Through the Cavern

Fluttershy had no idea how to react to the sight of Ricky sitting at her backyard table. The Cutie Mark Crusaders dropping in unexpected was something she had grown accustomed to ages ago, but she was definitely not expecting him. Frankly, she was a little bit terrified. Ricky had noticed this right from the start, and it had been like this for a good 20 minutes now.

"So..." Ricky awkwardly drummed his fingers on the table "The girls are certainly energetic."

"Oh!" Fluttershy jumped at the sound of his voice and blushed deeply "Um...yes, yes they are..."

"Dang it, Angel! I could use a hand over here!" Apple Bloom was attempting to wrangle a couple of muddy pigs, while Fluttershy's pet bunny sat nearby watching, a look of sadistic satisfaction on his face. Sweetie Belle kept slipping in the mud, while Scootaloo was busy trying to get the hose under control.

"Well, on the bright side, you won't be getting all muddy from this yourself." Ricky offered, to which Fluttershy cocked her head, slightly confused at his words.

"But...I LIKE getting all muddy. If it means I can help a sweet, pink piggy get all nice and clean..." She brightened up a bit as she said this, but was blushing again in no time.

"Okay...if that's what you're into." Ricky was starting to feel really uncomfortable around her. Sure, she was polite and all, but the fact that she wouldn't offer any sort of a conversation starter wasn't helping. Ricky considered telling a joke, but he had a feeling that anything that he knew would shock her, or possibly render her catatonic.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't really entertain much..." Fluttershy said meekly, to which Ricky shook his head "Oh, come on. You're doing just fine. I mean, you had no idea that the girls were planning to bring me over here. If I had had some way of letting you know first..."

"Well, a little warning would have been nice. I mean, not that I don't want you here or anything, but..."

"Hey, I get it. You're used to ponies, not humans." Ricky said. Fluttershy smiled at this.

"Well...my friends have said nice things about you. So...if they don't think you're a terrible person, I don't see any reason why I should have to." the yellow Pegasus said.

"Really? What sort of things, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well...Twilight thinks you're very intelligent. Applejack likes how humble you are, and Rainbow Dash says that you're a lot more fun than you appear."

"Huh. I never would have guessed. I'll have to thank them for that." Ricky said. He glanced over to see how the girls were doing "How's it going over there, you three?" he called.

"Well, we would be having an easier time if Angel here would get off his fluffy butt and give us a hand!" Scootaloo was sitting on the upturned washtub, panting. Angel was now on his back, convulsing with laughter. Hell, even the pigs appeared to be busting a gut.

"Trust me, this is a lot harder than it looks..." Apple Bloom groaned. She tried to stand, but slipped and fell flat on her face.

"Seems that way. Hey...where's Sweetie Belle?"

"Here..." a defeated-sounding voice came from under the washtub. Ricky smirked, then glanced at Fluttershy, who was having trouble containing herself as well. Finally, the two of them gave up and broke down laughing.

"Hey! It's not THAT funny!" Apple Bloom said angrily.

"She's right, you know. It's hilarious!!" RIcky was slamming his hand down on the table in mirth. Beside him, Fluttershy was starting to tear up.

"Oh...oh my...usually I wouldn't l-l-laugh at this...." the Pegasus tried to speak, but she gave up mid-sentence. Over in the field, Sweetie Belle finally managed to get the washtub off of her, not realizing that Scootaloo was sitting on top. The sight of the little orange filly yelping and falling backwards sent them into more hysterics. After a moment or two, the two adults stopped laughing and tried to catch their breath.

"Jesus...that just totally made my afternoon, I've got to tell you." Ricky chuckled weakly. He turned to the CMC and said loudly "Well, girls, how did you like your little slice of karma?"

"I'll tell you...wait, what's karma?" Scootaloo asked, confused. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked up to join her, both caked in mud.

"Karma? It's when things happen to you based on things you've done. So, good things cause good things, and vice versa." Ricky explained. Fluttershy looked curious about what he said.

"Oh? Did you girls do something that you shouldn't have?" She hopped off her chair and made her way over to the three fillies.

"Well...it's not as if we broke something." Sweetie Belle said, blushing slightly.

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes slightly "Did you girls get into one of Twilight's spells again?" She was starting to sound very stern, and she began to get a rather fierce look in her eyes.

"NO! No, nothing like that..." Apple Bloom said weakly, backing up slightly.

"Girls...I'm starting to get the idea that you did something REALLY bad." Fluttershy seemed really upset now. Ricky was amazed at this slow transformation in personality. He wanted to intervene, but was a little scared of the way she was staring at the girls.

"Now, if you girls just do the right thing and tell me what you did, I promise that I won't get mad at you." She took a deep breath and continued "Now, will you please tell me what you did that was so bad?"

"Well...we decided to try just one thing to attempt to get our cutie marks..." Apple Bloom began slowly, grinning as she did so. Fluttershy placed a hoof over her eyes "You didn't..."

"And we decided that we hadn't tried base jumping QUITE yet. So we figured that we had hay bales, we had a sack...you see where I'm going with this, right?" Sweetie Belle added quickly. Fluttershy held up a hoof.

"Let me just stop you right there. Now, do you all remember what happened last weekend?" She fixed the CMC with a hard stare, and they seemed to freeze up instantly.

"Y...yes." Scootaloo stammered.

"Um...what happened last weekend?" Ricky asked timidly.

"We decided to try and get our cutie marks in janitorial services." Apple Bloom replied. Ricky glanced at her "Well, that doesn't seem quite so bad..."

"They did this at the Ponyville Museum. They lost control of the floor buffer, fell down the stairs and nearly broke a very old vase." Fluttershy sighed "Now, I thought that after that little incident, you girls were going to stop trying to force your cutie marks for a while."

"But, if we don't get them soon, Diamond Tiara is going to tease us until we get to junior high!" Sweetie protested, but Fluttershy shook her head "I don't care. You made a promise, and a promise is not to be broken!"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt again, but who's this 'Diamond Tiara'?" Ricky wondered, and Scootaloo glared at the name.

"She's this snobby rich girl who picks on us constantly for not having our cutie marks yet. She and her best friend have been calling us 'blank flanks' for nearly a year, now!"

"Yeah. Every chance she has, she makes a mean remark or plays a cruel trick on us. If we just hurry up and get our cutie marks already, then she'll finally leave us alone!" Apple bloom said.

"Huh...maybe I oughta go have a chat with her dad." Ricky mused, but he was ignored yet again. After seeing how well Fluttershy was handling things, he decided to stay out of this.

"GIRLS!" Fluttershy said loudly, and they snapped to attention "I want you three to look at Ricky and apologize to him for risking your lives."

"Oh, come on!" Sweetie whined, but Fluttershy shook her head "Don't make me tell your sisters about this!" she warned.

"Ugh...fine..." the CMC walked up to Ricky, heads hung in shame.

"Ricky, we're...we're sorry for ignoring what you told us. And for running away from you." Scootaloo said, and Apple Bloom nudged her.

"OW! Ok...and for hurting your back."

"Hey, it's okay, girls. I'm just glad that you're safe. And to show how relieved I am, I'm not going to tell Applejack, Rarity OR Rainbow Dash about this." Ricky said, smiling.

"Really? Oh, you're the best, Ricky!" Apple Bloom said happily.

"BUT you have to promise me that you'll start keeping your promises from now on. Sound fair?" Ricky asked.

"Hold on a sec." The three fillies put their heads together and talked it out. Ricky, in the meantime, glanced at Fluttershy, who still looked a tad upset "Are you okay?" he asked carefully. Fluttershy seemed to snap out of it and looked at him.

"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine. I just don't like it when people break their promises, especially if it involves their own safety." She blushed as she spoke. Ricky shook his head, realizing that he was going to have a tough time figuring Fluttershy out. Meanwhile, the CMC turned towards the two adults.

"Ok, we promise not to do anything dangerous around you, Ricky." Scootaloo said. Ricky narrowed his eyes "Um, we said no more dangerous crusading, period. Don't try to twist my words around on me."

"Ugh...fine. We promise." Apple Bloom muttered. Ricky smiled and decided to accept this.

"Good. Now, I think maybe we should get you girls cleaned up. Your sisters are going to be coming to get you soon." Ricky sighed. The CMC were caked in mud. He could tell that this was going to take while.

"Well...if it helps, I've got a couple of extra tubs in my shed..." Fluttershy offered. Ricky smiled at this "You know what, that's good enough punishment. You girls are taking a bath...outside."

"WHAT?! That's not fair!" Sweetie protested, but Ricky held up his hand "Don't care. I promised I'd get you girls home in one piece, and I intend to keep that promise. Now, go get the tubs."

"But everypony's gonna come by and see us! It'll be humiliating!" Apple Bloom whined.

"I'm sorry, but I'm putting my foot down. Or, you can go home looking like this and get in trouble from your sister. Your choice."

"Ugh...we aren't going to win this one. Come on, guys..." Scootloo muttered.

As the three fillies marched off in anger, he turned to Fluttershy and said "I have got to say, for such a shy pony, you really know how to take control of a situation."

"Oh...well, it's something I just...developed over the years. I don't like using my stare that often, but it does help to keep my animals in line." Fluttershy replied, getting up to follow the girls "I'd better show them just how much soap to use..."

"Good idea..." Ricky agreed, shuddering at the idea of having to chase the three fillies through a lake of thick suds. As he watched Fluttershy walk off, he sighed, glad to finally be able to have a smoke. He had gotten the vibe that it wasn't a good idea to do it in front of her, and he was decided he had made the right choice. In the distance, he could hear Fluttershy saying "Girls, NO!! Not that much!!!" Groaning, he put his smoke away and ran around the side of the house to giver her a hand.

***

"Well, I gotta hand it to ya, Ricky. I expected the girls to be a little worst for wear, but I could swear they're cleaner now." Applejack marvelled.

"I'll be honest, it wasn't easy. I now know that I'm not cut out for dealing with kids." Ricky lit a smoke. Applejack handed him a small velvet moneybag "Here. There's about 100 bits in there. I figured you could use the extra."

Ricky took it gratefully "Thanks. I really appreciate this. And you know, even though they were a pain in the ass, I actually wouldn't mind taking them again. If no one else is available first, that is."

"You would? Well, shoot, that's mighty neighborly of ya, Rick!" the farm pony gave him a friendly hoof to the back, almost knocking him off the porch.

"Great...so how did the decorating go? I'm looking forward to this 'Nightmare Night' thing." Ricky righted himself.

"Well, after Twilight had another one of her little episodes, she got everything under control."

"She stresses out, eh? That sucks." Ricky stood, ready to head home.

"Well, it's nopony's fault but her own. I mean, that girl does try to handle too much at one time. She really needs to take it easy once in a blue moon." Applejack sighed, shaking her head.

"Hey, maybe this party will help her loosen up. Which reminds me, I need to talk to Rarity about that costume she promised me." Ricky stepped down off the porch "Well, I've got to get going here. I start work in the morning, so I'll need a good rest."

"I like a dedicated worker. They're the ones who really deserve the finer things in life. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to tell you...there's a wild patch of that stuff you like smoking deep in the Everfree Forest." Applejack remarked. Ricky was surprised and pleased to hear this news.

"Really? Sweet, I'll have to go in there with you soon. But, I really do have to run here, so...you have yourself a good night, alright? Thanks again for the money."

"Anytime, hon. And I'd be glad to take you up on that offer. Safe travels, you hear?" Applejack said, smiling as she did.

"Got it. I'll catch you later." Ricky began walking away from the farmhouse. Applejack watched him go until the glow of his smoke faded into the night, then turned to head into the house.