Sky High

Depressed, Skye flew back to Sweet Apple Acres. He very quietly walked into the farm house and up to his assigned room. He lay in bed for a few minutes, thinking about what Pinkie said to him. What she said reminded him of what Dash said to him the day after they met. He lay there, hoping that Pinkie would somehow magically forgive him the way Dash had, but he knew it wouldn't be the case. Finally he closed his eyes to rest and began to sob, not because of Pinkie, but because of his regular dreams.

Directly through the wall next to Skye was lay Applejack. She was a very light sleeper and was always known for waking up at the quietest of noises. It just so happens that she was able to hear Skye's quiet sobbing through the wall and decided to go investigate.

The sobbing became more apparent and defined as soon as the door to Skye's room opened. Applejack walked over toward Skye and tapped his side with her hoof. “Skye... wake up partner.”

Skye mumbled in his sleep before he opened his eyes before he looked over to Applejack. “Huh?”

“You were cryin' in your sleep partner, somethin' the matter?”

“Uhm... no not really...”

“C'mon big guy, you can tell me. I'm your friend right?”

“Well... yeah I guess...”

“Go ahead, start from the beginning.”

Skye took a deep breath, he was getting ready to not take a breath for a while. “Well it all started after I went to Ponyville this morning and I saw Pinkie Pie and...” Skye proceeded to tell Applejack about his day. He told her about the note Pinkie Pie gave him, Cheerilee, Vinyl, and what happened to Pinkie's dad, something that she herself wasn't aware of. After hearing his story, Applejack was in awe. She had no idea that Pinkie's father had passed away and she couldn't believe that Skye's attention span was really that short. She really couldn't think of anything to say. “...and so I flew back here. But all of that wasn't the reason I was crying.”

“Well uh...” Thankfully Skye could think of something.

“Applejack... am I a bad friend?”

At first Applejack wasn't quite sure how to answer that question and just stared off into space, trying her best not to think of an answer. However, words were forced out of her mouth when she looked at Skye, who seemed extremely depressed when Applejack didn't answer him.

“Look here Skye, you're not a bad friend...” Skye looked up toward Applejack with a slight smile on his face. “...you just made a mistake and I'm sure that Pinkie'll forgive ya... eventually.” Applejack added on, not ensuring Skye's confidence as he looked back down toward the ground. “Hey, cheer up Skye! How about tomorrow we head out to Ponyville, I reckon I can even talk to Pinkie for you if you'd like. Would that make you feel better?”

Skye smiled and looked her her. “Yeah... it would, thanks.” It really wouldn't make him feel any better but he could tell that Applejack, no matter how honest, wasn't very good at handling these types of situations.

“Not a problem Skye, now get some rest. Ya really don't wanna be tired for tomorrow's chores. Good night Skye.”

“Good night Applejack.”

The next morning proceeded the same way the previous one had. Skye had followed around Applejack and Big Mic, helping them with chores before they were finally complete. True to her word, Applejack had set off with Skye toward Ponyville. The walk was perfectly silent, aside from Applejack's walking. Now Skye was walking on the ground as well, but his steps were perfectly silent. It wasn't long before the duo saw Pinkie Pie down the road, she seemed happy. As promised Applejack walked up to her to asked her what her problem was with Skye, he response was less than normal or even logical.

“What? I don't hate Skye! I just never want to seem him again.” She said in her normal, bubbly tone before she walked away to spread smiles. Ironically enough, Applejack and Skye were the only ones not smiling. When Applejack made her way back to Skye and told him what Pinkie said. He didn't seem to be any more depressed than he already was, but he wanted to be alone. He had to think of a way to make Pinkie like him again and he had to think of one quickly. Something came to mind, the balloon... there was something special about it and he had to figure out what.

Meanwhile Applejack was roaming around town, looking for something to do. It just so happens that she walked by Rainbow Dash and had a question for her about Skye.

“Howdy Rainbow Dash, got a second?”

“Yeah, what's up Applejack?”

“Well I've just got a question bout' Skye. Did he cry when he was staying with you?”

Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack for a few seconds, pondering whether it would be a good idea to tell her Skye's secrets. She led Applejack into a secluded alleyway before she told Applejack about Skye's dreams, all of them. It took a few hours of storytelling before Dash was finally done talking.

“Wow...” Applejack finally said. “So is there any way to stop him from crying? You know me, I can barely sleep if it's raining.”

“Well...” Rainbow Dash hesitated, “...there is one way.” Applejack looked at Dash, waiting for  Dash to tell her. Dash sighed before she finally admitted, “If you don't want him to cry you'll have to... well... lay with him.”

Applejack looked at Dashed for a few seconds then started to laugh and Rainbow Dash knew exactly why. “So, how do you know this Rainbow? I thought you weren't into all of that romantic stuff!”

Dash's face turned red as she practically yelled at Applejack. “Hey! It was a one time thing and it just happened to work! Ok?”

“Sure Rainbow, cool your jets. I'm just horsin' around.”

“Yeah yeah, well... whatever, I've got clouds to move. See ya later.”

“Goodbye Sugar Cube!”

Skye had managed to sneak over to Sugar Cube Corner, out of sight of Pinkie. Skye had known Pinkie enough to know that she always stores away her important belongings and party gear. Skye quietly made his way upstairs into Pinkie's room. Thankfully Mrs. Cake didn't know about what happened yesterday or she probably wouldn't have let him upstairs. Skye looked around carefully for Pinkie Pie before he rushed over toward Pinkie's closest. It didn't take him long to find the giant balloon as he took it out into the room.

He examined the balloon thoroughly before he noticed a small button on the weight holding down the balloon. He felt a little apprehensive as he lowered his head down to examine the button when he heard a voice from behind him that startled him, making him push the button with his snout. The balloon exploded, throwing streamers and party hats throughout the room and that was just the first half. Suddenly cupcakes and noisemakers were flying in the air before finally a cake was launched out hitting the pony behind Skye. He turned around to gaze upon angry eyes as he recognized Pinkie's depressing voice.

“Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!” Skye heard as he ran down the stairs, tripping and hitting his snout hard against the floor before he ran out of Sugar Cube Corner off towards the schoolhouse, at least now he had a plan.

Pinkie had never been more angry in her life. She had come home from a busy morning of making people smile to see Skye in her bedroom, playing with her dad's balloon, and now she was covered in cake... well she was before she licked it all off in one big slurp. Before she even knew it she was giving chase to Skye, she wasn't going to let him get away with that...

Dash had just finished talking to Applejack and started flying toward the clouds when she saw Skye running from something. There had been a build up of clouds recently, ever since last night, and Rainbow Dash had no idea where they were coming from. Still she was intrigued and, to be honest, a little worried at what might be scaring Skye so badly. Soon she saw a pink streak chase down Skye and it wasn't the same pink puff ball she saw this morning. She knew it was Pinkamena and she knew Skye was in trouble. She followed behind...

Skye hadn't noticed Pinkie Pie trailing behind him by the time he arrived at the schoolhouse. He had hoped that Miss Cheerlie wouldn't mind if he used some of her new school supplies. He ran down into the basement of the schoolhouse at almost the same time Pinkie and Dash arrived.

“Pinkie!” Skye heard from inside the schoolhouse. “What are you doing?”

“I'm chasing Skye, what does it look like?!”

“What the hay is your problem Pinkie? What has he ever...”

“What is my problem? What is his problem? Huh? Who just breaks into another pony's room and steals another pony's things? He almost broke it too! He's so stupid! I hate him!”

“Hey! He's not stupid Pinkie! You're just acting like a total idiot. Stop freaking out for no reason.”

“For no reason? You don't know anything Rainbow! How about you and your coltfriend just leave me alone? Ok? I don't want to see either of you, you're both so stupid!” Pinkie started to run back home, Skye couldn't possibly see the tears coming from her eyes, but could hear how angry she was. He did however, hear Dash.

“Hmpf... fine *sniff*, I don't wanna be your friend anyway.” Skye heard, along with the trotting of Rainbow's hooves before he eventually couldn't hear anything. He thought to himself, 'Maybe I should write a letter too...' as he went to work on his project.

Skye had been missing for hours and almost every pony was getting worried about him, all but one. Twilight and Rarity were walking around town with Pinkie, trying to cheer her up and it was working, she was back to her old self again. It was almost dark and the ponies were returning to Sugar Cube Corner.

“...Well, you know darling, perhaps he's just too kind for his own good.”

“Well he's nice. Sometimes he just doesn't make the best decisions.”

“Yeah, I guess so, but still he broke into my room... and he almost broke my balloon...”

“Pinkie Pie, it's just a balloon.” Pinkie looked at Twilight with a very unhappy frown, but willed herself to not say anything.

The trio walked into Sugar Cube Corner to see a large balloon floating in the middle of the main room. Over the balloon layered 'Sorry' in a thick, blue marker. Just like Pinkie Pie's balloon, there was a small button on the weight of the balloon. Pinkie couldn't help but run toward the balloon.

“Oh hello girls, Skye brought that in a few minutes ago, wasn't that nice of him?”

Before any pony could respond, Pinkie had slowly tapped the button. A speaker was thrown out of the balloon followed by tons of confetti made out of craft paper. Really there wasn't as much to this balloon as there was to Pinkie's. She noticed a full piece of paper fly from the explosion as she ran over to read it. Pinkie was happy, she couldn't think of any pony kind enough to give her such a gift. The answer seemed obvious.

Dear Pinkie Pie,

I'm really sorry that I made you miss your father's birthday party. And I'm really sorry that I broke your balloon. And I'm really sorry that I made you hate Rainbow Dash. And I'm really sorry that I'm not a good friend. And by the time you read this I'll be on my way to Cloudsdale.

-Skye

Pinkie just sat on the ground, depressed, reading the note over and over again. By the time the music stopped playing and the confetti stopped flying Pinkie Pie was already down the street, sprinting toward the entrance of town.

“Well...” Mrs. Cake started, “...wasn't that exciting?”

“Quite.” Rarity said as Pinkie disappeared.

Skye took one last glance of Ponyville before he turned around and started walking. He was going to miss Rainbow Dash and all of the other ponies. The time he spent in Ponyville had probably been the best week of his life, but he had to leave. It was bad enough that he made Pinkie Pie hate him, but because of him Pinkie started hating Rainbow Dash and he wouldn't accept that. He wouldn't be the reason that friends broke apart.

He walked with his head down in the dark for a few minutes, the light of the moon blocked by the clouds. Suddenly Skye heard the loud clopping of hooves from behind him. It wasn't until the pink pony was a few feet away from Skye that he saw her. She jumped at him like how a tiger would pounce on it's prey. “Skyyyyyye!!!” Before Skye could react Pinkie was on him, rubbing her sweat on his mane, probably trying to bite his ears off or something. Then Skye heard her sniffle and mumble as he realized she was wiping her eyes on him, she was crying.

“Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie Pie was still mumbling through all of her tears and snot. “I'm so sowwy Skye!” Before she returned to crying into his chest fur. Skye responded by rubbing his snout through her mane, trying his best to comfort her.

“It's ok Pinkie Pie, just calm down please. Ok?”

After a few seconds of sobbing Pinkie looked up to Skye, who had a nice little smile on his face. “Ok.”

“So why did you follow me Pinkie? I thought you didn't want to see me again.”

“No! I want to see you again! I mean, I was just being a big meanie, do you know what I mean? I'm sorry Skye, I overreacted and I shouldn't have.” Pinkie started sobbing again as Skye returned to her mane.

“No you didn't Pinkie. I should have honored the promise I made to you and I'm sorry.”

“But... you never made a promise to me...”

Skye thought for a second before he realized that he never actually promised Pinkie anything. But he felt like he did and that's all that matters to him. “That's ok Pinkie, I wanted to help you! But why didn't you find some other pony to help you?”

Pinkie Pie stared at Skye, mesmerized by his presence suddenly. His smile just made her feel happy and confident, it was as if Skye was radiating light. “Well, I didn't want you to feel bad and I didn't want you to wait for me... I didn't want you to feel like a bad friend.”

Skye looked into Pinkie's eyes before he admitted, “You didn't make me feel like a bad friend.” Normally Skye was a terrible liar, worse than Applejack, but there was something that made her so convinced that he was telling the truth. It could have been because she wanted to believe him or maybe it was is apparent divine aura. Regardless the two ponies reconciled and journeyed back to Ponyville together. It was easy for both ponies to forgive each other as they walked into Sugar Cube Corner together, laughing. Skye bid Pinkie a good night and flew back to Sweet Apple Acres, the conflict finally over.

Skye returned to his room at Sweet Apple Acres to a guest. Applejack was laying on his bed, almost intentionally taking up as much of the bed as she could. Not wanting to be too pushy Skye lay down on the floor, there must have been a reason Applejack did that. It was only a few minutes later that Applejack woke up Skye, due to his incessant sobbing.

“Wake up Skye, you're sleeping with me tonight.” She said, her facing glowing beet red.

“Ok.” Skye calmly spoke as he climbed into bed. He wasn't embarrassed or confused as to why Applejack wanted to sleep with him, he knew his crying must be annoying. The two ponies fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed, Applejack was a little wierded out that she was sharing a bed with a colt. Needless to say she woke up directly next to Skye, cuddling with him and it was her that moved while she slept.