The soft chime of a bell danced through the room upon the opening of the door, but Applejack was too distracted to really notice. Being a farmpony she was used to hard work, but carrying somepony else through several streets was never an easy task, especially if that somepony’s body seemed to be frozen solid. Not a single part of Pinkie would budge even an inch from the position she had been solidified in, almost as if the pink pony had been turned into a wax statue. Because of that, Applejack had to carry her friend with the puffy mane on her back like a fitting piece of an absurdly large, pony-formed stack puzzle.
Only that this second piece would not fit quite as well as hoped. Since Pinkie was absolute rigid, Applejack had to carefully watch her balance, taking every step very cautiously, always needing to be attentive to even the slightest shift in Pinkie’s weight distribution. Adding the fact that Pinkie weighed as much as any healthy horse does made the precarious journey towards Sugarcube Corner not any easier.
Fluttershy’s help wasn’t very useful either. She kept fluttering from one side of Applejack to the other, gingerly watching every movement of Pinkie’s rigid body, trying to warn the orange farmpony in time whenever her ballast would shift too much. Yet everytime a warning was really necessary, her timid “erm, Applejack...” fell a moment too short, leaving Applejack to hastily hopscotch one way or the other until Pinkie was again brought to a somewhat stable balance.As a result of that, Fluttershy’s biggest input were mostly shy inquiries such as “are you all right?” or soft encouragements like “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”
Therefore it came to no surprise that relief was gleaming in Applejack’s eyes when they, she heavily breathing and Fluttershy nervously flying around her, reached Sugarcube Corner. The door leading inside provided one last hurdle, almost taking even the last bit of patience from the farmpony when she inched herself and Pinkie through the opening, the inside of the bakery seemingly retreating more and more with each step instead of getting closer. Yet after a while it was finally done, and Applejack stood triumphantly inside Sugarcube Corner, dripping with sweat and gasping, but nonetheless victorious.
“Ha! How about that, Sally!” The orange pony declared confidently into the empty room, a broad smile on her lips, before she nodded towards Fluttershy. “Alrighty, let’s get her off me then.”
Fluttershy nodded in agreement and raised her forehooves while hovering beside Applejack, to direct the speed and course of her movements. “Okay, but let’s be careful about this. We should take this very slowly and not rush it. Now, gradually lower your hip and try to build a slope with your body so we can let Pinkie glide from your back very gently-”
Plonk!
“Oh dear.”
Ignoring the gently bobbing Pinkie lying on the ground behind her, Applejack walked up towards the counter and pressed the bell on top of it, eliciting a demanding, calling note from it.
“Coming~,” chirped a sweet voice in response and just a moment later, a cerulean pony with a pink mane appeared from behind the swinging door on the left of the counter. “Oh, it’s you Applejack! How are you?”
Applejack smiled and pulled down her hat, giving the mare a slight bow. “Ah’m fine Mrs. Cake, thank ya kindly. How are ya doin’?”
“Oh, we’re doing fine. Thanks to the Summer Sun Celebration it’s a little bit hectic, but it takes more than that to bring us down!” Mrs. Cake replied with a smile. She definitely looked fine. A cheery smile on her face and a friendly twinkle in her eyes, Mrs. Cake was the embodiment of merriment at the moment.
While their cutie marks helped many ponies in finding what they are looking for, it was still rare for somepony to be as happy and absorbed in their own work as the Cakes. Of course there were always some malicious tongues that claimed, Mrs. Cake’s happiness stemmed only from a ludicrous amount of sugar that she ingested with her own confectionaries at minute intervals, but while it was true that she wasn’t the slimmest mare, her additional pounds only seemed to make her even more likeable, imparting a motherly aura upon her that was difficult to resist.
“But tell me, what brings you down here? Surely you must also be very busy with all the festival preparations,” she inquired.
“That indeed Ah am, ma’am,” agreed Applejack, “but unfortunately Fluttershy and Ah have a little bit of a situation on our hooves.”
At the mentioning of Fluttershy Mrs. Cake looked up, a little bit surprised, but when she spotted the yellow pegasus she gave her a gentle smile. “Oh hello there, Fluttershy. Why didn’t you say anything? I hardly noticed you!”
Fluttershy returned the smile, albeit in her personal timid fashion. “Hello Mrs. Cake. I’m sorry, I just didn’t want to intrude on your conversation...”
While most ponies would be confused and maybe also a little bit irritated at that statement, Mrs. Cake just smiled and nodded. She was acquainted with almost everypony in Ponyville and she knew the gang of six friends especially well. Fluttershy oddities weren’t anything strange to her anymore.
Mrs. Cake turned back to Applejack, her smile now vanished and replaced by curiously lifted right eyebrow. “A situation you say?”
Applejack nodded. “Yes, Mrs. Cake. Y’see, Twilight and the rest of us were at the train station earlier today to greet some kind of government official and while welcomin’ him, Pinkie seems to have… overexerted herself.” The orange farmpony stepped aside and gave Mrs. Cake a free view on Pinkie, who still lay on the floor like a life-sized toy version of herself, dropped in the middle of playing with it.
Most ponies would be shocked to see a pony they knew very well in such a position. Most ponies didn’t have Pinkie as an apprentice and surrogate daughter. “Oh dear,” said Mrs. Cake, clicking her tongue, “this doesn’t look too comfy. What happened?”
Applejack shrugged. “Ah don’t rightfully know, Mrs. Cake. All Ah know is that this official didn’t seem to care for Pinkie’s greeting very much.”
“So he petrified her in the middle of her welcome routine? Not the gentlecoltly thing to do.”
“No, ma’am, he didn’t do anythin’ at all. Pinkie didn’t even get the chance to use her Welcome Wagon.”
Now Mrs. Cake’s left eyebrow joined the right one in it’s height, giving her an expression of curious disbelief. “Not even a chance? That is difficult for me to imagine. How did that happen?”
Applejack hesitated. “Well… a lot of things happened. Anyway, we were hopin’ ya might have some idea how to help Pinkie.”
For a brief moment, Mrs. Cake seemed to be more interested in learning more about this incident involving the mysterious official, but in the end Pinkie’s welfare was more urgent. “Don’t worry, young filly, we will get Pinkie on her legs again… and even get her talking again, Celestia forgive me. But after that you’ve got to tell me all about what really happened. You just made me really curious about who this so-called ‘government official’ is.”
“Yer not the only one who’s curious …” murmured Applejack under the bright sound of the counter-bell being rung again, this time by Mrs.Cake herself.
“Darling, would you come over here? It seems Pinkie needs a little help waking up!”
“Coming, honey bun~,” trilled a male voice out of the same room Mrs. Cake had come out of and again the owner followed his words closely. This time a lanky stallion with a yellow coat and an amber mane appeared. He trotted around the counter and towards Pinkie, not looking surprised at all when he saw in what state she was in.
“Oh dear,” he stated in the very same tone of voice as his wife, “this doesn’t look too comfy.”
“Indeed it doesn’t,” agreed his wife, nodding affirmatively, “Which is why we should wake her up sooner rather than later.”
“That’s true,” acknowledged Mr. Cake, looking from his wife back to Pinkie and giving a small sigh. “Alright, then let’s do this.”
“Erm, I don’t mean to intrude, but… shouldn’t we help you?” The timid question of Fluttershy, fluttering above the exhausted grunts and snorts of Mr. Cake, was affirmed by Applejack’s agreeing nod.
“Ah think so too. She’s not exactly a lightweight, Ah can speak from experience.”
“Oh, that’s very kind of you,” thanked Mrs. Cake them, seemingly not perturbed by the quickly more exhausted becoming noises coming from her husband, “But, to be honest, we don’t want to let you go back there just yet. It’s a real mess back there, just not something you should show your guests. Isn’t that right, sweety?”
“Absolutely, sugar pumpkin,” wheezed Mr. Cake, more wobbling than walking in the direction of the swinging door, his back arched in a not quite healthy or even natural looking way under the motionless Pinkie.
“Well, if ya both say so…” said Applejack, although she still watched Mr. Cake with a raised eyebrow. Fluttershy observed with a very worried look on her face, although she wasn’t quite sure if she should worry for Pinkie Pie or for Mr. Cake.
“Oh, don’t worry, you two!” chirped Mrs. Cake, not in the least bit concerned about that her husband looked like he was about to break his back, “Pinkie will be back up in no time! Trust me, you have nothing to worry about, we know how to handle this kind of situation.”
“So somethin’ like that happened before?” asked Applejack, still not able to take her eyes of the bizarre spectacle that wandered past Mrs. Cake and slowly disappeared behind the swinging doors.
“Well, you know Pinkie, nothing ever really happens twice with her,” answered Mrs. Cake, giving a slight chuckle while a loud Plonk! came from behind the swinging doors, “but if anypony is accustomed to handling Pinkie, it’s us. We’ll get her back up in a matter of minutes, trust me.”
“If you say so, then that’s good enough for me!” declared Applejack, putting her hat back on. “Mighty thanks for yer help and Ah’m very sorry for troublin’ ya with our problems out of the blue like that.”
“Oh, think nothing of it!” replied Mrs. Cake, “Pinkie is like family to us, taking care of her is almost like part of our job. We should thank you for bringing her to us as soon as you could.”
A smile flashed over Applejack’s lips. “That’s too kind of you, ma’am.”
Yet a moment later the smile disappeared and a resigned sigh slipped from her lips when a clock on the wall caught her eyes. “Seems like Ah got no more time to dilly-dally though. Big Mac must be waitin’ for me and we’re already behind schedule as it is.”
Yet even with that knowledge spurring her on, Applejack couldn’t help but pause at the door, looking back on more time. “Yer sure ya don’t need my help?”
“Absolutely positive, sweetheart! There is nothing for you to worry about!” assured Mrs. Cake.
Still Applejack seemed unsure, her eyes hesitantly going back and forth between Mrs. Cake and the clock until a soft voice timidly rose up.
“Erm… if it’s okay with Mrs. Cake, I would wait here until Pinkie is alright again. So you don’t need to worry about her, Applejack… um, if you don’t mind, that is.”
For a brief moment, Applejack regarded Fluttershy with surprise, a bit astonished at such self-initiative from her quiet friend. Yet then the smile reappeared on her lips and she nodded.
“Alright, thanks Fluttershy.” As she opened the door, something else crossed her mind and she turned around one last time. “Make sure ya also tell Twilight as soon as Pinkie is okay again. Ah’m sure she’ll want to know.”
With that, Applejack walked out of the door and turned towards Sweet Apple Acres, soon falling into a swift trot and leaving nothing behind but a small cloud of dust.
As soon as Fluttershy was certain that Applejack was gone and no longer torn between waiting for her friend’s recovery and her obligation to work, she gave a small sigh of relief and set herself down softly on the floor.
“Difficult day?” Fluttershy smiled softly, but shook her head upon the question of Mrs. Cake.
“Oh no, I wouldn’t say that. I was just worried that Applejack’s stubbornness could get the best of her again.”
Mrs. Cake laughed softly. “Well, she is an Apple after all. Dourness runs in the family for them.”
Fluttershy chuckled, agreeing tacitly with the motherly bakeress. Applejack and her family did have a reputation for their obstinacy, although the orange farmpony would never admit to that.
A sudden, demanding cry cut through the yellow pegasus’ thoughts. Panic controlled her reactions for a short moment as she hastily let her eyes dart through the room, looking for the source of the wailing. Mrs.Cake, on the other hoof, remained completely calm, her gaze directed upwards and a worried expression on her face.
“Oh dear,” she mumbled to herself.
“W-What’s happening?” asked Fluttershy, her voice slightly quivering.
“Poor Pumpkin must feel uneasy. She’s probably lonely.”
“Oh...” Immediately the quivering disappeared and a discreet blush entered the yellow pegasus’ cheeks. Mrs. Cake didn’t seem to have taken notice of Fluttershy’s frightful reaction.
“I better go upstairs and see what’s going on...” Yet before the cerulean bakeress could take another step, the voice of her husband floated through the swinging doors. “Honey, could you give me a hoof?”
Mrs. Cake didn’t respond. Instead she remained still, her left forehoof raised and wavering back and forth uncertainly, while she looked from the roof to the swinging doors and back again. Another cry echoed down the stairs, sounding even more demanding than before.
“Um, I could go upstairs and look after Pumpkin… I mean, if you don’t mind.” Although spoken timidly, the words reached Mrs. Cake’s ears effortlessly, but it took a moment until their meaning settled in her anxious mind and even then she only looked at Fluttershy with mild surprise.
“You would?” asked the motherly mare, worriedly examining the younger pegasus. Fluttershy was a gentle soul, no doubt about that, but being kind and watching a child were two entirely different things.
Fluttershy nodded confidently. “I’ve watched Sweetie Belle and her friends for day as a favor for Rarity. I’m sure I can take care of Pound and Pumpkin for a few moments.”
Mrs. Cake couldn’t completely free herself of worry, her motherly instincts loudly protesting against leaving the problems of her own foal in another pony’s hooves. On the other side, her husband wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important and after their designated foal-sitter Pinkie was Fluttershy the next most-likely pony Mrs. Cake would leave their foals to. Yet…
“Honey?” Mr. Cake’s voice had now taken on a very urgent note, all the more ensuring his wife that her presence was now really needed. Mrs. Cake sighed and then finally nodded in agreement, giving Fluttershy a grateful smile. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you. Just see what’s wrong and play with her a little bit. If she says—”
“Honey!”
“Coming! If she says she’s hungry just come back down here and I’ll take care of it.”
“Come back down here if she’s hungry, got it,” Fluttershy repeated.
Mrs. Cake still looked a bit worried, obviously many more advices trembling on the tip of her tongue, but then she just nodded one more time, gave Fluttershy another grateful smile and turned around, walking back into the kitchen.
Not wasting any time either, Fluttershy went up the stairs, making her way to the children’s room. She knew the way from visiting Pinkie and especially from the party for the twins’ first-year-birthday. Their fluffy-maned party expert had made sure that almost everything about this party had become unforgettable.
The memories at that party and the small smile they elicited Fluttershy were cleanly wiped away however, as soon as she entered the children’s room. In an instant, Pumpkin’s wails became almost piercing in their quality, reverberated from the walls and drowned the room in sheer noise. The pure intensity made Fluttershy press her ears flatly against her head as she ducked under the oppressive sound of high-pitched baby screams.
As her ears tried to close themselves off to the infernal sounding cries, Fluttershy quickly surveyed the room, eager to find the crying foal and, if possible, the source of its woes so she could quickly do something about it.
The room was as always. The walls were painted in a cheery color which could be what sky-blue would look like after somepony decided to add a pink blush to it. A few toys were strewn around the room, lying on the carpet, but most of them, especially the ones that could be dangerous for unsupervised foals, were locked away in the toy box. A chair with two books stacked on top of it stood at the other side of the room, by the baby crib in which the two baby foals resided. Everything was completely normal. Only one thing was a bit out of the ordinary, if one even wanted to call it that.
Normally the two foals worked as an almost singular entity, when one did something the other almost always joined in. This time, however, their empathy was somewhat out of sync. While Pumpkin cried and kept on crying, Pound just sat beside his sister, regarding her with an almost annoyed look, his half-drooped eyelids telling of a comfortable sleep he must’ve had before the little filly had decided to burst out in tears.
Fluttershy furrowed her brow at this unusual situation, but Pumpkin’s next cry made her remember the situation immediately. First things were first, she had to calm Pumpkin down.
“Hey little Pumpkin, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked, trying to keep the nervosity which desperately wanted to boil up inside of her, out of her voice, but the little unicorn foal didn’t seem to take note of her words.
Instead the filly cried only louder, chipping away even more efficiently at the cream-colored mare’s patience. Yet Fluttershy didn’t falter. She had promised Mrs. Cake that she would take care of her child and she would! “Come on Pumpkin, talk to me. Tell me what’s bothering you.”
However, once more Pumpkin didn’t take note of Fluttershy’s gentle words, she just kept on crying and wailing as if nothing in the world could ease her suffering. Cornered and out of options, Fluttershy tried one last time, stepped directly in front of the baby crib, got on her knees and gave Pumpkin her kindest, most reassuring smile. “Please calm down, everything is going to be alright, Fluttershy is here now. So pretty please?”
Pumpkin cried - and then stopped. The shift was so immediate that Fluttershy needed a moment to understand what happened, blankly staring at Pumpkin who looked back with an expression of mild surprise.
Too dumbfounded by the sudden change, Fluttershy waited cautiously, silently prepared for the wailing to start up again any moment. Yet moments kept on passing and Pumpkin only looked at Fluttershy, cocking her head from one side to the other. Then the little filly smiled and raised her forehooves in the cream-colored mare’s direction. “Fwuttashy!”
Upon hearing Pumpkin pronouncing her name in her own adorable little way, Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile back, finally just accepting her luck as she nodded in affirmation.
“That’s right, little filly, I’m Fluttershy,” she cooed as she ruffled Pumpkin’s mane with one hoof, which elicited a bubbly laughter from the foal that caused Fluttershy’s smile to grow even wider.
As she watched Pumpkin curl herself under the ticklish touch of her hoof, Fluttershy silently admired how quickly the foals were growing up. Pound had already begun to start his first attempts at flying, although he was rarely leaving the ground, and just a few days ago, Pumpkin had started calling different ponies by their names.
Everypony had been very amazed when, completely out of the blue, the little filly had declared their favorite fashionista to be “Wawete!”. Cries of astonishment and ecstatic exclamations had filled the room at that day, and Twilight had been unable to resist the urge to celebrate this event with a long-winded explanation of the development of a unicorn foal’s sensitivity for magic.
“It’s something that manifests in all foals, really,” she had continued, examining Pumpkin with fascination in her eyes, “but unicorn foals are a little bit more susceptible for it than pegasus or earth pony foals. In their early stage of their lives, all foals use their inherent magic to make up for their not fully developed senses in order to perceive their surroundings and, even more importantly, to recognize the ponies around them.
“You see, foals use their magic to reach out, kind of like with antennas if you will, to detect another pony’s magical aura, and because each pony’s magical aura is unique unto them, they can immediately recognize a certain pony this way, associate a name with them very quickly, and if they mean them harm. It degrades with age, but researchers assume that this ability was very important way back when ponies were living in herds and there are even some theories...”
The rest of the day Twilight had spent with talking on and on about how fascinating this phenomenon was and how sometimes they knew so little about things that they even encountered on a daily basis.
A chuckle escaped Fluttershy. Good, old Twilight. No matter the occasion, a scientific fact was bound to burst out of her sooner or later. Once curiosity took hold of her, she could be as persistent as Applejack and as talkative as Pinkie Pie, but normally she’d keep a level head as the leader of their little group, facing down any challenge that came their way without any fear.
Yet what had happened at the train station could hardly be called normal. It had been quite a surprise for Fluttershy to see Twilight not act like her confident, brave self and more like, well, more like her. And those armored guards... did all officials from Canterlot get such protection?
Fluttershy was not knowledgeable about the world of politics and power and, quite frankly, she had no interest in it. Yet this was about one of her friends and having seen Twilight like this, even Fluttershy couldn’t help but wonder who this official truly was.
A bell softly chimed from the entrance of the shop and the next moment, Fluttershy found herself meeting Pumpkin’s curious gaze, having returned from her realm of thoughts to the present again. Fluttershy blinked, but then she smiled and ruffled Pumpkin’s mane one last time before rising to her hooves again. What happened at the train station might have been strange, but Twilight had promised them to explain everything as soon as possible, so Fluttershy would wait until Twilight was ready. Besides, she had other things to do now. “Now, Pumpkin, what was wrong? Why did you cry?”
Pumpkin’s exuberant giggle stopped and she looked up at Fluttershy, a puzzled look on the filly’s face. As much as the wailing had distressed Fluttershy, this silent surprise of the foal troubled her much deeper, although she had no idea why. It was almost like Pumpkin had been so sure that Fluttershy had known why she had cried, as if it had been plainly obvious. Yet Fluttershy couldn’t find the answer she had wished from the filly and the more she waited for it, the more disquiet befell her.
It was strange, there was no obvious reason for Pumpkin to have burst out in tears with such intensity. Yet the more Fluttershy wondered about it, the more did she get the feeling that this was the obvious reason. What was not there was the answer. Yet what was it?
“Mean.”
Fluttershy blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Mean,” repeated Pumpkin in her best matter-of-factly-tone. For another moment Fluttershy looked at the filly without understanding anything, but then realization lit up her face. Of course, Pound must have been mean to her! So that’s what it has been!
Ignoring that she felt way too much relief about solving this riddle, she turned to Pound and mustered him sternly. “Pound Cake, it’s not nice to bully your sister. You can’t just do whatever you want, you must be responsible—”
“No,” Pumpkin shook her head as Fluttershy turned to her, puzzledly looking at her, “mean!”
This time, there was urgency in her voice, a sensation that felt very alien in such a young foal’s speech. It was almost kind of haunting. Uneasy, Fluttershy rustled her feathers, the disquiet from before slowly creeping back up on her while she looked deeply into Pumpkin’s eyes who remained motionless, as if she was trying to tell her something...
“Hungry!” A thunder clap couldn’t have scared the cream-colored mare more. Violently her body twitched as soon as the word was spoken and even a little yelp escaped her. Shivering from tension of fright, Fluttershy turned her head to Pound, who by now didn’t seem tired anymore at all. “Wh-what?”
“Hungry!” Pumpkin now joined in. It took another moment for Fluttershy until she finally recognized these exclamations as the demands for food they were. Oddly enough, the sight of these two foals jumping up and down inside their baby crib, Pound buzzing his wings excitedly in addition, and saying “Hungry! Hungry!” as fast in succession as their mouths and tongues allowed them to calmed Fluttershy somewhat, eliciting an amused giggle from her.
“Alright, alright, calm down first,” said Fluttershy, getting the two of them barely to sit still. “I will go and get your mother, but you have to promise me you will be very quiet and won’t do anything. Do you understand me?” Her smile briefly vanished and a stern expression took its place as she looked each of them deep into the eye, not relenting until she got an obedient nod from each of them.
As soon as this was accomplished, the smile returned instantly and Fluttershy gave a satisfied nod. “Good. I’ll be gone now, but stay put. I’ll soon be back.”
When she got one more nod from the two foals, Fluttershy nodded herself a second time, turned around and made her way back to the shop part of the house. Another chuckle escaped the yellow pegasus as she thought about the twins of the Cakes. They might be a hassle to watch as a foal-sitter and being a parent surely couldn’t be a walk in the park, but nonetheless these two foals were just too adorable to not like them. Though the way Pumpkin had acted had been rather strange.
A more serious note took hold of Fluttershy’s expression as she once more thought about Pumpkin’s very cryptic reason. “Mean...” well, there was one pony she could definitely fit into the ‘mean’-category of ponies, but he could hardly be the reason for Pumpkin’s cries. He wasn’t even near the Sugarcube Corner at this very moment—
“Miss Fluttershy?”
Curiosity made Fluttershy raise her head and was immediately replaced by disbelief as she found herself face to face with the one stallion she had believed to be the unlikeliest being to ever appear in this bakery. “M-Magister Stone Quill?”
“It’s Swift Wing, actually.” Fluttershy blinked and then gave the white guardspony a sheepish smile. Swift Wing, who stood at the entrance with Moonbeam, returned the smile, but there was still a somewhat sulky streak around his eyes. Having to remind ponies of his name was getting rather tiresome.
Fluttershy turned around again to look towards the actual Stone Quill, who stood at the counter and was talking with Mrs. Cake.
“I see,” he said, his expression not visible for Fluttershy. “That is unfortunate. When would I be able to speak to her?”
“To be honest, I’m not quite sure,” Mrs. Cake answered. “We’d like to take our time, just to be on the safe side— oh, Fluttershy! Is everything alright?”
Fluttershy would’ve preferred to stay quietly in the background. Nonetheless, she gave Mrs. Cake a friendly smile and nodded, evading any kind of glance in Stone Quill’s direction. “They’re fine now, just hungry.”
Mrs. Cake gave a relieved sigh and nodded, thought about it briefly, and then gave another sigh, this time of resignation. “I see. Guess we can’t wait any longer then…” She turned to Stone Quill. “Please wait here. It’s a bit risky, but we’ll try to wake Pinkie up.”
“I see,” Stone Quill replied. Mrs. Cake only nodded gravely in response and then disappeared through the swinging doors, leaving Fluttershy alone with the elder unicorn.
Immediately an uncomfortable silence spread between the two of them. Fluttershy honestly preferred quiet over any words she could exchange with Stone Quill, so she kept on staring straight ahead.
Stone Quill, however, wasn’t interested in silence. “Miss Fluttershy. Here for Miss Pie too, I assume?” Fluttershy suppressed the urge to press her ears against her head and just nodded in response. If her silence bothered Stone Quill, he didn’t show it in his voice. “I take from your conversation with Mrs. Cake that you looked after her foals. Do you do this often?”
The question puzzled Fluttershy, but she answered anyway by shaking her head. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Stone Quill’s head slowly go up and down in an understanding nod. “I see.”
A brief flicker of hope dared to light up in Fluttershy’s chest, that her interaction with this intimidating stallion would now come to an end, but it met it’s quick demise when Stone Quill rose his voice again. “The Cakes must really trust you. Do they trust the other Bearers just as much?”
Once again puzzlement filled Fluttershy’s head, though much more intensive this time. Why was Stone Quill so interested in this? Yet Fluttershy answered the question, nodding once more. For a moment there was silence again between the two of them.
“Why?” It was only one word. Yet it was so unexpected, so confusing in its context, that Fluttershy couldn’t help but look at Stone Quill in surprise and bewilderment. As she met his gaze, however, Fluttershy realized that there was something else off. He was still the same elder unicorn they had met at the train station, but something in his eyes was… different. It was no longer the expression of a haughty scholar, there was something more in it. Something terrifying.
“Why do you trust each other? How does she do it?” he asked. Fluttershy was frozen in place. Stone Quill’s gaze bound her to the very spot she stood on, no less effective as if he had clad her in iron chains. His eyes drilled themselves into hers, the demanding fire inside them ever burning brighter. Fluttershy’s mind was dominated by thoughts of flight, finding the only possibility in answering his question. Yet how could she answer something she did not even understand? Her mouth tried to desperately form words that could ensure her freedom, grasping at straws. “I…”
“Well, that sure was weird!”
In an instant, the spell was broken and Fluttershy was freed from Stone Quill’s hypnotizing gaze, the elder unicorn once more only a magister from Canterlot, the very moment Pinkie Pie darted through the swinging doors and illuminated the room with her grin. “Oh hey Fluttershy, you’re here too?”
The next thing Fluttershy knew, Pinkie just popped up beside her and tackled her with a lariat disguised as a much too enthusiastic hug, taking what precious little air the yellow pegasus had left. Nonetheless, Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile, although she also had to gasp uncontrollably. “Pin... kie? You’re… alright?” She wheezed, which Pinkie answered with a big, affirmative nod.
“Of course I am! I just had to take a little time-out for thinking, you know? And since I had to think a lot, I had to stop everything else for a while! Except my heart, of course, now that would be just silly!” While Pinkie laughed heartily at this notion, Fluttershy still couldn’t help but stare blankly at her, still mystified at how Pinkie could’ve recovered so quickly from whatever state she had been in.
One certain pony had considerably less difficulties with accepting this mystery cure. “Miss Pie?” Stone Quill asked.
For a while Pinkie just kept on laughing, until she realized that this entirely alien address was directed at her. Her mouth closed and her eyes widely opened in wonder as she turned around to see Stone Quill, who somehow managed to look annoyed and glad to finally progress at the same time.
“Who, me?” Pinkie wondered, pointing at herself with one forehoof.
“Indeed you, Miss Pie. There’s something I’d—”
“Oh don’t call me ‘Miss Pie’, silly!” interrupted Pinkie the magister with a giggle. “just call me Pinkie! Everypony does that!”
“I’m sure they do, Miss Pie, but what I need right—”
“Ah!” interrupted Pinkie with a raised hoof. “You did it again! It’s ‘Pinkie’, not ‘Miss Pie’.”
“Miss Pie, I really don’t—”
“Gee, you’re stubborn as a mule. Which is funny, ‘cause the last time I met somepony that stubborn he actually was a mule. His name is Cranky and he...” While Pinkie lost herself in recounting the happenings between her and Cranky, ignoring every single attempt of Stone Quill to redirect the conversation, Fluttershy used being free of either’s attention to sneak up to the counter, where Mrs. Cake stood with an amused smile, watching the one-sided talk between the elder unicorn and the pink mare.
“How did you—” began Fluttershy, but Mrs. Cake already knew her question. “How did we wake up Pinkie so quick?” Fluttershy nodded.
“Simple, really. We used coffee.”
“Coffee?” Fluttershy asked disbelievingly.
“It’s our last resort when it comes to Pinkie. It has been proven effective so far, but it can also be catastrophic if we use just a drop too much. That’s why we usually take some extra time to make sure we give her the correct dosage. Last thing anypony wants is Pinkie on caffeine.”
Fluttershy silently agreed. The sheer imagination what Pinkie could unleash if fueled by coffee made her shudder. The cold shiver running down her back was not solely from this image, however, as Fluttershy soon noticed a pair of eyes on her.
A pair of eyes that belonged to Stone Quill, as the yellow pegasus found out when she turned around, seeing the elder unicorn regard her with a mysterious look whenever he looked away from Pinkie. In spite of herself, Fluttershy had to think back to the strange fire that had burned inside of them just a few moments ago and another shiver ran down her spine, this time a bit colder.
“Well, thank you very much for helping Pinkie, but I better go now,” explained Fluttershy to Mrs. Cake who smiled understandingly.
“Of course. You must also be very busy. See you later, darling.”
“Oh, you’re leaving Fluttershy?” The yellow pegasus flinched and then gave a sigh. So much for avoiding attention.
“Uhm, yeah …” she answered as she turned to Pinkie, intently avoiding to look into Stone Quill’s direction.
“I still need to practice a bit with my birds and I should tell Twilight that you’re better...”
“Oh, okay! See you around then!” replied Pinkie in her usual, lively way as she waved Fluttershy good-bye, who gave her a shy smile as answer and then silently and quickly went out of the back door, her gaze directed at the ground to not make eye contact with Stone Quill, who watched her every step to the outside.
As soon as the door closed behind the yellow pegasus, the elder unicorn turned back towards Pinkie, his slight irritation now turned into a very noticeable irritation.
“Miss Pie, as I was trying to tell you-” he began, but again Pinkie Pie cut him off.
“Still with the ‘Miss Pie’! C’mon, why don’t you try saying ‘Pinkie’ at least once. What could possibly happen?” A big grin adorned Pinkie’s lips as she expectantly looked at Stone Quill. His surly expression spoke volumes of his unwillingness.
“You should really start to hear me out instead of wasting our time on such childish things, Miss Pie,” Stone Quill replied, in a mere moment transforming the big grin into a pout.
“Fine, be that way then,” Pinkie finally gave in, at least for now.
“Since I finally have your cooperation,” the elder unicorn picked up again, almost perfectly hiding the surliness in his voice, “I need to have a look at your documents.”
“My what now?”
Stone Quill closed his eyes and paused briefly. “Your documents. Specifically the list of all the guests coming to Ponyville for the festivities. I need to have a look at them.”
“Really? Why?” Pinkie asked, sounding genuinely interested.
“Because my work as the organiser of the Summer Sun Celebration demands of me to know everything about this," explained Stone Quill, his teeth softly gritted.
Pinkie laughed. “You’re funny. Twilight is already organizing everything! We don’t need two organisers, that’d be just silly!”
“Yes, I begin to notice how silly everything here really is…" Stone Quill murmured when a slight cough turned his attention towards the counter and Mrs. Cake.
“Magister… Stone Quill, was it? If you want you could take a look at the list right now,” the cerulean bakeress explained, prodding a ledger that now lay on top of the counter with her left forehoof.
“Thank you, Mrs. Cake. That would most definitely be easier than the usual route.” He fired a withering side glance at Pinkie, who seemed completely unperturbed at being sidelined so immediately. She just gave Stone Quill another broad grin, who completely ignored it and instead attended the list he so intensely had demanded. Mrs. Cake turned to her apprentice.
“Pinkie, dear, could you take care of the other two fine ponies? Just see if there’s anything they want.”
“Alrighty, chiefess!” Pinkie replied exuberantly, saluting snappy before turning around with one jaunty spin, and hopped towards the two guardponies, humming a cheerful melody. However, just as she arrived at the two, that is after about three or four hops, the pony to the left caught Pinkie’s curiosity and within one further hop she landed directly in front of Moonbeam.
“Hey there!” she greeted the dark-blue pegasus. Moonbeam didn’t even so much as glance at her. Most ponies took a hint from that. Pinkie wasn’t most ponies.
“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue? Which would be really nasty by the way, although also really impossible. I mean how can the cat have your tongue if you still have it? Does the cat always come out and just hold your tongue so you can’t use it to speak when you want to say it? That cat really doesn’t have any hobbies, doesn’t it? Unless all cats are fascinated by tongues, which I can kind of get, because their tongues are really sensitive and if I could, I would swap my tongue too, because I mean they can’t even drink hot milk and that’s just plain mean from the universe to do that to a creature. Could you imagine a life without hot milk? I certainly can’t! Then again I couldn’t imagine my life without a lot of things, for example chimicherries or cherrychangas—”
“Can I help you, Miss Pie?” The soft, melodic voice of Moonbeam cut through Pinkie’s rambling so gentle yet decisive that for a moment even the pink pony herself didn’t notice that she had been interrupted. She just stood there for a brief instant, smiling at Moonbeam until she realized she wasn’t even saying anything.
“Woah, you’re good!” marveled Pinkie, completely oblivious to the far more amazed stare of Swift Wing who could scarcely believe that somepony actually elicited a word from Moonbeam that wasn’t ordered or necessary. “But I’m actually supposed to ask you if I can help you! So, can I get you anything?”
“No thank you. Now, if you’d excuse me…”
“Really?” A sad look crept over Pinkie’s face, but then she gave a sigh. “Well, okay, if that’s what you want… I forgive you.”
Again, Swift Wing saw something he could’ve sworn he would never see: seeing Moonbeam’s expression derail. Yet there he stood, at the other side of the doorframe, while he watched how Moonbeams professional countenance just melted away and gave way for dumbfounded bewilderment as she could do nothing but stare at the pink earth pony who regarded her with a forgiving smile. Only the bizarreness of the situation saved Swift Wing from snickering at his colleague’s expression.
“You… forgive me?” Far more disbelief than inquiry swung in Moonbeam’s voice when she repeated those three words, but Pinkie’s nod wasn’t insecure in the slightest.
“That’s right!” Already completely derailed from Moonbeam’s expectations, this conversation turned even stranger for her when a sad smile appeared on Pinkie’s lips. “So that’s why you don’t have to beat yourself up for what happened at the train station, okay?”
“Oh… oh. Okay...” It was all Moonbeam could manage in her confusion, nodding dumbly to emphasize her understanding of what had happened, although she actually wasn’t quite sure at all if she even remotely knew what kind of a conversation she just had held.
Before any more strange miscommunications could take place, however, an astonished exclamation by Stone Quill took everypony’s attention. “Well, well, what do we have here…”
Pinkie and the two guards turned towards the counter, just in time to see Stone Quill close the ledger and turn to its owner. “Mrs. Cake, I would like to thank you for your cooperation. It has been indeed most helpful.” The cerulean bakeress nodded in affirmation yet seemed unsure what to say.
Thankfully, Stone Quill involuntarily helped her by immediately turning around and heading towards the door with a very brisk pace.
“Moonbeam, Swift Wing, come with me!” he ordered snappily, completely ignoring Pinkie who watched all of it with confusion. Swift Wing was no better, but Moonbeam already stood at attention, pushing her confusion about Pinkie’s words to the back of her head for now.
“Everything alright, Magister?” she inquired. The reaction was something nopony had ever seen before from Stone Quill and immediately wished never to see again: he smiled.
“Quite alright, Moonbeam. I’ve just found out that there is a certain wordsmith in town!”