//------------------------------// // Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 3 // Story: Ponyville's Tiny Librarian // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian - Chapter 11 Cadence's Vacation - Part 3 - Pinkie’s Quest If Pinkie prided herself on anything, it was surely bringing smiles to everypony’s faces. She poured her heart and soul into spreading cheer with her trademark Pinkie Power. Sugarcube Corner was a place she could proudly call her second home, a place she loved to work in. It served as her personal base of operations, stocked with balloons, party cannons, and emergency supplies always ready to welcome new ponies or cheer up the sad ones. Today, her sanctuary of sweets and laughter had been invaded by a depressed pony, a pony in need, but it wasn’t time to strike just yet. Find the sad pony needing your professional assistance - check. Prepare arsenal of sweets and cheering-up equipment for any possibility - check. Figure out what bothers the sad pony - uncheck. Prepare plan of operation or cheering up party - uncheck. Cheer up the sad pony by any means necessary - uncheck. “Here are your cupcakes,” Pinkie said as she placed the order in front of the two guards sitting at the table. The pegasus stared at the wall, resting his head on a hoof. “Where’s Twilight, by the way? I thought you guys were inseparable.” Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Just because our job is to ensure Twilight’s safety in this crazy town doesn’t mean we need to stick to her like glue. That little mare can take care of herself just fine,” she said, sniffing at the cupcake before her. “Besides, Cadence is with her, helping her to learn how to get back to normal size without exploding or crushing everything in her way, so we got a long break.” “Ohhh…” Pinkie said before pointing at the depressed pegasus, who hadn’t even looked at his cupcake and was instead trailing his hoof in circles on the table. “What about Steelie then? What's gotten into him?” Overwatch shrugged. “Beats me. Been trying to figure that out for the last couple hours, but he hasn’t really given me much at all. I’m really starting to worry about him.” She took a bite of her cupcake, chewing it for a couple seconds before breathing out a sigh. “I’m not hungry. I’m gonna head to the cottage and make sure it’s still standing.” She glanced at Steel Blade as she stood up before turning to Pinkie and motioning with her head towards one of the empty rooms. Pinkie, lacking much in the way of subtlety, bounced after her. The unicorn guard closed the door after Pinkie before turning to her and saying, “I need your help.” “Ooh ooh ooh! I love helping!” Pinkie said, still bouncing. “Good.” Overwatch took a deep breath. “Steelie’s behavior has been… off for quite some time now, and recently it’s been even weirder than usual.” “Huh?” “Every time we go to Sweet Apple Acres, he always sneaks glances at Big Mac and you can feel the jealousy coming off him. It’s started happening since our adventure with the dragon.” “You mean when Big Mac saved Twilight from being crushed under a giant boulder and Cadence saved everyone from being crushed under a ton of humongous boulders?” She asked before tapping her chin. “I doubt even my sisters could manage to handle that many rocks at once.” Overwatch shrugged. “Jealousy, self-pity, I’m not sure, but it’s pretty serious. He usually doesn’t shut me out like this, and I have no idea how to bring him out of this depression. It’s driving me nuts.” Pinkie nodded and smiled. “Don’t worry your armored little head because the best party planner in Ponyville is on the job.” Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you can handle it?” Pinkie stood on her rear hooves and spread her forelegs. “Of course I can. I’ll never stand by when my friend is sad.” “Can you promise to get him better?” Overwatch asked with a hopeful smile. Pinkie’s cheerful smile turned into a serious one as she placed her hoof on her chest and grabbed a cupcake with her other hoof. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Pinkie Promise!” Overwatch furrowed her brow. “What was that?” Pinkie stopped and spoke with unusual seriousness, sending a wave of emotions into Overwatch which nearly knocked her out of her hooves. “This was a Pinkie Promise, and nopony, especially me, breaks Pinkie Promise. I will use any means necessary to make Steelie smile. Anything!” Overwatch nodded slowly, “That’s… good to hear. I’ll just be going then. Good luck on your quest,” she said with a brief salute before heading out of the empty room. Figure out what bothers the sad pony - still uncheck. Time to change that. “What’s with the frooowny face?” Pinkie asked as she emerged from behind Steel Blade. Her worry only increased when the pegasus guard wasn’t startled at all by her signature ‘emerging from behind ponies’ move. “Come on, tell Auntie Pinkie what makes you so sad, and I’ll do everything in my power to turn that frown upside down!” Steel Blade sighed. “Doubt that.” Pinkie used her puppy-dog eyes on Steel Blade. After several seconds of not receiving any response, her expression shifted into a serious one. “I see this is a special case,” Pinkie said as she clapped her forehooves together before sitting next to the pegasus. “Wanna hear some funny words I came up with? I already have a two-hours long song written about them!” Steel Blade’s eyes opened wide as he nearly fell from his seat. “Fine, fine. I’ll tell you. Just no funny words or any sort of singing, please.” Pinkie smiled enthusiastically. Always works. She asked, “So, what makes you so sad?” Steel Blade’s ears drooped as he leaned back over the counter. “I dunno, it’s just… I just feel so useless and weak. I’d been a guard for Princess Celestia’s student for almost half of my life now, but recently I’ve just been doing a whole lot of… nothing.” “Awww… you're not useless. You’re a great supporting character!” “I’m a what?” “Nevermind! Anyway, why are you feeling so useless? Please tell me.” The guard took a deep breath. “I’ve been completely useless against Nightmare Moon, the dragon, and the Ursa Minor, while Twilight, no matter her size, can hold her ground. I can't even protect her on a daily basis! My partner is doing most of the work anyway and doesn’t really need my help. She’s been handling all these crazy situations head-on while I’ve just… been there. Recently, Big Macintosh has done more for Twilight than I’ve ever done over the years, and once she gets used to being bigger, I’ll just… fade into obscurity.” He sighed and lowered his head. “Twilight even said my magic was only a fifth of what Rainbow Dash has. I don’t even know what the point of me being here is,” he muttered before looking up at Pinkie. “You even said I was some low-level rogue. Feh. Figures.” Pinkie moved closer and stroked his back. “Ssshhh…  I'm sorry. I didn’t know that you felt that way.” “Yeah, well, sorry for being a waste of space. Just get Big Mac to do my job. It’s not like he hasn’t been doing a better job of it than I have anyways.” Steel Blade pressed his forehead into the table as Pinkie embraced him in a hug. “You are not a failure! You don’t need to have super powers, be super special, or beat powerful foes in a battle to be a fun and cool supporting character. You’re great just the way you are.” “Pinkie, you’re not helping,” Steel Blade replied, his face deadpan. Pinkie dropped the pegasus guard with a gasp before disappearing in a cloud of dust. The guard simply sighed before forcing himself to nibble on the cupcake in front of him. “Pinkie, dear, are you sure you want to do this?” Mrs. Cake asked in worry as she considered Pinkie’s request. “It’s not like you to take a vacation. Not that you don’t deserve it.” Mr. Cake nodded in agreement. “What could possibly be so important?” “A Sad Pony Emergency and a Pinkie Promise, that’s what. After the dragon slaying quest, Steel Blade is feeling under the bridge since two other ponies saved Twilight from being crushed by an avalanche of rocks while he couldn’t do anything to help.” “Oh dear,” Mr. Cake responded. “What happened?” After putting on the last of her gear, Pinkie raised her foreleg and said, “Well, Big Mac stopped a giant boulder from falling on Twilight, and then a little later, Cadence dove in and pushed both Big Mac and Twilight out from getting squished by a bunch of rocks.” Mr. Cake’s eyes widened. “Were they alright?” Mrs. Cake tapped him on the shoulder. “We saw them at the hospital. Big Mac got out alright in the end, even if he was bedbound for a couple days, but Cadence seemed to be just fine.” “Actually,” Pinkie said with a chipper smile. “Cadence was the one who got buried under a mountain of rocks. Definitely not a fun time!” Both Cakes gasped as the stallion spoke first, “But… she had nothing but bruises. If she was hit by an avalanche, how could she survive?” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “She’s an alicorn. Duuuh…” Both of the Cakes gasped and said in unison, “But… but…” “You’ve already met Twilight. Aside from being super strong, she’s very tough, I mean, like very, very tough thanks to her harsh training, being crushed repeatedly and stuff. It turns out that alicorns are even tougher thanks to their magic while also having the power to conquer or protect entire towns, putting even Twilight to shame.” She shrugged. “Who knew.” Mrs. Cake raised forehoof up to her face. “Alicorn or not, Cadence seemed to be very kind and fragile, and surely she didn’t spend years pushing herself at diminutive sizes. I find it hard to imagine anypony, even an alicorn, could survive a rock slide.” “Cadence is over a millennium old, and has lived all over Equestria in disguise that whole time. I’m sure she’s had her share of bad experiences to make her toughen up,” Pinkie said as she fixed her hat. “If she or Twilight comes here, please tell them that I’m going on an adventure to cheer up her guard and that I’m sorry we couldn’t bond more. Love you.” She gave them one firm hug before dashing away, leaving two stunned earth ponies in her wake. “So… As an alicorn, Cadence is tougher and more powerful than Twilight at her full size… Interesting development,” the mare said. “Also, it seems that alicorns weren’t as rare as we thought.” “We live with Pinkie Pie. It’s hardly the weirdest thing we’ve encountered, dear. Remember when we first met Twilight?” The two bakers stared at each other for a few seconds, shrugged, and returned to their work. Steel Blade walked towards the exit, his head hanging low, only to see a shadow of a pony blocking the door. He raised his head to find Pinkie Pie standing on her rear hooves, wearing a trainer’s hat with big ‘P’ on it and a T-shirt with ‘I will catch 'em all!’ written on it. A young alligator was sitting on her shoulder. “W-what's with the outfit?” Steel Blade asked apprehensively. “Do you no longer want to be a low-level failure? Do you want to kick flank? Do you want to be the very best, like nopony ever was?” Pinkie asked firmly, catching the guard off guard with the seriousness in her voice. “Seems… nice?” Pinkie smiled as she grabbed him and pointed towards the exit. “Then come with me on an adventure! And once we’re done, you will be a high-level champion!” Steel Blade rolled his eyes. “So what I’m hearing is… You want to drag me into some sort of crazy, illogical adventure to waste my time and risk my life doing something unproductive?” Pinkie nodded. “Pretty much!” “Give me one reason why should I follow you instead of wallowing in my self-pity.” “You will no longer be just some average guard and a mere side character, but a super-duper guard and a more prominent player! What’s more, you'll impress all your friends with your newly gained skills!” She narrowed her eyes at the guard. “Also, I won’t sing you my two-hour song on getting better.” Steel Blade closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sooo going to regret this, but alright, c’mon. Let’s do this!”