//------------------------------// // The Search Begins // Story: There Was Going To Be Cake // by MarkKB //------------------------------// Tug-tug. Tug-tug. Pinkie yawned, stretched her legs, and blinked her eyes open. Something had disturbed her from her sleep – goodness knows, she didn't usually wake at this hour unless she had an extra-super-duper p- She paused, sighed, and let the thought play out. A super-duper-looper party planned. But something had awoken her. Something had- Something had been pulling at her mane. "Gummy, what is it?" she asked, turning to face the direction of the tugging. What she saw was most definitely not Gummy. "Aaargh!" "Aaaaaaaaaaa!" said the face in return; leaping to its feet, the figure ran to a 'corner' (as much as a circular building could have corners) and made herself as small possible, shivering with fright. Pinkamina blinked, rubbed her eyes, and examined the intruder. She was a gray mare, with slightly disjointed wings and long blonde hair; on her flank was the distinct markings of a collection of bubbles. "Ditzy Doo?" she asked wearily. At the sound of her name, the pegasus stopped shivering; she looked up and then, most unexpectedly, began to smile. "Hey, you're the pink party pony!" she exclaimed, clapping her hooves together. "Well, I was." She sighed. "What are you doing here?" "Uh- I live here! When I came here I found it all empties and none of the other ponies had any room and- is it yours? Because if it is, I'm so sorry, I thought it was abandoned and-" "N-no, that's- fine, I guess." So this was how Piglet felt when he gave up his house for Eeyore. "Great!" She paused, then clicked a hoof. "You look sad. I know, wanna see my bubbles?" "Uh-" "Wait right there! I'll just go get my bubble set!" She turned to leave, and then turned her head back. "Don't worry, you'll be smiling in no time – I can make a bubble look like any pony in Ponyville! Just wait there." And with that, Ditzy had left. Pinkamina sighed. She should wait there, if only just to see what she was talking about. Who knows, perhaps it would make her smile again? What if she's just pretending? a deep, male voice in her head asked. No, she'd known Ditzy for far too long. She wouldn't lie to her. What about your other friends? the voice asked. You've known them for longer, and they stab you in the back! That was different! And even if it wasn't, perhaps her old friends did have a good explanation for- You heard it straight from Spike! the voice rebutted. And what reason would he have for lying to you! Yes, ze is joost pretending to be jour friend! Another voice, this one sounding female and foreign, joined the first. Ze is joost as two-fa-ced as ze rest of zem! Look how she kept glancing aside with her left eye! said the first. That's as shifty as they come! Ze is joost going to let jou down, the second replied, joost like ze odders! Yeah! Pinkamina stomped her hoof on the floor. And if she wasn't wanted here, she might as well leave! She bounded out of the silo, up the depression, and started back down the road, not looking back to her childhood home. She wanted to remember it as it was, not as it had become, and besides, she could not bear to look at yet another faking, lying pony again. It'd be all too much. "Alright," announced Rainbow Dash, hovering just outside the Everfree Forest path before a rather large congregation of ponies, many of whom were in some kind of fluorescent-yellow uniform. "We're going to split this up into groups. I will lead team Alpha and take the portion to the east. Fluttershy, you take team Beta and lead them through the area to the south. If one of us find Pinkie, you – uh, well, Twilight said she was getting something that would make your location known to everyone else, so-" "Uh, me?" Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, no, I don't think I could do it. If I miss something important, I don't think I could bear-" "Fluttershy, we need a pegasus to lead the search team, so they can keep a visual reference on where everypony is," Rainbow Dash explained. "Besides, you can use your special talent to help us search – you can ask your animal friends to help us!" "I- I could?" "And anyway, I know you wouldn't miss anything important – why, with all the special care you take to your animals, if you apply that to this search you'd probably be a natural!" She pumped up her chest. "But not as good as me, of course." "Really? You really mean that?" Fluttershy beamed. "R-right, Rainbow Dash! I won't let you down!" "That's the spirit, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack. "Now, you will lead team Gamma through the farmland. You know that area better than anypony, so I expect you'll have a much easier time than us." "Darn tootin'!" Applejack replied. "Why, I know that place like the back of my hoof, and Big Macintosh knows all the places I don't, so together we're sure to find her if she's still out there!" "Right." Rainbow Dash turned back to face the crowd. "It's about nine o'clock. We'll meet at Zecora's hut at midday, and after lunch we'll continue the search until four o'clock. After that, we'll have to bring out some headlamps or it'll be too dark to- Twilight!" The purple pony was galloping at top speed towards the congregation, with Spike holding on to her mane for dear life. Right behind her, panting and trying her hardest to keep up, was a white pony with a long purple mane. "And… Rarity?" Rainbow Dash glanced aside at Fluttershy, whose expression was just as perplexed as her own. "Not to say that you don't want to help find Pinkie as well, but… what are you doing here?" "Why, Twilight and I have been working all through the night!" said Rarity. "You see, I remembered this spell that could create magnificent displays of light, and when I showed it to Twilight, she agreed it was the perfect thing for your search. But, you see, it can only be done by a unicorn-" "Magic that can only be done by a unicorn? Really?" asked Rainbow Dash mockingly. "Rainbow Dash, most of our technology runs off of magical energy, and it doesn't need a unicorn to power it," Twilight Sparkle pointed out. Rainbow Dash merely blew on her fringe in response. "Ahem! As I was saying, this spell needs to be done by a unicorn, and the problem is that it doesn't go very far into the air, so the signal would be obscured by the trees if we tried to do it – but, that was when Twilight remembered that there was a way to attach spells to objects for a limited amount of time." "They're mainly used for area effect spells, although the ponies that used them… often weren't the most caring," Twilight explained. "They became the basis for 'curses' in folk stories of yore." "The trouble is," continued Rarity, "that it is very advanced magic. We had to practice non-stop for hours to get even a basic spell to stick! And then, the rest of the night for the specific spell we wanted." "And then we had to associate it with an action – that took… that too-" Twilight tried but failed to stifle a yawn. "That took all morning to do. Triggers were easier to do than the initial spell, but it was still hard work." "And I presume by 'we' you mean Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Oh, not at all!" said Rarity. "I reasoned, and Twilight agreed, that such magic would work better and faster with two unicorns pooling their magical powers, so to speak. And besides, I know I am of limited use in this situation – I wanted to do my bit for the team." "That's nonsense, Rarity!" Twilight said, sideways glaring at Rainbow Dash, who shrugged sheepishly. "So, what exactly does all that mumbo-jumbo mean?" asked Applejack. "It means they have this," Spike replied, and produced a pair of transparent orbs from both fists. Rainbow Dash flew up to them and glared at them for a few seconds. "How do you make it work?" "Simple. Just apply pressure." And Spike squeezed on one of the orbs. A multitude of bright green sparks flew out of the ball; they sparkled and lingered in the air before evaporating before them. "Uh, perhaps unicorns and dragons can activate these… orb thingies easily," said Rainbow Dash, "but I've got a particular problem in that I don't have any claws." She clapped her hooves together for emphasis. "Nor any magic to speak of – and if I carry it in my mouth like a pen, it's liable to activate accidently!" "Oops!" Twilight exclaimed. "We were spending so much time perfecting the spell that I… kind of forgot." Rainbow Dash sighed. "It's- it's not a problem. Spike can ride on my back, and- uh…" She glanced at Fluttershy. She was going to run into much the same trouble. "I shall do it!" exclaimed Rarity. "I shall levitate the- yaaaawn –the orb, and then activate it when… yaaaaawn – when the proper time comes! Even icky, filthy, dreadful mud shall not temper my determination!" She smiled wearily, and Rainbow Dash noticed the bags under her eyes. "Rarity… you really need to sleep. You too, Twilight." Rarity took a step forward, glaring directly into Rainbow Dash's eyes as she did. "Then who shall activate the orb for Fluttershy?" "Uh…" "Oh, I'm sure Angel would be able to," said Fluttershy. As if called by summon, the so-named white rabbit hopped into view and onto Fluttershy's back. "Oh, were you worried about me?" Angel nodded and shook a small clock he had brought with him. "Oh, it has been a while. Sorry for forgetting about telling you what was happening." "Right, then," said Rainbow Dash, nodding assuredly. "Applejack, uh-" Now there was another problem – there was only two orbs. Her fault, really – she didn't tell Twilight she was planning to split the search parties into three – but still a problem, none-the-less. But Applejack provided her own solution to that. "Since there'll be nothin' of the 'gettin' lost' problem to deal with," she said. "I reckon I can just send someone back to Ponyville and get Mrs. Mayor to ring the town bell." "Right then, it's settled. Spike, are you ready?" Spike glanced from Rainbow Dash's back to the sky and then back. "Uh, I dunno if it's safe… I mean, what if I fall off?" Rainbow Dash humphed. "Me, drop something? Are you kidding? I'd rather live the rest of my life on the ground than drop something while flying – or fail at anything while flying, for that matter." "Do be a dear and help out," said Rarity. "If I cannot help further, at least I'll know my wittle Spikey-wikey is out there in my stead." And with those words, she nuzzled Spike's cheek. Rainbow Dash exchanged knowing smiles with Twilight, and true to their suspicions, Spike stumbled from Twilight's back in a sort of daze. "Alright, I'll… I'll go," he half-mumbled, his purple cheeks burning scarlet red. Twilight levitated one of the orbs, while Spike waddled over to Rainbow Dash with the other. "Now, careful – make sure you mount before the wing joints," she warned, attempting to glance back to make sure he didn't screw anything up. Like her wings, for instance. The last thing she needed was a trip to the hospital – it would sure to be Boredomville. "Gotchya," Spike replied, and he swiftly hoisted his leg, and then the rest of his body, across and over Rainbow's back. "Alright, let's try this out," said Rainbow Dash, once she felt comfortable with Spike's weight. "Uh, try?" "Yeah, you know, test flight. I wanna see how different your extra weight is so I can adjust how I fly to match."\ "You mean, you've never flown with someone on your-" "Nope! Here we go!" And Rainbow Dash lifted her forelegs into the air, slammed them to the ground, and took off at a gallop. "Aaaaaa-" Feeling the rush of cool air passing by her mane, she unfurled her wings. "-aaaaaa-" And with one, two, three! flaps of her wings, she was aloft. "Woohoo!" she shouted over roaring wind and lashing air. "-aaaaaaa-" screamed Spike, hugging her neck as tight as he could. She did a few loop-de-loops and a couple of sudden turns – all so she could judge Spike's effect on her momentum, of course; them being fun was just a side effect – and when she felt alright with the extra weight, she touched back down to Earth in front of the crowd, smiling enthusiastically. "Is that supposed to be our lead?" one of the investigators whispered to another – obviously unaware that he wasn't very good at whispering. "Hey, what's that supposed to-" "Yes, yes it is," replied Applejack before Rainbow Dash could interject further. "Y'all have a problem with that?" And she gave them a glare that Rainbow swore could resurrect the dead if it were aimed at tombstones. "Uh, n-n-no, ma'am!" "Right, then." She turned and smiled at Rainbow Dash. "Uh, thanks, Applejack!" "Weren't nothin'," she replied. "Y' pick up a few things on a farm. Now, about Pinkie." "Oh, right." She turned to the crowd. "Alright, we're looking for a pink poofy pony with party balloons as her cutie mark! Any pink hairs or fibres, any hoofmarks not your own, any sign of a struggle, you tell your leader immediately, capiche?" "Yes, ma'am!" the group replied in unison. "You have your tasks. Alpha, group to the path's left. Beta, to the path's right, and Gamma, towards Fluttershy's house. Wait for further instruction from your leader. Dismissed!" Twilight walked up to Rainbow Dash and poked Spike with her hoof. "Hey, Spike, you're on the ground now," she whispered. "I don't care," muttered Spike, still clinging to Rainbow's back, his eyes clamped shut. "I'm not opening them. She might take off at any moment." "Don't worry, that was just a test," Rainbow said reassuringly. "As much as it pains me to say, we'll be going slower – we don't want to miss anything, after all." "Come on, Spikey-wikey, how can you know when you're needed if you don't look?" Spike sprang upright at the sound of Rarity's voice. "That's the spirit, that's my Spikey!" she said, smiling. "And, since you're being ever so generous, I might be able to work out a little gift for you." "Woah, really?" "Of course," Rarity emphasised. Spike's tongue stuck out and his eyes darted upwards, no doubt imagining whatever could be in store for him. "But after some shut-eye, of course – Rainbow, you're – yaaawn – you're ever so kind to let us sleep while you're out there searching." "Aw, shucks, you've done more than enough – these orbs will make things so much easier, once we'd dealt with the whole activation thing, of course." "Of course," Rarity repeated. "Well, good luck with your search. I shall be wishing you well in my dreams!" And she trotted off towards Ponyville, her normally graceful step staggering ever so often in exhaustion. "I'll be wishing you well too!" said Twilight, her eylids drooping lower and lower with each moment passing. "May Celestria – yaawwn – may her rays shine down on your search and light the way to – yaaawn – to success." And she turned after Rarity, her own path much more zig-zaggity and clumsy. "Rarity will be dreaming about me," said Spike, his voice dripping with adoration. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Slow your wings, lover-boy, we've got a job to do." "Oh, right, Pinkie Pie," he said, shaking his head. As she took off again to join her team, her own mind turned to Pinkie Pie. What could make her leave? She doubted it was anything they did; she couldn't even see the major problem with what Spike had said. Pinkie was as loyal as they came, and she'd had no doubt that Pinkie would doubt Spike's words until she had seen them true herself. It must have been something huge. And so, for the Element of Loyalty, Pinkie's lack thereof was nothing short of an enigma. If Pinkamina was honest, sometimes she didn't know herself. Sure, most of the time the reasons were held clear in her mind, where they echoed, repeating over and over. Her friends didn't like her. Her friends didn't want to be her friends any more. She should leave, and never come back. But sometimes, in brief moments of clarity, she wondered why she was leaving behind such a lovely town with such friendly people, the friendliest of all had been the other Elements of Harmony – her friends. And then one of her voices reminded her of what they had done, of how they'd betrayed her so, and anger washed over her once more. It was nearing the middle of the day, and by now Pinkamina had reached the train station. Built before there was even a Ponyville and the nearby farms were the only things around, the train station was far out of the way of the township proper – which normally would be a nuisance, but now served Pinkamina's purposes perfectly. With no-one but the ticket master and conductor to see her go, it would take some time before the news would arrive to her former so-called friends exactly which direction she had taken. "What can I do for you, Pinkie?" asked the ticket master "One ticket for Manehat-" Go to Canterlot, a voice inside her said. That didn't make sense. Canterlot was where the Princess was – it'd be harder to hide there, and- Go to Canterlot. This voice was different from the other voices – it felt cold and sharp. Almost cunning. Perhaps a personification of her strategic qualities? But then, the rough boyish voice chimed in. That's a great idea! it said. Ze'll never zink to look vor ju zere! the foreign female agreed. Eckzactly becaze it vould be harder to hide! Yeah, you'll be safe right under the Princess's nose! You could just lay low in the outskirts for a while, and then after that, everything would be peachy! It iz not az if ze Princess comes down to ze suburbs anyway! She joost stays in ze castle, ap in her ivory tower! "Pinkie Pie! Are you alright?" Pinkamina shook her head clear. "Oh, uh- yes, of course, I'm-" She sighed. "-okie-dokie-lokie." "If you're sure…" The ticket master was looking at her with an odd expression. Just another pony that thought she was a weirdo, she guessed. "One ticket to Canterlot, one way." "One way? Are you sure, deary?" "I'll be staying for a while." "If it's just for a week or two, we can-" "No, it's much longer than that." The ticket master frowned, but she didn't say any more on the subject. "Alright, that'll be two bits." "Hang on, I'll just get my-" It was at that point that she realised that she had forgotten her kerchief. Or that Ditzy character might have stolen it, the male voice said. She sighed, and turned to take the path that followed the tracks. "Uh, Pinkie deary! If you forgot your money, you can always pay me back later." "Uh, r-really?" "Of course, dear." She rummaged around for a moment and produced a ticket through a small gap in the window. "T-thanks." Pinkamina took the tickets in her mouth. "Any time, deary. The train won't be here for another ten minutes, though – there's a bench for waiting on the platform." "Okie-dokie." Ten minutes was fine, ten minutes she could wait. They were but milliseconds in the great scheme of things, and she'd made it this far in a day – what would ten minutes mean? It so happened that most of Ponyville was none-the-wiser of the sudden lack of Pinkie Pie in the town. Sure, many townfolk had noticed it, but they had put it down to her having a sick day, or perhaps a trip with her friends. News of the search had not yet filtered down from the forests and fields, and those involved with the search saw it as a good thing – the last thing they needed was an entire town worrying needlessly. Of the oblivious ponies of Ponyville, the one that might have known the least of all about Pinkie's disappearance was a young pale-yellow redheaded pony named Apple Bloom. It wasn't very often that their lives crossed paths, after all, with her being part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pinkie doing... whatever it was Pinkie did all day. At this moment she was in the local park, attempting to find the location she and her friends had agreed to meet earlier that day – attempting being the operative word, because wherever it was, it was certainly out of the way. It was, therefore, to her great surprise when a pegasus appeared to suddenly fall out of the sky in front of her – and that pegasus wasn't her friend Scootaloo. "Oh my cheese and whiskers!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Are- are you alright?" The gray pegasus with long blond hair shook her head and got to her feet. "Sure thing, I do that all the time." She gestured to a mailbag she was wearing. "I have a package for Pinkie Pie, do you know where she is?" "Uh, no, Miss Mailmare," she replied. "Uh, why are ya asking me?" "You're Miss Applejack's sister, right? Well, I saw Pinkie earlier today out by the rock fields, and since your farm is nearby I thought you might have seen her." "The rock fields? Uh, our farm is about a kilometer or two down from there," Apple Bloom replied – perhaps that fall had done more than the pegasus had realised. "It's the first one you run into going out of Ponyville." "Oh, it is? Sorry, then." The mailmare paused for a moment, a concentrated look on her face. "Oh, right! Your friend Scootaloo wanted me to tell you that they moved their meeting to Rarity's place – apparently there's some rain scheduled today for the park and they only just found out a few minutes ago. Well, it would be an hour and a few minutes by now. Anyway, gotta fly, these packages don't deliver themselves!" "Now, hold on a minute-" Apple Bloom began, but the mailmare was already off. And the young filly was left to wonder what exactly had just transpired.