Previous Chapters Next
Close
Chapter One2,991 words
Chapter Two2,443 words
Chapter Three2,495 words
Chapter Four2,508 words
Chapter Five3,435 words
Chapter Six2,866 words
Chapter Seven3,385 words
Chapter Eight - Epilouge1,563 words

Chapter Four

When the itching in her scalp had finally receded, Pinkie Pie relaxed as she stirred batter in the kitchens of Sugarcube Corner. They must of caught him…I hope he’s okay. she thought as she pulled a cupcake tray over with a free foreleg. Though it might of seemed like the party pony was hard at work, he mind was elsewhere. Like the rest of her friends, she had been trying to come up with a way to help Peppermill, the colt that Applejack and her family had found.

Normally Pinkie’s answer to everything was a party, but she knew that this was one of those rare occasions where it wouldn’t. Besides, a party wasn’t much fun when the guest of honor was so scared. But if she couldn’t party, what could she do? The only course of action was to bake. Nopony can resist my triple chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow fluff icing…not even a super-duper cook like Peppermill!

Pinkie began to pour out the batter, just as she caught the sound of the bell over the bakery’s front door tinkle. She would have been there to greet the customer, but she knew that Mrs. Cake was at the till that morning. Besides, cupcakes (as any pony knows) is serious business…

***

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” exclaimed Mrs. Cake brightly as bell over the door chimed. She initially had her back to the door, but when she turned around she gave a double take. It wasn’t so much that the pony before her was clearly a visitor to Ponyville, as it was just how…striking the visitor was.

The first thing she noted was how large the stallion was. While she couldn’t judge accurately without him being there, she suspected that Big Macintosh could look this one in the eye. He had an off-white coat, a slicked back grey mane and a cutie mark consisting of a dinner plate with a knife and fork crossed at the handles on top of it. But it was the gaze he gave the older mare that made her feel the slightest bit on edge; it seemed like he was examining her, as if looking for some sort of…weakness?

“Good day madam.” he greeted Mrs. Cake with a deep baritone.

“What can I help you with?” asked Mrs. Cake.

“Well, I can use some help but not with any of your fine goods.” intoned the stallion. “In truth I am rather desperate…”

CLUNK!

“Is…there something wrong?“ The stallion frowned at the sudden sound from the kitchen, but Mrs. Cake seemed unfazed. It was pretty much a given that any time Pinkie Pie was baking, things like this happened all the time.

“Oh, don’t worry about that hon. You said you needed help?”

***

Pinkie Pie lay on the floor of the kitchen, blinking in surprise. A quick check of her body revealed no injuries but…

“Uh oh…”

***

“I am looking for somepony. My brother, in fact…”

“Oh?”

“It really is my fault. You see, things have been…strained between us lately. I fully admit to having said things that I regret, but he is so young…”

***

“Oh bad oh bad oh bad…” Pinkie had managed to flip onto her back, staring with growing distress at her right hind leg. Her leg had gone completely numb, and no amount of poking, prodding or massaging could being any feeling back. Most ponies would of seen this as some sort of cramp, but Pinkie knew better.

“Numb leg…back right…Pinkie Sense…means someone bad is nearby…” she grunted as she attempted to get upright. “Really, really nearby…”

***

“He ran away?” gasped Mrs. Cake.

“And I have to find him, and explain that I’m sorry. I have no idea how far he might of gotten, but he can be quite stubborn at times. I was hoping that maybe some pony here in your nice town might of seen him…”

***

With a determination that would of befitted a pony dying of thirst in sight of a bottle of cold sarsaparilla, Pinkie Pie dragged herself across the floor with her front hooves. Whatever had set off her Pinkie Sense was just outside the kitchen, and she needed to see what it was.

***

“Well, I’m sorry mister…um…”

“Saltpeter, at your service.” The stallion bowed low, putting as much charm into it as possible, a fact not lost on the mare. Still, she couldn’t shake this ominous feeling that he wasn’t being as sincere as he showed.

“Well, I am afraid I haven’t heard anything about and lost colts. But I will certainly ask my regulars. I would suggest going to the market, since there are always a lot of ponies there and maybe one might of seen your little brother.”

“Thank you for your help madam. I should mention that he is probably very scared right now, so he might bolt. I would rather that if anypony does see him not to approach him. The only one who can get through to him is me.”

***

Pinkie had managed to crawl to the doorway between the kitchen and the sales floor of the bakery. Despite having to peer from underneath the swinging door, she was still able to catch sight of the large stallion speaking with Mrs. Cake.

The moment her gaze fell on him, she left her already numb leg freeze solid enough to genuinely hurt.

This was more than enough for her to place the stranger into the dreaded “Meany McMeanpants” category of “Ponies I Have Met”. She had to stuff both her front hooves into her mouth to keep from shouting or drawing any attention to herself. Only when the stallion had left, and Mrs. Cake turned to the doorway did she respond. With a grunt she perfromed a impressive headstand, balancing on her front legs. She immediately raced out of the front door, not before calling out.

“Gottagomrscakeitsanemergecnymakesuretogetthecupcakesoutoftheovenbye!!!”

***

The closest place to Sugarcube Corner was Carousel Boutique, so moving at a speed that even impressed her Pinkie Pie raced down the street on her front legs, her one good and one useless hind leg bouncing above her head. Most, if not all, of the ponies wandering in town and saw this gave the pink mare a cursory glance at best then went back to their business. This was Pinkie Pie, after all, and it was usually a good idea not to question her motives or actions.

Once Pinkie got to the dressmaker’s shop, she paused for a brief moment to decided her next course of action. She eventually decided on contorting her barrel so she could press on the doorbell with her good hind leg.

“One moment…” sang out a familiar voice from inside the shop. Pinkie fidgeted on her front hooves. As much as she wanted to politely wait, she knew time wasn’t on her side.

“Rarity! It’s important!” cried out Pinkie anxiously.

“Pinkie?” The ivory unicorn mare opened the door to find herself looking at an upside-down Pinkie Pie, peering at her from the ground.

“Rarity! There is a bad pony in town! Pinkie Sense! Numb leg! Eeek!” This last comment came from Rarity, due to the fact that Pinkie had been trying to gesture as she spoke, which caused her to tumble forward. This resulted in the two mares piling into a tangle of legs just inside the boutique.

“Pinkie!” cried out the unicorn crossly. “What are you talking about?!” As Rarity untangled herself off of her friend, Pinkie began to explain about her leg and the strange stallion that had visited Sugarcube Corner.

“He sounded like he was nice but my Pinkie Sense said he wasn’t. And he was asking Mrs. Cake about a missing colt and I bet it had to be Peppermill!”

“Are you sure about this Pinkie. Maybe this brother or whomever is trying to help…”

“Nope, nope, nope! A numb back right leg means somepony bad, and the only other ponies there were me and Mrs. Cake!”

“Well, I truly wish to help but I can’t.”

“But…”

“Listen, I sent a message to some of my…contemporaries in Canterlot. I asked if there had been any news of fires or lost colts lately. I’m expecting an answer right away. I would much rather get evidence than to jump to conclusions…”

“Argh!” growled Pinkie in frustration. She then got back onto her front hooves and made her way back out of the shop. “I’ll go try Twilight. She’ll listen!” Before Rarity could respond the party pony was gone.

“I want to help.” pouted Rarity. “But I’m not going to run around making accusations without proof, Pinkie Sense or no Pinkie Sense…”

***

Pinkie, after having made a mental note to try walking on her front hooves more often because of the interesting perspective it gave her, raced to the town library. One might of questioned how she could manage this, since she was basically facing backwards the whole time. But Pinkie knew every inch of Ponyville, and knew exactly where to step and when to adjust her direction. This proved fortunate, since she had to make a desperate dive for cover near Carrot Top’s cart when the deep voice of Saltpeter caught her attention. Once firmly hidden in a nearby rain barrel (thankfully empty) she peered over the lip.

“I’m sorry I can’t help you,” said Carrot Top to Saltpeter, “but I haven’t seen any lost colts around.”

“Hmm. I suppose it is possible that he might not of reached this far. But I have to check every possibility. I intend to stay in your lovely town for a day or two just to make sure. Please, if you do see dear little Peppermill, make sure to let him know his brother is worried.”

Pinkie Pie prided herself in being able to like just about anypony, but there always had to be an exception to the rule. In this case, she found herself unable and unwilling to buy into the syrupy-sweet words spoken by the towering stallion. The fact that her hind leg was so numb she couldn’t even feel it anymore proved it. If he was Peppermill’s brother, he wasn’t a very good one. She continued to silently glare daggers at the pony from inside her barrel when a flash of blue overhead caught her eye. She had to wait until Saltpeter had moved on before waving down the rainbow-maned mare from the sky.

“Dashie! Dashie! Come quick!” begged Pinkie Pie as Rainbow Dash fluttered above the barrel.

“What’s up Pink?”

“Do you see that pony over there? The one with the black mane?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“I think that’s Peppermill’s brother…”

“Really? That’s great! We should…”

“No!” Pinkie leapt up and snagged Dash’s tail in her mouth, pulling the Pegasus into the barrel with her. For a few moments the wooden construct rocked violently, a few grunts coming from inside it. Eventually the movement settled, resulting in Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash cramped rather tightly together inside.

“What did you do that for?” demanded Rainbow, confused (and perhaps the slightest bit embarrassed over the rather awkward closeness the barrel caused between herself and her friend).

“He’s not a good pony! My Pinkie Sense says so!”

“Not a good pony…” Rainbow trusted Pinkie’s uncanny ability to sense things more than other ponies, but she found it hard to swallow at the moment. Of course, she found it hard to move at all being pressed so tightly against the pink pony.

“We need to tell everypony not to tell him about Peppermill! We need to warn Applejack!”

“We need to get out of this stupid barrel!” cried Rainbow, a suddenly crushing sense of claustrophobia making her panic. With a sound not unlike Pinkie’s famous party cannon, Rainbow shot out leaving a multicoloured contrail. Pinkie poked her head out of the barrel and watched for a moment.

“Fine, I’ll go tell Applejack. I don’t know who you are going to tell over there.”

***

At that moment at Sweet Apple Acres, three young fillies were anxiously waiting with growling stomachs as a young grey colt worked at the kitchen counter. After some introductions, apologizes and a heavy dose of pleading (complete with a triple shot of big eyes that would of even given Pinkie a sugar rush) Peppermill had given in and accepted the friendship of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As proof of his acceptance, he offered to make the fillies a snack.

“Wow, you’re really good at that!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle, entranced at how quickly and precise Peppermill chopped some fruit for a salad.

“Lots…of practise.” murmured the colt as he began to fill a bowl with a variety of different fruits.

“It’s got to be more than that. I mean, yer ain’t that much older than us…” pressed Applebloom.

“You have a cutie mark for it and everything…” added Scootaloo.

“Um…I just do…what seems…right. Haven’t you three…tried that? I mean…to get your marks…”

“Ugh, don’t even start with that.” grumbled the orange Pegasus, brushing some of her purple mane away from her face.

“It seems…you all…have lots of help…to find your marks, I mean.”

“Well, ah suppose so. But you must of too. Ah mean, yer parents must of encouraged you…” Applebloom immediately snapped her mouth shut, noticing the very visible change in Peppermill’s demeanour at the mention of parents. His whole body went stiff, and the knife he had in his hoof clattered to the counter top. The three fillies looked at each other worriedly, until Sweetie Belle suddenly piped up.

“You know, I don’t get to see my mom and dad very often. But my big sister Rarity is always there to help me.”

“And mah parents…well, they ain’t around no more.” added Applebloom. “But I got big sis, big brother and Granny Smith to help me.” The two fillies looked to Scootaloo pointedly, silently ordering her to say something. Scootaloo’s mind went blank for a second, then she squeaked.

“Um…I have…Rainbow Dash?” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle collectively face-hoofed. They were about to try and say more when they were interrupted by something slamming hard into the front door of the farmhouse.

“Peppermill!” cried out a familiar voice as the fillies and colt piled into the living room. Applebloom opened the door, and leapt away as Pinkie Pie collapsed forward into the house. “Ok, maybe running on your fore hooves isn’t a good idea. Oh, the room is spinning…”

“Pinkie Pah, what in tarnation?” demanded Applebloom. The party pony shook her head until there were the right number of things in the room, then managed to half-leap, half-stumble into an embrace around Peppermill.

“Saltpeter…” she hissed.

“Salt…peter…” whimpered Peppermill, going limp.

2,163 views