Writers Block

I found myself at Sugarcube Corner later that day, in a very similar situation as when I first arrived in Ponyville: sitting in the corner and glancing around nervously. I may have gotten used to the company of Twilight and her friends, but I still didn’t like huge gatherings of other ponies. Still, I came nonetheless; I didn’t want to be rude and reject Pinkie’s invitation. Besides, she had a point: as long as I didn’t wuss out, I could ask Rainbow Dash on that- I felt a bead of sweat drip down my face as I thought of the word- date.

Pinkie had really gone all-out on that cake. It stood 7 layers high on a table in the center of the room. Each layer was covered in different designs, making them all unique. I was surprised Pinkie had gotten it all done in one day, and still had time to organize the party. That’s what she does best, I suppose, I thought, laughing to myself.

“Hey, Sketch! How are you doing?” I turned my head and saw Twilight Sparkle, my purple alicorn buddy, walking up to me. I smiled nervously as she approached.

“Oh, super duper,” I said, completely unconvincingly.

Twilight frowned. “You don’t sound that great… you still worried about Rainbow?”

I nodded, and she continued: “There’s no need to be nervous, Sketch. I am certain that this will work out for you. All you have to do is just walk up to her, casually strike up a conversation, and ask her if she’d like to join you on a walk”

As she said this, she motioned over to my left. I glanced over and saw Rainbow Dash conversing with a few other pegasus ponies. I hadn’t even seen her before; she must have just shown up. I looked back at Twilight and smiled. “Thank you, Twilight, for all you’ve done to help me with this,” I said, holding up a hoof. She smiled back and gently bumped my hoof with hers.

“Now go, you goof!” she said, smiling brightly. I nodded and walked over to Rainbow Dash, who had just finished talking to the other ponies. She grinned when she noticed my approach.

“Hey, what’s up, Sketch? Great party, huh? Pinkie sure knows how to throw ‘em!” she cried. I nodded, smiling, and quickly glanced over to see white unicorn with a blue mane and huge sunglasses setting up a song. Suddenly, a heavy beat began blasting from the speakers, and a catchy dance tune began to play. Everypony started cheering, and several colored lights started sweeping the room. Over the din, I heard Rainbow laughing. “C’mon, let’s dance!” she cried, ushering me closer to the center. I followed reluctantly.

When we reached the center of the room, we were joined by Rarity, Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy. They all greeted me in their usual fashion, and Twilight took me aside for a moment.

“We’ll keep you two somewhat separate from everypony else; that way you don’t have to be afraid of others listening in,” she said, winking. Then, she shoved me back by Rainbow Dash, who laughed when I bumped into her.

“Looks like you’ve got four left hooves there, Sketch!” she shouted, and I blushed. I started stepping back and forth awkwardly in a terrible attempt to dance. I could practically hear Twilight rolling her eyes behind me, as she shouted “Oh for Pete’s sake!”

I suddenly felt a strange sensation throughout my body. Just then, I started dancing! I spun around in circles, stomped to the beat, shook my head back and forth, and ran in circles with Rainbow Dash. During one of our rotations, I saw Twilight smiling, a purple glow surrounding her horn, and I realized what was happening.

She’s controlling my movements! I thought excitedly. I smiled at her appreciatively, and continued to let the magic move me around. After the song was over, a quieter song took over, and Twilight let me go.

“Now’s your chance!” she whispered as everypony cleared the dance floor, and nodded to the others to follow her. I turned to Rainbow Dash, who was staring at me with wide eyes.

“Where did you learn to dance like that?” she asked, impressed.

I smiled sheepishly. “Oh, you know… it just sort of came to me,” I lied. She gave me a suspicious look, which made me crack. “Alright, Twilight moved me around. I really have no idea how to dance.”

Rainbow laughed. “Really? Twilight made you dance? I’ve seen her use her magic to do some hilarious things, but I think that tops the cake. Speaking of which,” she said, glancing at the delicious spectacle at the center of the room, “how about we grab a slice?” I nodded, and kept the conversation going as we walked over to get some cake.

“So, do you have any plans next week?” I asked nonchalantly. She thought about this for a moment, and replied “Actually, not really. I was probably just going to fly around or something, but I’m not sure. Why?”

This was it. I swallowed hard as I asked my question. “Well, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out sometime. You know just me and you.” I started to feel my knees get shaky as I asked, but forced them to stay still. She looked somewhat surprised at my question.

“You want… just the two of us to hang out?” she asked slowly.

I nodded. “Yeah. I mean, if that’s alright with you.”

She started blushing. “Yeah, that’d be cool,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. We just sat there for a few seconds, awkwardly hiding our awkwardness, when I suddenly piped up.

“So, anyways, how about that cake?”

I noticed then exactly how the cake was decorated: each layer was modeled after Pinkie and her friends. There was a purple layer with stars, a white layer with gemstones, an orange layer with apples, a yellow layer with butterflies, a blue layer with clouds and rainbows, and a pink layer with balloons. I smiled, realizing what each layer meant, but my mouth dropped open when I saw the very top layer of the cake.

It was covered in red frosting, which was in turn covered with pencil- and paper-shaped designs. It was a layer of cake modeled after me. I turned and saw Pinkie bouncing up to us.

“You like?” she asked proudly. I looked back up and nodded.

“It’s… amazing, Pinkie,” I whispered. It was absolutely perfect.

“I wanted to make sure I made each layer perfect for my bestest friends!” she said happily, and bounced off. I smiled and got myself and Rainbow Dash a slice of the cake.

And boy was it GOOD.

I walked home later that night with a spring in my step. I had never felt so happy, for tonight, I had asked a girl out on a date for the first time! Well, it wasn’t really a date, but it was close enough. And, on top of that, I found out that Rainbow Dash might actually like me! She seemed pleasantly surprised when I asked her, which really got my hopes up, but then again, she might have just been a little embarrassed due to there being so many other ponies around.

Best of all, I was finally on my way to making a name for myself as a writer, and I had some of the most caring friends anypony could ever ask for. Things were finally going my way for a change.

I guess it's right when it seems like that is when everything starts to go downhill.