The Popping Pupil
An MLP Short Story written by DestinyDecade
Chapter 1: An Explosive Curiosity
The sight of Luna’s moon hovering over the night sky shines in the town of Ponyville. Many of the townsfolk are heading off to rest for a new day will soon begin. But not everyone was going in to turn. At a place called Sugarcube Corner, there are two ponies that prefer having fun than getting sleep. For one pony though, it’s a bit different. Snails, a young unicorn pony is the last one out of another party that occurred today. He had fun with a few of his friends chatting it up and dancing. But during the event, something caught his eye. A nearby party guest grabbed one of the balloons that were used for decoration and popped it with its horn. It surprised some of the guests, but for him, it was something more. He was curious seeing the balloon explode like that. He asked many of his friends about it but all it gave him were very little answers. Fortunately when the party ended, he told his friends he would meet up with them later. He had something to do and he wanted to find out for himself. He wanted to know how a balloon popped like that.
He was outside Sugarcube Corner because he forgot something inside there. Sounds of loud explosions are heard inside, followed by chatter and giggles. It’s festive like any normal event although between these two, it’s something more. Hoping to not get any attention, he hides under a table as he sees them clean up.
“Can you get that for me Robbie?” says Pinkie Pie, a pink Earth Pony who directs her partner to a nearby balloon.
“Sure,” replies Rob Stallion, a blue Earth Pony. He’s assisting Pinkie in the cleanup of another party that took place here.
He takes an orange balloon and hands it to Pinkie Pie. She then places the balloon on the floor and then uses her rear to sit on it. Rob notices the balloon not giving way but doesn’t say a word. The balloon suddenly gets bounced on. Pinkie goes up and down bouncing on the balloon. With each bounce, the balloon starts to stretch out and expand. Before long, the bottom part of the balloon bulges out revealing a neck. She keeps on going applying more force into the balloon until suddenly, it let out a loud “bang”. Rob has his ears covered after it popped.
“Wow, that was a loud one,” He tells her, with excitement, “You really brought a lot of big balloons for this party?”
Pinkie nods and says, “Uh huh. I want to make every party be super special and super awesome.”
Her attention is then directed to a nearby balloon behind her. She asks, “Say, want to help me pop this one?”
“Are you sure? That one’s huge?” Rob replies, noticing the size of the balloon.
Catching onto his nervousness, Pinkie taunts, “Aw come on Robbie, are you scared?”
“N-no, not at all. I’m not scared,” He tells her. His face went from scared to confident in seconds.
Pinkie then places the balloon next to him. With a smile on her face, she gives her a hug. Rob does the same, unaware that there’s a balloon in between the two. He didn’t care if she was goading him into it. In his mind, all he cares about was doing whatever Pinkie tells him to. He uses all his strength to hug her and have the balloon in-between them burst. His head is already turning away. The two keep on pushing and hugging each other. Something has to give. Fortunately, it does. After a couple of seconds, the balloon explodes. Shards fly off in different directions. Pinkie giggles from the excitement of that but Rob however, feels a bit of pain. The result hurt him a bit but he shrugs it off.
“See? Told you. You’re no scaredy pony,” Pinkie goes closer to Rob and plants a kiss on his lips.
“I guess you’re right,” He responds, “We still need to clean up because tomorrow’s going to be busy.”
Pinkie suggests, “Why don’t we finish cleaning first and then we can pop the rest of the balloons.”
“Good idea. I’ll get to cleaning while you take them upstairs,” He says.
Pinkie nods and gets to work. Rob meanwhile, takes a nearby broom and starts working on the floor. He gathers all the garbage that is on the party floor and takes it into one spot. Once that’s done, he takes a large black bag and puts all of the junk in there. At least for him it didn’t take that long. Watching all of this from afar, Snails seems pretty amazed but it wants him to ask more questions. Knowing that he may never get a chance until the next one, he heads out and confronts Rob.
“Um, excuse me but… is Pinkie here?” asks Snails.
Rob responds, “Yes, she’s upstairs.” But then he asks Snails, “Wait a minute. Aren’t you supposed to be heading home with your friends? The party’s over.”
Worried, Snails whines, “Sorry boss. I forgot something and I need to get it before I do go home.”
“I see. And Snails?” tells Rob.
“What?” He asks.
“You don’t have to call me that,” He answers, “You and Snips still do this even to this day.”
“Sorry Rob,” He apologizes, “It’s a habit. You’ve done a lot for us but anyway, I need to ask Pinkie something.”
“You can ask me if you want,” Rob tells him, curious, “I’m all ears.”
Taking a chance, Snails does so, “Okay. I want to know… why do balloons pop?”
Hearing it makes Rob wonder the same thing. In the best of his abilities, he answers, “I really don’t know. Why do you ask?”
“I notice you and Pinkie popping them and when I saw it happen, I was pretty surprised. It got me asking. How do you pop balloons anyway?” wonders Snails.
Rob tries to answer but Pinkie comes by out of nowhere surprising them both and saying, “Popping balloons is really easy Snails. There are many different ways how.”
Pinkie then performs a demonstration for him using some leftover balloons from the party, “You can blow them up, you can sit on them, stomp on them, use a sharp object, bite them, hug them. It goes on and on. So many different ways to make balloons go pop pop pop.”
Hearing all of this, Rob turns to Snails and says, “She took the words right out of my mouth kid. Anything you’re interested in?”
Snails then responds, “I want to learn how to pop balloons. I always see you two pop them every party and it got me curious.”
He then turns to Pinkie and asks, “Everypony knows you as the party expert and I want to learn from you. So I want to know. Can you teach me Pinkie? Can you teach me how? Can you teach me why? Can you show me how to pop balloons?”
He spots a red balloon nearby and gets it, “Here, I’ll show you.”
“Uh okay, I guess,” Rob responds, watching. Pinkie does the same.
Snails tries to pop it first by stomping it with his feet. It doesn’t work. He tries hugging it next by using his arms. He squeezes it as hard as he can, using all of his strength. Pinkie notices his determination in trying to pop just one balloon, despite the fact that it wasn’t as big as the others. They see Snails hugging his hardest until he trips on a nearby shard and falls. It has him land on his tush and the balloon heads for a different direction. His face shows tears but it isn’t stopping him. He gets on top and starts bouncing on it.
“Uh Snails?” Rob asks him, but it falls flat on deaf ears.
Rob calls out to him again but nothing. Snails ignored everyone around him. He keeps on bouncing, not caring whether or not he wanted to prove to the two. He can do it. Pinkie heads to Snails and tries snapping him out of it. It catches his attention almost immediately.
“Huh? What?” Snails wonders, turning around and noticing Pinkie in front of him.
Pinkie doesn’t say a word. Rob doesn’t either. He gets off the balloon and looks at her with a guilty expression.
“Did I… did I make you angry?” He asks Pinkie as if he’s ashamed, “If I did, I’m really sorry. I just wanted to know how.”
“No no no,” She disagrees, calming him down, “It’s okay. Look, why don’t I help you pop this one?”
Pinkie grabs the balloon and places it inbetween her and Snails. He looks at her wondering, not saying a word. Rob keeps on watching.
“Okay Snails, hug me as hard as you can. I’ll make sure to do the same okay?” She says, quelling away his worries, “Don’t be afraid. Let me help and it’ll be fun.”
Snails doesn’t say a word. He nods at her, already having his arms around Pinkie. The two hug each other tightly. Snails already gives it his all, hugging Pinkie as hard as possible. She notices Snails giving it his all. He really is determined to learn how. Pinkie decides to show off her strength and with her arms already around him hugs tightly. Rob sees the balloon starting to stretch and bulge out. Snails keeps at it and so does Pinkie putting everything they have until… the balloon lets out a loud “POP”. The resulting bang scares him a bit but Pinkie wasn’t phased by it. In fact, she seems rather happy.
“See? I knew you can do it,” She says, praising him, “You did great!”
“Yeah, thanks,” But hearing it makes Snails a bit bummed, “But that doesn’t make me feel any better. I couldn’t even pop that one by myself.”
“Aw, I’m sorry,” She apologizes, but then has an idea, “Hey, maybe I can teach you how? It’ll be great!”
“Isn’t that what he wanted in the first place Pinkie?” Rob interrupts her.
“Well duh, of course,” Pinkie replies, “You want to know how balloons pop right?”
Snails answers, “Uh huh. Of course I do. I want to learn how. I want to know why they pop in the first place.”
Pinkie giggles and tells him, “Silly, balloons pop because we are the ones that pop them. Besides, popping balloons is really fun and after parties me, Robbie and Gummy always pop them.”
“Really? You do?” He wonders. Rob simply gives Snails a nod, “That’s really cool.”
He then turns to Pinkie and asks her, “So when do I begin? When do we start?”
Pinkie suggests, “How about tomorrow after school? We’ll get you to be the best balloon popper ever. It’s going to be so much fun.”
Hearing this is enough to get Snails very excited. He always wanted to find out and this is going to be his chance. Rob picks up the shards and discards them into the garbage bag. He heads outside to take out the garbage, leaving Pinkie alone with Snails. The young unicorn couldn’t contain his excitement any further. Pinkie smiles as well. She’s happy because she will be helping out someone and in the process makes him smile.
“Just to remind you Snails,” She says, “What you will be going through is tough. It’s not easy being as good as the best party pony out there but I know you have what it takes.”
“Of course,” He responds, confidently, “I want to do this. I want to show everyone I have what it takes… I think.” He then blushes afterwards.
Pinkie then assures, “I’m happy to hear. I do have one last thing to say before we do this tomorrow.”
“Yeah? What?” Snails wonders.
Pinkie tells him with a smile, “Just have fun. That’s all there is to it. Balloon popping is fun and that’s what it should be about. If you have fun, I know you will be the best.”
Seeing this makes him feel really happy. In a show of thanks, Snails gives Pinkie a big hug. Pinkie is taken aback by this sudden show of gratitude. Either way, if it makes Snails happy then she’s happy.
“Okay, so remember, come by tomorrow after school and we’ll begin okay?” She tells him.
Snails nods and says, “Right. I won’t let you down. I can’t wait. I’m so excited.”
“I know you will,” She replies, giggling, “Good night Snails. Hope to see you tomorrow.”
Snails wishes Pinkie good night and heads out of Sugarcube Corner. He sees Rob who has just finished taking out the garbage and waves at him. Rob responds by waving back, smiling mostly because Pinkie has decided to go with teaching him.
Once he’s inside, he says to her, “Guess you decided to go through with it huh?”
“Yep yep yep,” She replies, giggling, “It’s going to be so much fun. I just can’t wait.”
“I’m happy to hear,” He compliments while turning off the lights and closing up shop, “I only hope Snails doesn’t get too carried away with it.”
“Oh don’t worry Robbie, it’ll be great,” Pinkie assures him, but then has an idea up her sleeves, “Hey why don’t you join us? You’ll have just as much fun as Snails will.”
Upon hearing this, Rob declines, “Sorry hon but I’ll pass. I have plans tomorrow.”
Pinkie wonders if he’s lying. She decides to find out, “Really then? Tell me, what plans are they?”
“That’s simple,” He explains, “I have to go to Canterlot tomorrow for an emergency meeting. I don’t know why but I’m needed there.”
“Aw, that’s too bad,” says Pinkie in disappointment, “You’re going to miss out on Snails having lots of fun.”
“Yeah, I know,” But then Rob suggests to Pinkie and says, “Maybe after you help him, we can have a balloon party sometime.”
“Really?” wonders Pinkie, “That’s so great! It’ll be so much fun and we can bring Snails in too. He’s going to be so excited.”
Trying to keep on topic, he tells her, “I’m pleased to hear but anyway, it’s late and I got to wake up early tomorrow.”
“But Robbie, can we at least have some fun?” She pleads to him, with a look that can make anyone feel sorry for.
Seeing this is enough for Rob to give in. Heck, it can make anyone give in. He nods doing so making Pinkie very excited. The two head for their room where all the leftover balloons were saved. Rob closes the door behind him and smiles.
“Alright then, shall we start or what?” He asks him.
“Yep yep yep. I need to get ready for tomorrow. I need practice and you’re my training partner,” She answers. Her last words catch Rob by surprise.
“T-training partner?” He says, in shock.
“Uh huh,” replies Pinkie, becoming jubilant.
Letting off a sigh, he mutters, “Guess it wouldn’t hurt huh? Alright, let’s do it.”
Pinkie cheers and then jumps into the balloon pile nearby. Her hyperactivity is shown at it’s best as she gets into a popping frenzy. Rob sighs but at the same time feels happy seeing her like this. He follows suit and joins in. Pinkie spots him coming and gears up to hug. She does so and that’s where things start off. Giggles and explosions are heard inside that room. The fun that will transpire tomorrow is only the beginning.