We go together like Bubblegum & Bacon!

by Sense of Humor

Planned Preparation

"...Uh, are you okay?" Pinkie's eyebrows were knitted upwards in worry." I know the Heimlich maneuver."

Well, that much wasn't doubted by her friend. Sunset waved her off with a hacking cough, drinking her glass of chocolate milk to finally dislodge the bacon. She wheezed in and out but eventually found enough air to talk. "Gluck! Ugh, that was painful."

Pinkie gestured to her glass with a helpful smile. "Drink some more milk! I may have laid it on you a little too suddenly--"

"Thats an understatement."

"But that's the goal of surprise! If you aren't choked up with joy, then you've failed."

"I was choked up with Bacon." Sunset sighed and began the horrible task of talking her down. "Um, Listen. Pinkie...I'm really flattered that you planned this trip for us and that you're willing to put in your savings to make it the best experience...But...maybe we shouldn't do it?"

"Pfft. Why not, silly?" Pinkie shrugged. "We could use the time to ourselves--to relax and catch up!"

"I don't need to relax this summer. There's a lot of things I should handling to prepare for when classes start back up in Mid-August. " Sunset shuddered at the thought of spending a week away from doing any work. "You know they spring those tests on you the day you get back in."

"But that's two months away!" Her friend whined loudly. "This trip will only be a week long! That's plenty of time for your precious studying!"

"I could be mediocre or I could be excellent. I never choose mediocre." The girl responded as she raised an eyebrow. "Why couldn't we just go see a movie like we usually do?"

Pinkie held up three of her fingers, eyes narrowed. "One: because there's nothing good coming out till next year. Two: you'd try to sneak off during the movie. Three: because its not something we're mutually doing together...which redirects back reason number two!"

"I sneak off for good reasons--"

"Ha! You admit it!" Pinkie pointed an accusing finger at her. "You don't even try to stay with me! You--You're not even my friend anymore, Sunset!"

Sunset flinched at the words, her stare hardening almost instantly. "...That's not true. You're just being dramatic"

"And you're just being...not...cooperative!"

Sunset shook her head firmly. "Which is why I'm not going anywhere. I don't intend on doing any camping in the middle of nowhere, on some random trip."

"I already rented a mini-rv," Was the giddy response.

Sunset would have choked again if she were eating. Instead, she blinked owlishly at Pinkie. "What?!"

"It'll be delivered here tomorrow so that we don't have to waste money on overly expensive hotel rooms! And it only cost me like, eighty bucks cuz its from a cousin of mine!" The girl grinned from ear to ear. "Isn't this great?!"

"No! This is not great! " Pinkie flinched at the intense words, her smile gone. "Because you just wasted money setting up a trip I don't even want to go on! Friends don't ever force other friends to do things they don't want to!" Sunset growled at her, getting up from the table and starting the trip back to her room. "Ugh. I hope you have a backup plan because I am going to stay right here."

Frantically, Pinkie picked up the notebook that was supposed to be the beginning of a lifelasting memory. She was already down the hall, but she followed the unhappy woman feeling equally bad. "But...Sunset! You might actually like this! " The door shut before Pinkie came close but she still spoke. "It'll be fun! I have everything planned out for what we can do!"

Silence answered her, but above that she could hear an unhappy groan and a body flopping onto a bed. "Sunset! I...I know shouldn't have tried to force this on you! I j-just really wanted you to come! Can't we just--"

"Leave me alone, Pinkie. I'm about to make a few calls."

"Sunset, please!"

"I said: Go away! "

"But..."

The girl stopped and sighed, her head banging against the door. She was sure this was going to work--she was so certain of this working. Everything was in place and ready to work in perfect order...but then this happened. Of all the things to go wrong and backfire, she hadn't accounted for Sunset being adamant about not going. The one problem she wanted to fix was also the one problem that stopped her plans in its tracks.

A painful lump formed in her throat, making her let out a strangled whimper. Pinkie stared down at her Hello Kitty socks. "...O-Okay. Sorry to upset you....I'll just...put your food in the refrigerator, I guess."

Pinkie shuffled away, without even hearing a sound of acknowledgement.

---

Pinkie was crazy. Absolutely crazy to think she would just up and leave with her on a week-long road trip.

Sunset glared up at the ceiling from her bed, eyes narrowed and slightly moist. It wasn't the notion of taking the trip that her on the verge of tears, despite that being highly frustrating in its own right--it was the fact that Pinkie had the gall to say they weren't friends anymore, all because of a few movies she skipped out on. The nerve of that girl!

Well, if she was going to be so hurtful, then maybe she didn't deserve anyone going with her--least of all Sunset. A road trip, of all things, was the most cliche way of reconnecting. You could find a plot based on that for every genre. Sunset gave a dry laugh as she imagined Pinkie watching A Goofy Movie for the thirtieth time and suddenly getting the idea.

"Sunset! I...I know shouldn't have tried to force this on you! " The girl bristled as she heard Pinkie Pie from the other side of the door. She was mildly persistent and majorly irritating. "I j-just really wanted you to come! Can't we just--"

Sunset reached for her phone on the nightstand, swallowing back the forming tears and calming herself. "Leave me alone, Pinkie. I'm about to make a few calls."

Brief silence, then a desperate plead. " Sunset Please!"

Sunset shot up into a sitting position, gritting her teeth. "I said: Go away!"

"But..."

Sunset had breath inhaled, ready to interrupt her again if need be. She didn't want to listen to anything that girl had to say by this point--if she got enough words into her head, Sunset might change her mind and waste valuable time. There was no way she afford to lose a week to relaxing! There were things to buy, things to clean, things to study for--

Sunset twitched involuntarily when Pinkie whimpered apologetically.

No,No, No! Stay angry, Sunset! She insulted your friendship!. She pathetically attempted to cling to her own frustration, her cross attitude slipping through her fingers like jelly. It reminded her instances long before this one, where Pinkie occasionally had a sad day to deal with and Sunset was there to give her the comfort she needed. Now that she thought about it, those times were too long ago, perhaps during the early days of their strong friendship.

"...O-Okay. Sorry to upset you," Darn it--why did she have to be so emotional all the time?! Sunset felt her heart weep for her best friend. "I'll just...put your food in the refrigerator, I guess."

Sunset didn't respond as she heard the girl walk away, but she did sigh. Why did she always have to be so complicated about these sorts of things? Why couldn't she just see the faulty timing in her plans--it was crystal clear and right in front of her nose! Sunset didn't even have enough vacation hours to cover a week.

Did she?

Sunset frowned even deeper than before, slowly yet surely forgetting about Pinkie's sadness and disappointment. All of the times she'd refused to use her vacation hours, all built up over a very long stretch of time. She wondered just how many hours she had altogether from working this long, and...no. It couldn't cover a week's span of time. That was impossible but...if it was, then maybe...

Pinkie's absurd trip had another chance, but Sunset had her fingers crossed that her boss wouldn't agree to it.

---

The dark green gecko licked its eyeball boredly. Pinkie tried to glare at her tiny pet, sitting patiently in the palm of her hand. "D-Don't try to cheer me up, Gummy!"

Pinkie flopped back onto her bed, and Gummy instant crawled up her arm to sit on her nose. The pink haired girl gave her eleventh sigh of sadness and groaned at the ceiling. "Where did I go wrong, Gummy? Where did I lose her?! Did I do something wrong in the presentation? I had a commercial-- a product to sell, and I completely botched it!"

The gecko's left eyelid twitched involuntarily. Pinkie whimpered softly. "Too fast? I wasn't going too fast. It's called a surprise for a reason! You don't see it coming, but it's never too fast! I was moving like a sloth! Or maybe a sloth with a bum leg! No--A bum-legged sloth riding on a really drunk turtle! My surprise for her was perfectly planned out and perfectly timed!"

Gummy squeaked and she gasped. "You're right! I should have made Idaho food, not a breakfast! Or I should have thrown a Idaho-themed party! Oh, I'm so stupid!"

"Pinkie, you better not be talking to your gecko again! I already told before--It's not a sane thing to do!"

"Lot's of people talk to their pets, Sunset! It's completely nor...wait." She got up from the bed, with Gummy still clinging to her nose like a tiny little green monkey. She opened the door and found a disgruntled, uncertain looking friend waiting there for her. "Sunset?! Are you still mad? Wait! I mean," She tried to look angry. "What do you want? I was...busy."

"Talking to an animal that can't understand you, yes. I know." The girl leaned against the doorway with a sigh. "In your defense, maybe I was little...mean for storming away. I,uh, called my boss...ironically to get confirmation that I can't take a trip. You know? I was hoping I didn't have enough vacation hours."

Pinkie winced; she wanted to stay so bad that she willingly looked for the disapproval of her boss? She sighed sadly. "Let me guess: 8 hours, tops?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I wish. It's more like 192 hours."

Pinkie blinked. "...Did you say 192?"

"Yep."

"Literally One hundred ninety two?"

"Yep."

"Not an hour and ninety two seconds?"

"Nope."

"192?"

"Yep."

"...Jesus."

"Yep. When you work like me, you get a lot of nice vacation time."

"How do you stay so well rested? I'd be so sleep deprived that I'd go crazy! Waaaait." The gears began rolling in Pinkie's energetic mind, and a hopeful smile began to form on her face. She didn't want any more disappointment tonight, but she had to know. "Does this mean that...?"

Her blonde/redhead friend cracked the slightest smile--the ghost of a smile, probably because Pinkie's smiles were contagious. "Yes, Yes. I still don't like this, but my boss is forcing me on the vacation anyway sooo--URK!"

Pinkie had her wrapped in a hug before she could finish, nearly crushing her bones and dislocations several things that shouldn't be dislocated. Even if something had broken, it wouldn't have stopped the hug from growing any tighter. She buried her face in Sunset's shoulder, hiding a bright smile tinged by both relief and worry. There was nothing to be worried about now--Pinkie had the chance she'd been waiting and planning for. Everything was going to be just fine now; better than fine, if she could say so herself. She was finally going to get her best friend back. She was finally going to bring them together again, as close as they were before.

"I promise you," Pinkie mumbled warmly into her, eyes closing in tearful joy. She somehow ignored the ticklish sensation of Gummy nuzzling her, seemingly as happy as she was. "This is gonna be the best week of your life."

Wheezing from the rib poking into her lung and the lack of air, Sunset groaned and patted Pinkie's back. "Are we visiting a chiropractor first? I'm gonna need it."

Comments

[Antiquarian]

Well done.

[Sense of Humor]

9088061
*bows dramatically*

[Blank Paper]

Really interesting read so far.