//------------------------------// // Pinkie's Decision // Story: Widget // by funkyferret //------------------------------// Pinkie’s Decision Widget glanced around furtively. There didn’t seem to be anypony watching her. She dashed from her current hiding place to the next one. She hated going through town. She would rather just stay on the outskirts where nopony was there to stare at her. She didn't need ponies judging her. The wyrmkin sighed. The only reason she was undertaking such a daunting task was due to an appointment. She was supposed to be having lunch with Twilight and Spike today. It would be worth all the trouble. Finally, after what seemed like ages of ducking and hiding, Widget reached the library. She knocked on the door, and then stood on the doorstep glancing around nervously. There were a few ponies on the street. This was why she only came into town in the mornings and evenings, when there were shadows to hide in from their prying eyes. To her immense relief, the door finally opened. Widget pushed past the little dragon that had answered her knock and moved into the library. “Whoa!” Spike said. “Where’s the fire?” Widget smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, nestling, there were ponies out there I don’t know. I didn’t want them to figure out my secret.” “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit?” the purple dragon asked, “I don’t think they’d chase you out of town with torches if they knew you were half dragon. They don’t seem to mind me at all.” “It’s different… ” Widget said. Just then, the unicorn in question descended the stairs. A number of books floating around her, enveloped in a purple glow. “Hello, Twilight,” Widget said. “Are you ready for lunch?” “Ugh I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “I just got a letter from the princess. There’s a special book she wants me to come get. It’s too delicate to send through Spike’s fire breath, and she says she doesn’t trust it to anypony else.” Widget’s face fell. “M-maybe we can reschedule?” she muttered. “Sure thing!” Twilight replied as she packed the books into her saddlebags. The wyrmkin’s face lit up. “Really?” “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Twilight responded. Widget frowned in confusion. “Why would you want to put a pastry in your eye?” she asked. Twilight facehoofed. “No! It’s a Pinkie promise,” she said. “So Pinkie’s going to stick a cupcake in your--“ Widget began. “No!” the unicorn said, exasperated. “I mean I’m promising you that we will reschedule lunch! Pinkie Pie is the one who says breaking a promise is the fastest way to lose a friend.” “Forever!” Pinkie Pie yelled, popping out of one of Twilight’s saddlebags. Widget blinked. This was not possible. Given the dimensions of the bag, there’s no way Pinkie could fit in there. And that’s before you subtract the volume already occupied by the books. It contradicted the laws of physics. For some reason, Twilight was not bowled over by the sudden appearance of the pink pony. “Pinkie!” she said, “You threw my books all over the floor!” “Sorry Twilight,” Pinkie giggled. “But when somepony makes a Pinkie promise, I have to make sure they keep it! What did you promise anyway?” “I was supposed to have lunch with Widget today, but I can’t do it after all. Widget seemed really upset, so I promised we would reschedule.” “Oh no Widgy!” Pinkie Pie said. Somehow she had managed to move from her spot next to Twilight over to stand in front of Widget in the time it took the wyrmkin to blink. “You shouldn’t be sad! I’ll make it better! You can come have lunch with me at the market! They have this cute little cart thingy that sells this stuff called ‘Chinese food’! I can’t wait to try it, and now I can have somepony to try it with me! This will be fun!” Widget found herself being pulled out the door and down the road. Her head was still spinning in confusion. ---------------------- “Should we be worried?” Spike asked. He and the purple mare were standing at the library door, watching the quickly disappearing forms of Pinkie Pie and Widget. “Nah, they should be fine,” Twilight said, “Now help me get these books back into my bag.” The baby dragon shrugged and closed the door. “If you say so, Twilight,” he said. The marketplace was bustling; it was midday after all. Widget had always made sure NOT to be in town during these busy spells. These ponies were all over the place. It was even worse than the first time she came here. She wondered how these ponies could stand to be packed so tightly together. There had to be over twenty ponies in the market, not counting the vendors. Somepony bumped into her from behind. The mare apologized readily, but still Widget had to do her best not to hiss at the offender. The crowd was making her nervous. Pinkie Pie did not seem to notice her apprehension. She led Widget further into the market. ---------------------- Pinkie bounced up and down in excitement as she led Widget around marketplace. “Oh look it’s Applejack!” she exclaimed. Applejack was tending the family’s apple stand. The farmer had just finished selling a bushel of apples to a brown stallion with an hour glass cutie mark. She smiled at the two mares approached. “Well howdy there sugar cube,” she said, “Ah don’t usually see ya here this time of day.” “Yepy depy! Widgy and I are going to try out that new restaurant!” the pink pony responded. “Yah mean that one run by them ponies from Neighjing?” Applejack asked. “Ding! Ding! That’s right!” Pinkie cheered. “Well, have fun then,” the orange mare said. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie responded, bouncing off. ---------------------- Widget had barely understood half of the conversation. “Pinkie?” she began, “I’m not too sure I like being out here with so many other ponies around.” Pinkie paused. They had reached the cart that seemed to be selling the "Chinese food" they were after. Widget thought it smelled a little odd. Pinkie was still staring at her for some reason. “What are talking about silly Widgy? Meeting new ponies is amazing!” she said. Widget shuddered. “It’s probably a lot easier for you. I’m pretty sure they’d have a hard time being friendly to me,” she said. Pinkie gasped. “That’s not true! Why everypony here is gonna be great super-duper bestest friends with you, you’ll see!” the party pony said. For some reason, there seemed to be music playing in the background as well. “Having somepony around is the most important thing ever! Friends make everypony happy! Here I’ll show you!” And just like that, Pinkie suddenly thrust them into a large, elaborate song and dance number. It spanned the entire length and breadth of the marketplace. Every pony joined in, from the vendors, to the shoppers on the street and the pegasi in the air. For some reason ponies even showed up on the nearby rooftops. The number went a little something like this: Everything is great, every day just proves, I got the whole wide world right here in my hooves. Everything is perfect, It's falling into place, I can't seem to wipe this smile off my face. Life's a happy song, with somepony by my side to sing along. When you're alone, life can be a little rough, It makes you feel like you're 3 foot tall, When it's just you – well, times can be tough, When there's no pony there to catch your fall. Everything is great, every day just proves, I got the whole wide world right here in my hooves. Everything is perfect, It's falling into place, I can't seem to wipe this smile off my face. Life smells like a rose, With a pony to paint, And a pony to pose. Life's like a piece of cake, With a pony to pedal, And a pony to brake! Life is full of glee, With a pony to saw, And a pony to see, Life's a happy song, with somepony by my side to sing along! I've got everything that I need – right in front of me, Nothing's stopping me, Nothing that I can't be, With you right here next to me. Life's a piece of cake, With a pony to give, And a pony to take! Life's a piece of pie, With a pony to wash, And a pony to dry! Life's an easy road, With somepony beside you to share the load! Life will take you high, With a pony to stir, And a pony to fry! Life's like a sturdy roof, With a pony there to lend a hoof. Life's a bunch of flowers, With somepony to while away the hours. Life's ah barrel of apples! Err … Yes, it is! Life's a happy song, with somepony by your side to sing along! Widget sat there after the musical number was over with an utterly blank stare on her face. It wasn't as if she could have joined in on the routine, she seemed to be the only one who didn't know the words. It was bad enough that Pinkie was suddenly singing and dancing all around the market place, but the behavior of the other ponies was even weirder. They had added their own parts to the number, in a manner that seemed almost choreographed. Even Applejack had joined in; up until now Widget had assumed she was one of the more sane ponies around. They knew all the words. They knew all the dance moves. Pinkie wasn't the only crazy one around who breaks the laws of physics. "This entire town was nuts!" she thought. Widget wasn't enjoying her time with Pinkie. Even so, Widget thought the noodles the restaurant served were fairly good. In the time it took for her to finish her bowl, Pinkie had managed to eat five. She decided she would never understand this mare. After lunch, Pinkie decided that they "hadn't had enough super amazing fun for the day". She grabbed Widget and dragged her off to the next activity. That evening, Applejack was making her way back to the farm. Today had been a fairly good day for sales. Now that Apple Bloom had decided selling apples wasn’t going to get her a cutie mark, things ran a lot smoother. As the tired orange mare approached her house, she heard a rustling noise in one of the nearby apple trees. “Consarn it Rainbow!” she said bucking the tree, “Get outa mah-“ She stopped. It wasn’t a sleepy pegasus that fell out of the tree. Instead, she found a frightened wyrmkin. “What the hay happened to you, sugar cube?” she asked. “P-Pinkie,” Widget stuttered, “She dragged me around all day. She wanted to bake cupcakes, and then she introduced me to a b-bunch of other ponies! It was awful!” Applejack wasn’t sure what to make of this. “Ah know Pinkie can be a little odd sometimes,” the farmer said, “but she’s trying tah do the best for yah. It taint good for you to dart around town like yah do all the time.” “H-how did you know about that?” Widget asked fearfully. “Everypony knows ‘bout it sugar cube,” Applejack said, “They’re just bein polite an not sayin anything about it. The rumor mill in this here town doesn't ever take a day off. Ah imagine most of them know what ya are by now.” “Eep!” the wyrmkin said, "They know? I'm doomed." “Why are yah so afraid of being seen?” the earth pony asked, resting a hoof on Widget’s trembling shoulder. “I-if they know what I am, then they'll… ” Widget trailed off. “Now that’s just nonsense!” Applejack said stomping her hoof. Widget looked up at her in surprise. “Nopony here’s going to hate yah for how yah look! They’ll like yah for who yah are, not what yah look like. It’s the honest truth.” ---------------------- Widget looked into the other mare’s eyes. For some reason, the wyrmkin really believed her. “I guess you’re right,” she said, “It would be nice to walk around without hiding, and to stop tripping over my cape. Moving around has gotten a lot easier since I stopped wearing my boots. Pinkie certainly seems to know what she’s doing when it comes to making friends. ...I wish there was some way to make friends like she does.” “Well, I reckon yah might get a chance to do that real soon,” Applejack stated. “Pinkie’s got one of her ‘Weekly party parties’ planned fur tomorrow. Most ah Ponyville will be there, so you’ll get your chance.” Widget trembled. “S-s-sounds like fun,” she squeaked. The "weekly party party" was even scarier than she had first thought. Sugarcube corner was filled to the bursting with partying ponies. There were way more ponies here than in the marketplace the day before. The wyrmkin stood in the corner of the room behind an unused table. Widget wrapped her cloak around her and did her best to blend into the wood work. “Good gravy girl!” Applejack said, coming over to talk to her. “You're bein' more timid than even Fluttershy… no offense sugar cube.” “I-I don’t mind,” Fluttershy said from somewhere nearby. “This is a lot harder than I thought it would be,” Widget said. “Then I’ll make it easy for you!” Pinkie Pie said, popping out from under the table. “How about you do some dancing? Or play pin the tail on the pony? That one’s my favorite! Oh wait, I know what we need! Cake!” She disappeared into the kitchen. “How does she do that?” Widget asked. Applejack just shrugged. “Yah get used tah it after a while. Don’t think ‘bout it too hard, or you’ll hurt yourself like Twilight did.” Applejack was in the middle of explaining to Widget about Twilight’s failed attempts at discerning the nature of Pinkie Pie’s "Pinkie sense", when said pink pony came back into the room. She was wheeling an enormous cake in on a trolley. “Okay everypony!” she said. “It’s time for cake-“ Just then, one of the wheels on the cart gave way under the weight of the enormous pastry. The cake splattered onto the table in front of Widget, spraying the corner of the room with its sticky mess. One of the candles flew off the top and landed on Widget’s cloak. Somehow, the garment burst into flame. A bunch of ponies screamed. “Get some water!” somepony yelled. Widget just calmly removed her cape and used her claws to pat out the flames. She looked at the garment and sighed. It was ruined. Now what was she- "GAH! Buck to fire and rain! They're all looking at me!" she thought frantically. Widget trembled under the collective gaze of an entire room full of ponies. “Are you okay?” a voice asked. Widget looked at the unicorn mare who had spoke. She had a medium blue coat, a periwinkle mane with a blue streak, and a cutie mark shaped like an hourglass. There were a few ponies standing behind her with buckets. Pinkie and a few other ponies had started cleaning up the mess behind her. Widget blinked, surprised by their concern. A pony she didn't know was asking her if she was okay. It was so surreal. She nodded mutely. The other mare smiled. “Well that’s good. We were all worried about you.” The other ponies were all nodding in agreement. Widget blushed. “Don’t worry… I don’t burn as easy as most ponies.” “Well then, you sure are lucky. If it happened to anypony else, we’d be rushing them to the hospital right now.” The unicorn smiled again, and then returned to her friends. Widget watched her go, smiling a little to herself. Then she felt somepony tugging at her wing. She looked down at a tiny little colt. His coat was white with patches of brown. "Miss?" he asked, "Are you dressed as one of princess Luna's carriage ponies? I haven't seen wings like these since nightmare night." She have no idea what he was talking about. He seemed to think she was wearing a costume for some reason. "No little one," she said. "T-this is how I've always looked." "Wow! I bet you could dress as a manticore really easily!" the colt said. "Why would I dress up as a manticore?" Widget asked, "And what's Nightmare night?" "It's my favorite night of the year! Everypony gets dressed up and we go from door to door getting candy. This year will be my second nightmare night, so I can show you how to do it. Maybe we'll get lucky and the princess will show up again!" He bounced up and down with glee. "That sounds like fun... umm... " Widget realized she didn't know the little fellow's name. "Pipsqueak, at your service mum," he said. "Well then Mr. Pipsqueak, I guess we have a deal." The two of them shook on it. Widget watched the happy colt wander off. She found the encounter hadn't been as horrible as she was worried it was going to be. Applejack walked up next to her. “You see?” the orange mare said, “Ah told ya it would work out.” Widget nodded. She went over to the pink pony cleaning up the cake. “Thanks, Pinkie,” she said, “I really appreciate the help. I hope you'll let me fix the cart sometime.” “Of course silly! I LOVE to help! I'll do anything for my friends! Now come on, Widgy, it’s time for pin the tail on the pony!” This time, Widget didn’t resist when Pinkie pulled her away. ---------------------- Applejack smiled as she watched Pinkie Pie put a blindfold on Widget and spin her around. Rarity walked up next to her. “Well,” the unicorn said, “That was certainly… unusual. At least somepony finally burned that filthy cloak. Now I can make her a new one!” Applejack glanced at the fashionista. “Maybe yah shouldn’t rush things Rarity. She’ll come around in her own sweet time.” “Hmm I guess so,” Rarity said, rubbing her chin. “It gives me more time to come up with the perfect design too. I’ll make sure she has the most fabulous cape in all of Equestria!” The farmer just rolled her eyes.