//------------------------------// // Chapter 3. Let's Get Out of Here! // Story: Lake Iwannagohome // by Scquishiey //------------------------------// Ding! A tiny bell sounded when Rainbow Dash opened the front entrance to the building and walked inside with Soarin right behind her; the scent of freshly baked goods filled their nostrils as they sniffed the air. Rainbow Dash and Soarin both saw what looked to be pink cotton candy with two pink ears perk up from behind a counter. A very pink mare’s head shot up from behind the counter. She had a curly, hot pink mane that bounced when she looked up, and stared across the room at both Rainbow Dash and Soarin with a pair of huge, crystal blue eyes. GASP! The pink pony gasped, then sprang up ten feet into the air, a comical springy noise followed her actions. “DASHIEEEEE!!!” The pink pony exclaimed in a high pitched voice with a huge grin, aiming herself to land where Rainbow Dash stood. “OOMPF!” Rainbow Dash was caught off guard when the pink pony tackled her with a hug. Rainbow Dash knew very well who this pony was; she was one of her best friends, an Earth pony that went by the name of Pinkie Pie. “Ughh...” Rainbow Dash muttered as she tried to gasp for air and free herself from the powerful hug. “Hey, Pinkie Pie…” Rainbow Dash said still trying to break through her friend’s tight grasp. The pink Earth pony rubbed the side of her face on the side of Rainbow Dash’s face; she wore the biggest smile while doing so, both of their faces rubbing together emitted a sound like inflated balloons rubbing against each other. “PINKIE PIE, I CAN’T BREATHE!” Rainbow Dash shouted in Pinkie Pie’s ear. “Hugging done!” Pinkie Pie shouted cheerfully, and then let go of Rainbow Dash, leaving her gasping for breath. When Rainbow Dash finally caught her breath, she looked up at Pinkie Pie. “Hey, Pinkie Pie, how’s it going?” Rainbow Dash asked. “GREAT! HEY WHERE HAVE YAH BEEN, DASHIE? NOPONY'S SEEN YOU IN DAYS!” Pinkie Pie responded by shouting right in Rainbow Dash’s face making her stumble backwards a little. Pinkie Pie almost always used her outside voice whenever she talked, even indoors. “Heh, it's a long story.” Rainbow Dash said. "So, you think we can take a seat and order something off the menu?” Rainbow Dash asked. Pinkie Pie tilted her head to the side to look behind Rainbow Dash and noticed a pale blue Pegasus stallion looking at her with emerald green eyes. “Oh my gosh! Who’s this, Dashie?!” Pinkie Pie grabbed Rainbow Dash’s cheeks and turned her head around so that they could both look at the stallion. “Oh, that’s Soarin, from the Wonderbolts, remember?” Rainbow Dash replied whilst still having her cheeks pressed together by Pinkie Pie’s hooves. Pinkie Pie let go of Rainbow Dash’s face and put a fore hoof up to her chin as she looked up to the ceiling trying to remember the stallion in front of her. “Hmmmmm, oh! Oh yeah! I do remember him!” Pinkie Pie said resonantly. “Well okay then.” Rainbow Dash said. “So can we please have two menus, Pinkie?” “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully and dashed off to go get two menus for the two Pegasi. Rainbow Dash and Soarin walked over to a round, wooden table with wooden stools and sat down waiting for Pinkie Pie to return with the menus. “Here yah go!” Pinkie Pie squawked as she set two colorful menus down right in front of Soarin and Rainbow Dash before running off into another room. The front faces of the menus had the words, Sugarcube Corner: Bakery and Confectionery, written in white, cursive letters. “So this is the best place to get the best food?” Soarin asked as he smiled at Rainbow Dash while opening his menu. “Yep! And well, I also thought it would be a great idea to stock up on food for our camping trip here.” Rainbow Dash replied. “WHAT?!” A voice cried out. Soarin and Rainbow Dash both turned their heads to look at where the voice came from and saw Pinkie Pie charging out from another room in the bakery. Pinkie Pie grabbed a chair and sat down right next to the two Pegasi. “You two are going camping?!” Pinkie Pie chirped. “Uhhh… yeah..?” Rainbow Dash said with a raised eyebrow wondering why Pinkie Pie took such a sudden interest in what she had just said. Pinkie Pie smiled and closed her eyes and started to quickly clap her hooves together. “That is soooooo soooo sososososo cute!” Pinkie Pie said gleefully as she threw her arms up in the air. Rainbow Dash’s face turned crimson as she shrank her head back into her shoulders. “What are you talking about, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash asked, now annoyed. “Ohhhhh nothing! So are you two ready to order?!” Pinkie Pie asked with a huge grin. “I’ll have an apple pie please!” Soarin said cheerfully as he licked his lips. Rainbow Dash sighed. “I guess I’ll have a carrot cake muffin.” She said as she closed her menu. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie ran into the other room where she came out from before and quickly came back out holding two items in each hoof and set them down on Rainbow Dash’s and Soarin’s table. “Pokey, pokey!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she poked Rainbow Dash’s cheek with a hoof. Rainbow Dash glared at Pinkie Pie in annoyance. Pinkie Pie zoomed backwards and stood behind the store counter leaving the two Pegasi to their meal. “Heh, you two seem like really good friends.” Soarin said before digging his face into his big apple pie making slurping noises as he ate. He was clearly forgetting his table manners. Rainbow Dash looked at him; her magenta eyes were shimmering as she muffled a chuckle as she rested her head in both fore hooves on the table. Little did she know that Pinkie Pie was watching them the entire time. “Hmmmm…” Pinkie Pie squinted her eyes and leaned forward over the counter to focus better on Rainbow Dash. Ding! The three ponies in the shop all looked up towards the front entrance where they heard a small bell ring. A lavender colored mare with purple hair and eyes came trotting in. This pony had both wings and a single horn coming out from the center of her forehead. This was a unique kind of pony known as an Alicorn. There were only four of them in all of Equestria: Princess Celestia of the sun, Princess Luna of the moon, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire, and Twilight, the Princess of Friendship. Alicorns were seen as royalty. Pinkie Pie gasped loudly, “TWIIIIILIGHTTTT!!!” Pinkie Pie, once again jumped high up into the air and tackled the Alicorn with a hug. “Oomph!” The purple mare let out a large amount of air from her lungs. “Hello, Pinkie.” The Alicorn said while struggling slightly. “Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called out to the Alicorn, waving a fore hoof in the air. “Oh! Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said as she gently pushed Pinkie Pie off, ending the hug. Twilight trotted over to where Rainbow Dash was sitting and noticed Soarin. “Oh! Hello there.” Twilight greeted Soarin. Soarin gasped, “Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Soarin quickly placed both fore hooves on the table and bowed his head down, sticky apple chunks and crumbs were caked on his face as he did so. “Hah, please, just call me Twilight, I insist.” Twilight told him kindly. Soarin pulled his head back up and grinned sheepishly at her, sticky apple pie filling dripped down from his muzzle. Rainbow Dash looked at Soarin, then chuckled a little, her rosy eyes glistened as she stared at him. Pinkie Pie looked back at Rainbow Dash, a curious look on her face. “Hmmm…” Pinkie Pie walked up next to Rainbow Dash then looked at Soarin. “We’ll be right back!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she proceeded to wrap her arms underneath Rainbow Dash’s armpits. “P–PINKIE PIE WHAT ARE YOU–WAAA!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed then was startled when she found herself being carried off to somewhere by Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie ran on her two hind legs towards a large, white door with the word Mares written on it in cursive lettering, then flung it open and ran inside while carrying Rainbow Dash. Both mares entered a very clean-looking restroom. “PINKIE PIE, LET ME GO!” Rainbow Dash shouted while struggling to escape the pink pony’s grip. Pinkie Pie set Rainbow Dash down by a row of porcelain sinks with individual mirrors behind each of them. “Spill the beans, Dashie! You like him don’t you?” Pinkie Pie asked while smirking and moving her eyebrows up and down. Rainbow Dash stayed quiet, and then realized what Pinkie Pie had just said. “Wha–no! Of course not! Did you forget who you’re talking to?” Rainbow Dash replied slightly angry and annoyed. Back outside in the bakery, Soarin and Twilight stood in awkward silence. Twilight cleared her throat. “Sooo... I guess I should go check up on them.” Twilight said, breaking the awkward silence. Soarin replied with a nod as Twilight started to walk over to the mares' restroom. Twilight opened the door and cautiously peeked in. “Everything okay in here, girls?” Twilight asked, and then closed the door behind her. “DASHIE HAS A CRUSHIE!” Pinkie Pie cheered while she threw both arms up into the air. “Shhhh! NO I DON’T!” Rainbow Dash protested. “Oh, really?” Twilight said. “Is it on that stallion that you were sitting with outside?” Twilight asked. “No! I don’t like him! I’m Rainbow Dash! I don’t do sappy.” Rainbow Dash stated as she sat down on the cold, white, tiled floor and crossed her fore hooves across her chest, looking away from the two other mares. “Oh puh–lease, Dashie, I’ve never seen somepony so in love before!” Pinkie Pie said loudly, her voice echoing through the restroom. “Ugh! I’m not in love with anypony, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash made a forced gagging noise. “I never have been and I never will be!” Rainbow Dash said and furrowed her brow in annoyance. Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with concern. “Hmmm, you should probably leave Rainbow Dash alone, Pinkie.” Twilight said as she turned her head to face Pinkie Pie. “But I wanna know all about it!” Pinkie Pie shouted and then grabbed Rainbow Dash’s shoulders with both fore hooves. “About what?! There’s nothing to talk about!” Rainbow Dash said. She was getting really mad now. “Yes there is!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “Ugh!” Rainbow Dash grunted and rolled her eyes, she took Pinkie Pie’s hooves off her shoulders and flew into a toilet stall and locked it. “Go away! This might take a while.” Rainbow Dash said behind the closed stall pretending to be using the restroom in attempt to avoid any more outbursts from Pinkie Pie. “But Dashie!” Pinkie Pie whined loudly. Rainbow Dash blew a raspberry. “Oh, oh yeah, definitely going to take a while, you two should go outside!” Rainbow Dash told them loudly. “Come on, Pinkie Pie, let’s go back outside.” Twilight said to Pinkie Pie. Twilight trotted out of the bathroom and Pinkie Pie bounced after her. Rainbow Dash stood in the bathroom stall for a couple of moments. Gurgle gurgle A bubbling noise came from behind Rainbow Dash, she turned around and looked down at the toilet. “JUST ADMIT IT, RAINBOW DASH!” Pinkie Pie, now wearing a diving mask and a snorkel yelled as her head popped out from the toilet, splashing toilet water all over the floor. “AAAAAHHHH!!!” Rainbow Dash shrieked and flew out of the stall and burst out through the restroom door returning back out into the bakery. “Alright! We’re leaving now!” Rainbow Dash said loudly as she grabbed her carrot cake muffin that she had not yet eaten and threw a couple of bits on the table to pay for it as she flew out of the front entrance. Soarin gave a quizzical look as he watched Rainbow Dash fly out the door. “Heh, what was that all about?” Soarin chuckled and took a napkin off the table and wiped his mouth clean, then grabbed his unfinished pie and flew off after her. Pinkie Pie ran to the front entrance and opened it, still wearing her snorkel mask, and was dripping water all over the floor. “HAVE FUN!!!” Pinkie Pie called out in an ear-shattering voice to the two Pegasi that were leaving the shop, waving to them goodbye. Soarin looked behind himself and waved back while smiling. Twilight trotted up to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie Pie, what in Equestria did you do?!” Twilight asked with concern. “Oh nothing… Yet!” Pinkie Pie said in a singsong voice as a maleficent grin started to form on her face…