//------------------------------// // Always There For You // Story: Sweet Pink Sunset // by Annon56 //------------------------------// "And this is the northern park, a bit past the river ahead of us will be the outskirts watch point where the other defenders and I are located most of the time. So having a good number of you here will be a great backup," Forest motioned his hoof to the direction where the guards should preferably be standing, "Any way, I'll leave the rest to you. North Alpha, you guys will be assigned to this area, North Bravo and North Charlie, you know your locations." "Affirmative!" the group confirmed as they spread out to their designated watch points. One of the guards from the North Alpha group walked up to Forest, "Excuse me sir, but we still have fifteen minutes before night watch starts, is there anything else we need to know?" He asked, boldly. "At the moment? not really, we've already done allot of work today. Just stick with the basics for tonight and I'll give you all further instructions tomorrow during your training session. You don't have to call me sir by the way, Forest is fine." He explained. "As you wish then." The guard replied, with a strange look on his face as he turned around to join his group again. Forest had caught them glancing at him a few times, trying to stealthily gossip to one another, it was then Forest realised that he was still in his ripped up costume. 'For the love of Celestia,' he thought, simply annoyed at the situation. "Hey, you try fighting an Ursa, okay buddy? Not an easy task!" he said angrily as he turned around walking off and being reminded how people would always talk about him in the past. The Thundertred kid was what they used to call him in the past back in his old town, Coltenhagen. His family name gained a bad reputation after the war, he did not know why though, no choice but to be burdened with the thought. He brushed off the memory as he took notice to the night. There was a full moon in the sky, and it was quite late. 'Aw man, Pinkie Pie! I better hurry!' He began galloping south as the thought sprang into his mind, away from the park to make his way to the Sugarcube Corner. He knew something was on her mind before he left to the training field to speak with the princess, he whizzed past a small neighbourhood, taking turns left and right across alley ways, jumping over dumpsters that blocked his path and dodging street lights that were in the way until he could finally see the logo of the building. He slowed down and came to a halt in front of the entrance and extended his front hoof to knock on the door. The door slowly creaked open until a small slit of light shined out of it. Forest saw an eye looking at him through the door. "Oh, Forest! Your here!" Mr Carrot Cake opened the door quickly after realising it was him, "Well your a sight for sore eyes, but I don't think my eyes should be looking at you right now, Pinkie Pie left an hour ago looking really upset... actually, her hair was... well, you know." "Oh, no... I have to hurry, what time is it?" Forest replied, sounding worried. "It's almost eight o'clock." "I've been away that long! Aw, hogwash man!" Forest face hoofed himself as he felt guilt rising, "do you know how long she was like that?" "Well she was definitely sad when we left, and that was around two o'clock... We tried to get on her good side but she left as soon as we arrived. Good luck sport." "Thank you, sir. I'll be on my way and sorry I bothered you at this time. Have a good night, tell the missus I said hello." "Sure thing, sport, and don't worry about it-" Mr Cake was interrupted as his wife popped out from the side. "If its Pinkie Pie's stallion were dealing with then your always welcome, dear." Mrs Cake gladly affirmed to Forest, giving him a wink as Mr Cake placed his hoof around hers. They both showed Forest a smile, a smile that is only seen on proud parents. A warmth grew in his heart, a pleasant warmth that reminded him of when his parents used to tuck him into to bed as a colt, how they smiled at the little things he did back then. Along with all of his friends and his lover, this had told him he found a new family. A family that he could always love no matter what. Forest went between the two Cakes and hugged them tightly, "thank you again, for everything..." Forest slowly let go and returned a smile to the couple, he then turned back and galloped away, making haste to the house Pinkie Pie moved into with him after she left her rented floor in the Sugarcube Corner. "You know what, Carrot? I think I know exactly what it means to have a daughter... he loves Pinkamena so much, its like he's our son in law..." Mrs Cake muttered as her eyes began tearing a little. "Well, not just yet, but I sure do hope its soon... there's something about that stallion, something that tells ponies that everything is gonna be just swell." Carrot Cake replied as they watched Forest fade away with the night. "When I see them together, it makes me so happy..." Mrs Cup Cake let out a sniff and rubbed her eyes with her hoof. x Forest placed his hoof on the doorknob, about to enter his house as he noticed a dim light from the window next to him, the curtains were closed and the dimness of the light suggested that Pinkamena was in the living room area. He opened up his backpack to take out the keys in case Pinkie Pie locked the door already. His hoof rubbed against a paper material, he pulled it out and found a scrunched up paper bag that contained the cupcake Pinkie Pie gave him before he went to the watch point. He opened up the bag to find a crumbled up and completely flattened cupcake, 'Great... didn't even get a chance to enjoy that... stupid Ursa.' he thought while curling in his lower lip and biting it. He placed the bag into his backpack again instead of throwing it away, the dumpster was far behind him and his priority right now was Pinkamena. He turned the doorknob and heard a click; the door was still unlocked. 'Good, she's still awake,' He thought in relief. Forest opened the door to find Pinkamena sitting on a couch, the side of the couch facing him and the front facing a unlit fireplace, a lamp illuminated a dim light as it stood on a small square table next to the couch Pinkie Pie was sitting on. Pinkamena was looking down frowning at her chef hat as she was folding and unfolding it continuously, Forest quickly stepped in and closed the door. "Hey, Sweetie Pie... are you okay? hey, hey what's wrong?" He said with concern as he sat down next to her wrapping his hoof around her and hugging her. "Weeks of planning... all that flour... all the preparation... for nothing," She replied as she rested her head against his, her temple against his cheek, "everyone was so happy and excited, we were all going to have fun and now theres some sort of war going on thats worrying everpony. Everyones busy and scared... things wont be normal until this whole mess is over which means we wont be seeing each other as much either, and thats the last thing I would want... you probably have to go to sleep early for tomorrow, and... and... oooh..." Pinkie Pie expressed what stalked her mind, slowly and wistfully. "No I don't," Forest replied heartily, Pinkie Pie made eye contact with him, her slightly tearing sapphire blue eyes shined with hope as he smiled at her, "Pinkamena Diane Pie... I know how hard you worked on all the preparations so I know how you feel, I'm always going to be there for you... I'm always going to try my best to make time for the most beautiful mare and party master in all Equestria, I love you Sweetie Pie, so don't think for a second your gonna be alone when I'm around." Pinkie Pie began to smile now that Forest shed light to her, she placed both her hoofs behind hiss neck as he placed his around her back. They connected their lips and closed their eyes, letting the moment last as their cheeks radiated a blush of red apple, the same type of blush they had this morning. As they continued to cuddle. "I love you too, Sunset..." Pinkie Pie intoned. Forest realised her hair was not as straight as before, the lower ends of her hair became a bit more curly. "Hey, you know what? Your still in your costume and I'm still in mine... or at least what's left of mine," Pinkie Pie giggled at his comment, "I think we're still in the proper condition to party before we get ready for tomorrow!" He continued. Pinkie Pie grinned cheerfully as Forest brought up the suggestion, "Sure, let's do it!" Her mane and tail suddenly sprang up to be puffy once again, the party animal was revived once again. She hopped off the couch and turned to Forest as he got off of it, "What should we do first?" She asked excitedly "Oh, you know that triple layer lemon strawberry sweet sherbet cake you told me about last week? The one your trying to bring up at the Sugarcube Corner?" "What? No way! You wanna try and make it right now? I mean, if your serious then that would be so wonderfully super!" "When it comes to bakin' I'm always serious!" "Wohoo! I'll turn on the radio and get the bowls!" Pinkie Pie hopped her way into the kitchen across the other side of the couch, turning on the kitchen lights and flicking the switch of a radio on a counter next to the entrance, it was already set to the appropriate station. "I'll get the flour and the fruit," he returned in equal cheerfulness as he followed Pinkie Pie into the kitchen, he had always thought about the main kitchen of the Sugarcube Corner every time he walked in. The tile of the walls were a colour of cyan blue, the counters aligned perfectly with a dish washer and furnace-oven set in a nice lengthy row, they were a clear clean colour of white with pink lined edges that co-ordinate well with the walls. There were even some multi-coloured balloons hung up next to the fridge. He opened the fridge and took out two bowls of many strawberry's and lemons, placing them on one of the counters, he opened a drawer that contained flour sacks and pulled one out. As they challenged themselves to bake this new treat, they swayed and danced in the process, singing songs they both knew and even sang Pinkie Pie's cupcake song as they also made a dozen cupcakes to place around the cake itself. The triple layered cake was finally complete, whilst being complemented by vanilla iced cupcakes around it. "Perfect, it looks sooooo sweet!" Pinkie Pie said joyfully, celebrating their victory over the challenge. "Would you look at that colour..." Forest added, his mouth watering at the vision. Gummy, out of nowhere, jumped on to the top layer of the vivid yellowish-pink cake, it began to sway side to side as both Pinkie Pie and Forest stood on their hind legs trying to keep the cake balanced, panicking as they thought Gummy was going to go down with it. Gummy then jumped off making a safe landing on the counter next to the cake, the jump caught their attention and they failed to notice the top layer sliding off, it fell down landing on their heads; the chunks, filling, and icing smeared their faces. At this point, the two would differ from normal reactions, they began laughing at the event as they wiped the chunks from their eyes, licking their lips to sample the taste. "So sweet! I love it!" Forest exclaimed as he wiped some icing off his goatee. "Here, let me help you," Pinkie Pie complied as she rubbed a bit of icing off her cheek and transferred it to Forest's goatee, she fell back and chuckled at his expression letting out a few snorts, and Forest absolutely loves it when she snorts. He thinks its just down right adorable. As Pinkie Pie fell back, a piece of cake on the floor stuck to her neck, "Agh, my neck! Hahahaha!" "Here, lemme help!" Forest returned, putting on an excited evil accent and giving her a toothy grin, he leaped on top of her and moved in closer to her neck. "Oh wait-no, no! Ah!" she blurted in laughter as she knew what was coming next. Forest licked off some of the cake and nibbled on her neck as he tickled her with his hooves around her belly. She began to laugh uncontrollably holding Forest around his neck as she shifted her body side to side trying to escape the blissful punishment as she could feel goosebumps forming all over her. As he halted his actions and allowed her to rest, he lied down next to her exchanging giggles, Pinkie Pie then placed her hoof around his head and nibbled on his ear. "Woa- he- hey, that tickles-chh," he snickered as he kept his breath in at the pleasurable irritation and held her as she did it, goosebumps formed around him. She then gave him a lasting kiss on his cheek and rested next to him. They both stared at each other, their eyes glistened with joy and their mouths formed tender smiles to one another. Soon after, they put away their dirty costumes into the laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and themselves. Good thing they have two fridges, the last two layers of the cake was put into their secondary one, which basically had all the baked goods in it. The time was then ten-thirty, the night was coming closer to an end as they both had duties to fulfil for the next day. They spent one hour playing board games like monopony and also spin the bottle with Gummy as the third player. It was strange how Gummy had a spree of being the one to dare them all the time, but because he could not speak, they watched his slightest moves and exaggerated it to something crazy. Pinkie Pie had to try to lick her eye, Forest had to curl up into a ball and roll around, which of course neither of them could do. At eleven-thirty, they lit the fire place and sat on the couch, Pinkie Pie took out a photo album of her family. "And this is my part of the family, see? Those two are my sisters, Maggie and Bellamina. But we call Bellamina 'Blinkie' for short." Forest observed the pictures of her sisters in the album, a picture of them as filly's and two other pictures as mares, "wow, they look allot like you, except... greyer." "Well duh, they are my sisters, silly." Pinkie Pie stated, as she flipped to the next page, "Those two are my parents! Mama Roxy and Papa Clyde." The expression on her fathers face was very blunt and grumpy, "Wow... your dad isn't always like that is he?" "This is before, this is after." Pinkie Pie moved her hoof away from the other page to reveal two other pictures of her parents; they were smiling and just plane happy. "Oh, this is was after the sonic rainboom, right?" Forest complied. "Mmhmm! Hey come to think of it, you never met my family did you?" "No, now that you mention it, they already heard of me from letters." "We should totally write them a letter saying we're gonna visit! then my sisters will be there too and you can meet the whole family! won't that be great? I mean I'm sure they're going to like you!" Pinkie Pie suggested as she closed the album and turned to Forest. Forest brushed his beard and returned a grin, "yeah that would be great, I wonder why we didn't think of this earlier though..." "Well, maybe if we manage to get some free time during this whole war thing, we could write to them about it then." Pinkie Pie complied. "Maybe, it depends how things go." Forest replied. They stayed silent for a while as they cuddled, the thought of Ponyvilles current situation went through their mind. The two mysterious stallions had really stirred up a mess and tomorrow would be the start of serious business. They had no leads, no hints as to when the next mishap would occur, no choice but to stay aware. "It's twelve o'clock... we should probably get some sleep." Forest stated. "Yeah, we should..." Pinkie Pie added. They got off the couch, Pinkie Pie picked up Gummy and took him upstairs as Forest put out the fire and followed her up. Pinkie Pie tucked the sleeping alligator into his little round basket bed next to them in their bedroom, Forest and herself walked into the bathroom and brushed their teeth, smiling as they did it, remembering the race they had in the morning. They finally go into the light purple sheeted bed, Forest took the alarm clock and set it to seven o'clock am and placed it on a dresser next to him on his side of the bed. "Hey, Sunset?" Pinkie Pie intoned. "Yes, Sweetie Pie?" Forest replied softly. "Thank you... for keeping me happy..." "As always, my love..." They said their goodnight's and tenderly smooched before sealing their eyes and calling it a day.