//------------------------------// // After // Story: Who is Bulk Biceps' Special Somepony? // by Lise //------------------------------// "I am so very very sorry, princess, but it simply is impossible," Lotus Blossom said firmly. "Oh?" Twilight arched a brow. "Why not?" "You see, Bulk hasn't come to work yet. Usually he arrives an hour before sunrise, but today," she sighed. "I even sent Aloe to check his usual gym. He wasn't there." "Having in mind what happened last night, no surprise. Did you check his home?" "Yes," Lotus nodded. "His home, the nearby parks, Sugarcube Corner. He is nowhere to be found." "Well he has to come at some point. Maybe I can wait inside for a bit? Just in case?" "Very well, princess, but you better be prepared..." At first Twilight had no idea what the spa pony was talking about. Upon entering the building, however, it became quite obvious. The space was packed to the brim with ponies. It was as if all the mares in Ponyville had gathered. "What is..." Twilight began, but was quickly cut short by Pinkie Pie. "Told you she'd come!" the pink pony said with a wide grin. Much to Twilight's surprise, all her close friend were there as well, including Applejack. That was unexpected, having in mind how adamantly she had refused to come to the Bulk-watching event last night. "Girls, what are you doing here?" the alicorn asked, shocked. "We? What are you doing here?" countered Rainbow Dash. "Don't you have princessy things to do?" "Well, I decided to take a break!" Twilight rose her voice. "Oh, yeah? Well I came here because Fluttershy asked me to!" "Err, well, I just wanted to ask Bulk how Hummingway was doing," the yellow pegasus said. "I, for one, always come here," Rarity explained waving her mane. It was obvious, however, she had spent extra effort to look good, even to the point of wearing a moonglow headband. "I came to do a cheer-up party!" Pinkie jumped happily. "Haven't done one of those for a while. Also, I wanted to try out my new spa party cannon." "Don't y'all look at me," Applejack said. "I just felt sorry for him, and decided to cheer him up with some of Granny Smith's zap apple jam. That'll sure put the kick back in him!" "Well, that's fine and all, but I somehow doubt some jam will be enough," Twilight said skeptically. "What Bulk Biceps needs is a long heart to heart." "Read that in one of your egghead books?" Rainbow smirked. "Bulk is a doer. What he needs is a day in the skies to build his self confidence, not mushy talks." "No, a party!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "A bag of candy!" Some other pony shouted. "A rave concert!" "A beautiful bouquet of flowers!" Shouting filled the spa. Each mare had an opinion, and each through hers was better than the rest. None were willing to listen to reason or compromise. The chaos was such that Discord himself would have been proud. As the volume increased, It seemed that the row would last forever. Shoves were starting to be exchanged, manes be pulled... And then suddenly everything was restored to normal by a single male yell. "Hello, everypony!" A familiar voice boomed. Instantly, all heads turned towards the entrance. Bulk Biceps was there, standing calmly, as if nothing had happened. "There is something I wish to tell you!" Everypony swallowed. Was he going to talk about last night? "Well," he said a tad softer then cleared his throat. "Yesterday, I asked for a day off. It was to impress somepony, I like a lot," he took a deep breath. "Err..." "Oooo, the long speech," Pinkie Pie whispered. "This might require more than a single party cannon." "So, err... " Bulk struggled to find the appropriate words. "I wanted... This thing..." "Oh, just say it!" a new voice yelled out. Shortly after, a new pegasus entered the scene. "Cloudchaser?!" The entire gathering gasped in disbelief. "Yep. Bulk and I are an item," she said, moving next to the white pegasus. "We've been going steady ever since the Wonderbolt academy." "Yeah!" Bulk shouted striking a pose. "The academy?" Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief. "Since the academy?!" "Well you remember what Spitfire said," Cloudchaser chuckled. "'If any pair splits apart, they will be immediately disqualified'. To be honest, we wanted to to keep it quiet. But with everything going on yesterday..." all the ponies in the room looked about absentmindedly, "we decided to come clean." She rubbed her face against Bulk's. "Yay for Cloudchaser!" Derpy cheered and leapt clapping in the air... promptly landing in a tub of water. The other ponies joined in, but their cheers were somewhat less enthusiastic. In a way, that pretty much marked the end of the small adventure and a return to everyday gossip. Everypony wished the happy couple the best. It was the proper thing to do, after all. Cloudchaser spent the next minutes accepting congratulations, then flew off. She still had Wonderbolt training to go to. Bulk, on his part, had to get back to work. He had already missed a day and a half, and by the looks of it, Lotus Blossum wasn't overly pleased. The other ponies remained where they were, waiting, looking at each other uncomfortably. They had found the answer to the riddle that was Bulk, but that didn't seem to make them overly happy. Just a day ago they all laughed at the notion that Bulk could have a special somepony. Now there was only one thing on their mind. "He's too good for her!" Twilight whispered bitterly the instant Bulk went to change into his work clothes. Every single pony in the spa, with the exception of Derpy, nodded silently in agreement.