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Stand Up Tall1,775 words
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They Can't Hurt You1,850 words
Laugh and Make Them Dissapear2,126 words

Laugh and Make Them Dissapear

Catherine Pie Quietly shut the door behind her and went through the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen, where Sue and Clyde were silently sitting at the table. The light pink mare had asked asked the two of them to a private conversation earlier that day, though she didn’t specify why at the time being. She took a seat facing them and begun.

“I wanted to speak with the two of you in regards to Pinkie Pie. Her behavior as well as her appearance have....changed a lot since the last time I’ve seen her”.

Sue was the first to retort. “And since when where you so invested in Pinkamena’s well being?” she spat accusingly.

“I only want what’s best for my grandchildren, and Pinkie’s differed behavior has brought her to my concern. Now, I’ve heard her side of the story about the celebration she had suddenly cobbled together, but I want to know what the two of you thought of it”.

She glanced at the pair expectantly before Clyde raised a hoof to draw attention to him. “I think it was an enjoyable short break personally, though-”

“And now the filly strays away from work any moment she’s given! If I had known one celebration would turn her into such a slacker I’d have tried to prevent it" interrupted Sue.
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Catherine raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Have you thought that...maybe Stone Harvesting may not be her talent, but instead something else...?”. She made certain to tread softly with her words, careful to avoid pressing any wrong buttons.

The grey earth pony glared in return. “And just what are you implying?”

“I’d like to know what the two of you think of the idea of me perhaps...taking her under my wing and show her my trade. It would-”

“I wouldn’t dream of it” hissed Sue. Catherine stared at her incredulously as Clyde put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Now lets stay civil here Sue, and at least hear what she’s got to say”. The irritated grey mare huffed as Clyde looked at Catherine and nodded.”Continue”.

“Sue, I understand why you wouldn’t agree with this at first, but lets focus on the facts” said the light pink mare, though Sue looked nonplussed and still unwilling to listen. “For one, Pinkie Pie has already earned her Cutie Mark, and she’s earned it a lot sooner than we could have anticipated. Wouldn’t it be a shame for her newfound talents to go to waste?” reasoned Catherine. Sue’s expression had softened a considerable amount, but she continued.

“On top of that, it’d be best if she were to share her infectious new attitude with other ponies. She’s restless excitable, and incredibly cheerful. It would be pleasant if it didn’t feel so out of place here”. She felt mildly embarrassed in her choice of words, but since the two other ponies didn’t seem provoked, she pressed on. “I think, that if she accompanied me and learned elements of my own talent, it would expand her own horizons. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”.

By the time Catherine finished her explanation, Sue’s eyes had locked onto the table in between the three, embarrassed by her own naivety. The embarrassed grey mare rose her head to look Catherine in the eye with an earnest face.

“I...I’ve been pretty hardheaded, haven’t I? I guess I’ve been overly.....overly concerned about my daughters’ future”.

Catherine flashed a knowledgeable smirk at Sue. “Believe me, I know what you’re talking about. After all, I used to worry my mane out about Clyde and and his two sisters” chuckled Catherine.

Sue’s face brightened as she joined in Catherine’s mirth. “So Catherine, just when do you wish to take Pinkamena?”.

The pink mare smiled nonchalantly. “Well, I didn’t plan on offering her an apprenticeship immediately”. She paused and tapped a hoof on her muzzle as her eyes trailed about the kitchen thoughtfully, then rose out of her seat and gave her hind legs a stretch, facing the pair confidently. “Two years”.

Clyde raised an eyebrow questioningly as Sue nodded in agreement. “If you think its appropriate, then alright”.

Catherine grinned at the pair and nodded. “Thank you both for taking this well. Now, I think it’s time that we turn in for the night, don’t you think?”. Sue and Clyde nodded in unison. “Great. In that case, I bid the two of you, goodnight”.

And with that, the three of them began quietly trotting up the stairs.

*~*~*~*

Pinkie Pie dashed down the hall and into her room as silently as possible once she heard the stairs below creak. As she slipped into bed and began staring at the ceiling, two words echoed in her head: Two years.

Even though Pinkamena wasn’t present to disturb her, she didn’t sleep any better.

*~*~*~*

Pinkie Pie trotted into the kitchen the next morning to see her untouched, steaming breakfast sitting amongst five other empty plates on the dining table. Her parents were still seated at the table, watching the three ponies busy at the kitchen stove. Sue caught sight of PInkie first and greeted her with a smile. “Good morning, Pinkie Pie. Slept well?”

That was out of the blue.

‘She just called me Pinkie Pie. Mom never calls me that! And she’s smiling!?’. Pinkie stared at her incredulously. The pink filly was caught off guard, but she couldn’t make it apparent that she heard their conversation last night.

“I-I slept great!” stammered Pinkie. The young filly never was much of a good liar; she’d normally crack under the slightest amount of pressure, be it self-applied or somepony else pressing her for answers.

Pinkie looked curiously at the three ponies who only seemed to be making a mess at the counter near the stove. “Um....what are they doing?”.

Inky whipped around with one hoof wrapped around a large silver mixing bowl and an egg beater in the other. The bowl had a beige lumpy paste at the bottom, with similar splotches covering the purple filly’s face. “Granny Pie’s teaching us how to bake!” she exclaimed. The counter space behind her had a sack of flour and an open tin of sugar, amongst other supplies.

Granny Pie acknowledged her and placed a third large mixing bowl aside for her.”I was wondering when you were going to wake up! Eat your breakfast and join us, there’s just enough mix for one more small cake" she greeted.

Normally Pinkie Pie would be excited to try making her own confection, but now she was reluctant. She saw the activity less as simply making a treat and more like a test of whether or not she was truly suited for what was to come.

She sat at the table and ate sluggishly while her sisters continued making a mess and enjoying themselves with Granny Pie. ‘What if I really am good at baking? Well, not that that’s a bad thing but...I’m not sure if I want to leave my family’ she thought nervously. Her sisters soon finished preparing their batter, though Granny wanted to wait for Pinkie, to bake them all at once. With everyone practically waiting on her, she finished her meal and put her front hooves up on the counter in front of her bowl.

“Now just take two eggs and crack them on the rim of the bowl. Take your time, hooves aren’t exactly very helpful when it comes to precision” instructed Granny Pie. Pinkie simply scooped up an egg into her hoof and tapped it on the rim of the bowl, and the yolk fell out into properly. ‘Seems easy enough’ she thought with a shrug.

After the rest of the necessity components were added, Granny Pie let Pinkie choose her own flavorings. The filly was new to baking, so she simply chose what sounded tasty, choosing vanilla extract, cinnamon and a cup of sugar, with only a pinch of salt. The resulting batter was a strange pastel pink, while the fruits of her sisters’ efforts were both a beige slurry.

After about an hour and a half of the three fillies pressing their noses to the window into the oven, Granny Pie announced that they were ready. Once she took them out of the oven and cut each of them into pieces of six, tasting each one by one.

A chorus of oohs and ahhs began as soon as the family bit into the slices of Pinkie’s creation, causing her to blush.

“Is this one yours, ‘sis?” questioned Blinky. “This one’s pretty tasty”

The three elder ponies in the room nodded in agreement as Inky put her hooves on Pinkie’s shoulders. “These are great!” she exclaimed. “What’d you put in these?”

Pinkie smiled bashfully and bit into her slice. “I just put in what I thought would’ve been tasty!”

*~*~*~*

Afterwards, Granny Pie began packing her possessions back into her cart and preparing to leave. The whole family was outside to bid her farewell as Clyde helped her back into the harness. Granny typically stayed for at least 4 days, however, a pegasus mail courier came that morning with a letter regarding something that required her immediate attention.

“Um, I’ve gotta go....use the bathroom, I’ll be back in a sec!” said Pinkie Pie. She darted back inside and quietly trotted up the stairs. Once in the hallway, she passed by the bathroom and toward the window at the end of the hall overlooking the western rock field. She glanced upward, and spotted the cord hanging from the attic hatch in the ceiling. The mischievous filly hopped up, caught the cord in her teeth, and hung limply from it before the door gave way to a set of stairs that quickly unfolded to the floor. She quickly ascended up the stairway and into the attic, seeking a small rectangular case amidst the dusty chests and boxes. Pinkie Pie immediately found the object and took it by the handle in her mouth and trotted up to the open window overlooking the path parting the rock fields.

She set the case on the floor beside her and flicked it open, revealing a short maple brown telescope with gold painted rings around each section where it extended for better magnification. She picked it up with both hooves and set it on the windowsill, closing one eye and peeking through it, following Granny Pie as she went down the path.

Once the mare she was following moved out of view, she used her left hoof to extend the scope to keep sight of her. The farther she went, the more often Granny would look about her surroundings, as if she were making sure she wasn’t being followed.

What happened next surprised Pinkie Pie. The pink mare she had been tracking abruptly stopped her trot, craned her neck and bit on her quilt, pulling it off to reveal a pair of fully grown pegasus wings. She exercised them with a few experimental flaps before breaking into a gallop and taking off into the sky, cart and all.

Pinkie Pie gasped and tried to continue tracking her, but she tilted the telescope too high and it fumbled out of her hooves and over the window frame, rolling down the roof and falling to the ground below. She winced as it fell with a metallic shattering sound, followed by the sound of hoofsteps on the front porch.

“Is someone up there?” sounded a young voice as Blinky trotted out into view to inspect the broken telescope. She looked upward toward the house and spotted a dazed looking Pinky in the window of the attic, staring outside . “Pinkie Pie, what’re you doing up there? Get down here and help us clean up the kitchen!” she shouted, though her sister didn’t seem to hear her. “Pinkie! Earth to Pinkamena?”

“A-huhwha?” Pinkie snapped out of her reverie and saw Blinky eyeing her from the ground below. Even though she didn’t hear a single thing her sister was shouting about, the grey filly’s expression made it clear enough that she didn’t want Pinkie up there.

“I-I’ll be down in a sec!” Pinkie shouted back to her sister below. She backed away from the window and shut it swiftly. As she went back down the staircase and toward the kitchen, her mind was preoccupied with her recent discovery.

‘Why wouldn’t they want us to know Granny’s a pegasus?’

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