Chapter 30: Feeling Pinkie Keen
Author's Notes: Well, hope you guys had a happy 4th. Mine was a bit quiet. Played videogames and watching videos online as well as a bit of writing this, it's a long one. As well as barbequing myself a hot dog and hamburger. Sorry for those of you that were expecting it to come out last week. Just felt I needed a little break. That sometimes happens I guess, may have said it before but if you don't see it by Saturday for this story at the latest it will probably be out the week after.
Just to give a little warning for this chapter it contains some slight defense of lesbians. But that's only for a brief scene. That is not meant to offend anyone, unless you're a violent opposer of that sort of thing. Everyone has a right to love who they choose to love, be it man or woman. Though certain lines should not be crossed of course like… well… I'll be mentioning those in the story when the scene comes.
In one of the streets of Ponyville, Twilight was practicing her magic with Fire and Moondancer as well as her constant companion Spike. Both Spike and Fire had rocks on their heads, a cluster of vines around their necks, a branch in their hand or hoof respectively. Twilight and Moondancer faced them with horns lit up, lavender for Twilight and white for Moondancer.
Both unicorns struggled, then the vines around Spike's neck turned into a black suit with a white undershirt and red bow tie.
"Wow, nice work Twilight!" Moondancer praised as she looked at her fellow unicorn.
"Thanks, Moondancer," Twilight acknowledged with a smile but didn't look her way.
It wasn't out of rudeness, but this particular bit of magic required constant concentration until done or it would fail. She then turned the stick into a fancy black and gold cane which Spike grabbed happily. But then he looked off to something on the side.
"Eyes over here, Spike!" Twilight said.
"Uh, sorry," Spike replied as he turned back to her.
Moondancer's horn flashed a bit but she couldn't seem to get any of the simple nature objects Fire was wearing to transfigure.
"Wow this hard," she sighed as she sweated a bit.
"For this to work, it's crucial we keep our concentration totally on the-
They heard a faint cry nearby. This drew the attention of most of them. Twilight, however was too concentrated on her magic and managed to transform the rock on Spike's head into a hat hovering above him. But as he looked away, it turned back into a rock and hit him on the noggin. He cried out in pain.
Twilight frowned. "Spike! This magic needs our full attention to make it happen. There's no other way!"
Fire frowned at her. "Twilight! He just got hit on the head by a rock and you're more worried about your magic working? That's no better than when he laughed at your attempt of skating during Winter Wrap Up! Just because he's your number one assistant doesn't give you the right to dismiss his well-being!"
Twilight's eyes widened and she gasped in remorse. "You're right! Sorry Spike. I just really wanted to get this one down!"
Spike got up and rubbed his head. "It's okay. I just can't help it! I can't help it. Look!"
He pointed and the three ponies looked. They saw Pinkie Pie come out from behind a tree with a… weird rainbow-colored umbrella hat on her head and a scared expression as she looked around and scuttled forward so fast she seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke. She hid beneath the patio of one of the houses and looked up as though expecting something to fall. Then she somehow squeezed under a rock near them and continued.
"Never mind her," Twilight said with a sigh. "She's just being Pinkie Pie."
"Super-extra Pinkie Pie today," Spike said scratching his head.
"This does a seem a little unusual," Fire noted. "Even for her."
"Maybe we should see what's up," Moondancer suggested.
They followed her and Pinkie stopped. Then her tail started twitching rapidly and she looked at it.
"Hmm... Twitchy twitcha twitcha twitch."
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked as the four of them approached her. "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria are you up to?"
"Oh! It's my tail! It's my tail!" Pinkie said as she showed Twilight her tail so close it brushed the unicorn's face. "It's a-twitch a-twitchin'! And you know what that means!"
Twilight moved the tail out of her face. "Actually, Pinkie, I haven't the slightest idea."
"Me neither," Fire said as Moondancer likewise shook her head in confusion.
"The twitchin' means my Pinkie Sense is telling me that stuff's gonna start falling!" She told them. "You guys better duck for cover."
Fire frowned and looked up. There wasn't anything in the sky… except for…
Twilight smiled. "Oh, Pinkie, it's not gonna rain. Why, there's barely even a cloud in the-ugh!"
Suddenly a frog had landed on her face. It croaked.
"He just said 'nice catch' in Frog," Pinkie translated.
The frog croaked again. Then the one Fire had spotted in the sky spoke softly. Fluttershy, she was currently flying just above them with a wooden cart, a basket, and a saddle bag all full of frogs.
"Oh, I'm so so sorry," Fluttershy said. "You okay, Twilight Sparkle? I just couldn't stand to see the pond getting so over-populated, what with the frogs all hopping into each other and all, so I decided to fly as many as I can on over to Froggy Bottom Bogg."
Twilight looked annoyed as the frog that had fallen on her was still on her face. "Of course you did."
"Bye-bye!" Fluttershy said in a muffled voice since she now had the basket in her mouth.
"Hey wait!" Fire called.
She stopped.
"You probably don't want to forget about this frog!" Fire said as he pulled the frog on Twilight's face off and flew up to Fluttershy with it then put it gently in her mane.
"Oh, you're right! How silly of me!" Fluttershy said before looking at him. "But maybe you'd like to take him?"
"Uh," Fire hesitated. "Thanks, but I don't have a pond or anything around my place."
Also, he wasn't much of a frog pony either. Fluttershy though, she'd take anything.
"Oh, right," Fluttershy agreed. "Bye now."
She then took off.
"Well, see you guys later," Pinkie said as she walked off singing with the umbrella hat still on her head.
Twilight looked at them. "C'mon, guys, let's continue our practice session where there's a little less commotion."
"Wow! That was amazing!" Spike said jumping on Twilight's back as they began walking through Ponyville. "Pinkie Pie predicted something would fall, and it did!"
"Oh, come on. She said that something would fall, and a frog just happened to fall right around the same time. A coincidence, nothing else to it."
Fire wasn't entirely sure. He tried to keep an open mind but this was a little unbelievable for him.
Moondancer, however, wasn't so open. "Yeah, no way a twitching tail can…"
"My tail! My tail!" Pinkie interrupted as she appeared behind them, her tail twitching again as she jumped wildly. "Twitch-a-twitch Twitch-a-twitch! Somethin' else is gonna fall!"
Twilight smirked and continued walking as Fire looked up in slight worry. "Oh, Pinkie, please."
Fire saw nothing in the sky. But looking back at the way Twilight was going…
"Hey look out!" he called.
"Nothing else is gonna fa— aaah!" Twilight yelped as she fell into a ditch that she hadn't seen while distracted talking to Pinkie.
Spike landed on the edge of the ditch. "Oh no, Twilight fell! Is it... safe to go help her?
"It's okay, my tail stopped twitching," Pinkie said gesturing to said tail and throwing off the umbrella hat before walking off while singing.
Twilight got up in the ditch, shaking off the pain from the fall.
Spike laughed as he said, "That was amazing!"
Fire was beginning to think this Pinkie Sense was for real.
Twilight was still not having it. "Oh, please."
Moondancer was likewise frowning in disbelief.
Then they heard a new voice and looked to see Applejack with Grand Garden by her side. "Uh, Twilight? Why are you hanging out in a ditch?"
"Yeah, I mean I like working in the dirt but that doesn't seem to be your cup of soil," Grand Garden said.
"Because, Pinkie Pie predicted it!" Spike told them.
"No, she did not!" Moondancer objected.
"Yeah! Two coincidences in a row like this may be unlikely, but it's still easier to believe than twitchy tails that predict the future," Twilight agreed as she climbed onto the edge of the ditch and twitched her tail for them to see.
Applejack gasped and flailed her hooves in fright. "Twitchy tail? Pinkie Sense? Whoa! Come on Grand! Nyu-uh!"
She grabbed Grand who looked confused. They both went under a fruit cart. Fire reached out a hoof to help Twilight out of the ditch and she took it with a smile.
Spike, meanwhile, approached Applejack. "Don't worry, it's safe. Prediction already came true."
"Oh, wait. Don't tell me you believe in this stuff, too?" Twilight asked incredulously.
"I know it doesn't make much sense," Applejack said as she got out from under the cart. "But those of us who have been in Ponyville a while have learned over time that, if Pinkie's a-twichin', you better listen."
And then Pinkie was back again. "My ears are flopping! My ears are flopping!
"Nyuh!" Spike put both hands up to shield himself. "What does that mean?"
Not wanting to take any chances after seeing the two time fall confirmation, Fire put up a red shield around himself.
Pinkie turned to Twilight and Moondancer. "I'll start a bath for you two."
"Huh?" They said together.
"A bath?" she chuckled. "This thing keeps on getting more ridiculous by the minute!"
Moondancer smiled in agreement, but in the next second a cart came speeding by, running through a nearby puddle of mud which flew up and hit both mares. Their eyes widened and then Twilight growled furiously while Moondancer was shocked.
"Okay, now I believe it!" Fire said.
"Me too!" Spike said.
"Well, I'll leave you two to clean up," Applejack said. "Got some work to finish up. I've got a new apple cellar that I just got done making! Now I can have more room!"
Grand Garden smiled at his marefriend. "Well I'm happy to lend you a hoof with that my strong tender apple."
"Aw shucks," Applejack said with a blush. "I always appreciate it my fine gardener feller."
They'd been rather awkward with flirting at first but now after a few months of dating they were completely on the same page. The two Earth Ponies walked off to do their work together.
Fire and the others meanwhile, went inside Sugarcube Corner where the two scholarly unicorns each had a bubble bath in the tub. Moondancer was in first while Twilight sat on a towel to avoid getting mud all over the place.
Pinkie meanwhile took the opportunity to explain her Pinkie Sense to them as she brough in another formula for the bath. "Sooo, basically, it works like this; I get different, little, niggly feelings and they mean different things. Like when my back is itchy."
Her back seemed to shake for them to see. "It means it's my lucky day. And, when my knee gets pinchy." Her knee shook. "That means something scary's about to happen."
Twilight and Moondancer both looked at her skeptically but frowned uneasily.
"Is your knee pinchy now?" Twilight asked.
"No," Pinkie replied before turning to the tub and Moondancer. "But my shoulder's achy. That means there's an alligator in the tub.
Fire's eyes widened as he looked at Moondancer who was in the tub. Pinkie got there first though and dunked her head into the water, pulling out a little alligator. Moondancer screamed and jumped out onto Fire's back, getting him all wet too.
"Don't let it eat me!" she said frightfully.
Twilight looked at Pinkie in confusion as well as fear now. "How come your knee didn't get pinchy?! That isn't just scary, it's downright dangerous!"
Pinkie smiled. "No, it's not, silly!" she put the alligator down and pointed at it. "This is my pet alligator, Gummy. He's got no teeth."
As if to demonstrate, Gummy opened his jaws which were indeed devoid of teeth and began jumping around on Pinkie and harmlessly biting her on various parts.
"See? Haha!" Pinkie giggled.
"Okay, okay... I get it," Twilight said.
She got her bath then they walked outside. Unfortunately, both unicorns were still very skeptical.
"Well, I still don't believe all this... "special power" stuff," Twilight said. "It's just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo."
Moondancer nodded in agreement.
Pinkie Pie was looking a little agitated now. "What's not to believe? You three do magic, what's the difference?"
This cause Twilight's mouth to fall open as Pinkie went ahead. That had touched a nerve though.
"Huge!" Twilight exclaimed. "For one thing…"
She stood on a soap box among the streets vendor stands, brushing the soap on top of it aside then clearing her throat as though proudly giving a speech. "Magic is something you study and practice. It only happens when you decide to do it, and it's meant to make something specific that you choose to happen, happen."
"Yeah, we have to hone our skills through lots of effort!" Moondancer concurred as she stood by Twilight's side. "Right Fire?"
"Well, yeah but I've both seen Pinkie's ability in action," Fire said as he stood between them. "And Fluttershy is a Pegasus! Earth Ponies are supposed to be the ones that can talk to animals typically. Maybe this is just another one of those unique cases. I can't really explain it."
"Well, it makes no sense at all!" Twilight said to Pinkie.
"That's so not true, Twilight!" Pinkie said seriously before changing her tune to that of a silly one. "Sometimes it's a bunch of random things happening to my body at random times that supposedly predict the future. I call 'em "combos".
"Combos?" Twilight repeated as she got off her high horse, or high box.
Moondancer sighed. "Here we go. Just another crazy visit to Ponyville."
"Sure!" Pinkie said as she bounced after Twilight who was now approaching the Golden Oaks Library. "You know, like, ear flop, then knee twitch, then eye flutter."
She flopped her ears then twitched her knee and fluttered her eyes to demonstrate. "That means the sky is about to be graced with a beautiful rainbow!"
Twilight smiled to hide her disbelief. "Yeah, sure."
"Uh-oh!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I feel a combo coming on. Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch!"
Her body did all these actions as Twilight just smirked and made her way toward the door… which suddenly burst open, right into her. Twilight exclaimed in pain as Spike emerged from within the library carrying a pile of books. He closed the door behind him, revealing Twilight flattened on the other side, literally.
"Ughhh..." Twilight groaned as her friends gathered around her in concern. "You said that combo meant 'beautiful rainbow'."
Her eyes spun as she spoke.
"Oh no-no-no-no-no," Pinkie shook her head. "You're thinking of an ear flop, then knee twitch, then eye flutter."
She did those actions to demonstrate and then did them again in a different order. "This was an ear flop, then eye flutter, then knee twitch. That usually means "look out for opening doors". You okay?"
Twilight got up and shook her head. "I don't believe this."
"Me neither!" Moodancer agreed.
Fire sighed. "You bookworms are really stubborn you know!"
"You read nearly as much!" Moondancer said.
"Whatever, I've seen like four or five times where Pinkie is right so far," Fire said. "And you guys wrong that many times. Good enough for me. See you around."
He flew off, wanting to avoid listening to this arguing back and forth. He pondered what he would do now. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were both out of town, Rarity for her fashion debut in Canterlot while Rainbow was in Cloudsdale. He sighed in contentment, glad for the break from the arguing. Things were peaceful now, for the moment at least.
But that moment soon came to an end as he heard an earpiercing scream.
Fire dove into action and headed in the direction of the sound. He found a dark brown stallion hitting a green mare… one he recognized.
"Please stop Hardy!" Lyra Heartstrings begged the stallion.
"You should be with a stallion like me not another mare!" the stallion snapped. "Its an abomination! Mares like you should be whipped for such things!"
"Stop right there!" Fire shouted as he flew over the scene, levitating Lyra away from the stallion.
"Prince Fire!" she exclaimed in relief.
He landed in front of her protectively, facing Hardy. "How dare you strike a mare!"
"This mare has been kissing another mare, your highness!" Hardy protested. "That goes against the natural order!"
"Says who? We should all be free to love who we love!" Fire snapped.
"Oh, like if a brother were to love his sister? Or a grown stallion could love a little filly?" Hardy retorted.
"Okay, maybe not that kind," Fire admitted. "But you can't just attack or discriminate somepony because of who they like! Not in this instance!"
Hardy growled and came at him. The air around Ponyville was filled with grunts of pain and the sound of magic was heard. When it was all over, Hardy lay on the ground groaning in defeat while Fire barely had a scratch.
His Pegasus guards soon arrived at the scene and put the villain in a cage.
"Take this one to Canterlot for assault," Fire ordered. "Both against me and a mare!"
"Yes, Prince Fire." They said as they harnessed themselves to the cage and took off toward the city that was visible even from here on the mountain.
Fire then turned to Lyra. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, though he noticed a black eye. "Nothing permanent at least. Thank you. That stallion was trying to win me over for these past few weeks but I guess he saw me and Bonbon holding hooves and got angry."
Fire sighed. "Some ponies just can't take rejection. You need any help?"
"I'll be fine, after a little ice." She rubbed her eye.
He escorted her home where Bonbon was. They got of a plastic sack and filled it with ice which they put on Lyra's eye.
"Should be fine after an hour, at least to stop the swelling," Bonbon said before turning to Fire. "Thanks."
"No problem. I'm just glad you're okay," Fire said.
Lyra smiled. "You're probably gonna be a famous knight of Equestria as well as a prince, Fire. I bet the histories will remember you for thousands of years."
Fire stiffened. "Uh… yeah. Maybe."
She got up and gave him a one-legged hug that he returned. Fire then made his way outside and began flying once more. He spotted a pink pony below that he immediately recognized as Pinkie Pie and her also saw a purple and green shape that was unmistakably Spike, then… his eyes narrowed. Did a plant just move? Fire glided down to take a closer look. He soon the spotted the cause as Twilight and Moondancer came out of it, having used it as a movable cover. They were both wearing safari like hat and had a set of binocaulurs in their hooves.
"What are you two up to?" Fire asked as he landed next to them.
"Ah!" Both mares yelped in surprise, jumping above the plant.
"What's going on here?" Spike asked as he saw them.
"Honestly, Fire, Spike! Don't you know better than to sneak up on ponies?" Twilight asked.
Fire sniggered. "Yeah like I'd know better! I like to sneak up on ponies sometimes and give them a little fright. Boo!"
Twilight frowned while Moondancer giggled.
"You're funny Fire!" she said.
"Well, we're observing observing Pinkie Pie," Twilight told them as she took cover in the bush. "Scientific name: Pinkius Pieicus, in its natural habitat."
"Yeah!" Moondancer said as she joined Twilight inside.
"Pinkius-whoicus?" Spike asked as he was dragged in.
"There's something fishy going on with the whole twitchy prediction thing," Twilight said. "And we're getting to the bottom of it."
Moondancer nodded. "So can you boys be quiet?"
"And get down Fire!" Twilight said as he was still standing tall.
"Hi Fire!" Pinkie called as she saw him.
He waved awkwardly. "Heeey!"
She turned away and began bouncing while he knelt down.
"Come on, Pinkius Pieicus is on the move," Twilight said from inside the bush.
The three of them followed her from inside the bush and Fire followed behind them, the bush was too small for all four of them.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Fire asked.
"I have to figure this out!" Twilight insisted.
They trailed Pinkie who simply rolled around carefreely on the grass of the nearby school. Twilight got of the bush and looked at their quarry with her binoculars again. She watched as Pinkie scratched her nose.
"Hm, itchy nose." She said for Spike to take notes on the pad she had.
Fire watched. The binoculars were actually a bit pointless as they were able to see Pinkie clearly from this distance. He saw her mouth fall open and heard a faint gasp from her before she took cover under a nearby metal structure while looking up at the sky in fear.
"Aha!" Twilight exclaimed then turned to them. "That makes no sense. See? She's hiding like something's about to fall from the sky, but a twitchy tail means something's gonna fall from the sky, not an itchy nose."
Fire looked up at the sky. There wasn't anything seemingly about to fall but, he heard a faint buzzing sound and saw a large swarm of bees flying around.
Twilight didn't notice it and continued speaking. "This proves perhaps conclusively, that—
Spike, having noticed the bees as well, yelled in fear and began running away.
"Spike! Where are you going?" Twilight asked.
"Girls look out!" Fire shouted as he flew above them and conjured a red shield around the bush they were in as the bees came swarming toward them, trying to sting them.
Twilight and Moondancer were shocked as they saw the bees coming at them. But thankfully didn't get them thanks to Fire's shield. The bees soon realized the futility and flew off elsewhere.
"Phew, that was close!" Twilight said. "Probably would have received a dozen stings there! Thanks Fire."
"Yeah, thanks!" Moondancer said as she hugged him with a blush. "You really saved us a lot of pain there! My hero."
Fire blushed as well, appreciating the compliment. "Uh, you're welcome. That must have been the combination for angry bee swarm."
They'd lost Pinkie Pie in the commotion and got back on the move.
"Come on Twilight, Moondancer, you two should just leave it be," Fire said.
"No! I'm gonna prove this is a hoax!" Twilight declared.
"We're so gonna be famous around Ponyville!" Moondancer said.
"I thought you were shy about that?" Twilight asked.
Moondancer shrugged. "Being on a stage is one thing but proving something scientific is another matter."
They found Pinkie near the Apple farm and hid behind some haybales.
"What's she doing now?" Spike asked.
"Smelling a flower," Twilight said.
"Holy guacamole!" Spike exclaimed. "I wonder what that means?
"Probably that the flower smells good." Twilight stated the obvious as she continued watching through her binoculars. "Wait. I'm getting something. Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch."
"Hold on," Spike looked behind them before picking up his notebook and running away. "You told me that's the combo that says "watch out for opening doors"!
Twilight and Moondancer looked at the door to the barn behind them. Then Twilight smirked. "Oh-ho. You really, really believe this stuff, don't you?"
"Here, let me show you there's nothing to be afraid of." She leaned on the door to the barn, and nothing happened. "You see?"
Moondancer smirked and nodded.
Twilight began walking away from the barn triumphantly. "I promise you there's nothing to fear from that-"
Before anypony knew what hit them, or hit Twilight really, a door from the ground suddenly popped open and Twilight fell in.
"Twilight!" Fire exclaimed.
They heard her give grunts of pain and crash down the steps into-
"Twilight!" Applejack's voice came from inside. "You came to visit my new apple cellar, how nice. Twi? You okay? Uh, Twi?"
Fire, Moondancer and Spike ran down to help.
"Twilight didn't come to visit, she fell in!" Fire told Applejack. "Oh, she looks like she's in bad shape! Come on, let's get her to the hospital!"
Good thing the hospital had some healing potions in stock that helped heal broken bones in just an hour. But Twilight still had to be in a wheelchair with built on supports to move her front hooves for that time. And she still insisted on following Pinkie Pie.
"Here, let me help you," Spike said as he wound a wheel on the chair to help Twilight lift her broken forelegs.
Twilight had a big frown on her face as she put the binoculars to her eyes and they watched.
"Okay, take this down. Twitchy tail," she told Spike.
"Twitchy tail? The little dragon repeated then gasped and yelled in fright. "Twitchy tail!"
He caused the wires supporting Twilight's hooves to move and her to grunt in pain. She turned to him.
"Hush, Spike! We can't let Pinkie know we're here, remember?
But Spike was too scared to hear. "Something's gonna fall, something's gonna fall! Run for your lives."
And he did just that. Moondancer seemed rather uncertain, seemingly unable to deny it anymore. Fire meanwhile looked up and saw-
Twilight, however was still not having. "Ugh. Spike, honestly."
"Move!" Fire yelled as he grabbed her and pulled her out of the wheelchair.
Moondancer likewise leapt off to the side. First a flower pot hit the chair where Twilight had been sitting, then a heavy metal anvil, bales of hay, and finally a piano. That would have probably been enough to nearly kill somepony.
Fire turned up to the team of Pegasi that had dropped the things they were transporting in a massive… truck? Fire didn't see those very often. And how were a pair of Pegasi able to even keep it straight? Much less fly it when it must have weighed a few tons?
"Hey! Watch it!" He yelled up at them. "You could have killed my friend here!"
"Sorry!" the leader of the air transport team said.
Fire turned to Twilight. "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks to you," Twilight said before stubbornly frowning again. "But there's no way Pinkie predicted that with her tail. Right, Moondancer?"
But the yellow unicorn with the red and purple mane sighed. "I'm sorry Twilight but every single time Pinkie's been right! I can't deny it anymore!"
Twilight seethed, steam coming out of her ears.
Fire sighed as he held her in his hooves. "Twilight, this has to stop. You could have been crushed under a bunch of stuff there that would have severely injured or maybe even killed you! I'm taking you back to the library. And you're staying there until you're healed!"
He did just that, carrying her that direction as she rolled her eyes.
"You really have a fetish for picking up mares bridal style, don't you?" she asked.
"I guess," Fire admitted. "Just seems to happen. Had to save Rarity from falling off a cliff, carry Fluttershy up a mountain, and then Rarity jumped into my hooves when we first met Zecora."
"And you picked her up when you danced as I recall," Twilight said. "That's three times for Rarity."
"Oh yeah that too… and now this," Fire said.
"You danced with Rarity?" Moondancer asked a bit jealously.
"It was at a party," Fire said in his defense. "Just as friends."
That appeased Moondancer. He soon put Twilight on bed and conjured a bit of rope to pin her to it.
"Until you heal!" Fire said flatly.
"Is this really necessary?" Twilight asked as she struggled against the rope.
"You seem to be willing to do this even if it kills you! You should have quit after the fall through the cellar," Fire told her.
"There's just no sense or logic to this Pinkie Sense!" Twilight objected.
"And how about Fluttershy speaking to animals when that should be an Earth Pony thing?" Fire reminded her. "It could just be a special ability of Pinkie. Like my mom raises the sun, and my aunt raises the moon!"
"Those are clearly related to their cutie marks and magic!" Twilight said. "Pinkie doesn't have a cutie mark for danger detection or psychic!"
"No, but she is like the queen of weird… in a good way!" Fire said. "Now you get some rest!"
"You're not the boss of me!" Twilight declared.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE, I'M TELLING YOU THIS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!" Fire shouted in his royal Canterlot voice. "You. Need. Some. Rest. Now either you lay down and let yourself heal quickly and quietly, or I'll put you to sleep with a spell."
He lit up his horn to let her know he wasn't kidding. That shut her up, enough.
"Fine… your royal protectiveness," Twilight grumbled.
She shut her eyes and rested. Thanks to the potions she'd been given it was soon over and she was able to walk on her hooves again, though they remained in casts for now. But Twilight was back on it with her them following her. They found Pinkie in the street near the edge of the forest humming.
"Hey, Applejack, Grand. What you two doin'?
"Takin' more apples to my new apple cellar," Applejack gestured to the buckets she and Grand had on their backs. "How 'bout you, Pinkie? What you doing?
"Oh, letting Twilight secretly follow me all day without me knowing," Pinkie said as they approached.
"You mean you knew all along?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Twilight shouted.
Pinkie giggled. "Silly, that would've spoiled the secret!"
Twilight grunted as Spike appeared behind her and asked fearfully. "Tail... still twitching?
"All done," Pinkie replied gesturing to her tail. "Clear skies from here on in, as far as I can tell…"
She sudden began shuddering as though very cold. The vibration was so intense it caused Applejack and Grand's buckets to fall off their backs.
"Oh no! What does that one mean?" Spike asked.
"Dunno, never gotten any like it before, but whatever that shudder's about, it's a doozy," Pinkie said, actually sounding scared now. "Something you'd never expect to happen is gonna happen."
She shook again.
"And it's gonna happen... at Froggy Bottom Bogg!"
Applejack gasped. "That's where Fluttershy's headed!"
"Oh no!" Spike said. "Is it about her?"
Pinkie seemed uncertain. "Uh, I'm not sure."
"How do you even know the location?" Moondancer asked.
"Just saw in my pinkie mind eye!" Pinkie said.
"We better go and make sure she's okay," Applejack said running off.
Twilight was ever in denial. "Calm down, everypony. All we know right now is that Pinkie Pie just got a case of the shivers. That's all."
She looked around and was surprised to see Pinkie, Grand, and Moondancer had all run off after Applejack while Fire flew behind them. She stripped herself of the casts, relieved to see her front legs were finally fully healed and sprinted after them, taking Spike on her back.
"Hey! I thought you didn't believe in this stuff?" Spike asked as he held on.
"I don't," Twilight affirmed. "I just want to be there to see the look on Pinkie's face when we find out nothing's wrong."
"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie replied with no ill feelings.
They continued with Pinkie getting more shivers. Fire did his best to ignore Twilight's denial the rest of the way.
"So... whadda'ya think happened to Fluttershy?" Spike asked.
"I hope nothin," Applejack said.
"Well, if there's some monster or something attacking her, I'll fight it off!" Fire declared.
"You're always so brave," Moondancer said with admiration. "But… I don't want to see you get hurt."
Fire scoffed. "Relax, my talent is combat! And I'm the Element of Balance! The one that evens the odds when things get bad, remember?"
Moondancer smiled. "Yeah, you did keep me from maybe sinking into a long depression."
"And helped me feel better during Winter Wrap Up," Twilight said. "If you hadn't talked some sense into Spike, he might have never stood up for me to Applejack."
The orange Earth Pony frowned. "He's also the reason you tried to use magic in the first place."
She then turned to Fire. "But yeah, you do seem to keep things from getting worse then they could. At least some of the time. Let's just hope Fluttershy's okay."
"She's fine, I'm sure of it," Twilight insisted.
Applejack continued into the woods. "I hope you're right, for Fluttershy's sake. Look!"
She pointed at a large muddy bog. "There's Froggy Bottom Bogg!
Dragonflies buzzed around the brown river which they approached.
"Fluttershy?!" Applejack called.
They all began walking (or in Fire's case, flying). He flew up to get a bird's eye view and soon spotted their Pegasus friend standing on a rock near the edge of the bog.
"Fluttershy!" he exclaimed as he flew over to her.
"Fire?" she spoke in surprise.
Spike spotted her as well and jumped onto her back, hugging her in relief. "Fluttershy! You're okay!"
Fluttershy was surprised by so many of her friends coming there. "Of course."
"Phew, what a relief," Applejack said.
"Yeah," Grand Garden agreed.
Fire looked at Fluttershy. "Sorry to startle you. Pinkie had this feeling something was going to happen here and we were worried about you."
"I'm so glad everything's all right," Pinkie said.
Twilight stepped up to the edge of the bog in triumph. "Sorry, I know it's not nice to gloat but... Aha! I told you there was nothing to worry about, and I was right."
Suddenly something big began to move around them and green mist covered the area as Twilight continued.
"Pinkie Pie said whatever she was shuddering about was a…" She coughed a few more times as she spoke. then resumed speaking. "Doozy, and… and the only…doozy here is how right I am.
Applejack shuddered now as she and Grand Garden fearfully walked over to the others who were all huddled together. Except for Fire who was in front of them with a determined battle-ready expression. "Um... Twilight?" the Earth Pony said.
But Twilight was still gloating, not noting the danger behind her as she continued coughing. "Pinkie's made a lot of predictions today but… ugh, what is that smell? But what we've shown here is that there's no point in believing… in anything you can't see for yourself.
Spike stuttered as he pointed. "W-Well t-then, s-see what's b-b-behind you, Twilight!
The creature growled and Twilight turned to see the four long snakelike necks reaching high into the sky, with four heads at the top towering over them.
"I see it... but I don't believe it!" Twilight said.
Three of the heads roared, then the fourth joined in after a brief hesitation.
"Is that a hydra?!" Pinkie asked in fright.
"Yeah!" Fire confirmed. "You girls run! I'll hold it off!"
He flew up high and shouted to get the creature's attention. "Hey! Up here! Come get me you four headed freak!"
"Fire no!" Moondancer exclaimed as she and Fluttershy looked up at him in concern.
"Come on let's do what he says!" Applejack said to the yellow unicorn. "Run!"
They all did so, except for Pinkie and Grand who were both shaking in fear. Above them, the four heads snapped at Fire who barrel rolled out of the way of them all. Two of the heads banged into each other. Then he shot the third with a beam of magic, causing it to cry out in pain. Fire then flew up high, out of range of the attacks. He looked down and saw that two of the ponies were not going. At the same Twilight and Applejack did as well.
"Pinkie! Come on!" Twilight called.
"Grand! Move!" Applejack said in the same worried tone.
They ran back to retrieve their friends (or coltfriend in Applejack's case). Fire leapt onto the face of one of the hydra heads, blocking its sight as it snapped its jaws fruitlessly. He then dodged as another bit at him and got the first head instead. The bitten head hissed at its fellow. Another head though saw the two ponies that were vulnerable. It hissed at the others who looked and saw the ponies that couldn't fly, they turned that way.
"Oh no you don't!" Fire called as he called upon his swordhorn spell for the first time in months before any of the heads could lunge.
He swung the magical blade of his horn as he flew, the hydra cried out as its heads were cut off one by one in a space of just five seconds.
"Fire no!" Twilight called.
The four heads fell inside the water or on the edge of the bog, getting blood everywhere. Fire grinned as he looked down at the water where the rest of the body. He then turned to the others in triumph as they looked up at him.
"Nice going Prince Fire!" Grand Garden said.
"I killed it!" Fire exclaimed in triumph.
Fluttershy shuddered uncomfortably in the distance where she was with Moondancer. She didn't like the violence, but at the same time she was grateful for being safe again.
"Killed it?" Twilight repeated as if that was ludicrous. "Fire you just made it worse!"
"Huh?" Fire asked looking at her.
"Fire when you cut off a hydra's head…" Twilight froze as her eyes widened at something behind Fire. "Three more grow back in its place."
They heard something and looked. Fire's eyes widened as he saw a hydra that now had twelve heads.
"Oh boy," Fire said, losing his bravado. "Didn't see that coming. Run!"
They all did so, Grand and Pinkie finally snapping out of their frozen fear. Though Fire still flew, man he'd been flying most of the day like Rainbow Dash typically would. His wings were getting sore. But he had to do something. Just hold the hydra off for a few seconds to buy some time for the others to get away then he could fly away. He better be quick though. At this rate he was gonna slow down pretty soon. He looked and saw the rest of its body come of the bog, revealing a golden belly and matching spikes.
"Come on!" Fire said as he rose up high once again.
The hydra struck at him with its twelve heads but he was just out of range.
"Neh, neh, neh, neh, neh!" Fire taunted as he mooned them. "I got wings! You cannot reach me! You're just twelve stinkers in one!"
The hydra heads gave numerous growls. Then one of them spotted a large tree and grabbed hold of it in its mouth. As Fire stopped laughing and saw this, that head used the tree as a makeshift club to try and swat him like a fly. Fire barely managed to for a shield in front of himself. It blocked the worst the blow but he was pushed far back, going past all the others and hitting a rock blocking their way out.
"Ahh!" Fire yelled as he felt that wing break.
"Fire!" Moondancer called in concern as she reached him.
They were trapped this way, and Fire couldn't fly anymore. He gritted his teeth as the worst of the pain passed. At least the hydra was a good distance away from them since he'd held it off and he could still run.
Twilight looked around for another escape routed and pointed to her right. "Everypony up that hill!"
"Help!" Spike screamed.
They looked and saw the little dragon was trapped in the mud.
"Coming, Spike!" Twilight called as she ran back for him. "Hang on!"
Fire got up and was about to go and help as he saw the hydra come back into view. But Moondancer and Fluttershy held him back.
"You've done enough Fire!" Moondancer said.
"Please don't put yourself in harms way for us anymore!" Fluttershy begged.
"Not unless you really have to!" Applejack said. "Come on!"
They all made their way up the hill Twilight had indicated. Twilight soon caught up with them with Spike as the hydra lagged behind, eventually getting trapped in the mud Spike had. But it soon pulled itself and redoubled its efforts, coming after them with all the speed it could manage.
"We're gonna make it!" Twilight said certainly. "Since Fire bought us some time!"
"But Pinkie's still shuddering!" Spike pointed out.
The pink pony was indeed as she somehow moved up the hill without moving her legs. Just shuddering her way up. Then it stopped.
"Oh, lookie there, it stopped," she announced, but then it came back again, and she spoke, stuttering as she shuttered. "O-h-h-h, t-h-e-r-e i-t i-s a-g-a-i-n!"
Spike pushed her the rest of the way as the shutter froze her in place this time. The group made it to the top of the hill only to find a dead end, except for a series of six thin rock spires that just made it to the other side. There was only room for one pony at a time. The hydra was still a good distance away but with this many ponies… well, they might make it but they'd have to be quick.
"Quick, one at a time, cross!" Twilight said.
Fire frowned. He hated the idea of running away… it was just so… cowardly. But it was probably better than getting eating by a twelve headed hydra.
Spike approached the edge of the cliff and looked down in fright. He then ran back to Twilight hopefully. "Uh, do you know any spells for turning a hydra into a mouse?"
"No," Twilight said.
"How about a squirrel?" Spike asked.
"No!" Twilight repeated more impatient.
"How 'bout-
"No small rodents of any kind!"
"That's too bad," Spike said before turning to Fire. "And I guess you already tried your sword spell."
"Remind me to get an encyclopedia of monster extermination if we make it through this," Fire said.
Heavy footsteps sounded as the hydra reached the mountain base.
"Go!" Fire said.
Suddenly Fluttershy spoke. "A hop, skip, and a... jump!"
She leapt from one spire of rock to the other.
Fire frowned. "You could have used your wings Fluttershy!"
She looked at them, having forgotten. "Oh, right. I forgot about them."
Fire sighed. "Well go! Quickly!"
Grand Garden grabbed Spike and leapt across as well. Moondancer was uncertain as she peered over the edge.
"Oh if only I could teleport! I don't think I can make that!" she said fearfully. "Can you carry me over, Fire?"
His only response was to groan in pain at his damaged wing as it acted up.
"Oh, I guess not," Moondancer gulped.
She then ran back aways and then charged, making it across the first two spires but only getting her hooves on the edge of the next mountain. Fortunately Grand, Fluttershy and Spike grabbed hold of her and managed to pull her up before she could fall.
Pinkie was shuddering again and went off over the edge, hanging in midair seemingly. Applejack grabbed hold of her before gravity could reactivate (if it could even be deactivated as it seemed to be) and pulled her back onto their side. The hydra was closing in.
"He's too close!" Twilight said.
"I'll distract him!" Fire said.
"No Fire!" Twilight told him. "You already got hurt protecting us. Now it's my turn. You three go!"
"No way Twilight!" Fire said. "I'm the fighter here! You go with the other two!"
"Uh! You two better make up your minds quick! Cause I'm not gonna wait for y'all to settle it!" Applejack said as she grabbed Pinkie's tale and leapt to the other side. That left Twilight and Fire as the last ponies. And the hydra was closing in.
Twilight shuddered in fear. "Oh what would a brave pony like you or Rainbow Dash do?"
Looking back at Applejack and Pinkie making their way across the spires, Fire came to a realization.
"Screw this Twilight lets just go!" Fire turning around. "Now's not the time to-"
"Chaaarge!" Twilight called as she ran at the Hydra.
"Twilight no!" Fire called.
Twilight looked at the twelve heads of the hydra who lunged at her. But miraculously she made it past them (or him, whatever). She went it under the hydra's belly and its heads tried to follow but ended up dragging their body down in the awkward position. Some of the extra heads managed to lunge at her though, and she barely managed to dodge. Then one opened its jaws wide open, seemingly certain to swallow her then Fire leapt into action. Grabbing hold of her and rolling out of the way of the near fatal move as the hydra wobbled.
"T-T-T-Twilight! F-F-Fire!" Pinkie called through her stutters.
They both ran back toward the cliff as fast as they could. But the hydra got up and was after them in an instant. One of the heads lunged, breaking part of the cliff and one of the rock spires. The spire collided with the others, destroying their walkway. All the ponies gasped. Another of the new hydra heads lunged at Twilight and Fire who managed to put up a shield around them. The hydra bit into the shield which cracked slightly. Fire then added some flame to the shield and burned the hydra's mouth. The head that had hit the cliff had a major bump, it and the one with the burned mouth cried, their pain turning to anger and they roared.
"T-T-T-Twilight!" Pinkie stuttered her name. "Fire! You two have to jump!"
"We'll never make it!" Twilight said looking at the immense gap.
"We'll have to fly with one wing!" Fire said grabbing hold of her and flexing his good wing. "Hang on! I can at least slow our fall!"
"No, Fire don't! Don't try to fly! Just jump! You'll be fine!"
"We will not!" Twilight objected after looking down.
Fire heard the hydra roar behind them and looked at Pinkie.
"It's your only ho-o-ope!" she said with another stutter. "You have to take a leap of faith!"
"Pinkie, I trust your sense!" Fire said.
Twilight gulped and both of them ran toward the hydra as it advanced toward them, its angry heads now asserting control with the rest joining in. They and Twilight screamed as they plummeted. They were almost to the remaining spires. Fire was certain that if he did just one flap they could make it, but seeing how accurate Pinkie's sense had been today… he closed his wing.
"No! Oh no! Fire flap your wing!" Twilight screamed as they fell.
He didn't, and they plummeted toward the bog below. They hit the a bubble on its surface, which somehow popped and sent them both soaring back upwards. Fire held onto Twilight as they ascended and hit the two remaining spires then landed on the other side with their friends. Both of them saw stars as well as their friends. Shaking it off, they smiled. Across the gap, the hydra frowned as they were out of range. It would be going hungry today.
Pinkie then hugged them. "I knew you two could do it!"
"Well, I could have. If I'd just flapped my wing," Fire said as he did so with his good one. "But I've seen how good you are at this."
"I don't know how it happened," Twilight said. "Coincidence, dumb luck, or what, but you said there'd be a doozy here at Froggy Bottom Bogg, and I'd say we just had ourselves one heck of a doozy. I mean that hydra—
Pinkie Pie suddenly shuddered again.
"Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"That wasn't it," Pinkie told them.
"Huh?" Twilight asked confused.
"What wasn't what?" Spike asked.
"What are you talking about, Pink?" Applejack now asked.
"The hydra wasn't the doozy," Pinkie informed.
The hydra blew a raspberry at them as it retreated. Fire looked after it.
"That's right you better run!" he called.
"I'm still getting the shudders," Pinkie continued as she shook for them all to see. "You see? There it is again. Whatever the doozy was at Froggy Bottom Bogg, my Pinkie Sense says it still hasn't happened."
"Huh?" Twilight exclaimed before ranting. "But I— WHAT?!"
She looked really mad now. "The hydra wasn't the doozy?! How could it not be the doozy?! What could be doozier than that?!"
"Dunno, but it just wasn't it," Pinkie told them.
Twilight growled, her rage reaching an all new level. Then she suddenly transformed for an instant, into a white pony with a mane made of pure fire. It was just like when Fire got angry, but on a whole other level… or at least a level that hadn't been seen in a long time. Light flashed around Twilight as everypony else watched in shock.
Twilight then returned to her normal state, albeit slightly burned as she hit the ground. "Ooh... I give up."
"Give what up, Twi?" Spike asked.
"The fight. I can't fight it anymore," Twilight said in surrender as Pinkie continued to shudder. "I don't understand how, why, or what, but Pinkie Sense somehow... makes sense. I don't see how it does, but it just does. Just because I don't understand doesn't mean it's not true."
"Y-Y-Y-You m-m-mean you b-b-b-believe?" Pinkie said shuddering even more at this.
"Yup, I guess I do," Twilight relented.
Pinkie began shuddering more than ever and then finally it stopped. She smiled and proclaimed. "That was it! That's the doozy!
Spike shook his head in disbelief.
Twilight looked at Pinkie in confusion and approached her. "What? What is?"
"You believing!" Pinkie pointed at her then bouncing. "I never expected that to happen! That was the doozy, oh and, oh what a doozy of a doozy it was!"
She began singing as she led them on the path.
Fire got a healing potion in town and soon his wing was all better.
"Lucky we have a good number of those in stock your highness," Nurse Redheart said. "Otherwise ponies would have to wait much longer to heal."
Fire thanked her and flew out over Ponyville, enjoying the feeling of the wind against him. He soared up high and saw something in the distance. He narrowed his eyes in disbelief.
"Mom?"
"Oh, hello Fire!" Princess Celestia greeted. "Its been a while since I really had a chance to stretch my wings. Royal duties are so time consuming. So, I figured since Spike should be sending me Twilight's next friendship letter I'd come to Ponyville in pony to pick it up. Care to fly with me."
"Sure," said Fire.
They flew for a while in happy silence.
"Then they were directly above the Golden Oaks Library.
"Look out below!" Celestia exclaimed as she collapsed her wings and allowed herself to fall to the top of the library.
She caused a loud crash as she landed, thankfully without injuring herself or damaging the library. Just in time too, as Spike opened the window and was surprised to see her and Fire.
"Twitchy tail?" Spike asked as he handed her the letter and she took it before rising back into the air with so much grace Fire could almost hear music.
"Holy Guacamole!" Spike exclaimed as he watched.
"Pinkie predict something would fall?" Fire asked.
"Yep. And your mother did," Spike told him.
"She did indeed," Fire agreed.
This had been quite a day.