//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 6 // Story: Chronicles of an Unknown World - The Awakening // by Blue Blaze {COMET} //------------------------------// {*First-Person View, Main Character*} The group that consisted of Twilight, Mr. and Ms. Cake stared at me suspiciously. Pinkie was giving a wide grin back in greeting. Me? I just stood there, shrugging my shoulders at Ms. Cake's question. I actually had no idea why Pinkie Pie was here. I mean, of course she lives here, but I'm not sure why she choose to speak to me instead of avoiding me altogether. Is she really that friendly? Did she see a lonely human being on the bench, not some kind of monster like the Cakes do? Whatever the answer is, I'm not sure how much it matters. "Hi Mr. and Ms. Cake! Hi Twilight! I'm talkin' to Griffy-Griff here. He's a really swell guy!" she answered, wrapping her arm around my shoulder like two buds might. My eyes widen at the sudden gesture and close contact. How the heck is she even doing that? I'm almost twice her freaking size! "Please don't call me that." I state, silently pleading for Twilight to get her off of me. "But Pinkie..." Ms. Cake began before Mr. Cake gently moved his hoof over her mouth. He smiled softly, both bakers' eyes met, and they had some kind of inner understanding that I could never comprehend. The yellow pony looked back at my direction, a determined expression adorning his muzzle. "I believe sweetums and I owe you an apology, Griffin" He said, eyes trailing the edges of my own. "We're sorry." I grinned. And not just a simple, happy grin, but a grin filled with victory and pride. See? What did I say, Griff? Patience prevails throughout all! All I had to do was wait and everything would be sorted out sooner or later and I would get my apology! Genius! Fantastic. Then, I looked downward to the short couple, whose gazes were locked with the floor in shame. I was suddenly a bit tentative, curious as to why the sudden change of heart. What would make then say sorry? What exactly did Twilight say to them to get a reaction such as this? Is this a truthful bout of words? Well, if I didn't trust them, then who would? Besides, I’m not one to hold on to grudges. …Ok, I am, but this one time I think I can make an exception. "Ok then." I stated, shrugging. "So you forgive us?" Mr. Cake asked expectantly, his entire stature shooting up in anticipation. "Mmmaybe. You racism know no bounds, after all." I commented while folding my shoulders and glaring through the corner of my eye. Their ears flattened and their heads lowered at the sound of my sentence. "Nah, I’m just kiddin' with ya. I forgive you." I spoke, chucking at my expert trolling technique. The reaction was instantaneous. They smiled honestly at me, glad that they were able to make amends. I glanced over to Twilight, who nodded and smirked in secret approval. I winked. It just goes to show that some things can be said without words. "So, did you want to see Pinkie, Twilight?" I brought up, breaking the silence. Her ears fluttered before her mind raced back to her senses. "Oh yeah, that's right! Pinkie..." The unicorn remembered. Her voice got substantially less energetic halfway through that sentence. I suddenly had a notion as to what she wanted to talk to Pinkie about. Uh oh. My expression was shot, having calculated the resulting confrontation in front of me. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I have to bring up such a heavy topic at such a cheerful time? Why couldn't I have waited and asked later instead of bringing it up now? Why? Fuck, why am I so stupid sometimes? Twilight turned towards the offending pony. "Pinkie, I need to talk to you. In private." Her face and overall demeanor was absolutely negative. Her shoulders lowered, her back slumped, her hooves dragged along the ground when approaching Pinkie Pie and her eyes looked very, very tired. Strangely, she seemed to lose colour in her coat. Yes, her coat, not her face. Her purple had gained a few darker hues, appropriately reflecting what was probably going on in her mind right now. I could see the look of concern between the two Cakes in the corner of my eye. Pinkie Pie slightly tilted her head at Twilight's abrupt change of emotion. "Why's that?" she simply inquired. There was so much innocence surrounding her voice, it was killing me. I wanted to punch myself for forcing Twilight into a situation such as this after she so selflessly gave her good word towards my well being. Fuck me! "It's... about very important things." The sorrowful magic user replied. She tried to smile to sell the conversation, but to no avail. If anything, she just gave off the sign that everything was NOT alright, like it had been just a few seconds ago. Pinkie seemed to ponder before hopping (what?) towards Twilight. "Okie dokie lokie! Follow me to my room!" she lightheartedly requested. Twilight's posture slightly straightened before following the hopping bundle of hyper. They reached the stairs to the right of the front counter and Twilight gave me a look of immense grief before going up the steps. I responded with a sympathetic look. I'll see you soon enough, Sparkles. Both ponies left up the stairs, leaving me with the two slightly confused yet alert bakers. I knew that they were actively looking for any clues as to why Twilight was so sad while that entire conversation was running. They looked questionably at each other, before staring at the bottom of the steps. I scratched the back of my neck, feeling awkward as distant ambiance filled the room once again. "So... How 'bout this weather we're having?" I commented, trying to get the conversation going once again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- {*Omniscient point of view, Sugarcube Corner*} Twilight followed Pinkie Pie into her room, noting the change in decor from the last time she was there. She'd only seen Pink's room during Gummy's birthday, but otherwise, she would never get to visit the hyperactive pony's sleeping quarters. The space was shaped in a semi-circle, with the door cut into the flat side of the wall. The room itself was quite sizable, spanning several meters in length, width and height. There was a small staircase to her immediate left that led to a small platform, spanning the edge of the room. A pink oval window adorned the upper space, but not much else was on the second floor. On the main floor was Pinkie's light-blue bed sitting in the middle of the room, her wardrobe in the back, a wooden chest underneath the stairs and several jars of candy placed on the rightmost wall. There were multiple groups of balloons tied to, well, everything. From the bed posts to the candy lamp and on the underside of the ceiling, the colourful floating objects were littered everywhere. Twilight perked up, hearing Pinkie shut the door behind them. The playful earth pony hopped over her friend, spinning to face the right direction. "So, Twilight, what did you want to talk about?" she asked unknowingly. This was it. This was Twilight's chance to let out her feelings and get all of her stress off of her shoulders. All she would have to do was spill the beans and let Pinkie know what happened and she would get some well deserved friend support. Pinkie Pie would understand the situation. That's all she had to do. Besides, isn't that why she got Pinkie's attention in the first place? To notify her of the fate of Rarity and many other Ponyville citizens? If there was any time to do action, it was now. "Pinkie, I..." Twilight found that she couldn't continue. Her emotions started to bottle up as her confidence failed her. The stressed out unicorn began to doubt herself and her original intentions. She couldn't bear to look at Pinkie directly in the eyes, the guilt would have killed her before she started saying anything. Among the ideas bouncing around her youthful bright mind, questions of doubt filled the majority of her consciousness. She asked herself, 'should Pinkie know this?', 'does she deserve to know this' and 'what right do I have to bring down her mood?'. She couldn't tell one of her best friends. She wouldn't. "Are you ok, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie queried, concern threading through both her voice and her expression. Twilight lied. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just fine." The librarian closed her eyes. Not knowing what to do next, she had gotten so close yet so far. Even she didn't want to face the truth. In fact, she never did. She put away her feelings to get Griffin to safety, but now, there was no holding back. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to make Pinkie miserable with the news she wanted to give. "Are you sure? Because you're crying." "What? I'm not..." Twi instinctively wiped her eyes. Her hoof returned wet. She was suddenly aware of her blurry vision and clogged up sinuses. Her breathing was ragged and full of hiccups. "Oh, Pinkie..." the lavender sorcerer began. "Twilight?" "Yeah?" Twilight then noticed Pinkie Pie lowered her head enough so that her eyes weren't visible from her angle. Her colour also looked disjointed and unusual. Pinkie looked up. "Did something happen to one of our friends?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a side note, Pinkie Pie's room is based off of the German and Swiss designs of the Nickelodeon MLP web pages. Also, I might have been a bit fast with this one. If I have, please, please tell me in the comments!