*Begin Case 57 observation*
Ditzy Doo had a job to do, and that was to deliver the mail. Nothing, not rain nor sleet nor muffins would ever stop her in that mission. As such, Ditzy was focused on the path in front of her and didn’t notice Rainbow Blitz until she ran into him and they both tumbled to the ground.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Ditzy said and scrambled to her hooves, Rainbow already on his.
“It’s alright, I wasn’t paying attention myself. Busy with the mail as always?” Blitz asked and Ditzy nodded joyfully.
“Yep, being a mailmare is so much fun and it pays well too. If I had known about this a few years ago, I would never have tried to join the royal guard,” Ditzy said and laughed loudly.
“Yeah I… wait what?” Blitz asked confused.
“Yeah, I could have been a royal guard, but I got shot in the knee with an arrow. Also they said that my eyes cross, but I’ve never noticed until then,” Ditzy said as one of her eyes looked up while the other stayed on Blitz. “Did you do the sky today? It looks really nice.” Rainbow didn’t answer immediately since he was trying to decipher exactly what Ditzy said, though he gave up soon enough figuring it was just Ditzy being Ditzy.
“Every time I talk to you, I feel like I’m in high atmosphere,” Blitz finally said and didn’t notice the smile disappear from Ditzy’s face. “Well, I gotta go. I’ll see you later Ditzy,” Blitz waved at her and turned away from her, only to find himself face to face with her again. He jumped back in surprise and looked rapidly from where she was to where she is a few times.
“You know Rainbow,” Ditzy started with both her eyes locked into Rainbow’s, “Getting shot in the knee with an arrow is very painful experience.” Ditzy started walking toward Blitz, still maintaining eye contact. Blitz tried his hardest to look away, but every time he tried Ditzy found a way to keep their eyes locked.
“I’m sure it is Ditzy, but-“
“I would hate for you to catch an arrow to the leg Blitz,” Ditzy said and continued to advance on Blitz, who stumbled and fell on his haunches. “I mean, if that were to happen, you wouldn’t be able to do weather duty or all those tricks you do.” Ditzy pressed her head against Rainbow’s, causing him to fall back. Ditzy stood over Blitz and continued to stare into his eyes. “And that would be a terrible thing, wouldn’t it?”
“Mom, what are you doing?”
Ditzy looked up to find a purple unicorn staring at her. This would be Sparkler, the eldest of Ditzy’s two daughters.
“Hi sweetie, I’m just delivering the mail,” Ditzy said. Sparkler looked down at Rainbow then back up to Ditzy.
“Uh mom, I think you’re scaring Rainbow Blitz again.” Ditzy looked down at Rainbow and after a moment a look of recognition crossed her face and she got off him.
“Oh, I’m sorry Rainbow. Are you ok?” Ditzy asked. Rainbow continued to stare up at the sky, seemingly paralyzed. “He’ll be alright in a few minutes. How’s your day been, sweetie?”
“I’m fine mom, I was just going to pick up Dinky from school,” Sparkler said. Ditzy smiled and patted Sparkler on the head.
“Alright, I’ll see you at home when I’m done,” Ditzy said and started walking away.
“Uh mom,” Sparkler said and pointed at Blitz, who still hadn’t moved, “are you sure he’ll be alright?”
“Yeah, he’s been through worse things. I’ll see you at home sweetie,” Ditzy said and, with a wave, walked away. Sparkler watched Ditzy walk away before turning to Blitz and poking him a couple times. After the fifth poke, Blitz blinked a couple times before rolling onto his hooves.
“Are you ok?” Sparkler asked. Blitz shivered a little.
“I forgot how scary she can be sometimes. I’ll be fine after a shower,” Blitz said and took off toward his house, leaving Sparkler behind. She watched him fly for a moment before resuming her trot towards the school.
“Pinkie dear, are those cupcakes done?”
“They need a few more minutes, Mrs. Cake.”
Sugarcube Corner was as busy as it ever was, with ponies coming and going and the smell of confections in the air. Mrs. Cake was at the counter while Pinkie and Mr. Cake were taking turns cooking in the kitchen. Mrs. Cake heard the door open and found Ponyville’s resident mailmare walking in.
“Hello there Ditzy, have you come for your daily muffin?” Mrs. Cake asked when Ditzy walked up to the counter.
“Oooh, that sounds good,” Ditzy said with a sparkle in her eye, “Oh and I also have a letter.”
“Oh, for who?”
“Pinkie Pie.”
“For me!” Pinkie exclaimed as she popped out from behind the counter, mildly surprising the two mares. Ditzy was the first to recover and smiled widely.
“Yep, all the way from Manehattan!” Ditzy said, then reached back and pulled the letter out. She handed it over to Pinkie, who took it quite literally shaking with joy. She stared at the address for a few moments before squealing in joy.
“She finally wrote me back! I’ve been waiting for this for so long and now I can finally throw a ‘My older sister wrote me a letter’ party. I got to get everything together for this since my party cannon is running low. Scratch that, first I’ll read the letter, THEN I’ll prepare for the party.” Pinkie then disappeared upstairs in a cloud of smoke. Mrs. Cake and Ditzy stared at where Pinkie used to be (or at least Ditzy’s left eye was, her right eye having wandered to the muffin display) for a moment.
“What a silly pony,” Ditzy finally said and leaned closer to Mrs. Cake, “Now about those muffins.” While Mrs. Cake led Ditzy over to the muffin display, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane slowly made his way into the bakery and looked around. When he saw Mr. Cake walk out of the kitchen with a tray of cupcakes in his mouth, he walked up to the counter and tried to get his attention.
“Um, excuse me?” Mr. Cake looked over to the yellow pegasus and held up a hoof. After placing the tray on a counter behind him, Mr. Cake turned back to the pegasus.
“Hey there Butterscotch, how can I help you?” Butterscotch jumped a little at the sudden question.
“Oh hi, um… is Pinkie Pie in?” he asked.
“She’s upstairs,” Mrs. Cake called over, “she should be down in a moment.”
“Oh um…ok, I guess I’ll wait for her here. Can I have a cupcake?” Mr. Cake smiled and handed Butterscotch one of the fresh cupcakes from behind him. Butterscotch nodded his thanks and moved to take a bite when Pinkie came bouncing down the stairs with her usual cheery mood filling the air. Pinkie had made it down the stairs and hopped around the counter before she noticed Butterscotch staring at her.
“Oh hi, Scotchy, how are you today?” Pinkie asked with her trademark grin on her face. Butterscotch tried and failed to talk several times. After a moment, Pinkie continued. “Nothing to complain about, that’s good. I’m feeling super de duper too, although I’m running low on streamers for the party later. You’ll be coming right?” Butterscotch stared into Pinkie’s eyes and managed to find his voice after a few more failed tries.
“W-well um… of course I’ll come.” Butterscotch then looked away and started to paw at the ground, “Um, Pinkie, I uh…”
“Great, I’ll see you then Scotchy! Bye,” Pinkie said and proceeded to hop out of Sugarcube Corner, leaving Butterscotch behind.
“Wait Pinkie, I-“ Butterscotch called out as loud as he could, but Pinkie had left without hearing the mildly loud whisper. Saddened once again by another failure, Butterscotch said goodbye to the cakes and also left the bakery. He made it a good distance away before realizing he still had the cupcake in his hoof.
‘I wonder if there is an easier way of doing this,’ Butterscotch thought to himself as he chewed the cupcake. When he finished it he had made a decision. ‘I need to ask somepony for advice. I wonder who can help me.’
Elusive focused intently on the suit he was working on, making sure every single stitch met his standards. Due to this focus, Elusive failed to notice the door open quietly and Butterscotch walked in. Butterscotch walked over and was about to talk when Elusive finished the suit and exclaimed happily.
“Yes, it’s finished! This may very well be the greatest suit I’ve ever made so far!” Elusive would have surely broke into an evil laugh if he hadn’t noticed Butterscotch. “Oh hi Butterscotch, I’m sorry I didn’t notice you there. How may I help you?”
“Oh well, I um…” Butterscotch fished around for what to say when the door opened again.
“Hey ‘Lusive, you in?” called a certain rainbow maned pegasus.
“Over here Rainbow, how can I help you?” Elusive asked. Rainbow walked over to the two of them, Butterscotch moving out of the way.
“Hey Butterscotch,” Rainbow said with a wave, “Did you get that thing done Elusive?” Elusive thought for a moment.
“Oh, that. I’m sorry Rainbow, I’ve been really busy lately, but I’ll get on it soon.”
“Alright, I hope it gets done soon.” Rainbow then turned to Butterscotch, “Anyway, how’ve you been ‘Scotch?” Butterscotch jumped a little at the sudden question.
“Oh, I’m alright. Um, can I ask you something Elusive?” Elusive walked over and put a hoof on Butterscotch’s shoulder.
“Of course dear, I’m always willing to help with anything you need. What’s bothering you?” Elusive asked while Rainbow, having completed his business, started to leave.
“Well, I need some advice with…that thing.” Rainbow’s ears perked and he was back at their side in a flash.
“What thing?” Rainbow asked. Elusive looked at Rainbow over his red work glasses (patent pending. Maybe.)
“It’s none of your business Blitz, and even if it was Butterscotch doesn’t have to talk about it if he doesn’t want to.”
“It’s alright Elusive,” Butterscotch said and turned to Rainbow, “Well um, you see…” Butterscotch stopped for a second before taking a deep breath and blurting out the sentence in one breath. “I’vebeentryinttoconfesstomycrushbut it hasn’t really been working out…” It took Rainbow a second to figure out what he said.
“You have a crush on somepony?” Blitz asked with mild surprise and Butterscotch nodded. “Huh, I honestly didn’t see that coming. So who is it?”
“Rainbow, while I appreciate your curiosity, don’t you think you’re being a little pushy?” Elusive asked.
“No offense Elusive, but if it’s reached the point where he’s asking you for help, he probably needs all the help he can get.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Elusive asked glaring at Rainbow, but they were interrupted when they heard Butterscotch mumble something.
“What was that?” Rainbow asked and Butterscotch replied with some quieter mumbling.
“Butterscotch is very shy about his crush. It took five spa trips before he opened up to me about it.” Elusive’s explanation caused Butterscotch to shrink a little from the attention.
“Really?” Blitz asked and Elusive and Butterscotch nodded, the latter a little more embarrassed, “I have a better idea to figure this out. You ever play twenty questions?”
“Um…I heard of it,” Butterscotch answered.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Elusive asked.
“Easy, I ask Butterscotch a bunch of questions about his crush and piece it together from his answers.” Blitz then looked around nervously, “But we gotta be careful, the walls have ears.” Elusive gave a look at Rainbow, who continued to look around nervously.
“Well, I guess it’ll be ok if it will help,” Butterscotch said.
“Are you sure?” Elusive asked and Butterscotch answered with a nod.
“Great, then let’s started!” Blitz said and rubbed his forehead in thought, “Let’s start with something simple: Is your crush a pony and if so, is it a mare?” Butterscotch gave a confused look.
“Um, is that one or two questions?”
“Two,” Blitz answered.
“Oh, um, yes to both.”
“Alright, does she live in Ponyville?”
“Yes.”
“Ok in that case do I know her, and if I do, do we hang out often? And that does count as two questions.”
“I’m going to put this suit away, so I’ll be back in a moment,” Elusive said and levitated the suited mannequin behind him and up the stairs.
“Um, yes to both again,” Butterscotch said.
“Alright, that narrows it down a bit. The only mares I really hang out with are Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight. So can I assume that: A, it’s probably one of them and B, it’s probably not Twilight, am I right?”
“Um, no it’s not Twilight.” Rainbow looked relieved at that and also chastised himself for thinking ill of Butterscotch.
“OK, is it Applejack?” Blitz asked and moved a little closer to Butterscotch, who shook his head instead of answering vocally.
“What about Applejack?” Elusive asked rejoining the group, this time lacking his red glasses. Rainbow didn’t answer, as the implications of the last question hit him.
“Pinkie Pie?” Blitz asked and Butterscotch nodded with a light blush. Rainbow blinked a couple times. “You have a crush on Pinkie Pie, of all ponies?”
“And what is wrong with that?” Elusive said and moved next to Butterscotch, “I happen to like the thought of Pinkie and Butterscotch being together.” That last bit caused Butterscotch to blush deeper.
“Oh undoubtedly, I mean we are talking about Butterscotch here,” Blitz said and butterscotch blushed a little deeper, “but we’re talking about Pinkie here.”
“Well, I don’t-“
“Do you remember your birthday last year?” Elusive was thrown off by the question.
“Yes I do, but-“
“Do you remember how she managed to make a cake almost as tall as you despite only having two eggs, a loaf of bread, and a can of frosting on hoof?”
“…Ok you have a point. What is your point?”
“Pinkie Pie is an unpredictable force, so there is no way I’m going to let Butterscotch take that on by himself. As such, I will help him in his quest for the rest of the day.”
“Um, quest is kind of a strong word,” Butterscotch said.
“This sounds like this is going to be an all day thing and I have something to do later,” Elusive said, “So…”
“You won’t be joining us for ‘Operation: get Butterscotch and Pinkie Pie together’?” Blitz asked. Elusive stared incredulously at Blitz, wondering whether or not he was joking, but Blitz shrugged before Elusive could say anything. “Well that’s ok, we should be fine with just me and Butterscotch. C’mon Scotch, we’re going to your place.” Blitz walked over to Butterscotch, grabbed his tail in his mouth, and walked to the exit dragging Butterscotch behind him.
“W-wait, why my house?” Butterscotch asked.
“We need a base of operations,” Blitz answered through the mouthful of tail and then walked the door with Butterscotch in tow.
“Well, I guess that’s ok, but I can walk there.” Elusive watched the two of them walk and get dragged away respectively. When they were a distance away, he sighed.
‘I hope those two don’t get into trouble.’
“Thanks again! I might be back later!” Pinkie called as she was leaving her main party surplus store. She hopped out the door with the saddlebags she had forgotten, gone back to get, and returned to stuff full of streamers, snappers, those letter decorations you hang up on walls, and various other party things too numerous to list. So Pinkie was bouncing happily along when she noticed Rainbow Blitz dragging Butterscotch along. Pinkie changed her course in midair and bounced over to the pair.
“Hi guys, whatcha doin’?” Pinkie asked when she got to them. Blitz perked up at Pinkie’s voice and spat out Butterscotch’s tail to talk.
“Hey Pinkie, we’re just going to ‘Scotch’s house for something.” Butterscotch also gave a nearly inaudible ‘hello’.
“Really, what is it? Can I help with whatever your doing?” Pinkie asked and gasped when a thought crossed her mind, “Are you planning a party and you didn’t tell me?! But I was going to do one later, how could you something like that Blitz? You know how important these are to me and you still-“ her rant was stopped by a hoof in the mouth.
“We’re not planning a party Pinkie, we’re doing something else,” Blitz said and removed his hoof from Pinkie’s mouth.
“Whew, I was a little scared for a moment,” Pinkie said and made that brow wiping motion, “So what are you doing and are you coming to my party? It’s going to be great, there’s going to be cupcakes and punch and streamers and po- actually I might need more poppers. After all, you never know when you need poppers. Maybe I should get more streamers too. Oh, maybe-“
“Pinkie!”
“Yes?”
“Of course we’re coming to your party, that’s a given, but I can’t tell you what we’re doing. It’s kinda top secret.”
“Aw really, are you sure there’s nothing I can do?” Pinkie asked crestfallen.
“Don’t worry, if we do need your help we’ll let you know. Ok?” Pinkie and gave a salute.
“Okie dokey, lokey! I’m off to get more poppers, bye.” Pinkie then turned around and hopped back into the store, Butterscotch and Rainbow watching her.
“Um, Rainbow, why didn’t we just tell her now?” Butterscotch asked.
“What, and make this too easy? We have to have these kinds of things last at least half an hour or else it’s just not worth it. I thought you would know this by now,” Blitz said and bit on Butterscotch’s tail again and started walking. “Come on, we gotta go.”
“But I can walk on my own,” Butterscotch said to no avail.
A few minutes of dragging Butterscotch later and the pair made it to Butterscotch’s house. When he got to his front lawn, Blitz spat Butterscotch’s tail out and sat down.
“OK, now that we have reached our base for this operation, we need to discuss a plan so foolproof, it’ll have Pinkie swooning in your hooves in no time!”
“Oh, well um, I don’t necessarily want that,” Butterscotch said. He was going to continue, but he felt a series of thumps against his leg and looked down to see Angel Bunny kicking at his leg. “Oh, hi Angel. Um, how’s Jeffrey doing?” Angel gave a look that said ‘how do you think it’s going?’ Butterscotch sighed at this less than stellar news, “Ok, keep trying. Hopefully you can get through to him.” Angel sighed and hopped off across the yard. Butterscotch turned back to Rainbow who had a slightly confused look.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“Oh um, it’s not really important. So, what was your plan?”
“Well, what have you tried so far?” Blitz asked
“Um, I’ve tried telling her, but…” Butterscotch trailed off, hoping he didn’t have to explain more. Blitz only nodded and put his chin on a hoof.
“Alright, so we can rule that out. What else can we do?” The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them going over plans.
“Um, would a song work?” Butterscotch offered. Blitz rolled onto his back and waved a hoof in the air.
“Let’s save that for later, in case anything else we come up with doesn’t work.” The two returned to silent thought until Blitz jerked a little and rolled on his stomach.
“I have an idea. Back in flight school whenever someone wanted to confess to a crush of theirs, but didn’t want or couldn’t do it face to face, they would write a love letter.” Blitz got up and moved over to Butterscotch, “What do you think?” Butterscotch looked away and thought for a moment.
“Um, what would the letter have to say?” he quietly asked.
“Not much, just something like ‘I’ve had a crush on you for a while and I was wondering if we could have lunch or something sometime.” Blitz thought over what he said and then added, “It might have to be a little longer than that though. What do you think?” Butterscotch thought for another moment.
“Do you think it will work?” he asked. Blitz put a hoof on his shoulder before answering.
“Don’t worry, if it doesn’t we’ll think of something else. Do you need any help writing it?” Butterscotch shook his head and stood up.
“I…think I can do it. I just hope it’s good enough.”
“I’m sure it will be fine. Go write it, I need to figure out a plan to get it to her.”
Pinkie Pie once again left the party store having somehow stuffed her bags with even more party supplies than before. As she bounced toward Sugarcube Corner humming a tune to herself, she started to get the familiar feeling of being watched. She didn’t let the feeling get to her, instead choosing to ignore it like always.
“Hey Pinkie!” Pinkie looked up to see Rainbow flying toward her and landed in front of her.
“Hi Blitz, what are you doing? Are you still doing that thing with ‘Scotchie?” Pinkie asked with a smile. Blitz examined his hoof while he answered.
“It’s going fine, thanks for asking. I’m just doing something else right now.”
“Really, what are you doing?” Pinkie asked, unaware of a rustling in the bushes nearby.
“Ah, checking the weather, flying around, distracting you.” That last part caused the bushes to stumble and yelp a little.
“Oh yeah, the weather has been pretty nice lately,” Pinkie said looking up at the sky, but a second later she realized something. “Oh my gosh…I forgot to get apples for tonight’s party! How could I forget something like that?”
“Are you going to make apple treats?” Blitz asked. He noticed a yellow hoof extend from the bush and started fiddling with one of Pinkie’s bags.
“Yeah, Inkie used to love apples, so I thought to myself, ‘Pinkie, why not make a whole spread devoted to that one food?’ and I thought that was a super fantabulous idea, so now I’m going to do it. By the way, what was that about distracting me?” Blitz shrugged at the question and Pinkie let out a gasp. “I’m being distracted from something?! Oh, what is it?” she started bouncing, which made the yellow hoof’s job harder.
“Pinkie, if I told you it would make the distraction pointless,” Blitz pointed out. Pinkie stopped bouncing and closed her eyes in deep thought, which allowed the yellow hoof another chance at the bag.
“What if asked really nicely, would you tell me then?”
“Nope, I can’t tell you. You’ll just have to wait until the distraction is done.” The hoof managed to open the bag, which caused a burst of party supplies to come out of it. When that happened a second hoof joined the first to try and put them back in the bag.
“What was that?” Pinkie asked and looked around a little.
“Nothing, it was just part of the distraction!” Blitz said and waved to get Pinkie’s attention.
“Oh, is that all? I thought it was someone throwing a party without me. You really thought of everything, didn’t you Blitzie?”
“Uh, of course I thought of everything and I am totally not making this up as I go along,” Blitz said and grinned widely.
“Wow, I’m a little jealous. I would probably never be able to distract anyone as well as you,” Pinkie then put a hoof to her chin, “Or maybe I can, what do you think?”
“Trust me Pinkie, you can be very distracting without even trying.”
“Aw, that’s nice of you to say.” The two hooves behind Pinkie managed to get most of the party favors back in the bag and Butterscotch leaned out of the bushes, placed a note he had in his mouth into the bag, and closed the bag before retreating back into the bush.
“Oh, would you look at the time,” Blitz said looking at the non-existent watch on his hoof, “It looks like the distraction is over.”
“Aw really, can’t you distract me for just a little longer?” Pinkie asked sadly. Blitz put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, maybe I’ll distract you again later, but I gotta go now. I’ll see you later Pinkie.” The two exchanged a final wave before Blitz flew off. Pinkie watched him fly away for a moment before resuming her bouncing toward Sugarcube Corner.
“Um Rainbow, why are we back at my house again? Uh, if you don’t mind me asking.” Indeed the two of them had returned to Butterscotch’s cabin after their ‘plan’ ended in success (I guess.) Rainbow was hovering around the yard before
“We’re here to brainstorm more ideas for you to confess to Pinkie. I mean, who knows when she’ll actually find that letter, right?” Blitz landed next to Butterscotch and sat down. “So, any more ideas on how to…” Blitz trailed off as he looked to the side, “I’m sorry what’s Angel doing?”
Butterscotch looked over to see Angel with another bunny. Angel made some motions to the other bunny and hopped across the yard a couple times. The other bunny looked at Angel confused and scurried toward Angel, who facepalmed at the act.
“Oh, Angel is trying to help Jeffrey learn…bunny things,” Butterscotch answered.
“Bunny things? Why would a bunny need to be taught those things?” Blitz asked.
“Well, Jeffrey is kind of…special. He, um… thinks he’s a chicken.”
“He…thinks he’s a chicken? What does that mean?”
“Well, he scratches at the ground, tries to eat chicken feed, he sits on eggs and hatches them.”
“…Does he lay eggs too?” Blitz asked with minor terror in his voice.
“Oh no, he can’t lay any eggs himself…but he tries.” The two pegasi were quiet for a minute, with Rainbow taking in this new information. Eventually, Blitz broke the silence.
“Um, right let’s get back to the planning. Got any ideas?” Butterscotch shook his head a little and the two of them sat in silent thought. “What about writing it out on a puzzle, and then breaking it up and giving it to Pinkie to solve? I saw it happen in a comic once.”
“Um, did it work there?” Butterscotch asked.
“Nope, but I still think it’s a good idea. What do you think?”
“Is it a jigsaw puzzle?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Pinkie doesn’t like puzzles.”
“She doesn’t? That’s news to me, I thought she liked puzzles.”
“It’s only jigsaw puzzles she doesn’t like.”
“How do you know this?”
“Um, don’t you remember that time at Twilight’s slumber party?”
“This puzzle is impossible!” Pinkie yelled. The six friends were gathered around a table with the puzzle in the middle of it. The puzzle was Twilight’s idea.
“Pinkie, there’s no need to shout. It’s just a puzzle,” Twilight said in an attempt to calm her pink friend.
“Yeah, an impossible puzzle!” Pinkie shouted and pointed at the puzzle.
“Every puzzle has a solution darling, especially this one,” Elusive said calmly.
“Not this one. Not even the greatest unicorn minds in the greatest college in Canterlot could solve this!”
“It’s a sixteen piece puzzle Pinkie! It’s not that difficult!” Blitz yelled.
“Not that difficult?!” Pinkie then proceeded to flip the table over, scattering the puzzle pieces all over the floor and startled her friends. Butterscotch, who had been quiet the whole time, disappeared behind Applejack. “Now who’s being difficult?” The room was quiet for a few moments with everyone staring at Pinkie. When she calmed down, Pinkie looked at everyone and then looked at the floor.
“Uh, did I overdo it a little?”
“Just a tad, Sugarcube,” Applejack replied. Butterscotch slowly peeked out from behind Applejack and returned to his place in the group.
“Sorry,” Pinkie said and looked a little more depressed. Twilight moved over to Pinkie and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry Pinkie, that was just one activity we could do.” Twilight then levitated a checklist over to her and looked it over, “How about we skip ahead to snack time?” Pinkie immediately perked up at the offer.
“Well, now I remember it. Why didn’t I remember that until you brought it up?” Butterscotch only shrugged a little in response. Angel hopped over to Butterscotch and gestured over to Jeffrey.
“Oh, it is your lunchtime isn’t it?” Butterscotch turned to Rainbow, “Um…”
“Go do your thing, I still need to think of something anyway,” Rainbow said and rolled onto his back. Butterscotch got up and followed Angel. “Ok, so the puzzle is out, what about a cake?”
A few minutes later Butterscotch returned to Rainbow, who was staring at the sky.
“Um, any new ideas Rainbow?” Butterscotch asked. Rainbow sighed.
“Nope, I’m completely tapped. Neither of us have experience in metal works and we can’t bake a cake without Pinkie knowing about it. What about you?”
“No, just the song. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, we’ll figure something out.” Rainbow rolled onto his hooves and started walking. “Come on, maybe a change of scenery will help.” It took a moment for Butterscotch to catch up to Rainbow.
“Um, what do you think Pinkie’s doing?” Butterscotch asked.
“Probably Pinkie stuff, I find it best to not think about it.”
“297…298…299…300! That’s 300 streamers for the party.” Pinkie moved the streamers she had counted off to the side. “Now for the poppers!” She was halfway to the other bag when a thought struck her. “Oh, I still need to get apples from Applejack. I can’t believe I forgot about that.” Pinkie laughed a little and looked at the bag seriously and pointed at it. “You’ll get your hour poppers, but right now it’s the apples time.” She paused for a second, just staring at the bag, and then smiled widely. “Great, I’m glad you understand.” Pinkie then jumped off her bed, put the saddlebag on, and bounced out the door.
“So…did it help?”
“Nope.”
Rainbow and Butterscotch had made it to the park. There were several ponies out enjoying the nice day, families and foals playing and couples just enjoying each other’s company. Rainbow and Butterscotch settled under a tree and Blitz continued.
“I just don’t get it, how can it be so difficult to think of something of this? Did you think of anything?” Butterscotch shook his head and looked away from Blitz. “Alright then, what’s the song? It’ll probably be orders better than what I thought of.” Butterscotch was going to answer, but he was distracted by something. Blitz turned to see what caught Butterscotch’s eye.
What he found was a unicorn pawing at the grass and staring really hard at it. He repeated the pawing and staring a few times before curiosity got the best of Blitz.
“Hey, what are you doing?” The unicorn looked up at them and stared for a moment.
“I’m interrogating the grass,” he answered. Blitz blinked a couple times in confusion.
“I’m sorry?”
“Yeah you’re right, that sounds really stupid, but trust me it makes sense in context. I need to go find a pine tree now.” He then turned away from the pair and trotted away.
“Well that was dumb,” Blitz said and turned to Butterscotch, “anyway, about that song.”
---30 minutes later---
“Spike, have you found that book on ancient Equestrian history?” Twilight called to her assistant as she looked through a stack of books.
“Hold on… here it is!” The dragon said holding out a book which was almost immediately taken away surrounded by a magical aura. Twilight checked the title when it floated I front of her and gave Spike a smile.
“This is it, thanks Spike,” Twilight said and gave Spike a pat on the head before walking over to a table.
“It was no problem,” he said. There was a knock on the door just as Spike was about to start sorting books.
“Spike could you get that?” Twilight asked as she started to flip through the book.
“On it.” Spike walked to the door and opened it to find Trixter, who he didn’t immediately recognize.
“Is Miss Sparkle in?” he asked.
“Uh…” Spike scratched his head trying to place where he’s seen him before. He didn’t notice Twilight walking up behind him.
“Hello Trixter, how are you?” she asked.
“I’m doing fine, thanks for asking,” Trixter said, “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Of course, what do you need?” Spike walked back into the library at around here.
“I don’t suppose you know of anypony else that needs some cheap help? It’s surprisingly hard to find something like that.” Twilight rubbed her chin in thought for a moment.
“What have you done so far?” she asked.
“Small jobs here and there and I’m also helping your friend Applejack at her orchard.” Trixter looked away and whispered to himself, “I need to see her again sometime.”
“My advice is to just ask around, somepony is bound to need something done. I think I remember Elusive saying he needed help with something, but I’m not sure how long ago that was.” Trixter sighed a little.
“Well, better than nothing I guess. Thank you Miss Sparkle.” Trixter turned and started walking away.
“It’s no trouble,” Twilight called to him. She started to close the door when Trixter started laughing.
“Ha ha ha, what are you wearing?” he asked somepony.
“Shut it.” Twilight recognized Blitz’s voice, smiled a little and left the door open in case Blitz came in, which he did.
“Hey Twi, do you mind if I change out of this?” Blitz asked. Twilight looked back at Blitz and barely managed to contain her surprised laughter. Rainbow was quickly walking toward the stairs in a dress tuxedo, shoes and all.
“Sure Blitz, go on ahead. But why are you dressed like that?” Spike glanced back to see what was going on.
“I’ll explain when I’m out of this. Butterscotch is here too by the way.” Blitz walked up the stairs and Twilight glanced over to the door and at Butterscotch, who was wearing a helmet for some reason.
“Um, hi Twilight,” Butterscotch said waving at Twilight.
“Hi Butterscotch, um…why are you wearing a helmet?” Twilight asked. Butterscotch touched the helmet and took it off.
“Oh um, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What?” Twilight asked confused. Butterscotch put the helmet on a table and Blitz walked back down the stairs. “Ok, so why were you dressed up like that?”
“We were trying to do something, but it didn’t pan out,” Blitz said. “As for the tux…I think we got distracted somewhere along the way.”
“What were you doing?” Twilight asked.
“Well,” Butterscotch started, looking down at the floor, “We were, um…”
“I’ve been helping Butterscotch with something all day,” Blitz interrupted, “but it’s surprisingly hard.”
“Maybe I can help? What are you trying to do?” Twilight asked and walked to Blitz. Blitz looked at Butterscotch on what to do. Butterscotch, after a moment, gave a small nod. Blitz returned the nod and turned back to Twilight.
“Well, Butterscotch has a crush on someone and he’s been trying to confess to her. I’ve been trying to help him for most of the day.”
“Butterscotch has a crush on someone?” Twilight asked.
“I was just as surprised when I found out too.”
“Ok, so what is the problem?”
“It’s mostly who the lucky mare is.” Twilight looked at Blitz curiously. “Don’t worry, you’ll find out who it is soon enough.” Twilight nodded and motioned for the two to sit down, Spike joining them too.
“Out of curiosity, what all did you try?” Spike asked. Twilight shook her head and smiled at Spike’s not so disguised question.
“Don’t get your hopes up, all we came up with is a song and a letter,” Blitz answered.
“Why don’t you just tell her?” Twilight asked.
“I’m not going to tell her, it’s not my place.”
“What do you mean ‘It’s not your place’?”
“How would you feel if somepony had a crush on you, but he had someone else tell you?”
“Point taken.”
“How did you find out about this anyway, Blitz?” Spike asked.
“I had to play a game with him to figure it out,” Blitz answered gesturing to Butterscotch, who perked up a little. Twilight looked at Spike who shrugged.
“I take it that worked well?” She asked.
“Yeah, it was pretty painless.”
“Well, maybe it can work again?” The room was quiet for a moment. Then Rainbow’s eye twitched when he realized what she was saying.
“ARGH, WHY DIDN’T WE DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!”
“What was that?” Pinkie asked herself mid-bounce. She stayed like that for a moment before shrugging it off and continuing on her way. She was about halfway to Sweet Apple Acres and in a few minutes she was hopping through the gates. “Hi Red Gala!” She called out to the red mare. Red Gala waved back and continued with her work while Pinkie bounced to the farm house and knocked on the door.
“Uh, Applejack ain’t here,” a voice said on the other side of the door.
“She isn’t?” Pinkie asked leaning closer to the door.
“…It’s Pinkie Pie.” There were hoofsteps on the other side of the door and it opened to reveal Applejack.
“Sorry about that Pinkie, I was expectin’ somepony else,” Applejack said, looking at the gate while she did, “Anyway how can I help ya?”
“Apples!” Pinkie said excitedly.
“Really? Alright, let’s get ya some.” Applejack left the house and walked to the barn, Pinkie bouncing behind her. Applejack opened the barn door where the stock of apples was at and Pinkie started going through the apples. “So what’re ya making?” Applejack asked.
“Apple treats,” Pinkie answered as she started putting apples into one of her bags. Once she had enough she turned to Applejack. “So how much for all these?”
“Ah, ya don’t hafta worry about-“
“I insist,” Pinkie said pressing her face against Applejack’s. They stared at each other for a minute, but Applejack had no chance of winning this battle.
“Fine, but yer not payin’ full price, alright?” Applejack asked and Pinkie smiled.
“That’s alright, but I’m going to have to pay you later. Would that be alright?”
“Ah course it would,” Applejack said and slung an arm around Pinkie’s shoulder, “It is for a party right?”
“Of course silly.”
“Well you go finish that up and I’ll see you there. And if you see Elusive, I’m not here.”
“Okie dokey lokey!” Pinkie said and, with a final wave to Applejack, she hopped away from the barn and out the gates. A few minutes down the road Pinkie ran into Elusive. “Hi there Elusive, what brings you out here?”
“Hi Pinkie, I planned something with Applejack so I was going to pick her up,” Elusive walked closer to Pinkie. “You haven’t seen her have you?”
“Yes! No wait,” Pinkie thought hard for a moment. “I don’t know.” Elusive gave Pinkie a confused look before just letting it go.
“So what are you doing?” he asked.
“Oh I was just getting some apples to make apple strudel and some other things too. You see I got a letter from my sister today and I was so happy I had to throw a party. So I went to get some poppers and streamers, but then I started thinking about what kind would be best, so I-“
Elusive started blinking out a little. Pinkie had a tendency to go on without realizing it but she would stop soon.
“-I couldn’t decide on the color, so I just got all of them! After that I decided to get some apples and WHOA!” Elusive jumped at Pinkie’s sudden yell.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” He asked.
“I’m feeling a combo coming!” Elusive froze at and waited for Pinkie to do something. After a few seconds Pinkie scratched her right rear hoof against the ground. “Itchy hoof…” Pinkie whispered, then she arched her back and a few muscles twitched. “Twitchy back…” Nothing happened for a few more seconds before Pinkie’s left ear started flopping. When it was done flopping, Elusive waited a couple seconds for something else to happen.
“Is that it?” he asked.
“Yep,” Pinkie answered.
“Well, what does that mean?”
“Well, either a cloud is going to take me for a ride or the world is going to end. I can’t remember which one is which though, they’re very close together.”
“Which one is it, that’s kind of a bad thing to forget.”
“Oh don’t worry silly, I can remember it. Just give me a moment.” Pinkie sat down and scratched her head in thought. Elusive happened to look up during this and had to double take at what he saw.
“Uh, Pinkie- “
“Don’t worry, I almost got it,” Pinkie said, not noticing the cloud parking itself above her. Elusive stared at it as four legs sprung from the cloud and wrapped around Pinkie, who finally noticed the cloud. “Oh, so that combo was the cloud one. It’s when the itchy hoof and floppy ear is the other way around is the other one. I have to remember to write that down somewhere.” Pinkie giggled as the cloud lifted her up and she waved at Elusive. “Well, bye Elusive, I gotta go for a ride. I hope to see you later.”
“Right, bye Pinkie,” Elusive said and waved back. He watched Pinkie fly away and when she was out of sight he turned and continued trotting toward Sweet Apple Acres.
“So where are we going Mr. Cloud? I bet we’re going to have fun there, what do you think? Come to think of it, why do you have pony legs? And I don’t remember clouds ever giving ponies rides before. What do you think Mr. Cloud? And you wanna know something, I’ve been thinking of trying a new frosting for some cupcakes. Do you think wasabi or horseradish would work?”
The cloud gave groan.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Horseradish is a funny word, now that I think about it. Why don’t they call it ‘ponyradish’? That would make more sense wouldn’t it? What do you think Mr. Cloud, do you prefer horseradish or ponyradish? Because I think-“
“Dangit Pinkie, can you be quiet for a moment, I’m trying to think,” the cloud said.
“Ooh, you can talk. You’re really smart for a cloud and-wait I recognize that voice.” The cloud started to shake until it dispersed to reveal Rainbow Blitz. “Oh hi Blitz, what were you doing disguised as a cloud? *gasp* I get it, you dressed up as a cloud to fool my Pinkie sense! Very clever Blitzie, but don’t expect it to work again. So where are we going?”
“Butterscotch’s house,” Blitz answered. Pinkie smiled and started kicking joyfully.
“Ooh, do you need my help with that thing you two were doing? What are you doing anyway?”
“You’ll find out when we get there.” The two fell silent until Butterscotch’s home came into view.
“So, which name do you prefer?” Pinkie asked. Rainbow thought for a moment and started flying lower.
“Horseradish.”
“Really, why?”
“I wouldn’t be too keen on eating something with ‘pony’ in its name.”
“Huh, I didn’t think about that. I guess that makes sense. What about wasabi?”
“I don’t even know what that is. We’re here, brace for landing.” Rainbow flew down and let Pinkie go when she was a foot off the ground, where she somehow landed with a squeak. “Hey Butterscotch, are you here?” Said pony waved at the two and turned back to Angel and Jeffrey as they walked to him.
“Now Jeffrey I know it’s hard, but maybe you can just try to do the things Angel does?” Butterscotch asked. Jeffrey stared at him for a moment before shuffling away. Angel made several gestures at Butterscotch. “Maybe we should try again tomorrow? We should get through to him soon.” Angel silently sighed and hopped away.
“Still having problems with Jeffrey?” Pinkie asked which mildly surprised Rainbow and Butterscotch nodded.
“Wait, you knew about that?” Blitz asked and Pinkie nodded, “Huh, that’s weird. Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something?”
“So what did you guys want me to do?” Pinkie asked.
“It had something to do with food.”
“Well um,” Butterscotch stopped for a second and then he took a deep breath and quickly said, “I wanted to tell you something, but I can’t tell you directly. So…”
“Oh, you mean you want to play charades? I love that game!” Pinkie said bouncing energetically.
“I think it was important,” Blitz continued.
“So what am I guessing?” Pinkie asked with a smile. Butterscotch tried to answer, but his words failed to come.
“Well… I have a, um, crush on somepony.”
“You have a crush on somepony? That is so cute ‘Scotchie! Hey, is that what you and Blitzie were doing for the day? There was no need to be all secretive about it, I would have helped you anyway. I could have made lunch for us all and-“
“Oh crap, I haven’t fed Tank today!” Blitz shouted startling Butterscotch and Pinkie, “You can handle this on your own for a minute, right ‘Scotch?”
“Oh um, I guess,” Butterscotch answered.
“Great, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Blitz then took off and flew away, leaving Butterscotch and Pinkie alone. Pinkie took her saddlebags off before speaking.
“So, you want to play a game until Blitz gets back? Ooh, maybe we can play one to tell me who your crush is! Would that be ok?” Butterscotch pawed at the ground and nodded, slightly blushing.
“Great, but what game should we play? You can’t really guess somepony’s name in Charades, and I have bad luck in hangpony.” Pinkie put a hoof to her forehead in thought.
“20 questions?” Butterscotch offered.
“Great idea ‘Scotchie, I haven’t played that in a while. Alright, first question: is your crush a mare?”
Butterscotch nodded.
“Do I know her?” Pinkie asked smiling widely, which was answered with another nod. “I know it’s kinda silly, but have I ever thrown a party for her?”
That question threw Butterscotch off a little, since he didn’t know if Pinkie actually threw herself a party. After a minute of thought, Butterscotch just shrugged.
“Oh, is it Applejack?” Butterscotch shook his head. “Twilight?” He shook his head faster. “Ditzy?” Another shake of his head. “Wow, this is harder than I thought. Am I close at least?”
Butterscotch nodded and said, “You were closest with Applejack and Twilight.”
“Is she friends with them?” Pinkie asked and Butterscotch nodded again. Pinkie thought about that for a minute before she reached a conclusion.
“I got it, I know who your crush is!” she said, stood on her hind legs, and pointed a hoof at Butterscotch in an exaggerated fashion. “Is your crush Pinkie Pie?”
“U-um, yes?” Butterscotch asked confused.
“Ha, I knew it. Pinkie Pie is the only other mare that’s close friends with Twilight and Applejack. Actually there are others, but that’s not important. She’s a nice mare, if a little out there, and I can totally see you two being together.” Pinkie smiled at Butterscotch, who was more than a little confused.
“Um, you’re Pinkie Pie.”
“Yeah, I know.” They looked at each other for a few more moments before Pinkie finally got it. “Wait, you have a crush on me?” Butterscotch looked away and nodded, a part of his mane covering an eye as well as his blush. Pinkie felt a tingle dance across her skin as she looked into Butterscotch’s eyes. “Why am I all tingly?” she asked right before it hit her fully. Her entire body was buzzing with electricity and she started laughing and rolling on the ground.
“Pinkie, are you ok?!” Butterscotch said and hurriedly hovered over Pinkie and looked around anxiously, “Oh dear, w-what do I do?” He didn’t have time to think of something since Pinkie had somehow managed to get her forelegs around his neck. The sudden contact startled Butterscotch into closing his wings and he fell to the ground where Pinkie tightened the hug. Butterscotch froze up, blushing furiously, as Pinkie hugged him laughing and kicking her hind legs. They stayed like that until Pinkie’s laughter died down and she opened her eyes.
“Are you ok ‘Scotchie?” she asked. Butterscotch nodded in response. Pinkie let Butterscotch go and sat on her haunches. “I’m sorry about that; that was a new Pinkie sense.” Butterscotch regained control of his body and rose to his haunches too.
“It’s ok Pinkie,” he said and pawed at the ground to gather up his courage, “Um… do you like me back?” The moment of truth had come and Butterscotch waited for Pinkie’s answer, those few seconds stretching forever for him. Pinkie didn’t say anything since her answer was to hug Butterscotch again. Butterscotch almost froze again, but he managed to keep enough control to return the hug. The two of them stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the moment. Neither of them noticed Blitz flying back, stopping at the scene, and flew away smiling. Pinkie looked over at her saddlebag and pulled away.
“I uh, still have to prepare for the party,” she said and walked over to the bag and put it on. “You can come help me if you want.” Butterscotch thought for a moment before standing and smiling.
“I’d love to.”
---
*Observation suspended.*
>Warning: alternate universe detected.<
/:>send observation request
>Request sent. Resume primary observation<
This chapter was harder than I thought it would be, mostly because I don't think I can write Fluttershy at all. Oh well, I gave it my best shot.
Next time, we eat either apples or a Wonderbolt. I haven't decided yet.