Finders Keepers

Knick Knack gallops through town, too afraid to look back. He apologizes profusely as he nearly crashes into several ponies along the way. Gaining the courage to take a glance back, he sighs with relief as Twilight is nowhere in sight. Still in a full-on dash, he turns to look at what’s ahead of him, and his eyes immediately widen with surprise as a mare in the middle of his path bares the same expression. He collides into her as they tumble across the ground. The mare’s basket that’s strapped to her back spills all sorts of fruits onto the ground. Knick Knack quickly gets to his hooves and brushes the dirt off of his clothes, ready to take off galloping until he notices the mare he bumped into looking solemn as she sits on the ground with her long, pink mane now a complete mess. “Oh! Uh. . . Sorry, Miss!” says Knick Knack, eager to leave. The mare peeks through a split in her mane, then hides and lowers her head once her eyes meet his. “L-Look, it was an accident! Are you alright?” The mare refuses to answer, filling Knick Knack with a siege of guilt. He looks down the path which he came from once again, anticipating Twilight to appear, but is unable to force himself to leave the mare to the mess he made. He can even hear the mare softly sobbing to herself, pushing him over the edge. “Alright!” He gives in. “Let me help!” Frantically, he gathers all the fruit off the ground and returns it to the mare’s basket. “Okay, that takes care of that; and how about you? Are you hurt?” The mare shakes her head. “Well, let me help you up.” Knick Knack offers his hoof, only to have it refused as she helps herself up. “Hey, I said I’m sorry, alright?”

“It’s fine,” says the mare as she turns her back to him. “I’m fine, so you can just leave me alone.” The mare continues down the path towards a stone bridge that arcs over the creek.

“Oh, brother.” Knick Knack rolls his eyes as he chases after her. “I said it was an accident, what’s it gonna take for you to understand?”

“I told you, it’s fine.”

“Well, it’s clearly not since you won’t even look at me while we talk. It’s pretty rude, you know?”

“You’re saying I’m the rude one?”

“N-No! That’s not what I meant. It was just a joke.”

“Well, I didn’t find it very funny.”

Knick Knack groans. “Hold it!” He holds out his hoof as he stands in her way. With the both of them stopped on the bridge, the mare looks to him impatiently. “Now, I’m not giving up until I make it up to you. So, what’ll it take?”

“Can you please move out of my way?”

“Other than that. There’s gotta be something else, and I have just the thing! Whatever you want, just name it! It can be anything! This trusty backpack of mine’s got it! Just . . . think of something quickly. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“Is that so?”

“Well . . . yes.”

“In that case, I don’t care what you’ve got in that backpack; and since you’re in such a hurry, why don’t you just go?” The mare sassily lifts up her head and strolls passed Knick Knack. She swings her tail at him, causing him to lose balance and fall backward over the bridge into the creek with a splash. Completely drenched and clean of the paint and glitter from the quarrel with Twilight, he depressingly looks down at his soaked clothing. He watches the mare continue down the road, and is suddenly filled with a drive to pursue her. Dripping wet, he climbs out from the creek and catches up to her.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me right. When I said ‘anything’, I meant ‘anything’! Go ahead, just say the first thing that pops into your head!” The mare simply presses on, and doesn’t seem to show an ounce of interest. “Hard to believe, I know; but trust me, this is the real deal. Watch.” Knick Knack reaches into his backpack, and pulls out a fluffy pillow. “Need a place to rest your head? Boom, got it!” He then pulls out a frosted cake with a lit candle. “Got the munchies? Boom, got that covered too!” Knick Knack’s confidence is slowly dwindling as his attempts to show off the power of his backpack don’t seem to interest the mare in the slightest. “O-Or how about this?” He then pulls out a cube lined with stickers of many different colors.

“. . . What even is that?”

“Some kinda puzzle thing!” Knick Knack stops as he twists and turns the sections of the cube to try and match the colors, then gives up rather quickly. “I haven’t the slightest clue how to solve it, but it sure is cool, huh?” He turns to look back at the mare, but he finds she has moved on without him noticing. Again he tries to keep up with her as she approaches a series of bushes. “Come on! There’s gotta be something!”

The mare stops. “Why does it matter so much to you anyway? You don’t even know me.”

“Because. . ! Because this always happens!” Knick Knack takes a seat in the grass, feeling defeated. “Every time I meet somepony new, I always make the worst first impression. Either I . . . say something wrong, mess something up, or just make a plain fool of myself! No matter what, something goes wrong.” The mare turns, and sees him with his head hung low as he weaves his hoof through the grass. “Ever since I was a little colt, I just couldn’t seem to make any friends. At first I thought it was just the kids in my school, then it seemed like nopony in town wanted anything to do with me. Every time I tried to show them what kind of pony I am, it only seemed to steer them even further away from me. So . . . I assumed it was just me. I caused nothing but trouble wherever I went, and I couldn’t fix any of it. I was the reason I couldn’t make any friends then, and I’m the reason I can’t make any friends now.” The expression on the mare’s face drastically shifts as Knick Knack speaks, tugging at her heartstrings. Knick Knack stands, looking to his backpack as he brims with sorrow. “And I thought this stupid bag would make some kind of difference. I should’ve gone with my first idea and just turned back. Now, I’m sure everypony in this town will start to view me just like all the rest.” Knick Knack then takes off the backpack. “If this thing can’t help me fix this, then I guess there really isn’t any hope for me after all.” He drops it the ground, and starts to walk away. The mare covers her mouth with her hoof, heart-broken by Knick Knack’s words and the sudden shift in his character. She retrieves the backpack with her mouth, and hurries to his side. “Keep it,” says Knick Knack. “It’s not like it’s mine anyway.”

“What’s your name?”

“Why does it matter? I’m leaving town anyway. Now, I won’t be anypony’s problem.”

“Well, if you’re going to make friends with somepony, you should probably introduce yourself first.”

“Oh, now you want to stop and chat with me. All because you feel sorry for me, is that right?”

“It’s not that. I just feel more comfortable now that I know more about you.”

“Right, and you should also know I’m a travelling, birthday clown on the side.” The mare giggles, and Knick Knack raises an eyebrow in confusion. “Did you just laugh?”

“Of course! That was funny!”

“I . . . I don’t believe it. You actually liked my joke?”

“Mhmm! You see? Now, I know you’re funny. Instead of trying to focus on this backpack, you should’ve focused on the things that make you . . . you!”

“But all this time I thought that’s what my whole problem was. Nopony in my town would ever give me a chance. They’d always shun me after just seconds of meeting me.”

“Well, we’re still talking aren’t we?”

“I guess so.”

“And you didn’t need this backpack at all.”

“You’re . . . right! I didn’t! This is incredible!”

“So, why don’t we start over? My name is Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy. . . Wow, i-it’s nice to meet you! My name’s Knick Knack.”

“Oh, I know.”

“You do? How?”

“Umm I—I heard somepony talk about you in town!”

“Oh, word gets around that quick, huh? So, where are you headed?”

“I’m just on my way to go berry-picking. Those bushes are always loaded with clusters of sweet, ripe berries.”

“Nice! Hey, can I help? I used to be a master berry-picker back in the day!”

“Really?”

“Nah, I totally made that up, but let’s go anyway!” Knick Knack dashes for the bushes ahead, but Fluttershy blocks him off as she spreads her wings.

“Uh, maybe we shouldn’t try those bushes today!”

“But you said—”

“Yes! But I think I already checked those bushes earlier this morning, so we should try the bushes way on the other side of Ponyville.”

“Aye-aye!” Knick Knack salutes as the two of them turn back.

“We should probably make a stop by my cottage first. I need to drop of these groceries.”

“Not a problem! Hey, on the way there, wanna hear about the party I just came from? It was my first gig as a travelling clown!”

Fluttershy laughs. “Sure!” As the two of them head for Fluttershy’s cottage, a few ponies are waiting anxiously behind the series of bushes.

“What could be taking Fluttershy so long?” Rainbow Dash asks as she taps the ground impatiently with her hoof.

“Truly you have no semblance of patience, do you Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asks.

“That crook was leaving Sugarcube Corner just minutes ago! Maybe he caught on to our trick.”

“Oh, come now. Nopony can resist Fluttershy’s natural charm; and with my advice, she should have him up here in due time.”

“I agree,” says Applejack. “Ya just gotta be patient, and not be too quick to judge. Fluttershy’ll get the job done.”

“I just hope she remembers the signal,” says Rainbow Dash.

“Well, she’s surely not as forgetful as you, darling,” Rarity teases.

“I told you! I have no idea who he is!”

“Oh, but he most definitely knew you. Nopony just pulls heartfelt emotions like that out of nowhere.”

“But he did! And stop talking about it!”

“Are you turning red out of anger, or are you just blushing?”

“You’re crazy!”

“What are you three doing?” somepony asks from behind them. Rainbow Dash jumps up and screams, only to find Spike looking to her in confusion.

“Spike! What are you doing?!”

“Hey, I asked first. What was all that about?”

“For the last time! Nothing!”

“Okay, okay, sheesh. So, why are you three hiding in the bushes?”

“We’re waitin’ for Fluttershy to bring that no-good thief to us,” says Applejack.

“I see. . . How’s that working out?”

“Fluttershy will be here soon,” Rarity assures. “Just give her some time.”

“Okay, well, I haven’t seen Fluttershy at all.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Take a look for yourselves.” Like moles, the mares poke their heads up from the bushes to find not a single sign of Fluttershy or Knick Knack.

“Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“He captured her!” Rainbow Dash declares.

“You can’t be serious,” says Spike.

“We have to find her before anything bad happens!”

“Rainbow Dash, just wait a second!” Ignoring Spike’s plea, she spreads her wings and takes off in a bolt of speed.

“Wait up there, partner!” Applejack shouts as she leaps out from the bush and chases after Rainbow Dash.

“Applejack! Stop!” Spike throws down his tiny arms in frustration. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

“I know,” says Rarity. “Those two must be working up quite a sweat with all this galloping and flying. I’m just going to make a quick stop at Icy Cream’s Shop to get something cool to help take the heat off them.”

“Rarity! Can you please just—” In a flash of light from her horn, Rarity disappears. “. . . Get me a raspberry-vanilla smoothie?” Spike sighs. “Great, just great. More running.” He then chases after them as fast as his little legs will let him.