Unpredictable (Balloons)

It was around a week after that fateful night, on a Thursday evening. The couple had been pulling a large prank on the other ponies- they completely hid the fact that they had been spending all of their time together ever since. They just acted like friends in public, in private they were as open and intimate as they wanted to be. Pinkie even managed to dodge Twilight's questioning and act as if nothing happened. Swiftpen didn't think he could do the same, but he didn't need to anyway. Recently they had been just fooling around together, but this night Pinkie suggested a dinner at an upper class restaurant at a nearby town. It was odd for the pink mare to go to an orderly establishment, but she was only doing it for the stallion, as she assumed that he enjoyed class and fanciness. Swiftpen really couldn't argue with anything that she did. He didn't think he had the heart to make her feel any emotion apart from happiness. They had reservations, it was honestly very easy to order them discreetly if you dropped the name "CJ" dead seriously.

They arrived at a decent time. It was still light out but the sun was starting to dip down below the horizon. Swiftpen randomly wondered- is this REALLY how I want to spend time with her? He was then forced to make a very fast decision. So he did. It wasn't difficult. He suddenly said to Pinkie;

"Let's leave." She looked surprised, and then suddenly.. relieved. They trotted out, a look of glee on the couple's face.

After they were well out of the town, Pinkie gave a very quick and tight hug to Swiftpen. After the embrace, the stallion spoke up.

"That place looked boring. What do you want to do?" He gave a smile, knowing fully well that Pinkie thought the same about the restaurant.

"I have the BEST idea! Let's go to Sugar Cube Corner, take a TON of snacks and stuff, go to your house, and write MUSIC while eating!" They hadn't gotten back to their songwriting since before the "reveal" per se. Swiftpen had no qualms with that course of action, so that's exactly what they did.

Little did they know, there was a photographer pony who had happened upon the house while searching for pictures in the Everfree. He also ironically worked for one of the main newspapers of Equestria. He took many pictures of the house, knowing that perhaps they could get a decent story out of it. He saw the ponies inside messing around and decided to take a few with them in it. He did not recognize the stallion inside the house, but practically everypony knew Pinkie Pie, crazy friend of the new Princess. After taking his pictures he left without alerting them to his presence- it would've been impossible to tear them away from each other, anyway.

The photographer took the photos back to the head building of the newspaper. After some quick research, he discovered the unicorn with Pinkie to be Swiftpen, the assistant and scribe of the Princess Twilight Sparkle. Out of the pictures, their writers managed to make a particularly gossipy and near-the-truth-but-not-exactly-true story titled- "Organized Assistant or Rampant Partier?" It was bound to be popular, knowing as anything even somewhat related to the Princess caught everypony's eye.

In fact, a very specific mare saw the article the next day. A mare with plenty of media power to go around. If she wanted something to get in the press, it would get in the press. She had a very specific secret she wanted revealed to the public completely out of pure jealousy and frustration. It would be in the next day's newspaper, for sure. Anything less than front page would be unacceptable.

Love makes ponies do strange things.

Swiftpen was hiding inside the Golden Oak Library with all of his belongings in the basement floor with him. There were media ponies and a lot of wild fans. His secrets were finally out. He was CJ, and he was in fact dating Pinkie Pie. The latter didn't seem as important as he tried to get his things in order. Swiftpen really had no idea how or why his secrets got out. Not many ponies knew besides Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

But at that moment he remembered- Spitfire. She obviously would've seen the article the day before that revealed his relationship with Pinkie, and probably got incredibly jealous. One of those "If I can't have him no one can" situations. He sighed. There was no way out.

Twilight was gathering all of her friends inside the library to "help". The stallion felt like any attempt to cull the rumors or perhaps just thin them down was impossible and would end in disaster. The Princess saw the logic in his pessimistic thinking, but decided to call them all there anyway. They might as well hear the other secret. The prank did last a very long time, though that was mostly irrelevant at this point.

Around 2 hours later everypony was inside the library holding an emergency meeting. Twilight began.

"Alright, have you all heard that Swiftpen and Pinkie are now dating?" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in shock.

"No way! I even planted that note to have Pinkie hear his secret! I was sure that would work!" Applejack had a smug smile on her face.

"Pay up, sugar cube. You owe me." The pegasus pony reluctantly gave Applejack 15 bits as per their bet. Everypony else was mostly unsurprised besides Fluttershy who was truly oblivious to it all. Twilight shushed them all and continued.

"Anyways, Swiftpen's alias has been compromised. As you've probably seen from the state of the town. Do any of you have any idea of what to do?" None of them said a word, besides Pinkie and Swiftpen, who were whispering in each other's ears. After a while, they seemed to reach an agreement. Swiftpen spoke up.

"We have an idea."

Swiftpen stood in front of the gathered crowd, waiting for them to quiet down. Naturally they didn't, so he used his knowledge of magic to amplify his voice.

"Fans and reporters, my name is Swiftpen, better known under the alias CJ. I came to Ponyville from my peaceful home in Canterlot to live a peaceful and quiet life. I wrote many books upon my arrival, up to a total of around 25. Most, surprisingly, became bestsellers. I never truly expected that. But now, five years after my move, I am a rich and famous stallion. And now, I just want to relax. When I applied for a job as assistant to the Princess, I didn't expect much. It was a childhood dream of mine, to serve a princess. That's all I wanted. What I got were wonderful, amazing friends. And one mare who I consider to be a lot more than a friend. Now that I have everything I have ever wanted and then some, nothing is out of my reach. But, now with my alias being released to the public, I do not have much privacy. So, in light of this, I resign the alias of CJ. CJ will no longer write or publish anything. Swiftpen, however, will write an autobiography, and be done with writing. For now I would like to live out the rest of my life in the peaceful town of Ponyville with the best ponies I've met in my life. Because CJ is no longer in existence, there is no reason for you to take your pictures and report your gossip. I am simply Swiftpen, a normal, boring, unicorn stallion. Now please, leave if you are here on business relating to CJ."

The crowd was simply astonished. Many ponies were startled and started to object, but Swiftpen simply used his magic to shut them up. They finally gave up their stubborn ways and started to slowly trot out.

Pinkie Pie stepped up besides the stallion and illogically held his hoof in hers.

Swiftpen wouldn't have wanted it any other way.