//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Move Along // by butboifranko //------------------------------// The door shut behind me as I began to make my way back to Ponyville. It was gonna take quite a bit of time to get there, since Fluttershy lives all the way outside of town and by the Everfree Forest. Which never really made any sense to me, since she’s so afraid of how animals can take care of themselves, and all the different species and all that crazy stuff; yet she lives no more than a good ten minute trot away from it! Like is this filly loco in the coco? For me of course I’d just giggle and chortle it up in the ghostie’s face and go all Pinkie Dianne style, but Fluttershy is too much of a scaredy cat to face her fears. But, I will be staying with her for who knows how long…I can totally teach her how to take care of them! Oh wow it’ll be so much fun to teach her. At first she’ll probably be all ‘Oh…I don’t know Pinkie. I think I take care of them much better by hiding in my home, in my closet.’ And then I’ll be all like ‘Don’t be a scaredy filly silly! You gotta giggle at the ghosties, and then they’ll be gone forever and ever!’ Then she’ll giggle at the monsters, and all that stuff she’s afraid of; with that cute, heart melting laugh that you rarely catch when she cracks out of her shell and lets her luminous, vibrant colors shine right in your face; lighting even the darkest corners of every room and vanquishing every evil thing that creeps up on you…things that not even giggling can conquer over. Her demons will be vanquished, and she’ll turn around with her glowing eyes that lock with mine. Her eyes pulling me toward her like a magnet, muzzles touching with both our faces red hot like a bottle of hot sauce…that burning sensation in my throat when I gulf down a whole bottle lickety split! But instead of it consuming all the dry and coolness in your throat, it engulfs all the chill from the night breeze from your cheeks, leaving a burn of red crimson as all we can do is move closer and closer- “Pinkie Pie watch where you’re going!” I coughed from the dirty dust as I lay on the floor. I shook my head quickly, realizing I had completely zoned out again; and saw Twilight down on her side beside me. “Oops, sorry Twilight…I must’ve zoned out again. I’ve been doing that a lot recently, but I’m not really sure why,” Which I totally do. “It may be because I have a lot on my mind, or maybe I’m just really out of it all the time. What do you think Twilight? Do you think I’m out of it a lot? I really need to know so I can improve to be a better, practical pony!” Twilight got off from the ground and laughed as she brushed herself off. “Well I’m sure you’re certainly not a practical pony, Pinkie Pie. You’re too genuine to be that, and if I were you I wouldn’t worry about it, ‘cause it’s what makes you…” “It’s alright Twilight, I like being my Pinkie self anyway-” Twilight looked away and bit her lip. Odd, she never really stumbles over her words. “Hey Twi’, you okay? You seem kind of confuzzled or something.” She shook her head, “No. I just feel kinda weird…complimenting other mares right now.” “Why would you feel weird about being nice Twilight?” Twilight sighed, “It’s just different now that Rainbow and I are dating. I feel bad for giving a mare or even a stallion a compliment. I feel like I’m cheating on Dash, without the physical part.” “You’re so silly Twi’! It’s not cheating if you compliment your friends. It’s only cheating when you flirt with someone. If you know the pony then it’s alright!” She smiled, still looking a tiny bit confused…though Twilight is always confused about something, but she figures it out shortly after. It’s the best part of being a super smart pony like herself! “I think I get what you’re saying Pinkie Pie…but can you please not call me, ‘Twi’ anymore? The last time someone called me that, in front of Rainbow, she got pretty upset. I think she takes it as a ‘pet name’ or something, and you know how she is…all defensive and whatnot.” “Totally understandable, Twilight, I’d feel the same way too if I were Dashie.” What?! I can’t call her Twi’ anymore? This is insanely terrible! Twilight took in a hiss of breath, “Sorry Pinkie…but that’s what I call Rainbow.” Pickle barrel cumwhat!? “Oh…I see, Twilight. I won’t call…Rainbow that anymore, since it’s your pet name for her and all that nice cute couple stuff!” She sighed with a content smile, “Thanks Pinkie Pie. I guess that saves any awkward moments in the future at any of our gatherings, or whatnot.” Twilight averted her attention toward the clock and her eyes widened, “But right now I’m running a little late for a meeting with, Dashie. It was nice talking to you though Pinkie, see you later!” With that, Twilight began a fast trot in the opposite direction, as I continued my way to Sugarcube Corner. I can’t believe I can’t use those nicknames anymore because they’re both dating each other! And hello, I was the one who made up Rainbow’s nickname, Dashie. Real creative Twilight… Applejack was the one who called Twilight, Twi’ but I got a little attached to it at some point and even called her it sometimes! So that’s or groups nickname for her. Like geez Louise! Now I’m gonna have to think up another nickname for each of them. Not like it’s a big deal or anything, but I guess it’ll take some time to get used to calling them by their full names. Sugarcube Corner was silent; so silent it almost felt unnatural. The counter was bare of Mrs. Cake, or anyone else, and the platters of cupcakes and other assorted scrumptious goods were mostly half gone; meaning that they had gotten some business for the day. Thank goodness! I made my way over to the counter and took a look at the pastries, and oh my glabber they looked delicioso! They appear to be vanilla cupcakes with butter cream icing of multiple colors that consisted of purple, red, and yellow; and spiffed up with red and white sprinkles. Oh my goodness, I think I’m drooling. “Pinkie Pie!” Mrs. Cake rounded the corner of the kitchen, and made her way toward the counter. She appeared to be upset that my drool had got on the glass. “Howdy, Mrs. Cake! I’m sorry about the drooly wooly on the glass counter; I can clean it up lickety spli-” She rushed up to me and hugged me. “Pinkie, where have you been? We’ve been worried sick about you!” “Y-you have?” I stuttered, surprised that she was worried about me for being out for a night without notice. Strange of her to not get upset about my drool on the glass though; she always gets mad at me whenever I fantasize about eating one of the pastries that are inside. Maybe she didn’t notice…or it could be that she wasn’t really concerned about it, and had her mind of other things like, where I’ve been all night. Like sheesh mckeesh, its not like I didn’t tell her I was going out; and I clearly remember past me telling past Mrs. Cake that I’ll see her later, not saying if I’d be back before morning or night. Although… I’d be pretty upset and worried if someone I knew went out and didn’t come back before morning, but it just slips my mind that Mister and Misses Cake are kind of like my step parents. It’s not that I was put up for adoption or something crazy like that, but when I decided to fulfill my dream of throwing parties to spread joy to everypony, they were the only ponies in Ponyville that had a room up for rent, and they even offered me a job to pay for the rent. Which is my opinion doesn’t make any sense, ‘cause they’re paying me to pay them; I don’t think they’ve figured it out yet. Besides that, they’ve always treated me like on of their own; even though I moved in just a few years back in my mid-teen years. Man, I remember when I had to have braces from trying to bite a jawbreaker. They’re still a little out of place to this day; totally worth it though. “Of course we have Pinkie Pie! We waited up quite late for you to come back.” She took a deep breath, probably to calm herself down. I went up to Mrs. Cake and gave her a hug, and was greeted with a fore-leg around me in return. “I’m really sorry Mrs. Cake, I ended up spending the night with Fluttershy, and coming back before morning totally slipped my mind.” Mrs. Cake sighed, and laughed. “Oh who am I kidding, you’re a grown mare and I’m sure you’re capable of taking care of yourself.” She let go of me and smiled. “And how is Fluttershy? I know you’ve been meaning to go over to visit her and such-” She looked at me with a confused face, almost as if she just realized something, “Which by the way, you haven’t told me why. Not like it matters or anything, especially when it comes to you Pinkie, but it concerns me for the times you’d get upset when you weren’t able to go.” Maybe I should tell Mrs. Cake about how I feel for Fluttershy… She might be able to give me advice. Though, if I tell her it’ll turn to why I’m staying with Flutters, and I promised her I wouldn’t tell Mrs. Cake the real reason for my absence. “It’s just that Fluttershy has been really squashed from the work load of animal care taking for the past month or so, and I told her a while back that I’d be happy to help her out; you know how much I love helping my friends!” Mrs. Cake gave me a thoughtful smile. “Well that’s quite kind of you Pinkie Pie...And yes I’m aware.” Her face altered again to a concerned one, “But I don’t see how that’d make you stay the night, and come back at mid day.” “She has nocturnal animals too, like raccoons and stuff so I offered to stick around for the night duties and I ended up crashing on her couch…Which is why I came back to ask for an absence from running the counter for a while. Fluttershy really needs help, and I can’t stand to leave her out in her cottage all by… Herself.” Odd…I feel bad for some reason for, lying? Oh my gosh I’m turning into Applejack! Wait no, what am I doing? I can’t lie to Mrs. Cake; well at least not entirely. She deserves to know the truth to why I’ve been meaning to go and see Fluttershy for the past month…It’s the right thing to do. “Well since you have a, valid and noble reason…How long do you expect to be with her?” “Mrs. Cake I’m sorry, but I need to tell you the truth.” She looked at me surprised, “The truth Pinkie Pie?” “Yes, I haven’t been meaning to go to Fluttershy’s because I felt bad that she had a huge work load with the animals. I’ve been wanting to go because...” I scratched the back of my head, “Because I…” Why can’t I just say it? “Pinkie Pie, what is it? Do you wanna…Write it down on this piece of paper, or something?” Mrs. Cake slid a piece of parchment towards me on the counter along with a quill. She’s so smart sometimes! I picked up the quill with my teeth and tried my best to write what I needed to say. When I was finished I slid it back over to Mrs. Cake. She read it, and looked up to me smiling. “Huh, like I didn’t see this coming.” “Wait, you already knew that I liked her? Who told you!?” Mrs. Cake laughed, “Pinkie Pie it’s so obvious that even a filly could see it. You always turn redder than a cherry when she talks to you, and most of the day while you’re home, you’re zoning in and out; obviously thinking about her from the way you drool.” She laughed, “Unless you’re thinking about how good our pastries are; I can’t think of any other reason.” “Don’t get me wrong Mrs. Cake, you’re cupcakes are mouthwatering; but yes… I have been thinking about her a lot and no matter what I do, I can’t stop feeling the way I feel, which is why I need to stay with her to help her, and to maybe see if she feels the same way, or show her that I do…at least.” Too bad I can’t tell her how much more complicated it really is. “That’s very brave of you Pinkie. I know I don’t have the guts to do anything like that, and you’re really taking a plunge for her. I’ll gladly give you time off since you’ve given a noble and caring reason. Just name the time length, and I’ll give you it off.” “Two weeks at the most, I’m not sure how long it’ll take Fluttershy to get all the work done, but if I need more or less time I’ll come by and talk to you though!” Mrs. Cake wrote it into her schedule book with her quill, and when she finished she looked back up to me. “It’s done, and yes please do…and I guess you’ll be taking some of your stuff to Fluttershy’s for your stay, yes?” “Yup! I plan to pack a bag, and then I’ll be out of your mane!” She closed the book and put the quill back in its case. “Sounds like a plan then. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some orders to bake…but I’ll see you later though, and good luck with Fluttershy!” I ran up to her and gave her a hug. “Thanks Mrs. Cake! You’re the best.” Mrs. Cake patted me on the back. “No problem sugar.” My luggage wasn’t very heavy; all I had packed was my tooth brush, pillow, confetti blasters, and my party cannon, ‘cause you never know when you’ll need an quickly put together party, and of course I brought Gummy along with me; because I know he’ll miss me to smithereens if I didn’t bring him along. When I got inside the cottage I noticed that Fluttershy set up a little sleeping area for me on the couch. It wasn’t anything special, but its better than sleeping on the floor…of course it would be nice to share a bed with Fluttershy; not in that way though sillies! Not like it’d be a bad thing…but we’re not even in a relationship, and right now I should be thinking about how I’m going to help Fluttershy with this whole drama with Rainbow Dash; especially when I have feelings for her, and she likes Dashi- I mean Rainbow. It’s a pretty tangled mess, but I’d do anything to help Fluttershy; even if it’d be me finding someone more suitable for her. Whatever it takes, I’ll make that mare happy. It’s all I could ever ask for. I un-packed my things and placed them the couch and out of the way of any critter that could get their claws on them. I wouldn’t want some squirrel busting up my party canon, or some ninja raccoon stealing my slippers. Those pesky varmints! How could they even think up such a scheme? Stealing innocent ol’ Pinkie Pie’s slippers for their dastardly deeds, adding them to their collection that they’ll sell to the raccoon overlord and use the money to take over Equestria! With that thought in my mind, I think its best I hide my slippers under the cushions so they won’t go missing…or stolen. My ear twitched as I was finishing up un-packing, and I turned around to see a raccoon walking in through the front door, then I saw the basket of assorted goods I had brought yesterday for Fluttershy. By Starswirley’s beard! I completely forgot that I brought those. I shook my head and averted my eyes from the basket to the raccoon, who was already half way up the table! “Oh no you don’t you varmint! Those aren’t for you, you filthy ninja!” I charged at the raccoon and stared at it’s masked face. It’s facial expression showed fear, but deep down inside it had a cunning plan and I wasn’t going to let it steal that basket! No sir, those are for Fluttershy! In a flash, I was rolling and tumbling with the raccoon, receiving scratches. The raccoon swiped at my face and got around my eye. I screamed bloody baking and rolled out of the rumbling and tumbling, and the raccoon ran out of the cabin. I heard a rush of hoof-steps approaching, but I just remained on the floor. That raccoon was too much of a match for me! “Pinkie Pie, is that you? Pinkie- Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy was over me right away, inspecting my scratched up body. “What in Equestria happened Pinkie? Are you okay?!” I rolled onto my back and moved my hoof over my face, “I-I got in a fight with the ninja raccoon, and he fought valiantly…I was left with these battle wounds from defending the basket of goods.” She moved in closer when I removed my hoof from the area the raccoon had done the most damage, she gasped, and rushed into another room without a word and came back just as fast as she went with bandaging, scissors, and gauge tape. “Pinkie Pie, could you roll onto your stomach…if you wouldn’t mind that is.” Fluttershy asked hesitantly. “Sure thing, Flutters?” I rolled onto my stomach, not knowing why she wanted me to roll over, and then I felt Fluttershy pushing her muzzle underneath my leg; lifting me off the floor and onto all fours. The weight of my body didn’t hurt, but when I moved around I felt a faint sting on my back, probably from the un-attended scratches. Fluttershy helped me onto the couch and laid me on my stomach. I heard her cutting gauge tape, and felt her rubbing my back with that stuff that makes it sting a lot! I let out of a hiss, and felt Fluttershy’s hoof slide away. “I’m sorry Pinkie Pie…I know it hurts, but this’ll make it feel better in no time.” “It’s okay Fluttershy, its no problem at all!” I tried to sound cheery, but it really did hurt, a lot. She continued tending to the scratches, massaging the wounded areas with the alcohol. After a while you get kinda used to the stingy feeling, and it feels like a massage… somewhat. I let out a sigh and melted into the couch as Fluttershy continued with her hoof work. “Pinkie Pie, why did the raccoon attack you exactly? I’m not saying you did anything wrong, but pretty much all the raccoons I know are quite pleasant to be around, but this one scratched you up pretty bad.” “Oh no, Fluttershy, that’s not what went down. I thought the raccoon was a ninja and was trying to steal the basket of goods, so I charged at him and got in a super smashing brawl…He clearly won though.” “Basket of goods, ninja raccoon…what are you talking about?” “Well, yesterday I brought a basket of goodies from Sugarcube Corner to bring to you, as a gift; but when I was un-packing my things; I saw the raccoon trying to get it’s grubby little claws on them. So I charged at it, ‘cause…The basket was for you, and nopony else.” Fluttershy stopped massaging my back, I turned over onto my back, presuming she was done, and gave her smile. She looked down at the floor blushing, “You brought me a basket of…treats, and then defended them from a ninja raccoon?” Is she flattered? Oh yes! “Of course Fluttershy, why wouldn’t I?” Fluttershy shook her head and smiled, “I don’t know Pinkie, it was just really sweet of you to bring me something, not to mention…” She hid under her mane a little more, while her smile grew a little brighter, “coming around when I needed someone the most. I guess it was just a coincidence.” I felt my face heat up a bit at the thought of Fluttershy being happy I was, and am there for her, but I tried my best not to show it. “It may have been a coincidence, or it could’ve just been fate; or I could’ve just happened to bounce in on the right time.” Fluttershy brushed her mane out of her face, “That’s a possibility too.” She rubbed her head before reaching for the gauge and scissors, and started cutting pieces of gauge to go with the bandaging. There weren’t as many scratches on my front side, heck probably less than ten. “So um…how did things with the Cakes go? Did they give you time off or, something?” “Yeeup! Mrs. Cake gave me a few weeks off from work, and gave me the o-k to stay with you for the time being; Great right?!” Fluttershy laughed, “Yes that is great. But um…you didn’t tell Mrs. Cake why you were actually staying with me right? If you did, that’s understandable; it’s best not to li-” “Well I didn’t tell her the whole truth, but I didn’t tell her it was because of Rainbow and Twilight’s relationship. I made up an excuse that is kind of the same thing as what I’m doing on my stay in the first place, which is helping you!” “That’s, that’s good news Pinkie Pie. Thanks for doing that.” Fluttershy covered up the last of the scratches. “I’m all done bandaging the scratches Pinkie Pie, you can get up if you’d like.” I stretched out on the couch, getting out the kinks from my back and yawning. “Nah, I think I’m good just like this!” “Oh, well…um, did anything interesting happen when you were in town?” Fluttershy is so cute when she tries to make up a conversation. “Well...yes actually! When I was walking to Sugarcube Corner I bumped into Twilight and we had a little chat about her and Rainbow’s relationship!” Fluttershy’s eyes bulged, “What? What did she say about their relationship? Are they having difficulties, not getting along, about to break up!?” I stared at her for a second, feeling nothing but concerned. But I get it, if my crush was dating someone…wait, I’d want them to be happy. Good grief she’s got it bad. “No, no, nothing like that Fluttershy. What went down was Twilight was about to compliment me, but then she felt bad because she thought complimenting other ponies was considered cheating on Rainbow Dash, and then I explained to her it’s alright to compliment ponies if they’re your friends and you know them, or just trying to be nice. Then, she got upset ‘cause I called her Twi, and then all went down hill from there. Overall, we can’t call either of them Twi, or Dashie.” She blinked, “Oh well, that’s um…great I suppose. Nice to know they have things all figured out!” Her smile altered to a frown and she curled up on the couch by my leg. “Fluttershy…are you okay?” All of a sudden, I heard someone knocking on the door. Goodness, we could have had a moment! “I’ll get it Flutters, just sit tight.” I got up off the couch and made my way to the door, and peered through the eye hole.