Party for Two

by ultspideyfan

Finding Peace

“Here you go sir.” Michael said as he forked over the stallion’s sweets.

“Thank you; have a good day sir.” Michael nodded as the stallion left the bakery. He sighed as he slid the bits into the register. Today was another day. “At least this is better than fighting for my life.” He chuckles a little. A scent filled Michael’s nose. The sweet smell pulled him away from the counter and into the kitchen, where he found Pinkie dancing in place, eyes glued to the oven. “Whatcha making?” Michael asked.

“A cake.” Pinkie answered.

“Oh, is there a special occasion?”

“Hmm…nope.”

“Then why?”

“Why not?” Pinkie looked back at Michael with a smug smirk on her face. “Cake is cake. Sometimes you don’t need a reason for making a tasty treat.”

“Alright then.” A small smile forms on Michael’s face.

“Finally got you smiling! Even if it’s a little one.”

Ding! Pinkie turns off the oven, pulling the door open before retrieving the cake and setting it on the table. She quickly got to work on decorating the treat with icing; afterward she nearly bombarded it with whipped cream and cookies.

“How are you going to keep that down?” Michael asked.

“Oh Mikey, this is lightwork for me.” Pinkie answered.

“That’s concerning.” she giggled in response, which only made Michael stare.

“Aaaaaand done!” Pinkie exclaimed. She stepped aside allowing Michael to see her work. “Let’s dig in!” Pinkie takes a knife in her mouth and carefully cuts a slice for the two of them. She placed her cake on a plate with Michael doing the same. As they ate, Pinkie kept eyeballing Michael to see his reaction. He seemed to be enjoying it. His face was pretty blank if she were being honest. “Do you like it?” She asked.

“Of course! It’s just too sugary for me.” Michael says sheepishly.

“Oh come on. Where’s your sweet tooth?” She giggles.

“I have one it's just that the icing—”

“Too much?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.” Michael chuckled. Pinkie smiled. Things were going smoothly. Maybe he was willing to talk about last night? “So, Mikey?”

“Hm?”

“Would you say that you’re in a good mood?”

“Yeah I’d say so.”

“Would you be willing to talk about your nightmares?” She asks inching closer. Michael sighed, setting down the plate.

“I’m guessing that’s why you made the cake?”

“Yeah; sorry.”

“It’s fine. …Yeah, let’s talk.” Joy fills Pinkie’s heart. She sets down the cake and follows Michael to a table where they take a seat. "Most of my nightmares are about my time working at Freddy's. Some instances I'm in my old room. Both cases there's this voice, it surrounds me."

"What does it say?"

"It's my fault."

"Your fault?"

"Mhm. And to be fair, it's not entirely wrong. Well, he's not wrong."

"Who's he?"

"My brother, Cassidy."

"Oh? Was he that golden bear that showed up to take your dad?"

"Mhm."

"Woah. So wait, how is he right?"

"Because if I never did that stupid prank none of this would've happened. Those kids would still be alive, my sister would still be alive, and I could finally have a peaceful state of mind." Michael croaked. Pinkie, almost instinctively, grabbed his hoof and began to caress it. For a moment he looked at her curiously, but that soon melted away as Pinkie’s hoof continued to glide across his own. He felt warm and fuzzy on the inside. There seemed to be a theme, he noticed. Whenever it was Pinkie Pie she always made him feel this way. He always felt safe with her. Maybe it was her bubbly attitude that never seemed to falter. Maybe it was the fact that she allowed him to finally live his own life.

"Mikey; look at me," He did as she asked, "everything that happened wasn't your fault."

"Pinkie—"

"It wasn't your fault. Your father told Aj that your mother's death was the root cause of this. It wasn't you." She held his gaze as the words rang through his mind. The walls would finally crumble away as Michael let his emotions out. He lay his head down as he sobbed into the table. Pinkie felt horrible. She's helped her friends get through many hardships, but Michael’s situation was unique to say the least. It didn't help that she felt like she could do so much more if she—

"Get a hold of yourself Pinkie! Now is not the time for that." Michael’s sobbing began to calm down. Pinkie looked at him with a somber expression. With her free hoof she placed it on his head and began to gently run it through his mane. Doing so made his ears flop around.

"Your ears are waving at me." Pinkie says through her giggling. A chuckle escaped from Michael as she continued. "Does this relax you?"

"Being near you relaxes me." Michael stated. Pinkie became flustered at his nonchalant response. So much so she froze in place. "Pinkie?" Michael asks as his ears perk up to the sudden lack of affection.

"Sorry, I just got caught off guard is all." She returned to stroking his mane, his ears falling back in place.

Ding! Michael and Pinkie snapped their heads to the sound of the front door being opened. Michael quickly scrambled on all floors to greet the customer whilst Pinkie ran over to clear the kitchen.

---

The day wasn't as busy as other days. Michael was thankful; he was able to clock out early. Pinkie took it as an opportunity to get closer to Mike.

"Hey Mikey."

"Hm?" Gummy hopped onto Michael, looking at him with those giant eyes of his. Michael raised an eyebrow once Gummy licked his own eye.

"How are you feeling?"

"Feeling alright."

"Is it enough for you to say 'it wasn't my fault'?" Michael said nothing. "Mikey." Pinkie sat across from Michael. "Can you please say it?"

"Pinkie…I still caused pain upon my family and other families. Even if what I did wasn't the kickstarter for my father's descent, I didn't make things better. I added fuel to an already burning fire. I don't deserve this."

"Yes you do!" Pinkie's outburst caught Michael off guard; couple that with how close she was to his face. "You're right; you did screw up, but you went out of your way to not only right your wrongs but your father's wrongs. No pony asked you to do that. Yet you did it anyway."

"I only helped because of my guilty conscience."

"That's a load of bull and you know it!" Michael was taken aback. He'd never seen Pinkie so assertive before. "Even if you hadn't hurt your brother I'm sure you would still risk your life to undo what your father did!"

"We don't know that."

"No, I know that. You wanna know how I know?" Tears were beginning to well up in Pinkie’s eyes as she continued on. "When you and your father came here, you went out of your way to keep an eye on him. You kept him from killing Spike, you kept him in check! No one asked you to keep us safe yet you went out of your way to make sure we were."

Pinkie had pulled herself away as she sobbed uncontrollably. "And to hear you say that you don't deserve this second chance makes me upset. I wish you could see the stallion that I see." Michael sat there, pondering her words as she cried. Gummy had taken his leave and was trying to comfort his owner to no avail.

As Pinkie’s cries continued, she felt something wrap around her frame. She opened her eyes as she was pulled into Michael’s chest where she heard his heart pounding. Gummy popped out from in between them, now sitting awkwardly beside the two. Before he knew it, Michael had snagged him up and into the hug. Pinkie held the two close as her weeping was coming to an end. Gummy would lick Pinkie, earning a light giggle from her. Then he turned to look at Michael. The two stared for an awkwardly long time, with Gummy rarely blinking. Michael finally caved.

"Pinkie."

"Hm?"

"It wasn't my fault."