Chapter 3: A Pooh Day Afternoon
The house that they came upon next was much like the house that Pinkie Pie had seen in the background when she had met Rabbit. It was carved out of a tree, and had a balcony, a front door, and a mailbox. Really, it looked like the house of a very dear friend of hers. If a bit smaller.
The character standing in front of the house, however, looked nothing like any of her friends. She was tall with brown fur and a small nose. Pinkie wasn’t sure exactly what to make of her. As she and Tigger approached, however, she looked up from the doormat she was sweeping, and gave a gentle wave and smile.
Tigger stopped at the mailbox, and bowed politely. “Good afternoon, Miss Kanga, ma’am!” he called.
Kanga, as Pinkie Pie now knew her, kept smiling as she said, “Well hello Tigger dear.” She had a very motherly tone and demeanor, very much like another of Pinkie’s friends.
Tigger chuckled embarrassingly. “She called me dear,” he said almost shyly, smiling to himself.
Kanga then looked at Pinkie Pie, and asked, “And who might you be?”
Pinkie Pie walked calmly up to Kanga, and offered a hoof, “Hiya! My name’s Pinkie Pie!”
Being the polite and gentle person that she was, she took Pinkie’s hoof in her paw and shook it gently. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. What brings you to the Hundred Acre Wood? Are you a friend of Christopher Robin’s?”
Pinkie Pie titled her head curiously. “Who’s Christopher Robin?”
Tigger let out a large gasp. “Who’s Christopher Robin?! Why, he’s only the bestest friend in the whole wide world! Why, I never met anybody who didn’t know Christopher Robin!”
Pinkie Pie was a little confused. Obviously this Christopher Robin was a very important person. Even Kanga nodded along as Tigger rambled on about him. “Well, if I haven’t met him, and you haven’t met anyone who hasn’t met him, then maybe I should meet him!” she concluded.
Tigger stopped mid-sentence to think about this. “Why, that’s a splendiferous idea!” Tigger agreed.
He looked ready to bounce away when Kanga asked him, “Oh, Tigger, was there something you needed?”
Pinkie Pie remembered before Tigger did. “Yeessss! We need cakes! You see, I was walking around in Ponyville when all of a sudden this big ol’ wind comes outta nowhere and-”
And Kanga listened politely and attentively as Pinkie Pie described everything that had gone on before and since she had been blown into the Hundred Acre Wood by a rather blustery wind. “Oh, my. Well, I don’t have any cake right now, but I can certainly help you make one,” she offered. “Why, we could even have a cake-baking party,” she mused.
Pinkie Pie seemed rather excited. “A party?!” she yelled. “I love parties! Why, we could make cakes and have games and-” and she went on to list all of the things they could do at a party. Tigger, also liking the idea, joined in, and soon the three began planning their cake-baking party.
“And we could have pin the tail on the donkey and... uh... huh... say, where’s Roo boy?” Tigger asked, just now noticing the absence of his very good friend.
“Oh, he’s out with Pooh bear, getting some honey. Now that I think of it, we could even make some honey cakes. I’m sure Pooh would love to help,” Kanga thought out loud.
“Yeah, if he doesn’t eat all the honey first,” Tigger said. The way he said it led Pinkie Pie to believe that this was indeed a possibility.
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As it turned out, Pooh and Roo, whom Tigger and Pinkie Pie were sent by Miss Kanga to collect, were less collecting honey, and more... running from it. Or, more accurately, the honey-makers. The bouncing duo had come across a clearing in the middle of the woods where, Tigger had explained, Pooh liked to look for honey. There was always a beehive in a tree in this area, so if one could not find Pooh at Pooh’s house, he was usually here.
Or, at least nearby. Tigger and Pinkie Pie reached the clearing just in time to see, and hear, Pooh and Roo run past them, being chased by a group of rather angry honeybees. “Yaaaaaaaahhhhh!” yelled Pooh as they zipped past. Pinkie watched as they dived into a hollow log to escape, and the large cloud of bees bounced noisily off the bark.
Either sensing that they had successfully chased off the intruders, or having lost track of them in the makeshift hidey-hole, the bees turned around and flew back into their hive.
Tigger walked calmly over to the log, seemingly very amused by the situation. He poked his head into the log, up to his neck, and asked the hiding duo, “You, uh, um... havin’ fun there, fluffboy?”
Pinkie giggled to herself as Pooh and Roo climbe out of the log. Roo hopped on top of it, and cheerfully exclaimed, “Tigger!”
Tigger laughed, and gave his best friend a hug. “Haha hiya Roo-boy! Say, what’re you guys doin’ out here gettin’ chased by bees? I thought you was gettin’ some honey!”
Winnie the Pooh pulled himself out of the log, having a bit of trouble getting his leg free. Tigger offered a hand, and tugged, until finally the stubborn limb popped out of the log. “Well, you see... we were trying to bounce Roo up to the bee hive, hoping that he’d bounce back down, uh... before the bees noticed there was any honey missing.”
Roo held up a honey jar that he’d been using to collect honey. At least, that was the plan. “Yeah, it turns out bees really don’t like it when you try and fit the entire hive into the pot. And... hey, whozzat?!” Roo asked excitedly, noticing Pinkie Pie for the first time.
Tigger looked back at his new friend, seemingly having forgotten she was there. “Huh? Oh, yeah! This here’s Pinkie Pie! She’s from... um... uh, where did you say it was, exactacally?”
“Why, I’m from Ponyville!” she exclaimed. She then went into great detail, explaining to Pooh and Roo the entire situation up to that point. However, she talked so quickly, and with such enthusiasm, that Pooh was very quickly lost.
“I... uh... can you repeat that part again about the... cake?” he said finally.
“Oh sure!” said Pinkie Pie happily. “Miss Kanga’s gonna help us make some cakes so I can take some back to Ponyville! We’re having a cake party!” she yelled, bouncing into the air. She seemed to hover there for a moment before coming back down, she was so excited.
“Oh! Well that’s good,” Pooh chuckled. “I always liked a party. So, um, what kind of cake will we be having? Will there be... honey cake?”
“Yessiree!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Yeah, we just gotta get the honey for it first!” Tigger added.
Roo and Pooh looked at each other, then at the honey tree some ways in the distance.
“Oh bother,” Pooh said.