//------------------------------// // 9- At least we get to see the other side of things // Story: Still No Signal // by Axel Azabash //------------------------------// “I will go inside first to ask if the creature can be allowed to come in.” Said Twilight as she walked ahead of them and entered through the door of Sugar Cube Corner. As the door opened and the bell jingled, Pinkie Pie noticed that the new client was her friend Twilight. Pinkie was tending the store while Miss Cake was taking care of the twins and her husband was putting the finishing touches to the goods they were going to sell that day. Rainbow Dash was sitting in a table having a late breakfast. With a failed attempt at speaking due to an overload of cinnamon roll in her mouth she just waved a foreleg at Twilight. “Hi Twilight, what’s up!?” Pinkie greeted her friend with her trademark smile. “Hello, Pinkie and Rainbow. Fluttershy is outside with the new creature we talked about. I came inside first to ask if it’s okay if she brings it into the store.” Twilight inquired. “Ooooooh… Errr…” Pinkie was suddenly nervous. Usually, wild creatures were not allowed in the store, but she didn’t want to tell her friend Fluttershy that she would have to wait outside. The last resource of hers was to put her puppy face on and look at Miss Cake. The mare suddenly realized she was the center of attention and looked around confused. “Oh… Um… Well, we have no clients right now… If the animal behaves itself and Fluttershy is here to take care of it just in case…” Miss Cake recalled the conversation and replied, a little uncertain herself. “I’m sure there will be no problems. The creature seems to be far more intelligent than a regular animal, as we initially thought… I will be right back in a second.” Twilight came out again, finding her friend and the creature waiting outside. “Fluttershy, they say you can bring the creature in.” She motioned them to come. The three of them came inside. The creature had to duck its head a little. It was really tall and intimidating sometimes. Pinkie Pie greeted it with a smile and a wave that interestingly enough, the mysterious being returned. After a few moments, Rainbow Dash approached the creature and started to fly in circles, analyzing it with a challenging stare. Getting visibly nervous on account of the prismatic mare’s behavior, the creature started to look away in a desperate attempt to ignore the tense situation. It seemed interested in the foals and their mother. Noticing the focus the creature took on the foals, Rainbow hovered in front of its face, cutting its line of sight from the family. “He seems to be too interested in the foals… Are you sure it is not dangerous, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, looking suspiciously between the creature and the yellow pegasus. “Oh, no! He is so nice. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He has helped me with the animals and I have seen him even petting some of them.” Fluttershy assured. Rainbow Dash continued with her stare contest for a few more seconds. “EEEEBLUAG BLEGH BLUghublebadiblrrrrrrtbbpp…” Until suddenly, she went cross eyed, stuck her tongue out and started to make funny faces like when she tried to make a guard laugh. The creature was startled by the mare and flinched. It continued to stare back, like it wasn’t sure how to react to that situation, until… “AAAAUUUGHBLEBBBLeuyrppdhhrrt…” The mysterious being went cross eyed and returned the gesture. Rainbow Dash was taken aback by the sudden outburst, her ears flat against her head for a moment. Then, she snorted with cheeks puffed, unable to control her own laugh. She crashed on the floor and rolled around in laughter, only able to recover her breath for a moment… “BUAHA HA HA HA… I like it! *snort* BUAHAHahahaha…” She said, pointing a foreleg in its direction, and then continued laughing. Pinkie Pie giggled and bounced in place. Fluttershy released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. But Twilight seemed bewildered at that creature’s reactions and gestures. “Soooo girls. Are you coming to the picnic this afternoon?” Pinkie asked. “Oh, of course, I wouldn’t miss it.” Fluttershy assured. “Of course! Can you imagine a pet picnic afternoon WITHOUT Fluttershy!?” Pinkie exclaimed dramatically. “Yeah, yeah… I’m coming too…” Rainbow suddenly looked meditative. “Don’t worry, Rainbow… I know how you have missed Tank, but he’ll be back again for the spring and summer.” Fluttershy said, trying to comfort the blue mare. “It’s part of why we have organized this pet picnic after all.” Twilight added. “And the other part is to get you out of your cottage, Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie chimed in, bouncing in place merrily. “Because you have been all busy taking care of that new creature.” “Errr… Where is Angel Bunny? Are you going to bring this big guy instead of him?” Rainbow asked a question that suddenly came to her mind out of the blue. “Oh… Well… Angel has been misbehaving lately. I have told him many times that this new creature needed extra care, but he kind of…” Fluttershy trailed off. “Started to be insufferable?” Rainbow added in a flat tone. “Um… a little… The snakes told me that he was doing a lot of noises to scare it out of the cottage last night. He woke up a lot of the critters that spend the night at home.” Fluttershy explained. “So, he’s grounded. Well, I can’t complain. I think I prefer this big weird one.” Rainbow smiled. They continued to chat about trivial things like the weather and what they were going to have for lunch. Meanwhile, Carrot Cake continued to bring tray after tray of baked goods to the counter, with Pinkie Pie serving the occasional client. Cup Cake continued to take care of the twins. Pound and Pumpkin were babbling to their mother and playing with some wooden toys. The atmosphere was relaxed. Fluttershy and Twilight bought some sweets and goods for the picnic, making sure that the tree of them, Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy would bring something different. Suddenly, Miss Cake gasped. “Carrot, love! Come here!” She called in a happy tone. “What’s it, my dear?” Asked Carrot Cake from the kitchen, a little confused. “What did you just say, Pumpkin? Mo-my? Mo-my?” Miss Cake tickled Pumpkin’s belly, the foal laughed and babbled. Mr. Cake got out of the kitchen for a moment and got close to his wife. They played with the foals while the next batch of cupcakes was in the oven. “Ma…ma…ma…” Said Pound Cake for the couple’s delight. “They are getting better every day, love…” Noticed Carrot Cake. “Mommy, mommy…” The couple continued to play with their foals, telling them “mommy” again and again. They managed to repeat the word from time to time between giggles and babbles. Pinkie and Twilight smiled at them. Fluttershy also smiled but with a melancholic sigh. Rainbow Dash was just looking at them, a little unsure about how to act in that situation. After a while, the Cakes went back to work, they were almost ready to let Pinkie go. Fluttershy looked back at the weird being with a mix of happiness and melancholic look on her face. “Aren’t they cute?” Fluttershy murmured and sighed. After a pause, the creature looked determined for a moment, looked directly into Fluttershy’s eyes and made a sound. “Mommy?” Fluttershy froze. She had always wanted to have a foal herself, she was good with foals, sometimes volunteering to take care of them, but that was a faraway dream because she needed to find a stallion first, and she was really scared about the idea. She had been taking care of that weird being for a long time, she thought it was an animal, a really clever and weird one, but when she heard the word, something snapped in her mind. It was a really strange creature, so different yet so similar to a pony. Its gestures were so pony-like, and it showed a level of intelligence beyond most other animals. This was no simple animal. Fluttershy knew at that very moment that if she tried, she could teach it to talk, to be polite, to be, in the end, like a pony… And she liked the idea. Fueled by the emotion of the moment, the ambient of the Cakes taking care and playing with their foals and the fact that she had been taking care of him for some time, Fluttershy gasped, and with a leap that sent them both stumbling a couple of steps backwards as she leaped and hugged the mysterious being with her four legs and her wings. “Awwwww… You are so cute! Who’s your mommy? Who’s your mommy?” Fluttershy said while nuzzling the creature’s neck. Rainbow tried to stifle a laugh, but she failed and snorted anyways. Pinkie Pie went “Aww” and Twilight was really shocked, starting to take notes with a quill and a piece of paper that came out of nowhere. The creature had a very pony-like expression of shock on its face, with its arms half raised like if it was scared to even touch the mare that was now clinging to its torso. Ever so slowly, it lowed one of its arms and started to pet Fluttershy’s back, but it was clear that it was a nervous, uneasy and awkward gesture.