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// Chapter 12: Pinkie Pie 
// Story: Trinity 
// by ManeWriter 
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The sun beamed down on the surprisingly docile settlement of Fillydelphia as ponies walked around its cobblestone roads, mingling with other ponies at the marketplace. A row of stacked houses sat across from this marketplace, full of ponies still resting in their beds peacefully. Every house was silent with all of its lights dimmed and their curtains shut. Except for one on the far end, that is. This one was the standard red brick house with a black-shingled roof on the top. From one of the windows you could make out the sounds of a pony getting herself out of bed with great enthusiasm.

"Good morning!" ponies outside heard her screech to somepony inside.

There was a great clattering of hooves against wooden floorboards as the pony hurtled down the stairs. The brass doorknob of her front door jiggled slightly from side-to-side as she turned the handle eagerly.

"GOOD MORNING, FILLYDELPHIA!" the pink pony exclaimed as soon as she placed a hoof outside.

The remaining ponies outside the marketplace flinched at this sudden loud noise. They each glared at Pinkie Pie before giving a mighty, "SHH," in unison.

Pinkie Pie gave them all a sheepish grin as she shut the front door behind her and proceeded to waltz down the cobblestone path with everyone else.

"Oooh," her mouth watered at the smell of fresh bread from one of the marketplace stands, "That smells wonderful Mrs. Cake. Keep up the good work!"

"Thank you, Pinkie Pie," came the nervous voice of Mrs. Cake from her stand, anticipating Pinkie to gobble her products.

Instead the curly-haired pony trotted along the path, ignoring her desire to gobble every slice of baked bread and cake whole. She had to think of others first after all. It was still early in the morning, so not many ponies were out and about just yet. But they would be soon by the looks of it.

From out of the sky, Pinkie could make out the shapes of multiple pegasi flying fast from Cloudsdale. From out of thin air, Pinkie Pie pulled out her pair of binoculars. The shapes soon became figures with details Pinkie could make out. There were four anti-scouts preparing to land. One looked absolutely horrible, while the other three seemed to be unharmed, considering the fact that two were holding him up. He was a lean pegasus with a sandy brown coat and dark brown hair that was matted to the side. His eye was extremely bruised and it looked as though his leg was broken. If it wasn't, it still had to be painful. Blood was quickly running down his forehead as his eyes fluttered shut. Quickly, Pinkie dropped her binoculars from her eyes, letting out a gasp. This was just too much for her to watch.

The landing tower was only a block away. She wanted desperately to greet these scouts, but she knew the ponies at the tower wouldn't let her in. She wasn't exactly greeted anywhere here with entirely open arms anymore after she accidentally set a garden on fire while doing a stunt show performance for some of the pony troops. Let's just say that they didn't want an encore performance ever. Pinkie Pie finally got up the courage to at least stand outside the tower.

Two guards were patrolling it when she arrived. They eyed her down to size silently before blocking the entrance.

"You're not allowed here Pinkie Pie," one of the guards spoke gruffly, "Nor are any well-behaved civilians."

"What?" Pinkie's self-esteem deflated, "But I'm well-behaved."

"Yeah, tell that to the sunflowers that never grew," the guard gave a cruel chortle.

"That was a faulty cannon, I'll have the both of you know," Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes at the pair, "Had it gone to plan, you'd be still begging for another performance."

"Sure thing," the other guard rolled his eyes at her remarks, "Why don't you go burn down some trees in the Everfree Forest?"

"Maybe I will," Pinkie held her chin up high, "I'll burn it with laughter…and love…and other stuff. You know what I mean!"

Her face turned as pink as her mane as the two guards laughed her away. She stopped only when she was no longer within hearing distance from them.

She exhaled loudly, blowing air at the front of her mane, "Those meanies. They've been abusing their power with me all month...And it was just one fire! I mean, it's not like I haven't set more of them back in Ponyville."

With her back turned away from the tower, Pinkie was unable to see the small group of pegasi coming outside with the injured one being toted on a stretcher. Braeburn and a cyan blue pegasus lead the gang down the opposite end of the road. Had Pinkie not been muttering to herself, she probably would've heard the crisp voice of Rainbow Dash as she talked to Braeburn.

"Is he gonna be okay, do you think?" she asked slowly.

"Well, I reckon if you hadn't found him when you did," Braeburn put a hoof to her shoulder, "He would've been gone for. Besides this casualty, did you say that you four are the only ones left of the anti-scouts?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, holding back angry tears, "Yeah…I don't know what happened. We think it may have been clones that did this to us."

"But why would they do this? Did you provoke them?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated before lying, "I'm not sure. They thought we...had a weapon or something. They tried to look through our bags. I lost mine while they were chasing me."

Their voices died down as they took a right turn and disappeared into the city streets. Pinkie on the other hand just sat angrily against the wall of the tower, murmuring nonsense to herself. Usually whenever Pinkie Pie was in a foul mood, she would wander aimlessly without even paying attention as to where she was going. In this case, that was exactly what would happen.

Pinkie Pie muttered more arguments as she continued down the path toward the Everfree Forest. To be perfectly honest, Pinkie didn't even realize that she was in the Everfree Forest until she heard the sound of leaves crunching beneath her hooves. She jumped at the abrupt noise that stirred her away from her heated thoughts. When did she go this way? Pinkie Pie looked around to get a taste of her surroundings.

The cobblestone path had turned into a simple dirt road that was full to the brim of dead leaves. The trees seemed to glare angrily at Pinkie, but she paid them no attention as she looked around at the dry bushes. A sharp cracking sound floated out from one of them just as she turned her head to peer down the path. She glanced back at the bush cautiously. Something was in that bush.

Pinkie Pie resisted the urge to run back down the path like a frightened little school filly. Instead she inhaled sharply though her snout before taking tiny steps toward the noisy bush. The sound was a bit louder this time, causing Pinkie Pie to tremble slightly. Her tail twitched and her eyes began to flutter at the same time. Something unexpected was about to happen.

The bush began to rustle a few times as Pinkie slowly brought a hoof to touch the bush. All of a sudden a white blur attacked her hoof. Pinkie Pie let out a loud "EEP!" as she flew ten feet into the air from this unwelcome surprise. When she looked back down on the ground she noticed that it wasn't a white monster, but rather, a cute, little, white, bunny. Pinkie pie broke out laughing.

The bunny latched onto Pinkie's leg, fluffing his fur around her. This only made Pinkie Pie laugh more. She bent down closer to examine her new little buddy.

"Look at you," Pinkie grinned broadly, "Wow, you sure had me scared. What's your name little guy?"

The bunny just stared at Pinkie Pie with a bemused look upon his furry face. Pinkie blinked a few times, as if waiting for him to suddenly talk. The bunny just continued to stare at Pinkie until she looked away, distracted by another rustling noise farther away.

"You really shouldn't be wandering around here all alone, little guy. I mean, it may be a forest, and the forest may be your home, but it's dangerous here. There was this one pet bunny my friend Honeydew had in school and she let him out of his cage and you know what happened to him? He went to Everfree Forest and he was never seen again. For all we know he could've met a female bunny, had a family, and moved to a different forest…or worse. Hey, you look kinda familiar. Have I seen you before? I think I have," Pinkie rambled on and on.

The bunny had his tiny hands scrunched up to his ears as Pinkie went into depth about the feeling déjà vu and familiar faces she sees on a constant basis. He finally took his hands away from his ears just in time to hear her get to the point.

"…And that was when I realized…it was my Grandma. Anyway, as I was saying before, you kinda look a lot like my friend's pet-

"Angel!" a soft, transparent voice called out from behind Pinkie Pie.

At once the bunny was snatched away from Pinkie's leg and into the hooves of a light-yellow pony. Pinkie Pie turned to stare at this random pony that appeared out of nowhere with her jaw hanging on the floor.

"Oh, don't go wandering off like that," Fluttershy cooed to her pet as she wrapped him in a hug, "You had me oh so worried. Thank you for finding him-Pinkie Pie?!"

There was only a few seconds for Pinkie to build up enough steam to catapult herself once more into the air while letting out a loud, whooping shriek of delight. As soon as she touched the ground she pranced around in a circle around a very taken aback Fluttershy. Fluttershy's blue eyes darted around the forest as if worried that the pegasi could hear Pinkie Pie. They probably could with the volume and rate she was talking at.

"OOOHH, how did you get over here? No wait! Let me guess. You were teleported? You were kidnapped. You got lost on your way to Cloudsdale? You-

"No. No. No, " Fluttershy's worried look was still in place as she quickly shook her head, "Look, Pinkie Pie could you please quiet down. I'll explain everything later."

"Hey, what's in the bag you're carrying?" Pinkie asked with sudden curiosity, "Is it rocks? Is it cake?"

"Why would I carry around rocks?"

"You never know..." Pinkie stared into the distance for a short moment before snapping back into the present, "Anypony, what is in that bag?"

"Well, I can't show you here," Fluttershy whispered solemnly, "But if you know somewhere safe we could go-

"Fillydelphia it is then!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in a loud whisper, "Welcome aboard the Pinkie express. Hold onto your possessions and keep all hooves inside at all times! Here we go!"

Pinkie Pie grabbed ahold of Fluttershy's hoof and pulled her along at a breakneck speed. Fluttershy could barely keep up even though se was flying. Pinkie Pie continued to happily hum as they whizzed past trees and fallen logs. Fluttershy's eyes watered as Angel pulled onto her hair. Hard.

"Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy's voice trembled, "Where are you taking us?"

"I'm taking you to my house," Pinkie Pie sang, "Where else do you think we were going? To the hospital?"

"No," was all Fluttershy was able to manage saying at the rate they were running at.

It was a minute until they were finally back on the cobblestone road of Fillydelphia. Pinkie Pie thankfully slowed down as her hooves clicked and clopped against the surface of the path. Fluttershy's was getting a wing cramp so she went back onto land for now.

Tents were lined around like a little marketplace. It stretched on for about two blocks in front of them. As they came to a fast walk, Fluttershy was able to pick out a few familiar faces from Ponyville. She saw the short, light-green figure of Lyra Heartstrings selling candy with her roommate Bon Bon at one red tent. A few tents over, Fluttershy could make out the recognizable forms of a few Apple family members selling a small barrel of apples.

Stacks of houses were lined up neatly across from the marketplace one by one. And from the direction Pinkie Pie was heading in, they were going into one of those houses. Strings of ponies stared at Fluttershy and Angel with a mild fascination, but heavy suspicion. Not many pegasi wandered their way to Fillydelphia, especially if they weren't wearing an anti-scout armband. And this yellow pegasus definitely was not wearing any sort of fabric on her whatsoever.

Pinkie Pie continued to tug at Fluttershy's hoof as she skipped over to the brick-red house on the far end.

"We're getting closer," Pinkie Pie sang louder yet.

"Oh, um, goodie," Fluttershy murmured softly.

Although it was nice to see a familiar face again, Fluttershy felt a bit guilty for wanting that face to be someone other than Pinkie Pie. It wasn't that Pinkie Pie's intentions weren't good or that she was mean; of course not. It was just she was Pinkie Pie! Living with her probably wouldn't be such a piece of cake either, if Fluttershy was indeed living with her for the time being.

Pinkie Pie let go of Fluttershy so she could unlock the door to her house with a silver key she seemingly pulled out from nowhere. Pinkie Pie jiggled the doorknob this way and that for a full minute before it finally wanted to open.

"It's an old house," Pinkie laughed nervously for fear that Fluttershy would be upset over her home.

"Oh, that's fine," Fluttershy smiled meekly up at Pinkie, "At least you have a home."

"Yeah," Pinkie agreed, "It might be a tight fit though if you're planning on living here and all."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

As soon as Fluttershy stepped into the house, her question was answered for her. A loud crash sounded from upstairs followed by the loud patter of hooves upon the floor. A short and yellow filly bounded down the stairs three at a time with a green alligator hopping behind her not too far away. Apple Bloom had grown only an inch or two over the spawn of the war. Her bow was a bit lopsided from whatever activity she had been doing upstairs and she was sporting an apron that was caked in blue and pink paint.

"Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie," the red-maned filly skidded to a stop, "Where've you been? I've been waiting for you-

Apple Bloom drifted off mid-sentence when she caught sight of Fluttershy. Her eyes popped out and her mouth gapped open, like a dead fish. Fluttershy gave Apple Bloom a weak smile in return. There was a loud shriek before the yellow pegasus found that the filly had gotten her face tangled in with her long pink hair while wrapping her hooves around her.

"Fluttershy, it's you!" she cried aloud, "Why haven't you been here? I've seen Rainbow Dash only a day ago and now you? It's a miracle!"

Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie's eyes bulged out, "You saw Rainbow Dash?"

"Uh-huh," Apple Bloom nodded, "I saw her with a light-brown pegasus and Braeburn. I was calling them, but I guess they never heard me."

"WHAT?" Pinkie Pie hung in midair for a second or two before dropping down with little to no grace at all.

"Did you see her today?" Fluttershy asked eagerly.

"No. Big Macintosh wanted me to stay home today cuz, I have a cold. It's only a tiny one though," the filly whined.

"Gummy!" Pinkie Pie picked up her pet alligator with both hooves and began to carry him as if he were a newborn baby.

Fluttershy and Apple Bloom stared at Pinkie Pie with a matched expression of confusion. Pinkie Pie slowly put Gummy back on the floor in front of her, giving the two a wide grin.

"Ahem," She cleared her throat, "Please, continue."

Apple Bloom's eyes grazed back over to Fluttershy's, "As I was sayin', I saw Rainbow Dash just yesterday and I think Granny Smith saw her too. But Granny has been known for having some crazy dreams, so I doubt she saw Rainbow Dash last week at a skating contest for the family barn."

Fluttershy pondered this over for a few seconds. While she was in the middle of doing that Pinkie pie had begun to play with Gummy again, twirling him around in a circle. Apple Bloom glanced down at Fluttershy again just in time to see two furry feet dangle out of her pink locks of hair.

"Is that who I think it is?" Apple Bloom's face lit up again as Angel fell to the ground.

It was a small fall, but it still ticked him off. He quickly got up before his tumble caught anyone's notice. Apple Bloom bent down to pick him up off of the ground. Fluttershy barely noticed her surroundings until Apple Bloom stared back up at Fluttershy.

"What's in your bag?"

Fluttershy woke up from her trance to find that Apple Bloom was already trying to peer into it. Fluttershy snatched it away much to Apple Bloom's displeasure.

"Oh, uh, it's something that I need to show Pinkie Pie really quickly," Fluttershy had said, just barely audible over her pounding heart.

"But-

"I'm sorry, Apple Bloom," Fluttershy turned her eyes away from the filly's sad expression, "But it's none of your business for now."

Pinkie whipped her head back to look at Fluttershy, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot about the bag! What's in it? The suspense is KILLING me!"

Pinkie Pie bounced around the room as if she were a bird that had just gotten free from its cage. Fluttershy's eyes tried in vain to catch up with Pinkie, but it was no use. The pink pony was going way to fast for Fluttershy to keep track of.

"Can we talk in private, Pinkie?"

"Sure! Let's go to my room. Or should I say...our room? That's right! All three bedrooms are full, so it looks as though you'll be camping out with me tonight. Which reminds me, I've been wanting to go camping for a while now. I mean, I was kind upset when Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash went camping a few months back. That must have been fun. And I love FUN!"

Pinkie Pie led the way into a short hallway to get to her bedroom, talking all the while. Fluttershy sighed. A small part of her could already tell that she would be in for a long night.