Pinkamena?

Chapter 4

Twilit Friendship

“NO! Curses! I should have known the shock would short out the illusion!” the large grey unicorn shouted. They had found a bedroom in an inn. It was an old one, meaning that it didn’t get many visitors. In fact, the amount of happiness the innkeeper showed when they asked for a room showed that it hadn’t had any visitors for a long time.

The small grey earth pony whimpered at the anger he could hear in her voice. She did not punish him, no, but he was still afraid of her. “M-my lady, it wasn’t your fault―”

“Not my FAULT!? Of course it was my fault! Who else had anything to do with setting up any if this!?” she panted heavily, out of breath from her impressive shouting, “How could this be ANYONE’S fault but mine!?” She glared at the earth pony, softening her gaze when she saw him cowering.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound angry with you. I’m only angry with myself.” she whispered to the earth pony, “Please, don’t be afraid of me.”

Looking up, he noticed her soft smile. It seemed to drain all of the tension from him. He smiled back at her and began to stand back up.

She stepped back and helped him get back on all four legs. She was always kind to him, even when she was angry. She was, however, extremely unstable, and easily provoked by anyone but him. For some reason, he was special. Sometimes he thought she loved him, before realizing that a being like her loving something like him would be, well, completely impossible.

“Now, we lost three of the five senses on that illusion,” she began, “Touch, sound, and taste. Luckily, none of them decided to lick what they thought was a corpse.”

“Yes, it would be rather odd if a pony tasted like, well, that’s not something I'd want to say here.” the earth pony thought out loud, before turning back to the unicorn, “What happens if the illusion fails again?”

“Then, its true form will be revealed. And then, we will be in a tight spot. Hopefully that won’t happen.” she explained, turning towards various magical monitoring devices set up around the room. All of them seemed to be focused on a specific pink pony, from different perspectives.

“Well, instead of hoping, why don’t we focus on preventing it, shall we?” the unicorn asked, “Let’s get started!”

The reaction to my recovery had been, well, loud. Some ponies were angered that I had defied such an impermeable law of nature. Others were curious how I had done it. A small few were cheering for me.

It seemed that I wasn't very well liked in this town.

"Well, at least some ponies are cheering for you, right?" Pinkie said with a nervous grin, "I mean, wouldn't it be terrible if nopony liked you at all?"

"They're only cheering because they don't know much about me." I replied. I sighed and looked around. I didn't seem to be a likable pony.

"Oh come on, turn that frown upside down!" she released a couple balloons in my face, "So some meanie pants aren't cheering for you because you came back to life. Is that really such a big deal?"

Frowning, I looked away. "Pinkie, it's not just that they're not cheering for me, it's because they're completely justified in doing so. They're afraid of me, and they have the right to. But, I just wish it could be different. That I didn't have to be like this, that I could be normal," I had thought long and hard about it, and this was about as philosophical as I get.

"Hrmm. This is a tough one. Oohh! I know just how to get you to smile!" she grabbed my hoof and dragged me away.

Being dragged across the roads of Ponyville is not fun, if you've never experienced it. The roads are covered in rocks, potholes are everywhere, and pedestrians are a constant problem.

Now imagine my reaction to being pulled over these roads, facedown, by a hyperactive pony who never seems to run out of energy. Needless to say, by the time we got to our destination, I was pretty irritated.

"All right Pinkie, what's going on?" I stood up and turned toward her, "Where are we and why are we here?"

Giggling, she turned towards the building we were in front of and gestured toward it.

I groaned. It was Sugarcube Corner, again. Didn't I have enough to worry about without having to appear at a party? Apparently I didn't, as Pinkie dragged me inside to see a party already set up.

Without even bothering to consider how she had done so, I gazed around the room. The party decorations looked like they had been put up in a hurry, and Pinkie seemed slightly out of breath as she tried to hide her party cannon.

"Pinkie, you know that parties can't solve everything, right?" I asked, although I did have a warm feeling knowing she was actually trying.

Her smile fell at these words, and she seemed to become a bit sheepish, "Well, parties always make me happy, and, you know, you kind of look like me, so I thought... sorry..."

"Don't worry Pinkie, I understand that you meant well, and there's no harm done, so, uh, er, I'm not good at this kind of thing!" I rubbed my forehead in frustration.

"It's okay, why don't we get you a relaxing... uh... that reminds me! We haven't gotten to know each other yet!" she exclaimed, "So, what do you like, when's your birthday, how old are you, what kind of qualities do you look for in friends, what's your favorite color... " She asked many personal questions, most of which I couldn't actually answer due to my memory loss.

After answering as many as I could, as best I could, Pinkie dragged me over to the library, shouting, "Twilight! Pinkamena needs a good science fiction or fantasy novel, STAT!"

Clearing the rocks out of my face and rubbing all of my sore spots, I turned to see Twilight pulling out several stacks of books, all of which were science fiction or fantasy.

My eyes went wide as I beheld the large stack of books. I immediately dove in, sorting the books into three piles, interesting's, maybe's, and absolutely not's. Sometime during this, Pinkie waved goodbye and left for Sugarcube Corner.

Surprisingly, the absolutely not pile was very small, much smaller than I had expected. There were only around twelve or thirteen books that I wouldn't even consider.

Rounding on the interesting pile, I sorted them into an order in which to read them. I organized by series, amount of interest, and length. All in all, it was about an hour before I even started on the first book.

Twilight laughed, saying, "A pony after my own heart, I see. I'm surprised somepony who looks so much like Pinkie could be so well organized."

I chuckled, "I'm surprised as well. It's just, it bothers me seeing them not organized correctly. I just can't leave it like that, so I fix it. It's weird, but I guess I dealt with it before, and I can deal with it now."

"I know the feeling. If something is just a teeny, tiny bit out of place..." Twilight began.

"You just have to mess around with it until it's correct, I know." I finished for her, "Although, it must be much easier to deal with for you, being a unicorn and all."

"Yes, magic does help deal with things like this. All that dexterity and strength allows for much more manipulation." she replied, smiling at me, "But don't you hate it when ponies don't use proper grammar, or spell things wrong?"

Thinking for a second, I realized, "Yes, yes I do. I just have to nag at them until they fix it or they let me fix it."

"You know, you're much more likable than I realized. Sometimes, having friends like mine can be a little frustrating."

"I can imagine."

We talked throughout the night. We read books, talked about books, and I even helped her proofread some of her research papers. Obviously, I wasn't doing much during that time.

I was making a new friend!

"Good. It is making friends. If given this chance, hopefully it will befriend them so closely that they will stand with it if something were to happen." the grey unicorn turned to her "husband".

"Yes my lady." the earth pony bowed, "Um, if I may...?"

"Yes yes, of course. What is it?" she asked, turning away again.

"Well, it has been so long since I have returned to the Realm of Eternal Chaos. Perhaps I could go back and send a temporary replacement?" he queried.

"Oh, of course. I have been neglectful. I'm sorry. Please go home, and return when you are feeling rested enough." she smiled at him.

"Thank you, my lady. I will send a suitable replacement. I hope they will be to your liking." he spoke, turning toward the window.

She grinned and chuckled, "If they are as half as useful as you, that would be astonishing." Turning him around, she asked, concern on her face, "You will return, won't you? You won't lose yourself completely?"

Brushing her hoof off, he smiled back, "Of course I will, my lady. I only need some time to rest. I will return as soon as possible."

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, I don't know what I would do without you." Leaning over, she planted a kiss on his cheek.

Feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, he turned away and dissipated into a cloud of shadow. He dissipated piece by piece, leaving his hoof for last, using it to wave goodbye to her.

"Uhhh..." I mumbled. Rubbing my forehead, I blinked my eyes open. Looking around, it took me a few seconds to figure out where I was.

Twilight was passed out next to me, using a dictionary as a pillow. She looks so adorable when she sleeps.

Getting up, I let out a huge yawn. The yawn woke up Twilight, who began getting up as well.

"Wow, we sure *yawn* stayed up late..." Twilight spoke quietly.

"I was awake longer than you." I teased.

"Oh, really?" she asked. She began levitating several books, putting them away on their respective shelves.

"Yeah. I saw your face hit the book when you fell asleep. Then I stayed up for another hour or so, before falling asleep too." I rubbed my forehead again. Books aren't the most comfortable pillows around.

"Hmm. How can you stay up so late and wake up so early? You must have gotten, what, three hours of sleep? Now you're more awake than I am." Twilight grumbled. She used her magic to grab a quill and parchment, "I've been meaning to do this since I met you and noticed that powerful magic blocking your memories. There's just been so much to do, it just slipped my mind."

"So, what are you doing?" I asked, peering closely at the paper.

"I'm writing a letter to Princess Celestia. I need to report everything that has happened." she said, dipping the quill in ink and beginning to write.

"Oh, that's right! You're the Princess's student. You must be really good at magic to be taught by her." I exclaimed, after tapping my chin thoughtfully.

She blushed, "Well, I'm not anything worth bragging about... " She trailed off.

I rolled my eyes. "Why would you brag? It just makes you look arrogant and nopony likes you."

"Good point. You know, this reminds me of an incident we had a long while ago. There was this unicorn named Trixie–"

"Wait. Is this the story where the Ursa Minor attacks the city? Pinkie's already told me that one..." I interrupted.

She looked startled, then like she thought herself stupid. "Oh, I should have known." She facehooved, "Of course Pinkie would tell you everything."

She finished the letter, rolled it up into a scroll, and sealed it, "Well, when Spike gets up I'll send it." She turned to me, "So, what do you want to do?"

I thought for a second, "Well, hmm. I should probably check in on Pinkie, make sure she doesn't think I've gone and gotten myself killed again." I chuckled.

I noticed Twilight staring at me in shock, "What?"

"Nothing. It's just, how can you laugh when you nearly died? That's not exactly something you joke about." she stated worriedly.

Stroking my chin, I thought, "Well, it might have something to do with shock? I'm not exactly the expert on things like this, but I believe that's one of the reactions to something like this? You know, joking about it and making it seem like nothing?"

"Maybe, but I don't think that's what you're supposed to feel when you are legally dead for over fourteen hours!"

"Fourteen hours!? That must be why it was noon when I woke up. Oh well. See you later!" I galloped out the door. Time to see Pinkie!

Author's Note

Well, I've been away for the past, what, week? Maybe less? Anyways, the campground I'm staying at tonight has Wi-Fi, and I'm using it as an opportunity to post this chapter.

This is the chapter where my character diverges from myself. If I was the main character, then I would have sat with silence in the scene with Twilight.

Anyways, enjoy, and in particular I would like some critique on the first chapter.