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The sun arose over the shimmering yellow and warm brown foliage that topped the trees in Whitetail Woods. The fields surrounding the forest were laden with matured stalks of hay while in the surrounding, uncultivated fields, rested goldenrods which blew gently in the coming, brisk breeze. The Autumn air had set in over the chilly landscape once more. The glow from the colors of Fall, the yellows, browns, lights and darks all set an enchanting aura over the countryside. The mountains in the distance beamed like pillars of gold, sentinels of the Equestrian landscape; watching over the peaceful, country denizens they loved ever so much. The clouds floated overhead like leaves in a stream, blowing high in the much colder updraft. The birds and animals were coming out of their nests to gather the remaining food for the coming Winter. Besides the chatter of the creatures in the forest and the sounds of rustling leaves blowing across the forest’s floor; the only other sounds came from the walking and crushing of twigs and leaves left by a set of hooves and feet by Zack and Pinkie Pie.
They walked down the dirt and foliage carpeted pathways in the woods; Celestia was right, this place was deserted. The strong trees of the old timberlands, the maples, oaks, birches, pines, and others Zack couldn’t identify loomed overhead; outstretching their branches and creating the spotted ceiling of the forest. The sun shimmered through the passing and falling leaves, encompassing the two friends as they walked along the beaten trail. The cold, yet invigorating Autumn air of the wooded landscape filled Zack’s lungs with longing refreshment. He hadn’t felt like this since he was a child, playing hide and go seek with his brother in their grandparent’s pasture. There, they would bundle up and play with the rest of their cousins in the near by and extending woods. Memories of old delighted Zack’s senses with the one’s he was experiencing now. Smelling the scents and wood of the forest, hearing nothing but nature and footsteps, seeing an array of majestic and beautiful colors. Zack thought that now he could die a happy man.
The two friends continued to walk along the path and soon climbed up a rocky hill. At the top of the hill is where they stopped and rest. It was a great view from the hill top and was surprising flat; it would make a great place to have breakfast as Zack prepared the morning meal. The tree’s crowns still enclosed the two in a dome of gold, but there was a gap in the foliage which from looking out of, one could see a part of the top of Whitetail Woods from. It was a great view for a breakfast.
The breakfast consisted of doughnuts, biscuits, creamy pastries and orange juice. Zack had to be careful what he packed and had a hard time trying to find things he liked to eat for breakfast. He couldn’t obviously have sausage, bacon, livermush, and the sort since ponies were herbivores. Thoughts like these did make him miss some of the food he loved, but he didn’t let these tantalizing thoughts overcome him. He did enjoy the filling meal and Pinkie even brought some breakfast items with her as well; though they mostly consisted of lollipops, gum drops, bubblegum and other candies.
Zack tried to make casual chit-chat with Pinkie Pie, though he couldn’t keep a good conversation going. He began noticing that she was staring at Zack and whenever Zack would try to make direct eye contact with her, she would look away. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but whenever Zack pretended to not be paying attention to her, she gave the look as if she hadn’t ever seen Zack before; that either something was different or something was just very curious about Zack’s appearance. Maybe she had never given a direct look at Zack for so long, her eyes were brimming with curiosity and mystery. Either way, Zack couldn’t tell what Pinkie was thinking. Her mind seemed too complex even for Zack to try and solve. She, to others, would appear to be crazy, but her mind was all there; she just looked at the world through a different spectrum than others. This is what Zack had concluded as he took the last bite out of a jam-filled biscuit.
After breakfast, Zack had the idea that the two should play hide and go seek. He didn’t realize it, but along with the backpack he had brought, he had forgotten that he took along the Prevailer. It was so light, that for a second he thought that it had followed him by itself since he couldn’t feel its weight. He placed the sword and the backpack at the base of a large oak tree close by to where they had had breakfast. Zack thought about the importance of the sword for a second before joining Pinkie Pie and decided to hide the blade under the leaves below the backpack. After doing this, he joined up with the pink filly and the game began.
The game was rather interesting for Zack; even though Pinkie Pie was not a good hider, nor did she understand the rules fully. As Zack would get done counting and begin to search the forest area, she would hide up in trees and jump down on Zack, tackling him to the ground. Zack would try to cover himself in leaves or try to hide in trees; but Pinkie had a absurd degree of keen vision in which she could not only spot a color in the forest out of place, she could sneak up on Zack and when he would look out to see if maybe she had forgotten about him, then she would tackle him again. She had a powerful pounce to when she struck Zack and didn’t try to tag him gently at all. She was a very strong filly for her age to be able to knock down someone more than four times her size. He figured that her strength comes from always hoping everywhere she goes. Her legs were immensely powerful and not only was she strong and stealthy, she was quick, even faster than Zack. After a few rounds, Zack had noticed that Pinkie always crept up from behind him, so he always kept looking fully around to try and run to base before he could get tackled.
During one round, he did catch her trying to sneak attack him while he was hiding and began a sprint towards base. Zack was jumping and swerving between trees and limbs at what he believed to be a fast rate. He was almost home, he tried to put an extra burst into his step so that maybe he could increase his speed as he ascended the hill towards his goal. He turned his head once to see if he had lost Pinkie Pie, but a wave of shock overtook him as he saw that Pinkie was only an arm’s length away from him. He turned back, so close to base he could dive and make it. He tried his best to keep her away, but felt her slam her head into his back, sending him and herself into the base. He heard a loud pop from his spine before his body hit the thick tree trunk. He lay there, a little dizzy and disoriented from the impact of Pinkie and the tree. Pinkie just sat up, shook her head, (which sent twigs and leaves that were lodged in her mane everywhere), and smiled brightly knowing that she had won once again.
__________
It was lunch time as the two set out once again to the top of the golden hill. Zack had packed a delightful mix of veggie sandwiches, biscuits and sweet tea. Pinkie Pie added to the meal her stash of candy she had grabbed while preparing to leave with Zack that early morning. The two sat down and began to enjoy their meals, admiring the Autumn scenery and vivid blue sky. Pinkie Pie was relatively quiet during the beginning of her lunch, as was Zack. The two enjoyed their veggie sandwiches in peace, even though Zack was having a more difficult time taking pleasure in his own creation. Veggie sandwiches weren’t his favorite, even though he had practically been living off of them since his time here in Equestria. He kept his differing opinions to himself as he continued to munch on his meal.
After Pinkie had finished her sandwich, she looked over at Zack and said, “You know, recently I’ve been having these coo-coo crazy ideas. I’m not even sure how they even made it into my head!”
Zack swallowed and commented, “Really? Like what?”
“Well... just weird stuff...” She turned and diverted her eyes away from Zack’s. Zack wondered what the pink filly was thinking and was about to ask until she tentatively turned back towards Zack. She began rubbing her hooves nervously together and looking down at them. Her pink frizz of hair and mane bow blew in the gentle wind as she remade eye contact with her friend. Her dilated eyes, filled with wonderment, were affixed on the human before her.
She elaborated with hesitance, “It’s... a little weird and... I’m afraid to ask these questions...”
Zack consoled, “You can ask me anything, Pinkie Pie. We’re friends, remember? No matter what you say, I won’t think of you differently.”
“Oh, okay...” Her look of disapproval turned to confidence as a wavering smile crept upon her face. Zack reached for his cup of sweet tea and began to drink some while he awaited Pinkie’s question.
“Well, my first question I’ve been thinking loads about is... Where do babies come from?” Zack upheaved a little tea in his throat from the shock of the sudden and difficult question to ask. He forcefully swallowed so that the liquid wouldn’t spew out of his mouth.
He coughed and sputtered, “Well... uh... You see...” Zack cleared his throat, took a deep breath and was about to continue before Pinkie Pie interrupted him again.
“You know, babies, foals, little ponies? There so cutesie-wootsie and I saw one the other day and thought, ‘Aww, it’s so cute and cuddly and I want to hug it all day and bake cupcakes with it’! So that’s what made me start pondering about those weird questions! And then I started thinking of more weird questions and then I was like–”
“Pinkie, here, let me try to explain your first question.” Zack took another breath to refresh himself and continued, “When a... stallion and a mare love each other very, very much...” Zack couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. He tried thinking of ways out of this situation. “...they... write a letter to the Great White Stork. And the Stork delivers the baby in nine months... but! The Mare has to eat a lot of sweets so she can get fat and then when the baby comes... the baby can... well, ask a Mare sometime, she can tell you first hand–err, hoof.” Pinkie’s beamed believing the lie that Zack terribly spun.
She titled her head and added, “I knew a Stork once, his name was Scott, Scott the Stork! He flew away though when I tried to catch him. He must have went off to Storktopia where they make the babies! I wish I could go to Storktopia...”
“Well maybe someday... What was your other questions?”
Pinkie’s attention refocused as she remembered aloud, “I was looking out of my school’s window the other day and was thinking back to when we were adventuring and totally cool stuff like that. And well I was wondering, ‘Wow! Those mountains over there are sooooo big! I wonder if they’ve always been there’?”
Zack’s eyebrow rose and he questioned, “So what are asking?”
“Well, things like mountains and trees and the sun and the moon and the stars and itty-bitty lady bugs... Have they always been there or did it just, ‘Pow’ right there, you know?”
“Oh,” Zack realized, “You’re asking if something ‘else’ created everything or did everything just come into being in one instant... hmm...”
Zack had to carefully think about this. People have dedicated their entire lives to figuring out a simple question like this; both from a religious standpoint and a scientific one. Zack wasn’t very religious, yet he didn’t believe everything evolution and the big bang theory had to offer. He was at a stalemate himself considering the options of both. With the constantly changing evolutionary theories and the supposedly true validation of religious texts, he had fought all his life to try and cement himself into one belief, but couldn’t. He thought that he would tell Pinkie only what he believed without lying, so he did.
“Pinkie... peop–, ponies spend their whole lives wondering if some higher being created everything or if everything evolved over a period of time. Each has its own true principles, yet each has its own flaws as well. Ponies can argue left and right, take sides, and even fight for their beliefs over others. I think figuring out what you believe shouldn’t be determined by what others say or what you read, because even those people or things you read could be lies or wrong. I think you need to figure things out on your own and let no one be your guide, judge or source of information. You’re always moving in life and one day everything could change in a simple matter of knowing or seeing something or not. Life is an adventure itself, even if you're stuck in one place and not going out in the world. So, what I’m trying to say is, only you can choose what you believe and only your opinion matters.”
Zack began to wonder if what he said went over Pinkie’s head. Her eyes seemed concerned and enlightened all at the same time. It was one of those moments when you look into someone’s expression and see their thought patterns changing at that moment. Those moments were rare and wonderful, at least to Zack. Then again, she was Pinkie Pie, a pony no one could quite understand. She turned and looked up at the sun through the foliage in the amber leaves. The shade from the tree's ceiling flickered and swayed over the two as light seeped between the cracks in the dying leaves.
Pinkie was silent for around half a minute before saying, “I think that maybe, just maybe, something made these leaves.” At first, Zack was confused upon hearing her statement. She stated her opinion in a not-so obvious existential matter; she knew that trees created leaves, but she was thinking far beyond that.
She looked down, grasped a hoof-full of leaves and continued, “Each is different. I can’t find two of the same leaf. If you look close enough... each has its own unique markings and shape. I think that with originality like this, even I get tippsy-toppsy when thinking about it! But, I think that something created all of these wonderful things around us, something much bigger and more smarter than us created all these mountains and rocks and ponies and everything! And though, I feel so small now thinking about it...”
She looked up at Zack and continued with worry in her tone, “If something took time to make everything, wouldn’t that super smart person want everything to be happy? Why is it that everything isn’t happy and life isn’t perfect? Why are ponies like Ray Sunshine and Starswirl so mean?” Zack had thought about this before and knew had to respond. Finally a question he could answer without much thinking involved.
“I think, Pinkie, that this higher being gave us a choice to choose to love or hate. If this supreme being made everything perfect then we wouldn’t have free will to begin with. We’d all be the same, in a mind state at least. I know bad things happen and we can’t control it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it and pick ourselves back up.”
Zack smiled with assurance and scooted a little closer to his friend, “Bad things are going to happen and will continue to happen, but as long was you can stay happy and look at the bright side, then it’ll be okay. It’s okay to feel sad or get mad, but don’t let those feelings take control over you. As long as you continue to smile and see the good in everything, even if you yourself can’t see it now, then you’ll be the happiest pony alive.”
Pinkie responded, “If you know this... why are not always happy?”
Zack looked away and with resentment in himself, he replied, “Because sometimes I forget. Sometimes I worry and get depressed. My life has thrown me in directions I didn’t want to go or accept. But just now thinking about how my life has lead up to this moment and wondering how exactly I came to be who I am, is only because of the things I have faced so far. I would have never been me or learned how to deal with these awful things that have happened in the past if it wasn’t for me even experiencing these awful things. And I wouldn’t know what to tell you if I had never gone through such hard times. But I have, and for once in my life, I’m thankful for what has happened. I’m thankful my dad left, I’m thankful my brother’s gone and my mother is dead... I’m thankful for...” He remembered placing the gun against his head, the cold barrel digging into his temple. He stopped and took in a breath of Autumn air, relieving his stress.
He turned back and concluded, “I’m just thankful that my life has lead me up this moment with you, Pinkie Pie. And I wouldn’t trade any of my horrible, past experiences for anything in the world if it meant I would have never met you. So... life is an adventure and there is an end, even if you can’t see it. So as for now, keep on enjoying the simple and happy things, because someday you might not have those things. Learn from the hard times, because one day, it’ll get better if you believe it will and will strive for it. Even if you can’t see it now, those happy moments are there, those things and people that make you smile are out there. Just have a little confidence.”
There was a long silence between the two. They listened to the rustling leaves sweep by and around them, the wind gently blowing the tree tops. Pinkie was looking at her hooves in deep thought when she saw Zack’s hand reach out for her in the corner of her eyes. She looked up and Zack was standing tall above her with what made her smile, his own smile. She reached a hoof up and grasped his hand.
The two ran through the forest, their lungs filled with exuberance and life. Piles of leaves, accumulated under large trees were demolished as Zack and Pinkie jumped into them. They leaped and cannon-balled into each pile, leaves shooting up into the air and being carried away by the gentle breeze. Pinkie then jumped onto Zack, who caught her in midair and brought her close to himself. He wrapped her tightly in his arms and closed his eyes. She held him back, both the friend’s body temperatures warming each other in the brisk air. Leaves cascaded around them as Zack spun his pink filly. She was his and he was hers; they both liked using the adjective to refer to one another, even if one wasn’t present at the time. They would refer to each other as that from then on.
Zack would never forget this day in the forest.
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Thanks
This really makes me happy in a way. Thank you
O i expected he would have to kill something
823101
You're welcome! I was afraid for a second that I offended everyone since no one was commenting on the latest chapter! So thank you
Sitting in waiting room = lame.
Sitting in waiting room reading Son of Eternity = Awesome-sauce!
824863 Dude......
That was an enlightening chapter. Keep up the good work.
824863 i do see what your saying like about evolution x creationism is a very touchy such subject. and i respect you for injecting different ideals of believe in your story. but im sure it all good. on a plus side now you can add "slice of life" in the tags lol
(i think)
This was one of the first mlp fanfictions I ever read, and it's the reason pinkie is my favorite pony.
839932
Well I'm glad I was able to get you into fanfictions and that Pinkie Pie is your favorite pony as well. It means a lot hearing from my watchers and gives me the drive to write more, so thank you very much for your comment and I hope you continue to follow my story
Man this fic is epic.
I am really enjoying it.
Thank you for such an amazing story.
826009 HELL YES!
In this chapter: Sophomoric Philosophy.
lay
I thought he had stated that he was a vegetarian when Twilight asked about his teeth?
9922741
I honestly don't remember, but I'm pretty sure he said that, maybe as a lie. That's what I would do if horse people were asking me about my teeth and I wanted to stay on their good side.
By the way, I'm glad you're enjoying my stories. They're not the best in quality, but as my first fan fiction I think I can get away with some poor writing here and there.