//------------------------------// // Hugs are funerrific! // Story: Another Sappy HiE Fic // by exsnaggerwes //------------------------------// "Oh there you are, Spike. I thought I saw you come in, but I didn't see you anywhere," Twilight addressed her faithful assistant. The baby dragon replied cheerfully, "I was in the library looking for you actually. Rainbow Dash came by to return the Daring Do book she borrowed. She said to tell you that her copy finally came in the mail." I was surprised to hear that Twilight still had some piece of her book collection after it was destroyed by Tirek. I was tempted to go get a few adventure books and see just what was so special about them. Spike continued, "How was your trip to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia?" "It went well," she replied, her blush quickly fading, "I made a new friend. This is Wes. Wes, this is Spike, my number one assistant," she introduced us. I extended a hoof for him to shake, exchanging greetings and pleasantries. Having a scaly claw wrap around my hoof was a notable experience. I had previously pet a snake and an iguana before, and the their texture was equally as pleasant as a cat's or a dog's. Spike's claw was no exception. Through my fur I could feel the tough scales and he even had a firm grip to match. Either Twilight studied handshake manners and taught them to her assistant, or Spike had just been naturally strong. I wasn't motivated to find out, so I simply returned the gesture as best I could with a warm smile. After introductions were out of the way, Twilight informed, "Wes is new to Equestria, and he'll be staying with us until he learns about our ways and can get his own place. His room is right across the hall from ours." Spike nodded, "Would you like me to show him around town while you put away the books? A lot of them were checked back in today." "How many is a lot?" She probed. "Miss Cheerilee's class came for a visit, so about 30 books were checked out and promptly returned before they left." "No." Twilight's eye twitched. I knew the look she had on her face. I wore it too many times before to not recognize a hoarder's nightmare. Maybe 'hoarder' was exaggerating a bit, but I knew well enough how frustrating it must have been for Twilight to have her perfectly organized library torn apart by curious foals. I let out a chuckle at her expense as she excused herself, "Yes Spike, could you please show Wes around? I think the rain is clearing up, and he said he wanted to fly. I have to take care of the disas- I mean library." "No problem," he joined me in a fit of silent laughter as we watched her jump from the balcony and glide to the main floor. "Twilight and her books. You can't get between them." Despite knowing how Twilight felt about the mess, and feeling guilty about not offering to clean up for her (It wasn't like I had a choice anyway), I agreed with Spike and we took the stairs down and left the castle. Even though I knew what most of the big attractions in Ponyville were, I still only knew enough about them to ask where they were. I knew I would probably get lost looking for places like Sweet Apple Acres or Fluttershy's cottage. Carousel Boutique and the Castle of Friendship were easily spotted even from out of town because they violated the standard color layout of the rest of the town. In fact, I could easily spot the boutique a slight distance from the castle. Twilight didn't really have any close neighbors, but Rarity could have been considered one by definition. I figured Spike would try to take me to meet her first, and I wouldn't have protested, but instead I was pleasantly surprised as he asked, "Are you hungry? I could go for a few cupcakes at Sugarcube Corner if you don't mind going there first." Something in my mind clicked and I remembered my most basic reason for coming to Equestria. If I had been focused on flying before to the point I would have taken off without permission, the feeling completely disappeared when I heard the mention of Sugarcube Corner. I wanted nothing more in the world than to go to Sugarcube Corner because Sugarcube Corner had something that no other universe could offer in the same form. And it wasn't their cupcakes. "That sounds great," I replied, elated to finally have my wildest and most wonderful dreams come true. Spike gave me a general tour along the way, pointing out other points of interest, first being the boutique to our far right, and moving on to the odd shops that only Ponyvillians could come up with like Quills and Sofas. I spent most of the trip attempting to hover, only managing to look like a pony ballerina performing clumsy grand jetés and skips. Eventually I got the hang of flight, figuring out that trying to go slow without hovering resulted in both exhaustion and an early landing. Spike was nice enough to try keeping up with my speed when I finally grasped the concept enough to get somewhere with it, but I resigned to trot the rest of the way, satisfied with my accomplishment. I was still nowhere near real flight, but I at least had the basics down. Hovering was going to be more of a challenge. Spike pointed out an oversized gingerbread house that I recognized as the town's bakery, and we were greeted instantly upon walking through the doors. "Hello! Welcome to Sugarcube Cor- *gasp* Oh my gosh! Spike, you have a new friend that I've never met before, how come we never met before? Spike, who's your new pegasus friend? Where's he from? How did he get here? What's his name? Why doesn't he have a cutie mark? Does he like parties? Do you like parties? Do you want to be my friend? Huh? Huh? Huhuhuhuhuhuhu-" I tackled her to the ground, giving her a full-body hug and booped her nose to cut her off. I grinned from ear to ear, feeling my equine face contort in ways I didn't think possible, almost feeling myself burst at nonexistent seams from the joy that overcame me from meeting the bubbliest mare in Equestria. I finally got my hug from Pinkie Pie, and I didn't want to let go from the mare that had never once failed to make me smile. The element of laughter's eyes widened in delight and she emitted a squeak that I was sure only she and dog toys could produce. "I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name, new friend?" "I'm Wes." I booped her nose with my own once more, "I've heard of you before and you're exactly how I thought you would be! I'm so glad I could meet you!" I stated, blushing from my outburst of affection. I was elated by Pinkie's positive reaction to my display, but I quickly freed her from my death grip. "Do you like parties Wes?" she tittered, asking almost too fast for me to process. Truthfully, I had missed half of her previous array of questions and forgotten the rest in excitement. "Of course! Who doesn't?" I exclaimed, half-heartedly trying to calm down. Spike gawked at us, and the rest of the bakery patrons came into my peripheral view for me to see that none of them seemed to care at all about what just happened. If Twilight had known Spike would take me to Sugarcube Corner, she might have remembered my earlier vow and possibly warned him that my outbursts of affection mixing with Pinkie Pie's would be like tossing a live grenade at a stockpile of C4. What followed for me was a blur of ecstacy as Pinkie effortlessly hopped over the counter and disappeared into the kitchen and within seconds returned with a whole tray of cupcakes that she offered to Spike and me for no charge. The bakery was relatively busy, so she quickly excused herself back to work while Spike and I enjoyed our treats. "What was that?" he inquired. "What was what?" I dismissed. "That! What was all the hugging and kissing and junk as soon as we walked in? You haven't even met Pinkie before." "That was not kissing, Spike," I corrected, "and do you even know that mare? Frankly I'm surprised everypony around here isn't filled with the light of a thousand suns every time they see her. She's incredible!" "Ugh, you have a crush on her, don't you?" "Huh, now that you say it, I just might." I paused, letting him believe it for a few seconds, but then deadpanned, "No Spike, I just really like being happy. Pinkie just has a charm that makes her such a delight to be around, for me at least, and I wanted to show her how I felt about that." It was a difficult concept to explain my feelings about Pinkie Pie. On one hoof, she was the embodiment of some of my favorite things about life. She was the element of laughter for crying out loud! On the other hoof, the feeling was completely platonic. I usually don't catch non-romantic feelings from girls, but something about Pinkie Pie kept me where I needed to be with her. I didn't want to take away everypony's best friend for myself. I wanted everypony to feel as happy as she could make me feel. I tried explaining the concept to Spike, and he was surprisingly receptive. "It would be like picking the most beautiful rose from its bush. As soon as you do, the rest of the bush is left without its best flower, and anyone else who sees it won't get to enjoy the flower the way you did. Not only that, as soon as you pick the flower, it ceases being what you originally loved as it can no longer get its nutrients anymore." I should have expected Spike to be a total bro by understanding my analogy, especially since he didn't see flowers as food the way other ponies would. Still, I was surprised when he uttered a "wow" and his eyes widened in understanding. Apparently I had gotten through to him on some level, and I wondered whether his thoughts had turned to Rarity at some point as I watched his expression change while he processed the information. "Before you start making assumptions, don't think that any of that means I wouldn't date anypony at all. It's just that Pinkie Pie has a very special place in my heart." "I think I understand," he nodded his approval before biting into his third cupcake. I glanced at the plate in front of me which had been generously covered with cupcakes courtesy of Spike, and contemplated eating them. They were purple with blue frosting, and unlike the pastries on Earth, not covered in paper. I figured that on Earth they were wrapped for sanitation reasons, and thought about how little Equestria seemed to care about those things. Most ponies simply had to handle things with their mouths and there was no getting around that fact. There wasn't much of a point to wrapping baked goods in order to handle the wrapper with one's mouth, only to have the consumer do the same. I was thankful for that fact, knowing that I wouldn't have to test my dexterity with my mid-afternoon snack. I was hesitant to dive face first into my plate, thinking that the gesture would be rude, and looked around the rest of the bakery to see many ponies opting to do just that. I lowered my muzzle and bit into the first cupcake. The peculiar taste was a new flavor to me, but it wasn't bad either. I hastily devoured the first and started the second before Spike spoke up again, "So where are you from?" "Earth." "I think I've heard of that place before," he scratched his chin. "You've been there before. It's where Sunset Shimmer lives," I reminded him between bites. He was pensive for a minute while the gears turned in his head. I finished my cupcake while I waited patiently for him to remember. When he did, his eyes widened. "Oh I remember that place! It had all the talking monkeys with hands! There are ponies there too?" "No, I used to be human." "Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to call you a monkey." I chortled, "It's okay, I'm obviously not human or monkey anymore." I proudly displayed my wings. "I still don't have my cutiemark though," I sighed. "Well that's okay, I know three fillies that don't have their cutie marks either. They could probably help you get yours if you want," Spike offered, trying to cheer me up. "That sounds fun, but I really just want to meet Rainbow Dash now. I hear she's the best flyer in Equestria and she could probably teach me how to fly. Plus, I want to try getting a job as a weather pony. Do you think she could help me get in?" "I don't know about getting a job as a weather pony, but you already sound like one of the crusaders to me. I could introduce you to Rainbow, but I have no idea where she is right now. She's not an easy mare to find." "That's okay, I'm a patient pony." He just raised an eyebrow. We finished our snack in silence and I allowed my mind to wander again. I looked over to the pink mare behind the counter and focused on her appearance while my thoughts flowed. Pink and purple were colors I struggled with as a human. Having them more defined changed my perspective on them drastically as I watched the baker take orders from the kitchen and present customers with their pastries. I noticed that her cutie mark stood out in contrast to her light pink fur. She disappeared into the kitchen once more and my gaze dropped to the cupcakes. I nibbled on the last one, not wanting to move right away while I recounted what had just happened. I walked into Sugarcube Corner, saw Pinkie Pie, and just tackled her to the ground. She didn't seem to mind at all, and none of the other customers even noticed. It's like that kind of thing really is common for Pinkie Pie. I could see her vivid blue eyes just staring back at me. She didn't seem surprised at all. And then I.... *boop* My snout came in contact with the cupcake I had been eyeing. The blue frosting matched Pinkie's eyes. "Do you always look at your food when you eat?" Spike asked. That was a weird question. "I never really paid attention, but I guess I do. Why?" "You go cross-eyed all the time. It looks kinda funny." "Do I?" It made sense. I really didn't notice before, but it reminded me of a conversation I had with my old friend Aaron a while back. I was trying cigarettes for the first time, and he had been a smoker for years. It didn't take me long to quit, but he continued, and I never thought much about it afterward. He once pointed out that I went cross-eyed ever time I hit the stick, but I kept doing it if only just to look funny. We had been friends for a really long time until I moved away and then we had no way of communicating as easily. He was still my best friend through all of the time that I was away, and even to that day in Sugarcube Corner I considered us friends. I silently wished I had told him about my trip, but he was always serious about life. He never would have believed me, and even if he did, he probably would have no interest in the kind of life I wanted. I tried to shake my mind off of those thoughts and return to my new best friends. Being so close to Pinkie Pie, I noticed something. I ignored the fur on ponies before, as I could only see it as a smooth coating on top of their skin, but when I was so close I could count the hairs if I wished to, it reminded me of my pets back home. I used to have cats and when I let them lick my face, I could see the fur on their faces smoothed down in several different directions. I was always tempted to nuzzle them back whenever they would brush up against my face, and their fur was so soft. My encounters with Umbra, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie had all been like that, and I could even feel my own fur as somewhat of a comforter. Spike waited for me to finish chewing the last bite of my cupcake before asking, "Are you ready to go somewhere else?" "Sure, where to?" I almost wanted to suggest Sweet Apple Acres to wash down our cupcakes with some cider or something. Too bad it wasn't in season. "Sweet Apple Acres. You mentioned you needed a job while you were here, and Applejack is always talking about having so many responsibilities on the farm. You should ask her and Big Macintosh if they could use an extra farm hand," he suggested as we walked out of the bakery thanking Pinkie Pie for the baked goodies. I gave her a nuzzle for good measure, which she happily accepted, making a noise that resembled purring. I had to hand it to Spike for looking out for me. He seemed to be really on top of things while I was with him. I couldn't tell if that was because of his work ethic and he was just treating me as another assignment, or if he genuinely cared about a pony he had just met. I also made note of his thoughtfulness in choosing venues. He seemed to really have everything together socially. I also couldn't help but notice that I had just watched him eat six purple cupcakes. They didn't taste like they were overly rich in sugar, but I wondered if it would make him sick anyway.