Chapter 35
“And, done!” chirped Penny as she sorted the last of the day's paperwork into their appropriate bins. Working on Sunday wasn’t exactly something she enjoyed doing, but sometimes it was necessary in order for the rest of the week to run smoothly.
Tidying up her desk, she headed for the staircase at the back of the room which would lead to her living quarters upstairs.
It’s so nice living just above where you work, she thought happily to herself. No commute, and if I get hungry I can just eat at home instead of going out and buying something at a restaurant that would cost more than if I just made it myself.
Opening up her refrigerator, she selected a pre-made bowl of salad greens, and a bottle of bitalian dressing and set them on the counter. Lighting up her horn, she pulled out a bowl, a fork, and filled up the tea kettle from the sink before setting it on the stove and turning it on. Leaving the kettle to boil, she hummed a happy song as she looked over her tea selection, and spotting a lone bag of lemon tea, she quickly scooped it up and unwrapped it, placing the little bag by the kettle as she waited for the water to come to a boil.
Puttering around her kitchen, she set the table, and just as she finished placing the salad bowl and dressing bottle down, she heard the whistle of the kettle. Without even looking, she once again lit her horn and turned off the stove, gently taking the lid off and putting the tea bag inside to soak.
Trotting into the adjoining living room, she glanced over her record collection and pondered which album she wanted to listen to while she ate. However, a sudden knocking on the downstairs door pulled her away from her vinyl perusal. Eyebrow cocked in confusion, she glanced up at the clock above the fireplace and saw that it read half-past six.
That’s odd, she thought as she trotted downstairs. I know I don’t have any evening appointments scheduled for tonight and I know I put the closed sign up as well, so who could be knocking?
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she heard another round of knocks, louder this time, and hastened over. Swiftly undoing the lock with her magic, she opened the door just as she reached it.
“I’m sorry, but the office is closed for the evening, if you want, I can sche-Allen?” she asked in surprise as soon as she realized it wasn’t just a random pony knocking. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey Penny, sorry for bothering you, but something’s come up and I need to talk to you about it,” replied Allen apologetically.
Blinking in momentary confusion, Penny shook her head and stood aside, waving him in. “Oh, it’s no bother at all Allen, come on in.”
“Thanks,” he replied as he stepped through and into the business portion of the building.
It was a cozy-looking place. A pair of large windows sat to either side of the door and let in plenty of light, even with the afternoon sunlight swiftly giving way to dusk. To his left, Allen saw what must have been Penny’s desk, and a pair of cushion chairs in front of it while to the right was a small waiting area, complete with the obligatory magazine-covered coffee table, and sort of comfortable couch and chairs. The rest of the room was relatively empty, save for another desk tucked into a back corner, a large fireplace, and some filing cabinets along the left wall. Along the back wall were a pair of doors, one was plain, and was probably some sort of storage closet, while the other had the letters, W.C. imprinted into it.
“I know it’s not much to look at right now,” said Penny as she trotted towards the entrance to the staircase in the back right corner of the building. “But I’m still waiting on the rest of the furnishings and paintings to come. Once they get here, the place will look a lot nicer.”
Allen nodded in understanding. “It looks alright, if a little bare, but I’m sure you’ll have it looking real professional soon. Though it does look a little big for a one pony operation.”
Penny giggled. “I know, but the building had everything I needed and was in a good location, so I couldn’t really pass it up. Plus, if things go well, maybe I’ll need to hire additional staff to help me. The realtor told me the last owner ran a small insurance office here with about ten other employees. Granted they were stuffed in here like peas in a pod, but I figure this place can support about seven or eight other ponies beside me without issue.”
Nodding, Allen let Penny go up the stairs before following along behind, shutting the downstairs door as he did so and casting the stairwell into semi-darkness. Reaching the top of the staircase, he found himself in a short hallway that ended in a cozy-looking living room. Looking around, Allen could see that Penny hadn’t fully unpacked everything yet as there were a few unopened cardboard boxes scattered around.
“Sorry about the mess,” said Penny, an apologetic expression on her face as she moved a pair of boxes off her couch. “I haven’t finished unpacking everything yet, and the living room just sort of became a storage room.”
Waving off her apology with a grin, Allen maneuvered his way around the couch and replied, “No worries.”
Trotting into the kitchen, Penny called back over her shoulder, “Are you hungry? I was just about to have dinner.”
Allen quickly waved away the offer, his own face taking on an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were eating. I can come back tomorrow if you want.”
Shaking her head, she waved a hoof at an empty seat and replied, “It’s alright, I made some extra salad if you’re hungry.”
“No, I wouldn’t want to-” an angry growl from his stomach cut him off as he suddenly realized he hadn’t eaten anything since that morning.
Hearing his stomach’s loud protest, Penny giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes then. Do you have any preferences for salad dressing? I have prench, bitalian, and ranch,” she said as she floated another bowl of leafy greens and a pair of bottles over to the table.
“Uh... ranch is fine thanks,” replied Allen as Penny set the bowl and requested bottle in front of him, before returning the unwanted prench dressing to its home at the back of the fridge.
“Anything you’d like to drink? I was just about to pour myself some lemon tea,” asked Penny as she grabbed the tea kettle and poured herself a mug of tea.
“Tea is fine, thanks,” he replied with a thankful nod.
“Any sugar?” she asked, holding up a bowl full of sugar cubes.
“Sure, though just one cube please.”
Nodding, Penny quickly grabbed another mug and poured Allen his tea. Setting it on the table, she placed a single cube of sugar in the steaming mug and floated it over to him, along with a fork and spoon. Taking the spoon in hand, Allen gently stirred his tea before gently raising the mug to his lips and blowing on it to cool it. Taking a cautious sip, he nodded in satisfaction.
“It’s good tea.”
Smiling, Penny replied, “Thank you, there’s a little tea shop in Canterlot that I buy my teas from. They sell all kinds of blends, and this is one of my favorites.”
“Well, it’s pretty good, I’m not a big tea drinker, but I don’t mind having a cup every once in a while,” said Allen as he poured a generous dollop of ranch on his salad. Stirring the topping in amongst the green leaves, Allen stabbed a fork full and took a bite. His eyebrows hiked upwards as the crisp greens hit his taste buds. Pausing, he thoughtfully chewed the collection of veggies and leaves for a moment before swallowing them and saying, “Wow, that’s some pretty good salad right there.”
“Glad you like it, I made it this morning after buying the ingredients fresh from the market yesterday. That’s one of the nice things about places like Ponyville. They tend to have a few ponies that have greenhouses that grow produce year-round. So it’s always fresh and at peak ripeness.”
Allen nodded. “You ain’t kidding. These little cherry tomatoes you added in are pretty sweet, and so is the cucumber.”
Giggling, Penny simply took a bite of her own salad and hummed happily in agreement, before then going in for another forkful. After that, the conversation quickly petered out and all that could be heard was the clanking of silverware on ceramic and the occasional sip of tea. Soon, however, both Penny and Allen had polished off their salads and drank their tea. Taking the now empty bowl and mug from Allen, Penny carefully floated the plate and mug, along with her own to the nearby sink. Turning on the water, she quickly plugged and filled the sink to allow the dishes to soak while she spoke with Allen, all without needing to leave her chair.
Allen felt a little jealous, watching the unicorn work her magic.
With a final twist of the faucet knob, Penny shut off the water and turned her attention back to Allen. Regarding him with a curious look, she asked, “So, what did you want to talk about?”
Ever since he’d decided to come and speak with Penny, Allen had been trying to figure out what to say to her about his encounter earlier with Checklist and Just Cause. Unfortunately, nothing had really come to mind.
“Allen? What’s wrong?” asked Penny when he hadn’t responded.
Sighing, Allen said, “I had a visit from the DOTI this morning, and we had an... interesting discussion, and I guess it put a couple of things in a different perspective for me.”
“About what? Are you in trouble with them?” asked Penny, a concerned look on her face. “I can send a letter to His Grace right now if you want. He should be back from his trip to Olenia, or at least that’s what his last letter to me said anyways.”
Allen shook his head. “No, I’m not in trouble or anything like that. They just came by to check up on me when Checklist heard that I was doing some farm renovations, and to give me their sales pitch on the benefits of using the DOTI’s services, along with potentially becoming a member. They also said some things that made me question Blueblood’s claims regarding them and how they operate.”
“Oh,” said Penny as her ears fell flat in annoyance at hearing the DOTI was still bothering Allen after he had expressed disinterest in working with them before. “What did they say?”
Taking a deep breath, Allen retold Penny everything that had happened earlier that day. From Checklist and Just Cause showing up, to Just Cause giving his side of the story of the Sugar Crisis, as well as Checklist calling Blueblood a liar when Allen had told them what Blueblood had claimed the DOTI still did when nopony was looking, to finally wrapping up his tale with Checklist’s little sales pitch and seeing them off.
Throughout it all, Penny had remained quiet, occasionally she would ask a question, such as asking about Prince Blueblood’s family’s experience during the Sugar Crisis as she didn’t know much about his past in that regard. However, other than seeking clarification on certain topics, she was content to sit and listen. During Allen’s tale, she had manifested a legal pad and a pencil and began taking notes. By the time Allen had finished speaking, Penny had filled out nearly ten pages worth of notes, both on the front and backside of each page.
Idly tapping her pencil eraser on the table, Penny hummed thoughtfully as she looked over her notes and digested this new information. Truth be told, she wasn’t surprised Prince Blueblood had acted the way he did. While she hadn’t had much experience with the noble, she had heard about a few of the stories that he had let slip about himself from time to time. These stories would often get circulated around the usual office gossip sessions at the water cooler, most of them were garbage, but occasionally a few nuggets of truth would shine through.
Looking up from her notes, Penny affixed Allen with a contemplative look, as if unsure what to do next. “So,” she began, setting her pencil down, “tell me your concerns. After all, it’s why I am here in the first place, budding business relationships are always fraught with these types of things.”
“They are?” asked Allen, an unconvinced look on his face.
Nodding, a grin on her face, Penny replied, “Of course. Why, did you think that business ventures between two different individuals, with different goals and experiences, would always be smooth and without conflict?”
Allen sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and quietly replied, “Kinda?”
Giggling, Penny shook her head. “If only it were that simple, of course, if it was that simple, then there really wouldn’t be any work for a pony such as myself, now would there?”
Chuckling in return, Allen said, “I suppose not, it’s just that...”
“You’re worried, confused, and stressed, and meeting with Checklist and Just Cause just made things worse. Naturally, they focused on the good things about themselves and shied away from the bad ones, just like His Grace did when you two met,” she shrugged helplessly, “I’m afraid that happens a lot in these circumstances. Everypony wants to be the good guy, and paint the other as someone not to be trusted. The question, however, is what do you want to do next?”
Allen bit his bottom lip as he thought. “I don’t know,” he began, “I just don’t like feeling as though I’ve been lied to, I know it makes me sound like a whiny baby, but...”
Putting her notes down, Penny fixed Allen with a firm look. “Allen, you are not being whiny, so stop that right now. You have a genuine concern, and I am here to allay that concern and help you find the correct path forward. So, I’ll ask again, what do you want to do?”
Allen shifted uncomfortably for a second before replying, “Well, I know I already looked it over before I signed it, but can we read that contract again? I just want to make sure I didn’t miss anything. After that, I guess maybe we can see what services the DOTI have that might be a good fit for me? I don’t know enough about this stuff, and I don’t want to buy something expensive that I don’t need, so I was hoping you could help me with that?”
Penny’s face lit up with a bright smile and she nodded. “I’ll go grab the agreement real quick,” she hopped out of her chair and trotted past Allen, though she paused at the threshold between the kitchen and living room and glanced back at him. “Did you happen to bring anything from the DOTI? I don’t have anything on hoof from them.”
Allen nodded. “Yeah, I left it sitting in a plastic bag on my bike’s handlebars. I didn’t know if we were going to get this far so I didn’t bother bringing it inside.”
“You’re talking about that strange two-wheeled contraption you left leaning against the front lamp post outside, right?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s it,” replied Allen with a nod.
“I’ll grab it on my way back up, I’ll be right back,” she replied before turning and trotting out of the room, the sound of her hoofsteps quickly fading as she headed downstairs.
With nothing to really do, Allen let his eyes wander around the kitchen. It was kind of on the small side, but rather than feeling cramped, it gave off an air of homely coziness that a lot of apartment kitchens would struggle to replicate. The cabinets were made of oak and had brass handles, while the stove was well taken care of and clean. Standing up from his chair, he stepped closer and fiddled with a knob, after a quiet click, a small circle of blue flame sprang up and quietly burned, waiting for a pot or pan to heat that would never come. Turning the stove off, Allen moved over to inspect the upright refrigerator-freezer combo. It looked like something out of the 1950s, with smooth rounded corners and lines along with chrome handles made for a hoof to grab and pull, and it was colored an eggshell white.
Popping open the top door, a cold wave of air hit his face and a slight fog rolled out as the cold air of the freezer met the warmer air of the kitchen. Shutting the freezer door, Allen opened the bottom door and wasn’t surprised to see that this was the fridge part of the machine, and it looked like Penny had recently stocked it too as it was full of leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, and drinks, including what looked suspiciously like a bottle of wine at the back of the fridge.
“Are you still hungry?” asked Penny playfully from the kitchen doorway when she saw Allen snooping around in her fridge.
“Gah!” exclaimed Allen as he hastily shut the fridge door and tried to look innocent, failing miserably.
Giggling, Penny set a manila folder on the table, along with a plastic bag that said Walmart on it and had several papers and pamphlets inside.
“Sorry, I was just curious if it worked the same as mine,” replied Allen sheepishly. “With magic, I’m always wondering if something works the same as it does in my world or if there is a noticeable difference.”
“Well magic does make certain things easier, Equestria has had refrigeration for several hundred years. Of course, up until recently, you had to have a special rune installed in order to keep things fresh. Now we just use electricity, but the principle is still the same,” she explained as the two sat back down.
Pulling out the agreement from the manila folder, she slid it across to Allen and said, “Here you go. What was it that you wanted to look for specifically?”
Flipping to the first page, Allen began reading. “I just want to see if Blueblood put any restrictions on me. I’d rather not go through the trouble of setting up an account with the DOTI only to learn that he’s forbidden me from doing so.”
Penny nodded in understanding. “Fair enough, however, we never put any kind of stipulation like that in there when we drew it up, but looking it over again isn’t a bad idea,” she paused for a moment before asking, “would you like some more tea? I have a feeling we’ll be here for a bit.”
Looking up from the papers, Allen shot her a grateful smile and nodded. “Sure, thanks.”
Penny returned his smile with one of her own and set about making another batch of tea for the both of them. By the time she had finished the next batch, Allen was putting the agreement back in its folder.
Leaning back in his chair, he said, “Well there is nothing obvious that I can see in there that would keep me from taking advantage of their services.”
Setting another cup of tea in front of Allen, Penny replied, “I didn’t think there would be, I drew up the agreement myself, so unless His Grace slipped something in behind my back, I figured we would be fine.”
Taking a sip of tea, Allen nodded. “Yeah... but I just want to make sure my memory isn’t playing tricks on me. When I get worried about something, I tend to look it over several times to make sure I’m reading and understanding it right, even if I ‘know’ it’s good. It’s a weird quirk I guess.”
Penny giggled in reply. “Well I can think of worse quirks to have, and at least this one helps keep you from any nasty legal surprises.” Looking over the collection of DOTI literature, she picked up a pamphlet at random and asked, “So, now that we have that out of the way, which of these did you want to look over first?”
Setting his cup down, Allen replied, “Well looks like you picked up the one about insurance, so I figure that’d be a good one to start with, as right now I have none.”
“Alright then, let’s dig into this,” said Penny in reply as she pulled her legal pad over and turned it to a fresh page.
Scooting his chair around so that he was sitting closer to Penny, Allen pointed to the first page and remarked, “After my hospital stay, I think I want to have a good health insurance plan for myself just in case anything else happens to me, so why don’t we start there?”
“Good idea,” replied Penny as she used her hoof to hold open the pamphlet on the correct page and began looking things over with Allen.
There was a lot of information to go over and even with Penny’s expert knowledge on all things business and legal, it still took the two of them the better part of two hours to go through most of the services and products that were relevant to Allen’s needs.
While they had been reading through and discussing things, Penny had been keeping a list of items that Allen was interested in. These ranged from health insurance for him, and any potential employees, to seed and equipment procurement and training, along with the possibility of getting better rates for shipping products via rail.
Giving an almighty stretch and yawn, Allen looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly ten o’clock at night. Grimacing, he realized that meant a long ride home in the dark with no light other than what the moon and stars could give him. Standing up from his chair, he said, “Wow, it’s later than I thought, I guess time flies when you’re having fun.”
Looking up at the clock herself, Penny hummed in agreement. “Well good company helps make even the most tedious of tasks bearable. Regardless, we should probably call it a night, unless you’d like to stay the night with me,” she replied, a teasing grin on her face, and a slight suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows, “of course what would the neighbors say?”
Rolling his eyes, Allen gathered his things up and dryly replied, “Probably something along the lines of how you have a weird taste in male companions. Thankfully for all parties involved, I need to head home, so we don’t have to worry about what the neighbors think.”
Giggling, Penny stood up and helped Allen pack his things before lighting her horn and leading the way down the dark stairwell and into the equally dark office downstairs. Opening the door, she watched as Allen slid the plastic bag over one of the handlebars on his bike and mounted it. Lifting the kickstand up, Allen grimaced at how dark it was.
“Geez, it’s darker out here than I thought it was,” he complained as he struggled to see into the inky blackness beyond the yellow circle of light supplied by the street lamp overhead. “Ah well, guess I’ll just have to take it slow going home, see ya later Penny,” he said as he turned to Penny and with a wave of his hand goodbye made to push off.
“Wait Allen!” called out Penny suddenly.
Rolling to a stop, Allen looked back over his shoulder and asked, “What?”
“Let me get you something so that you’re not riding home in the dark, I’ll be right back,” she said as she turned and hurried back inside, not bothering to close the door in her haste.
Turning his bike around, Allen waddled it over and calmly waited for Penny to return. He didn’t have to wait long as a few minutes later he could see the blue glow from her horn getting brighter, along with the sound of her hooves clattering on the wooden floorboards drawing closer.
“Here we go, this should help,” she said as she trotted back into view, a small brass lantern held aloft in her magical grasp. Trotting to the front of Allen’s bike, she quickly set about attaching the lantern to the front of the bike’s handlebars by way of a clamp that fit around the bike’s stem. Once she was satisfied that the lantern wouldn’t move, she unscrewed its top and pulled out a small gemstone. Screwing up her face in concentration, she lit her horn and proceeded to power up the gemstone with a spell, with it becoming brighter and brighter with each passing second until it shone like a miniature star.
Panting slightly, Penny gently returned the gemstone to its resting place inside the brass lamp and closed the lid. Flicking a little leaver on the side of the lantern, she opened the shutters and allowed a bright beam of light to shine outwards, banishing the darkness in front of it away.
“Whoa,” said Allen in amazement, “what the heck did you just do?”
Buffing a hoof against her chest, a smug smile on her face, Penny casually replied, “Oh just a little illumination spell I learned back in college. It lets me charge a gem to act as a light source, it’s helpful when you want a light source without it being a constant drain on your magic or risk losing your light in an emergency. Plus it frees up your horn for other spells.”
“That’s pretty handy, do you have to do anything special to the gemstone?” asked Allen curiously as he carefully inspected the lantern.
“Naw, it just needs to be properly cut and polished. Gems are very useful for storing and enhancing spells and magical energy,” explained Penny simply.
Nodding his head, Allen replied, “Well, thanks for letting me borrow this then. Getting home should be a lot easier, and safer now. I’ll be sure to bring this back tomorrow.”
“No problem Allen, I’m happy to help, and you can bring it back next time you’re in town, I’ve got another one in case I need it,” replied Penny with a dismissive wave of her hoof.
“Alright, well thanks again, and I’ll see you later to finish going over that DOTI stuff. It’ll probably be later next week. I still need to finish the renovations, and get at least some of my first cutting done.”
“That will be fine, I’ll come by and discuss it with you later this week then. In the meantime, don’t forget that we still need to finish looking over the paperwork for your company too, and be sure to think of a good name for it while you’re at it,” replied Penny cheerfully.
Allen groaned at the thought of yet more paperwork in his near future but figured that he should probably get used to it as paperwork was the lifeblood of any good business.
“Oh don’t be like that Allen, it won’t be that bad,” giggled Penny, “I’ve taken care of most of it, all you need to do is look it over and sign a couple of pages.”
“Right, a ‘couple of pages’,” replied Allen as he made air quotes with his fingers and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Shaking his head, he chuckled and said, “Well anyway, I’ll see you later, just let me know a good day would be for me to come by, and I’ll be there.”
“I’ll let you know, and you let me know when you’re going to do your first cutting of hay, I wanna be there to see it!”
Allen laughed and replied as he kicked off and started pedaling away, “You and just about everyone else!”
Penny laughed in reply as she waved Allen goodbye before turning and heading inside for the night. Allen meanwhile turned his attention back to the road in front of him and putting a bit more effort into his pedaling, quickly made his way down the darkened Ponyville roads and towards home.
However, as he was coming up to the stone bridge leading out of town, he spotted a strange figure leaning up against a nearby light pole. They were wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora and had a small box sitting next to them. They seemed to be waiting for someone.
The only thing missing is a lit cigarette hanging from their mouth and they could have stepped right out of some old crime movie. Thought Allen as he slowly pedaled closer, wary of the strange figure. Angling his bike towards the far side of the road, he continued to approach the trench-coated figure.
When he was nearly upon them, the figure suddenly darted out in front of Allen, blocking his way. Clamping down on his brakes, gravel crunching underneath him, Allen came to a halt. Sticking a leg out to balance on, Allen stared at the figure whose features were blacked out due to their hat casting their face in shadow, waiting for them to make their move.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting here for you, Mr. Ross?” said the figure in a raspy voice.
Allen blinked. Why does that voice sound familiar?
“Can’t say I do,” he replied carefully.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” said the figure mysteriously as they slowly advanced. “I’ve been waiting all day to make sure you get what is coming to you, so you better prepare yourself.”
Allen wasn’t really in the mood to deal with shenanigans this late at night. Quickly angling the handlebars of his bike slightly to the right, he flashed the mysterious figure in the face with the powerful beam of his headlight and prepared to speed past while they couldn’t see.
“GAAH! I can’t see!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she found herself suddenly blinded by the bright light.
Allen felt himself relax when he finally saw who was messing with him. Shaking his head, he moved the beam of light off of Pinkie and dismounting the bike, put the kickstand down, and walked over. Bending down, he asked, “You okay Pinkie?”
Rubbing her eyes with a hoof, she blearily blinked the after images out of her vision. “I’ll be fine,” she replied, “looks like my little joke didn’t go over so well huh?”
“Yeah... no, but sorry for blinding you like that,” said Allen, a hint of remorse in his voice. Looking over at the package sitting near the light pole he pointed at it and asked, “That for me?”
“Yeppers!” replied Pinkie cheerfully, her lantern-induced blindness seemingly forgotten as she pronked over to the box and collected it. Bringing it over to Allen, she presented it to him with a big grin and happily exclaimed, “Happy Thirtieth Birthday, Allen!”
Taking the box from her, Allen carefully opened it, and found a small cake nestled inside that had Happy Birthday Allen! written on it in flowing pink frosting. Looking up from the cake, Allen cocked his head to one side in confusion and asked, “How the hell did you know it was my birthday today? I don’t remember telling you what day it was.”
“You didn’t! My Pinkie Sense told me that there was a person in town that had a birthday today that I needed to throw a party for. But when I looked through my Book of Birthdays, I saw that I didn’t have any marked down for today. This obviously meant that it was for someone who I either didn’t know, which is impossible because I know everybody in town or it was for someone who I hadn’t put in my Book of Birthdays yet! Which kind of narrowed it down as the only new person to move into town lately was you!” she happily exclaimed, pointing at Allen and giggling in joy.
Allen blinked. “What?”
“Anyways, it’s getting late, and I gotta get up suuuuper early tomorrow to help the Cake’s, so I gotta go! Happy Birthday Allen, and sorry I couldn’t throw you a party today, I’ll throw one for you later!” said Pinkie happily as she bounced away into the night like some sort of life-size wind-up toy.
Watching her go, Allen tried to figure out what had just happened, but his brain came up with nothing. Shaking his head, he shut the box and gently nestled it inside the plastic bag with the DOTI literature. Remounting his bike, he lifted the kickstand up and pushed off.
As he pedaled into the night, Allen wondered. How did she know it was my birthday today, and for that matter, how in the hell did she know how old I was? I don’t remember telling anybody. Glancing back over his shoulder, he wondered if there was more to Pinkie Pie than met the eye.
Shaking his head, he put a bit more effort into his pedaling, and thought, Probably best to just not think about it. Maybe I did tell somebody and she heard about it from them. Wouldn’t be the first time I forgot about telling someone something before. In any case, I’m not gonna worry about it till I need to, I’ve got enough problems without looking for more.
Putting the thought out of his mind, Allen focused on the road before him and put a bit more effort into his pedaling as he sped into the night.