//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 (Party Hard & Soft) // Story: Sunshine and Rainshine // by SteamFluttershy //------------------------------// Once again I was awoken by none other than the bright orange-red sun of the morning shining right through the window. It was as if waking up here at any time would be a lovely experience. At first I just laid there awake, just enjoying the morning sun come up. As it went I remembered that I had said that pancakes were next on the list for breakfast. So without further ado I set off to the kitchen once more. I grabbed a medium sized pan out of the cabinet and set it on the stove. I gathered the ingredients for the pancakes and also got two bowls from the cabinet. I decided to add a little extra this time. I was going to make half the batch regular and the other half would be banana pancakes. I found enough bananas in the fruit bowl on top of the table and brought them over to the stove as well. I mixed half of the ingredients together in both bowls and added the bananas to one of the mixes. After some good stirring and waiting for the pan to heat up, I poured some of the mix into the pan and it gave a satisfying sizzle and it smelled good right away. Taking the pancakes away after flipping it until it was done I put it on a warm wooded board and covered it with a dry cloth to keep it nice and warm. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fluttershy was once again peacefully asleep in her bed as always, as the smell of my cooking slowly made its way up the stairs and into her room once more. It crept past her muzzle and she (sleep) smelled it, as if she were in a fantasy world. This slowly but surely woke her up. She slowly opened her eyes and realized that it was probably me again making her breakfast. As she laid there for a couple of minutes just enjoying the smell she thought: He’s so sweet and kind to me. Making me breakfast every morning and helping me with my work. Nopony has ever been this kind to me. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much spare time before he came along. Fluttershy decided it was time to get up and see what I was cooking up this time. She got up and trotted over to her dresser and took her brush with a wing to brush out her morning hair. Afterwards she slowly trotted downstairs, round the corner, and into the kitchen just in time to see me finish cooking. “Good morning Fluttershy, I just finished making you breakfast again” I cheerfully greeted her as she came in. “Good morning Brendan and thank you again for doing this again.” Fluttershy replied with a sweet small smile. Fluttershy took a seat at the table again, as I walked over to the cupboard to grab the syrup. I came back and put it on the table and walked over to the counter and took the warm wooden board with the, in dry cloth covered, pancakes. “What did you make this time?” Fluttershy asked. “Pancakes, remember? I said that I’d make them next since you don’t know them.” I reminded her. “Oh yeah, that’s right.” She recalled. “I’d really like to try them” Without further ado, I took the dry cloth off of the pancakes. Fluttershy’s eyes just widened, as they were a lot bigger than expected. And I don’t know about her, but in my mouth it was starting to water up once more. “There, now I made two types right here.” I pointed out. “The right stack is regular and the left one has bananas in it, and if you want you can put some syrup on top too. Which do you want, Fluttershy?” “Oh, umm, I’ll try the regular first please, thank you.” I scooped up two regulars with a fork and shot them onto her plate. “There you go Fluttershy. Would you like some syrup on that?” “Oh, yeah please.” She replied. I grabbed the bottle of syrup and poured some onto the pancakes just perfectly. “There you go Fluttershy. Enjoy!” I scooped up some banana ones for myself and put some syrup on them too, as I waited and watched for Fluttershy to take the first bite. Fluttershy delicately cut off a piece, took it and put it in her mouth and chewed on it. “Oh, these are delicious!” She exclaimed. “Glad to hear you like them.” I said starting on my own serving. After finishing her first batch she asked for the banana ones. I scooped and syruped them up for her again, and she found these to be even better with the slices of banana in them. It wasn’t long before both of the stacks were gone and we both were satisfied at a good breakfast. I took the dishes over to the sink again and started doing the dishes when Fluttershy came up to me and look at me with those turquoise eyes of her again. “Thanks again for breakfast.” She said, and she gave me another hug. This time though, I was prepared and I hugged her back equally. SHE’S STILL SOOOOO SOFT! This time though we hugged way longer than normal, like we were waiting for one of us to break it instead of ourselves. Funny enough, we both let go at the same time and just looked each other in the eye. I finally broke the silence. “Okay then, I’ll get the dishes done and you can start feeding the animals again, and when I’m done I’ll help you again, Okay?” “O-okay, a-are you sure you want to help me again? I mean you’ve already done so much for me.” She asked “Nonsense Fluttershy, I’d be more than happy to help!” I happily told her. Fluttershy just gave a sweet little smile and went to feed the animals while I did the dishes. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ After I finished doing the dishes I went over to help Fluttershy with feeding the animals. This time though, everything went a lot smoother. The animals have gotten used to me being the one that could feed them too. As per usual, we both finished very early ‘cause of my help. We were both just sitting on the couch silently. “So,” I started. “Do you have anything else to do now that we’re finished?” I asked. “Umm, I can’t think of anything right now. I might think of something later.” She replied. “Well then, I think we could just sit here and relax then. Judging by the amount of work you usually have to do, you deserve it.” Fluttershy smiled and slowly closed her eyes and released a sigh of relaxation. Falling back onto the headrest of the couch she turned her head to me and opened her eyes, showing me their gleaming turquoise color. “Thank you for helping me so often. It feels good to be able to take things easy for once and to have time to just relax.” “Not a problem Fluttershy! As long as it makes you feel good.” I replied. She closed her eyes once more and just rested against the couch. I soon followed suit as it seemed like a good idea. We both just rested there on the couch. The only noise being made was the ticking of the clock on the fireplace’s frame. After a little while I felt a certain weight fall onto my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw that it was Fluttershy. She had fallen asleep and her head had fallen onto my shoulder. She had a light, sweet smile on her lips, her chest slowly rising and then falling again. All I could do was smile at the sight. After all the work she usually does she definitely deserves some extra sleep, it’ll do her good. I thought. I just stayed there leaving her head on my shoulder. To be perfectly honest; it felt really nice, to have someone like her resting on me. I never thought I’d be used for a pillow. I closed my eyes, deciding to join her. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ I opened my eyes, feeling good as new again. The first thing I did was take notice of the time. It was 3:15PM. I only slept for about 2 hours, not bad. Fluttershy was now curled up next to me on the couch, still sleeping peacefully. I decided to stretch my muscles which resulted in a few satisfying pops from some bones. As I stretched, Fluttershy was beginning to stir and she slowly woke up. Uncurling herself and stretching her wings she opened her eyes. “Good afternoon.” I greeted her. “Afternoon.” She smiled back. “Did you sleep well?” I asked. “Yes, I’ve never really gotten the chance to do something like this before, it feels good.” She replied. “Good.” I said. She looked over at the clock and then it hit her. “Oh, that was it!” She realized. “What?” I asked. “I still have to go to the market to get some more food and supplies.” “Oh, well, until when is it open?” I asked again. “Until six ‘o’ clock” She said. “Oh! We still have three hours left. That should be enough time.” I said. “That’s right.” She said. “Since we don’t have anything to do anymore, why don’t we go now? I think I could use a good stretch.” I suggested. “Yes, that seems like a good idea. I’ll go get my saddlebags.” She said, and then left the couch to get her saddlebags. She soon returned with her light yellow saddlebags with butterfly clippings. “Ready?” I asked. “All done.” She said. “Alright then.” I walked over to the door and held it open for her again, resulting in another ‘Thank You’ from the shy butter yellow mare. Closing the door behind me, I walked over to Fluttershy and we both walked over to Ponyville. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ “And that’s how I figured out my special talent was taking care of animals.” Fluttershy concluded. Fluttershy had been telling me the story of how she had earned her cutie mark since I brought up the question shortly after we left. “That’s a very interesting story. It must have felt like an entire adventure, didn’t it?” “Yes, it did. It was one of the scariest, and at the same time, one of the happiest moments of my life.” She said, looking back at the time. “That and you overcame one of your fears. That’s like a double accomplishment.” I added. “Yeah, I guess it was.” She said smiling. By this time we had arrived at the marked square. The only thing that was off was the lack of ponies. Only a few were still out and the owners were still there. “Hmm, looks like today is a quiet day.” I concluded. “That’s what it seems like.” She agreed. “So, what do we need?” I asked. “Umm…” She murmured while looking in her saddlebag for a small list. “A bag of grapes, a bag of cherries, a bag of tomatoes, cucumbers, a few stocks of celery and a bag of oranges.” “Seems good.” I said. “There’s the tomato stand.” I said, pointing to a stand with a tomato sight on top. We both walked up to the stand and Fluttershy placed the order. “U-umm, I’d like a bag of tomatoes please.” She asked. “That’ll be three bits then!” The mare behind the counter said. “Oh.” Fluttershy replied. “But yesterday they were only two.” “May be, but today isn’t yesterday. Today they’re three.” The mare replied rather harshly. So they haggle here over the prices eh? Thus far I can’t see Fluttershy do that and she’d end up getting ripped off tons of times. Let me see if I can do anything about this. I thought as Fluttershy took out three bits and placed them on the counter. Before the mare could grab them however, I had my hand over them. “Hey! What gives?” The mare said. “I think that charging three bits for a bag of tomatoes is outrageous. I say she only pays two bits!” I said, taking away one. “No! They’re three bits!” She said shoving it back again. “And I say she only pays two!” “Three!” “Two!” “Three!” “Two!” Fluttershy just stood there, watching the coin going back and forth as I haggled with the owner. Suddenly I remembered something I had seen on television back at home on Loony Tunes. It was a ridiculous idea, but I wanted to see if it worked nonetheless. “Three!” The mare yelled pulling the coin back again. “Three!” I yelled taking the coin and pushing it back again on the other side. “Two!” The mare yelled pushing the coin away. “Three!” I yelled pushing the coin back again. “Two!” She yelled again. Hahahaha! I can’t believe it actually worked, now for the final bid to end this! I mentally laughed. “I say it’s three bits or nothing!” I yelled. “Two bits and that’s my final offer!” She yelled. “Okay have it your way.” I casually said taking the one bit back and the bag of tomatoes and walking away. She was about to pick up the two bits when she realized what had just transpired and yelled; “Hey!” All I could do was snicker, and I walked over to Fluttershy. “There you go Fluttershy!” I said placing the bag in one of the saddlebags. “I just saved you a bit.” I said as I flicked the coin over right into her bit-bag. Fluttershy just looked at me as if I was some kind of magician. “What?” “H-how did you do that?” “Just keep haggling about the price until they break, or try to use a simple mind trick.” I said, chuckling the last part. Fluttershy smiled at me, walked up over to me and gave me a hug. “Thank you.” She said. Yup, she’s still soft. “No problem Fluttershy.” I said. “I didn’t want you to get ripped off.” “Umm, d-do you think you could help me out with the other too?” She asked. “Of course, I actually had fun doing that!” We broke the hug and went over to the next stand: Grapes. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Oh geez, did you see that stallion's face when he realized that he had just lowered his price by 10 bits?! He was really desperate right there!” I laughed as we made our way back to Fluttershy’s cottage. “Oh yeah, and that one that was taking away the bits, just because you said nothing at all!” Fluttershy said, barely being able to stand upright. “How did you learn those tricks?” “Well, there’s this person back in my world that is very good at things like this, and he gave classes on how to do it, and I might have taken it.” I snickered. Fluttershy took her bit bag and started counting what she had left. “Oh my, you saved me over 50 bits! This is amazing! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She shouted jumping up to me and hugging my mid-section. I hugged her back once again telling her that it was no big deal at all. “I-I have to do something in return, you’ve done so much for me now!” She told me. “Now you don’t have to.” I replied. “Oh please let me, please?!” I had to let her have it once by now. “Okay then, but just this one time.” “Oh great!” She exclaimed. “How about I take us to Sugarcube Corner? You’ve saved me more than enough to get us something to eat!” “I’d be delighted to go with you.” I replied. Fluttershy was beaming, skipping alongside me as we headed towards to cottage. Once we came back Fluttershy dropped her saddlebags on the couch and we headed out again to Sugarcube Corner. As we were walking back again I noticed that Fluttershy was walking a lot closer to my side, her mane slightly brushing against my arm as we walked. I turned and looked at her. She had a heartbreaking smile on her face, as if she were in dreamland. Also I noticed the slightest shade of red on her cheeks as we continued. I looked back in front of me, catching my own face becoming warm. I had a nice feeling as I looked at her, something I hadn’t had in a long time. We finally came into town and Fluttershy directed us to Sugarcube Corner. As we arrived however, something was off, besides the lights inside the store. It was very quiet in the streets, nopony in sight. I thought they were used to a human walking around in town by now. I thought. Nevertheless, we walked up to the door and I opened it for Fluttershy, who gracefully took the offer. I walked in after her and all there was was a dark room. Fluttershy was about to ask what was going on and then… SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!! Fluttershy and I both jumped in fright at the sudden change in color and sound, until we both realized it was a party! Out of the blue (or should I say pink) came Pinkie Pie right up into my face. Congratulations Brendan! She screamed. Welcome to you ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party! There are games and presents and cookies and cupcakes and punch and…” Before she could continue there was a blue hoof stuck in her mouth. “What she means to say is that she gave you a surprise party for coming to Ponyville, like she does with everypony new.” Dash told me. “Mmmmhmmm” Pinkie hummed through the blue hoof in her mouth. “Wow, a surprise party for me?! Pinkie, you shouldn’t have.” “Yes I should have!” She started. “Otherwise you’d be the only one not to get one and then you could’ve become sad and as your friend I don’t want to see you sad and…” She was cut off once more by the blue hoof. “Pinkie, I think he gets it.” Rainbow deadpanned. “Okie dokie lokie!” She said bouncing away. I don’t think I’ll ever understand that mare. I looked around the room and noticed that just about all of Ponyville was at this party. I noticed the 3 others standing by a table with some punch. I decided to get some for me and Fluttershy and join them. “You want some punch Fluttershy?” “Oh, yes please, i-if that’s okay with you…” Good enough. I walked over to the punch bowl and grabbed two cups and filled them to the brim. I then walked over to the table and placed one cup by Fluttershy who mouthed a ‘thanks’ and took a sip of my own. “So,” Twilight started. “How do you like the party?” “It’s just absolutely awesome! Does she always throw parties like this for everypony?” I asked. “Yup, she’ll just about use any excuse she can use just to get a new party a goin’.” Applejack answered. “Well she sure does a good job at it too!” “I wouldn’t know what we would do without Pinkie.” Twilight said. “Oh, Brendan,” Rarity began. “I believe I have something for you.” She levitated a white bag from behind her and flew it over to me. “Consider it your welcome gift.” I took the bag and looked inside for its contents. Inside were two pairs of regular pants that looked like jeans, but they were made of some kind of soft fabric and were stitched in a different way. One was in a traditional blue and the other was light beige. Amongst the pants were some shirts too. One was white and short sleeved and the other was dark blue and long sleeved. Both were made from a lighter fabric than the pants but felt like they would be comfortable nonetheless. At the very bottom was the big prize; a dashing black tuxedo, hat, shoes and everything to go with it. I was baffled at the sight of it. “Oh, wow, Rarity, this is amazing!” “Why thank you, I did put my best effort into it after all.” “Thanks so much Rarity!” I leaned over to her and hugged her shortly which she returned. “Now make sure that suit stays in proper condition. I wouldn’t want to do it all over again, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to ruin it either.” “Sure thing, will do, Rarity! Well then, were at a party aren’t we? So let’s get this party started!” _________________________________________________________________________________________________ The party went on into the late night and I was having the best of times. Dancing weirdly (since I don’t really know how to do it properly, but hey, just about everypony here didn’t), enjoying the confectioneries mostly. All was great fun, but it was about to get better. A slightly (it looked like to me) tipsy Rainbow Dash ‘trotted’ over to me with a mug in her hoof. “Hey *hic* Brendan, here try *hic* shome of thish. It’ll *hic* do ya good!” Now I’m not much of a drinker, but a little alcohol from time to time wouldn’t hurt anything. I took the mug from her hoof as she just watched me, and put it up to my mouth. Instead of the bitter taste of the alcohol hitting my tongue like I expected, I was greeted with a rather sweet and fruity taste. It took some time to realize that this was neither beer nor wine nor cider. It was just plain old fruit juice! Ponies here get drunk on fruit juice?! As the fruit lover that I am my first reaction was to go on and gulp it all down, savoring the taste. And so I did. The mug was empty within seconds. “Aaahhh, now that’s delicious!” Rainbow just stared at me like I’d preformed a miracle. “H-how did you do that?!” She asked in surprise. “Umm, it’s just plain old fruit juice ya know” I explained. “Yeah, one of the strongest types of fruit juice around too!” She added. “Well, back at home fruit juice is a regular beverage; we don’t get drunk from it.” I explained. When she heard this she put a toothy grin on her face and took me by my hand. “Where’re we going?” I asked. “To Berry Punch, and you’re gonna have a drinking contest with her.” I was about to heavily retaliate at this, but then I realized; its fruit juice… What’s it gonna do to me. This was gonna be fun. We arrived at a table that had a whole lot of, what I could only describe as, fruit shots on it. Like whiskey shots, but then with ‘strong’ fruit juice. “Ah, so you’re the new human in town. Name’s Berry Punch, nice to meet you.” “Brendan. Nice to meet you too!” “This guy here wants to challenge you to a drinking contest, Berry!” Rainbow said. “Aha, wanting to play with the big stallions already! Well I never back away from a drinking challenge.” She leaned over. “Just so ya know, I’m the drinking champion of this town.” She whispered. “We’ll see about that.” I whispered back. She just gave a smug grin and said; “The rules are simple, the one who falls down first loses.” “Obviously.” I stated. Both of us grabbed hold of a cup while two others came over; one to keep the score and one to start us and announce the winner. “On your marks,” The crowd gathered round. “Get set, DRINK!” Both of us drank the first cup quickly making sure to stay in sync and waiting for the other to finish before taking the next one, and the next, and the next. Only two minutes or so had passed and we were both on 16 cups. Berry was looking rather drowsy whilst I remained unaffected. “Shhho, how can yoooooooooou dooooo shat?” Berry slurred. “I don’t know, special human ability maybe?” I joked. It was just regular fruit punch, so it didn’t make any difference at all. As soon as we both drank our 17th cup, Berry seemed mesmerized for a couple of seconds, everyone watching with anticipation. And then, she simply toppled over. The ponies cheered as I claimed the title of winner. (Even though I might have been cheating.) Hehe, I could make a living off of this if I were to place bets on myself, hehe. The remainder of the night was spent talking to various ponies, who had various questions as well. It wasn’t until midnight the Fluttershy and I were walking back to her cottage. “How did you do that?” She asked. “Do what?” “Drink all of that punch and are still able to walk straight.” “Oh that, well, it was only fruit punch. It’s a regular drink back in my world, everyone drinks it. We, unlike you ponies apparently, don’t get drunk when we drink it.” I answered. “Really? I never thought that was possible.” She said. “Well it is.” We were nearing the forest when; *GURGLE* I quickly grabbed my stomach, Fluttershy being startled at the sound. That punch was about to take its toll on me. “Excuse me for one quick second.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________ After taking a rather long time for such a small business we were back in Fluttershy’s cottage, Fluttershy still giggling. “What’s so funny? It’s still about that?” “It’s just funny the way you walked away so quickly behind that tree. You shouldn’t have drunk so much.” “Well it wasn’t THAT bad.” Fluttershy finally calmed down and let out a rather cute yawn. I smiled. “I think we should both head off to bed, or couch in my case.” “Yes, it has been a long night. Good night, see you tomorrow.” She wished. “You too, Fluttershy.” With that, Fluttershy headed upstairs to bed, while I just plopped down on the couch, not caring if I still had clothes on. I was just THAT tired. If this keeps up every day, I’m not gonna have an ounce of strength left soon enough. And with that, I was out like a light.