//------------------------------// // 11 - Winning At Losing // Story: V for Victory, V for Victini! // by zelkova48 //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie playfully fumbled with the bangs of her mane as she stoically worked the counter down at Sugarcube Corner. Today had been a very, very slow day. Slower than a tipped jar of week old molasses in fact. The influx of customer for the bakery has been, for a lack of a better term, far below satisfactory. How far you might ask? Far, as in, there hasn’t been a single customer ever since the bakery opened for business that day.         “Gee... slow day...” Pinkie said to herself, taking in the echoes of her words as they bounced around the light yellow walls of the semi empty Sugarcube Corner. Once her own echoes died down, silence filled the room again. Never before has silence ever sounded so... deafening. She fidgeted in her seat, counted the tiles on the ceiling (sixty five and one twenty eighth tiles to be exact), fiddled with the cash register, and did just about everything else to curb her boredom. From balancing and sorting all the coins in the tip jar, to attempts of licking the back of her ear, she attempted to master the art of killing time all while finding out some talents that she didn’t even know she had in the first place. But eventually, the list of things to do winded down and she was left with nothing to do. Her head drooped down slightly as boredom began to set in, but she jolted back up immediately right before her face touched the counter. This happened several times before Pinkie hopped out of her seat and walked over to the windows to see if anyone else was around. Pressing her face up against the glass, Pinkie eyed her surroundings and gazed in bafflement at what she saw. Nothing. She saw nothing at all, save for a single tumbleweed that rolled right by her. The houses were all there, the fountain was running just fine, the trees danced side to side following the gentle lead of the wind, yet there wasn’t a single soul around for as far as she could see. “Where is everypony?” she asked aloud as she scratched her head in confusion “Is there some sort of holiday that I wasn’t informed about?” she pouted as she fell to her haunches “I want to join in on the holiday too...” just as she started to mope, Carrot Cake walked into the room to find a bummed out Pinkie Pie. Taking a brief look around his store, and at Pinkie, he came to a sound conclusion. “Pinkie, dear?” Carrot Cake asked. “Yes, mister Cake?” Pinkie replied. “Why don’t you take the day off?” he suggested with a smile that was about as warm and sweet as the pies and cakes that he baked “It looks like there aren’t a lot of customers today. Might as well close up early. Why don’t you meet up with your new friend, Victini? I’m sure the adorable little scamp would love to see you” “Really? You mean it!” Pinkie exclaimed as she hopped back onto all fours. “Well I’m sure you know as well as I do that Ponyville is looking a little barren around this side of town” he chuckled “A little time off would do some good for both of us. Cup Cake and I have been planning to visit the park with the twins these last few weeks. Maybe today shall be that day” “Oh! Thank you, mister Cake!” Pinkie bounced around the room before giving Carrot Cake a hug that took the air right of him. She pulled back and gave him a sheepish look as precious oxygen returned to his lanky body “Heh heh. Sorry” “It’s alright, Pinkie. Now go on, have some fun. The store will be fine” said Carrot as he patted Pinkie on the head. “Whoo! Time to have some fun!” Pinkie shouted as she rushed up to her room in a pink blur and came back down with Gummy by her mane “Come on, Gummy! Let’s go see, Victini and Drilbur!” She began trotting towards the door with a big smile on her face and Gummy on her backside. Just as she opened the door, the sound of a mole screaming in abject terror followed by the glaring mole shaped shadow cast upon the ground caused her gaze to shoot up to the sky. To her surprise, Drilbur was flying straight at her at mach three. “Drilbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur!” the poor mole pokemon yelled as he crashed directly into Pinkie, causing both of them to toss and tumble upon the ground like a rag doll in a washing machine. Carrot Cake gasped at the sight of the accident and rushed out to see what all of the hubbub was about. “Pinkie!” he shouted as he rushed after her. When they finally stopped, Pinkie attempted to regain her footing and shook off the stars that were dancing around her noggin. Beside was an unconscious Drilbur and a semi conscious Victini who began to phase back into visibility. Their eyes were swirling like something fierce, and they looked as if they had ran into some kind of terrifying monster. “Whuah? Victini, Drilbur?” Pinkie asked in surprise. “...Tini?” said Victini as he opened his eyes. As he did, a wave of relief and joy washed over him as he made his way back to his feet “Tini! Tini!” he exclaimed. * * * “Victini? Egads, chum! What happened to you?” Gummy asked as he hopped off Pinkie, never losing his signature expression as he approached the shaken rabbit who was practically soaked in his own sweat and tears. “Oh! It was horrible! I tried showing myself and everyone started chasing me! They know, Gummy! I don’t know how but they all know what I can do!” cried Victini as he shuddered upon remembering the last few minutes of his day “A group of little ponies wouldn’t leave me or Drilbur alone no matter where we went! So I flew away with Dribur as fast as I could to get to Sugarcube Corner!” “A group of little ponies... Oh! For the love of... were they in any way yellow, white, and orange?” Gummy asked. “Yeah, how did you know?” Victini asked. “Those three are siblings of my master’s friends, with the exception of the one called Scootaloo. It appears that causing trouble for others is a hereditary trait. One that both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom inherited” Gummy stated as a matter o’ factly. “Huh?” Victini raised his eyebrow. “Ah. It’s just something that I learned from reading reports of the human genome project back in our own world. Nothing to be mindful of. Except maybe for the issue at hand that is” said Gummy. “I don’t think it’s safe to be out here! There’s a mob after us!” Victini shouted in exasperation. “A mob? Surely you jest my good friend. I highly doubt that the citizens of Ponyville would go through such lengths just to get you to use your powers on them” just as Gummy finished, the ground beneath him shook and he and Victini found themselves shaking up and down uncontrollably from the tremor. Being part ground type, Gummy could feel movement within the earth itself and dictate the cause of the tremor. He turned his head to face the general direction of the quake and found out that it was caused by a stampeding mob ( a mob without torches and pitchforks, thankfully) of ponies who all appeared to be resolute in finding Victini. He swallowed the large lump that was forming in his throat and turned back to face Victini. “Then again, I have been wrong before” said Gummy “Hurry! Into the master’s mane! They’ll never find you there!” “But what about Drilbur?” Victini asked as he pointed over to the sleeping mole. “Here, hold on. Let me handle this” Gummy walked over to Drilbur and struck him across the face with a powerful mud slap, causing the mole to jolt up in surprise. “Wah!” Drilbur yelled as he jumped up “Ow! What the heck was that for!?” Victini and Gummy grabbed Drilburs head and pointed it in the direction of the stampeding mob that was several meters away from them. His eyes shrank in terror and he began sweating bullets, fifty caliber hollow point bullets “Uh... we should definitely hide...” * * *         “What is going on over there?” Carrot asked with a raise of his eyebrows.         “Gasp! They must be after Victini!” Pinkie exclaimed.         “But why? You told me no one other than your friends knew about what he could do” said Carrot Cake “But that doesn’t matter now, we have to hide these two somewhere safe”         “Way ahead of you, mister Cake!” Pinkie motioned for the pokemon to hop into her mane, much like Victini did the day before. Just like that, all three pokemon hopped onto her back and slipped into the wildly puffy mane of Pinkie’s and nestled into it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Surprising, it was very spacious and roomy in her mane, with plenty of leg room to spare. * * *         “Wow, it is really roomy here” Drilbur noted as he sniffed around “Hmm... smells a whole lot like oran berries around here”         “Yeah. Her mane’s nice and soft too” Victini played around with Pinkie’s mane, gathering up a bundle and fluffing it like a great big ball of pink cotton “Heh heh, this is pretty neat. It’s like hugging a group of Whimsicott!”         “Indeed” said Gummy as he sat by the duo within Pinkie’s mane. “It always boggles my mind how much my master’s mane appears to defy the laws of physics in terms of physical capacity and inherent fluffiness. But then again, it’s all part of what makes her so unique” he stuck his scaly claw into a part of Pinkie’s mane and pulled out a tea set, complete with crumpets and some freshly brewed earl grey tea “Would any of you care for some tea and crumpets?” he offered.         Victini and Drilbur nodded and partook into some fresh baked crumpets and some nice hot tea. As they munched onto the treat, a question came into light.         “Where did this come from?” Victini asked.         “I took it with me and placed it here when the master took me out to meet you two today. It’s from my own personal collection. Do you like it?” he asked as he sipped on his own tea.         “I love it” Drilbur said with a crumb filled smile “But has Pinkie every found out about this?”         “Whenever she washes her mane in the bathtub she is always confused about why she has a tea set in her mane” he chuckled “Although at one point she actually believed her mane contained a miniature black hole that produced infinite amounts of tea sets every time she took a bath. Little did she know it was just me trying to pass the time with a delectable beverage each and every time she brought me on an excursion with her”         “I see” Drilbur replied nonchalantly. * * *         Pinkie’s head tilted drastically side to side due to the sudden amount of weight that offsetted her bodies natural balance. She wobbled a bit, and managed to stay balanced despite hiding three pokemon in her mane. It took a lot of leg strength, and some neck strength too, in order to remain steady in the face of the current situation.         “Phew, that’s better” Pinkie let out a sigh of relief and hobbled on over to Carrot Cake.         “Are you sure that you can hide those three in there?” he asked “How are we going keep them away from that mob without everything else knowing that we’re acting suspicious?”         “I’ve got that covered too” Pinkie stated as a matter o’ factly “Quick! Into Sugarcube Corner! Act natural!”         Without missing a beat, the two dashed away into the bakery and slammed the door behind them. As the large mob stampeded across town and towards Sugarcube Corner, they quickly swung the door and poured inside the bakery like a river from a bursted dam. Upon entry, however, they were not greeted with the presence of the magical winning rabbit and his stoic mole companion. What they got instead was a bland image of Pinkie and the Cakes going through their every task normally. The only problem that the mob had with this particular image was that it was far too tamed for usual attitude of the bakery. From the crowd, Rainbow Dash managed to squeeze her way past everyone in front of her and she landed right in front of Pinkie, who had a subtle smile plastered onto her face. “Hello, Rainbow Dash. How can I help you today?” Pinkie asked plainly, receiving a couple of raised eyebrows from the mob as a direct result “May I interest you in today’s special? For every third purchase of a cupcake, you get the fourth one free of charge” she droned on like a preprogrammed android. “Pinkie, just drop the act” Rainbow interjected bluntly “We all know that Victini is here. So do you think you could be a pal and do me a solid by letting him help me work out the kinks of my new super awesome stunt that’s guaranteed to get into the Wonderbolts, because that would be really swell” she stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world.         Pinkie just glared a blazing glare at the polychromatic pegasus. She wasn’t liking where this conversation was heading at all. She simply looked the other way and let out a huff as she told Rainbow off.         “Victini isn’t here, you just missed him” Pinkie replied swiftly “Now, if you’re not going to buy anything Rainbow Dash, then I suggest that you leave. There are others that actually want to buy something you know”         “Actually...” a unicorn stallion chimed in from the back, causing every single set of eyes to be locked onto him “I have an order for a fruit tart that I’m here to pick up today. It’s my wife’s and I’s anniversary”         “Oh! I’ll be back in a jiffy!” ignoring everyone else, Pinkie zoomed into the kitchen in a pink blur and rushed back with a white cake box delicately balanced on her back “Here you go! Enjoy!”         “Gee, thanks!” the stallion paid Pinkie the appropriate amount of bits and was off on his way before everyone else knew it.         “Your welcome! Come again!” Pinkie chirped cheerfully before turning her attention back to the mob “Now, where were we?”         “You were about to let Victini help me sell apples on the market!” a voice shouted from the back. Applejack valiantly jumped onto the scene and with a surprising amount of grace andlanded right beside Pinkie, stumbling for a bit before regaining her balance. She turned to face Pinkie with a very confident look on her face “Y’all don’t have to do nothing. Just tell me where he is and I’ll do the rest”         “I already told you. Victini isn’t here” Pinkie replied once again “But If you can answer something for me, then maybe, just maybe, I’ll tell you about him” she bargained.         “Well, shoot. Fire away then”         “How did everyone else know about Victini?” Pinkie asked, plain and simple. The mob reeled back from the suddenness of the question “Come on, now. I was pretty sure I only told about five other ponies about him and his abilities. You wouldn’t happen to know about that now, would you, Applejack?”         “Uh... um... well, you see...” Applejack rubbed the back of her head nervously. She could feel the glare from Pinkie’s eyes boring into her forehead like a laser guided drill “I think I heard from somewhere that Caramel found out and began spreading it around...” just like that, everyone’s eyes turned to face Caramel, who shrank under the spotlight.         “Bu-but... I heard about that rabbit thingy from Hugh” the eyes shifted to Hugh Jelly, who was covered in what ponie presumed to be boysenberry jam.         “Uh uh, I heard about that thing from Nurse Redheart” the eyes shifted again.         “And I heard about it from the Mayor”         “I heard about the magic rabbit from Thunderlane”         “Flitter was the one who told me about that rabbit”         “When I was at the spa, I overheard Aloe and Lotus talking about some creature that can perform miracles”         “Und ve both heard about ze magical creature from Miss Rarity” then for one last time, every set of eyes darted on over to the snow white fashionista.         “And I heard it from... oh, wait. That’s right. I heard it from you, Pinkie. Heh, heh... oops” Rarity blushed with a sheepish looking grin “B-b-but it’s not like we broke the Pinkie promise or anything, right?”         “Do I have to make Rainbow Dash and Applejack repeat themselves?” Pinkie asked with a stern raise of her eyebrow “You all just want to use him for your own personal gain!” she pointed an accusing hoof “I thought I made it very clear to you girls that Victini was very shy and timid. How can you go around wanting to abuse him like that? Don’t you care about his feelings?” she asked.         “What’s the big deal?” Rainbow asked “All I want is for him to use that power of his on me, that’s all. No harm, no foul. He was the one who ran away, it wasn’t my fault at all” she defended.         “Was scaring the living daylights out of him none of your fault either, Rainbow?” Pinkie retorted harshly “When I found him he was crying his eyes out in terror, like Pumpkin Cake or Pound Cake when they met the doctors for the first time. He looked like he was about to disappear for good. Ugh, I sound like a broken record when I say this but you should all be ashamed of yourselves!” “Hmph” PInkie frowned “I thought the ponies of Ponyville were better than this. But it seems that I was wrong... I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask all of you to leave...” she spoke in a neutral tone. “Pinkie... pl-” Rarity spoke out, but was quickly cut off by Pinkie shooting another glare straight at her. Pinkie’s usual attitude was gone. In place of her bubbly personality was that of a protective mother bear defending her injured cub. Her face softened again, but the look of pure admonishment evident in the aura she radiated warded off any foolhardy attempts to convince her otherwise to release Victini from out of her safe and puffy custody. Carrot Cake then barged into the room, shattering the stagnant silence that hung in the air like thick smog. His face showed that of disgust, his body language showed unease. “We’re closed” he stated “Get out” behind him was his loving wife, who also shared the same disposition as her husband. With both the Cake twins nestled gently by her side, they too admonished the citizens of Ponyville, even at such a young age. One by one, everyone left dejectedly. Disheartened by the fact that they all lost their quarry. The sound of the creaking and slamming of the door, followed by the jungle of the bell signaled that Sugarcube Corner was once again empty. Just like it had been earlier that same day. * * * “It’s alright everyone. You can come out now” Pinkie spoke glumly. Victini was the first to pop out from her soft mane, followed by Drilbur and Gummy the Sandile. They gathered around the bummed out pony, and did their best to sooth her of her foul mood. “Tini? Tini, tini” the rabbit asked, his voice filled to the brim with concern. “Dril, drilbur, dril!” said the mole pokemon, his voice carrying equal amounts of concern. Gummy, though quiet, snuggled his scaly self up to the master, and gave her a warm gentle hug. “It’s alright. I’m fine, really” Pinkie replied to the best of her abilities while petting those comforting her “I just can’t believe that everypony sees you two as nothing more than prizes that can be won at the fair. I’m sorry you two. It looks like it might take a bit longer for you guys to get used to here. Until then, you should both be careful...” her mood got even worse. Worse to the point where her mane straighten itself out. A clatter and a clunk could be heard emanating from the floor behind her. She turned around and cracked a little grin upon find out what it was that’s behind her. “At least I know the black hole is still there...” she mumbled to herself. Now, in the quiet room, Pinkie, Victini, Drilbur, Gummy, and the Cakes move on to the back of the kitchen. Hoping to ease their minds and forget about today.