Reality

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Short Notice

'To sleep in, or not to sleep in?'

That was the question on Dash's mind that morning. She was awake, but her eyes were still shut. She was currently debating on waking Fluttershy. It was hard. Even harder when she opened her eyes and saw that she looked quite peaceful. Rainbow would feel guilty for waking somepony from such a dream, but she did have work today, so she needed to find some way out. It's not like she didn't mind the cuddle, she was just aware that the sun was up and the clouds were in the way.

She gently tried to move out of her pony's hold, but the most she could do was let go of the hug she had on Fluttershy. She knew that too much movement would wake her, which meant even a little. She moved as many limbs as she could, suddenly remembering her two extras.

This gave her an idea. However, she could only hope it would work. Shifting her wings so they would be above Fluttershy's forelegs, she used them to grab one of the pillows - neither of which were being used. She then squeezed it between her own back and Fluttershy's hooves as smooth and quiet as possible. She then did the same thing, only between hers and Fluttershy's fronts.

Gently, she peeked passed the pillow in front of her to see if Fluttershy had noticed yet.

No sign or stirring of any kind. She inwardly sighed and carefully folded her wings. She was surprised she had made it this far. The pillows were to dampen the effect of the next move. Slowly, softly, and as smooth as possible, she started to slide herself under the embrace. Her hopes began to falter when she felt a bit of movement. The embrace tightened. Rainbow was now sweating visibly. She only hoped she could keep it under control.

'This is gonna take a while...'

~ * * * ~

"Spike! Where are you!?"

Twilight was currently running through the library, searching frantically for her assistant. Some books were falling off the shelves due to all the ruckus--... Or fracas being caused by the one pony.

Needless to say, Spike was nowhere to be seen. Twilight didn't even see him when she woke up. Seriously, where could the little guy have gone?

This went unanswered, and would still be for a while, it seemed.

After about five more minutes of maniacal searching, she gave up. Maybe, just this once, she could go throughout the day without him. It may not be the easiest, but she was good at adjusting routines.

Routines...

"Routine!" she shouted to nopony. Yes! She needed to change the routine slightly. In her mind, this would not take too long. She levitated a quill and zipped over to a desk.

Upon arriving at the desk, she almost didn't notice a sticky note which she didn't write. Looking closer at it, she could see it was from her most trusted assistant, Spike.

With the knowledge of who it was from, she grew more eager to read it, and so she did just that.

"Dear Twilight," she read aloud, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'd be gone today. I would have, but you were already asleep by the time I got the news last night..."

"News...?" she paused for a moment. "What news?"

She then continued reading. "I would have told you this morning, too, if I hadn't have had to leave so early. I left today, just before the sun was up, to go help Pinkie Pie with some sort of party. She said that it was only for a few to attend, and that it was a huge secret, so I honestly can't say I know much about it. And maybe I shouldn't have told you that much about it because it's so secretive, but I know you must have a logical explanation for all things. That, and I'm supposed to be a trustworthy assistant.

"So, by the time you're reading this, I should be setting up decorations for a party which I know nothing about. At least, probably. I should be back around... I don't know, actually. Just so you know, you're invited to the party itself, but you don't know where it is and I can't give you any directions unless I take you there myself. Again, I am sincerely sorry for the short notice.

-Your Number One Assistant, Spike."

Knowledge is such a blessing. Schedules, on the other hoof, are a mixed blessing. It would take about fifteen minutes to alter it temporarily.

'What to change, what to change...'

~ * * * ~

With a curly mane hanging in front of her eyes, it was harder than normal this morning for Sweetie Belle to see. She quickly hopped out of bed and into the bathroom to remedy this. She didn't usually need a brush or a comb to fix it. Using her hooves was efficient enough for the job. When she finally regained her vision, she noticed a sticky note attached to the mirror.

Deciding that she had fiddled enough with her mane, she reached up with one hoof and grabbed the note from the mirror.

"My dearest Sweetie Belle," she read aloud, "I must inform you that I will be gone for about an hour and a half. I cannot say where, but I can say that I recommend you spend some time with your fellow Crusaders, as it is not a school day. It is up to you whether you would like to spend time with them or to clean your room--"

This was when she stopped reading, dropped the note, and dashed out the front door at record-setting speeds. She didn't even care what else her sister had to ramble on about.

She was not going to clean that room.

~ * * * ~

She didn't know why she woke up on time. She guessed that maybe it was the rooster. She also didn't know why she woke up to the sight of pink.

Just pink. She could literally see nothing but pink.

She tried to look side to side, still not making a difference. She began to wave her hooves around, trying to feel the pink and maybe move it out of the way. However, it confused and scared her a bit when she, in fact, couldn't even see her own hooves.

She then sat up from what felt like the floor... again. She had been having these experiences of waking up in places that weren't her bed lately. This did not confuse, but rather frustrate her.

But this was not the most important thing as of now. When she blinked her eyes a few times and looked in every direction she could, still seeing only pink, she lost it.

She then began running around in her room, yelling "Help! Somepony help! Ah've got pinkeye!" and other phrases related to it.

She then ran into... something... a hoof. A big one, too, it felt like. Then she saw the hoof.

Wait, she saw it? But... but, she thought she had... pinkeye...

She saw the enormous hoof from the bottom of her vision slowly start to move the pink.

'Wait a minute...' she thought.

When the pink was gone, she saw the hoof move just enough out of the way to see a face.

"Peek-a-boo," said Big Macintosh.

Apple Bloom gasped lightly. "Oh," she said.

Big Mac chuckled a little. "Ya ain't got no pinkeye, silly filly."

"But-but..." she stuttered. She looked up at what he was still holding up with his hoof. "...oh." She then looked at him, apologetically embarrassed. "Thanks fer... movin' mah bow..." she said sheepishly.

"Eeyup," he replied, taking the bow in his mouth and moving it to its rightful place.

Apple Bloom suddenly perked up. "Hey! Is Applejack still here?" she asked.

"Nnnope."

"Well, where is she then?"

Big Mac shrugged.

"Well, didn't she leave a note 'r somethin'?"

"Eeyup."

"Well, what'd she say?"

"Just somethin' 'bout bein' gone fer 'bout an hour an' a half 'r so. Said she would encourage you ta go spend some good quality time with yer friends, seein' as how ya don't have any school today. Sooo... you can probably git on out there whenever yer ready to."

"O-oh." Apple Bloom was a bit surprised. "She didn't tell ya where she was goin'?"

"Nnnope."

"O-okay, well..." she started, "a-ah'm just gonna have some breakfast first. Then ah'll go ahead 'n' do that." She smiled somewhat weakly and trotted downstairs.

Big Mac watched as she made her way to the kitchen. She was getting better at hiding her suspiciousness, but no matter how good she got, Big Mac could always tell she was up to something.

Always.

~ * * * ~

It was early and Pinkie Pie didn't even give a horseshoe about it. 'Early' happened to be one of the key aspects of this party. 'Secret' was the main aspect of it. Hence, 'early' would only fit in perfectly with it.

Pinkie Pie had picked her vocabulary very 'carefully' when she was a filly. It only made sense if you didn't think about it. Some words worked well with others, whether it be speech patterns, or just words that fit in the general category of 'what-fits-pretty-well-with-others'-ness.

It was about five minutes until the party would start. Oh, this party was going to be the most fun-tastic secret party ever!!

As she shot streamers all over the walls with her newly bought party gun, she began to get a slight pain in the right side of her neck. She ignored it at first, continuing her decorations. It was only when it started to get worse that she figured out that she had a kink. She gasped loudly and dropped the party gun.

Hearing the sound of the gun hitting the floor, Spike turned around, barely jumping over and dodging the accidentally fired streamers from it. "Whoa!" he shouted. He then looked at the source of what could cause such activity.

"Uh, Pinkie Pie...?" he started. She looked at him with a sideways cringe, literally.

Now he was confused.

Nevertheless, this was Pinkie Pie he was looking at.

Spike composed himself. "...What's wro--"

"Do you know what means!?" she interrupted. She was now face to face with him, one of her eyes above the other, due to her sideways look.

"Uhhh... What what means?"

"This!" she squeaked loudly, pointing a hoof towards her angled neck.

"Uh... You've got a kink in your neck?"

Pinkie Pie face-hoofed as best she could. "Well, duh! But what does the kink mean!?" she shouted, waving one hoof around.

Spike knew what it was, but at the same time, he didn't. It was certainly some sort of twitch-a-twitch, but he had no clue what it meant.

"I have no clue what it means," he stated clearly.

"It means..."

Here's the windup...

"I FORGOT TO INVITE SOMEPONY!!!"

And the pitch.

"Huh...?"

Swing and a miss.

"I never forget ANYPONY!!"

Pinkie didn't even give him the chance to respond. She was completely absent, leaving a trail of pink dust behind. She didn't have time to worry about if Spike was confused or not. She never forgot anypony!

Spike didn't even have a response, anyway. He just turned on his heel and cleaned up the accidentally shot out streamers.

"That pony..."

~ * * * ~

Yellow. Yellow was such an amazing color. It wasn't her favorite, though it was a very inviting color to wake up to.

Sitting up, Fluttershy let go of something soft which she didn't even know she was holding onto in the first place. She tried to look at it, only to find that her vision hadn't changed, for it was still only yellow. She realized that this meant something was in front of her eyes. She then reached up to find out what it was.

It was thin, it was flimsy, and it was paper. With this knowledge, she removed it...

"Ow...!"

...and discovered that it was a sticky note.

She let her eyes adjust to the light of the room for a few seconds before reading it. She had a hard time at first, but quickly after, her eyes adjusted and she could that it read:

My Dear Sweet Fluttershy,

I'm sincerely sorry I had to leave this morning, but I do have weather-pony obligations. I'll probably be back around mid-day. We're supposed to be doing some new routine on how to go about sharing clouds with other cities or something like that. But anyway, I think that we should keep this secret from anypony else until we think we're ready. And I'm also sorry for not waking you up when I left. I couldn't help it, you just looked so peaceful. Besides, you can take care of your animals while I'm gone.

One other thing: I was wondering if I should move in with you or not. I know you wouldn't want to move in with me because it's so high, but I'm curious as to what you think about that. I hope you're okay while I'm at work.

I wish I could be with you right now. In fact, I think I might already miss you.

I love you so much, Fluttershy, and I'm also sorry for making you look funny in your sleep. I just couldn't think of another way for you to find this note.

p.s. - You might want to throw this away or hide it when you're done reading it.

p.p.s. - I already had breakfast, so there's no need to worry.

Fluttershy gave a long sigh. She looked over to the pillows beside her on the bed. Indeed, she had been holding something other than Rainbow. She didn't even want to know how she got away.

Fluttershy then proceeded to start her day, putting the note into her dresser and trotting lightly down to the kitchen.

She was not worried. If anything, she was worried that she might become worried at all. If Rainbow Dash didn't want her to be worried, she would not be worried.

A loud knock at the door made her jump.

Worried and skittish are two different things, however.

Hesitantly, she walked over to the door and opened it.

Nopony. Nopony was there. She even more hesitantly stepped out and looked around to see if she could see anypony running away.

She found it strange that anypony would ding-dong-ditch her. Nopony did that.

"I wonder who it could've be--" she stepped on what felt like paper. "...Huh?"

She looked at the ground to see a finely printed, but over decorated invitation.

"Dear Fluttershy," she read aloud.

"Do not read this out lou--" she stopped. She looked to see if anypony was around. Seeing nopony, she read the rest to herself.

...You are secretly invited to Pinkie Pie's super-secret party! It's going to be super-duper fun and full of super-secretiveness! I can't tell you exactly where it is, but I can tell you to meet me at Sugarcube Corner and you'll find out the rest from there! Also, it starts immediately, so come quick!

This was Pinkie Pie's doing, no doubt. It was another party, but almost for no reason, it seemed. Nonetheless, it was a party, and she needed to support her friend for throwing it. Also, a party is a party and parties are fun.

"Okay," she decided. "I think I'll go... but, but wait..."

She realized that Rainbow was still at work. She then got an idea.

As she walked back into her cottage, she began to look for a stack of sticky notes to use...