//------------------------------//
// Blurred Trajectory 
// Story: Blur 
// by lunabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Twilight sat in a tight, partial semi-circle around the large wooden object that had been constructed using the schematics in one of Twilight's old books. Fluttershy had understandably wanted to know, almost demanded but hadn't quite the aggression to demand things, why Rainbow Dash had crashed into her property. The others had been similarly confused, which made Fluttershy all the more upset.

The object in front of her was last the last straw.

"We just wanted to catch that bird," Rainbow Dash complained, trying to pass off the whole affair as no big deal.

"So you built a catapault?!" The other pegasus asked.

"Well, yes," Twilight said. "I always wanted to try building something, and Pinkie said it would be fun."

"In my defense, I say everything is fun," Pinkie chimed in. "Except fruitcake. I don't know WHO thought of that, but fruitcake is most decidedly not fun. But fruit is, and cake is too!"

"I calibrated the sling using Pinkie as a test weight," Twilight explained. "But Rainbow Dash was the one who we launched. Pinkie weighs more, so the only explanation is that it screwed up my calculations. I triple checked my math, and I KNOW it was right."

"I do not weigh more!" Pinkie gasped, sounding insulted.

"You eat more candy than the rest of us combined," Rainbow said. "Meanwhile I am toned and aerodynamically awesome."

Pinkie pouted. "I work it off, you've seen all the bouncing around I do."

Fluttershy looked from one pony to the other. "You're not going to launch that thing again, are you? Because I'm really not okay with that. And I don't want any further part of this." She rose as if to emphasize her point, and somehow managed to make storming off back towards her house look cute.

"It's okay!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "I'm gonna ride it this time, and it'll work exactly like we planned it." She emphasized this point by jumping into the rounded, spoon shaped edge of the catapault, and buckled the strap of the safety helmet under her chin. "Dashie put down birdseed at the end of the road, and I painted one of my murals. Now all we do is wait."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Twilight began. "But if you insist on it-"

"I do!" Pinkie beamed.

"Quiet!" Rainbow Dash hissed suddenly. "It's coming back!"'

All three ponies fell silent, while Rainbow Dash peered through a set of binoculars. The strange blue bird zoomed up the road, leaving a thick trail of dust behind it. It approached the pile of birdseed near the mural with oblivious eagerness, and skidded to a halt only to peck at it.

"Now!" Rainbow Dash said, letting her foreleg swing downward as if holding an invisible flag. Twilight unhooked the cord holding the catapault in its downward position, and Pinkie was airborne a millisecond later, the catapault giving off a cartoonish twang. 

Pinkie flew towards the base of the mural with outstretched forelegs, only a moment later did Twilight realize the obvious error that they had overlooked. 

"She's going to smash into the mountain! She'll be hurt!" Twilight cried.

Rainbow Dash gaped, her mouth hanging open. "Pinkie, turn around! Abort! Abort!" She took to the air, forgetting the plan entirely, and zoomed towards her friend as quickly as possible. "Pinkie!" She shouted, eyes focused in concentration. 

Pinkie Pie didn't seem to care, her features curving upwards in a wide grin. She managed to wrap her forelegs around the surprised Roadrunner, who meeped only once, and with less than its normal enthusiasm. Pinkie crashed through the painting and tumbled head over bird down the road which she herself had applied with a brush only an hour earlier. She tumbled right off the edge of the end of the road, which curved off to a nonexistant location, and looked down with the bird in her grasp. Her eyes widened, and she held up a large sign, which she pulled from behind her back.

[WHEE!]

And then Pinkie plummeted, disappearing off the edge of the painting with her prize.

Twilight yelled and teleported forward, Rainbow Dash never slowing down in her attempt to emulate Pinkie's trick. She smashed into the side of the painted mountain with cringe inducing force, before sliding weakly down towards the ground, her head throbbing.

"What... just... happened?" She asked wearily.

"She's gone," Twilight whispered, shocked. "Pinkie's gone."

While the two of them were confusingly mourning the apparent loss of their friend, Pinkie came up behind them. "What are we all sad about?" She asked accusingly. She wasn't used to seeing her friends sad, and that just wouldn't do!

"Pinkie's gone!" Twilight moaned, not looking up.

Pinkie gave a shuddering gasp. "What?!" She exclaimed, and sat down on her rump. 

Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked up, and stared at Pinkie in shock.

"Pinkie?!"

"I don't know anymore! Twilight said I'm not here!"

"But... you went over the edge..."

"Duh. I'm part bubble. Bubbles bounce, you told me that!"

"I what?" Twilight blinked.

"You know. From that big book of Equestrian predators." Her usual smile had returned.

"...That was BUMBLES, Pinkie. Bumbles bounce. Not bubbles."

"Don't bother trying to figure her out, Twilight. It never ends well."

"Hey!"

"Where's the bird, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, frowning. "You had it when you... did whatever you did and went down."

"It's around here somewhere," Pinkie said casually. "I let it go. I didn't want to hurt it."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Ugh! I still have one more idea I want to try to catch this thing!"

Twilight shook her head. "Not with my help you're not. This isn't healthy, Rainbow Dash. You're starting to get obsessive. We just almost turned Pinkie into pudding!"

"Yeah! Although I would have made totally super delicious pudding."

Twilight and Pinkie both began to leave, the former walking and the latter bouncing. 

"Well fine!" Rainbow shouted after them. "I'll just get Fluttershy to help me again!"

She was confident in this new plan until reaching Fluttershy's cottage, and had barely begun to ask for help when the door was shut in her face and the audible click of a lock was heard.

"...I guess I'm doing this by myself," Rainbow sighed. "One last try."