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by Wintergreen Diaries

Chapter 13: High Score

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There had never been a time in Pinkie’s life in which she had been so thoroughly thrilled that her expectations hadn’t been met than that afternoon. It was the thirty-first day of the proposed one month friendship period, and while she and Merry had both been somewhat skeptical in their ability to keep their mutual excitement for the other from clouding their minds and dashing into something that they might not be ready for, they instead found themselves more than comfortable postponing the inevitable onset of romance. Pinkie, despite Applejack’s stance that she needn’t be perfect to be an adequate marefriend, had felt that she really needed to sort herself out after the tumultuous days that had first led her to Dodge, and Merry was wonderfully understanding about the whole thing. She had never been the type to live by any kind of a rigid schedule, but trying to balance spending time with her family, visiting her friends in Ponyville, and making time for Merry, in addition to finding the quiet necessary for contemplation, had led to the days flying by at an alarming rate. And there, as she and Merry both enjoyed some ice cream under the warmth of the setting sun from a hill on the outskirts of town, she found herself taken by an unusual sense of contentment.

“Heh, father was right again. I can hardly believe it has already a whole month,” she mused, twirling her cone to keep the edges from dripping. “I’ve been racing all over the place trying to take care of everypony, and even though I’ve been spending more time with Merry than I thought I would be able to squeeze in, it still feels like I’ve barely had any time with him at all.” Directing her eyes over to the stallion seated a respectful distance away, she found the corners of her mouth tugging towards a smile as she watched him lapping happily at his cone in true canine fashion. “Hehe! I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun...” Making no effort to conceal the fondness in her gaze, she continued beaming as the stallion noticed he was being watched and paused mid-lick with his tongue to the cone, looking back with bashful bemusement.

“... Wath?”

“Oh, just a lot of nothin’,” Pinkie replied with a giggle. Emboldened by nothing in particular, save maybe her own growing affection, she scooched over and brushed up against his side before resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’ll have to nothin’ more often if it makes you smile like that,” he said with a chuckle, leaning in for a quick nuzzle before returning to his cone. Both of the ponies were known for being veritable chatterboxes more often than not, but together, they had found that even in the times of quiet, such as the one that followed after Merry’s simple statement, there wasn’t any awkwardness to be found. Pinkie never felt like she needed to fill in the silence to keep from being boring, or being bored herself, and that was just one of the things she had learned that she really enjoyed about her time with him.

“Hey… Minty?” she offered quietly, looking up at him as he tilted his head to peer down at her. Pinkie hadn’t intentioned to pause after her opening, but she couldn’t help but take a few moments to admire his calming blue eyes. “Have you ever thought about the future?”

“The future?” he repeated, cocking his head to one side. “Like, what-am-I-gonna-eat-for-dinner future? Or how-long-before-the-space-ponies-invade, future?”

“Heehee, nothing like that!” she all but squealed, shaking with mirth. “It’s just, you know how when you’re little and you haven’t found your cutie mark, ponies will ask you what you want to do when you grow up? Well, I’ve had my mark for a long time, but I still don’t know the answer to that question.” After a brief pause, she could see the comprehension kick in. “I guess I’ve just been thinking about life a lot lately, and I was curious if you knew what you wanted to do. Come to think of it,” she continued, her eyes darting briefly towards his hips, “I haven’t even asked you about your cutie mark! Those are candies, right?”

“Yeah! They’re called pillow mints,” he explained, himself taking a moment to look at the trio of candies on his flank. “They aren’t really very popular nowadays, but I still really like them.”

“So is your talent something candy related?” Pinkie asked excitedly. She was never one to turn down candy, and having a coltfriend that could make it only made Merry sound more dreamy. “Can you make candy canes? How about taffy? Ooh, ooh, or what about rock candy?”

“I am pretty good with sweets,” he admitted as he laughed, “but I don’t think that’s really my talent.” Pinkie was slightly disappointed to hear it, but “pretty good” was still better than “combustible kitchen hazard.”

“Awww! Okay, then, what does it mean?”

“Let’s see, tasty mint candies…” he mused aloud, adopting a contemplative look. “It must mean that I’m refreshingly sweet.” His declaration was made with a comical seriousness that took a hammer straight to Pinkie’s funny bone. Her head slid off of his shoulder and onto his lap as she doubled over with laughter, broadening the delighted smile overtaking his muzzle. Her curly mane tickled his legs, and the contact brought a faint flush to his cheeks that he was more than ready to embrace.

“Heehee, hee, hoo~” Pinkie wheezed, rolling onto her back and bursting into another short bout of snickers as she laid eyes on Merry’s face. “Okay, okay, phew… why don’t I try asking a different way: how did you get your cutie mark?”

“What was wrong with my first answer?” he shot back, sticking out his tongue and grinning. “Alright… I actually got my cutie mark when I was really young.” Wriggling to get a little more comfortable and a little closer for the story, Pinkie settled in and perked her ears. “My father, Candy Corn, is a confectioner. He owned a little shop in Baltimare where we lived, and made just about every type of candy you can think of!”

“Sour chews?”

“Yup.”

“Candy ribbons?”

“In every color.”

“Gummy jalapeños?!”

“Uh…” There was a brief pause in which Pinkie assumed that victory was hers, but Merry would not be defeated so easily. “That’s right, I had almost forgotten about those!” he exclaimed, laughing happily as the memory came back to him. “They were a seasonal candy that we sold during the winter. Since the spice made you feel warm inside, they were really popular when it got cold.”

“I can’t believe that somepony else has actually heard of those! Everypony in Ponyville thought I was crazy when I brought them up! I- oopsie!” she interrupted herself, fidgeting with her hooves in embarrassment.. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Go ahead, don’t mind me.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t,” Merry assured her with a playful pat on the head. “Anyways, my mother was an herbalist of sorts that specialized in making healing teas. I somehow got the idea in my head that it would be really cool to mix mom’s herbs with dad’s candy. When I told my dad about it, he did exactly that, using some of mother’s mint to make some candies. I was so excited when I first saw them!” he recalled, snickering as he recalled how he had romped around the house. “They looked just like my mane, and I loved everything about them. The delicate balance between the sweetness of the sugar and the faint bite of the mint, the bright colors that looked just like my hair… everything.”

“And then you got your cutie mark?” Pinkie asked expectantly, her eyes lit up with the final few rays of the setting sun.

“Not just yet,” Merry replied, shaking his head. “After tasting them for the first time, I was hooked. I wanted everyone to try them, so I went around giving them to anyone who would take them. Baltimare is a big city with lots of busy ponies, though, and not very many ponies payed me any attention. None, actually.”

“Whaaat? Who could say no to free candy?” Her hooves tucked themselves up to chest as equal amounts horror and confusion temporarily left her looking stricken.

“Ponies that don’t know what’s really good for them,” he stated plainly, reaching over and resting a hoof over hers.

“I’ll say…” she muttered, snatching his hoof and cuddling it to her chest like a stuffed animal. “So… what happened next?”

“After not being able to find a single pony to accept the mints, I started getting discouraged,” he said with a tinge of sadness. “I had wanted to give up and go home, but I felt like if I kept going for just a little longer, I’d find somepony to share with, and after a few more minutes... I did.” A wonderful warmth had crept into the stallion’s voice, and it filled Pinkie’s chest with the most glorious feeling as his tone softened.

“Down one of the alleys, I found a colt being bullied by some other colts. They were all older than me, so I grabbed an adult to help me run them off. When they left, I realized that the colt that had been being bullied was one of my classmates. We had never really talked before then. He seemed really quiet, and spent most of his time in class scribbling in a notepad.” Considering how terrible bullies could be, Pinkie couldn’t understand why Merry was smiling, and she listened that much closer as he brought the story to a close.

“I… honestly wasn’t sure what to say,” Merry conceded quietly. “I didn’t know anything about him, but I couldn’t stand to see him crying like that. I got to thinking ‘what if this is why I couldn’t give up?’ That’s when I remembered the candy. For a moment, I didn’t think he would take it. When he did, though…” The sensation in her chest flared as she looked up at the glassy-eyed stallion, grinning ear to ear. “... You should have seen him smile, Pinkie. I knew at right then that I wanted to help ponies that were sad to smile again, just like I had for that colt.”

”And just like you did for me,” she reminded him, reaching over and wrapping her hooves around his waist. “That was the sweetest cutie mark story I’ve ever heard, Minty. Thanks so much for sharing!” She felt like she could have hugged him forever, and she accidentally let slip an embarrassing sigh of bliss as he reached over and laid his hooves about her shoulders.

“You’re quite welcome, Pinkie. What about yours?”

“Oh, it’s nothing that great,” she deflected, nervously pulling away and sitting up. The thought of sharing her own seemingly insignificant story brought with it a gnawing anxiety. “What if he isn’t impressed? What if it makes him think less of me because my story isn’t as good? What if… what if he doesn’t think I’m nice enough?! What-”

“Pinkie? Pinkie, are you okay?”

“Huh?” she squeaked, her voice cracking as she snapped back to reality to find Merry watching her with evident concern. “N-no, I mean, yes, maybe? It’s just… my story isn’t as good. It’s actually kinda… bittersweet.” She stared down at the ground, barely forestalling a shiver as nervousness welled in her heart on account of the quiet that followed. However, Pinkie’s unfounded fears didn’t have long to galavant through her mind. Sensing the mare’s discomfort, Merry scooched over and placed himself behind the mare, draping his hooves over her shoulders and pulling her to his chest.

“It’s not a competition, silly…” There was something about hearing one of her favorite words whispered in her ear. Pinkie couldn’t even begin to describe the onslaught of emotions that filled her heart as she felt the rhythmic beat of Merry’s heart massaging her back, and she all but melted into his hooves as the sensation of his breath brushing her neck sent sparks crackling up and down her spine. “Cutie marks are part of what define who we are. I already know enough to say that you’re amazing, Pinkie, and that’s why I wanna learn a little bit more.”

“You really are good at being sweet,” she mumbled, pressing back ever so slightly and shuddering with amazement at how her everything lit up. She had been in close contact with hundreds, possibly thousands of ponies, but never once had another made her feel the things that she felt at that moment. In fact, they had been displaying their affection far more openly throughout the last few days, and while part of her wondered if she should be concerned, the other part of her couldn’t care less. Merry made her feel safe, and that was worth its weight in candy.

“I guess I can go ahead and tell you about how the sky exploded,” she began with a hesitant chuckle. “Back when I was just a little filly… well, I wasn’t always this happy. I… was actually a lot more like I was when you first found me, except that was just… normal.”

“... Really?” Merry wondered aloud, finding that difficult to accept. “That doesn’t sound like very much fun.”

“‘Fun’ wasn’t necessary to run a rock farm,” Pinkie explained, shaking her head. “I didn’t even really understand what fun was until I went to visit my great Granny Pie. She was… hehe, she was a funny ol’ mare.” Though there was still trace amounts of lingering hesitancy, Merry could tell before Pinkie went any further that her grandmother was precious to her.

“She was the one who taught me how to smile, how to laugh, and how to find fun when everyday looked bleak. I could hardly believe my gruff ol’ pa was related to her, but I’m glad that he was. I started to spend a lot of time with her, and I would have spent more if I had known that she was-” Caring hooves tightened their hold, knowing that the story had just taken a turn for the dire.

“Granny... passed away when I was just six years old,” Pinkie said quietly, sinking deeper into Merry’s embrace. “I just started to think that maybe I could learn how to shake off the sadness, and just when there was a little bit of light in my life, it just… got snuffed.”

“I’m so sorry, Pinkie, I shouldn’t have asked…”

“Interrupting…” Readjusting herself so that she could look up at Merry, she flashed him a frail smile before again laying her head against his chest. “Don’t feel bad for asking, Merry. I don’t normally give the whole story because it’s… it’s hard to remember, yanno? But… I think it’s good that I’m thinking about it. Besides, every cloud has a silver lining, and this one is bordered in rainbows.” Somehow, Pinkie got the impression that Merry was taking the story harder than she was, and she nestled up under his chin and placed a calming hoof on his chest.

“A few days after hearing the news, I was out working the fields like normal. I knew that Granny wouldn’t have wanted me to keep being sad, but I couldn’t seem to find the strength to shake it off on my own. Deep down, I wanted to be happy, and to make others happy like she had done for me, but I didn’t know how. And then…”

“The sky exploded?”

“The sky totally exploded,” Pinkie confirmed with a small laugh. “I had just finished asking for a sign when I heard a huge boom. I looked up and saw a wave of colors flash across the sky, and it was at that moment, with the magic and wind whipping my mane around, that I remembered something my granny had once told me. She said, ‘the best cure for a frown is to make someone else smile,’ and that’s exactly what I knew I had to do. The next morning, I threw my very first party for my family. It had been the first time I had ever seen any of them really smile, and just like that, I got my mark,” she concluded, peeking up at Merry. “I’ve been doing my best to make others laugh ever since.”

“... How could you think that wasn’t a good story?” Merry asked slowly, incredulous. “That was beautiful, Pinkie. I don’t know what you thought I would think, but… all I can think is that you’re even more lovely than before.”

“Were you always this flattering?” Pinkie mumbled, doing her best to brand his chest with her searing cheeks.

“Encouragement where needed, praise where due, and in the case of special ponies, a little of both will do,” he murmured, giving her an extra squeeze. “Your grandmother sounds like she was a wonderful mare.”

“She was beyond wonderful,” the mare agreed in a reverent tone while her attention drew towards the sky. Evening would be falling soon, heralded by picturesque strains of vermilion and gold, and that would mean an end to their fateful day. Merry hadn’t yet asked the question that she had hoped to hear, but even if he didn’t before the day was through, Pinkie couldn’t imagine voicing any kind of complaint. They had spent nearly the whole day together, and it brought back the butterflies as she contemplated, for the briefest of moments, what it would be like if they could spend every day as they had that one.

“... Hey, Minty?”

“Mmhmm?” he murmured, giving her his attention.

“I… just wanted to say thank you.” She felt her heart rate double as she looked up at him. Their muzzles were only a few inches apart, and every breath he took tickled her nose.

“I could say the same to you,” he returned with a fond smile. “I’m curious though, why are you thanking me? Was it the ice cream?”

“I’m always thankful for ice cream,” she stated with a giggle, “but no, it’s more than just that. Because of everything going on, I feel like I’ve barely had any energy left for you, and yet you still always seem happy to see me.”

“That’s because I always am happy to see you, duh,” he laughed, though he quieted down after he noticed the earnestness on Pinkie’s face. What she was talking about wasn’t nearly as inconsequential as Merry had thought.

“You don’t understand,” Pinkie said, shaking her head. “For the longest time, I would do everything I could to keep even my closest of friends from seeing me when I was too tired or sad to smile. I had been really worried that you would think I was too boring when I would come by because I was so tired, but you made me laugh and feel wanted every time. That really means something to me.”

“We agreed to be boring together, remember?” he reminded her gently. “‘You’re worth being bored. But you know the best part?’” Her breath caught in her chest as Merry leaned close and nuzzled her cheek before bringing his lips close to her ear and whispering, “‘I don’t think I’ll be bored.’”

Having spent most of her time being the one doing the cheering up rather than the one receiving it, Pinkie herself wasn’t fully aware of just how much a few kind words could mean. Hearing her own words returned left her without argument, without doubt, and without words to express her gratitude as the affection welling within her chest boiled over. Being held suddenly didn’t seem like it was close enough, and without thinking she just reacted, knocking the colt onto his back and sending them both skidding a short ways in the soft sand. When the dust settled, she was laying atop him with her hooves pulling her as close to his chest as she could manage without winding him. She could feel his heart racing to keep pace with hers while her being was cloaked in the most wonderful kind of fever, and yet even still it didn’t seem to be enough.

“I… I wanna be closer,” she managed in between her shallow breaths. “Can’t we be closer than this? I mean, there’s gotta be some way…”

“U-um…”

“I wanna be so close, it feels like I’m inside you.” She hadn’t the slightest idea what she was saying, but it Merry sure did, and there wasn’t an ounce of chocolatey brown left in his crimson ears.

“Th-that’s actually the stallion’s job…” Regardless of what some ponies may have thought about someone who spent her time throwing parties for every conceivable reason under the sun, Pinkie was quite an innocent mare. It took a few seconds for her already overclocked mind to process what had been said, and what Merry took it to mean, but when comprehension kicked in, it signalled a full and complete meltdown. Sitting bolt upright and blushing head to hoof, Pinkie desperately looked for a distraction, and eventually her eyes spied a likely candidate. Her ice cream, which had long since been forgotten during their meaningful conversation and subsequent cuddles, was applied to her face with pulverizing force, sending bits of cone showering down with a tremendous crunch. The mostly melted ice cream, which had been the only thing around to cool her off, sizzled and steamed against her face, leaving a sherbert-colored brand seared into her cheek, though it offered little by means of relief.

“Pinkie? A-are you-”

“Fine!” she squeaked, not daring to turn around and face Merry. “Fine, fine, fine, absolutely peachy! No need to worry!” There wasn’t, she was right, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t. After a prolonged period of silence, Pinkie stole a peek over her shoulder to find Merry sitting facing away with his hooves folded in his lap. Just looking at him seemed to leave her feeling faint, but she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving him to worry, so she gathered what wits hadn’t been consumed in the blaze and made a cautious approach, taking a seat beside him. “Worrying anyways, huh?”

“Just a little,” he conceded ruefully. “You told me that I could be myself, and touch is something that’s really important for me. I didn’t even consider that I might make you uncomfortable somehow because I just felt… yanno, safe with you.”

“Oh, trust me, I know exactly what you’re talking about,” she replied with a reassuring chuckle. “You really put the pillow into those mints, Merry. You’re super duper comfortable.” There was a brief pause. “I guess we should probably lay out some boundaries, huh? Or… should that wait until we’re, yanno… We’re… dating?” The stallion beside her couldn’t help but let a genuine smile light his features as he looked over at Pinkie as she fiddled with her hooves. She couldn’t have been more obvious, and after catching Merry’s expression, she knew she had been even less subtle than she thought.

“Pinkie, what did we do today?”

“Huh?” Confused by the response that was nothing like the one she had expected, she turned towards Merry and stared.

“I asked about what we did today.”

“Oh, um, let’s see,” Pinkie stalled, giving herself time to refocus. “First, you picked me up from the station this morning. From there, we went over to your place to play some games while waiting for the weekly flea market to start. After that, we got some delicious sandwiches from that one place in town, but you wouldn’t let me pay for my food for some reason.”

“Aaand? What else?” he prompted with growing amusement.

“We went to the swap meet, browsed all that cool stuff, hung out with my sisters some, and then you bought me ice cream and led me out here to watch the sunset,” she finished, waiting expectantly for Merry to explain the reason behind his questioning. It wasn’t until he reached over, swabbed the ice cream on her cheek, and playfully licked it from his hoof that the answer struck her like a thunderbolt. “Wait, was this… was today a date?!”

“I heard you liked surprises,” he laughed, winking at the mare. So… surprise~! You are now officially my marefriend. At least, if that’s alright with you?”

“Alright? Alright?! Of course it’s alright!” she squealed with delight, throwing her hooves around his neck. “But, I still wanna hear you ask! Pleeease?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Merry said with a solemn nod. “Pinkie, would you do me the honor of being my marefriend?” It would have been a simple matter to just blurt out an affirmation, and she almost did, but there Merry wasn’t the only one with a surprise that day. Reaching deep into the depths of her mane, she fished around a little before withdrawing three little tiles she had swiped from his house earlier and arranging them in the sand to spell out her response.

“‘Yes’ should really be worth more than six points,” Pinkie murmured affectionately as she set the last piece in place, “‘cause you’re easily a ten.” It would have been difficult for Merry to overstate how profound an impact her response held for him. Compelled by the growing adoration springing from within, Merry bounded over and swept the mare off her hooves, twirling about before collapsing in a giggling heap beside the letters.

“You know what?” he began, gazing intently upon his new companion. “You’re right, that play definitely deserves more than six points, so…” With the fading evening light framing his silhouette, and a moment too perfect to let slip by, Merry gathered Pinkie into his hooves and held her close. The mare shivered with scarcely restrained elation as he dipped his snout and brushed it across her cheek, savoring the softness of her coat and the heavenly scent of her mane. A single, little push was all that was needed for the nuzzle to become something so much more, and they felt themselves ignite together as he pressed his lips against her cheek. Though the kiss didn’t last long, the passion that it had sparked lasted well into the night even after he pulled away, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “I’ll be your double word score, ‘kay?”

“I think you already are,” she told him with a quiet giggle as she wriggled closer. “‘cause it sure feels like I scored big.”

Author's Notes:

And thus, the first arc was brought to a close...

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