A quiet afternoon...
The work in the Iron Hammer was done and Star Twinkle, as usual, was on his way home. A relaxing and quiet day is what the stallion had in mind. Still, he could not shake off a certain feeling. He kept checking his surroundings carefully.
"Today was really exhausting!" He suddenly shouted. "I sure look forward to going home and relax from today's work!" He added while looking around further to see if someone reacted to those words. Of course, some ponies did but no one was planning to approach or talk to him. Still, Star Twinkle continued. "There better not be someone who wants me to help them with something that includes some trouble or any other bothering things!"
Again, many ponies looked at the stallion because of his obvious weird behavior and decided to just ignore him, something that Star Twinkle would have done in their situation as well. The reason for him to act like that in the first place was that he expected something to happen that would prevent him from relaxing today. That was usually what happened.
But seeing how nothing happened just now gave the stallion hope that today was gonna be quiet, much to his liking.
The stallion sighed. "Well, looks like I actually can relax for-"
"Star Twinkle!" Pinkie Pie then exclaimed in a rush as she dashed towards the stallion
"Of course!" Star Twinkle said annoyed before he faced the mare now, who stood in front of him, eager to say something from how excited she looked at him. "What is it?" Star Twinkle asked.
"I need to tell you something," she casually said.
"Okay," Star Twinkle replied, waiting for the mare to continue. But that did not happen, instead, the mare grabbed the stallion's hoof and dragged him behind her, in Pinkie Pie style.
Star Twinkle found himself speeding through all of Ponyville at rapid speed, which felt as if the two of them broke the sound barrier. Needless to say, the stallion was not liking this at all.
Once Star Twinkle could shake off the dizziness from this insanely fast way of traveling, he saw how he was inside Pinkie Pie's room, placed on the ground by the very same.
"What did you do that for!?" Star Twinkle asked confused. "I thought you wanted to tell me something and not drag me all over the place at rapid speed!" He added annoyed.
Pinkie Pie explained her actions. "I need to tell you something!" She said before she moved her head towards the stallion. "It's a secret," she then whispered to him.
"Okay," Star Twinkle replied. It did explain her action to an extent where he was not blaming her to act this strange. "What is it?" He asked.
The mare made sure that no one was listening, which was weird since they were inside her room and the only one being here was her pet alligator Gummy, who was not very talkative to tell anyone. Star Twinkle figured that whatever she wanted to tell him must have been something really important. It made the stallion quite curious.
Finally, Pinkie Pie told him her secret. "The secret is...that I have a secret..." she whispered into his ear.
Star Twinkle was pretty confused. "What?" He replied.
Pinkie Pie sighed in relief and whipped away some sweat from her forehead. "Phew! Now I feel better that someone else knows," she said.
But Star Twinkle was still pretty confused. "What do you mean? You didn't tell me anything!" He pointed out.
"Wrong!" Pinkie Pie replied. "I told you that I have a secret!" She now pointed out.
The stallion tried to puzzle together what was happening right now. "So you dragged me all over Ponyville to tell me a secret...which turns out to be that you have secret?" He tried to confirm.
Pinkie Pie nodded in response. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep this awesome and amazing secret to anypony!? I just want to shout it out as loud as possible!" She said while shaking heavily in anxiety.
"Then tell someone," Star Twinkle casually said.
"I can't!" Pinkie Pie said, grabbing the stallion's cheeks and staring into his eyes. "I technically did not Pinkie Promise anything but I was entrusted this secret! I can't tell anypony! I have to keep it a secret so that I won't be a big surprise ruiner!"
"Then don't tell anyone..." Star Twinkle said, again very casually.
"I can't!" Pinkie Pie repeated. "This secret is just too amazing!"
"What do you want me to say then!?" Star Twinkle replied in a frustrated tone.
As usual, Pinkie Pie was not making any sense to him. She was having trouble keeping a secret and wanted to tell it someone but at the same time, she did not want to tell anyone so that the surprise would not be ruined. The fact that she could tell someone that there was a secret must have calmed her down though.
"But wait...Why did you tell me out of all ponies?" Star Twinkle asked confused.
Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders in response. "I don't know. I just felt like it," she casually replied.
Still, Star Twinkle could not help but feeling as if he was made into a partner of crime by the mare. That was an overstatement though since he did not know what this whole secret was all about. He was not any wiser than before and Pinkie Pie was not about to tell him anything anymore.
Star Twinkle figured that the whole situation has been taken care of. "I'll go home then," he just said with some annoyance in his voice.
"Alright! See you later!" Pinkie Pie just casually said before she waved him goodbye.
The stallion stopped and turned around again. "Later?" He asked confused.
"Yes!" Pinkie Pie replied. "Twilight wanted to tell us something in the castle, remember?"
Star Twinkle actually just remembered that now. "Oh...yes...of course..." he said, trying to make it look as if he knew all along. Pinkie Pie just kept smiling at the stallion. He didn't know if she was buying it or if she just decided to not mention it. It was a little weird. "See you later..." he then said before he turned around before the situation would get more awkward for him.
Later...
Inside of Twilight's Castle, Star Twinkle, as well as the rest of his friends gathered around the big map-table to receive some news from Twilight. Apparently, there was some news that she wanted to share with everyone. The group was eager to know what that news could be and waited patiently for Twilight to share them. The only pony that acted rather weird, was Pinkie Pie. She looked really excited about that news and could barely contain her happiness for some reason.
Star Twinkle could only look at her confused before he turned towards Twilight who was about to start sharing her news.
"Great! Everypony's here. Now I don't have to wait any longer to tell you all the wonderful news!" She said with a smile on her face. "Somepony special is coming to visit Ponyville, and I need your help getting everything ready!" She explained.
Pinkie Pie got even more excited while a pretty confused Star Twinkle was staring at her confused. The others seemed happy to hear this as well, judging from their chattering. They were wondered who Twilight was talking about.
Twilight no longer made a big surprise out of this and just went out with it.
"It's..."
"Shining Armor and Princess Cadance!" Pinkie Pie screamed, interrupting her friend in the middle of the sentence, much to her and her friend's surprise.
But despite that interruption, Twilight continued. "Yes, and they're coming—"
"Tomorrow!" Pinkie Pie screamed before Twilight could finish her sentence.
Again, everyone else looked at Pinkie Pie in confusion about why she not only knew about that but also why she was so excited to scream it out like this.
Twilight continued once more. "Yes, on the—"
"Friendship Express rather than the Crystal Empire train so as not to cause too much of a scene when they skip town to come visit?" She said with a big grin on her face, once again, interrupting Twilight.
"Yes," Twilight replied. She clearly was confused about Pinkie Pie's weird behavior just like everyone else.
But Star Twinkle had a pretty good guess that this was the surprise that Pinkie Pie meant earlier, the one that she could not tell him about. She must have been really relieved that she could get that secret out, even if it meant taking the delivery away from Twilight.
Pinkie Pie was not done though. She walked up on the table and towards Twilight. "Annnnnd?" She asked. She must be waiting for some more news from Twilight which she could share with the group.
"And that's it," Twilight replied, now leaving Pinkie Pie confused.
"Oh," the pink-coated mare said in an upset tone.
Finally, Rainbow Dash asked the question that everyone wanted an answer to. "Uh, how did you know all that?"
Pinkie Pie started laughing nervously. "Uh... Pinkie Sense?" She said in an unsure tone. The mare decided to just walk back to her seat while looking at everyone nervously, her head still being at the same place and her neck stretching at the same time as she walked back.
The group decided to ignore the last thing that was, weirdly enough, more typical behavior for Pinkie Pie.
Star Twinkle coughed into his hoof in an attempt to change the subject. "You said you needed some help before?" He asked.
"I did," Twilight replied. "Follow me," she said before she led the group through the castle.
As the group followed Twilight trough the castle, Star Twinkle took the opportunity to talk with Pinkie Pie, who still was acting really weird. The stallion picked up an that and decided to talk with her without anypony noticing.
"So that was your big secret?" He asked confused. "I mean, Shining Armor and Cadance coming over sure is great news but I don't think that is any reason for you to get so nervous about ruining a surprise," he pointed out.
"That wasn't it," Pinkie Pie hastily replied.
Star Twinkle reacted in surprise. "What?" He asked.
The mare grabbed him and dragged him around a corner, out of sight of everyone, and pressed the stallion against the wall. "That wasn't the super-duper great news that I meant!" She informed.
"Okay," Star Twinkle replied while the hooves of the mare were pressing him against the wall. "So?" He added.
"So!?" Pinkie Pie replied indignantly. "That means that I still have to keep my secret until Shining Armor and Cadance spit it out! And I don't know how long I can take it!" She said nervously while bouncing up and down on the spot.
It was weird seeing the pony, that usually plans parties ahead in time freaking out like this. One would assume that she was used to that kind of pressure but apparently, she was not. She really had trouble keeping it together.
"Are you two coming?" Twilight asked, wondering why the two were so far back.
Pinkie Pie almost got a heart attack hearing Twilight's voice and jumped up at the air before she then rushed to the rest of the group, leaving Star Twinkle with a nervous smile on his face before he walked past Twilight.
Everyone eventually arrived at the room where Twilight wanted to take them. Inside it looked like little foals room. Toys, comic books, posters from several ponies, it was all there and was basically screaming that it was the room of a young colt. The group was a little confused about why there was a room like this in the castle and why Twilight wanted to show it to them but they were still fascinated.
"Sweet posters!" Rainbow Dash commented while pointing at one of the posters portraying someone that Star Twinkle didn't know. "Is that Smash Fortune?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It sure is!" Twilight replied.
Star Twinkle started moving the little toy train in the center of the room around. "What is all this stuff?" He asked.
Twilight explained. "When Shining Armor said he wanted to come to the castle and visit, I started collecting things he liked when he was a colt as a surprise!"
"Surprise?!" Pinkie Pie then exclaimed in shock while popping out from a toy chest, wearing a helmet. As soon as she saw how everyone looked at her because of that reaction, she turned the helmet around to cover her face and laughed nervously.
Star Twinkle rolled his eyes and Twilight continued. "I've been so excited that it's been hard to keep it to myself!" She said.
"I have no idea what that's like!" Pinkie Pie mumbled to herself, earning her some glares from Star Twinkle who was gesturing to her that she needed to keep it together. She was not really doing a great job hiding how nervous she was right now.
In the meantime, the whole group was taking a good look at all the things in this room. It was fascinating to see all things that the Prince of the Crystal Empire used to spent his time with as a colt. Fluttershy was inspecting a little ant farm in the room, Rainbow Dash looked at more posters, and Spike stumbled across some comic books.
Twilight noticed the later and gave the little dragon some advice. "Be careful! They're mint-in-bag!" She warned. They must have still been very precious to Shining Armor. Spike understood and just blew off some dust from the book but unfortunately, he was spitting fire instead, burning the while comic in a second. Of course, Spike got nervous and lucky for him, nopony seemed to have noticed his mistake, and he walked away sealing the ash again while whistling nervously.
Pinkie Pie also came across something, a little plush pony. "What's this?" She asked Twilight.
"This is Brutus Force," she explained. "Shining Armor used to carry him around like his baby!"
The pink mare almost dropped the plush pony and got really nervous all of a sudden. "Yeah! Really cute!" She said, accompanied by some nervous laughter.
It was really nice of Twilight to prepare all of this for her brother, that much all of her friends agreed to. They were all sure that Shining Armor would like this surprise. Still, Twilight wanted to add some more things before her brother arrived and she asked her friends for help.
"Whatever you need, sugarcube, we'll help you get it," Applejack said in the name of everyone else, which was only supported with agreements from them.
"Thanks, everypony!" Twilight replied happily. "I just can't wait 'til they walk in and see everything!" She added.
"Totally understandable," Rainbow Dash said. "Watching somepony else be surprised with something is almost better than being the one who's getting the surprise!" She explained.
Again, Pinkie Pie felt forced to pick up on this. "But... eh... what if the surprise is something so incredibly exciting that a pony can't keep it in any longer, and she has to tell the pony standing next to her what it is or she might explode?!" She asked. It was obvious to Star Twinkle that she was referring to herself, something that the others could not know.
Fluttershy thought about it a moment and came to a quick answer. "I would say... no," she boldly said.
Rarity had to agree to this. "The pony who ruins a surprise for somepony else has to live with that guilt forever!" She said in an almost menacing tone.
Pinkie Pie only got more nervous seeing how her friends apparently took all of this very seriously. This only made it worse for her. It became too much, she couldn't stay here any longer. "Gotta bounce!" She said after some nervous laughter before she turned into a ball and literally bounced across the room before crashing through the wall and landing outside the room.
To an extent, this was pretty normal Pinkie Pie behavior. But it was not unnoticed by the others that she was acting a little bit differently towards all of them.
"So, I know the bar is set pretty high, but does anypony else think Pinkie Pie was acting weirder than usual?" Rainbow Dash flat out asked into the round.
No one replied to this but they were all agreeing to it none the less. It was pretty obvious if they knew what Star Twinkle knew at this point. But of course, he could not inform them about this. His mind was set on Pinkie Pie and what weird things she would do and say in order to keep her secret for now. The good thing was that she only had to endure one more day but seeing how she was acting so far made him quickly realize that that it will be pretty difficult for her to handle.
Later...
It didn't take long until Star Twinkle and the rest of his friends managed to find all the remaining things that Twilight wanted for her brother's surprise. And once everything was taken care of, Star Twinkle was heading home to relax, just as he planned earlier today.
The stallion just arrived at home and walked inside the door. But quickly noticed how someone was inside his living room. "Pinkie!?" He asked confused, not only by how she was suddenly inside his house, that was actually the normal part. He was bothered by how Pinkie Pie had a big delivery cart with her, which was also inside his living room now. Of course, he was wondering how she managed to bring this cart inside his house, given how it was bigger than his door and all the windows but he also had the slight feeling that trouble was ahead, trouble that he would be part of.
"I need your help!" Pinkie Pie just said, instantly confirming Star Twinkle's thought.
The stallion shook his head but he figured that there would be no point in resisting or arguing so he just gave up immediately and listened to what the mare wanted from him.
"What?" He asked, his voice not sounding excited one bit.
Pinkie Pie explained herself. "You see...I kinda Pinkie Promised to help Mr. Cake with some deliveries and I need your help with that," she said.
But Star Twinkle was a little confused hearing this. "Why? That doesn't sound too difficult, especially for you," he pointed out. Pinkie Pie managed to pull off tasks that were much more difficult than this on her own.
The mare then rubbed her neck in embarrassment. "Well, I could but...you see...delivering stuff to others pretty much involves me talking, and meeting, and facing other ponies so..."
It didn't take long until Star Twinkle put the pieces together seeing from how Pinkie Pie was acting earlier today. "Oh, I get. You want me to deliver all this stuff so that you don't accidentally spit out your secret, right?"
Pinkie Pie grabbed the stallion's cheeks. "Exactly!" She exclaimed happily. "I know you would understand! You are a very smart pony after all!" She complimented.
Star Twinkle was getting flustered a little hearing that. "Well," was the only thing he could awkwardly reply with a smile on his face.
"Then let's go!" Pinkie Pie said before she walked away from the stallion.
The stallion quickly widened his eyes. "Hey, I didn't say that..." he started but he just decided to give up. There was no point in arguing with her anyway. "Wait!" The stallion then said after he noticed how she was pulling the cart behind her. It was now that he realized that it was a little too big for it to fit through the door. "How do get this thing out of here? In fact, how did you manage to fit it in here in the first place," he asked.
The pink pony tipped her chin for a second before she began smiling again. "Don't worry! We just put a "Later" in here and it will be all good," she explained.
"...What?" Star Twinkle said, not understanding what she meant with that. But all he cared about now, was how Pinkie Pie pretty much forced him to help her out. In hindsight, it was probably a better idea to stay with Pinkie Pie so that she would not go crazy or reveal her supposedly amazing secret. Then again, being at Pinkie Pie's side while she was like this was probably gonna take some patience from the stallion.
Later...
"See? All fixed!" Pinkie Pie said.
"What?" Star Twinkle replied as he was suddenly pulling the cart behind him. For some strange reason, he had no idea how exactly that happened. He just decided to ignore it and got on with his work.
As expected, he had to deliver some packages to multiple ponies around town, all while Pinkie Pie was with him. She Pinkie Promised to deliver all those things so she could not just let the stallion do all the work on his own.
The two came across the first house to deliver their first package. A mare opened the front door and Pinkie Pie gave her the package. "Thanks, Pinkie Pie," the mare said in gratitude. "What a surprise to see you delivering my package," she added.
Pinkie Pie began to get nervous again. "Surprise!? I don't know any surprise! What makes you think that I know something that you don't!? That's ridiculous! Ha ha ha ha!"
The pink pony was stressed out for nothing, just like before with her friends. Star Twinkle could only look at the packages left on the cart. This was only the first house after all.
"This is gonna be a long day..." Star Twinkle said seeing how "well" Pinkie Pie was so far.
The two were done with this delivery and walked away to head towards the next one. In the meantime, Pinkie Pie was breathing in and out like crazy, as if this was the hardest thing she ever had to endure.
"This went really well!" Pinkie Pie said with a nervous expression on her face.
Star Twinkle thought he just misheard what she was saying. "You think!?" The stallion said. He could not disagree more with her now and to think that the rest of this delivery task is gonna be similar to this did not really fill the stallion with excitement.
"Guess we just have to-" Star Twinkle started before he was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.
"Twilight!" She exclaimed in shocked state pointing at her, walking towards them from afar.
Star Twinkle was a little confused to see Pinkie Pie react seeing Twilight but before he could ask, he was dragged away from her. Pinkie Pie somehow managed to put both of them, as well as the cart on top of the house, and out of sight of Twilight, who didn't notice the two.
"Phew!" Pinkie Pie released before she wiped away some sweat from her forehead. "That was close!" She said.
"What was?" Star Twinkle asked confused, wondering why Pinkie Pie was hiding from one of her friends like this.
Pinkie Pie released another sigh. "I have to avoid Twilight and the others as much as possible or I risk telling them my secret!"
Now Star Twinkle was the one sighing. This only made an already annoying task even more of a pain to deal with. Still, Pinkie Pie needed help with this secret and whether she was acting a little bit over the top or not, Star Twinkle was willing to help her. He felt as if he needed to.
The two then started going from one house to another, delivering multiple packages. They even had delivered some packages to their friends, which meant that they had to resort to some sneakier ways to deliver their stuff. This included dropping the packages into their windows without them noticing it or leaving them in front of their doors before vanishing.
Most of the work was actually done by Pinkie Pie, much to Star Twinkle's confusion. She just wanted him there so that could support her in keeping her secret. But her avoiding everyone, there was no need for that, Star Twinkle basically just stuck around with her. There was nothing he could complain about, except that he could have, might as well, stayed at home instead, having a more relaxing day.
They were done after already an hour and a half, despite them using some rather creative ways to bring other ponies the packages. Both of them were relieved to be done, especially Pinkie Pie. It was not because of the work itself but rather her having to avoid everyone, something that is the complete opposite of what she used to do.
Seeing how Pinkie Pie was obviously upset, Star Twinkle decided to throw in some comforting words to cheer up again.
"Be happy, now you can just go home and keep your secret a secret," he said.
Pinkie Pie sighed. "Yes...but it didn't feel good ignoring my friends like that..." she said with a frown on her face before she looked at Star Twinkle. "Maybe I can tell just one little pony the surprise?" She asked, obviously referring to Star Twinkle with this.
"If that would make you feel better," Star Twinkle replied. "I won't tell anyone," he added. The stallion was already so far into all of this, it would not make any difference if he knew her secret now.
The mare knew she could trust Star Twinkle. He would not go and tell anyone, that much she knew. It was visible to Star Twinkle that Pinkie Pie was fishing with herself to decide if she wanted to tell him or not.
And after some struggling, Pinkie Pie finally spoke again. "I can't! I can't ruin this surprise for anyone!" She said while she stuffed her own mouth with her hooves in frustration.
Star Twinkle had to admit that he was impressed. Whether Pinkie Pie was acting really over the top or not, she still was determined to keep everything a secret. Sure, she was telling Star Twinkle that there was a surprise but he would have actually expected that Pinkie Pie would break much earlier. Her mouth used to run really fast after all.
"I'm sure you can keep this up until tomorrow. Keep it up," the stallion said.
Pinkie Pie got quickly drawn out of her frustration after hearing that. "You really think I can do it?" She asked surprised.
"Sure," Star Twinkle said. "It is really important for you to not ruin the surprise, right? I confident that you can pull through if it is so important for you," he added.
A smile started forming on the mare's face, clearly a sign that she was feeling better. "Oh you big charmer," she said in embarrassment.
Star Twinkle rolled his eyes. He was just speaking his mind. The stallion knew that, when it was needed, Pinkie Pie could be trusted with big tasks. In fact, he had little proof of her letting others down.
"Just go home and relax for the rest of the day and I'm sure you can keep your surprise in," Star Twinkle said.
Pinkie Pie grinned in response. "You got it!" She said determinedly. Star Twinkle's words must have gotten her spirits up again. Leaving the mare like this was definitely making Star Twinkle happy. He could leave her alone without any regrets. But most importantly, he could relax for the rest of the day as well.
Later...
Finally home, Star Twinkle was laying down on his bed, breathing in and out heavily. First work and then walking all across Ponyville was a little bit exhausting for him and he was just happy to finally get some good rest.
"Finally...I'm all aloney on my owney," he said happily before he closed his eyes to take a little bit of a break.
But through his closed eyes, he could feel a shadow being cast on him so he opened his eyes and he could see Pinkie Pie smiling at him nervously.
"How are you doing?" She asked casually.
Star Twinkle didn't even bother asking why the mare was standing on top of him all of a sudden, inside his house. "I'm trying to sleep...why are you here?" He then asked annoyed.
"Well..." Pinkie Pie started. "I might have taken some more Pinkie Promises for today, that I just got reminded of, and I wanted to ask you if you could lend me a hoof again," she said, her face forming a nervous grin.
"No," Star Twinkle replied without care turning his head away from the mare, only for it to be turned towards the mare again from Pinkie Pie.
"But I need you!" She exclaimed in a panic. "I can't keep my secret on my own! I just get tempted to tell everyone! I need you to keep me in check!" She plead.
"Okay! Okay!" The stallion replied annoyed., pushing the mare off from him. "Just tell me what I need to do..." he added in his frustration.
And just like that, the two were off doing some more jobs that Pinkie Pie took from several ponies, much to Star Twinkle's dislike.
Later...
Star Twinkle found himself, handing Pinkie Pie some balloons so that she could make some balloon animals for the foals of the Ponyville school. It was pretty boring for Star Twinkle but at least, it was an easy enough job. He just told himself that he was helping Pinkie Pie right now and tried to ignore how she dragged him into all those things. It was nice seeing all those little ponies having fun with the balloon animals that Pinkie Pie made for them.
Three more ponies just walked up towards her, it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders who all wanted their own balloon animals.
"Ooh! I want a flamingo!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Coming right up!" Pinkie Pie said. "Balloon!" She then said while looking at Star Twinkle.
"Balloon," Star Twinkle repeated before he gave her a balloon, which Pinkie Pie quickly transformed into a flamingo, putting a smile on Sweetie Belle's face.
Next, Apple Bloom was walking up to Pinkie Pie. "I want a goldfish!" She asked of her.
"Alrighty!" Pinkie Pie replied. "Balloon!" She once more said.
"Balloon," Star Twinkle said, giving the mare another balloon to work with.
Seconds later, Pinkie Pie formed a goldfish out of the balloon and gave it to the little pony.
Then Scootaloo walked up to Pinkie Pie. "Surprise me!" She said.
Star Twinkle already gave her the next balloon and Pinkie Pie was working her magic. This time it took her little longer to create an animal. Star Twinkle was wondering why but he quickly noticed how she seemed distracted by a mare walking past them with her crying baby in her carriage.
For some reason, she was looking at that more than focusing on her balloon animal but she still subconsciously finished it. The shape it had was not looking like an animal though.
"Is that a... baby bottle?" Scootaloo asked confused.
Pinkie Pie screamed in shock as soon as she saw what she created. "No! It's a... a... puppy! Ha ha, woof woof, ha ha! Eh..." She said in order to save face.
"Are you sure? Because it looks like a—" But Scootaloo was interrupted by Pinkie Pie who just stuffed the baby bottle-shaped balloon in Scootaloo's mouth to shut her up.
"Next!" Pinkie Pie then shouted, making Scootaloo leave rather confused.
Quite some weird behavior that she was showing at this moment. "Must have gotten distracted and messed it up, I guess..." Star Twinkle figured.
Later...
After this job was done, both Star Twinkle and Pinkie Pie went to help some other pony. This pony needed something to attract some customers and Pinkie Pie had just the right idea. She placed an inflatable pony figure in front of the shop from pony they were helping out.
Apparently, that was enough for the shop owner to be satisfied. "That's just what I wanted. Thanks, Pinkie!" The stallion thanked.
"You're welcome!" Pinkie Pie replied happily.
"Is there anything else you need us to do?" Star Twinkle asked.
"No, that would be all," the stallion replied until he actually remembered something else. "But now that you mention it, you two could spread the word about the big crib sale I'm having. If that is not too much trouble of course," he asked of them while pointing at a poster that showed a baby crib.
Pinkie Pie couldn't help but reading out the words written on it. "Treat your foal like... royalty?!" She said before she backed away in shock, for some unknown reason.
"Pretty good slogan, huh? I came up with it all by myself!" The shop owner proudly boasted.
"Yes, it's good," Star Twinkle replied. "Right, Pinkie?"
But all he received from the mare was a long scream of fear before she decided to run away from the two. That reaction left both of the stallion rather confused.
"Oh. I thought it was clever," the shop owner said with a slight frown on his face.
Almost on cue, the inflatable pony, that Pinkie Pie just set up deflated in front of them, forcing Star Twinkle to take care of it.
The rest of the day was pretty much done when it came to helping Pinkie Pie with her promises. Both of them were relieved that they got everything done, Star Twinkle because he could finally go home to relax, and Pinkie Pie because she could go home and avoid everyone to not risk spilling her secret. All that was left to do was to wait for Shining Armor and Cadance to arrive tomorrow and her suffering would be over.
The next day...
Star Twinkle just arrived at the castle, his friends were already there, setting everything up for Shining Armor's and Cadance's visit to the throne room. The food was placed on the big table in the middle and some decorations were placed on it as well.
As Star Twinkle was about to enter the room, he noticed how Pinkie Pie was walking up to the throne room carrying some plates with food on her head and back. She made a rather nervous impression on the stallion.
"There you are, Pinkie Pie!" Star Twinkle said, grabbing her sudden attention before he walked up to the mare, whispering some words to her. "How are you holding up? Is your surprise still safe?" He asked in curiosity.
"Yes! No problem!" Pinkie Pie replied with a smile on her face, one that Star Twinkle easily depicted as a nervous one. "Well...maybe some problems...How long do you think until Shining Armor and Cadance arrive?" She asked. Panic was plainly visible on her face.
"They should be arriving pretty soon," Star Twinkle guessed. "Don't worry, you are doing good, I'm sure you can hold out until they are here," he said in an attempt to calm her down.
It worked. Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and smiled again. "You're right! They are gonna arrive any second now! I'll be fine. I'll be totally fine!" She said in order to calm herself down.
Shortly after, the two walked inside the throne room. Twilight quickly greeted the two of them and took the food that Pinkie Pie brought. "Those look yummy, Pinkie! Let me help you!" She said before she took the food with her magic, placed it on the table and covered it with a cloche, much to Star Twinkle and Pinkie Pie's confusion.
"Aren't we going to eat that soon? Why are you covering it up?" Star Twinkle asked.
"Oh, didn't anypony tell you?" Applejack said. "Shining Armor and Cadance are held up. They may not arrive 'til Saturday," she casually threw in.
"Whaaaaaaaaaat?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in shock before she jumped up to the tree chandelier at the ceiling. She began hyperventilating. "You mean...I have...to wait...another whole day?!" She said breathing in between every two words. "I don't know if I can!" She said in frustration.
By now, everyone besides Star Twinkle noticed that something was going on with her and Twilight decided to just flat out ask the mare. "Pinkie Pie, do you have something you need to say? You seem like you've been keeping something in."
Pinkie Pie was looking at Star Twinkle from up on the chandelier, who gave her some signals to tell her that she could pull through it. The mare was shaking her head in frustration and managed to keep quiet.
But things got worse as soon as her friends offered to listen to what Pinkie Pie had to say.
"We're here to listen," Fluttershy said.
"Well, go on then, sugarcube," Applejack said.
"We're not going to judge you, darling," Rarity said.
"You'll feel so much better once you get it off your chest!" Spike said.
More and more did her friends pressure her to talk with them, which is exactly what she did not want to do. The mare resorted into breathing into a balloon to calm herself down but everyone was encouraging her to talk, making it all the more difficult for her.
"Whatever it is, you can tell us! We're best friends!" Rainbow Dash said in an understanding voice.
Star Twinkle wanted to do something to help out but he didn't know what. Pinkie Pie was about to tell everyone her well-kept secret that she so desperately wanted to keep to herself. It was only a matter of seconds until she would break.
"Pinkie Pie!" Star Twinkle said in a rush. "I think you forgot something at home, right!?" He asked distracting everyone from the mare for a second. This was, of course, an attempt to get the mare out of this room for a moment. "How about we go and get it really quick!?" He said nervously before he opened the door.
But as soon as the door of the throne room was opened by him, there they were, Shining Armor and Cadance. Both of them stood there with their luggage smiling at the sight of seeing their friends.
"Hi, everypony," Cadance greeted everyone with a smile on her face.
"Shining Armor, Cadance! You're early!" Twilight said happily. "I thought something had come up and you weren't gonna make it until Saturday!"
"So did we," Cadance replied. "Turned out we weren't needed in Maretonia until next week. And the summit we were supposed to attend today had to be rescheduled, so... we got here even sooner than planned!" She explained.
"Surprise!" Shining Armor said with a smile on his face.
"It's wonderful to see you all again!" Cadance said.
Star Twinkle was releasing a deep sigh "Oh, believe me, we are the one's that are happy to see you, right Pinkie Pie?" He asked looking over to the mare at the chandelier only to see her dropping to the floor in relief.
While the group was talking to the two visitors from the Crystal Empire, Star Twinkle took the opportunity to take care of Pinkie Pie and helped her get up on her hooves again.
"It's going to be over soon," he whispered to her.
"Thank goodness..." the mare replied weakly.
The two then joined their friends, who all had a healthy chat with Shining Armor and Cadance. Twilight, of course, was the most excited one to see them, especially since she had something prepared for her brother.
"I'm so glad you're here! I have a big surprise for you!" Twilight said happily.
"Oh, yeah?" Shining Armor said with a smile on his face seeing how Twilight did not notice how there was a surprise coming up for them as well. The stallion then walked up towards Star Twinkle and a still really nervous Pinkie Pie. "Hey Star Twinkle, mind helping us out with the luggage?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure," Star Twinkle replied before he went and carried some of the luggage from the two on his back. As he looked back at Shining Armor and Pinkie Pie, he noticed how they were talking about something. "Oh, I get it...they are talking about the surprise," he thought. That is why Shining Armor wanted Star Twinkle to take care of the luggage so that he could be separated from Pinkie Pie.
All the ponies then walked through the hallway leading towards the room that Twilight prepared for her Shining Armor. She didn't want to waste any time to show her surprise to her brother.
Shining Armor was done talking with Pinkie Pie and joined the rest, walking past Star Twinkle who saw how Pinkie Pie was alone again. He joined her a few seconds later again.
"So...when are they gonna tell their surprise to everyone so that you can relax again?" Star Twinkle asked.
It was just now that he noticed how nervous the mare still was. "I don't know! He said he had something planned!" She said, her ears and eyes starting to twitch now.
"Planned? What?" Star Twinkle asked.
The mare then grabbed the stallion's cheeks. "I don't know! But what I do know is that I can't keep this up any longer!" She said in frustration before she started hyperventilating again.
The stallion broke out of her grasp. "Keep it together! You came this far already, you can manage a little longer!" He said, trying to encourage her.
"I don't know if I can!" Pinkie Pie said, sliding to the ground, her strength leaving her body from the looks of it. "I want to tell everyone so badly!"
"No, you can do it!I know you can! I'll help you. I'll be there with you the whole time and your secret will be safe!" The stallion said in an unusual determined tone.
"Really?" Pinkie Pie said, her eyes looking as if she was about to tear up any second ow.
"Yes, really!" The stallion said before he helped her back on her hooves again. "I don't know what this secret is but if it is really that important to you to keep it hidden, then I will help you out," Star Twinkle assured.
Pinkie Pie appreciated how Star Twinkle was supporting him in this time of need and took a deep breath to focus again. They decided to join the rest of their friends to see how Shining Armor reacted to his surprise. By now Shining Armor should already by inside the room that Twilight prepared for him.
"MY COMIIIIIIIICS!"
Shining Armor's voice suddenly echoed through the whole castle like a thunder that was hitting the ground one hoof away from Star Twinkle and Pinkie Pie. He did not sound too happy, that much was clear.
As the two walked towards the room, Spike was walking away and right past them. "I just remembered I have something else to take care of," he said nervously. "Far, far away from here," he added before he ran away for some unknown reason.
Later...
Whatever Shining Armor and Cadance planned, they wanted everyone to meet them somewhere else outside of the castle. That was not good since every second that Pinkie Pie had to keep her secret in longer, was making her panic more and more, something that nopony besides Star Twinkle noticed, which was probably for the best.
"Where did Shining Armor and Cadance say they'd meet us?" Rainbow Dash asked annoyed before stomach started rumbling. "I'm starving!"
Twilight began to explain. "In the town square. I wish they'd waited to walk over with us, but they said they had something to take care of first!"
It didn't take long until they arrived at the town square, in front of a fountain. But there was no sign of either Shining Armor or Cadance.
"They are not here," Star Twinkle said.
"That's odd. Usually, they're quite punctual," Twilight pointed out.
This gave Rainbow Dash enough reason to complain a little. "Ughhh! I need a hayburger in my belly right now!" She said annoyed while smacking the pony statue of the fountain a few times.
What she didn't notice though, was that there was a letter inside the mouth of the statue, something that Twilight quickly pointed out. "What's this?" She said before she used her magic to levitate the letter towards her and giving it a read. The mare gasped as soon as she read the content of it.
"What does it say?" Rarity asked.
"A scavenger hunt!" Twilight replied. "Shining Armor used to set these up for me when I was a filly! At the end, there was always a big prize, like a new book, or several new books, or—"
"We get the picture! You like books!" Pinkie Pie then interrupted, seeing how this was just taking up more time. She grabbed the letter and read what it said.
"You've got a scroll, you're on a roll, why don't you take a peek where young ones spend their week? A piece of paper will continue this caper."
Everyone started thinking but it was Twilight who solved it first. "I've got it! "Where the young ones spend their week."
Star Twinkle got it quickly after as well. "The school?" He guessed.
"Yes!" Twilight said. "Let's go!"
A little later...
The group arrived in front of the Ponyville School building looking for the next clue. Pinkie Pie was already sniffing the ground like a dog in order to find it, which did not seem to help too much.
In the meantime, Star Twinkle tried to get to it in a more logical manner. "What did it say on the last clue again? A piece of paper will continue this caper?" He asked Twilight.
It was then when Featherweight, a little pony that attended this school showed up to sell some newspaper "Extra, extra! Get your Ponyville news! Read it in the paper! Extra, extra!" He shouted over and over again.
It then struck Twilight. "It's in the Foal Free Press!" She figured.
Twilight went on ahead and bought a paper from the little pony and scanned her eyes through it in order to find the next clue.
"Ooh, look at that dress Mayor Mare is wearing in the social report!" Rarity pointed out. "Why, it's stunning!" She complimented.
"Uh, didn't you make that, Rarity?" Applejack pointed out.
"Yes, what is your point?" Rarity asked obliviously.
"Focus, everypony!" Pinkie Pie then interrupted wanting to find the next clue already.
"You know, there's really no time limit on these scavenger hunts, Pinkie," Twilight pointed out.
"Yes but..." Star Twinkle started before he tried to find the right words that would not reveal that he wanted to indirectly help Pinkie Pie. "If we finish the hunt earlier, then you can get your surprise earlier," he pointed out.
"Exactly!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping on Star Twinkle's head. "And who knows how super amazing it will be if you finally get it!?"
With that in mind, Twilight finally found the clue and read it out loud. "Though this hall is rather small, in it you'll find files of all kinds. Take a look at the back of the birth certificate of Applejack."
Of course, as soon as Applejack heard that, her eyes popped open after realizing what would happen next. "I don't like where this is goin'," she expressed in weariness.
A little later...
The group went to the town hall, the place where the birth certificates would be at. The only problem was that nopony knew where they were at. Everyone, besides Pinkie Pie apparently.
"Go down that hall, then you take a left, then a right, then another right, then a slight left, and it's the third door from the right!" She explained in one quick rush.
"Wow, Pinkie," Fluttershy expressed in surprise. "I never knew you knew so much about town hall," she said.
Pinkie Pie turned towards her friend, her face still looking a little bit nervous. "There's a lot of things I know! That you don't know I know!" She said before she rushed forward to fetch Applejack's birth certificate.
After taking a quick look at a baby picture of Applejack, and giggling about how cute she was, Twilight found the next note on the back of it and read it out loud. "This next place is where you can buy a table or chair, or some comfy beds to rest little heads"?"
As soon as Twilight stopped reading, Pinkie Pie dashed out of the room at hyper speed to go where the clue was hinting at. "I think...Pinkie Pie figured it out already?" Star Twinkle guessed as he looked at his friend confused.
"Ugh, really? None of you?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she returned into this room and grabbed all her friends and pulled them towards the right destination. "It's obviously the furniture store!" She said while standing in front of said story with her friends. "Go in, go in, go in!" She prompted them.
But Twilight had second guesses. "I don't know..." she said in a hesitant tone.
"Daagh, fine!" Pinkie Pie replied before she went inside the shop at a rapid speed only to come out with a baby crib a few seconds later, pointing at a note that was hanging on it with a serious expression on her face.
"Wow, you're scary good at this, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash said impressed.
"What does this note say?" Star Twinkle asked.
Pinkie Pie read it out loud. "It seems we've saved the best for last. We hope that you have had a blast. Now it's time to take a break where you can get a slice of cake!"
Everyone came to the same conclusion at the same time and shouted the answer. "Sugarcube Corner!"
Pinkie Pie scoffed. "That was an easy one," she said casually.
Later...
The group entered Sugarcube Corner, the last place where the scavenge hunt ended and the surprise would await them. As soon as everyone entered, Shining Armor and Cadance stood in the middle of the room with big grins on their faces.
"Surprise!" Shining Armor said before he walked up to his little sister and patted her on her head. "Twily, did you like the scavenger hunt?" He asked.
"It was perfect! Just like old times, except even better because this time I got to share it with my best friends!" She said happily. Her friends were happy to hear that and could only smile in return.
Still, Twilight excepted something else. "There's just one thing missing, isn't there?" She asked as she looked at her brother to see if he was carrying something with him.
"What's that?" Shining Armor asked.
"Mmmm, the book prize at the end!" Twilight said.
Her brother started laughing. "There's still a prize, but it's a little different this time," he added.
"Oh. I don't understand," Twilight replied confused. In the meantime, Pinkie Pie started giggling since she already knew what the surprise was.
Cadance decided to give Twilight a little hint. "All the places we sent you today had something in common," she explained.
Twilight started thinking back about all the places that she and her friends visited. "First we went to the schoolhouse...and then we read the Foal Free Press... after that, we found Applejack's birth certificate... And then the last clue was under a crib," she remembered back.
In the meantime, Pinkie Pie was highly excited and couldn't wait for Twilight to figure it out already.
"Hmmm... School... foal... birth certificate... and crib..." Twilight said to herself, trying to find the answer. Then it suddenly hit her and she gasped heavily. "Can it be? Are you two...?!" She started asking.
Shining Armor and Cadance smiled at each other and finally revealed their surprise. It was exactly what Twilight had guessed.
"We're having a baby!" They announced.
Pinkie Pie began shaking and finally exploded up into the air. She finally could talk about it and let it all out with the greatest joy that she could ever show.
"A baby, Twilight! It's a baby! Woo-hoo!" She shouted across the room before she went up to Star Twinkle and grabbed his cheeks like so many times before. "Shining Armor and Cadance will have a baby! Isn't that nice, Star Twinkle!?"
"It sure is!" Star Twinkle replied with his cheeks still being clenched together by Pinkie Pie.
But just now, another thing started to hit Twilight. "You mean... I'm going to be an aunt?! This is the best prize ever!" She said before she jumped towards Shining Armor and Cadance and hugged the two of them, who were laughing after seeing how happy Twilight was to hear that news. "Oh, I love you guys! And I can't wait to meet your little foal!" She said happily.
"Neither can we," Shining Armor replied happily as well.
In the meantime, Pinkie Pie was still jumping across the room beaming with joy. Star Twinkle almost wanted to stop her but she more than deserved going a little bit crazy after having such a hard time keeping her secret in.
"Looks like you did it," Star Twinkle congratulated before he offered her a hoof bump as a congratulation.
Pinkie Pie quickly noticed and jumped towards the stallion and their hooves connected.
SHATTER!
Then suddenly, Pinkie Pie's body shattered into multiple pieces and dropped to the ground, much to Star Twinkle's shock and confusion.
"Go Pinkie," Pinkie Pie still said in this weird state of hers happily.
A little later...
Of course, there was a party celebrating that good news shortly after, with cake, balloons and plenty of talk about the future and the baby that would come sooner or later. Before Star Twinkle was attending any of that though, he first had to help Pinkie assembling herself.
"Here, I found your last piece of...hair..." he said as he gave the mare literally a missing piece from Pinkie Pie's mane. He was not even sure how that worked, to begin with, but it was Pinkie Pie after all so he just had to accept that it happened.
"Thanks!" Pinkie Pie replied before she took her piece of hair and adjusted into her mane again.
Star Twinkle then joined her on her table. "Feeling better now?" He asked.
"Yup!" Pinkie Pie said happily. "All pieces are at the right place again," she casually added with a smile on her face.
"Not that," Star Twinkle replied. "I mean do you feel better now after the surprise is out?" He asked.
"Oh! Yes!" Pinkie Pie said with a grin on her face. "It sure was hard keeping that secret in," she explained.
"I noticed," Star Twinkle boldly replied.
The mare started to grin at the stallion. "Thanks for helping me out all this time. I don't know if I could have pulled through without you," she said.
Star Twinkle lowered his eyebrows. "I didn't really do that much," he admitted.
"That's not true!" Pinkie Pie quickly returned. "You believed in me! That gave so much more strength to keep the surprise to myself! You could say that Twilight hearing those amazing news is all thanks because of you!" The mare explained.
Star Twinkle thought that was a little bit of a stretch. He simply wanted to help Pinkie Pie and thought that his actions were pretty normal in this situation. He decided to leave it at that though, there were more important things to think about now after all.
Cadance joined the two Earth Ponies on their table. She still needed to thank Pinkie Pie. "You did it, Pinkie Pie! You kept it a surprise! Thank you!" She said happily. "Was it much trouble?"
Pinkie Pie smiled at the princess "Piece of cake!"
The mare then moved her head over to Star Twinkle to whisper something in his ear. "It wasn't. It totally wasn't," she said in a serious tone that indicated that she never wanted to go through this ever again.
"I know Pinkie Pie," Star Twinkle replied in the exact same tone, indicating that he also never wanted to get through this ever again.
Pinkie Pie then jumped up from her seat. "Now if you excuse me, after all this secret-keeping, I sure need a break. And there is no better way to take a break than with a party!" She said before she joined her friends.
Cadance giggled seeing how Pinkie Pie was enjoying herself again. "Did that news surprise you too Star Twinkle?" She asked the stallion.
"Yeah," Star Twinkle replied. "But to be honest...I knew it since yesterday," he casually added.
This confused Cadance. "How? Did Pinkie Pie tell you?" She asked.
"No...but...let's say she is not really subtle when it comes to those things. I figured it out by her weird behavior," he explained before he moved closer to the princess. "But don't tell Pinkie Pie," he whispered into her ears.
Cadance chuckled after hearing that. "My lips are sealed," she said accompanied by a wink.
After that, Star Twinkle watched his friends having fun and talking at this party but it wasn't much later until he decided to join them as well. There were some exciting things to talk about after all and he didn't want to miss them.