Confetti was everywhere. Seemingly rivaling the dust on a one to one ratio, Pinkie had gone to great lengths to make sure that her Apolopalooza Sorryfest Mega Party was something extraordinary, with the results being a town wide hoedown that had left Ponyville decked house to Hall in color and good cheer. Any party was something to remember, and every smile reason to celebrate, but that afternoon had been perhaps the most meaningful celebration since the very first party she threw for her family on the rock farm. It wasn’t just a party for one that was shared by many, but a grand jubilee for each and every pony of Ponyville, and shared with all, for all. Between coordinating with the Mayor to make the celebration happen, teaming up with her friends to procure all the decorations and get things set up, and even personally requesting the attendance of the royal sisters, Pinkie had been scrambling like mad to make sure that the day she returned to Dodge wouldn’t be one of sadness as it had been before.

As she tumbled into the train coach with a gleeful squeal and flopped onto her back amidst a flurry of confetti from her mane, she watched the colors cascade around her while a warm grin wrapped her muzzle in contentment. There had been so many details to keep track of that she knew for sure she would have bungled the whole thing were it not for her friends, but the moment that Celestia had inaugurated the occasion with the raising of the sun, all of the work had been made worth it. Any remnant of distress that her actions had caused melted away as the gentle light of the morn mingled with live music, blasts of confetti, the finest cider from Sweet Apple Acres, and a whole host of attractions to bring a chuckle to even the most sour of ponies. Her whole day had been rather surreal, but between her exhaustion and the treasures she had carefully tucked away into her saddlebag, she knew that she really had thrown her biggest party ever, and more importantly, she had shared it with her friends.

“Shucks, Pinkie, ah don’t think you could look any happier if ya tried!”

“Hehe! You might just be right!” the mare giggled, rolling onto her stomach and beaming over at Applebloom as she hopped up onto the adjacent seat. “I really appreciate you coming along, Applebloom. You too, Rumble,” she added as the young pegasus clambered up beside the young farm pony. Though still quite young, Applebloom and Rumble had formed a tight bond with one another despite their talents being diametrically opposed, and Pinkie couldn’t help but get a kick out of watching the two. Applebloom had discovered that she possessed an innate talent with fixing things and had really taken an interest in carpentry in the past months. Rumble, on the other hoof, was more likely to put himself through the window he was trying to clean, and consequently his talent with demolition had come as little surprise to those that knew the accident -prone colt.

“Don’t mention it!” Applebloom quipped. “Ah’m always happy fer a chance t’ bust out mah mallet. Besides, if this Merry fella has been as nice t’ you as you said, then it’d be an honor t’ fix up his busted cart. It’s a real shame that his garden got all messed up by the storm, though.”

“Uh huh,” Rumble agreed. “There’s probably still tons of sand that needs to be shifted. I’ll have that garden cleared out in no time.”

“Just make sure there’s still a place fer the garden when yer done,” Applebloom teased, flashing the colt a wink.

“Don’t worry, I left the fun stuff at home,” Rumble countered, taking the jest in stride. “I was planning on using my hooves.”

“Yer brother wouldn’t let you take any rockets, huh?” While quite adept with breaking things with both hammer and face, the colt had taken a particular interest in fireworks as of late, with the results being less flashy and more explodey. Rumble adopted an indignant expression before fessing up with a sullen mutter.

“...Nuh uh.”

“Ah knew it!”

“Don’t worry about it Rumble, your rockets were great!” Pinkie consoled him with a snicker. “I’m sure that those flowers had it coming, anyways.” They all had a laugh at the unfortunate demise of the wildflowers that were on the fringe of the launch site, and as the young couple chatted amongst themselves, Pinkie turned her attention towards the window as the train started to move. Parting ways with her friends so soon after making amends was a touch bittersweet, but having them all present brought a warming sense of peace. With the sound of the town’s merrymaking quickly fading away, Pinkie closed her eyes and placed a hoof over her saddlebag, knowing that the pictures that lay within would always be there to remind her that she would always be in their thoughts, just as they would be in hers, and she allowed her mind to wander as she recalled the last three days.

“Geez, these last few days have really flown by,” she thought to herself with a wearied yawn. “It sure feels great to lay down…” Hectic didn’t even begin to address the pace that she had set for herself. There were ponies to chat with, troubles to reassure, friends that needed her support, and generally just stuff to do all day, every day. She had even managed to squeeze in a visit to Manehatten to spend a few hours with Rarity, which had been a really good thing for both of them, though most of her “spare” time, if it could even be called that, was spent doing what she could to help Rainbow Dash.

“I know she knows that I’m really super sorry for being as mean as I was, but I’m still sorry,” Pinkie reflected remorsefully. “I didn’t think that I was right…” While still something she struggled to accept, Pinkie was beginning to realize that the same shrewdness that aided her in bringing other ponies a smile could alternatively pinpoint the very things that would hurt somepony the most when she was upset. It was something that she hadn’t known about herself, being a generally cheerful pony, but the wounds that she had carved into Rainbow Dash with her scathing words weren’t something that would heal overnight, and she wasn’t about to shrug off the responsibility for how it had affected her friend. And yet, even though she was torn over what she had done, there was still much that she had to be thankful for, and she found herself misty eyed as she recalled being there to watch Rainbow Dash finally give names to her foals.

“I’ve never seen somepony look so caring,” she recalled, discretely rubbing her eyes with a hoof. It was evident that Rainbow Dash was still terrified at the responsibility of being a mother, but like a squall rising from Everfree, a fierce and determined love had begun to form as she accepted her new role. And, while Pinkie hadn’t noticed it the first night that she saw the foals, Dash’s children were really something.

Even being just days old, it was obvious to everyone that the colt had inherited his grandfather’s strength, and was named Sanguine Shroud on account of his ominous color palette of muted violet and carmine. Twilight was eager to explain that the term “sanguine” actually had a much older and light-hearted definition, and everypony agreed that “enthusiastic” was much more fitting than “bloody.” Shroudy, as Pinkie had taken to calling him, couldn’t seem to sit still, and was always moving about, though he never seemed to stray too far from his sister, whose beauty was matched only by the pain that she would have to face in her life.

With a silver coat and faded, reddish eyes, Cloudy Hues seemed, on all accounts, as though she might have been born albino were it not for her mother. Her mane contained every color of the rainbow, but the colors were drab, as though they had been muted with gray. At the tips of her hooves, ears, wings, and mane, little patches of white could be seen. They looked reminiscent of clouds, and thus her name was decided. What wasn’t set was her future.

Pinkie couldn’t understand all of the details, but Dash’s pegasus filly had been born with some kind of condition that made her considerably weaker than the average pony. The doctor suspected that was why her wings had been broken in the fall, and Pinkie could recall shedding tears as Dash explained that her daughter may never fly. It was clear that Rainbow longed dearly that her daughter might one day take flight, but there was simply no way for anypony to know. Cloudy’s story, however, had only just begun, and despite her apparent weakness, she got back up after every time she fell. Everypony could see that she had her mother’s strength of spirit, and Pinkie earnestly believed that Rainbow Dash would one day have the joy of teaching her daughter to fly.

“Hey, Pinkie?”

“Huh?” Having been deep in contemplation, Pinkie had almost entirely forgotten the fact that there were ponies traveling with her, and she stared blankly at Applebloom. “Y-yeah, what is it?”

“Well, ah know it ain’t any of mah business,” she started, looking apologetic, “but ah just gotta ask… do you like Merry?” Of all the subjects that could have been raised, her interest in the colt had to be the farthest from where her mind had been at that moment. It was such a dramatic shift that her initial response was just to cock her head to the side in abject confusion.

“... What’re we talking about?” Pinkie asked, genuinely lost.

“We’re talkin’ about Merry,” Applebloom explained in a very matter of fact tone. “Ah may not be that old, but ah know if Rumble here jumped into a sandstorm just t’ be with me, ah’d feel just honored that ah was so important to ‘im! That’s gotta make you feel pretty special, don’t it?”

“W-well, I…” Pinkie stammered, taken off guard. With how chaotic her time in Ponyville had been, she hadn’t really had time to think much about Merry. Considering that they had nothing but time on the train, however, she couldn’t really imagine herself dodging the question for long, and playing her usual distraction card didn’t really seem appropriate. That, and she was honestly curious herself.

“... Yeah, I guess it does make me feel pretty special,” she said after a few moments of thought. “I’m not happy that he got hurt, but I am really happy that he rescued all those memories from the storm. I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to come back to Ponyville if he hadn’t! That doesn’t mean that I like him, though.” The younger ponies both shared a quizzical look.

“... Why not?” Applebloom asked.

“Because I hardly know him, silly!” Pinkie said with a giggle, noting the consternation on Applebloom’s face. “We haven’t hardly had the chance to chat because I was so down in the dumps when we met, but that’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about going to see him today! He was just fun to talk to, and I felt really comfortable around him. I know he won’t be able to do much until his hoof gets better, but that’s okay. Besides,” she added with a chuckle, “his favorite color is me, and that means pink is his favorite! Woo!”

“You know, Pinkie, as much as you’re goin’ on about why you ain’t allowed t’ like ‘im yet, it sure sounds like you have plenty of reasons that you should,” Applebloom pointed out. The filly had expected some manner of rebuttal to follow, knowing how stubborn she was herself at first to admit that she had taken an interest in Rumble, but instead, Pinkie just laughed.

“Duh! It’s not like I said there weren’t,” she stated plainly. “There’s already a heaping mountain of reasons why I could like him, but there are still a lot of things that I don’t know about him, and that he doesn’t know about me. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, or hop to any assumptions, or even skip to the finale! No,” she said resolutely, “this is something I don’t want to rush.” Applebloom considered Pinkie’s words with a mixture of confusion and disappointment before responding.

“Pinkie, ah don’t know what’s come over you, but ah don’t think ah’ve ever heard you so level-headed about somethin’ this complicated,” she commented with a shake of her head. “Ah thought for sure that you were interested in Merry…”

“Of course I’m interested! Why would you think anything else?” Pinkie asked, cocking her head to one side. “That’s, like, exactly what I said. I said ‘I can’t say if I like Merry yet because I need to spend more time around him but I’m super excited to spend more time around him so I’m going back to Dodge to spend time with my family while getting to know Merry more so I can find out if he likes me so that I can like him and then we could maybe date while taking things really slow so my daddy doesn’t mangle Merry before we marry!’” Her audience couldn’t have looked more lost. “...That’s what I said, right?”

“Uhhh…” Processing… done. “Nuh uh,” came Rumble’s response for both of them. “So… you’re getting married?”

“W-what?!” Pinkie exclaimed, flushing deeply. “It’s way too early to even be thinking about that, Rumble! Why would you say that?”

“You said it first.”

“No, I-” she started before stopping cold. “Wait... did I? Oh, gosh, I did! Where did that even come from?” “W-what I meant, was… you see, it’s kinda like- oh look, a cactus!” Directing her attention towards the arid landscape rushing by and away from Applebloom’s growing smirk, Pinkie distracted herself counting the needles of a passing cactus while waiting for the perplexing heat in her cheeks to simmer down. As adamant as she was that she wouldn’t slap a label on whatever feelings she may or may not hold for Merry after having only spent a short time with him, she couldn’t deny that there was something different about the colt. She knew what embarrassment was, and she knew what it was like to blush, but what she didn’t understand was how the thought of Merry had become the ignition switch for both.

“She likes ‘im.”

“Uh huh.”

Pinkie didn’t respond to their goading, primarily because she hadn’t any kind of answer to give. Thankful for the lull in the conversation, she continued staring out at the desert sand and delved deeper into the one thing that she had avoided thinking too heavily on, that being the feelings that she might actually have for Merry.

“... Do I like him?” she wondered, gently pressing a hoof to her cheek. It was still quite warm, and seemed sensitive to the touch. Romance had been something that Pinkie had never really given much thought, and most of the time she had spend pondering the subject was spent in bitterness that her friends were making more time for strangers than they were for her. “But isn’t that what I’m doing now? I had everypony worried when I left, and now I’m leaving again, just like that, because there’s somepony else that I want to see...” She hadn’t been lying when she told her friends that she wanted to spend more time with her family, but she had no idea how strong of a pull the thought of spending more time with Merry had in tugging her back to Dodge. Pinkie’s ears drooped a little as she realized how hypocritical she was being.

“I know they would understand if I had told them that Merry was the reason I was coming back to Dodge, but I still feel awful about leaving them just to spend more time with him. Or maybe I don’t? I don’t know…” She really didn’t. More and more, she was starting to realize how much of an impression Merry had left on her in a way that few ponies had, and just the thought of being around him seemed to brighten her day. “Is this really what it feels like to like like? Seems pretty likely,” she thought with a timid smile. “But I won’t say it until I’m sure. One step leads to two, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. I don’t mind taking this slow, because...”

“... You’re worth being boring,” she whispered, grinning wider as the warmth spread into her chest, “and that’s something I can say that I like.” The rest of the train ride passed by uneventfully, and it seemed like only a few minutes later that they were stepping out into Dodge Central Station. While Applebloom gathered her tools, Pinkie loaded up a small cart with sturdy planks before helping Rumble into the harness, after which they set off for Merry’s house. It was mid-afternoon, which meant they had a few hours before they’d need to head back to Pinkie’s house to crash for the night.

“Shoot, they’re still cleanin’ up?” Applebloom exclaimed, looking around at the mounds of sand that had been heaped at the sides of the road. “Ah sure am glad we don’t have storms like that in Ponyville. That’d make one heck of a mess in the orchard.”

“You should have seen Merry’s garden,” Pinkie commented as she too took in her surroundings. The townsfolk were industrious, and the dusty surroundings made it difficult to keep anything truly clean, but even an outsider could tell that it was worse than normal. “You could hardly even tell that there were plants under all that sand. It was a good sized garden, too. Merry looked really worried about it when he got home...”

“Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, Pinkie,” the hard-working filly said confidently. “Between the three of us, ah’m sure we’ll get that garden fixed up in no time!”

“Uh huh!”

“Thanks, you two. C’mon, let’s get a move on!” It didn’t take long for them to find the cottage that bordered the forest outside of town. Applebloom had been pretty sure of her ability to get the garden in order with Rumble’s assistance, but as they neared, the filly realized that she may have spoken in haste. Miniature dunes had formed in the areas that Chai had managed to clear herself, but many of the herbs still lay buried. Pinkie hadn’t thought that the garden would have still been in such a state of disrepair, but as she spotted the pony she assumed to be Vanilla Chai sunk down to her haunches and staring blankly at the sand, she realized that the damage done hadn’t just been physical.

“Um, excuse me…” Pinkie said unsteadily, carefully stepping over the shattered fence-posts. She watched the mare blink a few times before slowly turning towards her visitor, her expression betraying not the slightest hint of emotion. “You must be Vanilla Chai, right?” There was an awkwardly long silence before she made any motion to respond, and when she did open her mouth to speak, she found herself interrupted by an audible whump coming from inside the house. Both mares turned towards the cottage where Merry had plastered his face against the window, waving enthusiastically, and Pinkie couldn’t help but crack a smile as she waved back.

“Yes, I am Chai. You must be Pinkie Pie,” Chai said softly, rising to her hooves and looking her guest over. “My brother speaks of you quite often.”

“Gosh, this mare is tough to get a read on,” Pinkie thought to herself. There was nothing openly hostile about her, but neither did she appear very welcoming. “He does? Are they good things?”

“Yes.” Being a strong conversationalist was something that Pinkie felt came naturally for her, but Chai sure wasn’t giving her much to work with. “Did you come here to see Minty?”

“Actually, I-”

“Oh mah goodness!” Startled by the outcry, both ponies watched wordlessly as Applebloom rushed over to the busted tea cart sitting a short ways from the shed. “Oh, you poor thing! Ah knew you’d been roughed up, but this is just awful! Don’t you worry now,” she said soothingly, stroking a hoof over the splintered sides, “ah’ll get you right as rain!” The diversion gave Pinkie enough time to collect herself. Drawing some comfort from the pony inside the cottage and the vigorous wagging of his tail, she turned back to Chai and met her bemused look with a rueful smile.

“Chai, the truth is that I feel just awful about what happened to your garden,” Pinkie explained. “Merry told me about how much you love your tea, and when I saw how much the sandstorm had messed everything up, I just knew I had to find a way to help. I’m not much good in a garden, and I’m even worse with tools, but that’s why I brought some friends to help out. Applebloom over there is great at fixing stuff,” she said, motioning towards the filly mumbling to her newest project. “And Rumble here can at least help you clear away the sand.”

“Uh huh!” he quipped, taking a few steps forward. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Merry went through a lot for me,” Pinkie concluded solemnly, glancing towards the window. “It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t try to return the favor.” Throughout the discourse, Chai had kept quiet and little feedback by way of facial cues. It was difficult to understand how somepony so subdued could be related to somepony as animated as Merry. Though she didn’t want to admit it, Pinkie found the mare’s manner rather disquieting, and it wasn’t until a faint hint of a smile lit the mare’s features that Pinkie found herself at ease.

“Please, pardon my lack of manners,” Chai said, chuckling quietly. “These last few days have been trying. I’m grateful for your offer, but I’m afraid I have little to give you in return.”

“Sometimes it’s the littlest that means the most. At least, that’s what Rarity told me.” The shift in Chai’s expression from passive to interested was instantaneous at the mention of Rarity’s name, and it brought Pinkie a bittersweet smile as she pulled a small envelope out of her saddlebag and gave it to Chai. “She told me all about how you helped her when I went to see her yesterday,” Pinkie explained as the mare stared down at the letter. “Go ahead, open it.”

Nodding, the mare did as she was bidden. Her hoof slowly rose to cover her mouth as she opened the envelope withdrew a heartfelt apology and a note worth a generous amount of bits as replacement for the mirror that Rarity had shattered in her anger. Chai had been despairing how they would even make it through the coming month with Merry’s hospital bills looming, their cart beyond use, and their reserves of spare herbs for tea all but depleted after a bitterly cold winter. The money that she had just received wouldn’t put them completely in the clear, but it gave them a fighting chance, and that was more than enough for her.

“I’m glad to hear that Rarity is doing alright,” Chai murmured, stowing the letter back in the envelope before looking back at Pinkie with glassy eyes. “Pinkie, our problems aren’t yours to bear. We are but strangers, and you could have left to wherever you were going without a thought about what you had seen. And yet, you’ve come, bringing tidings from a dear friend and offering aid. From the bottom of my heart... thank you.” A tapping sound drew their attention yet again to the stallion desperate for a distraction.

“Minty has never been able to sit still for long,” Chai said with a fond laugh, wiping a hoof across her eyes. “The doctor said that he was healing well, but that he should stay off his hooves for at least a few days. He’s been getting a little stir-crazy, and I’m sure he would be grateful for some company.”

“Hehe! I’ll bet,” Pinkie chortled, making a silly face at the stallion before turning towards the colt that had been standing patiently by. “Rumble, do whatever you can to help Chai, alright?”

“You got it!”

Encouraged by a nod from Chai, Pinkie hopped her way through the makeshift path and let herself inside the house. Aside from the mugs strewn over just about every surface, the interior was quite tidy and simply decorated. The muted nature of the interior only served to make the excitement welling within all the more potent as she cantered down the hall, following the rhythmic squeal of bed springs that squeaked and groaned from the grown stallion bouncing in anticipation of her entrance. Stealthily sneaking open the door just a hair, Pinkie found that peculiar warmth welling in her chest yet again as she spied Merry perched to pounce, and she had barely stepped over the threshold before he had bounded over and buried his muzzle in her mane.

“Eheh, aren’t you supposed to be taking it easy?” Pinkie asked, doing her darndest not to blush as his cheek brushed against hers.

“Mmhmm~” Merry murmured happily, elated that he could finally see her again. The scent of her flouncy mane was every bit as intoxicating as he had remembered, and he burrowed a little deeper as a contentment escaped as an airy sigh. He quickly realized that he had gotten ahead of himself in his excitement, though, and he found himself similarly rosen cheeked as he hastily withdrew his snout and found the mare’s muzzle done up in a wonderfully bashful blush.

“Manners! Manners, manners, forgot my manners, sorry! I’m sorry, it’s just your mane, I can’t- it-y-you know...” There was a brief pause as they both looked away, leaving his stammered apology to taper off. “It’s… really great to see you again, Pinkie,” he said, grinning weakly. “I’ve kiiinda missed you.”

“Thought-about-you-every-now-and-then, kinda?” There was understanding in her playful reply, and he felt his nervousness melt away as he turned back to find the mare beaming back.

“Heh, more like couldn’t-get-you-out-of-my-head-if-I-tried, kinda,” he chuckled shamelessly, sharing a laugh as he motioned the mare to follow. Careful to leave the door cracked open for the sake of her father, Pinkie bounded inside as Merry reluctantly hobbled over and eased himself back into bed. “How have you been?”

“A whole heaping lot better, thanks to you!” Pinkie quipped, leaping over and plopping down by the bedside. “Remember the friends I told you about, the ones back in Ponyville?” He nodded, listening intently. “Well, that photo album you brought me was what gave me the mojo to go back to Ponyville and fix things with all of them. I ran away to Dodge because I didn’t know what to do, and without your help, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t fun,” she conceded, “but I’m glad that I went back. I really owe you one, Merry.”

“Actually, you owe me liiike a million,” he teased. “I’d like my bill paid in grins, giggles, chortles, and snickers.”

“What?!” Pinkie exclaimed. “You mean to tell me you don’t accept smirks, smiles, titters or guffaws?”

“Of course I do!” he countered with a challenging smirk, “those are worth double. Sounds like somepony is quite the high roller.”

“You don’t know the half of it! I could roll a twenty with only half a deck!” she declared triumphantly, giggling as Merry’s brow furrowed with confusion. “You don’t throw as many parties as I have without learning a few tricks. Don’t worry,” she reassured him with a pat of her hoof, “it’ll come with practice.”

There was something about Merry’s vague amusement that Pinkie found unexpectedly exhilarating. Offering no rebuttal, he calmly eased himself onto the floor beside her and shambled over towards his closet with his tail swishing as he went. With flagrant nonchalance, he casually opened his closet to reveal an unbelievable collection of board games rivaled only by that of her own. From common titles like Scramble to the more fringe, “nerdy” rpg games like Diadem, everything she could ever want was right there beside the stallion that had casually grabbed hold of Pinkie’s attention in a way that she hadn’t imagined he could.

“Board games, huh?” Merry mused aloud, making his selection before turning back to his breathless guest. She had started blushing again, which didn’t make much sense to Merry, but it only made her look even more cute than normal. “I don’t suppose you’d care to get in a little practice, would you?”

For perhaps the first time in her life, Pinkie found herself regretting that she hadn’t spent more time thinking about romance. If she had, then chances are she would have been able to explain why the sight of Merry holding a board game was so attractive to her. It made her every thought tickle with static, and had somehow set the temperature control for her everything to “oven.” Appearance had been a non factor in her dealings with others, as the outside never changed what was needed on the inside, but her entire perception of who Merry was had been radically changed, and by something so seemingly insignificant. She was nervous, she was excited, and there was nothing Pinkie would have enjoyed more sharing a laugh with the one who had helped her remember how.

Author's Notes:

Two things of note. First, Sanguine Shroud's palette and design haven't been finalized, and are prone to adjustment. Secondly, Cloudy Hues is going to be fine. Mostly.