Fluttershy stretched, and sighed happily when she felt a pleasant tingling in her spine. She was just so... comfortable.
Less than an hour ago she took care of the last animal that needed her help for the day. It was early afternoon, and now she could spend the rest of the day relaxing, and enjoying her guilty pleasure of eating all sorts of calorie-packed foods at the local fast-food restaurant.
Knowing that Rarity was overworking herself recently, she invited the unicorn to the restaurant to relax along with her. It took her a while, true, but she eventually convinced Rarity that a tasty (even if not-perfectly-healthy) meal is just what she needed to get herself in a better mood after all the workload she experienced this week.
(The approaching deadlines were bad enough, not giving Rarity much time to rest, but apparently the antics of her little sister and her little friends made things so much worse for the sleep-deprived fashionista.)
Despite some initial protests, Rarity agreed, and now the two were sitting on the opposite sides of a small table, absorbed in glorious, relaxing small-talk, occasionally interrupted by Fluttershy bending over the table to take another bite from her pile of hay fries. Her whole mouth area was covered in ketchup, but she didn't care. The fries were just too good.
(Even though the two ordered their foods at the same time, Rarity's order didn't arrive yet for some reason, and the unicorn adamantly refused when Fluttershy offered to share some of her food while Rarity waited.)
Fluttershy was in the middle of telling a story about a deathly-ill shark she'd saved on her last trip out of town, and its rehabilitation in captivity so it could return to the wild, when something over Rarity's shoulder caught her eye.
It was Pinkie Pie. She was sitting at a table a few meters away, and had her back turned to them. Her head was hung low and she seemed tired. Fluttershy noticed that Pinkie's jaw was slowly moving up and down as she chewed some food.
Not wanting to draw the attention of all restaurant's patrons by raising her voice, Fluttershy pointed out Pinkie to Rarity, who then used her telekinesis to poke the pink pony in the shoulder.
"Wow! You girls are here too?!" Pinkie screamed excitedly (making Rarity flinch), somehow suddenly at their table. The signs of her weariness were gone. All heads in the restaurant turned to look at her, startled. She ignored them and sat down between her two friends on a chair she pulled from a nearby table. "How DARE you appear in a place I'm at and not IMMEDIATELY tell me you're here too!" She put down a mostly-empty tray, and stuffed into her mouth a few onion-horseshoes covered in chocolate sprinkles. Then she glared at them. "What if we missed eachother? I was about to finish and leave!"
So much for not drawing the attention to ourselves..., Fluttershy sighed inwardly and tried to follow Pinkie's example and ignore everypony's stares, but didn't succeed much at it. Meanwhile, Rarity kept shaking her head to get rid of the ringing in her ear that came from Pinkie's voice exploding right next to it.
"Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie..." Fluttershy said, smiling apologetically, "We're sorry about that, but we noticed you just a moment ago. If we saw you earlier, we would have greeted you sooner." The pegasus fixed a measuring gaze on the party pony, "Are you alright?" she said after a long pause; up close, she could see bags under Pinkie's bloodshot eyes, "You don't look too good... Did you avoid sleep? Are you sick?" Fluttershy sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose, but didn't comment. That's not important right now... Pinkie needs sleep a lot more than she needs a shower.
"What do you mean? I feel greeeaaaaaaat..." Pinkie yawned-out the last word and quickly covered her mouth, looking at Fluttershy, to see if she saw that. The pegasus responded with a flat stare.
"You need to sleep, Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy said, her lips a very thin line. She briefly considered using a guilt trip to make Pinkie comply, but decided against it... for now.
"Yeah, sure, I agree, but not right now," Pinkie waved off Fluttershy's worries. "Maybe later, I mean... DEFINITELY later! One-hundred-percent-totes-later for sure! But still... later. Cuz I gotta LOTSA LOT of work left to do today still!" Fluttershy's expression didn't change. "Hey, I'm being honest with you right now! I'll just finish my coffee and my sugary pick-me-ups and I'll be fresh as a daisy again with no negative repercussions!" Fluttershy's skeptical stare still didn't leave her visage, so Pinkie raised her hooves defensively, "Seriously, delaying sleepy time will NOT hurt me, so no worries! ...I SAID NO WORRIES!" Pinkie interrupted when Fluttershy opened her mouth to object.
"...I'd rather you get some sleep right after you get home, if you don't mind..." Fluttershy's facial expression was at odds with the tone of her voice; while her voice was calm and polite as always, her face said 'do not make me make you go to bed, missy.'
"But my projeeeeeeect!" Pinkie whined, giving Fluttershy her best Puppy Dog Eyes. Fluttershy's face still didn't change, and this (lack of) development made Pinkie shake her hoof, shouting to the heavens. "Curse you and your Manipulative-Cuteness-Immunityyyyy!" She looked again at Fluttershy. "You didn't even d'aww!" Pinkie complained, pointing an accusatory hoof at the pegasus, "You looked like you didn't feel anything! You know that it conclusively proves you have no soul, right? Because I'm BUCKING ADORABLE!" Pinkie held her disbelieving stare and her hoof pointed for many long seconds. Fluttershy tried to maintain her composure, but eventually she yielded to a snort which she had been holding in – a snort that quickly turned into a full-blown cackle, which obliterated the Poker Face she was maintaining so far.
Pinkie Pie beamed and punched the air. "Ha! I made you laugh! I WIN!"
"...What is that project that you mentioned earlier, if I may ask?" Rarity said when she was positive that Fluttershy (whose face was resting on the table as she struggled to suppress her laughing) was in no condition to talk.
"We're making a stage play!" Pinkie Pie's face was all teeth, "Little Pumpkin saw all the songs and stories I write every day, and all the impromptu play-pretends and stand-ups I always do all the time, and she wanted to try something like that as well. She's actually in the verily middle of creating a Monster Play! ...uh, I mean, a play just like all those black-and-white monster movies they sometimes show in the cinema," Pinkie explained when she noticed Rarity's raised eyebrow. "And to top that off, Pound Cake volunteered to be the main Bad Guy: he'll be playing a GIANT MONSTER!" she emphasized the adjective by standing on her hind legs and dramatically lifting her hooves high into the air, "And he'll be destroying a town full of tiny innocent ponies with his MONSTROUS strength and power!"
Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged looks, and then turned again to the pink pony. "Really?" Rarity asked, interrupting something that Fluttershy was about to say.
"Yup, no joke!" Pinkie nodded her head so fast it blurred, "It's the truthiest truthy-truth that could ever be! And I'll have a job to do too! I'll be making the props and costumes for the twins! Like buildings for Pound to destroy, or teeny-tiny pony citizen figurines for him to squash! And also I’ll make his monster-costume of course! ...Even though he told me he thinks he’s scary enough already... but that’s okay, cuz then I’ll make him an even BIGGER scarer! I mean not literally – it's not like I can cast Enlarge on him, right? No, I am not a wizard... though Twilight might... hmm..." Pinkie lost herself deep in the random-tangent thought for about ten seconds, until Rarity coughed politely and snapped her out of it.
"... oh, right! The play! Anyways, they are SO excited right now! And I am excited too! I just can’t wait till we finish and let everypony see what we made! ...but it’s Pumpkin’s first big thing, so I guess she can't wait for it even more than I can't... Oh all the tiny buildings I’ll maaake...~" Pinkie sing-songed and got lost in her giddy thoughts once again. She was smiling wide, had her eyes closed, and hummed to herself while dancing in her seat. She kept doing it for a while before she remembered something and turned to Fluttershy. "Wait a minute. You tried to say something? I mean earlier... when I started talking about the Twins' project, and then Rari interrupted you. What was that thing you tried to say?"
Fluttershy's eyes went wide; she clearly didn't expect for her mumble to be noticed. She spent a few long seconds composing an answer.
"Yes, umm... I wanted to congratulate the twins... I mean... I wanted to... uh, can I ask you to send my congratulations to Pumpkin and Pound the next time you meet them? I mean... That project... it sure does sound ambitious... and difficult... and they will really need all the encouragement they could get. I am sure they will feel better if they hear that somepony appreciates all the hard work they are going through. I mean... I'm not saying that you don't appreciate it, but, you know... the more, the merrier, right?"
"D'aww... Of course! Will do, sister! I'll tell them that the moment I'm back home again!" Pinkie said with a salute after patiently sitting through Fluttershy's monologue. There was a warm twinkle in her eye. She then turned to Rarity when she noticed the unicorn was starting to open her mouth.
"So... when did it start? I mean the twins' project. Because I don’t recall you even mentioning it before."
"Oh, not THAT long ago! 'Cause, you see, Pumpkin some weeks ago made one other movie— ...I mean one other play. One-pony mini-play. She made it alone, and when she was done, she took a break for a while, and then she started working on THIS one! So it's been only a few days, tops."
"I find it odd..." Rarity gave Pinkie a measuring gaze as she continued, "If the first play was made weeks ago, then how come I didn’t hear about it?" ("You didn’t hear about the first one either, did you, Fluttershy?" "...no.") "...how come neither of us did? You enjoy sharing with us all sorts of information about your day-to-day life way too much to omit something as big as the first play of your niece."
"That’s true, I TOTALLY share all things like that when my friends and family are involved..." Pinkie agreed and made a deliberate pause, "...UNLESS my tongue is tied with a Pinkie Promise that I made." She looked seriously at Rarity and stuck out her tongue... which was literally tied with a small piece of pink string. Rarity didn't even blink; this was Pinkie Pie at her least weird.
"Wait, a Pinkie Promise? ...was it because the play was supposed to be a surprise? Did Pumpkin want to reveal the play herself, and asked you to be hush-hush about it?" Rarity paused as a thought came to her mind, "I hope that I didn't make you break your promise of secrecy with my questions. I wouldn't want little Pumpkin to lose trust in you because of my... curiosity."
Pinkie waved her hoof dismissively. "Pshhh, that's not a problem! I was just supposed to keep quiet only till few days ago, and now it is all a-okay." To illustrate it, she untied the string from her tongue and dropped it to the floor, coincidentally (or not?) just as a janitor was passing by with a broom.
"And as for the reason why she wanted me to keep my mouth shut...," Pinkie continued, "It's because Pumpkin was just too shy to show anypony her first play. She was sure that what she made was awful, and that everyone would just laugh at her if they saw it. And only after I watched it and talked to her about it did she get brave enough to allow me to advertise her other play – the one we're prepping now." Pinkie scratched her chin, looking at the ceiling fan that was covered in dust, "...though I forgot to take the hoofmade posters that we painted together to advertize it... oh well, there's still the word of the mouth."
"What about the first play she made? If she's no longer afraid to show it, we'd gladly watch it and tell her how good it is."
" Yeah, except... it isn’t."
"What?" Rarity stared. Pinkie nodded to confirm that she didn't mishear. "Pinkie, you said she gained courage after you talked to her about her play. Wasn’t it because it is actually quite decent?"
"Nope, I didn't say it was good. To be honest, it sucked, and I told her so... but in nicer words than that, you know? But I also told her to keep trying, and I told her about all the times I have failed and made sucky stuff of my own, and how I didn't give up and eventually became very good at what I do." Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and smiled, remembering that moment. "She felt a lot better after I told her that, and she promised that she won't give up on her dreams either!"
"Aww... that is so sweet..." Fluttershy softly whispered, before returning to being silent once again. (She already forgot that she was supposed to be upset about Pinkie's refusal to go to bed.)
The earth pony and the pegasus spent the next few minutes eating their ordered meals (Rarity still didn't receive hers), and thinking about the happy little filly who was currently somewhere inside the Sugarcube Corner, no doubt hard at work. (When questioned, Pinkie explained with her mouth full that Pumpkin, being too young to write, drew the play's plotline, and that the stack of papers with pictures was about two inches thick the last time she saw it.)
"...I have a proposition for you, Miss Pie," Rarity said when Pinkie swallowed the last onion-horseshoe and wiped her mouth with her fetlock.
"And what kind of proposition do you propose, Miss Rarity?" the pink pony immediately imitated the unicorn's high-class tone and demeanor, and held the edge of her mane above her upper lip to simulate a fancy moustache.
"It is my understanding that you have a lot of work to do for the next few weeks, is that right?"
Pinkie Pie nodded.
"Probably more work than I have had this week, yes?"
"But it is a pleasurable work so it doesn't really count as w—"
"Shush. I'm sorry Pinkie, but please, could your answers be brief? Do you predict having more work than me for the next weeks, yes or no?"
"...yes." Pinkie's previous smile was a little smaller now.
"Good," Rarity nodded, "Good. Also—please correct me if I'm wrong—you enjoy doing all of the responsibilities you have in this project, but you are rather... lacking in skill when it comes to making costumes, yes?"
"...yes, I suck at it. I've worked on Pound's monster costume the longest out of all things so far, and I made less progress with it than with any other thing... It is really tiring and just keeps rustling my muffins!"
"Okay... now, keeping in mind my area of expertise, how does an idea of accepting my help—for a favor—sound to you? I am certain I could make your work a lot easier and enjoyable if I made Pound's monster-costume instead, and it would leave you with a lot more free time and energy to put your absolute one-hundred percent into all your other work."
"Wow! For realsies?? Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU! Oh it would give me SO much more time every day to make the mini-town for monster-Pound to crush! And his costume would no longer suck! You really ARE the Element of Generosity!"
"Pinkie Pie, darling. I did say that I am doing this for a favor. I am doing this only partially out of the goodness of my heart. The other part of that is for my benefit. I have an ulterior motive to my actions, so please do not put me on a pedestal more often than I deserve it."
"...oh, okay! I won't be worshipping you then. ...so, uh... that favor you're talking about... what is it exactly?" Pinkie paused, now looking distinctly worried, "...I hope nothing über-extreme like giving you my firstborn foal? Because as it happens, I do not have one on me right now. I'm all fresh out, sorry!"
"Ah, haha, nothing quite so drastic! No, what I would like to ask of you instead, is a bit of help with... foalsitting."
"Foalsitting?"
"Foalsitting, yes." The tip of Rarity's horn drew a narrow 'V' as she nodded, "Foalsitting my baby sister, to be exact. Let's just say... I will not be able to tolerate her overabundant energy for much longer. She's just too much for me, and without somepony's help I just might snap ...very soon... and do something that I will regret." Rarity sighed and looked towards the distant restaurant-employee who stood behind the counter. She heard some shouts coming from the kitchen, and her ordered food still didn't seem like it was ready. She turned back to Pinkie Pie, and looked directly into her eyes. "Sweetie Belle is a perfectly nice and polite filly, don't get me wrong, but sometimes, when I don't have my eye on her for a sufficiently long time, then the things tend to go... bad. Especially when she's in the presence of her 'creative' friends who give her lots of dangerous ideas. Ideas that they make a REALITY." She looked to the side. "I still don't know how in Equestria they managed to glue my poor Opal to the ceiling...," she mumbled.
There was long silence interrupted only by a very regular breathing Rarity was doing, likely an exercise to calm her own nerves. After a while she looked again to Pinkie. "All I ask of you is keeping them out of my hair for one week, after we are all done with this project. Given the hectic life I live, seven days without those little devils is worth to me more than their combined weight in gold." Rarity's eyes closed again and she performed another calming breathing exercise. "So... do we have an agreement?" She raised her hoof, offering it to Pinkie for a bump to seal the deal.
"Uhh..." Pinkie said, almost-but-not-quite touching Rarity's hoof, "...doesn't Fluttershy usually do the foalsitting? The last time she took care of the Crusaders they loved it, didn't they?" Pinkie turned to Fluttershy for confirmation.
"Yes." The pegasus nodded, and looked at the table, "...buuuut that was only because I saved them from the Cockatrice." she added hesitantly, glancing briefly towards Pinkie. "They were impressed by me-saving-them, a lot... Actually, they were impressed by that so much, that afterwards, everything I did, just paled in their eyes in comparison. I tried to pull them into some of my favorite games, so we could play together and still have some fun... but it just didn't work." She sighed. "They were just so bored. No matter what I did, I could never live up to their expectations after that incident in the Everfree. I tried and tried to encourage them to play with me, but the silence that was present while we played Snakes and Ladders... it was just so... awkward." Fluttershy turned away, uncomfortably. Then her eyes brightened when she noticed something, "Oh! Rarity, your order is finally finished! I'll go and get it! You must be starving right now..." she said before standing up and walking towards the small crowd of customers huddled near the counter.
When Fluttershy was out of the earshot, Rarity grumbled something about hoping that the wait for the food was worth it. Then she turned to Pinkie.
"So, what's your decision, Pinkie Pie? Will you help this poor mare?" she said and pointed a hoof to her own chest, making an exaggerated sad face, letting her lower lip tremble.
Pinkie tilted her head to the side. "You're poor? How? Since when? Did somepony rob you?"
"...I meant poor as in 'suffering', not 'financially unwell', dear."
"Oh, oops!" Pinkie giggled, and slapped her own knee loudly, "Duh! Silly me! Hahahahahaha... YES! Of course I'll help! The twins pulled me through Tartarus a year ago, so I know how you feel about your CMCs-from-hell. If I survived dealing with Pound and Pumpkin when they were little devils too, then I can surely live through whatever Sweetie Belle can dish out, easy-peasy! Lemon-squeezy! Quesadilla don’t get sleazy—"
"That’s alright; you don’t have to... rhyme, dear. And I am relieved that you agreed." Rarity finally loosened up and took a more comfortable position in her seat. Her face was no longer hidden behind a fake, polite smile which hid her frustration. It was all bliss now.
Fluttershy returned with Rarity's order of burgers. It turns out it was late because some trio of kids snuck into the kitchens, and tried to forcefully help the staff with their work, accidentally setting the fridge on fire as a result. Fluttershy told Rarity about it, but Rarity didn't hear it; she was still riding the high of good news.
The unicorn leaned comfortably on the table, and her dish lay ignored right next to her. Her eyes were closed and she had a content smile on her face. After several failed attempts at telling Rarity not to let her food go cold, Fluttershy shrugged and turned to Pinkie.
The day was young, and there were still hundreds of interesting things she wanted to talk about with her friend.
