The next little while was very quiet for Brimstone, he was able to return to his house, unpack a couple of boxes, and eat a hardy lunch. He felt that the all of the excitement of this morning had finally subsided, still it was strange how everypony on the farm got so worked up about one poofy haired pink pony who demanded the friendship of everypony in town. Maybe that wasn't so strange after all. Regardless, he decided not to think about it anymore.
"There, everything is set up." said Brimstone as set a cash register on top of a large glass display case. "But before I can open this shop up, I need some fresh materials to make some high class jewelry. I'll need some gold, some moonstone, and a few pearls."
As he began to write down his To-Do List, that eerie set of ocean blue eyes resurfaced by his front window. Having heard everything said, Pinkie Pie began to scribble in the same materials in her notepad.
"This is perfect." said Pinkie Pie with a cheerful snicker, "If I help him find this stuff, he's sure to be my friend." After she had finished writing, she slipped the notepad back into her "pocket" and scampered off to her first destination.
Brimstone pulled his empty wagon towards the first place on his list, the Lunar Shrine. It was a large area of land separated from society, where a plentiful bounty of moonstone sprouted naturally from the ground, the shrine itself was circular stone platform where a large statue of Princess Luna stood, to celebrate her return to power. It was also said that the moonstone glows when exposed to moonlight.
Brimstone couldn't help but gaze at the statue in awe. The regal pose of the statue combined with the enormous shards of moonstone surrounding it were truly a sight to behold. He grabbed a burlap sack and a pick axe from his wagon and walked towards a nearby moonstone shard. Before he could chip off a few pieces for his jewelry, two pink hooves covered his eyes.
"Guess who." chirped the all too familiar voice.
"AAAAAHHH!" screamed Brimstone as he sprang into the air, clinging to the head of the Luna statue. "What the hoof are you doing here?" demanded Brimstone, with overtones of anger and fear in his voice.
"I thought I'd help you collect some of this moonstone so you can make jewelry."
"Look, I really don't need any…" Brimstone's eyes shot open. "How did you know I needed this moonstone for jewelry?"
"That's easy. I was watching you through your window." chirped Pinkie obliviously.
"That's…creepy."
"No it isn't, it's all a part of being a good friend." Pinkie answered back with a big smile.
Brimstone broke out into a cold sweat, the level of creepiness was getting higher. He needed to get away. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't need any help. So please, don't follow me anymore." Brimstone said, doing his best to be polite before dashing away in fright.
"Wait! You forgot your moonstone!" Pinkie called out to the terrified unicorn, but her cries fell on deaf ears. "Oh cupcakes, he's gone again. I need to keep trying, but he told me not to follow him. Hmm…what do you think I should do?" Pinkie asked the lifeless Luna statue. "That's a great idea! Thank you!" exclaimed the happy pink pony, as she hugged the statue and sprinted off once again.
Brimstone's next destination was Bubbly Falls, which was a considered one of Equestria's worldly marvels. Natural hot water flowed from a cliff side cave down a gentle waterfall and at the base of the waterfall was where large Bubble Oysters thrived. Not only were their pearls valuable, but also very large and durable.
He set his wagon down and began opening every oyster he came across using his magic. He managed to find 6 orange sized pearls, including a couple of pink ones. He then trotted towards an oyster that was fairly larger than the other ones and began to pry it open, but to no avail, the oyster remained shut.
"C'mon, big guy. C'mon…" strained Brimstone as the intensity of the green magic expelled from his horn rose. Finally, the oyster's jaws swung open, and inside it was none other than Pinkie Pie, sporting a rubber sea pony costume and a starfish on her head. Brimstone backed into the cliff wall, pale as a ghost, heart beating like a chain gun.
"Shoo be doo." sang Pinkie as she jumped into the water and poked her head out near the shore.
"Pinkie Pie? I told you not to follow me!" shouted Brimstone, trying to regain his sense of self.
"Who's Pinkie Pie? I'm Coral Cake the happy Sea Pony. And it's my job to help out friends in their time of need." the costumed pink pony proclaimed proudly.
Brimstone sighed in irritation. "Look Pinkie, I've already…"
"I'M NOT PINKIE! I'M CORAL CAKE THE HAPPY SEA PONY!" shrieked the not-so happy pony, her left eye twitching independently.
Brimstone turned pale once again, with only one thought playing in his mind, "Please don't kill me."
"Okay, C-Coral. But I've c-c-collected enough pearls, so there's n-no need to help m-m-me." stuttered the terrified stallion.
"You're losing him, Coral. Do something!" echoed the frantic thoughts of the equine cosplayer. "Wait! Please don't go yet! Um…um…um…Look what I can do!" she exclaimed in desperation and back flipped into the water, resulting in a large splash. This caused a jet of water to shoot into Brimstone's open mouth, causing him to choke and cough up clouds of black smoke profusely.
"Ack! My…fire breath…" hacked Brimstone, "I gotta go!" And with that, he disappeared from "Coral's" sight once again.
"Coral Cake" slammed her hooves against the water in frustration. "No no no, I lost him again!" the starfish on her head slipped off and landed beside her. "This is just great, now I have to apologize to him AND Pinkie Pie." She said to herself slightly disgruntled, inching herself back to Ponyville like a caterpillar.
Back at Brimstone's store, which was promptly named "Silver Smoke Jewelry", he began rummaging through one of his bags for something to aid his "water problem". Finally he found it, a lump of coal which his put in his mouth, chewed thoroughly and swallowed. After some deep breathing, his fire breath returned to normal.
"Phew, that's much better." Brimstone sighed in relief. "Okay, it's obvious that I won't be able to get my materials with that pink lunatic running around, I was lucky to escape with my sanity. Only one thing to do, I'll have to get the gold ore while she's sleeping." But before Brimstone could confirm his foolproof plan, a thought came to mind.
"Nutballs do sleep, right?"
After gathering his wagon and pickaxe, Brimstone quietly tiptoed out of Ponyville towards Equestria's most popular gold mine, the "Mine All Mine". Stopping by the mine's entrance, he puffed some fire at a torch and ventured inside. The cave walls glimmered at the light of the fire bounced of the gold's reflective surfaces. Brimstone grabbed his pickaxe and walked towards some protruding gold ore. He was only able to make a couple of cracks in the rock before something caught his attention. There was a delightful smell wafting through the still cave air, it was sweet and it tickled Brimstone's senses.
"Mmm…what is that smell? Smells like…cake." Suddenly, Brimstone's green eyes shot open once again. "Oh no…" His hunch was correct, a dark silhouette of a mare with piercing blue eyes and a slasher smile was slowly approaching him.
"Hi friend…" said Pinkie Pie in a bone chilling calm. "Coral Cake was so sorry about what happened, she asked me to make you this…" She pulled out a large cake from behind her back, it had a picture of a sad face with the words "I'm sorry" written in dark red icing. "You like it? It's white chocolate, your favorite."
Brimstone started backing away from the advancing mare. "No no, it's okay. You didn't need to do this." He answered back with a nervous chuckle.
"You don't want it?" muttered the puffy haired pony. Tears welled up in her eyes but her smile remained in place. "But I made it for you!" shrieked Pinkie Pie through her teeth.
"Abort mission! Abort mission! Abort mission!" Brimstone responded to his thoughts by galloping out of the mine at full speed, screaming like a little filly.
"GET BACK HERE AND EAT YOUR CAKE!" roared the now furious Pinkie Pie as she loaded the cake into her Party Cannon and fired it towards her fleeing target.
"No no no no no no!" cried the panicking Brimstone as the cake made perfect contact with the back of his head, knocking him off of his hooves, and causing him to slide across the ground for several seconds. After finally coming to a stop, he lifted up his head and saw that he was covered in dirt and cake.
"Am I being punished" uttered the confused stallion.
"Eeyup." Answered Big Macintosh casually as he passed by.
Brimstone could only scowl.