Chapter 3: Burning Love

While Grayback and Fluttershy were having their conversation, Psyke as sitting outside with a pink earth pony. The bold red alicorn couldn't believe that Pinkie Pie had actually agreed to talk to him. The duo sat down at an outdoor table as Psyke tried to figure out the best way to begin a conversation with her. His mind drew a total blank and Psyke was getting very frustrated with himself.

Way to go genius. Psyke thought to himself angrily. You go around dragging an enemy outside like this and you don't even know where to begin. No wonder ponies think you're insane.

Pinkie Pie meanwhile was whistling to herself. The pink pony was waiting for Psyke to speak with her. Pinkie Pie liked the way that the red alicorn looked. She looked at his fiery orange mane and felt a small blush begin to form on her already pink face. Psyke was definitely good looking and Pinkie Pie just wanted to talk with him.

"Psyke." she began as his crimson eyes locked onto her. "Do you wanna talk?"

"Ummm sure." Psyke replied nervously. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"I wanna hear more jokes." Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "You're so funny!"

"You think I'm funny?" Psyke asked.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head a bunch of times and Psyke smiled a bit. He started telling some jokes and Pinkie Pie was giggling happily at each of them. The fiery red alicorn was surprised that the pink earth pony actually found him to be funny. Most ponies he met felt that his jokes were lame, annoying, and painfully unfunny. Pinkie Pie however was giggling so hard that it looked like she couldn't stop. Psyke grinned a bit as he listened to the female pony's laughter. He found Pinkie Pie's giggles to be extremely cute. Suddenly he had an unexplained urge to hug Pinkie Pie.

No don't think like that. Psyke thought to himself firmly. You can't fall for her.

Psyke had always had a weakness for anything that was cute. He might have been a fire loving pony but he still had a thing for what he would refer to as cuteness overload. Unfortunately for him Pinkie Pie was cute all the time and he found her especially cute when she was laughing, which was what she was doing right now. Pinkie Pie wiped away the tears of laughter from her eyes as her giggling subsided. She and Psyke got up and walked through the empty streets of Ponyville as they continued to talk.

Pinkie Pie told Psyke that she loved making cupcakes, cookies, cakes and other delicious sweets. She mentioned that she especially loved throwing parties which was what had gotten her her cutie mark. Psyke then told Pinkie Pie that he had an uncanny control over all fire. He could be the cause of a fire or he could easily prevent one. The two ponies walked side by side until Pinkie Pie started giggling.

"What's so funny Pinkie?" Psyke asked in an upbeat tone. He was enjoying the time that he was spending with Pinkie Pie and he liked seeing her in a good mood.

"Your wing." Pinkie Pie said. "It's touching my cutie mark. It tickles." She kept on giggling uncontrollably as Psyke came to a stop. He quickly moved his wing off of Pinkie Pie's flank and could feel the blush growing on his crimson face. He mentally slapped himself for what he had just done.

Come on Psyke get a grip on yourself! he mentally shouted. You can't go around tip touching her! Even if she is the cutest pony you've ever seen in your life.

Psyke and Pinkie Pie kept on walking as the red alicorn couldn't stop thinking about how cute the pink pony beside him was. He just wanted to give Pinkie Pie a great big hug but he didn't want to make her feel awkward. His crimson eyes widened as an idea made its way into his mind.

"Hey Pinkie." he began. "Have you ever flown before?"

"Lots of times." Pinkie Pie replied. "I've been in a hot air balloon. I tied balloons to myself and I even made my own PinkieCopter twice."

Psyke grinned a bit as he had a mental image of Pinkie Pie tied to a bunch of balloons. However that wasn't the type of flying that he had in mind.

"Do you want me to show you a really fun way of flying?" he asked with a hint of mischief in his voice.

"More fun than The PinkieCopter?" Pinkie Pie asked in disbelief as her sky blue eyes widened which only made her look cuter in Psyke's personal opinion.

"Loads more fun." Psyke told her with a grin as his horn glowed a bit in excitement.

"I wanna fly." Pinkie Pie said excitedly as she began to bounce up and down in her enthusiasm. Psyke found Pinkie Pie's excitement to be contagious and he barely kept himself from jumping around.

"Then follow me." Psyke replied as he made his way to a building with Pinkie Pie bouncing along behind him.

Soon enough the duo made their way onto the roof of a building and were looking down on the streets of Ponyville. Psyke had to admit that for a small town it did look a bit cool. Pinkie Pie was extremely eager to start flying so Psyke had her stand in front of him on her hind legs. He then stood on his hind legs and wrapped his forelegs around Pinkie Pie's waist. Then the duo jumped off the ledge of the building and Psyke's wings took them into the air. He flew into the night sky as Pinkie Pie laughed hysterically in enjoyment.

The fiery red alicorn felt himself blush and he was extremely thankful that his face was crimson. He held Pinkie Pie tightly as he flew through the air and made loops every now and then. He wasn't as skilled as Rainbow Dash, Gilda, or Lightning Dust but he still had some moves in him. Pinkie Pie sounded like she was having the time of her life as she flew through the air in Psyke's grip. She felt like Psyke was giving her a hug which caused her to blush a little. Pinkie Pie was starting to think that Psyke could be a really great friend.

All too soon it was time for their flight to come to an end. Psyke flew back to the ground and he let go of Pinkie Pie as he came to a smooth landing. Pinkie Pie kept telling Psyke that she had a lot of fun with him and Psyke grinned at that statement. He had enjoyed the time he had spent with Pinkie Pie and he wanted to hang out with her longer. The duo walked around until Pinkie Pie asked Psyke where he was staying for the night.

"No idea." Psyke told her honestly as he felt a bit of heartache. "I don't know if we're sticking around tonight."

"You can stay with me." Pinkie Pie told him as her blue eyes looked into his red ones. "I wanna keep talking with you."

"You really like hanging out with me?" Psyke asked in disbelief as his scarlet eyes widened in surprise.

"It was so much fun." Pinkie Pie said. "I really like you Psyke. You're a really great friend."

She thinks I'm her friend? Psyke thought to himself. She doesn't hate me?

"Well maybe I could hang around you for a while." Psyke said with a grin. "You're a pretty awesome pony Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie suddenly moved closer to Psyke and gave him a hug. The strength of her embrace could have put that of a minotaur to shame.

"I love making new friends!" she shouted as she flung her forelegs around the alicorn with a broad and adorable grin on her pink face.

"It's been awesome hanging around with you Pinkalicious." Psyke said without thinking.

It seemed like time itself had frozen. A huge blush appeared on the faces of both ponies when they realized what had been said just then. Psyke mentally beat himself up at the sheer stupidity of what he had just said to Pinkie Pie.

Really dude? he asked himself. You hang around with an enemy. You start tip touching her and now you're giving her a pet name? What is wrong with you? Also Pinkalicious? Seriously? If you're gonna dig your own grave then at least think of something clever. You're hopeless Psyke. Totally hopeless.

Pinkie Pie however seemed to like the nickname that Psyke gave her. Her face brightened as she stated that she loved being called Pinkalicious.

"I like it." she said. "I love it. It's super duper amazing!" Her pink face was shining with happiness as a grin started to grown on Psyke's crimson face.

Maybe you're not so hopeless after all. he thought to himself as he looked at the positively ecstatic Pinkie Pie. The duo decided to return to the party but they both promised to keep their time alone a secret. They both made what had been referred to as a Pinkie Promise. They walked back into SugarCube Corner and continued to hang around the other ponies but they couldn't resist sneaking some glances at each other.