//------------------------------// // Day 18: Bowling // Story: Ponyville the Town of Youth // by Ironskull //------------------------------// "Pinkie Pie? Are you in here?" cried Twilight into the lit interior of sugar cube corner. "Hello, Twilight," answered Pinkie apathetically from behind the counter. "Pinkie?" said Twilight, concerned. She approached the counter. "Pinkie, is everything okay?" "Everything is just fine," said Pinkie. "Today, that is." "Pinkie, why are you hiding behind all of these boxes?" Twilight shoved the a section of a wall of white boxes on the counter aside, revealing Pinkie Pie standing behind them and staring at the boxes intensely. "This is all that's left, Twilight," said Pinkie. "And this is all that there is ever going to be. From now until forever." "Um, Pinkie?" asked Twilight nervously. "What are you talking about?" "The cakes. These are the last of the cakes. No more. No more cakes." "Oh... Well, I suppose we should savor them all the more when we end up eating them?" "Yes. We must enjoy these cakes to their fullest potential. For we shall not experience their perfection ever again." "I'm quite positive that you can make more cakes when we return to the real world," offered Twilight. "But that's a whole dozen days away." "Well, you won't have to wait that long. Twelve days isn't an eternity." "It is... when you have to live through them without delicious, delicious cake." "Surely you can find more milk out there somewhere," said Twilight. "It's only been a day since you gathered up the last batch." "No. There's no more." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure. I found all the milk that was fit to drink already. It's all gone. Milk's all gone." "Well, why don't we just eat them slowly and make sure they last for all twelve days?" "I can't." "You can't?" "I can't. These are the last cakes in Ponyville. I'm afraid that if I move from this spot, I'll accidently eat every last one. But I can't do that. If I do that, nopony else in Ponyville will have any cakes." "Come on, that's ridiculous," said Twilight laughingly, subconsciously wondering whether it really was. "Twilight!" cried Pinkie suddenly, showing the first signs of emotion since the beginning of the conversation. "Yes Pinkie?" asked Twilight fearfully. "I need you to save me!" "What? Save you from what? How?" "I need you... to save me from myself." "How do I do that?" asked Twilight, bewildered. "I need to you to let me promise you something!" "... Sure! Whatever you need!" "Thank you Twilight! I Pinkie Promise that Iwon'teatanyofthecakeunlessyoutellmeIcanhavesomecake!" Pinkie paused to take a deep breath. "Crossmyhearthopetoflystickacupcakeinmyeye Oh! Oh, thank goodness that's over with!" Twilight stared at Pinkie. Pinkie slowly stepped away from the boxes of cake. "Are you alright now, Pinkie?" "Not quite," admitted Pinkie, "but at least I'll be able to carry all of these boxes back to everypony without eating them all. Umm... Twilight?" "Yes, Pinkie?" "May I please, please please have a slice of cake?" "What?" asked Twilight, confused. "I promised that I wouldn't eat any cake unless I get your permission. So... can I? Please?" "Uh, when was the last time you had a slice?" asked Twilight. "Twelve minutes, seventeen seconds ago. I mean eighteen. No, nineteen! Please?" "How about this, Pinkie," said Twilight. "Ask me again when we deliver all of these cakes back to the Fort. I'll let you have a slice then." "Okay!" answered Pinkie instantly. "We should go wake up Applejack so she can help. The more help we have, the sooner it will get done!" "Applejack is here?" asked Twilight. "She stayed up all night helping me with the baking." "That's the last of the cakes!" cried Pinkie in relief as she set a final white box down into a pile on a table in the fort. "Now can I have a slice of cake?" "Yes, Pinkie, you may have one slice of cake," answered Twilight. "Yipee Dippy Day!" cried Pinkie, snatching the same box back up into her hooves and setting it on a different table and throwing the top off, revealing a cylindrical chocolate cake inside. She happily bounced away and returned with a plastic knife, which she plunged into the cake and cut out a thin triangle. She then heaved the entire remaining portion of the cake above her head and apparently unhinged her jaw as her mouth opened wide enough to engulf the cake in one bite. "Pinkie!" cried Twilight. Every part of Pinkie's body froze. Her eyes swiveled in place to look back at Twilight. "Pinkie," Twilight said critically, "You may have no more than a thirty degree angle wedge of cake." "Awwwwww!" "Hey, everypony!" cried Diamond Tiara's voice, capturing the attention of everypony present. "I have an announcement to make! "I'm throwing a party, and you are all invited!" "Party?" cried Pinkie. "The party is being held at the bowling alley," continued Diamond Tiara. "Immediately!" she added. "Hello, Fluttershy." Fluttershy stopped humming and trotting and turned her head toward the voice in confusion. "Hello?" she asked nervously. "Down here." Fluttershy looked down at her hooves and, much to her surprise, saw a horned rabbit. "Oh! I didn't see you there! I could have stepped on you! I'm so sorry!" "No need," assured the rabbit. "I'm used to being trod upon." "That sounds horrible!" "Well, yes, but I have to make do." "Oh dear! That's not very fair!" said Fluttershy in shock. "Depends on who you ask." "What's your name?" "Why, Fluttershy, do you not recognize me? My name is Discord!" Fluttershy stammered. "You're Discord?" "Yes! I assumed this form since I thought you might be more comfortable talking with me like this. Did it work?" "..." "You know Fluttershy, if you want to see waterfalls so badly, you could have always asked me!" "... Really?" "Of course! You may not remember me, but I remember you, and you're my friend! Why, just say the word, and I'll snap my fingers and we can leave this imitation of Ponyville behind and I will take you anywhere you want at all! What do you say?" "I'll- pass?" Fluttershy squeaked. "There you are!" cried a new voice. Fluttershy turned to see Silver Spoon trotting toward her. "Fluttershy, guess what!" Silver Spoon said enthusiastically. "Talk about rude..." Discord muttered. "Diamond Tiara is having a party at the bowling alley!" continued Silver Spoon. "You're invited if you want to come!" Fluttershy considered. She looked back toward Discord. "All your friends will be there," added Silver Spoon. "Okay," Fluttershy answered quietly. "I say," said Discord, drawing their attention. "Fluttershy and I were just having a lovely chat. But I suppose we can continue our discussion at the party, can we not, Fluttershy?" "Eep!" "That means yes," said Discord to Silver Spoon, who was staring at him in shock. "She is ever so shy around ponies she doesn't know that well." "This party was such a good idea!" "Of course you think it's a good idea, Pinkie Pie," said Rarity. "But this time it was a doubly good idea because not only are we having a super fun party, but everypony is also eating up all of the cake, and when the cake is all gone I won't have to resist the temptation to eat it all myself. Selfish Pinkie Pie, how could you?" "Especially after all the work Ah went through makin' 'em," said Applejack. "Ah expect mah fair share!" "Look, there's Fluttershy!" said Twilight happily, pointing a hoof toward the entry doors of the bowling alley. "I'm going to go ask her to join us!" "Cool," said Rainbow Dash. "Good timing, I just finished my soda. I am so ready for a game. A bunch of the others have already gotten started." Twilight returned shortly afterward. "Alright everypony," she began nervously. "Fluttershy has arrived... "Plus one guest. May I present Fluttershy's... friend... Discord." "Greetings everypony!" shouted Discord as his true form expanded outward from the previously unnoticed rabbit. "Such a delightful affair, this is. I trust you have room for one more?" The fillies looked toward one another uncertainly. They began to give Discord uncertain answers of affirmation. "No." Every filly's eyes fell upon Rainbow Dash in shock. "Are you crazy?" whispered Twilight. "No, I'm not crazy," said Rainbow Dash. "We literally don't have room for one more. The score sheet only has room for six per lane." "Oh, I see!" said Discord. "That is a problem, isn't it? I know! I can share with my friend Fluttershy!" "I suppose that will work," answered Twilight uncertainly. "Alright, we're going alphabetically, so Applejack is up first." Applejack picked a bowling ball up in her mouth and threw it toward the pins. "Eight points!" she declared upon seeing the results. "Mighty respectable!" The next throw missed the pins. "Shucks," said Applejack. "Still, eight points, not bad." "Good start," said Twilight. "Fluttershy, you're next." Fluttershy nervously grabbed a ball in her mouth and tossed it down the lane, slowly. The ball approached the right gutter. And then it suddenly changed direction and ran into the center pin, knocking them all down. "Woowee!" said Applejack, impressed. "I never would have guessed you knew such fancy tricks, Flutters!" "I... Didn't know I did..." Twilight, meanwhile, was watching Discord suspiciously. He pointed a finger to the left when the ball changed direction, I'm almost positive! She shook her head and decided to not mention it. "Pinkie Pie is up next." "A pro throws with her hoof!" declared Pinkie. She grabbed a ball and began waving it around erratically. When she released it, it rolled into the gutter almost immediately. "I get points for style, right?" "No," answered a laughing Rainbow Dash. Pinkie made a second attempt, which ended very similarly to the first. "You're up, Rainbow." Rainbow achieved a gutter ball. "You don't get any points for style," Pinkie reminded Rainbow. "Shut up. That was a warm up. I had to get a feel for it. I'll have the top score by the end of this game." Rainbow's second throw knocked down nine pins. "Argh, no!" "What are you so upset about?" asked Pinkie in genuine surprise. "I was so close to knocking them all down!" "Rarity?" Rarity walked up to her ball and gave it an uncertain look before grabbing it and throwing it down the lane. It collided with the pins, causing a chain reaction that resulted in all of them being knocked over. "Ten points!" she cheered. "I can't believe I actually did that!" "You just got lucky..." muttered Rainbow Dash. "Which just leaves me," Twilight said. She grabbed a ball and tossed it. "Aaaaand I am now the proud owner of four whole points," she announced. "Whoopee." "Hey, you still got more points than I did," said Pinkie. Twilight ignored Pinkie and tossed again, knocking down five more pins. "There. That's more like it," declared Twilight, satisfied. "Applejack?" Applejack managed to get another total of eight points. "Is there a special rule or somethin' that gives you bonus points for knocking down the same number twice in a row?" asked Applejack hopefully. "No," said Twilight. "Not unless you get ten points twice in a row. There are special rules for that. Fluttershy?" "I'm going to throw for Fluttershy this round," declared Discord. He produced a solid black ball from nowhere and tossed it straight down the middle of the lane. The ball managed to knock down three pins. "Oooooh," said Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, Discord's ball violently exploded, throwing all of the pins across the room and leaving the lane in pieces. "Are you insane!" shouted Twilight above the screams of her peers. "Everypony calm down!" cried Discord. "It's fine, really! Look!" He snapped his claws and the bowling lane returned to it's normal state, completely undamaged. "That was totally a strike by the way," said Discord as he returned to his seat. "Oh, no!" said Diamond Tiara. "When did Discord show up? This is not good!" "Look on the bright side, Diamond," said Scootaloo. "At least he's not bothering us." "I would prefer it if he was!" cried Diamond, causing the three crusaders to give her strange looks. "Why?" asked Apple Bloom slowly. "Because I promised Twilight that I would help her to arrange time to spend with her friends, that's why! I actually learned something new for the first time in at least a year because of her, and I mean to see the favor repaid! And now Discord is ruining everything!" "Oh," said Sweetie Belle. "That does sound pretty bad." "Somepony has to do something!" said Diamond Tiara. "Like what?" asked Silver Spoon. "We can't just ask Discord himself to leave, can we?" "No, we can't..." said Diamond ponderingly. Suddenly, she stuck her hoof out at the crusaders. "You three!" "Huh?" asked the three fillies. "You three need to create a distraction!" "A distraction?" asked Scootaloo in disbelief. "Yes. Something that will get Discord's attention. Something that will hold his interest for a while. Something destructive. Something chaotic!" "You've got to be kidding me!" cried Apple Bloom. "How are we supposed to do that?" "I don't know! You three are the experts, aren't you? I honestly can't believe you three haven't earned cutie marks in destruction! Go blow something up or something!" "You're really asking us to do this for you?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Just do it, for Pony's sake! Just distract Discord, quick!" "But we were beating you!" "Bowling isn't honestly my cup of tea anyway," answered Diamond dismissively. "Besides, none of you are beating Silver Spoon. So there." The crusaders looked at one another. "Hey, Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo. "Remember that idea that we had about what we should definitely never ever do ever?" "Yeah. I think we still have it in the tree house somewhere. Let's go." A little while later, the three crusaders found themselves in town square, wearing protective pillows in addition to their usual outwear attire of knitted caps and scarves. "Alright, let's make sure that everything is in place," said Apple Bloom. "Strainer?" "Check," answered Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "Boiler?" "Check." "Wood chipper?" "Check." "Leaf blower?" "Check." "That should be everything then," said Apple Bloom. "So... are you ready?" "Umm... is this... safe?" asked Sweetie Belle nervously. "Not in the slightest," answered Scootaloo immediately. "Yeah," agreed Apple Bloom. "As soon as we flip the knob and throw the switch, we should run for cover." Diamond Tiara watched as Discord cheered Fluttershy's bowling prowess as she landed a seventh strike. What is taking those three so long? she thought desperately. KERBLAM Dozens of high pitched screams sounded through the bowling alley, and Discord suddenly and involuntarily stood up straight and stiff as a board. "Twilight!" Pinkie screamed. "I just remembered something! May I please have another slice of cake?" "What in Equestria?" shouted Twilight, ignoring Pinkie. "Discord, what did you just do?" "That wasn't me!" defended Discord, confused. "It sounded like it came from outside!" cried Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy? Be a dear and take my turns? I simply must go and investigate this." Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared. "Oh, thank goodness he's gone!" cried Diamond Tiara. "Don't worry, everypony! Everything is one hundred percent fine!" "What do you mean?" asked Twilight. "Do you know what just happened out there?" She gasped in realization. "Did you do that so that Discord would leave us alone?" "Well, the answer to the second question... is yes. But I'm afraid the answer to the first question is no. I don't actually have any idea what happened. I asked the Cutie Mark Crusaders to create a distraction and, well, I guess sometimes those three have their uses..." Discord stared at the mess in the town square with his jaw hanging open. "My dear fillies, what have you done?" he cried. "Ummm," began Apple Bloom. "We can explain!" Discord stuck his paw into the sticky substance coating the snow under him and then brought it up to his mouth. Tree sap. Tree sap everywhere. Discord's eyes began to water. "It's... It's... It's beautiful!" Discord produced a paper cone and dipped it into the snow. "And look! Tree sap flavored snow cones! Ingenious! A true work of art! It's reminiscent of Equestria back before Celestia and Luna imprisoned me in stone! Ah, the sweet, tasty memories!" He turned and looked the sap drenched Crusaders. "How did this come to pass? You simply must tell me! If I had been watching, I would have been positively bouncing in my seat! "But I missed iiiiit!" Discord wailed.