> We go together like Bubblegum & Bacon!
>  by Sense of Humor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Once Upon a Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Busy was the middle name of the supermarket, and Sunset was more than happy to be apart of it.

She smiled as she heaved a heavy crate of cereal up from the ground and onto the shelf. It wasn't a surprise to her that people were already taking cereal from the very crate she moved; she expected nothing less to happen at this time of year. She looked across the aisle and then ever farther down, catching an eyeful of people crowded at the meat section--customers that looked like professional grillers. She could imagine even more bustling swarms of people around the snack section and the frozen meals section. She could even picture groups of people rushing their way through the electronics playground and the toy factory, each one grabbing a handful --or armful -- of things to buy. They were under the all-powerful curse of summer stocking, and most of them knew it.

Summer Stocking was a term she’d become familiar with in the past couple of years working for Prance-mart. In short, it was the feverish urge of families to buy many things in the first week of summer, from any stores that had the most to offer. Moms would sprint in to find toys and tablets to preoccupy their children when they were away running errands or celebrating with husbands. Husbands or even single men sucked the meat section dry of all its departments; poultry and seafood included. Anything you could grab and use to help relax during the two long months of summer, you ended up using. It was almost as bad as Christmas week but not nearly as bad as Black Friday.

Shuddering at the thought of Black Friday, Sunset practically skipped her way to the storage room to get another crate of supplies. Her journey back brought her past the candy aisle four rows down, where she spotted a familiar face reorganizing the bags of skittles.  Sunset stopped and waltzed down, a grin still on her face. “Mack, back from being sick?”

“Meh,” Mack said with disinterest, clearly not pleased with the polar opposite emotion thrown his way. Or the employee who was doing the throwing

“Great! Because we have a lot of work to do today, boss! All these customers, so little time.” She surveyed the bustling madness as she spoke, placing a hand on her hip. “I was heading to the back to pick up another cereal crate.”

The manager of the store blinked, staring at Sunset to determine whether or not she was just joking. “If you have to get a new crate already, you realize uou’re going to be making trips back forth several times right?”

“Fine by me. I don't stay this thin by...not exercising.” She said, tearing her eyes away from the customers after a while of contemplation.” You know, I just can’t imagine why they're never present during the summer. Just...before it.”

“Maybe because they actually take a vacation, unlike you.”

“My vacation is this place. It's fun, I interact with people and I get paid for it.” She started. Many conversations about the subject of days off were had, and that was minor in comparison to talks about actually using her vacation hours. “I don’t need to go out of state to feel comfortable.”

Mack stood up from his empty crate and walked alongside her. They both traversed a maze of traveling people, both heading towards the back of the supermarket side by side. “You should. I don't think I've ever hire a worker as persistent as you. You already work to the 40-hour mark and tackle college work in the same breath, and even when you have off days you try to cover for someone. Haven’t ever once considered taking a load off in an icy resort or a stroll on the beaches of the Bahamas? Anything?”

“Working hard leads to success. No one did anything lying down, you know.” Sunset hoisted her crate until she was holding it underneath one arm. They pushed their way through the swinging doors and entered the buzzard web of conveyor belts and truck parking spaces. “Besides, I still have a roommate to think about. Who knows if she wants a vacation anyway? I couldn't just leave her, she’d be lonely.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot; that girl with the pink hair…” He said with a sigh. He was probably remembering the surprise cake Pinkie sent him for his birthday. “Isn’t she your sister or something?”

“Childhood friend. I thought I told you when I first signed up to work here?” The young woman was of course more than happy to explain again since everyone often got the wrong impression from the way her friend greeted her at work. “Pinkie and I kinda grew up together since we met in middle school. We didn't go to the same high school, but we met up like we did and kinda agreed to attending the same college. Or, at least sharing the same apartment.” She shrugged. “We managed to do both, somehow.”

“She’s a lot more...energetic, maybe childish than you.”

“I chalk it up to it just being her personality. I’ve always liked it anyway.”

The man nodded. “Sounds like a close thing. You guys must hang out a lot when you're not at work.”

She scoffed. “Are you kidding? I've been too busy for that. We occasionally talk, so everything’s cool the way it is.” And it was; Pinkie was fine with just talking at night about their day, and the weather and other small talk subjects. Things were still strong between them.

Skeptically, Mack raised an eyebrow at her. “If you say so.”

“I know so.”





Pinkie smiled as she continued to plaster the freshly bought notebook in sparkling sapphire glitter.

Summer was probably the best time to let the creative juices flow through the hands of a born artist. There was a time, many years ago, where she thought creative juices were a tangible substance that she could get from anywhere. In time she learned the correct way to get creative juices in her head, and one key element was a relaxed environment. That was why summer was such a good time to get into art hobbies--there was nothing in the two-month future to stress you out. Especially not if you were Pinkie Pie.

Locked in a focus unbreakable unless prompted with candy, she marked glitter across the navy blue corners with a giddy smirk--much more happy than what you'd expect a twenty-year-old to be when decorating. Sky blue eyes directed every motion of her hands, while she bit her lip in the midst of her deep concentration. When it came to planning for something big, everything had to look good and she meant everything. This notebook would not play a small part in the big things the future had in store, so she had to be extra attentive to it or else everything could be in danger. Pinkie had worked too hard to let things crumble because of some bad decoration.

The contents of the notebook had already been filled to the brim with the things she needed to know or things she bought made of paper that only added to to the information. It took several long hours of internet searching to find everything in it and hours more to make sure that information could be trusted. If she was going to use any of it, it had to be reliable.

With the glitter done and drying, she had to work on the last but most important thing about the notebook. She picked up the black sharpie. All titles started in black, even if they were retracted in a different color. But black felt right for this notebook, despite all the bright designs she put on the notebook. "It's gotta be something really good. It needs a really fitting name."

Pinkie looked up at her wardrobe and settled her bright gaze on a picture held captive by a wooden Itse. Its paper surface captured the colorful memory of a much younger Pinkie Pie hugging a slightly older red and yellow-haired girl, who's laughing smile could warm a fireplace. A laugh that rivaled Pinkie's own, a giggle that only friends shared with each other. The salmon haired girl could just barely remember the last time she'd heard the girl in the picture laugh--like, really let herself laugh again. She wished she could hear it more often.

She wished could hear Sunset more often, and not her weak attempts at a small talk from time to time, as she copied down notes from her laptop or studied flashcards. She wished could see the Suneet from all those years ago, willing to travel into the yuckiest swamp barefoot or create a very complicated handshake for her pink haired friend. She would like that more than anything in the world.

Pinkie forced her smile back--still a lot of exciting fun to be had today and if Sunset was in the mood, then maybe Pinkie would finally reveal the surprise she'd been hinting at all week long. Whenever she did try to bring it up for discussion, Sunset would claim to be headed somewhere important or that she would be busy doing something in her room. By all accounts, Pinkie should have expected the worst.

But one can hope.





Sunset wheezed by the time she climbed the stairs to the third floor, phone nestled between her cheek and her shoulder. “ Well, Mr.Prohaska, one can never be too early to study for a fall semester test. Those happen as early as the end of the summer, and it's only two months long from now. " She swaggered down the hallway with a small grocery bag in her hand and a purse on the opposite shoulder. The sound of crickets could be heard beyond the voice on the phone, somewhere in her background. It went well with the setting sun and the approaching darkness of the night. "Just trying to get a headstart on things. That'll help keep me afloat to the end of the four years."

Awaiting a response, she turned the key in her apartment door and gently pushed it open. The light to the kitchen was on, illuminating the figure of a brightly colored roommate. She paused in the doorway, watching with surprise as Pinkie used tongs to flip two pieces of bacon over from their cooked side o their uncooked side. Sunset looked past her; cheesy eggs lay in a scrambled pile on a paper plate next to two sausage patties. Steam and smoke rose from both, though neither seemed burned. The smell made Shimmer's belly rumble slightly.

With an intrigued quiet unlike her earlier tone, she coughed. "Um...Thank you for sending the doc. I'll talk with you later." And then the phone was off, nestled in her pocket. "Um, hey, Pinkie."

"Hey, Sunset!" Pinkie had never looked up when Sunset walked in and still didn't. "Sorry about the smoke!"

There was hardly any smoke, and she didn't even smell any. Rolling her eyes, she smiled at Pinkie. "It's fine...Um, are you making breakfast? At this time of day?"

"At this time of night." Pinkie corrected.

Sunset smirked. "Kinda my point, you know. Why are you making this now?"

"To have Breakfast for Dinner, silly. Why else?" Pinkie tapped the tongs against the side of the pan, then winked noticeably. " And before you answer with something sarcastic, it's a representation of surprise. You were surprised when you saw me cooking this, after all! And I have a surprise for you when we start chowing down."

Intrigued, Sunset set her purse down on the backrest of one of the two chairs."Okay. If you say so." She went to her room and leaped out of the work clothes she had on, before sliding into Nike shorts and a black t-shirt. When she reappeared into the minuscule dining room, Pinkie had all the finished breakfast items separated into two plates at either end of the small table. A large magenta box sat beside Pinkie's plate, with a closed lid.

Pinkie looked like she was containing laughter."Take your seat and eat your fill!"

Sunset did as told, suspiciously eyeing the box between bites of the delicious breakfast dinner. What could be in it that Pinkie considered a surprise for her? Sunset ran through a small list of items in her mind; some hair curlers, a makeup kit, a new pair of heels, a very revealing dress...maybe a kitten? Sunset cringed; she hated the thought of having a pet in the apartment. Pinkie ate enough as it was.


Halfway through her food, she finally stopped and pointed at the concealed surprise. "Alright, gimme that box. I can't take this anymore."

Giggling like a mad woman, Pinkie slowly pushed it over to her. The glitter of the box sparkled in the dim light from above and the lid begged to be pulled away. Sunset did so without hesitation.

"...uh...Is..." Sunset slowly fished out a very large plastic pickle jar. Though, instead of pickles, it contained enough paper money inside to look tightly packed. She would recognize this jar anywhere, anytime. "Is this...your savings? The jarful of money you've collected over the years?"

Pinkie nodded, literally shaking with excitement. "Absa-tootly! Years and years of 5.25's saved up in that jar! I have exactly One Thousand, Eight hundred Eighty-two dollars in it!"

Nevermind why she would deliberately collect just 5.25--why was she showing this now. "Well, this is great. It's nearly a grande! What are you showing me for?"

"Look at the bottom of the box!"

She reached into the dark shadows of the box and retrieved a notebook small enough to fit inside it. At first she was distracted by the harsh shine of its surface; clearly Pinkie Pie had taken great measures to ensure it was pretty. But the title became clearing to her against the otherwise sparkling background. She squinted. 

"...The Idaho trip of Pinkie and Sunset?"

Pinkie exploded with soft giggles, her eyes sparkling. "That's right!" She clapped. "You and me--We're taking a weeklong summer road trip!"

Sunset choked on a piece of bacon.
> 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."
> Buttery Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is our Rv?" 

"Yep! Ain't she beautiful?!"

"...I couldn't even tell it was an she."

Even that declaration was putting things lightly by Sunset’s standards. The thing didn't even look like a standard, modern Rv--it looked like someone had taken the front end of a 50’s truck and tried to superglue it to a big, rectangular metal thing on two wheels. Then that someone cut a door in the side and superglued a huge windshield on as well. Rust was sprinkled everywhere on the blasted thing and even the wheels looked decrepit. An enclosed balcony that doubled as bed jutted out from the roof like a pompadour. She wasn’t even going to ask how the blue and white paint stayed intact, aged as it was. It was a wonder that Pinkie’s cousin was able to get it across the highway legally, let alone behind the apartment.

“Are you kidding? You can’t fake feminine beauty like this!” She smirked and nudged Sunset with an elbow. Sunset had to squint to avoid the sunlight bouncing off of Pinkie’s stupid plastic sunglasses--the ones she claimed were  pure gold despite the glaring issue being that she won them at Dave and Buster's two years ago. “Its called the 1951 Boyertown Tour Wagon!”

“Tour wagon?”

“That's right--this is the stuff old rock bands used to drive around in! Fitting, now that the dynamic duo is back in business,” The enthusiastic girl elbowed her again and pranced over to the vehicle to pat it's heavily dented hood. “ The engine is a lovely Dodge V8 315, from way back to this baby’s third birthday thirty four years ago. When I get her started, you’ll hear her chirp to life!”

“I can barely contain my excitement.”

"Oh, just you wait, Sister! You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Pinkie yanked the door open, revealing a set of miniature wooden stairs and space enough to move behind the seat. “Step on in, Cadet!”

The demurring girl entered as instructed and was introduced to a whole new world of bad things to nitpick. She squinted at the couches placed apart from each other on either side of the van, weathered with tears and stains on certain parts.  An empty bookshelf/counter jutted out from the wall, with a large antenna tv sitting on top. All of it looked unbelievably dusty.

She walked over to the sink that was nestled on the opposite side of the bookshelf, and tested the knob for running water--it surprisingly ran. On the other side of the van, she could easily make out the shape of an oven. When she looked closer, she raised an eyebrow at Pinkie. “A propane oven?

“Yeah, would’ve had to pay extra for an electric oven to be installed.”

Sunset glanced inside what looked like a closet, and then the other tiny compartment on the opposite side. “Yay. One toilet.”

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically and gestured to the very back of the RV, marked by a large door. “Guess what’s in the back!”

She hesitated. When she looked into the mysterious depths, Sunset flinched at the sight of the bathtub and connecting shower head. If anyone had ever used this, they didn't think to clean up after themselves. With a groan, she nodded at her friend. “It...could be improved. But it’s cool. I guess."

"Squee!" Pinkie squeed.

They walked back up to the driver’s section, and Sunset noticed something that genuinely surprised her in a neutral way. “Huh. I get it.” She pointed at the cab bed that extended outwards over the windshield and hood of the car. So the ‘pompadour’  was actually a sleeping area. “At least that's sorta convenient.”

Pinkie put an arm around her shoulder in a semi-hug.“Seemed pretty cool to me too. Enough room for the both of us to hit the sack.”

Sunset shot her a skeptical look. “I’m sorry, are you saying there’s only one official bed here?!”

“Yeah, this RV wasn’t really designed for multiple people to live in it, per se.” Pinkie explained with an uncertain shrug. “It was for duo bands and romantic couples, so they’d share that cab around night time. Anyone else would crash on the couches.”

“Uh, you couldn't have gotten something that wouldn't make us look like we’re...y'know?!”

“We are 'Y'knows'~,” Pinkie suggestively winked at her, though it was obvious that she was holding back a laugh. “Starry Eyed Lovers of Pizza and Rootbeer!”

Loosened up a little by her friend’s antics, Sunset crossed her arms. “Well I’m not making love to a pepperoni slice in a bed somebody else slept in,” She gagged internally. “Ew, what if somebody really did--”

Pinkie gagged as well. “Don’t even go there! As soon as I found out this was a couple’s RV I got rid of the bed and anything that touched the bed to be safe. That’s a memory foam mattress, bought with my own money.”

Sunset nodded in relief. “And you're sure this whole thing is gonna hold up the whole way to Idaho?”

Leaning against the creaking walls, her friend agreed. "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a cup-sized pastry in my eye!"

"Okay then. Now what?"

“Now,” Pinkie declared proudly. “We pack it all up and move out! I got a special place in mind to kick off our trip, so we'll have to move fast!”





"Chairs?"

"There's a hidden compartment I didn't tell you about. They're there."

A pen scratched once over the box.

Bummed out, Sunset moved on to the next item on the list and glanced up at the heavily packed vehicle. Once she found the enormous beach ball strapped onto the roof of the RV, she marked the box and looked for the next labeled item. “...towels?”

“I've got them inside!” Pinkie was on the roof of the car, trying to shove the humongous canoe into the tight space between the chairs and the foldable table. With a giant kick, she managed to fit them both together in position that looked ready to explode if someone breathed wrong. “They're all sitting in the bathtub.”

Sunset marked them off her list and started to move onto the next item when she suddenly realised what she said. She glared up at her heightened friend. “Are you serious? You put all the towels in that disgusting tub? We haven't even cleaned it yet!”

“Its not like grime can’t easily be rubbed off! The towels would be as clean as the day I bought them, regardless of what's on them.”

"Pinkie, that's still--..."Gritting her teeth, she moved on to the next item on the list. “Coolers with ice included?”

“Oh, they’re on the couch!” Pinkie struggled to close the giant umbrella and squeeze it in with the other items. She tugged with all the physical strength she could muster, but couldn't quite squeeze it in a permanent manner  “ I forgot to get the ice for them, but I'm sure they have ice bags at the gas stations we pass!”

Sunset glanced up as Pinkie continued to struggle. That girl was hopeless--completely hopeless to be struggling so hard for some stupid vacation. Though she couldn't quite express that out loud, she could give a few disapproving choice words. “Lets just put that thing inside, Pinkie. You'll break it if you force it into that tight space.”

“Ooh! Ooh! That's what she said!” The girl giggled as if that was the funniest joke in the world. “I've been catching up on The Office--I'm on season 6 right now and Creed said the funniest--”

“Don't care.” Sunset cut her off instantly and closed the notebook. “We’ve checked off everything on the list, now get down from there.”

“Okey Dokey, Loki!” 

She expected the insane girl to get down using the ladder as any sensible human being would. Of course, she ended up looking down, crouching like a tiger and leaping off into the air like a startled toad. Sunset watched with horror, then disbelief as the pink haired cake-addict did a flip and twist in mid-air. She landed like a feather on the ground, both feet planting themselves in the grass without a sound. Pinkie smiled a cheesy smile as she stood back up, a stark contrast to the gaping look her friend sent her. “...you...w-when did you learn to do all that?!”

“Huh? At the aerobics class, I go to every Thursday, remember?” When she received a blank stare, her smile grew dim. “I told you almost every Thursday when you came home from work?”

She didn't allow the icy stab of guilt to form in her belly. For the sake of it, Sunset nodded vigorously. “Oh, pfft. Yeah! Now I remember. It, uh, it shows.”

Pinkie squealed loudly as she bounced over to the driver side of the RV and opened the door. “Thanks! My landing was a little spotty, admittedly--but I really think I nailed the aerodynamics in that flip spin, and the wind speed today was really low so of course that helped me out--wait, do you think we should go kite flying, cause that would be a really good idea given how its often windy in Idaho! Like the wind is just below hurricane level, at least if you ask me! Oh, did you know that people in Idaho have some amazing kites? It's not like they have giant kites, it's just that they're super cool and their boomerangs are authentic! I thought you could only get authentic boomerangs in Australia? Or is it Austria? They really oughta  change the names so people don't confused. I mean, who's bright idea was it just take the name Australia and then subtract the 'AL' in it for a lesser known country? No, wait. State. Is Austria a state? It can't be a continent, because are waaaaay bigger. Maybe Austria is a town...yeah, its a town. Aus-town would be a better name." 

Sunset swallowed nervously and intercepted her before she could open the driver door all the way. “Heeeeey, buddy...maaaaybe I should drive us?"

The Party Princess frowned deeply, tilting her head with those giant blue puppy eyes of hers. "What? Why? You don't trust my driving?"

The red(ish)head laughed off her concerns, albeit a tad bit nervously. Sunset surmised that another semester of theater might polish her acting skills. "Nooooooo, that's not...pffft. I totally don't...you...your driving is completely f...Okay, no. I don't trust it at all."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but...you're just too hyper and unpredictable right now! The truth hurts."

"That wasn't the truth, that was an insult to my skill set and personality!" Was the offended response. "I passed my drivers test with flying colors, I'll have you know!"

"The Driving Instructor had to be talked out of the car, he was so frozen with fear." 

"Oh yeah?! Feast your eyes on this!" She unsheathed a very thick looking piece of folded paper and laughed loudly. "See? I have the map! I should be driving."

"Exactly! You need to focus on reading the map instead, " Sunset smiled nervously. "Just imagine that you're...Alexa or Google or something."

Pinkie slowly smiled.





"In four hundred feet--"

"Pinkie."

"--Turn left onto Kensington road!"

Sunset gripped the steering wheel a little harder now, ensuring that it definitely wouldn't send the small RV flying anywhere. How could one woman have enough energy to pretend to be some stupid AI for a whole hour? It was a question that didn't allow Sunset to waste said hour, that was for certain. The only logical conclusions to her friend's near-permanent energy were Five Hour Energy drinks, an immortal sugar high or--very possibly--her friend was from another planet this whole time. She bet on the latter being the truth.

If she was indeed some alien she managed to befriend in her childhood, then she only hoped her experiences with mankind shaped her enough to know what a good trip is like. Hopefully Pinkie had good places in mind on their way through Idaho, places that could make this sudden getaway at least memorable. 

"Uh, Sunset!" Pinkie's urgent voice prodded her out of her thoughts. "Turn left! Turn left!"

Shimmer gasped and made the sharpest right turn of her life, jolting the entire vehicle by hitting a large rock stationed on the corner. She does off from that position with an embarrassed flush to her skin. Good thing there weren't any cops or cars behind them to judge that brief mistake. Pinkie however, was a little more than concerned. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm--I'm fine." Sunset laughed nervously and refocused on the road. "Tooootally fine!"
> Cooked Cryptids
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there they were, three hours into the drive on a long stretch of road.

The rickety old vehicle had a sort of strange shake to it as it moved along, so soft that it was borderline a vibration. The only reason she didn't think it necessary to pull over to the side of the road was because she didn't have a single idea on what was causing the shaking--just multiple. It could be something wrong with the spokes, it could be a significantly lower tire, it could be the engine or it could be a few other little things that she doubted Pinkie would have ever noticed upon getting the RV. At least it wasn't bad enough to keep them from driving any further.

The view beyond the windows was only of the great plains of the Idaho land, filled to the brim with grass of varying heights and flowers of varying colors. Very few times had there been an animal to spot, and even then it was either a small rabbit or an Eagle circling something deceased in the far distance. Sunset turned from the view and sighed as a familiar weight crawled onto her shoulder. She glanced over at her friend, who had been talking about last year's Psychology class for about two and a half of those three hours. "Pinkie, get your lizard off of me."

"So then, he asked the room--Oops." She carefully snatched up her green pet and booped his nose in a disapproving manner. "Bad Gummy! I told you to stay put in Mama's lap! Don't you take that tone with me!"

Sunset resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the one-sided argument going on right next to her."You really need to get another pet, you know. "

Pinkie scoffed at the apparently outlandish statement, holding up gummy to her nose. "Aw, she's just a big ol' jelly, welly grump because she doesn't have a pet! No she doesn't! No she doesn't!"

"I'm not jealous of your little...thing. If I had a pet, I wouldn't ever want it to be some creepy, scaley...thing with a forked tongue and all those claws. Even a Gecko wouldn't do it for me." The reddish head retorted with complete confidence. She briefly thought she saw Gummy glaring from the corner of her eye, but she shrugged it off as nonsense. "I would get something furrier than a lizard, with a cute little nose and paws. Maybe a puppy."

Pinkie frowned as confusion wrinkled her brow. "A puppy? But you're deathly afraid of dogs."

Sunset grinned, perhaps a little too wide to be convincing, and laughed. "Ha, ha. No. No, I am not deathly afraid of dogs. That's--Thats an over exaggeration."

"The last time you saw a dog, you ran up the nearest tree and I had to talk you down ten minutes after it left."

"That's different! My reaction was totally justified! It was a Great Dane; you know how huge those things are? Besides, that was years ago."

"That was last week. And it was a tiny, angry little Chihuahua. It wasn't any taller than your ankle. It only chased you because you screamed and ran--"

"A puppy is what I said, okay? Not a full grown dog. A puppy. I can start getting used to dogs if I get used to a puppy. "

"Riiiight."

"Oh shut up." Sunset started to make the turn on a curved part of the road. "So how close are we to your surprise first stop?"

Pinkie Pie instantly unsheathed the ma from her side and unfolded it after setting Gummy back onto her lap, her legs raising to cross them on the dashboard. "Weeeeeell, it should actually be just three minutes away from us. Right behind that big mountain in the distance."

"Hmm." Was the response to that, along with a disapproving look to the crossed legs on the dashboard. Sunset looked up forward in time to spot a rather jarring, random sight not too far ahead of them and she pressed her foot into the brake to bring them to a slow halt in the middle of the road. She blinked with wide eyes at the animal starting to cross the road, failing to comprehend it. "I...Is that…?"


Pinkie seemed even more shocked and bewildered than her friend, inhaling a mighty gasp inward. "Oh my gosh, it's a--SASQUATCH!"

Yes, a Sasquatch.

Clear as day, the creature ambled across the road from the left with a slow, lazy gait. It's long arms swung with each half-hearted stride across the concrete and his head was leaned forward on its apeish body. Right in front of the vehicle, the creature's head swing in their direction to fix the girls with an unreadable gaze. They all stared at each other just eight feet away and no one dared to make a sound to one another. Sunset slowly shifted her foot on the gas pedal, preparing to either run the thing over or knock it out of the way with the hood of the RV…

"...Oh, thank God."

The Sasquatch suddenly leaned back in relief and allowed a sign it had been dragging to fall in the road. It kept starting in their direction with that frozen expression, despite its body language looking utterly exhausted. "Oh man, I thought I was gonna be stuck out here forever."

Sunset blinked at the giant beast, before tearing her eyes off of it to stare at her friend. "...Did...Did Bigfoot just talk?"

Pinkie shrugged at the question, then rolled down the window to lean out of it. "Uh, Bigfoot? How can you talk? Is there a library in the woods?"

"...Uh, this is a costume! For my restaurant, see?" The fake bigfoot picked up the sign from the ground and held it up for them to see. He pointed to his proof and shrugged. "Yeah, The Sasquash. Ya know? The eatery right past Blondi mountain?"

Pinkie stared at the mountain in the distance and scratched her head. "The mountain doesn't look Blonde to me. Let's see if it was just colored yellow on the map." She went silent scrutinizing every inch of the map, only pausing when she apparently discovered the desired area. Her smile fell slowly as she took it in, only to return with a very nervous undertone to it. She looked up at Sunset slowly. "Ha Ha. So...Heh. It's funny…"

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "What's funny?"

"Well, it seems I've been navigating us in the complete opposite direction of our first stop…" As if that wasn't enough of a shocking problem on its own, Pinkie sank a little further into the corner of her seat. "...For the past... two and a half...hours…?"

"You--WHAT?!" Sunset clutched at her hair in utter disbelief, glaring daggers at the one she foolishly assigned to be the GPS of the trip. "WE'RE THREE HOURS AWAY FROM THE FIRST STOP? HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO SCREW THIS UP THAT MUCH?!"

"Technically, two and a half hours."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"I DONT KNOW! I JUST--" Pinkie turned the map to her so she could see the jumbled mess of streets and roadways on it. "IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME! We were supposed to be driving past Brunette Mountain!"

"Why are they even hair color names?!" Sunset allowed her head to hit the steering wheel with a groan. "Maaaaan, why did I ever let you be the navigator?!"

"I tried to be the driver, but you didn't want me to! "

"Because then not only would be this far off track, but you would have run him over!"

"I would not! I wouldn't have run him over even if he was the REAL Bigfoot! Mostly because we could train the real one to be our best friend and do tricks for people!"

Before Sunset could even think to call her out on the absurdity of such a plan on several grounds, the guy in the bigfoot costume outside carefully butted into the conversation. "Uh...I hate to be that weird hitchhiker in a stifling hot Bigfoot outfit in three digit degree weather...but could I get a lift back to my job with you two?"

She only lifted her head up from the steering wheel enough to let him see the whites of her very irritated gaze. "Don't you have a way of getting there yourself? How did you get all the way out here?"


"Well, I walked about ten--maybe thirteen minutes on the side of the road, and then I had to jog for about ten more minutes because a Mountain Lion saw me and, uh, I guess it thought I was like...a baby bison, or deer or something? Those things run pretty fast, you know? Like cheetahs or something." He paused to look around at the plains that border the road. Sunset distantly wondered if that Mountain Lion never actually left and had been stalking this guy all the way up until now. It was mildly hilarious to think he might have used the sign as a weapon to ward it off. "Um, yeah. So...If I could just get a short lift? I would really appreciate it."


Sunset started to lift her foot off the brakes. "Tough luck, guy. We gotta get outta here so we can actually get back on track again."

Pinkie stared at her incredulously. "You're not seriously gonna leave him out here in the middle of nowhere, are you?"

"This isn't the middle of nowhere. It's the side of the road. He can follow it back to his dumb eatery from there." She turned the RV past the poor Bigfoot fella and would have started away a little faster if it weren't for Pinkie's hand latching onto the steering wheel. "Hey! Let go of the wheel."

"Sunset, I'm sorry for getting us off track and all, but that doesn't give you any right to make this guy's life miserable!" Sunset blinked at the firm stare she was given, then felt a bit of guilt seep into her. It was a tad bit wrong to leave him when it would be no trouble to drop him off. If her words weren't enough incentive, Pinkie had another sentence. "Plus, if you try to drive off, I'll just crash us and make sure we ALL get to walk."

Sunset weakly grimaced as she whispered. "What if he's one of those crazy costumed serial killers?"

"You can't kill Trix or Lucky Charms, Sunset." Pinkie explained. "Besides, do you really think any meanie could take the both of us on?"

With a sigh, Sunset finally consented to the madness and motioned for the dude to get into the RV. With a pep in his step, Bigfoot guy rushed inside the side doors to the massive vehicle and, after a moment of indecision, decided to sit on the couch. His suit looked highly difficult to sit in, but he didn't even take off his mask. Then again, removing anything might make the van smell all sweaty. "Oh, thank you, Ladies! Man, am I glad to be out of that sun!"

"Yeah, sure. You're welcome." Sunset murmured as she began to drive off again.

"You know, you are really committed, person! I could never stand out in this weather in a giant suit…" Pinkie exclaimed with thoughtful eyes. "Unless it was a giant snowman outfit with mini fans inside."

"Well, it's not as bad as it looks, really. A-And I get paid pretty good too, so…"

"Well, Mr.Well Paid Bigfoot, " She gestured to the driver and then herself. "This beautiful little lady here is Sunset Shimmer, and I am Pinkie Pie! We're out on a bonding, friendly Roadtrip across Idaho!"

Sunset sighed through her nostrils. "Oh yeah. Why don't you give him our social security numbers while you're at it?"

"Well, I don't quite have yours...but I do know mine! It's 64--"

"Pinkie."

"I'm just kidding! I'm just kidding!" The Pink haired Partygirl turned back to the guy. "So, you got a real name, Friendo?"

"Oh! Yeah. It's Flash, " The mask nodded. "Flash Sentry."