//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Outside Information 
// Story: Failure Isn't In Store For You 
// by Kiernan 
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Chapter 4: Outside Information




When Twilight and Fluttershy came back, They had a basket filled to the brim with apples and carrots. Nick tore into it, eating six carrots and an apple. After he finished, he asked where Pinkie was, causing Spike to cringe a little bit. At this point, Nick had not yet revealed her entrance, in hopes that neither would ask.
"She said she had something important to do, and ran off. I'm not sure where she went after that." said Fluttershy, glancing at one of the windows. Thankfully, most were tinted silver: you could see out of them, but seeing in was quite the task. The only exceptions were the ones that were always open, such as the one that a certain pegasus liked to crash through when it was still paned.
"That's just Pinkie being Pinkie, though," said Nick with a grin. "I'm completely sure she has the best of intentions, and is even trying to help the situation, albeit in a way that none of us probably understand yet."
"You're probably right," sighed Twilight. "I know all about Pinkies strange ways of dealing with problems, and her insight that seems to come from nowhere has only ever proved successful." Was that a hint of chagrin Nick detected?
Suddenly, Pinkie burst through the door, bouncing around in her normal fashion. "Guess what, guess what, guess what, guess what, guess what!?" she shouted, bouncing all the while. A broad smile was taking up more than half of her face, and a squee escaped her throat as she landed a final time, nose to nose with Twilight.
One short awkward silence later, Twilight decided to take the next step. "You found some information about a way to get Nick back home?" she guessed.
Pinkie leaned back, narrowing her eyes at Twilight. "Have you been following me? That's an automatic disqualification."
"Tell us of this information, then," said Nick, standing. 
"Well, I was talking to Fluttershy out at Sugarcube Corner, where we had lunch, and I saw Applejack walking by, and at first, I thought nothing of it, but then, I realized that Applejack has connections in Applesauce, and if we went to Apploosa, we could find the buffalo, and the buffalo shaman knows a lot about mystic forces and the like, so if there was somepony who knew how to get you back home, it'd be her, because she knows all kinds of stuff about magic, because she gave me the magic pendant that I have, and she taught me how to use it, and she would know a way for you to get back to your world and you can watch TV and learn German and fight crime and restock grocery store shelves, and you can get back to your life, so I rushed out and asked Applejack if she could help us get something out there to get the buffalo's help with and she said yes!"
Nick felt a bit tired after hearing all of that said in one breath. "Interesting... The buffalo have different ideologies than ponies or humans. I wonder if they can indeed help me..." he paced over to the window and looked out. "How long until the next train to Apploosa?" he asked, hoping for a certain answer.
"8:00 A.M. tomorrow morning. We can't leave until then." said Twilight, frowning a bit.
"Good."
Twilight and Fluttershy both looked at Nick, confused. Pinkie stopped eating the apple she had gathered from the basket and turned.
"Why is that such a good thing?" aske d Twilight, approaching slowly.
"Because," said Nick, chuckling. "I have an idea that would grant an alternate solution should it work. Have we a covered wagon?"



Twilight and Fluttershy pulled the cart through town slowly, their eyes shifting from left to right in worry. Inside the cart, Nick lied as still as he could, curled up to take up the least amount of space as he possibly could, keeping silent until they reached their destination. Pinkie was bouncing circles around them, keeping her appearance up.
"Come on, girls, stop looking so shifty!" she said, landing beside them before her bouncing continued. After another circle, she stopped again. "That's a sure sign of shady activity." she whispered. "It draws more attention when you're not trying to draw attention. Didn't you learn that from Foto Finish, Shy?"
Fluttershy looked down and blushed. That had been quite the traumatic experience. It was one that she didn't fancy reliving that experience, and was glad that Rarity understood this. 
"And you know this from experience, Pinkie?" asked Twilight, jokingly. 
Pinkie froze in midair. A hoofful of ponies turned to look, and Twilight began to worry, biting her lip. her horn illuminated dimly, as she was masking her aura, and she lifted a small fruit stand's wheel lock, resulting in it comically rolling down the hill. A quick shout later, the attention was drawn away from midair Pinkie and the large covered cart, and toward the stand rolling down the hill.
Fluttershy grabbed pinkies hoof, just within reach, and pulled her down, picking up the pace while still walking. Thanks to the scene Twilight had caused, they were able to make it into the Everfree without any more attention brought to them.Twilight kicked the cart twice, gently, and the cloth Nick had draped over him slid off.
"I wouldn't recommend this again, if that's perfectly alright with you," he said, cracking his back, neck, and arms. "Too bad we have no better ideas, else we could use that."
"We did have that one idea..." said Twilight, too tired from pulling the cart to make any sound comebacks. "But I agree. That took way too much energy out of me. I'm amazed that you aren't feeling tired, Fluttershy. Were we pulling the same cart?"
Fluttershy seemed to have lost no stamina throughout the entire journey. "Well, we pegasi have to have a lot of energy, because if we run out during flight, we could suffer painful, or even fatal consequences. That's why I think Kai had trouble flying that night six years ago."
Twilight closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Memories of that night still haunted her nightmares to this day. She had mentioned to Fluttershy about how he had seemed to wobble in the air as he first took off, and how he seemed to grow easily fatigued while flying her to safety. She had never attributed it to him lacking stamina, having used that spell of his to redouble his... Twilight facehoofed. Why the hay had she not used that!?
"I also kinda used that spell you taught me to redouble my already high stamina, so I wouldn't have to worry much about it...." Fluttershy backed up a pace, then blushed.
Pinkie finally caught up with them, having stayed frozen in place until they reached Fluttershy's cottage, where they just left her to recover. "Don't ever mention me and shady activity in the same sentence again!" she scolded Twilight, provoking a giggle from Fluttershy and Nick.