Cutting Strings

by Astrocity

Babies!

Never in my life had I ever seen a building made of sweets.

As we walked towards the sugary place, the trio of fillies went on and on about getting their cutie marks and their future careers as the best bakers in all of Equestria. I suppose that sounded nice, but I was never one for baking. After all, I had never gone near a stove before. But instead of listening to the fillies talk about their dreams of grandeur, I was focused on a window in the giant cupcake that sat on top of the bakery. I thought I saw someone at the window, but the pony had moved before I got a good look.

“Are ya sure they won’t mind if we use their kitchen?” Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo waved a hoof dismissively. “I’m sure they won’t mind. Besides, if there’s one pony in Equestria who really knows how to bake, it’s gotta be…”

“Pinkie!” shouted a pink mare from behind. Where she came from or when she had shown up, I didn’t know. She scooped all of us in her hooves and somehow was able to give the biggest hug I’ve ever seen. “My Pinkie Sense told me you three need some help.”

In my mind, I was wondering what in the world was a Pinkie Sense, but the sudden shaking of the saddlebag from Apple Bloom’s hopping jostled me out of that train of thought.

“Yeah! Can ya help us get our cutie marks in baking?” she asked.

The smile on the mare’s face grew twice as large. I didn’t think that was possible. “Of course I’ll help! Since Mr. and Mrs. Cake are away to deliver an order, they put me in charge of Sugarcube Corner and the twins," said the mare. “Why, I remember when I was your age I baked my first cake.”

“What did you make?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“A rock cake.”

Pinkie didn’t seem to notice the confused looks on the fillies’ faces.

“Do you want to know the secret ingredient?” she asked. She glanced around and then leaned in to whisper: “It’s rocks.”

“Rocks?” the fillies asked.

Pinkie nodded. “Yep! Rocks.”

She certainly was a strange mare.

Very strange… I thought.

It's very different to see other ponies up close. You can never tell what they're going to do.

“Now, let’s go bake us a cutie mark!” she said.

With a cheer, everyone quickly trotted inside the bakery. Unlike the outside, the bakery looked normal inside. It was a slight disappointment, but nothing’s perfect. Once again, I was tossed around inside Apple Bloom’s saddlebag as she and the others flung their bags to the side of the wall before heading to the kitchen.

I rolled out Apple Bloom’s bag, feeling like the room was spinnier than usual. I shook my head and made a few careful turns with my neck. Who knows if my head was on backwards? Once I was sure that the ceiling was “up” and the floor was “down,” I began exploring the new place, though I was cut mid-step by the giggling and screeching coming from a corner in the room.

Sitting in the corner of the bakery were two small ponies, only slightly bigger than me. I smiled at the little ones.

Aw, babies!

For some reason, they were kept in a roofless cage. The baby unicorn and pegasus had their faces against the wall of their cage, their little muzzles poking between the wooden bars. The yellow one kept biting on one of the bars, while the other bashed against them with his hooves. All the while, they babbled in their own little baby talk.

How strange, I thought to myself. Why would they put little ponies in cages?

I was never one for being familiar of the things ponies do, whether they were outside or in their homes. Of course, if it was any importance, then surely Flim and Flam would have told me.

Before I realized it, I found myself face-to-face with the little foals, a wooden barrier between us. It’s funny where curiosity can take you, especially when your mind is some place else.

“Hi babies!” I said, closing the distance between us. “My name's Marie. What are your names?”

They gurgled back and, with their hooves outreached, began touching my mane and back.

“You can’t really talk yet, can you? I remember when I used to be like that."

A smile had somehow crawled its way onto my lips. Smiling—it happens once in a while. I don't know why, or rather, I hadn’t bothered on finding out why. I just don't think it's worth thinking about much. I’ve seen ponies do it all the time. Even Flim and Flam have told me to smile while on stage. But sometimes I end up doing it without even realizing it.

The baby unicorn clapped her hooves twice as she giggled. A blue glow surrounded her horn.

What is she doing?

I got my answer when I looked down and saw the ground a little bit farther than I remembered.

"Whoa!"

I tried running, but that didn’t keep me from being dangled in the air.

Just as sudden as being picked up, I fell—not outside the cage, but inside. Though, I might as well have been put in a den of lions because as soon as I was inside, the foals jumped onto me. I let out a yelp, but that didn’t slow them at all.

Then, it got very dark.

There were two things I didn’t like about where I was. One, I couldn’t see anything. Two, it was wet. Another thing to note was the feeling of two soft walls constantly closing against my neck and something wet slithering against my face. As if that wasn’t enough, someone was tugging on my tail.

Thankfully, with all the tail-yanking, I was pulled free from wherever I was. With my mane dripping wet, I looked up and saw two blue eyes gazing down at me. There was a slimy string connecting my mane and the corner of her mouth.

Ew…

I didn’t have to worry about my soaked mane for long as the pegasus had me twirling by the tail, firmly clenched between his teeth. A few quick spins later, he had me shaking and dangling. The little filly bit my withers with her toothless mouth and pulled back. I was stuck being tugged back and forth by the two foals. Looking back now, I think the dog was much more preferable.

Enough was enough. I turned my head and gazed at the two.

“Hey! Stop that!” I shouted.

Somehow, it worked. I had two set of eyes focused on my face. They looked surprised after I raised my voice like that. Then again, I was pretty shocked too. I didn't know I can sound like that.

“Now put me down,” I told the foals.

They did as they were told. With the ground below my hooves again, I gave a stern look.

“You.” I pointed at the unicorn. “Don’t put me in your mouth! It’s not good for you.”

I pointed at the pegasus next. “And you. Don’t swing me around like that! What if you hurt yourself or even her?” I nodded towards the filly.

“Understand?” I asked.

There was a moment where neither of us made a sound. That all changed by the shrill cries and bawling of two babies. My eyes widened, realizing what I had done. I ran up to each one, running back forth between the two while I tried to calm them.

“There. There,” I said. “Stop crying. I know you didn’t mean to, so please stop crying!”

No amount of shushing, cooing, or patting soothed their cries. I stood between the two, thinking of ways to make them stop.

“Um, look! Look at me dance!” My hooves shuffled underneath me, going through the many practiced steps I’ve done time and time again. A final tap of my hoof finally silenced their wails. “See? There’s nothing to cry about.” A few more taps. “After all, there’s always:

Something to dance about
Someone to dance it with
Something to dance it to
To a fox-trot or a waltz.

Put on your dancing shoes
Here comes some happy news
Break up in twos and twos
To a fox-trot or a waltz.”

I finished with a twirl and a tap with my hoof. I was graced with the smiles from the filly and the colt. The return of laughter had never sounded so wonderful.

Maybe they’re not so bad, once you get used to them.

“Pound? Pumpkin?” Pinkie called from the kitchen.

I turned towards the kitchen doors. “Uh oh.”

She burst through the swinging doors, a large sack balanced on her head. “Don’t cry! Auntie Pinkie Pie is on the case!”

It was a good thing I went limp just in time before she showed up. The unicorn foal had me in her hooves, though this time she held me more gently than before.

Pinkie stopped in front of the cage. “Huh?” She eyed me with a confused look on her face. I nearly jumped when her face leaned uncomfortably close. “When did you two get this? Have you been getting secret birthday presents behind my back?” she asked, as if she would get an actual answer.

“Binkie,” they both said, along with a few babbling sounds.

She nuzzled the two, earning a giggle from each foal. "Aw, you two have been acting such good ponies today! You deserve an extra special, scrumdiddlyumptious treat from your Auntie Pinkie Pie!"

"Um, Pinkie?" Sweetie Belle called from the kitchen. "Is ice cream supposed to be on fire?"

Pinkie's eyes widened before she dashed back to the kitchen. "Don't worry! I'm coming, girls!"

A second later, her head poked through the doorway.

"Oh, and you two keep being good little ponies. I'll have your treat done in just a jiffy."

"Pinkie!" the girls shouted. With that last cry for help, Pinkie went back to work with the fillies.

I watched the mare leave us once again. "She is very strange, indeed." I turned to the two ponies who were currently holding and playing with me. "I bet it must be fun with her around here."

I wiggled out of their hooves and jumped to the floor. From the look of things, I was going to be stuck with the babies for a while.

The little ponies gurgled something.

"Hmm, yes?" I asked, wondering if they needed something.

"Ma," they said.

I looked at them curiously. "Ma?"

They clapped when I said the word. "Ma! Ma!"

"Ma..." I wondered what they were talking about. "Are you saying my name? Marie?"

I was answered by another "Ma!"

I laughed. "Yes, that's my name, sort of. But I'm still not sure what to call either of you."

My eyes shifted between the unicorn and the pegasus.

"Pound?" I asked out loud.

The pegasus's wings twitched.

I smiled. "Pound!"

This time, his wings buzzed to life, and he laughed.

My eyes met the unicorn's. "Then you must be Pumpkin," I said.

She giggled.

I began cooing their names. Laughter filled the air. I nudged one of them with my nose when I got their name right. They in turn would be as loud as they can, giggling as they clapped their hooves or bang the floorboards. But what I found the most enjoyable was when they tried to say my name.

"Ma! Ma! Ma!"

When they finally calmed down, I had them come sit in front of me. They were tired. I could tell by the way they moved. But I was surprised how much energy babies had. Adults are never like this, except for the pink mare. It's hard to think that all ponies were like this once.

A yawn escaped from both of their mouths.

"Pound. Pumpkin," I said. "Do you want to hear a few more songs?"

A mumble from both of them was all I needed to hear.

~~~~~~~

"Aw, they look so cute when they're asleep," Apple Bloom said.

I heard everything that was being said, but I made no show of it. Instead, I lay comfortably on top of Pound, who was fast asleep beside Pumpkin. I was curled up between Pound's wings; he didn't seem to mind. Some time during my singing, they had tuckered out. I managed to find some stuffed animals closeby and gave it to each foal as a pillow they can use. Whatever toys that were around were also cleared away to the far corner.

Pinkie and the fillies had returned not long after I had lulled the babies to sleep. They came in the room chatting among each other but grew quiet when they saw us.

"Oh, applesauce," Pinkie whispered. "They're not going to get to try any of the applesauce I made for them."

"Maybe they will when they're awake," said Apple Bloom

Scootaloo gave Pinkie a strange look. "But why applesauce? Don't you usually make sweeter things?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Most of the time. But with these babies, you have to be extra careful with what you feed them."

A small mumble left Pumpkin's mouth as she drooled on her makeshift pillow.

A pink hoof found its way over Pinkie's mouth. "Oops, I better take these two back to their cribs."

She scooped each foal with her nose and set them on her back, where they slept undisturbed. It didn't take long for Apple Bloom to notice me between a pair of feathered wings.

"Hey, that's my doll," she said.

She was shushed by her two companions.

"Sorry," she whispered. "But that's my doll. How'd they get a hold of her?"

When Pinkie noticed me, she bit the tip of my tail and carefully brought me to Apple Bloom's waiting hooves.

"Oh, Pumpkin must have picked her up using magic," said Pinkie. "I'll have to teach them not to take other ponies' stuff. I hope you don't mind."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Not at all."

I was put inside Apple Bloom's saddlebag. There was the familiar feeling of the bag being slung over as Apple Bloom carried the saddlebag. The fillies made their way over to the door.

"Bye Pinkie," they said.

"Thanks for the help," Sweetie Belle added.

Pinkie was halfway up the stairs when she smiled. "See you later."

The foals stirred in their sleep. "Ma. Ma," they mumbled.

Pinkie gently rubbed her cheek against the foals'. "Shh, your mommy will be home real soon."

We left after everyone said their goodbyes—well, everyone except me. The Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed to move a little less excited than when we first walked.

Sweetie Belle gave a long, drawn-out sigh. "I guess we're not fit for baking."

There was a murmur of agreement.

"Yeah... We managed to burn everything we tried to bake. And seriously, Sweetie Belle? Ice cream?"

The unicorn blushed. "I don't know how! It just happened."

"Was that before or after Scootaloo got the bowl stuck on the ceiling?" Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo's cheeks turned red, caught of her own mistake.

"Looks like it's back to the drawing board," continued Apple Bloom. "Well, I'll see y'all later."

The three ponies had split up and began walking to their own homes. Apple Bloom and I started our walk back to the farm. Though for the strangest reason, I felt something tug from inside me.

I think I miss them.

I was going to miss those foals. They had a laugh that was sweeter than any filly’s or colt’s. When I hear them laugh, I am reminded of a house made of sweets and a nice mare with pink hair. I can hear the words of an old tune from the laugh of two foals. It is a secret they’ve shared with me and a secret I’ve shared with them. But now that I’ve realized this, they are gone.

No, they aren’t gone, I tell myself.

Some day, I don't know when, I’m going to see them again, and their laugh will sound just as sweet as I remembered, if not sweeter.

Because of a song only I can hear.

Author's Note:

Typing a chapter on a mobile phone has never been more painful.

Comments

[Barracuda cyborg]

Awwwwwwww, Marie was so cute with the foals, I thought I was gonna pass out from a cuteness overload.

[Barbarossa]

Huh, that´s weird. This chapter didn´t show up in my favorites.

But anyway, great chapter, and i believe this needs to be said:
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/036/089/hnnng.jpg
Just getting that out of the way.

[Cherry Noble]

Please update soon.

[Morning Dusk]

I seriously feel like she should get 'grown up'. As in, like, a foot or two. Thisbjust seems the way that the path is going.

[WarDragon]

more please