Not So Far Away

by Cold Bolt

Memory

"That didn't take nearly as long as I expected."

The third day's dusk saw the last five ponies in Alto gazing off toward the sunset - all except for one, of course, who busied herself with balancing on a lone front hoof.

"Moony, you goof," said Pinkie. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Moondancer chuckled. "Well yeah, it's just... I spent almost ten years preparing for this expedition, and we wrapped the whole thing up in a week. It's just a little surreal, is all."

"Strange..."

The pair looked over as Constable Fluttershy spoke for the first time in minutes.

Pinkie blinked. "What is?"

"That the natural instinct toward the unknown should be fear," replied the Constable, "even as it represents the greatest hope we have seen in living memory."

"It's perfectly natural to be nervous," said Moondancer. "Everypony here just packed up their lives in little carts and flew off to a land they've never even heard of before to start over. It's going to be pretty bumpy from here on out."

Fluttershy smiled. "Yet even in my apprehension I have every confidence this was the correct path to take."

"Hey, I got an idea!" Pinkie let herself topple back down on all fours and began rummaging through her saddlebag. "We should have one last dessert before we leave, like a little farewell picnic for - GASP"

Moondancer and Fluttershy stared at the wide-eyed mare.

"Hang on! Hang on hang on hang on! Even better!" Pinkie's hoof retracted, holding her magical camera. "I forgot I still had a shot left! GROUP PHOTO!"

"Wait, why was that in the pocket with..." Moondancer shook her head. "Never mind."

"Hey!" Pinkie called out to Whirlwind and Aerial Ace, who had been chatting beside the cart they had used to bring the two groundwalkers with them. "Everypony gather 'round!"

With slightly confused looks, they fluttered over and sat on either side of Moondancer and Fluttershy.

"Okay! On three, say 'fuzzy pickles!'"

Before she could begin counting, the camera floated out of her grasp.

Moondancer smirked, her horn glowing. "Get over here, dork."

Pinkie's grin widened as she bounded over. In an instant, both Moondancer and Fluttershy were squeezed to her sides by her forelegs.

"You know this is going in the history books, right?"

"Totally!"

"Then why are you making a duck face?"

"Because you can't stop me."

"Sigh... to a brighter future, then."

click

Author's Note:

As the description states, I basically got the idea for this story from Austraeoh. I always got a kick out of ponies who had never seen a pegasus before reacting to Rainbow Dash, and at some point I got to wondering - what would a scenario in which the locals had never seen an earth pony look like? The idea of an earth pony being strange and novel stuck with me, eventually growing into this story... and while I didn't dive too deeply into that concept all things considered, it was still interesting to work on. Writing Pinkie Pie is entirely too much fun.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Sun Sage]

Short and sweet, this is a vivid and entertaining AU. Pinkie's characterization as the enthusiastic explorer plays out really well, and you realize that if you want to travel with somepony who's just plain going to enjoy the vistas along the way, she's a wonderful choice.

Glad I found this. Thanks for writing!

[Tcranch]

This was really fun to read! Just enough length to have a few moments of surprise, without dragging on too much. And it's always a pleasure to read a well written pinkie pov. :3