Fallen From The Vine

by omnom19

Think Pink

“The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye...until we meet again”
― Jimi Hendrix

Ring-a-ling!

“Hello, Miss Harvest! I’ve got those carrot muffins bake-a-lakin’ in the oven. Can you wait a teensy minute for em’?” Pinkie Pie shouted over the din of late lunch rush at Sugar Cube Corner. (Okay, it should be known that Sugar Cube Corner is ALWAYS crowded.)

A sizable amount of ponies flooded the sugary counter, shuffling in line and chatting with each other and the mare behind the counter. The bell over the door rang again, announcing even more hungry ponies looking for a sweet treat.

“Cheerilee! Got a coffee and cherry turnover waiting for you on the counter! Have a nice day! Thunderlane, how ‘bout you try a hot tea? Really helps to get over that featherflu-ick feeling.”

Pinkie’s left hoof twitched and right ear tingled.

“Girls! What’ll ya have today?” Pinkie grinned over the counter as her bestest friends in the entire universe walked in the bakery’s door.

Usual orders were made: cappuccino and cruller for Rarity, lavender tea for Twilight, and - black coffee for RD, Applejack, and Flutters?

“Rough night, ladies?” Pinkie questioned as she balanced the orders precariously on her nose, making her way over to her friends.

Fluttershy nodded gratefully at Pinkie as she sets down the steaming cup. “You could say that…”

“The three of you look, well, not quite at your best,” Rarity said, attempting to delicately point out the haggard looks on three of her friends’ faces.

“Was it the vamponies? Did they getcha last night? With their big, scary vampony fangs?” Pinkie made a raaaaaggh face at a defenseless jelly doughnut.

Applejack sighed and took a deep swig of her coffee. “No Pinkie, no vamponies. Just one pony.”

Pinkie Pie froze, fangs halfway in the doughnut, strawberry “blood” spurting from the doughnut’s - neck. “That’s why we gathered everypony here, so we could catch y’all up to speed.”

“A new pony?” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Twilight rolled her eyes at her spastic friend. “They are telling you.”

“But not right away!” Pinkie protested. “What if the new pony felt sad because they were lost or didn’t know anypony?” Pinkie’s blue eyes threatened to spill over with tears. “I could have helped them!”

Rarity stroked her white hoof soothingly over Pinkie’s pink one. “Please let them finish, darling, before jumping to any more…tragic conclusions.”

So Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and occasionally Fluttershy shared what they knew of the white pegasus, apparently named Sugar, and her sudden crash landing into Ponyville.

Pinkie had set relatively quiet throughout the retelling until now. “So…she hasn’t had a party yet?”

Applejack rubbed her temple with a hoof. “Pinks, I think this new pony has had some more important things ta’ worry about.”

“Like what?!”

“Staying alive,” Rainbow Dash somberly intoned, staring into her dark coffee.

The other five mares turn to face the pegasus. “You all know I know crashes.”

The group collectively groaned. (A lavender unicorn in particular winced at this statement. Somewhere in the distance, a purple dragon twitched in his sleep, “No…no more re-shelving…”)

Rainbow continued, rolling her eyes at her friends. “Thanks. Right, well, unless you’re practicing an epic trick, most pegasi
don’t let themselves get that out of control. I think she had more going on than just some bad turbulence.”

Rarity stared horrified at Rainbow. “You can’t possibly be suggesting-“

Rainbow shrugged. “I’m just saying it’s possible.”

“Okay, let’s be reasonable. All we know is her name and that she’s been hurt. We don’t know where she’s from, or what happened to her. We should be there for her if she wants us.” Twilight sagely suggested, before sipping her tea.

Applejack looked doubtfully at Twilight. “And if she don’t?”

Twilight blushed and grinned. “We politely suggest.”

Applejack laughed and patted the unicorn on her back. “That’s mah girl.”

Rarity critically examined her glazed pastry. “That’s all well and good, darling. But we need a plan. We can’t just assume that she’ll have what she needs. How about we follow Rainbow’s leave and make sure somepony is with her. That should give us the opportunity to find out-“

Rarity glanced at Dash and hurriedly finished. “-to see how she’s really feeling.”

Fluttershy quietly chimed in. “It’d just be during daily visiting hours? Could everypony try that? Whenever they had the time?”

The five mares nodded. Wait a second…

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Where’s Pinkie?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sugar Grape shuffled to her hospital bed.

“Are you sure that last set of stretches didn’t wear you out?” a friendly nurse asked, helping Sugar with the task of getting back into bed. A broken wing and painkillers didn’t help matters.

Sugar Grape grimaced as she tried to not jostle her ribs or wing. Her first, “preemptive” physical therapy session was disappointing. Just rotating the wing in tiny circles had taken all the focus and energy she could muster. Granted she had broken her wing, but Sugar had hoped for better results.

The nurse dutifully lifted the slim pegasus and drew the covers around her.

“Thank you.” Sugar carefully tucked the thin blanket around her middle. “It wasn’t too bad? I’m just not used to…not having wings. I’m sorry; I’ve forgotten your name.”

The nurse, an earth-pony stallion smiled. “It’s quite alright to be foggy right now. I’m Bandaid, your nurse this shift. In a few hours, Nurse Meadowlark will check in with you.”

Nurse Bandaid fiddled with the adjustments for the bed and then asked, “Will you be okay on your own for a while?”

“I think so. Thank you, Bandaid.”

“Just press the red button if you need anything. We’ll be right with you.” Bandaid said before quietly shutting the door.

Sugar lay back on her white mound of pillows. She closed her eyes, preparing to succumb to the cocktail of painkillers percolating in her bloodstream. The sounds of monitors, ticks of the clocks, and muted interactions of nurses outside her room collected and swelled. These noises created a peaceful, white-noise effect where it was okay not to think and to just…slip away…

………….

Swish-swish

Sugar’s ear twitched.

Swisssssh. Swisssssssssh.

Sugar lifted a heavy eyelid.

“Good. You’re awake.” A voice emanated from the farther side of the room.

Sugar took a while to process this statement before jolting awake. The pegasus looked around wildly for the source of the voice.

Swisssssssssh. Swish.

“I’ve been expecting you."

A chair spun around to present a pink mare in a black, pinstripe suit. A fedora hung low over her eyes, hiding her face. A cigar hung dangerously in one hoof, smoke swirling nonchalantly into air. With the other hoof, the mare stroked a baby alligator, hoof against scales, producing the odd, swish-swish noise that woke Sugar.

Sugar gaped at the pony. “You can’t smoke in here.”

The pink mare smirked. “I can’t?” The cigar seemed to twist slightly and a lollipop now dangled from the mare’s hoof. The mare calmly took a lick of the sweet. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Miss Sugar.”

Sugar asked the obvious. “Who are you?”

The mare chuckled. “I’ve gone by many names, Miss Sugar. But you can call me is Pinkamina Diane Pie. And I am not very happy with you.”

Pinkamina slowly took off her hat and placed it on the nightstand.

Sugar spluttered, “I haven’t done anything to you! I’ve never even seen you before!”

Pinkamina edged closer to the bed. “Exactly.”

Sugar eyed the red button.

“Don’t push that.”

Sugar froze.

Pinkamina now stood two feet away from the pegasus. Her alligator balanced in the mare’s pink hair, slowly gumming the cotton candy-like strands. The wall-eyed alligator disturbed Sugar. Its gaze seemed to penetrate her very soul, as if it could understand not only Sugar, but the ENTIRE UNIVE-

“Here! Have a cupcake!” Pinkamina cheerfully commanded.

“A what.” Sugar looked dumbfounded from a cupcake that now rested on her belly and then back to the strange pair.

“A cupcake, silly! Don’t they have those where you’re from?” the mare giggled and tapped Sugar on the nose.

Sugar blinked. “I don’t understand.”

Pinkamina smiled and took off her suit jacket. “I welcome all the new ponies to Ponyville. I love to meet new friends and make them smile! And I missed out on welcoming you! And giving you a welcome party. Rainbow Dash, one of my bestest friends told me that you were awake! So……I came here to give you a little one. And, ta-da! Cupcake for you! A welcome-to-Ponyville-how-you-feel-better-soon-let’s-be-friends-cupcake.”

“If you just wanted to say hello, what was with the mob pony get up?”

“I wanted to…set the mood.” Pinkamina sat back in her chair. She pulled out another lollipop (Sugar couldn’t fathom from where) and bit the edge of it thoughtfully.

“I’d bet my twitchy tail you’re not telling us everything. You haven’t told us your last name, where you’re from, or why you were flying so recklessly. Nothing. And that’s okay. But, you have to realize that sooner or later, you’ll have to tell us what happened. Ponyville is a great group of friendly ponies. And we’ve had our fair share of crazy happenings. So, we would understand whatever it was that happened. My friends and I learned not to judge ponies or zebras.”

“Zebras?”

“Long story! Anyways! I knew the suit would catch your attention. Doesn’t everypony know that nothing suits like a suit? And…I wanted to let you know that I am serious about this. About being there. I don’t like when ponies feel alone. Or scared.”

Pinkamina distractedly ran a hoof along the side of the bed. She continued, but Sugar thought she was somewhere else, far from the little hospital room.

“My Auntie Pie was the best auntie a pony could hope for. She taught me everything I know about making ponies happy. Little songs and dances, how to bake the best angel food cake, and most importantly, how to read a pony. You have to understand how someone is feeling in order to know how to help them. She saw that I had a knack for it. Auntie encouraged me to embrace my gift, to bring laughter to others, even though that meant leaving my family. For centuries, my family worked a rock farm. The barren, remote rock fields weren’t really the best places to throw parties and cheer ponies. So she helped me move to Ponyville. I was apprenticed to the Cakes; they own a real nifty bakery in town and…now I’m here with you.”

Pinkamina reached up and grasped the little alligator out of her hair. She set him down on Sugar’s bed.

Before Sugar could protest, Pinkamina explained, “This is Gummy. He doesn’t have any teeth? So he can’t live out in the wild. My friend Fluttershy, the one who found you out in the forest, found him and asked if I might want him.” Pinkamina gave Gummy a friendly scratch on the head. Swishswishswish. “He wants to say hello.”

Gummy wandered his way to Sugar’s exposed middle. The reptile nuzzled Sugar’s white fur and considered its texture. He opened his pink, toothless mouth and-CHOMP!-tried to bite Sugar. However, being without teeth, he only ended up blowing a rather loud raspberry on Sugar’s belly.

Sugar laughed and tried to wriggle away from Gummy’s ticklish advances.

Pinkamina smiled at her pet. “He likes you. He says you taste sweet, like, well, sugar.”

The two ponies met eyes, blue searching purple.

Sugar blushed and tentatively scratched Gummy’s scaley head. The alligator purred and flicked a reptilian tongue around her hoof.

“Auntie Pie also taught me to enjoy the little things. Like alligator kisses. She died a year after I moved to Ponyville, you know. Heart failure.”

Sugar looked back up at Pinkamina. Her voice was soft when she replied, “I’m sorry….”

“It was sad.” Pinkamina acknowledged. “But she lived her life the best way she knew how. Making other ponies happy. After she died, I became aware of how short life was. We don’t have enough time to get everything right. And we don’t have time for regrets. We might as well laugh. Find the good things in life, the little things, and enjoy them.”

Sugar bit her lip and looked away from Pinkamina.

Pinkamina took Sugar’s hoof and whispered, “When you’re ready, I’ll be there to listen. I promise.”

And with that, Pinkamina rose from her chair and gathered her things. Before she left, Pinkamina collected Gummy from Sugar’s bed. Pinkamina hesitated, then leaned over and kissed Sugar lightly on the forehead.

“Gummy was right, you taste delicious.” Pinkamina grinned mischievously and winked at Sugar. The pink mare then left as she arrived, without a trace.

Except...for a cupcake and the lingering, sweet scent of bubblegum.

Author's Note:

Whew.

Comments

[moguera]

Pinkie......methinks you've been hanging around Discord a little too much...

[Wiriamuzu]

WOOOOO! Pinkie Pie is running on all cylinders here! That whole Mafia set up with the cigar and everything she said and did was awesome to picture in my head! Now I dare y'all to read "featherflu-ick feeling" 3 times super fast and not stumble! Please keep going!

[omnom19]

3294238
I know...but she wouldn't let me write her any other way!

^is very excited about the next installment of Savage Skies. *tries to be good and wait patiently* ......

[Draco Dei]

The level of patience and long-term thinking here... well, I will just assume that you wrote this before Twilicorn, and it is set several years into the future.