Raised by Pie

Chapter 2: Talking is Helpful

It's been a few days since Pinkie moved in with Twilight, taking the two Cake twins with her. Things have mostly settled down, but Twilight could swear shes heard Pinkie crying at night when she trotted past her door. Everypony knew how hard it was for her, going straight from grieving to having to be strong for the twins. It wasn't easy, especially for her. She had seen the Cakes as parents for the longest time, and with them gone all of a sudden, forcing her to take up their roles, it made her feel like a phony. Their dying wishes were to have Pinkie replace them in every single way, and she just couldn't do it. One night Twilight heard Pinkie crying, so she decided to step into her room.

"Pinkie, are you feeling okay?" Twilight asked quietly as she slipped her head in through the doorway, an ominous light coming into the room from the hallway. When she looked for Pinkie in the dim light she saw her huddled up in a ball on the bed, shaking slightly. She stirred slightly when she heard Twilight's voice, but other than that there was no reaction at all.

"Pinkie?" Twilight asked again as she trotted up to Pinkie's bedside, getting more of a reaction from her this time around. Pinkie turned over on the bed so she could look at Twilight, wet streaks trailing down her face. She gave Twilight a small smile before curling up even tighter, looking like a wounded puppy. Twilight saw that as a sign to leave her be, slowly trotting out of the room and shutting the door behind her, making a mental note to talk to Pinkie about what happened tomorrow morning.

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The next morning Twilight woke up the the sound of somepony cooking a delicious breakfast in the kitchen. When she got downstairs she saw Pinkie running around the kitchen while humming happily, which made Twilight stop for a moment. Last she had seen of Pinkie she was a complete wreck, being pretty much unable to do anything but mope and cry, but now, there she was, hopping around in a cheerful mood.

"Pinkie, is something going on?" Twilight asked, getting a confused look from Pinkie as she stood still for just a moment. Pinkie seemed to think about it for a moment before happily shaking her head, which made Twilight start to worry. No pony, not even Pinkie Pie, should be able to act so differently after being so depressed that she didn't want to talk to anypony. Her now and her last night were like night and day, it just didn't make any sense to Twilight.

"Pinkie, about last night..." Twilight said slowly, the words making Pinkie stop on the spot.

"Let me finish breakfast first" Pinkie said in a flat tone, he drastic change in emotion scaring Twilight a little bit. As she headed off towards the table she could hear Pinkie slowly returning to her original ways, as the sound of her hoofsteps bouncing around the kitchen as she began to hum once again.

"There is something going on with that pony..." Twilight said quietly to herself as she sat down, now noticing that Spike was nowhere to be seen, "SPIKE!"

"In here!" Spike cried as he stumbled out of the twins' temporary room, nearly smashing his head on the door nob because of the twins being wrapped tightly around his legs, "Help me!" Twilight giggled quietly to herself as Spike managed to pull himself free, only for Pumpkin to grab him with her magic and pull him back down to her and her brother. Spike was soon overwhelmed by the two foals as they started to crawl all over him, slobbery on his fingers and toes as they tried to figure out what they were.

"Help, they're going to eat me!" Spike wailed as Pound and Pumpkin started to shove his spines into their mouths. Spike struggled to get up, but Pumpkin's magic appeared to be too good for him to fight through, so he ended up giving up and laying straight along the floor, accepting his slobbery wet death.

"Twilight, can you give me a hoof in here?" Pinkie called from the kitchen, snapping Twilight's focus away from her assistant and the twins playing around on the floor. After she left Owlowiscious flew over and began to peck Spike on the forehead, making him grunt in frustration. Twilight gave him one last look to see the foals attempting to eat his feet whole, which gave her a good laugh.

"So, what did you need help with Pinkie?" Twilight asked calmly as she walked into the kitchen, only to find Pinkie standing with her face in the corner, "Pinkie?" Pinkie slowly turned around to show Twilight the saddest face she had ever seen, the sudden smell of burnt pancakes filling her nostrils. She stepped towards Twilight and showed her the failed attempt at making gourmet pancakes.

"I couldn't even make pancakes" Pinkie said sadly as she put the plate on the counter, "There's no way I can run an entire bakery all by myself" Twilight stepped forwards and gave Pinkie a hug, rubbing her back so she could attempt to comfort her, but it didn't seem to work. Pinkie slowly started to sob, just quiet enough that Spike nor the twins could hear it in the next room over.

"Pinkie, its okay, I'm here for you, and so is everypony else" Twilight said as she continued to rub Pinkie's back slowly, "Do you want to talk about stuff, I'm all ears" Pinkie pushed Twilight away to end the hug as she slowly trotted off towards the sink, using it's reflective surface to judge herself in silence for a few moments. Once Pinkie had finished thinking about it she turned around and gave Twilight a short hug before leading her towards the small table that sat at the end of the table.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer" Pinkie said quietly as she sat down, her sad eyes having a glimmer of hope deep down inside of them. Twilight put her hooves in her lap as she prepared to listen to everything Pinkie was about to say so she could give her helpful advice about what was bothering her. In the other room Spike and the twins were still playing, completely oblivious to what was going on in the kitchen.