couldn't take it, she had to tell her. "Pinkie I--" "I already know" Pinkie smiled softly "W-what?" Pinkie trots up to her and hugs Shadow tightly. At this point, Shadow's plethora of emotions began spilling out, from relief, to fear, to anticipation. "How do you know?" she told Pinkie, her face shaded a bright red "I noticed how crushed your expression was after I uh...” Pinkie's voice trails off, her face becoming flushed with embarrassment. "I didn't expect you to be..." "A filly fooler?" Pinkie blurted out "Everypony doesn't expect me to be all sorts of things! But I always surprise them in the end." "I-I'm a little nervous... what if the other ponies don't..." "Do Applejack and the others know?" "All but Twilight..." "Then that's all we need to worry about~!" Shadow smiled and hugs Pinkie back after a while of being held in her embrace. Her reassurance made her feel more comfortable about the situation at hand and gave a sigh of relief. Pinkie looks around and giggles "We should probably finish cleaning up...” Later that day, the others gathered at Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash was explaining what had happened at the party to Fluttershy. "Oh dear... I feel bad for Shadow" she said "Hopefully she took my advice" Rainbow Dash said, eating a cupcake. Applejack, still irritated about last night, sat next to Charcoal. Apparently by his expression, he got an earful and was left to dry back at home. Rarity and Twilight sat next to each other, talking about some blatant gossip on fashion and other things. Vinyl met up with them and smiled. "Hey everypony!" "Hey Vinyl!" Rainbow Dash bro hoofed with Vinyl. She turned to Charcoal and chuckled "Hey Charcoal, I don't get a hello?" Charcoal was too afraid to speak, feeling the glare from Applejack's eyes. Vinyl saw that and laughed. "Trouble in paradise I see? Don't you worry AJ, I'm not gonna steal him away" "And how do I know if y'all ain't lyin'?" The cowpony raised a brow "Well because he and I are cousins" Everypony's jaw dropped, "What?!" Rainbow Dash gasped, shaking Charcoal "And you didn't tell me this?!" "You-- didn't-- ask--" he was swaying back and forth, Rainbow letting go so he could shake it off "Yes I did! You never answered me!" "Well now you know. It's no big deal really." Vinyl grins. Rainbow Dash trots up to her and explains down to every last detail why it is a 'big deal'. Pinkie and Shadow finally arrive with a batch of cupcakes and notices that the gang is already here. "Hi everypony!" Pinkie said with a wide smile. Applejack snatches a cupcake and scarfs it down. It'll be some time before the heat dies down between the two, and the others just laugh it off. They gather around in a circle and Pinkie tells them the news. "I'm sure most of you know about Shadow having a crush on me" Most of them nod, Twilight looking at her confused. "Well, she and I are now a couple!" she says with glee, clapping her hooves. Everypony smiles and congratulates her, Twilight spitting out her cupcake in shock. "Pinkie, I didn't know you went that way?" Twilight said in surprise "What's wrong? Lost your chance at Shadow?" Rainbow teased "I don't like her!" "W-what's wrong with me Twilight?" Shadow pouted, breaking face and suddenly laughing at Twilight's expression. "N-nothing’s wrong with you! You're very pretty- I mean- I just don't- augh!" she hides her face in her hooves, everypony laughing. "Well congratulations you two..." Fluttershy murmured "Careful Shadow! You got yourself a live one!" Rainbow grinned. She was the happiest of the group to see them together. She knew Pinkie deserved it. Everypony was at the train station seeing Vinyl off as the train left to Fillydelphia. Pinkie sat next to Shadow as they saw the train slowly disappear into the horizon. "I'm glad it turned out better than I had hoped" Shadow sighed "Better?" Pinkie tilted her head "Honestly, I figured it would end in total disaster..." she paused for a second "Well... it did... but I still managed to be with you." "That's what matters" "Yeah, it really does" Shadow leans in for a kiss, only to be cut off by some yelling. "Hey lovebirds! Let's go! We're all gonna hang out at Twilight's place! You coming or what?!" Rainbow yelled, even though she was obviously close by. Pinkie looked at Shadow and kissed her on the cheek. "Come on Shady, I bet we're gonna have lots of fun!" Shadow smiles from ear to ear, following Pinkie into a new relationship with friends to support her. [[ End of the 2nd arc ]]