Chapter Ten: The Realization

Cheese, meanwhile, had chosen the birthday party site to have some alone time. He was slowly playing his accordion as he sat at the base of a tree, with his hat jammed onto his head in such a way that it covered his eyes. The attire usually denoted his darker moods. But the more he thought about what he had said to Pinkie, the more he wanted to shrink into a little puddle of...well, cheese. Why had he said that to her? He was usually so cheerful and bubbly, and he knew that Pinkie did care about him as well as everypony. Perhaps he had been caught off guard. He didn't know.

But those words...He's NOT my coltfriend and he will never be! Cheese knew he must have had liked Pinkie more than he thought. He felt a sense of hopelessness when he recalled them. He could feel his poufy hair getting flatter by the minute.

His musings were interrupted when he heard a voice call his name. Cheese turned his head and saw a stern-looking Twilight. "We need to talk."

"When did you leave?" asked Cheese idly.

"After Pinkie did. She's probably looking for you." Twilight stood in front of him. "You need to apologize for what you said to her, you know. It was extremely unkind and uncalled for."

All of Cheese's anger had by then dissipated. "I know..." he muttered sadly.

"It's not her fault she doesn't realize you like her. Mares, no matter what you hear, cannot read minds. Unless, of course, I learned a mind-reading spell," Twilight added, mostly to herself, "but that would be an invasion of somepony's privacy and very rude..."

"I get it. Pinkie just doesn't feel that way about me..." sighed Cheese. "I never thought I'd get so down over a silly thing like love."

Twilight blinked dumbly. "Uhh...okay, what are you talking about? She's obviously crushing on you."

He wanted to believe it, but he didn't. "You heard what she said to her family."

"She was under pressure! Pressure does mind-warping things to a pony. Myself included," admitted the purple pony sheepishly.

Cheese stood up. "...You don't really think..."

"Of course! You two were pretty much made for each other," chuckled Twilight. "It'd be cute for you two to be together! And I even think you should ask her to be your special somepony. After, of course, you apologize."

"Okay...I...I'm gonna go up to Pinkie..."

Twilight nodded with a smile.

"Apologize, and then..."

Twilight nodded even faster, a gleeful look in her eyes.

"And then tell her that I CAN'T DO IT!" exclaimed Cheese suddenly as he sat back down and wrapped his hooves around his knees. He was shaking. "I can't just tell her! She'll reject me! Nopony likes me when I'm this serious!"

Twilight shrugged. "Then be silly."

"How do I silly-lusly ask Pinkie to be my special somepony?" asked Cheese curiously. "I mean, I don't think it could be done..."

"Well, maybe—"

"OH! Maybe I could be dressed in a cat costume or...maybe a chicken costume..." Cheese mused. "Or...ohh. Oh, this is good. This is REALLY good..." He stood up again. "This is quite possibly the best plan to woo a mare that I could possibly have conceived! Thank you, Twilight!" With that, he galloped away to begin planning, leaving a blank Twilight standing in front of a tree that only five seconds ago had had an unhappy Cheese sitting there.

Rainbow groaned as she and Fluttershy stood near the snacks while the other ponies halfheartedly danced. "They've been gone forEVER! The plan couldn't have backfired."

"I don't know," replied Fluttershy sadly. "Oh, I hope this hasn't ruined their chances forever. I should have stopped this..."

Rainbow snorted. "Please. Like I said, it's foolproof. They're obviously gonna whine about it, meet up again, and after a bit of awkward conversation, somepony will admit their love for the other and whoop-tee-doo, they're together forever."

"Well, I think that could have an even better happen if we pushed them to each other, without their knowing," said Fluttershy.

"Dang, Fluttershy! You're getting pretty good at manipulating ponies!"

"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Fluttershy, beaming. After a few seconds, her smile faded. "Oh, dear..."

Rainbow paced in front of the shy pony. "Now...how to do it...?"

Suddenly, the door opened. An unhappy Pinkie walked in along with another mare they didn't recognize. Rarity, along with Pinkie's family, did.

"MAUD!" squealed Marble and Limestone. They galloped towards the mare and started badgering her with questions. The mare responded quietly and Fluttershy and Rainbow could see that by the twins' guilty looks as they looked away, Maud had scolded them for being so stallion-crazy. Rainbow mouthed an apology.

Pinkie walked past her sisters, and arrived at the snack bar. "Hi, girls," she asked with a fake smile. It was obviously fake as it was large and showed too many teeth to be natural. "Fun party?"

"What's wrong?" asked Fluttershy worriedly. She was good at reading ponies. "Did something happen with Cheese after you left?"

Pinkie sighed, quickly abandoning the façade. "Well, no. That's the problem. I really want to talk to him!"

Rainbow smirked. "Is that so? Why?"

"Well...oh...no reason...except the fact that I need to tell him THAT I LOVE HIM!" yelled Pinkie, slamming her hoof onto the table. The pegasi's mouths were open. Pinkie tipped her head. "What?" Her outburst had also drawn surprised looks from the other ponies, who began to approach her. Pinkie didn't notice this.

"I...well...you just yelled it out...and..." spluttered Fluttershy.

"That was totally awesome! You totally professed your love for him in front of everypony!" laughed Rainbow, flying up in a circle.

Marble and Limestone was squealing. "Pinkie! You DO love him!" exclaimed Marble.

"But he's not yet your coltfriend," added Limestone. "Gonna change that?"

"Mm-hmm! Sorry for getting all crazy back there! Well, here. Well...I'm confused!" Pinkie finished, her eyes going wonky for a moment.

Igneous cleared his throat. Everypony looked to him. "Well...I think I'll need to meet this colt for myself. I only want the best for my little filly!"

"We all do, dear," added Cloudy. Rarity, who had been standing and conversing with the mare, laughed.

"Sure, Pop, but you'll have to let me talk to him first," replied Pinkie seriously. "I want to patch things up."

Marble and Limestone exchanged looks. "Pinkie..." began Marble.

"We're sorry," finished Limestone. "We didn't mean to...well, you know..."

Rainbow and Fluttershy approached as well. "No, we're sorry, Pinkie," sighed Rainbow. "I was the one who came up with the plan to badger you like that. I guess it got a little out of hand, but I really think you and Cheese would be great together."

"No, I'm sorry. I saw that this was going to blow up, and..." Fluttershy began, but Pinkie cut her off.

"It's in the past, young mares. You're ALL forgiven; bring it here!" she exclaimed, plopping down where she was standing and spreading her front legs for a hug. Her sisters and pegasi friends accepted the offer. As they did so, Pinkie looked up. "Hello? Isn't everypony gonna join in?"

"...Why?" asked Applejack. "Ah don' think Ah had much of a part in—"

"It's a 'Pinkie's in love and she loves you' hug! You really want to pass up one o' those?" asked Pinkie. The other ponies shrugged and joined in on the hug.

Pinkie, in a happier mood, ended up having a good time at Gummy's party. Only at night when she was about to go to bed did she remember what had transpired between herself and Cheese, and she worried. What if he left? What if he was so mad at her that he didn't want to see her again? Pinkie couldn't shake these thoughts from her mind however hard she tried. It was rather bothersome; she was supposed to be eagerly anticipating her party, not worry about Cheese!

But she liked Cheese. He was her friend (and now crush) and she couldn't stand the thought of his being angry with her. She wanted to be his special somepony and have parties and always be together! Then another thought hit her. Even if he wasn't mad he would still have to leave. Pinkie understood that, really, he was a train ride away and he would totally write letters and all, but he would leave. That didn't help her plight at all. Pinkie stuffed her face into her pillow.

Eventually she forced herself to go to sleep. Thank goodness Luna was there to help banish her dreams of Cheese's eventual departure.

Kind of a short chap, sorry. I'll make up for it in review replies! Trust me, there was a LOT. Not complaining; you guys are great :)

2vdream: You got it; your review made me feel 20% cooler! Thanks for the faves and follows, also. You rock!

CrazyNutBob: And she keeps on announcing, haha! Oh, yay, I hope so. :)

AwkwardTurtle13: Thanks, I feel better about myself now! I'm glad you liked Pinkie's reaction, and since Cheese is Pinkie's clone he overreacts to everything. But let's see how things play out and who knows? These two crazy kids might just get together. And actually, I do love to listen to music that fits character's situations; I like to have them dancing or doing scenes in my head. Hehe...I'm so weird. I'll try to check out that song. :D

wildone97: *sheepish* It just kind of happened. I'm surprised it came together to be a good story, haha! And man, I am SO obsessed with Betty and Simon. Just...gaaaah feels

Psychochiken: Thanks for the fave and follow! :3

Dixie Darlin: *gasp* Oh no! You're dead?! What will Turbo think? *wails* I was going to get his autograph! Lol. And yeah, I hope I made Maud likeable. She's exactly what Pinkie needs to get the romance going between our favorite party ponies!

Saiya-jin Queen: Ikr! Don't worry about Cheese and Pinkie...somehow I think they'll be fine.

Guest: Ah, well, I was trying to make him just like Pinkie. Opposites aren't the only ones who attract~! Unfortunately, I won't be doing an insanity point in this story. I'm sorry!

FrutySheep: Yay! I wrote Maud as kind of that cool big sister that the reader can't help but like. Odd, considering I don't have a big sister like that...well, I am a cool big sister so maybe that works. ^^ And I'm glad you liked the cupcake, it's made of pony flesh. *crickets chirp* Just kidding, it's chocolate.

jack09: Thanks for the favorites and follows! You rock, man :D

Blackarachnia123: Thanks so much! I'm so glad you like it! Thank you also for faving and following :3

Guest: It's not been confirmed that it's a key yet (although it is my own theory). All I know is, Cheese did give it to her and so it's Pinkie's. *shrug* Glad you're enjoying, though!

randomhumanbeing: I figured that Flutters just kinda sent the letter and Discord, being Discord, appeared right when he found out that he was being written to. As for Rainbow, I think she took up on reading romance novels to try and calm the fluttering butterflies in her tummy when she thinks about Soarin, hee! Maybe while she's waiting for the next Daring Do to come out. But thanks for your complements, you're so nice! :D

Shadougelover14: She shall! She must! Pinkie must undo the curse she had made or what kind of author am I? With her friends' help, of course!

StarBlazer124: Thank you for faving and following, you awesome person! :3

YourExtremelyObsessiveFriend: Ahh thanks for faving and following me and PBE! I hope I continue to satisfy!

Marley Hippie: Course I am! Unlike some other stories, this one will be finished. It. Will. And thanks for following! :D

That was a lot, guys! Haha! Keep reading and God bless!

Shippings