“Come on, Fluttershy, Hurry up!” Pinkie Pie called to her yellow Pegasus friend, as she galloped through Ponyville.
A short distance behind her, Fluttershy struggled to keep up with the crazy party pony. “Pinkie…wait up…please…”
The pair had been at this since the crack of dawn and Pinkie was determined about something that she had yet to explain to Fluttershy.
Pinkie skid to a halt by a nearby cottage and pressed herself against its side; hiding herself from view and peering around at the empty Ponyville street suspiciously.
Fluttershy finally caught up and slowed to a stop besides the same building, panting heavily. She wasn’t out of shape, but from how long and hard she’d been trying to keep up with a frantic Pinkie, even Rainbow Dash may have broken a sweat.
Her moment of peace was interrupted, however, when a pink hoof reached out and pulled her out of sight.
“SHHHHH!” Pinkie hissed quietly. With one last peek out at the open and deserted street, she pressed her muzzle against the yellow Pegasus. “We have a super big situation, Fluttershy.” She whispered sternly.
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in confusion. “F-from what…exactly?”
“My Pinkie sense has been going off like crazy all week! And every time it passes, I find another victim lying on the ground nearby!” Pinkie explained frantically.
Fluttershy went wide-eyed, “A-a v-v-victim?!?!” She squealed loudly, only to have a hoof stuffed into her mouth again.
“Yeah…there’s another pony or a bunch of 'em lying all tired out on the ground…and they always have dopey grins stuck on their relaxed faces with cases of the giggles.” Pinkie Pie continued with another nervous glance around the corner.
Fluttershy relaxed at hearing the clarification of what she meant, “O-oh…I see…oh my…” she said with a breath of relief. “A-anyway, what exactly happens with it, Pinkie?" She asked curiously.
“Well you see…” Pinkie began rubbing her nose. “My Pinkie sense reacts to different events that are about to happen…and my nose has been itching and tickling me like crazy all week.” She explained sternly. “It’s so weird, I’ve never had it itch and tickle at the same time! it’s crazy!”
“Oooohhhh…” Fluttershy said in understanding with drooping ears. While she hasn’t had very many encounters with her Pinkie sense in the past, she was familiar with the lore about it, “So...what happens exactly?”
“Well, my nose starts to tickle and get really, really, REALLY itchy, then I hear some scary buzzing in the distance…then the screams and crazy laughter…and the sights of ponies lying all over the ground in giggly exhaustion…!” she whispered sternly.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy trailed off as she thought of the situation.
“So I think it’s up to us to hunt for the culprit,” she put on hat that was a cross between a detective cap and one that belonged to Elmer Fudd, “and I plan to get to the bottom of this.” Pinkie concluded. Just then, her nose started twitching and she sniffed a few times before bringing a hoof to her nose to rub it.
“Hee, hee...uh oh…here we go again,” Pinkie announced and peered back out from the wall again.
For a good several seconds, there was nothing; the street remained empty with neigh but a soft breeze making shop signs creak.
Pinkie and Fluttershy came out from their hiding spot and looked around with raised eyebrows. It was a very anti-climatic start to their investigation to say the least.
Suddenly, in the distance, several screams were heard, followed by loud and joyful laughter.
Pinkie gasped and trotted feverishly in place. “There, it’s back again, come on Fluttershy, hurry!” She tapped Fluttershy and ran towards the sounds in a frenzied chase.
“H-hey, w-wait up, Pinkie!” Fluttershy panted as she flapped her wings and followed after her.
***
A couple minutes later, Pinkie and Fluttershy arrived at the scene of the laughter and spotted the source of the noises.
In the main street area of town, the three flower ponies, Roseluck, Carrot Top and Lily all lay sprawled out on the ground, panting heavily. Each of them had a dopey smile plastered on their exhausted faces and their coats were frazzled and unkempt.
Pinkie dashed up to them with an exhausted Fluttershy arriving behind her. “Hey Rosie, Lilian, Topping! What happened to you?! Speak to me!” She called hysterically, picking Lily up and shaking her in concern.
Rose Luck groaned and managed to lift her head up, catching Pinkie and Fluttershy’s attention. “It was…horrible…the horror…hee, hee!” she started, a giddy smile plastered on her face as she giggled again.
“Oh my, what happened to you?” Fluttershy asked Roseluck uneasily, catching her breath enough to observe.
“The Horror…it was so…relaxing…and hee, hee, horrible…!” she trailed off with a giggle as her head dropped back to the ground.
A weary hoof rose and tapped Pinkie, drawing her attention to the mare in her arms. Lily had recovered enough to speak. “She means that…there was a dark cloud…a lot of buzzing…but we didn’t see them in time…and they swarmed around us…and made us laugh and feel relaxed after a while,” She said with a smile.
Roseluck lifted her head, “Hee, hee…yeah…what she said…” she confirmed, before letting her head flop down again.
“Don’t stop there, give me details! What did we miss?!” Pinkie encouraged eagerly, wanting more details about the culprits.
Lily looked up at her with a weak shrug. “I’m sorry…it all just happened so fast…we couldn’t see what was going on or anything like that.” She answered before closing her eyes and resting.
Pinkie put Lily down and backed up cautiously to Fluttershy. “Just what the hay is going on here?” she asked nervously.
“I don’t know…” Fluttershy trailed off and looked around for any sign or clues, “But I don’t really like where this could be going…”