//------------------------------// // Pinkie Pie // Story: A Hopping Problem // by billymorph //------------------------------// Sugarcube Corner was a comfortable step back to normality. Well, it was it’s usual cacophony of smells, colours and shapes but that was the result of Pinkie Pie occupying any building for more than a half hour a day. Twilight had once made a graph of the process, Rainbow Dash had ignored it. “Morning Mrs Cake,” Rainbow Dash said to the aqua mare, floating over to the counter. “Ah, morning Rainbow Dash,” she replied, in her sing song tone. “And how are you today?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh, it’s off to a shaky start but we’ll see how it goes. Is Pinkie Pie in?” “I think she went to Fluttershy’s today.” “I just got here from Fluttershy’s, she said Pinkie was-” There was a sudden crash from upstairs and both ponies looked up. “Well that sounded encouraging,” Rainbow Dash drawled. “Pumpkin still throwing spells around?” Mrs Cake shook her head. “No, usually there’s more yelling when that happens. Pinkie!” she called. “Just a sec!” Pinkie Pie called back. A moment later she was at the top of the stairs, traveling far too fast. She missed the top step and, with uncharacteristic clumsiness went tumbling, hitting every step on the way down. Rainbow Dash and Mrs Cake watched helplessly, wincing at every impact. “I’m okay!” Pinkie Pie protested, lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. “Are you sure about that?” Rainbow asked, fluttering over. Pinkie lay on the floor, a hoof over her eyes. “I’ll live,” she groaned. “That first step is a doozy.” Rainbow offered her a hoof and hoisted the pink pony up. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fall like that before.” “Don’t be silly, silly,” Pinkie Pie teased, sticking her tongue out. “I’ve fallen over lots of times.” “Usually, you end with a flip,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. Pinky ignored her and trotted over to the counter. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you girls need anything,” Mrs Cake said retreating, as Pinkie Pie took over at the head of shop. “Thanks,” Pinkie called after her, then turned her widest smile on Rainbow Dash. “Right, so you wanted a cake then Rainbow Dash?” Dash blinked. “How did you know that?” she demanded. “Umm... Pinkie sense?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. The day was getting weirder by the second. “I would have thought we’d have run into that one a while ago. Anyway, I was looking to get a cake for Scootaloo. I’m giving her a crash course on flying later this afternoon, emphasis on the crash. It needs to read either ‘Congratulations’ or ‘You Did Your Best’, I’m not sure which yet but if I could get one of each that’d awesome.” “Umm, well we’re very, very busy today,” Pinkie Pie said, smile fading away. “Well I’m probably not going to need the first one,” Rainbow Dash admitted, lounging on the counter. “I was just going to end up eating it afterwards.” “Rainbow Dash, that’s not a very nice thing to say,” Pinkie Pie chided. “Okay, okay, I’ll share both cakes but we can’t let Scootaloo find out we made two.” Pinkie Pie sighed. “That’s not what I meant.” “What?” Rainbow Dash protested. “Even with the best trainer in Equestria these things take time.” “Fine, I’ll make the cakes,” Pinkie Pie snapped, tapping her hoof nervously. “Come back in a few hours and everything will be sorted out.” “Right,” Rainbow Dash lifted off. “Oh, did you go to Fluttershy’s today?” “Um, yeah,” she replied, voice squeaking. “Did Fluttershy and Twilight seem off today?” “No. Nope, nothing off. Just plain old Twilight and Fluttershy.” She laughed, nervously. Rainbow Dash pressed her face up against Pinkie Pie’s, eyeing her suspiciously. “Something strange is going on here. And I’m going to find out what.” Pinkie Pie blinked then, with a tongue of unusual size, licked Rainbow Dash’s face. “Argh!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, reeling back. “What was that for?” “You look super silly with your super serious face on,” Pinkie declared, then hopped around the counter. “Okay, false alarm, everythings is as strange as normal,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Yep, nothing strange here,” Pinkie pressed. “Now if that was everything, I have some serious baking to do.” She began to bound off. “Alright, I need to find Rarity anyway.” Pinkie froze mid leap, spun round and then dropped to the ground. “Why?” she demanded. Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well I lost my lucky goggles last week and, well, turns out there’s only so much ground a tortoise and a pegasus can search. So I’m getting a new pair. Rarity said she had something nice picked out for me.” “Argh!” Pinkie Pie fled up the stairs at top speed, leaving a pink afterimage behind her. “Yeash, she’s acting weirder than Twilight and Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said to the empty room. Then she shrugged. “Though I guess that isn’t that unusual.” She shook her head, lifted off and headed out the door.