//------------------------------// // Cutie Nonsense // Story: Stay // by Wintergreen Diaries //------------------------------// By midday, the burning sensation in Merry’s thigh had grown to fever pitch. Panting for breath and barely able to walk, he gratefully stole into a shaded alleyway between buildings to rest. It had spread from the centralized location in his cutie mark to cover the entire left side of his flank and extended halfway up his spine. Every step felt like he’d been thrown into the fire, and found himself wondering if he would even live through the day. “Yeeeah, I’m gonna go ahead and… and say this is a… pretty big doozie,” he wheezed, chuckling weakly. He had wandered throughout most of the town, even sniffed around the outskirts for anything out of the ordinary, but the only thing that had changed was the intensity of the minty burn. Glancing at the position of the sun, he realized that he was already late getting back. “Sorry, sis,” he murmured, hanging his head and staring down at the ground. “I didn’t mean… to be late.” He let out a muted yelp of pain as his attempts to move roused the searing sensation even further, nearly causing his legs to buckle. Nausea was beginning to set in, but whether it was from his cutie mark or the growing sense of urgency, he couldn’t say. “My cutie mark only gets like this when somepony is about to have something sad happen,” he told himself, struggling to make his thoughts connect with the growing dizziness making the world spin. “Normally, I know exactly where to go, but this is so strong that it feels like it’s everywhere. If only I could just-” His thoughts faded into static as the sensation growing in his flank began to steadily build. Merry brought a hoof over his mouth as a pulse reached into his stomach, only to recede a short while later. The affected area began to shrink, the burn beginning to drain from his back and sides while magnifying the excruciating sensation building in the center of his cutie mark. His breathing grew erratic, with irregular gasps being all that he could manage. Just when he thought he couldn’t take it any longer, the sensation imploded, collapsing on itself before racing through his being. “Nnngh…” For a few seconds, he lay inert, gasping for air as the lingering remnants of the sensation ebbed and flowed. However, the urgency hadn’t left, and he struggled to his hooves as the his senses honed in on the source. He couldn’t say how he knew, nor what was calling him, but he had to act fast. Forcing himself upright, he leapt forward and stumbled to the ground, having miscalculated his recovery something horrible. Muttering, he stood once more and beat his limbs into submission, the prickle working its way out of his system with every thundering step. Ponies leapt out of the path as he tore through the alleys and leapt over carts, racing towards the heart of the town. He was almost there when his heart wrenched him in another direction, and he ground to a halt in abject confusion. “What the whatness? How could the place I need to be just jump all the way across town?!” he wondered amidst ragged breaths. It was at the split second that he made up his mind to follow the urging, regardless of whether or not it made sense, that he saw it. He couldn’t tell what it was from a distance, but something was hurtling through the air at unprecedented speed, and then tore off at a bounding gallop that was kicking up dust like a sand storm. His eyes trained on the object as it began to drop, and he followed the projected course all the way down to where it would land, and that’s when he realized the urgency: whatever that was that he was chasing was heading straight for a sizable sand storm heading straight towards the town. “Whatever that thing is, it’ll will be lost forever if it gets caught in the sandstorm,” he realized, the full scope of what his mark had set him out to accomplish coming into focus. It was a race against time and sand. Thinking quickly, he snatched a bandana from a passing pony and quickly slipped it around his neck. His eyes flicked hither and yon, his mind racing to comprehend the quickest way to get to the package. With no time for hesitation, he leapt onto the counter of a nearby stall, vaulted onto the top of the next, and sprinted along the roof tops, leaping from one house to the next. His hooves scrabbled for traction as he leapt onto a poorly maintained roof with shingles as slick as oil, and let out a sharp cry as his hooves twisted painfully as he fell from the top of the building and onto the ground. “Can’t quit now,” he thought between ragged gasps. Trotting was one thing, and galloping he could do, but he had been all out sprinting, and along the rooftops, no less! Every labored breath brought with it the lancing pains of over exertion, but he pried himself upright anyways, gritting his teeth through the pain and tearing headlong towards the sandstorm that was quickly closing in. “I’m not… not gonna make it.” He dropped his head down, giving it his everything. “I have to make it. I have to make it. I have to-” His stomach tried fervently to yank the reigns, but all it did was change the mantra being repeated as he ran. “I have to make it and not throw up, I have to make it and not throw up…” There were only a matter of seconds left. His vision had grown blurry so he couldn’t make out exactly what it was that he was racing towards, but it didn’t matter. He had to make it. That was all he knew, and that was exactly what he intended to do. Time began to slow as he neared the base of the storm. With one last effort, he planted his hooves and pushed off with all his might, leaping directly towards the whipping wall of wind and sand some twenty feet high. His jaw opened. His neck extended. There was no going back. Neither Marble nor Limestone could rightly surmise just how in Equestria going to retrieve the mail could have possibly made Pinkie Pie so dejected. She hardly made a sound as she slinked in through the back and deposited the small sack from around her neck in the corner, and were it not for the clunk of her hoof knocking against some of the spare pet rocks lying in a gunny sack, she probably would have escaped undetected. “Pinkie?” Marble asked hesitantly. “Is there… something the matter?” Choosing to communicate the depth of her dismay with action rather than words, Pinkie made like an ostrich and planted her face to the ground, with the rest of her following shortly after. “Did you find the post office alright?” A pink hoof dragged its way over and patted around until it found the mail sack, which it then slowly, painfully dragged over and dropped at the mare’s feet. “What do you suppose happened?” Limestone murmured, nonplussed. “Beats me, sis,” Marble replied, every bit as confused as her sibling. “Do you supposed she ran into one of her friends from Ponyville?” “I doubt it. I don’t think any of them will be coming back, not after the telling off that she gave that Rainbow Dash mare.” They both went quiet after that, the memory of the event still quite fresh in everypony’s mind. Things had gone from static to heated within moments of the hot-headed pegasus’ arrival, and Blinkie had ended up losing her temper and giving her a piece and a half of her mind. Rainbow Dash had taken off shortly after that, but again it was Pinkie who seemed to be on the losing end of things. It seemed like no matter what was said between her and her so called friends, Pinkie ended up getting hurt, and it made it incredibly difficult for them not to grow further embittered towards all of them. “Pinkie? Could you tell us what’s wrong?” Blinkie tried again, stooping down next to her and rubbing her back. Her expression blanked as she watched her sister’s ears suddenly spasm, wildly flopping around and beating the ground. “Do you think that’s normal for her?” “I don’t think that’s normal for anypony,” Marble replied, with a hoof over her mouth. “Should we get a doctor?” “Mihihmph smph.” They both stared at Pinkie as her ears acted up again. “What was that?” “I said-” she started, prying her head from the dirt just in time for her left ear to clock her a good one in the face. “Hey, watch it!” she barked, only to have her right ear get in one last lick before settling down. “I said, it’s my ‘Pinkie Sense.’ It tells me all sorts of stuff before it happens.” “Your… ears tell you the future?” “Well, duh!” Pinkie said with an exasperated snort, blowing a few locks of her mane from her face. “Isn’t that what I just said?” “So, uh… what does that… thing that just happened… what’s it mean?” Blinkie asked. “Oh, just that someone’s gonna get really dirty.” Her sister’s didn’t seem to buy it. “Okay, if you wanna get technical, then a lot of ponies are about to get really dirty. Sorry, I should have been more clear.” “And how do you suppose that’s-” “SANDSTORM!” The shout tore through the town, leaving panic and chaos in its wake. The deep brazen tones of an alarm bell echoed through the marketplace where ponies were hastily stuffing their wares into the safest container they could manage and hightailing it towards the nearest structure. Marble and Limestone dashed out of the tent and stood rooted in dumbfounded horror as the billowing cloud loomed closer to the town. For whatever reason, the sandstorms they got at the rockfarm didn’t do much more than set a few dust devils loose, but the monolithic wall of howling wind and grit looked as though it would swallow the town whole. “See? I told you ponies were gonna get dirty,” Pinkie pointed out with aggravating calm. “We’ve gotta get back home!” Marble exclaimed, already beginning to panic. “Inkie, there’s no time for that!” Limestone exclaimed, hurriedly packing their things. “Dad always said that the safest place in a storm would be the saloon. Come on!” Given how much they had already sold, there wasn’t much for them to carry, and within seconds they were tearing across town, but even in those few seconds the sandstorm had loomed far closer than they would have believed were possible. Barreling into the saloon, they were ushered out of the doorway by the stern looking proprietor. Following his instructions, they filed inside and huddled up in an unoccupied space. Looking to make sure that the streets were clear and nopony had been missed, the proprietor gave the signal to a few of his employees and within moments all of the entrances, windows, and vents had been boarded over, and just in the nick of time. The whole building shook as the sandstorm slammed into the sides. “Sis!” “Shhh, Inkie, shhh… it’ll be okay,” Blinkie said soothingly, holding the mare as she quaked. “Alright, everypony, listen here!” the proprietor called out, his voice booming to be heard over the howling gale. “This building has withstood more storms than some of y’all have hairs on your heads. Don’t worry about a thing, now, ya hear? There’s plenty of food an’ drink to get us through for however long this lasts.” “You hear that, sis?” Blinkie whispered, giving Inkie an extra squeeze. “He even said so. We’ll be safe here, so don’t worry about a thing.” “It sure doesn’t sound like this thing will last,” she thought to herself, listening to the timber creak. She glanced over at Pinkie, who sat ashen faced a short distance away. “We just can’t win, can we,” she pondered with a sigh. “I guess it could be worse. Celestia have mercy on anypony caught in that storm…” “I got it…” That was all that Merry could think as he lay gasping for air through the bandana wrapped tightly around his muzzle. He wasn’t even sure how he had managed to catch whatever it was that he held against his chest, only that he had, and despite the blasting winds beating against his coat from every direction, there was an overwhelming calm filling the stallion’s heart. Sand, on the other hoof, was filling his ears, though it did little to mute the roar of the storm. “I need to get out of here, but where can I go? I can’t see anything...” He didn’t dare to open his eyes for even a moment. To do so would be to risk permanent blindness in a storm that harsh, and he had lived in Dodge long enough to know how dangerous a position he was in. When he had leapt into the storm, the initial blast of the wall had sent him reeling, ruining any semblance of location. His entire body ached as he wrested himself upright into a sitting position, and it was only a few moments later that the driving wind slammed him down again. Ruefully apologizing to his everything for his cutie mark’s temporary descent into sadism, the stallion forced himself into a standing position, bracing himself against the tempest and finding that he could manage to stand, though only barely. The hoof that he had damaged in his fall from the roof was already beginning to swell, and it was with no small amount of exasperation that he regarded his cutie mark as it began once again to throb. “You can’t reeeally expect me to listen to you again… could you?” Being stuck in the middle of a sandstorm wasn’t exactly Merry’s idea of fun, even if he was an earth pony being surrounded and coated in earth. He remained quiet for a moment, struggling within himself as his mark flared briefly, urging him onwards. “Everything in my head tells me to ignore what my cutie mark is telling me, but the last time that I did that, I…” It was an odd sensation, feeling himself shiver when he was already quaking, but the fleeting memory that gently called from the recesses of his mind brought him staggering to his hooves. He had ignored the calling once, and he had vowed never to do it again. Merry only made it a few steps before he staggered and fell, and with one hoof occupied with holding onto the object in his grasp, it was painful. He got up again and staggered another few steps, and fell. “Why am I even bothering?” he wondered, dragging himself upright. “Will all this be worth it?” His questions garnered no answer, only the consistent urging within his heart to keep moving. He gave up counting the number of times he had stumbled as he blundered through the driving winds, and with growing exasperation he lay where had most recently fallen, his senses going numb from the harshness of the wind and the exhaustion that was adding weight to his every step. He clutched the package to his chest, because it was all he had left, and that’s when he found a flicker of hope. “Wait, that smell…” he thought to himself. “It couldn’t be!” Wearily bringing the object he held up to his snout, he took a deep whiff and felt the flames rekindle. Though the storm had dulled many of his senses, it couldn’t beat out his extraordinary sense of smell, and that package carried with it two for which he would walk to the end of Equestria if it was asked of him. One of them he knew, that being the mare that had stayed with him and his sister for a few days less than a week prior. “Rarity has such a nice smell, even if it is a little heavy on the hair chemicals,” he commented to himself, cuddling the package closer. “But this other one…” There was nothing quite like it. He had smelled it for the first time around a week prior, but no amount of searching had led him to the answer of what it was or where it came from, and within his hooves was possibly the key to lead him to the end of his search. “I have to- oof!” His whimper was lost amongst the wind as he tried to stand, only to have his limbs outright refused. Lancing pains raced through his being, and he began to realize the reality that he wouldn’t be able to make it any further. “But… but I’m so close, I can feel it in my mark,” he pleaded within. “Just a few more steps! Just a few…” It was no use. His limbs had become completely unresponsive and he had lost feeling in almost everything but his cutie mark, which still throbbed faintly. He felt as though he should be crying, but he hadn’t even the strength left to do that. “I’m so sorry, Chai, I didn’t mean for this to happen,” was among his last thoughts as consciousness began to fade. “...but I couldn’t ignore what my cutie mark was telling me. I couldn’t… couldn’t let her down again…” “I can’t believe I did that…” Seated a short distance from her sisters, whose quiet conversation was no doubt about her, Pinkie found herself wracked with growing feelings of shame. She swallowed hard as her stomach coiled itself in knots, reacting to the ever unpredictable and increasingly erratic machinations of her head and heart, but try though she may to convince herself that she had in that moment had plenty of reason to hurl the parcel to the stars, she couldn’t. “It was a gift,” she had come to realize, “and gifts are meant to make ponies happy. But after the way I treated Rarity, I didn’t deserve anything at all. She was probably really upset when she left, so it makes total sense that she wouldn’t pack it like normal. Instead of feeling bad, I just threw it away, and now…” Her head hung lower. “Now I’ll never know what it was…” In all of her years as a party pony, Pinkie had never once refused a gift, nor received one with such a lack of gratitude, and her realization of that fact only made her feel even worse. “Pinkie?” She glanced over at the sound of Limestones voice. “Pinkie, come over here. You don’t need to sit so far away.” Nodding, she quietly made her way over and took a seat in front of her two sisters who sat huddled underneath a blanket. “Um, Pinkie?” Marble began, her quiet voice barely able to be heard. “Is there something the matter? You haven’t been yourself since you got the mail. I’ve been going through it,” she explained, pulling out a few letters, “but there isn’t anything scary in here. No monsters, no eviction notices, no radishes… nothing!” Though Pinkie would normally at least crack a grin, her look of dejection didn’t flicker. She sat quiet for a few moments before lifting her eyes and peering back at her siblings in a way that set them both on edge. “I don’t want to burden them with my problems,” Pinkie thought, turning away. “I… I like to spread happiness, not frumpy grumbles. I came home because I knew it would be safe, but if that’s really what I believe, then why can’t I talk to them about it? About anything?” She pawed at the floorboards, somewhat at a loss. Though her family had all tried on numerous occasions since her return to weed out the root of her sorrows, she had always managed to evade their questions, but it was becoming more and more difficult for her to justify. She could see the concern etched in her sister’s faces, and she was fast starting to wonder if she were actually causing more harm than good keeping her worries to herself. “I… I, um… sorry that it wasn’t very funny…” Pinkie immediately shook her head as Marble’s fragile voice called her back to the present. “Not funny? Don’t be silly,” Pinkie hastily replied, scooting a little closer. She opened her mouth to continue, but instead fell quiet. “I need to talk to somepony about everything in my head before it explodes and make a great big, gooey mess…” There was nothing else for it. She needed to talk, to get a little bit off her chest before it all collapsed on top of her. “Remember,” she said quietly, “when you asked me why I was so glum when I returned from the post office?” They both nodded. “Well, there was something else waiting for me there. One of my Ponyville friends sent me a present.” “Oh, dear,” Marble murmured, her hooves covering her mouth in worry. “Was it... something mean?” “No,” Pinkie shook her head, “at least… I don’t think so.” She took a deep breath and blew out a heavy sigh before continuing. “I kinda… accidentally… threw it into space.” “...You what?” Limestone questioned, tilting her head. “Pinkie, that’s not even possible.” “Well, I sure gave it a good try!” Pinkie retaliated, catching herself immediately and quieting down. “Just looking at it made my emotions go all crazy. I was happy and hurt and angry and sad and… and I just couldn’t make sense of anything!” Having raised her voice without meaning to, Pinkie once again had to take a moment to calm herself, though she could tell by her sisters’ expressions that they weren’t bothered. They were listening, and that was exactly what she needed. “I still don’t understand how I feel right now,” she murmured, staring at the floor. “It’s like somepony just split me down the middle. Part of me is angry at all of my friends for being such meanie heads, but the other side of misses them, and another part of me… feels like I’m the problem.” “Oh, Pinkie…” Moving as one, Marble and Limestone scooched over and drew Pinkie into their blanketed embrace. “It sounds like you’ve had a lot on your mind,” Limestone acknowledged, “but we’re glad that you’re talking to us about it.” “R-really?” Pinkie sniffed, looking hopeful. “You mean you guys aren’t getting all covered in my sad?” “Pinkie, we’ve all been covered head to hoof in sad since you came back,” Marble giggled, snuggling up closer to her big sis. “It’s not a bother, Pinkie. We’re family: we stick together through the good times and the bad. We love you, and we want to help in any way we can.” “Thanks, girls,” Pinkie said softly, closing her eyes and taking comfort in her sister’s kind words. “Pinkie, what actually happened in Ponyville that made you so upset?” Limestone immediately regretted asking the question as Pinkie went rigid. “Th-that’s…” Marble shot Limestone a dirty look before she began stroking Pinkie’s mane as the mare buried her muzzle into her chest. Nothing was said for a few minutes, but eventually Pinkie pulled away, sniffling. “That’s not… something I’m ready to talk about just yet. I’m sorry, I-” “No need to explain, Pinkie, it’s fine,” Marble soothed. “We’ll be here whenever you’re ready, okay?” After a contrite nod, Pinkie again fell quiet, as did the other two Pie sisters. Though Pinkie hadn’t said much, she had given them plenty to think about. From the sound of it, her grievances extended beyond just the mare named Rarity that had come by the farm a week prior, but to all of her friends, and that only made the two more confused. Everything that they had read from the letters that Pinkie sent each month made life in Ponyville sound like a dream come true for their sister. They just couldn’t comprehend how things could have changed so quickly. Pinkie Pie herself had also fallen into deep contemplation. Her sisters had confirmed that her mood had indeed been affecting them, and that it didn’t bother them in the slightest. She knew that this shouldn’t come as a surprise to her. Her friends had probably learned that lesson all several times over, the most notable example being when Applejack set out to harvest the entire orchard by herself to no avail. Thinking back, Pinkie could see how much joy it brought to herself and others when they were able to participate in solving others’ problems, but when it came to her own, she was even more stubborn than Applejack. “I always did my best to cover it up when I wasn’t feeling well,” Pinkie reflected, watching her memories as they trickled by. “I never wanted anyone to feel sad because of me, and thought that if I just kept smiling, everything would be alright. But now… now I can barely find the strength to smile.” She shivered, drawing closer to her sisters to stave off the chill that quivered in her chest. “...I just don’t want to be alone.” “Alrighty, folks!” Stirring at the sound of the call, Pinkie blinked out of her thoughts and looked over at the proprietor who stood by the doorway. “It looks like the storm has died down. Should be safe for y’all to go about yer business, but be sure to watch your step! There’s bound t’ be plenty of loose sand about.” Perking her ears, Pinkie realized that the howling wind had indeed died down, and she followed her sisters as they filed into line and stepped out into a town completely drenched with sand. “Holy moley!” Pinkie exclaimed trotting into the middle of the street and spinning in a slow circle. “It’s… everywhere!” The once well defined path leading through the center of town had been replaced with expansive dunes of soft desert sand. Every roof was coated with several inches of loose earth, several signs had been blown away, and not a single tent had been left standing that had been left behind. Decks would need to be swept, the road cleared, and the more Pinkie looked around, the more she balked at the sheer amount of work that it would take to clear the roads. Her amazement soon shifted to regret as she realized that she would never know what it was that Rarity had sent, because there was no way that anything would be found after the sandstorm. “Uh oh! We’re late!” Limestone exclaimed, looking at the sun as it dipped towards the horizon. “Pa is gonna be worried sick if we’re not home on time! We’ve never been late before, and- oooh, we’ve got to get a move on!” They knew that he was more than a touch protective, and if word of the sandstorm somehow reach him before they did, then they would be in for quite the scolding. Without further thought, the three took off as fast as they could manage and headed straight home.