Thirty Minutes of Fabulosity

by Esle Ynopemos

3: The Rock Thief [Slice of Life]

((Prompt: Two or more of the Mane Six meet as fillies.))

Pinkie couldn’t believe her eyes. It was gone. Just a pile of rubble where it had once been.

The Pie family’s prized lodestone was gone.

Panic crept up the back of the pink filly’s legs. This was not good. This was so not good. She had been supposed to be out in the north field yesterday, but instead she had been in the barn preparing the party. If Pa found out that the lodestone had gone missing because of her party, he would never allow another one to happen as long as she lived!

She hopped from one hoof to the next. How could this have happened? Theft was unthinkable; to anypony outside of her family, the lodestone had just looked like another rock. But yet, there on the ground was a set of hoofprints winding through the rubble and leading away from the farm. From the looks of it, the prints were made by somepony about Pinkie’s own age.

She bit her lip and cast a glance back at the farmhouse. She had a few hours before she would be missed. Maybe if she could track the thief down and bring back the lodestone, everything could still be okay. Her hooves paused in hesitation. She had never left the rock farm before. Out there was a complete unknown to her.

A look of determination set into her face. This was bigger than her. This was about parties. The future of all parties everywhere rested on her catching the rock thief and bringing them to justice. Her course decided, she set off in a gallop, chasing the hoofprints out into the hills.

The tracks led a winding path through the wilderness, stopping here or there at a stream. Eventually, thatched roofs and timbers rose on the horizon. “Welcome to… Ponyville?” she read as she passed the sign at the town’s edge.

She had never seen so many ponies in her life. All kinds, all colors. Ponies flew through the sky, and lifted things with glowing horns. Pinkie couldn’t help but to think how great a party would be if she could invite all of these ponies to it as well.

But she couldn’t think of parties just now. She had a thief to catch, or else there wouldn’t be any parties! She almost lost track of the hoofprints as they crossed the busy cobbles, but by some combination of luck and sheer determination, she eventually came to a modest two-story home. Pinkie stood on top of a barrel to peer into a window.

Inside, a white filly hummed happily as she worked in front of a sewing machine. Her horn glowed, and a sparkling gem floated in front of her. She took a needle and began fastening the jewel into what looked like some kind of cloth vegetable.

“Aha! I’ve found you!” Pinkie shouted and climbed into the window. She neglected to anticipate the drop to the ground and thus tumbled face-first into a pile of gem-studded costumes.

The unicorn filly squeaked in surprise. “Who’s there? I warn you, I just earned my cutie mark in—um—karate, and I’m not afraid to use it!”

Undeterred, Pinkie rose from the pile of cloth. She now was dressed in a sparkling costume of a slice of cake, the top portion of which hung askew across her face, blocking her vision. “More like a cutie mark in rock-napping! Give them back!”

The unicorn filly blinked, confusion scrawled across her features. “Rock-napping?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie said, poking her head out of one of the leg-holes in the costume. “You got those gems from the lodestone on my family’s rock farm!”

The filly stared at the jewels for a minute, then looked back at Pinkie. Back to the jewels. Back to Pinkie. “Oh, no!” she moaned. “I’m a thief!”

“That’s what I said,” said Pinkie, squirming to free a hoof from the costume.

Tears bristled in the corner of the unicorn’s eyes. “I—I thought I found something that made me special, but it turns out I’m nothing more than a… a common jewel thief!” she wailed, burying her face in her hooves.

Now Pinkie felt bad for making the filly feel guilty. She hopped over next to her on three bound legs, and reached out with the fourth to pat her gently on the back. “Hey… hey, it’s okay. You didn’t know. I just need you to give them back, or else there won’t be any parties anymore.”

“But I can’t,” sobbed the filly, pointing her hoof at the cake Pinkie was wearing. “I’ve already sewn them all into these costumes!”

Pinkie frowned. She had to admit, all the sparkles made the costumes look really neat. “Well… there has to be something we can do.”

The unicorn sniffled, and looked at the pink filly dressed all in gems. A small light sparked in the corner of her eye. “I think… maybe I have an idea,” she said.

-Years Later-

“Clyde Mutton Pie, you’ve really stepped in it this time,” muttered the tawny stallion to himself as he dug frantically through his dresser. There was his black tie, his other black tie, his charcoal tie, his very dark gray tie… where was it?

“Clyde, dear,” his wife said. He turned to see her standing in the doorway. She was wearing a dress that sparkled like the night sky, studded in countless jewels. She held a similarly bejeweled necktie in her hoof. They were, by several orders of magnitude, the fanciest articles of clothing they owned. “Looking for something?”

He gave her a weak grin. “Susan, darling! Oh look, you found it, aheh.”

“You didn’t forget again, did you?” She peered at him over the rim of her spectacles.

“Of course not, dear,” replied Clyde as he grabbed his necktie from her. “That’s why I was in here looking for it. We always wear these things on our anniversary!”

Comments

[Themaskedferret]

Cute idea but the ending didn't really pan out for me. I wasn't really getting what the point was supposed to be....

[TrackingTarget]

2345579
To apologize for (accidentally) stealing a massive lodestone, Rarity used the gems from it to make really fancy clothes for Pinkie's parents.