//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Helping Hoof // Story: Lost // by Cyanjames2819 //------------------------------// "So… ye' don't know what your special talent is?" Applebloom said to Playtime. The four fillies were in their tree house, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were sitting in a half circle, looking at the new white filly known as Playtime. Playtime nodded, "Uh-huh." "Well then! We could help ye' with that! So, what should we do with her?" Applebloom said with the rest of the CMC's and started to ponder. "How about we try and figure out what her cutie mark is?" Sweetie Belle looked at the cutie mark from Playtime's left side. "Well, it looks like a blue heart with a smiley face." Scootaloo looked at Playtime's cutie mark to her right. "Maybe it got somethin' to do what she loves to do?" Applebloom nudges Scootaloo to get a better look. "Yeah! Okay, what do you like to do, Playtime?" Sweetie Belle said and had a wide smile as she looked at the other white filly. "Um, I like having fun." she answered in a quiet tone and rubbed her left elbow. "Okay, Crusaders! Let's go have fun!" Applebloom yelled and the other two yelled, "Yeah!" and threw one of their fore hoofs in the air. Playtime was somewhat startled by their sudden reaction and inched away from them. The crusaders then picked her up on their backs and started going out the club house. "Okay, where should we go first?" Applebloom asked, as the three started going down the stairs with Playtime still on their backs. "We go to the only pony that IS the definition of Fun!" Scootaloo said. "Pinkie Pie!" By the halfway point, they finally let Playtime down and continued going towards Sugar Cube Corner. The town residents were a little wary now and practically looked around their surroundings every minute or so. Although there were royal guards keeping an eye out at the edges of the town and even Pegasi guards in the sky, the ponies were playing it safe and kept an eye out just in case. The crusaders and Playtime tried to have a stare down with one of the guards and even trying to get them smiling or laughing, but nothing worked. "That was a big waste of time," Scootaloo said, slightly frowning from her defeat with the royal guard. "Well… we tried," Applebloom said and kept a neutral expression. Playtime looked to her left, and saw a pony struggle getting her basket of vegetables on a cart. She quickly went over to her, "Want help?" she asked her with a smile. The mare looked at her, a little confused, "What? Your too small," she looked closer at Playtime. "Yes, I am small, but let me try!" she said, still keeping the smile. "Well, fin then," the mare stepped aside and gestured to the basket, "Knock yourself out." Nodded and went up to the full basket. She easily lifted it up with her muzzle, used her fore hooves to lift the rest and slides the whole thing on the cart. "There you go!" she faced the mare with a smile. The mare had wide eyes with a gapping jaw. She finally spoke up after a moment of awe and amazement, "Well… thank you very much, dear," she went to her saddlebag nearby and took out two bits. She went right back to the pure white, smiling filly, "Here, take these bits, for helping me." she gave them to her. "Um… thanks?" Playtime looked at the gold bits on her hoof. She looked up at the mare; she nodded happily at her and went up front of her cart to get ready to go. The crusaders went up to her, "Wow! You got two bits!" Scootaloo said and looked at Playtime's bits on hoof. "What are you going to do with them!?" Sweetie Belle asked and looked at her. "I don't know…" she looked at herself and wondered where to put her two bits. She then thought of her headband, reached up and tuckered in her bits under her headband. After that, they reached the Sugar Cube Corner and the crusaders expected the place to be somewhat decimated by the rampage. Surprisingly to them, the building was still standing and clean. "Hi, Girls!" they all jumped in surprise as Pinkie came out behind them. "Oh, sorry," she went up front, "Sooo… what'cha do'win?" she looked at them with a bright smile. "We were wondering if you can help us find out what Playtime's cutie mark is." Sweetie Belle pointed at Playtime's flanks. "Oh, Goody! It's going to be so much fun!" she pulled in the fillies like a little group meeting, "So, what are we doing?" she asked them. "Uhhh… teach Playtime how to give a pony a good time?" Applebloom answered. "She already knows how to do That. What else do you got?" Pinkie said. "Um, planning any parties?" Sweetie asked. "Of course! It's the baby Cake's birthdays!" Pinkie started pushing the four in the bakery. "I need the whole place decorated, but my party cannon's not feeling good." They all got in and saw the cannon had a blanket on and a teddy bear propped to its side. Pinkie then went up beside her cannon and hugged it, "There, there, big boy. Aunty, Pinkie, will take good care of you." She then kissed the emotionless object like it was a little child. The four fillies looked at her weirdly and Applebloom decided to break the silence, "Uh, so ye' need help with the decorations?" she asked the mare, still hugging the cannon lovingly. "Yup!" she then bolted away somewhere in the building and came back carrying rolls of ribbon, tubes of confetti shooters, deflated balloons and everything else you need for a great party. The fillies went up to her and started examining the decorations, "How long do we have?" Scootaloo asked as she picked up one of the tubes and looked at the exit point with one eye. "Half an hour" Pinkie answered simply and grabbed a pink table mat that was covered with balloons and 'Happy Birthday!' signs. "What!" the crusaders, except Playtime, yelled at once. Pinkie went up to a nicely made table with a glass flower pot on top. She drops the mat she carried and grabbed onto the mat on the table with her teeth. Then with a swift swing of her head, the mat was off the table and the pot still stood, undisturbed. Pinkie looked at the flower pot, "That wasn't supposed to happen." She then kicked the vase off the table without a care in the world. Scootaloo swiftly jumped and caught the vase before it hit the floor and let a sigh of relief. She then looked at Pinkie, who was covering up the table with a new mat. "What the heck, Pinkie!" Scootaloo stood up and put the vast on the table gently. Pinkie giggled, "You silly little filly, its fake!" Pinkie bounced around the table and knocked the vast off the table again and hit the floor with a light thud, "See. Nice catch though, Scoots!" she rubbed the filly's head. "Okay! Sweetie, ye' cover up the tables. Scoot, ye' set up the games," Applebloom then looked at Playtime, "Ye' and me are putting up the rest of the decorations." They all saluted and started doing their jobs. Pinkie then went in the kitchen to finish up the cake and cupcakes for the party. Applebloom grabbed a roll of rainbow ribbon and looked around the room and saw the problem of getting the thing hanging. She spat out the roll, "Great, we can't hang up the ribbons." she started looking around for a solution, but suddenly, she felt something lifting her up and looked down to see Playtime smiling up at her. Playtime grabbed the roll and threw it up to her, "I got ye'!" she then bounced on over to the walls. Playtime looked at Applebloom on her back, "How are we going to stick it up there though?" she asked her. Applebloom looked at the roll and unrolled a bit of it to find out the inner part of the ribbon was sticky. "It's sticky. It should hold up." she said to her. "Get ready!" Playtime jumped up high. Applebloom quickly stuck the end of the ribbon on the wall and came back down. With that, they continued doing that all around the walls. After that, Playtime even crisscrossed the ribbons on the high roof. Scootaloo tried to set up the poster for pin the tail on a pony, but couldn't reach the top. The poster then flopped over and covered up her head. She sighed and almost gave up, but then felt gravity going against her. She looked down and saw she was on top of Playtime's head, smiling up at her. "Thanks!" Scootaloo looked up and saw she was at the top of the poster and finally set up the thing. After that, they both high hoofed each other. She then helped Sweetie Belle setting up the tables with balloons and confetti. Playtime started filling up balloons with a helium tank, Sweetie Belle tied up colored strings to them, and the other two went around the room, putting them in place. Playtime then filled up the last two and looked around to see everything was in place and ready for a party. She then looked at the last two and hatched an idea to kill time. "Hey, Apllbloom, Scootaloo! Get over here!" she waved them over. She then gave them the other balloon, "Okay, breath in half of the helium in the balloon and when I tap my hoof, talk. Okay?" she said to the three and they all nodded. Playtime and Applebloom were the first to breath in the helium and gave the rest to the other two. The two held their breaths, as they finished breathing what's left of the helium in the balloons; Playtime tapped her hoof on the floor. "So, what's up, Crusaders?" Playtime's voice was high pitched and as squeaky as a mouse. The rest of the crusaders started busting out laughing on the floor in their squeaky voices and Playtime joined in. "They're dooone! 'Siiiiiiigh!" Pinkie sighed dramatically as she saw the decorated room. She started bouncing around with glee, "It looks so awesome! They're going to love it!" she then looked at the fillies laughing on the floor with squeaky voices. She went up to them, "Oh! Oh! Did somepony make a joke! I wanna hear!" she then sat down on the floor, waiting for the joke to come up. "Hey! Hey! Why did Scootaloo cross the road!?" Applebloom said in her high pitched voice. They all looked at her for a moment, and then started laughing out loud, Pinkie snorting a couple of times. After at least five minutes, they all finally started to tier from laughing and the fillies voices were back to normal. Then suddenly, one of Pinkie's ears started twitching, hearing voices just outside the building. She quickly grabbed party hats and put them on the fillies head's and one for herself. "Hide!" she said in a hushed tone and bolted to the kitchen. The crusaders and Playtime hid themselves behind the counter and got themselves a confetti shooter. As the door opened to Sugar Cube Corner, they heard crying babies and their parents trying to assure them. "Look, look, we're back home… Wow…" Then the crusaders, Playtime and Pinkie jumped out and shot out the confetti's. "Happy Birthday!" Pinkie yelled and blew on her kazoo. Playtime recognized the parents and the babies. The little ones started crying out in joy on their mother's baby carrier. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle helped the baby Cakes out of their mother's back. "Oh, thank you so much, Pinkie, for setting up the party for us." Mister Cake thanked the party mare. "I only made the cake and the cupcakes, they did all the work!" she pointed to the crusaders and Playtime. "Well then, thank you very much." the mother thanked them. "Not a problem!" Scootaloo took out another shooter and shot out another round of confetti. As the babies saw Playtime, they remembered her and immediately started going towards her with wide smiles. "Play!" Pound Cake said, flew up to her head and hugged her tightly. "Time!" Pumpkin Cake hugged Playtime's fore hooves. All of a sudden, the party cannon went off by itself and shot out confetti and streamers. "Yay! Party Cannon's all better!" Pinkie went over to her cannon and shot another round just for the heck of it. After the party, Playtime started going back to the cottage tiredly. As she was going back, she saw guards searching the perimeter within and around Ponyville. When she got to the edge of the town, a light brown cult with an hourglass for a cutie mark went around a corner and saw her. "Oh, Ello there!" he greeted her, "Are you lost?" he asked her and leaned down to eye level. "Um, no. I'm going back home" she answered and took a step back from the mystery cult. He then leaned in a little closer, "Wait a second, I saw you before." He leaned back and took out a hoof, "Nice to see you again!" he greeted her with a smile. "Um, hello" she greeted back and lightly shook his hoof nervously. "What's your name?" he sat down on the ground and waited for her response. "Playtime." "Nice to meet you, Playtime! I'm the… 'Beep! Beep! Beep!" he reach back and took out a little stick device with a blinking green light at the tip. He tapped the thing and pressed his ear on it. "What's that thing?" she asked and became curious of the cult and his little device. "It's my screwdriver." He started pointing the blinking tip around him. As it pointed towards her, the blinking stopped and became a constant light and made a long, "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…." "That is not possible…" he shook the thing and pointed it to her again, and it still made a long constant, "Beeeeeeeeee…" "That is not possible! How can it be!?" he squinted his eyes at her and pondered, "How do you feel?" he asked her. "Um… what?" she looked confused at his question. "Oh well! I'm the, Doctor! Nice to meet you, Playtime!" he introduced himself and smiled again. "Oh, hi… Doctor" she greeted nervously and wondered why exactly he had his name. "Where were you going again?" he asked and leaned in a little. "Home." "It's getting dark out," he stood up, "Come on. I'll walk you there." He kept his smile. "Okay…" she stood and started going, while he followed just beside her. "Sooooo… mind if I ask you a question?" she shook her head. "Who are your parents?" he asked. "Um, my dad created me." "Your father? What is he?" "A dragon." She simply answered like it was normal to be a pony and have a dragon for a father. "Interesting. Interesting. And your mother?" "Um, she's not my real mom, but… I call her mom. Her name's Fluttershy. She's really really pretty and very nice. And her friends are very nice too. I'm very lucky to be with them." "Fluttershy… is she a pony?" "Uh-huh" "You know. I never have seen a being like you. You are quite interesting." "How?" she looked up at him while they went through the road. "Well, to tell you a little secret" he leaned in on her, "I'm a time traveller." "Really? Wow! A Real Life Time Traveller! I never met one before! My Dad told me stories about Time Travellers, but never ever met one before!" she started bouncing around him. "Stories?" "Yeah! Daddy use to tell me stories long time ago about Everything!" she stopped bouncing and just continued walking alongside him. "Dad's one of the oldest thing alive." "Well then, what was he?" "He was this Very Big, a mix of purple, blue and green Nebula in a middle of nowhere. All my sisters and brothers weren't staying with him once they were born, but I stayed with him because he looked lonely. He didn't look happy, but I know he was inside." He chuckled, "I never knew it was possible for something that big to get so small." As they reach the bridge to the cottage, the Doctor stopped and faced her, "It was nice meeting you, Playtime." "Where are you going next?" she looked up at him. "Well, I don't know," he rubbed her head playfully, "But I'll tell you all about it once I'm back." She giggled, "Okay, see you later than." she said her goodbye and started going towards the cottage. Once she got in, she saw Fluttershy and Nebula on the couch, resting. She snuck up to them and Nebula was being covered up by Fluttershy's wing. She cleared her throat loudly, waking the two up. Fluttershy looked around and saw Playtime smiling at her. She smiles back, "Oh, hi, Playtime." Nebula yawned cutely and looked at Playtime with tiered eyes, "How was your day?" "Good. 'Yaaaawn!' Can we go to sleep now?" she rubbed one of her eyes. Fluttershy lightly chuckled, "Okay." The two got off the couch and started going towards Fluttershy's room. The mare rested down in the middle of the bed, Playtime to her left and Nebula to her right. Playtime cuddles closer to her, "Goodnight, mommy." Playtime then rested her head beside the mare's neck. Fluttershy smiled, feeling the warm feeling inside again. She leaned in and kissed the filly's head, "Goodnight." she now accepted what was happening to her and pulled the two a little closer to her and pulled up the blanket to go to sleep.